The Chains of Rule

The third day of my reign.

A prosthetic arm. After years without one, I finally had enough money to get one. And, well, the incentive. The vultures that flew around my head that consisted of my "Media team" thought that while the missing arm gave off a certain "rugged, masculine, war-ready image", that actually having nothing there on my left arm polled badly with women between 30-50 and the unemployed, while only being accepted, but still not liked, by other key demographics. Therefore, I'd have to get one, whether I wished to or not.

I don't know how things are for you guys in the future, but back here, despite having people from at least two centuries ahead of the year I left Earth, Elefthería did not have advanced limb replacements. So, it was merely a lifeless prosthesis useful only to hold something if I moved the fingers with my other hand. It did look beautiful, though, far too beautiful to have been made in only three days, which worried me a little. Silver and green enamelled steel, those apparently being my "royal colours" from now on, plates hid the simple construction beneath. It was strapped around my entire left arm and over my right shoulder to lock it in place. Getting used to having that weight on the side again was going to take time.

Time I would not have. Apparently, the Eleftherían Defence Council demanded my immediate presence. Given that the army had put me on the throne, I couldn't possibly deny them this.

It was a long cable car ride down the mountain from the Palace of the Kings atop the peak of the Nemzetünk Szíve Mountain that dominated central Elefthería and back towards the city to the entrance of "The First City".

The First City, just in case my entire nation has been destroyed by the time you read my words, is the name for the first city created by Man in this world. Carved out of an abandoned Diamond Dog mine, the original was underground. Apparently, so that those companions of King Cyrus the Great could hide from slavers on the topside, well before the nascent Kingdom had enough forces to guard the mountain valley. It was a huge network of subterranean tunnels that weaved throughout the mountain, picked clean of precious gems and stones before we humans arrived, but still once held metals and coal. That too, after two hundred years, was nearly also picked clean, but mining was still a huge part of the First City's industry.

Also, "Abandonded" probably wasn't the case, and it was likely King Cyrus killed the original inhabitants. Well, that's my guess.

The main entrance to the First City was an enormous door of granite standing nearly 20 metres tall and 20 metres, large enough for two lanes of motor traffic to drive through. Cars were still a luxury in Elefthería, even after 170 years after they started being produced. They still cost the average man on the street a year's wages, and manufacturers had focused on developing better, or at least acceptable, cars rather than mass production. This might seem bizarre, but oil was a premium in Elefthería since no local sources existed, and electric cars were still a way off, with Lithium being even harder to source.

This was the first time since I arrived in Elefthería that I had a private car. And someone else to drive it for me. A cheery Kazhakistani man named Rakhat Alieva.

"So, 1917, eh?" He asked in well-spoken but accented English.

"Indeed. And you?" I asked.

"Oh, 2017. Hey, one hundred years later!" He shouted excitedly. "Got lucky I did, ended up only a couple dozen miles from Elefthería. So, moment I heard about the place and got the opportunity, I ran for it and ended up here. That must've been four years ago now. Since I already knew how to drive, unlike those from the distant past, poor fuckers, got a job as a driver. Good work."

I smiled, leaning back in the plush leather seats.
"So, only a few weeks a slave?" I asked.

"Yes. Was supposed to sow crops, but I did that for a day before, Alhamdulillah, I broke out," He explained as we passed beneath the enormous stone doors of the first city and into the electric streetlamp lit subterranean streets.

"Very nice. It took me a bit longer," I said, waving my new prosthetic arm around for Rakhat to see in the rearview mirror. "Took a lot out of me."

Rakhat winced, only to quickly look back to the road. Driving in the First City was a nightmare. Since the whole place was underground, once you were off the large road that served as the main artery for the city, the roads were incredibly cramped. Everywhere was a one-way system, with some incredibly tight bends. I was very glad I wasn't the one having to drive, not just because I couldn't operate a manual clutch with only one arm.

"I 'eard rumours that you lost the arm killing your master, that you ripped off everything below the elbow to escape your chains."

I chuckled.
"Nothing that legendary, I'm afraid. Are there already rumours about me?" I asked.

"Of course. How many rumours were spread by the government itself and how many are proper, I don't know," Rakhat admitted. "Apologies, your majesty, but I ain't never heard about you before the day before yesterday."

I shrugged, which was uncomfortable with my new lower left arm and the straps across my chest.
"Nothing to apologise for. I'm sure it was the same for my predecessor when he took the throne six years ago."

"Wasn't around them, sir."

"Me neither. Well, I was in Equestria but hadn't managed to make it here yet."

I opened my mouth to explain, but the car pulled into a garage, the doors closing shut behind us. Rakhat quickly parked up next to two other sleek black saloon cars with dark tinted windows, then he leapt out of the driver's seat and opened the door for me. I twitched at the unnecessary help but wasn't going to say anything about it, not when Rakhat had been so nice.

When I climbed out of the back of the car, three people came up to meet me. One I knew quite well, General Kelebek, the woman in charge of the Mountain guard. Next to the swarthy, severe woman was a man who I knew by reputation alone, having never personally met him; Field Marshall Akachukwu Umeh, an aged man with dark skin and dark eyes but closely cropped white hair. He looked to be about seventy or so, nearing retirement, but his eyes shone with a certain kind of light that seemed to pierce straight through me. The last I didn't know at all. Unlike Kelebek or Umeh, he wore a simple, dark suit and was only in his forties or so. He had pale skin, carefully styled dark brown hair and thin lips that hardly seemed there at all. Unlike all three of us and even Rakhat, he lacked any sort of scars or markings that suggested he'd either seen combat or beatings. A second Generation man, if I had to guess.

"Your Majesty," Akachukwu said in a deep, sonorous voice. "Welcome to EDCHQ. I assume this is your first time?"

"It is Sir," I stated.

Umeh smiled while Kelebek rolled her eyes.
"You're not in the military anymore, son. You don't have to salute me. If anything, I must salute you," The Field Marshall said cheerfully. "Come, we better get you to your seat."

While Rakhat remained with the car, the rest of us entered the building. Buildings within the First City were hewn into the walls of the various tunnels, but the Eleftherían Defence Council Headquarters, or EDCHQ for short, was unique. A great cavern had been carved out, then the building and its room built, then the cavern was filled with steel-reinforced concrete. It was said to be able to survive the entire mountain being collapsed on top of it, and the concrete had magical crystal reinforcements to give it some protection from spells too. If the First City was one of the more defensible parts of Elefthería, the EDCHQ was the most defensible part of the most defensible city. Only the White Mountain Complex might beat it, and that place was designed by a nutjob cult to survive "the metaphysical destruction of the entire world", whatever that really constituted.

We walked through the dark corridors of the building, lit by blue, harsh fluorescent lighting. After having spent years in a Mountain Fort at the edge of Elefthería, where even electricity was scarce, and the last few days in the opulence of the Palace of the King, it was quite the nasty change.

I followed them through a heavy metal door, which sealed shut behind me. Within the room, about ten men and women stood up from their seats, most in uniform, the rest wearing dark suits. In my emerald green and silver coat and riding pants, I felt rather ridiculous but hid that as best I could while sitting at the head of the table. As I sat down, they followed suit, with Umeh and Kelebek following behind me, but that one thin-lipped man stood by the door instead.

"Your Majesty, first of all, allow us here at the EDCHQ to welcome you to your first, and hopefully fruitful, meeting of the Defence Council. We hope to secure your reign and the defence of our beloved homeland," One of the uniformed men said. Another General, by the bars on this chest, but I didn't know their name and couldn't read their label from all the way across the mahogany/glass table.

"Thank you. But let's cut the pleasantries. I know you ten are the reason I'm currently sitting here, and King Rouselle is not. And surely there is of more import to this meeting than pleasantries?" I asked. Those in the suits didn't seem to like this response if I was reading their briefest aside glances correctly, but the actual uniformed officers seemed to be either better at hiding themselves or didn't care.

"Very well, let us get right to business," Field Marshall Umeh said. "After Princess Celestia received word from her ambassador about the coup and your refusal to have her enter the country, she alerted her forces nearest to us and the Yakistani border. Our spies in the north say that they are to, quote [Prepare for immediate aggression from Elefthería, and for possible slave uprisings]."

I gently tapped my fingers on the table.
"Have any happened?" I asked, perhaps too hopefully.

Umeh shook his head.
"Nothing major. Still, I'm requesting we place our own guards on high alert and possibly begin to mobilise. With Rouselle still alive, it's not out of the question that she will attempt to formant a counter-coup within Elefthería to resit Rouselle on the throne. Not all of Elefthería supported your ascension," Umeh explained.

Kelebek nodded.
"Immediately call in the national guard. A few days to suppress the riots in Neu-Alexandria, then demobilise them. It'll be a show of force against the Rousellites and against Equestria that we will not be perturbed from our most important tradition."

Rousellites? Riots in Neu-Alexandria. I swear to you, I had no idea these were happening. I had all but been shuttered away from the outside world, except from what my handlers had wanted me to see, for the last three days. I wasn't even aware that there were many pro-Rouselle people left. Everyone I knew had disliked him even before the coup. But then again, everyone I knew was in the army.

I hid my confusion and shock.
"No. Let them protest. Rouselle stood down without a fight, and from my conversation with him, I didn't exactly get the feeling that he wanted the crown again," I said.

Kelebek breathed through the corner of her mouth.
"With all due respect, your Majesty, what the King wants doesn't always matter. If enough people want him to sit on the throne, he will sit on the throne."

Just like me.

I nodded.
"I know that, General. But I spoke with the merchant and trade guild representatives yesterday. I know they're pissed, but they aren't in an immediate mood to do anything. The Optimates signed off on the coup. And I don't think Celestia will invade over an aborted invitation. Whatever else ponies are, they don't start wars."

Umeh conceded the point without much fuss, as did Kelebek. The men and women in suits seemed happy, at least. I had to work out who on earth they were.

"Still, we narrowly averted a civil war with the coup. Perhaps we should prepare for..." Umeh began.

"What people will want is normalcy. I'm certain the Optimates didn't support my ascension because they wanted radical change; they just saw me as the best chance at maintaining the status quo. Rouselle moved too boldly, so, much as it pains me, I must do the opposite. No, the police will do to contain the riots, then people will return to normalcy."

"And if that isn't an option? Your Majesty, your ascension marks a regression in relations between Elefthería and Equestria. There is no status quo," Umeh said.

"I am aware, Field Marshall. Believe me, Rouselle and I discussed precisely that. Celestia can go fuck herself for all I care, but we must appear to be the same Elefthería we were a week ago, just one that doesn't want her to visit," I explained.

"Very well. I can see the logic, and I'm sure the senate agrees," Umeh said, looking across the table at some of the people in suits.

A man with blonde hair, deep blue eyes and a Scandinavian accent spoke up.
"The senate does. With elections coming up in nine months, the last thing we want is military action within the country. A bloodless coup is one thing, but the Optimates and Workers both don't want further violence," One of them explained. He turned to look at me and placed a hand on his chest. "Senator Harkon, Senator for the city of Onondaga."

"King Arthur Williams," I replied with a smile. He tittered at the small joke.

"Yes, of course," He pointed to the woman on his left and the man on his right. "This is Senator..."

... I'll be honest, dear diary, I've forgotten their names, only twelve hours later. That may be a problem, assuming I live long enough to write a memoir; what hope have I to remember them any later?

"Nice to meet you," I said blandly, remembering my manner from Grammar School that had been literally beaten into me. "But let's move on. What are the chances of further escalation with Equestria?"

Umeh spoke up.
"That depends. Celestia has yet to release an open statement on the coup, but the general response in the noble courts of Equestria has been, in a word, vitriolic. As we knew it would be."

"How bad?" I asked.

"Let's see. Prince Blueblood called it an open declaration of hostile intent on the part of the humans and that any attempt by the new King to meet with the Princess will simply be an attempt at assassination or that now the army would be unchained to declare war on Equestria, as we have always wanted to do. His words, not mine," Umeh explained.

Kelebek smiled.
"Well, that last part isn't precisely a lie," She said.

While the senators scowled, I hid my agreement. It was quite something to sit in these mountains with our technologically advanced army of trucks, machine guns and aircraft and do nothing while our people suffered in slavery, but I knew that I couldn't just declare war on them. Millions of our own people would suffer and die for a cause we'd likely lose.
"Regardless, the rest of the nobles seemed to march in lockstep agreement with the Prince. Outrage, sure that this is a path to war."

"And the average pony?" I asked.

"Slave owners are likely sleeping with an eye open. In absolute truth, I have no idea, your Majesty," Umeh admitted.

Behind me, the thin-lipped man stepped forwards, standing right behind my chair.
"Your Majesty. The MCI reports a clean geographical divide between the centre, north and south, matching up precisely with the general popularity of the limited, homegrown, Equestrian Abolitionist movement. In the North and South, where the movement is weakest, they are more worried about a possible war, or local slave revolts. In Central Equestria, your ascension is seen as a huge step back from a possible diplomatic solution to the "Human problem"," he explained in a voice almost too quiet to hear.

I swallowed.
"Thank you. I assume you're working for the MCI?" I asked.

"Deputy Director of the MCI, Augustus Weihun, at your service," He said. His tone was cheerful, but looking into his eyes, I saw absolutely no light inside of them. Even the dim blue light of the conference room didn't seem to reflect within them.

The MCI is, or maybe was by your time, the intelligence service of the Kingdom of Elefthería. The Ministry of Covert Intelligence; rumoured to have its fingers in everything, from the Equestrian Abolitionist movement to the anti-abolitionist movement, the power behind General Bovus in the Labyrinthian civil war and a number of assassinations of both humans and ponies. Popular knowledge had them behind the assassination of King Kwamena and that they were secretly in charge of the White Mountain Complex and its Changbai clique.

"Thank you," I said, shaking my head. "Well, as I see it, while we should step up on the border, we're not really going to see a war anytime soon. The nobles of Equestria seemed to believe we'll be the agitators, and we'll notice if they start to mobilise beyond a few Northern Militia. No need for a war footing yet."

I wondered if I was being too bold, too firm. I didn't really care; they sat me on the throne rather than took it for themselves; they could deal with me not quite bending to their will. Worse comes to worst, and I share a cell with Rouselle. I may not have liked the man's politics, but he seemed alright as a person. I'm sure we'll get along.

"Very well. Oh, there is one further thing," The Field Marshall said. "I'm sure you're aware of the rumours of an Eleftherían nuclear program."

I was, a little.
"I was born and disappeared from Earth before those two nuclear bombs people talk about, but yes, I've heard the odd rumour," I replied.

"Well, as King, we should inform you of the truth. We have 22 nuclear warheads ready and armed and delivery systems for about half of them," Umeh explained.

I paused, stock still.
"What?" I asked, horrified.

"We've had nuclear weapons for 150 years. We simply have never had cause to use them, nor will to announce it. Equestria and the Princess only have the roughest idea of what a nuclear warhead even is, and while revealing them might escalate things between us, having them in the back pocket ready to fire will be useful should another war ever come between us."

I nervously tapped my left arm with the fingers on my right.
"How... Someone once explained to me that one bomb could destroy a city. How explosive are these devices?" I asked.

"Our smallest is our tactical nuclear weapons, of which we have about fourteen. They range from 10 to 50 kilotons of TNT. You may not be aware; a Kiloton is a thousand tonnes," Umeh explained.

I gulped.
"And the rest?" I dared to ask.

"Our strategic arms range from 1 to 8 megatons of TNT. A Megaton is a million tonnes," Umeh explained.

I felt a terrible itching in the fingers in my left hand, the one missing. "That kind of power could..."

"If we had delivery methods for all of them, we could destroy most of Equestria's largest cities. Canterlot, Manehatten, Las Pegasus," Augustus explained. "You'll be pleased to know we've had megaton yields for the last 100 years, without any incident and without Equestria finding out."

"That's... Pleasing is certainly a word," I mumbled. I shook my head. "So, how come they have never been used? King Huang loathed Equestria more than anyone else..."

"Your Majesty, the office of the King may have the right to declare war, but the use of nuclear weapons, knowledge of their location and delivery systems remains with the EDCHQ. No other authority can commence a nuclear strike," Kelebek explained. "After the line of Cyrus was deposed, we saw a need to extract the office of the King from the worst Elefthería could unleash upon the world. It is much the same with our biological and chemical weapons."

In a moment, I was back in the Somme—rain, mud and rot all around me. The stench of death was strong in the air, met only by the terrible, awful smell of mustard.
"Destroy them," I said firmly.

The table fell into silence, all eyes upon me.
"Excuse me, Your Majesty?" Umeh asked.

"You heard me. I understand the need for nuclear weapons; I've talked to enough people who lived through the "cold war" to understand that. But chemical weapons are an abomination, one I will not suffer to have in my country," I ordered. Perhaps I was unwise, but in the moment, all I could see were those boys I saw clawing out their own throats in Flanders. "Get rid of them. I don't care if you do it quietly, but destroy them."

Umeh shook his head.
"Arthur, you don't understand. Chemical weapons serve as a deterrent to..."

"Isn't what the nuclear weapons are for? Those are bad enough, I've heard about their side effects, but chemical weapons are weapons of pure cruelty. No, this is non-negotiable. You may depose me if you care that much, but I will see to it that those weapons are destroyed. I'll go to the senate if I have to."

The three senators looked rather uncomfortable with that. It was likely the senate also knew about their existence, or at least the "right people" did. And given that nothing had happened with them, it was likely these "right people" tolerated their existence. I would not. Unlike these men, I know what they are.

Umeh glanced up at Augustus, so I slammed my prosthetic arm onto the table. "You look at me, Field Marshall. I am not doing this as some petty power play, and I'm not doing this because I dislike you. But those weapons are a risk to our national security."

"How so, your majesty?" Umeh asked.

I could feel myself signing my own death warrant with my next few words, but some things were intolerable.
"Because if you do not, I will announce their existence. The EDCHQ might think they deserve to exist, but I will reckon the people will not."

Umeh stood up.
"Our foreign enemies will..."

I stood up in return, placing both my hands on the table.
"Our foreign enemies will know we have weapons of unspeakable power and cruelty and will know we wish to disarm them. If we are to deter them, this is how. It's them or the nukes, Field Marshall. I know which I'd choose."

Umeh glared at me for a few seconds, then laughed to himself.
"It seems we did indeed choose a soldier for our King. I'll draft up a resolution to begin downsizing our..."

I slammed my left hand into the table, cracking the wood.
"No, Field Marshall. I will visit the facility making them at the next opportunity, and I will personally command their destruction. For however long I am King, I will see to their removal. Now, you can work with me on this, or you can take your well-deserved retirement, and I will find someone who will."

Umeh narrowed his eyes.
"You're a new King, your Majesty. With limited political capital. Such big moves are ill-advised for a new king."

I rolled my eyes at the threat.
"Then kill me now. I'm sure that's what the creepy fucker behind me is for. I respect you, Field Marshall. Generals. But have any of you seen the effects of Mustard gas on people?" I asked. None spoke up. "I have. Bleeding from the eyes, their skin rots. Men drown in their own blood. When they were first deployed, we had no counter for them. Thousands died in excruciating pain, and they did nothing to deter us from eventually winning the war. All it did was make our side deploy them as well."

Umeh opened his mouth, then closed it.

"By Allah, Umeh, we don't even have a decent delivery method for them," Kelebek said.

"And they do cost a lot... Something I'm sure his Majesty was... Ahem, also aware of," Harkon added.

Umeh paused, then sat down.
"By your word, Your Majesty."

The meeting pretty much ended there. I couldn't speak to Rakhat on the way back to the ski lift back to the palace, only thinking on how fucked I was. As important as having principles was, they did tend to get you killed. Better to stand for nothing and live.

I couldn't do that, but I'm sure I'd live a lot longer if I could.
Once back in the palace, I sat by a fireplace and read a history book. I thought back to when I first entered Equestria. I worked for a railroad company in the south of Equestria, a company that had hundreds of slaves. I didn't like to think much about that time beneath the boiling badland sun, on the whips and chains that still scared me. But I'd never forget the moment when we sat around a campfire after dark, and we were done working for the day. We talked about our lives back home. And I said I had been fighting in the Great War.

And someone asked me "which one?"

I heard about how we won. And how hollow a victory that was. We were dooming the world only to repeat the war in 30 years' time. Had I survived the war and not gone to Equestria, I may have lived long enough to see the world tear itself apart again.

I am a soldier. It's all I've been since I was a man. But while I read this book on the First Eleftherían/Equestrian war nearly two hundred years ago, I knew it was my duty to prevent another.

But perhaps I'd never get a choice. I was the most powerful man in Elefthería, debatably, but like Rouselle said, in a fight against the times, the times always win.