//------------------------------// // Thirteen // Story: The Armada Trilogy I: The Lieutenant // by TheMysteryMuffin //------------------------------// The Next Day The sun rose over the horizon the following day in Armada-Occupied Kludgetown. Its bright orange glow covered the city like a bed sheet, reflecting onto the dull-looking buildings next to the brilliance of the Armada apartment, which of course stood out in pride against its neighbouring buildings. Its windows allowed the sunshine to travel through the stained glass, reflecting a ray of colours on the floor inside the complex. Not a cloud was in sight, giving the "all clear" for the Armada airport, where many skiffs were flying out to patrol the skies and the ground from above. Hundreds of ponies and soldiers were gathered up in front of the massive building, waiting for their leader's speech. It was loud and noisy again, but every creature who was a tortured slave could be thankful that they wouldn't be working today, for today was a special "holiday". The Storm King had ordered for every slave to work twice as hard the following day, as everything would be behind by one day. Everything had to be perfect, including the decorations and the special guests who would sit next to the Storm King, while he was on his throne. One of which, was for Tempest herself. Inside the royal apartments, Tempest was waiting quietly for the Storm King to begin his speech. She was all alone, with very little ponies around her to talk to. The odd nurse pony, however, would come round with their trolley and say hello to her, but other than that Tempest was all alone. She was lying on a very stylish coach and was wearing her royal robes and was very thankful that she didn't have to wear a blasted mask which smelt of old flesh and blood that had poured all over the inside of it. One of the mares who dressed her up had sprayed perfume all over her body. It was the smell of honey and coconut, a smell which Tempest had never smelled before. It was a nice change from smelling sick and faeces when she was a slave to the Armada. Forty-five minutes later, three maids came into Tempest's room and bowed before her. "Good morning, Tempest," the first maid said, "the Storm King wishes to see you now." Tempest turned her head around to face the maid with a pair of menacing eyes. Her blue-green eyes reflected by the light that sparked from her broken horn, giving off a terrifying appearance towards the mares. They backed up. For a while, Tempest and the maids looked directly at each other like it was some sort of Mexican stand-off or something. "I am ready," Tempest replied, "to attend his... little party that he's made for me." The magic inside Tempest's horn died away and the glow of her eyes reverted back to what they were previously. She got up and allowed her robes to drag along the floor. Two of the unicorn maids, deciding to be generous, used their magic to pick up the robes and started following Tempest towards the event. The maid not holding Tempest's robes closed the door behind them and then caught up with the group, making sure that they didn't leave or dropped anything whilst on their way to the ceremony. The group went through various corridors and rooms until they eventually made it to where the ceremony was taking place. Outside, the sounds of ponies and slaves cheering and chanting could be heard. They were all crying out for Tempest to come out. "Tempest! Tempest! Tempest!" "You will go out there first." Tempest turned around to see the Storm King standing behind her. In response, she nodded. She waited for one of the commanders to give her the signal to come out. The wait was thankfully not long though, as a black stallion with no mane and a skull and crossbones for a cutie mark walked back in from the stage and waved his hoof at Tempest to get her attention. "They're ready for you, Miss Shadow." With that, Tempest trotted slowly towards the pair of giant doors, that opened without any command, and then walked into the sunshine and into the view of the crowds before her. The atmosphere was loud and dusty, but that didn't bother Tempest whatsoever. She was loving the attention of the ponies in front of her. It felt so good to be praised and worshipped as a goddess and to have all this power in front of her. She had all the power outside of Equestria in her hooves and nopony could stop her. "AND HERE'S YOUR KING!" Oh yeah, apart from him, Tempest thought to herself. All of a sudden, the whole crowd fell into a deadpan silence. Not one creature celebrated the appearance of the Storm King, which did annoy the terrifying looking creature. All he could do was ignore the rudeness of his subjects and carry on with what he was talking about. "Fillies and gentlecolts," the Storm King bellowed, "I have gathered you all today to welcome in a new era of the Storm Armada! Today, I will present to you all your second-in-command, who will rule you all and you will give her all the respect that she deserves, and you will see her as the deputy leader of the Armada! Not one of you will turn your tounges against her and if so, you will suffer the worst of all consequences! She will decide all the fates of each and every one of you, and help us turn this miserable city into the greatest industrial estates in all of history outside of Equestria! She will even lead the upcoming invasion of my prize city... Canterlot!" Tempest, who was still standing next to her leader, had turned a shade of red all over her face. The silent response from the crowd was making the situation even the more embarrassing. No one had bothered to respond to what the Storm King had just said. The Storm King then quickly thought of an alternative. "And now, here's Tempest Shadow, who will speak to you all now!" The Storm King moved out of the way of the microphone and allowed Tempest to walk forwards to face the crowd. At first, Tempest didn't know what to say, so she allowed anything that came into her head to go into her speech. "I was once like you..." she began. There was a pause. "...I was a slave who was working at the very bottom, tortured and beaten daily. I was nothing. I am a unicorn with no horn, who left my home village and came to the Armada to find somewhere to stay and be seen as a normal pony. I'm nothing special, but I am still a unicorn, even without my magic. The Storm King, our brilliant ruler, has opened his home for me out of his pure generosity. And now, I can promise that I will turn this wasteland and its residential area into something new and healthier for you all! I believe that the Armada can become something that Celestia's army can't match. There will be nothing that can stand against us and if they ask for a fight, then we will squash them like bugs! Today may not be the day we invade Canterlot, but one day, our nation will become the most powerful in the world and everyone will know that the Armada will forever be at the top!" The crowd started cheering again and waving their hooves in the air. "As second-in-command, I will lead you all to victory, and destroy the ponies who destroyed my life, as well as yours! I leave you all to follow me, IN THE NAME OF THE ARMADA!" And then the biggest cry roared all over the estate. Tempest could feel the hunger for revenge travel through her body, turning and churning inside her stomach. It felt so good to feel all this power inside of her. She had lost it eight years ago, but now it was all coming back. The Storm King was going to help get her horn back. Just then, someone tugged at Tempest's royal robes, which caught her attention. She looked down and recognised it to be one of her old friends. "Grubber!" she cried. Tempest leaned down and gave Grubber a big, squishy hug. It was the first time in a long time that she had done something so friendly towards another creature. Grubber blushed in response. "I thought that we would never see each other again!" Tempest whispered back. She smiled. "Neither did I..." Grubber replied, "...but at least the Storm King has allowed me to join you in the invasion of Canterlot. I'm so happy to see you again, Tempest. I love you." Tempest squeezed more tightly around her friend. "Oh, I love you too, Grubber! What would I do without you?" The Storm King then went over to the pair and directed Tempest to the front of the stage. Tempest understood and went up to the front, where the Storm King joined her. "Ladies and gentlecolts, I give you your future leader. Commander Tempest; the Lieutenant of the Armada!" Another roar from the crowds followed. Soon enough, the only thing that could be heard was Tempest's name, being chanted again and again and again. "We will take Canterlot! We will have Celestia's head! And we will rule the rest of Equestria forever!" It was then so loud that Tempest couldn't think straight anymore. She just stood next to the Storm King, experiencing the feeling of being worshipped. The rest of Tempest's memory was a blur as well as for the next six years, which just washed past her while being the Lieutenant of the Armada. Canterlot, present day Crestfallen. That was the atmosphere in Twilight's apartment. The sunset glow was already filling up the room, reflecting on the glasses that they were drinking out of, and it had gone to show how much Tempest had to say to everyone in the room. The whole meeting had taken up the entire day, without any of them realising it. "So, you were like their second leader?" Spike asked. Tempest looked at him. Her eyes looked tired, with the odd electrical glow appearing in her pupils. She underestimated the time that she would be spending with Twilight and Spike, but then again, her life involved a lot in it. "In a way, yes," Tempest replied, "he cheated on and lied to me. I was merely a marionette on strings. I have been a slave for eight years and a Lieutenant for six. I may be only twenty-four, Twilight, but I feel that I've lived a lifetime." Twilight could feel that there were tears coming out of her eyes and she wasn't afraid to show her sadness. "Tempest..." she began, but struggled to talk, "... I'm so... sorry." Tempest waved her hoof back at the princess. "There's no need for that, Twilight. Don't forget, I also tortured you when I was trying to capture you for the spell." Tempest finished drinking her cup of tea and wiped her face with a napkin. She felt full from all the treats and drinks that she had with her friends; there was barely any room for supper that evening, but she knew that Grubber would still be hungry, so there was no bothering arguing about that. "I forgive you for that, Tempest," Twilight replied, "that's what friends do. We forgive. We move on. It's a new day tomorrow. As the Princess of Friendship, I cleared your crimes towards Equestria and the royal crown of Princess Celestia herself. And you know why?" Tempest looked directly into Twilight's eyes. "Because you're my friend." Tempest smiled back. She decided to get up and get ready to leave but was stopped by Twilight, who gave her a big hug. Tempest returned the favour and was joined by Spike and Grubber. The hug soon departed and Tempest and Grubber began their way out. "See you tomorrow, eh?" Twilight asked Tempest. Tempest looked back and winked. "You betcha!" And with that, Tempest and Grubber went through Twilight's door and closed it behind them. "You see, Spike," Twilight said, "that wasn't so bad!" Spike gave a shocked gasp, before pulling an expression of anger. "Hang on a minute, Twilight!" he snapped, "It was I who said that!" "Oh no, it wasn't!" "Oh yes, it was!" "Oh no, it wasn't!" "Oh yes, it was!" And for the next few minutes or so, the two lifelong friends argued and argued. Still, even the Princess of Friendship struggles to understand what friendship is all about as well! Then again, she was arguing with a baby dragon!