Storm Queen Tempest

[Latecomer 438]

What if instead of someone else's lackey, Tempest had been the main villain of the movie all along? Gathering the Princess's magic to become an alicorn herself (complete with whole horn of course) and remake Equestria stronger. Perhaps she was even partly inspired by hearing of Twilight's ascension.

[SharpWit 2,472]

Neat idea, especially since she also had more brains than the head of the operation, but I don't think she's terribly ambitious as a character, just super determined to achieve one personal goal, and then take a backseat while everyone else squabbles for power. Although it's hard to say since we don't really know what she's up to at this point. She was said to be spreading the word of the Storm King's defeat, but I'm pretty sure the majority of the country found that out pretty quickly.

Can't say she'd do a bad job of running the place, not saying she'd be loved but there'd be a good degree or order and efficiency.

[BornAgainBrony 2,395]

30 minutes ago, SharpWit said:

Neat idea, especially since she also had more brains than the head of the operation, but I don't think she's terribly ambitious as a character, just super determined to achieve one personal goal, and then take a backseat while everyone else squabbles for power.

Old Stormy may not have been such a fool after all for not fixing her horn. It was the thorn in her paw, fueling her rage. Take that away and what happens? In spite of her word (and we can only guess how strong her code of honor is) to remain in his service, it's easily possible she would become more compassionate to those living under his boot. Tempest's magic is formiddable even without her horn intact. Imagine someone living their whole life with lead weights on their limbs, and how strong they would be if those weights were removed. Tempest would probably be as powerful as Starlight, and since she's the General of his military, staging a coup or a civil war could be ridiculously easy for her. 

[SharpWit 2,472]

@BornAgainBrony Oh he was right to do that for sure. She wasn't going to stick around with or without a horn once she fulfilled her end of the deal. Before learning the magic of Friendship she was only out for herself. Anything resembling loyalty to the Storm Kind was bought with false promises. Her potential is tremendous, just like someone who wore lead weights their whole life, but she didn't carry that burden out of choice, and she didn't have much patience for others, so I doubt she'd continue to hold or take on other responsibilities had things turned out differently. Maybe she'd stick around for special tasks since she seemed to get some satisfaction with one-upping others, but that also could've been because she was happy to get closer to her goal.

As for a take over being easy, she might manage since she had some storm creatures specifically assigned to her as could be seen with them having a dyed stripe to match her own colors which adds an additional layer of identity, plus she has a very hooves on approach and is more involved than the Storm King so she'd have respect from his forces, but we haven't been shown any examples of failure to keep them satisfied, so any thing she offers in return for their service isn't any better than what he's already is or could provide. It's difficult to say what would happen if she had decided and managed to take out the Storm King on her own. Would the Storm Creatures view her as enemy number one, or would they accept her as their new ruler? It's even more complicated by the fact that they might just be magically altered Hedgehogs with limited sentience.

[BornAgainBrony 2,395]

5 hours ago, SharpWit said:

@BornAgainBrony Oh he was right to do that for sure. She wasn't going to stick around with or without a horn once she fulfilled her end of the deal. Before learning the magic of Friendship she was only out for herself. Anything resembling loyalty to the Storm Kind was bought with false promises. Her potential is tremendous, just like someone who wore lead weights their whole life, but she didn't carry that burden out of choice, and she didn't have much patience for others, so I doubt she'd continue to hold or take on other responsibilities had things turned out differently. Maybe she'd stick around for special tasks since she seemed to get some satisfaction with one-upping others, but that also could've been because she was happy to get closer to her goal.

As for a take over being easy, she might manage since she had some storm creatures specifically assigned to her as could be seen with them having a dyed stripe to match her own colors which adds an additional layer of identity, plus she has a very hooves on approach and is more involved than the Storm King so she'd have respect from his forces, but we haven't been shown any examples of failure to keep them satisfied, so any thing she offers in return for their service isn't any better than what he's already is or could provide. It's difficult to say what would happen if she had decided and managed to take out the Storm King on her own. Would the Storm Creatures view her as enemy number one, or would they accept her as their new ruler? It's even more complicated by the fact that they might just be magically altered Hedgehogs with limited sentience.

She didn't even have patience for him. I swear I could always see it on her face, like she was always fighting to keep from telling him how much of an idiot he was. Grubber was likely more competent too. Storm King's history is probably the most perplexing out of all of them because he had so much funding and a very far-reaching Empire. But what was he doing to maintain control? His throne seemed to be sitting on a house of cards and it was only with the very cautious guidance of his advisors that he was able to get anywhere. Did the rest of the kindgom have an inkling of this? Who knows. And if so, how did he manage to become king in the first place? Did he simply inherit the throne far too young from a father who died (or perhaps was killed)? So many questions. I'd take a guess though that at least some of the highest positions knew who the real brains were in the kingdom, and that the Storm King was a figurehead with a hyper-inflated ego. Or maybe he did get a sense of that and this is why he was after the Alicorn power in the first place, so he finally had a fist that could back up his mouth.

Still, I would think any soldiers who were paying attention, probably had far more respect for Tempest than they did the King. And if that wasn't enough on its own, the rest of the military is going to find out that SK's first act with his new power was to play with the global light switch. His second, was to summon an F4 tornado that wiped out the majority of his own invasion force. She might not get ALL of the support if the Storm King decided to cry "fake news," but she'd get a good piece of it. Tempest doesn't put up with nonsense and doesn't seem at all like the type to lie about a thing like that. Everything is handled by the book, every I dotted and every T crossed, and the survivors on both sides would back up her story.

[SharpWit 2,472]

@BornAgainBrony Equestria historically has had poor or nonexistent interactions with the other nations of the world. I have my own head canon as to why this is, but it's resulted in news not traveling very far internationally. Last anyone had heard, the Griffins had a strong and incredibly wealthy society, one that could almost be envied by ponies by the sounds of it, but when Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie got to Griffinstone, it was just as they said, a dump! And none of this came through, despite the likes of Gilda and likely other Griffons having spent a considerable amount of time in Equestria, although it's possible that this was due to a general feeling of resentment towards them and also a feeling of embarrassment towards the truth. Anyways, it's evident that life has been on the downslide across the Celestial Sea for several years, if not decades. With even less connections far south, it's no wonder the Storm King's invasion came as a surprise, and although his rule has been well established for some years, I think his reign was considerably young.

The heart of his kingdom, the Stormlands, are considerably small in comparison to Equestria. My guess would be that he did inherit his position, or at the very least was always in a spot with some authority. He's clearly spoiled and focused on having a widespread and great image, (Voldemort's line of greatness). Probably was sick of running the place like a hermit and sought some glorious expansion. He acquired some really good advisors, quickly raised an army, established control with brute force, ruled with a more laissez-faire attitude, happy so long as people paid their taxes and had his banners hanging everywhere, and then let the advisors do their job, and I imagine obtain a lot of wealth through domestic tariffs after seizing control of trade by airship.

Something I'm curious about was putting the entire population of Canterlot in chains. Does the capital have to always be held hostage because of Equestria's sheer size and resources, or was it something else, like a way for Tempest to get payback for how others treated her? I can't remember if there was any intention to enslave them, I don't put it above the Storm King to do, but the variety of folk in Klugetown were left to their own devices, why not chain them up?

[BornAgainBrony 2,395]

On 10/2/2019 at 11:53 PM, SharpWit said:

@BornAgainBrony Equestria historically has had poor or nonexistent interactions with the other nations of the world. I have my own head canon as to why this is, but it's resulted in news not traveling very far internationally. Last anyone had heard, the Griffins had a strong and incredibly wealthy society, one that could almost be envied by ponies by the sounds of it, but when Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie got to Griffinstone, it was just as they said, a dump! And none of this came through, despite the likes of Gilda and likely other Griffons having spent a considerable amount of time in Equestria, although it's possible that this was due to a general feeling of resentment towards them and also a feeling of embarrassment towards the truth. Anyways, it's evident that life has been on the downslide across the Celestial Sea for several years, if not decades. With even less connections far south, it's no wonder the Storm King's invasion came as a surprise, and although his rule has been well established for some years, I think his reign was considerably young.

The heart of his kingdom, the Stormlands, are considerably small in comparison to Equestria. My guess would be that he did inherit his position, or at the very least was always in a spot with some authority. He's clearly spoiled and focused on having a widespread and great image, (Voldemort's line of greatness). Probably was sick of running the place like a hermit and sought some glorious expansion. He acquired some really good advisors, quickly raised an army, established control with brute force, ruled with a more laissez-faire attitude, happy so long as people paid their taxes and had his banners hanging everywhere, and then let the advisors do their job, and I imagine obtain a lot of wealth through domestic tariffs after seizing control of trade by airship.

Something I'm curious about was putting the entire population of Canterlot in chains. Does the capital have to always be held hostage because of Equestria's sheer size and resources, or was it something else, like a way for Tempest to get payback for how others treated her? I can't remember if there was any intention to enslave them, I don't put it above the Storm King to do, but the variety of folk in Klugetown were left to their own devices, why not chain them up?

I'm thinking in terms of what happens now that the Storm King has control of Equestria. For better or worse, his kingdom brings with it some nice technological advances. News travels faster with the main mode of transportation being air. International and overseas trade is much more common under the Storm King's rule than Celestia's. Remember, the crew of those airships just saw that whole super-cell fiasco unfold, and they're going to have to take a trip home at some point. More soldiers will be brought to Equestria to ensure order, and new trade routes would be established. It would be VERY hard at this point for SK to keep this massacre of his own people under wraps. Even if he had killed Tempest and Twilight, there's a good chance he committed political suicide within minutes of acquiring the power he so desperately sought.

Interesting thought, that maybe he wanted to select a new capital for his kingdom. That's only a maybe though because the location was critical to him charging up the staff. Why this was the case is anyone's guess, but Canterlot palace had "something" special that was optimal for him siphoning the magic from everything. Did he plan to stay there? Who knows. Realistically playing nice with Tempest could have been an equally-wise option, because she could have been governess of Equestria. As a pony, she would have been an appropriate choice.

It would be interesting to know just how much of this expansion happened under the Storm King and how much of it was before he took over. If it happened quickly, his rapid imperialist takeover of other nations is downright Naziesque, and isn't an easy thing to pull off. What I find so interesting is just how well-equipped they are. What he's issuing the soldiers alone is pretty impressive. Metal that can soak alicorn magic like it's nothing?? That's the fantasy equivalent of body armor that could protect you from a nuclear bomb. That stuff has to be expensive, and may very well have been forged especially for this invasion. To pull that off takes a lot of planning. Somehow they knew beforehand that this equipment would be effective. Another example is Tempest's 'grenades.' Designed in such a way to place alicorns in stasis without killing them, but also allowing for the transfer of magic. All of this requires some pretty serious R&D. And then there's his shipping system. Equestria has at least a couple airships, but there's no indication they've used them for anything besides leisure. The mail is handled by Pegusi, and the railway system is the main mode of public transportation. For everything we're shown, the wealth of SK's kingdom must be immense, and that would require the resources of a LOT of occupied kingdoms. Which brings me to a final thought about everything that's going on in the MLP movie.

I have a funny feeling that the film was at least partially Star Wars inspired, and the Storm Kingdom (can we even call it that) is the Galactic Empire. An "Emperor" is well concealed by the Storm King's childlike behavior, but realistically, a more serious depiction of him would've been some pretty hardcore nightmare fuel. Tempest Shadow is Darth Vader. The Empreror's right-hand creature, a powerful and fearsome warrior with an elite military rank, who sustained serious injuries that left her crippled. Why am I bringing this up? Because the theory explains a lot about what's going on with Klugetown. After faced with the threat of the 'Empire,' the ponies suddenly found themselves in a desert city inhabited by scavengers and crooks, where they enlist the help of smugglers to fly them to another kingdom to get help. Klugetown is Mos Eisley, Tatooine. And as such, is likely too remote (and also really isn't worth much) to bother keeping a major police presence there. Taking the analogy to its conclusion, it's probable that local crime lords are in control of the place, and the Storm King doesn't care so long as the syndicates play nice with him.

As for the long run, I'd take a guess that the prisoners of Canterlot would eventually be freed. The Storm King's plan was nothing short of a blitzkrieg. If his focus was alicorn magic, everything else is secondary. Treating this like a normal invasion would cost him time that would gradually increase the likelihood that his plan would fail. Once he had the power he wanted, Canterlot would probably slowly start to look like a typical occupied territory. The Ponies would gradually be given more freedom as they adjusted to the new government.

[SharpWit 2,472]

@BornAgainBrony He's already in charge and is a tyrant, so the political game doesn't really matter. You don't have to worry about that sort of thing when your invasions are Naziesque, and for the first phase of the European theatre they certainly made it look easy after the fact.

I don't think the Storm King would have brought much to the table for technological advances since Equestria has already demonstrated its technological prowess, but in a world where magic and natural flight are pretty commonplace, there isn't much point to implement other systems that can substitute them. Even when a new method is better we tend to stick to the old because it's time tested and still works. His use of Airships for military purposes were kind of necessary and much more affordable since it might not be practical to build a bridge between the Stormlands and the mainland, and a rail line across the desert would see minimal usage. What's most certainly been mastered, is how he and his staff used the technology they had access to.

I can see the similarities between the MLP movie and Star Wars, but I think they copied general story tropes and although the land ruled over was vast, there wasn't much in it. I think you're spot on for the crime lords though. The Storm King actually reminds me of Tirek from generation 1 visually, other than colors and not being a centaur he's a closer match in appearance.

I don't know, someone should work on a fanfiction of this and workout all of the details there