EDIT: Addressed the glaring issue of literally every Royal of Equestria basically abandoning their duties to meet Lucette. Hopefully this edit will make the idea of them all heading over more understandable.

EDIT: Added a new, better intro, complete with a new, better song.

EDIT: Added an intro, complete with a song.

Storm Creature dialect, which I have dubbed, "Skilin" (don't judge me I can't think of anything else) shall from this chapter onwards be shown like this: "~Praise be to the Storm Queen!~"

It's been a month and a half or so since I began my reign over this small island nation. A very eventful month and a half, too. My first order of business was to learn more about our history and a bit of the history of the surrounding nations, as well as the dialect of the Storm Creatures. Of course, that was a lengthy process that could never be finished within three months, let alone one and a half, so I was still learning as I went. My second order of business was, well, fucking learning how to rule a damn country. Sure, I'd been in a leadership position in the military, but this? This was a whole 'nother level entirely.

Tempest had to walk me through everything. Courtly etiquette, how even something as simple as what I wore could possibly make me a laughing stock or a disgrace among rulers, and wordplay on a level I'd never even considered before. I could barely keep up. It didn't help that Tempest didn't even have the absolute best idea on said wordplay, as she was always in a right-hand position and never a true ruling position. Furthermore, her wordplay only really extended a little beyond mine.

So, she had to call up an expert on the subject, a resident, very withered looking Storm Creature who once was the right-hand of the Storm Ruler before the previous King - apparently the old King had demoted him and made Tempest his right hand - and hot damn was this Storm Creature strict.

Honestly reminded me of my mom when she was teaching me and my brother calculus.

Regardless, I was overwhelmed as absolute shit. I was mostly just operating on an idea of, 'This is arrogant and cool, rulers do that, right? right,' and went from there. It was...well, it was a process.

And that wasn't even counting my actual plans for the kingdom. I began with relinquishing hold over conquered territories and giving said territories back to the wounded parties, all in exchange for a stable supply of goods once they got their countries up and running again. Naturally, some of the Nobles argued this point. Well, Warrior-Nobles, as they called themselves. I just kinda ignored it. I did not wanna have deep set grudges against any country I was forced to rule, especially with such a huge and sudden change in the Storm Kingdom's power. The deal with the Abyssinians, the talking, anthropomorphic cats, was... Well, hard, to say the least.

For one, The Storm King had razed their cities to the ground, leaving very, very few survivors. The few surviving ones were a smooth talker named Capper, another called Nami, and a small group of orphans the Storm King had let live so they could work as cargo haulers. Nami was really antagonistic and distrustful of me, and it took a lot of coercion and a promise to pay reparations to get her to come around. It...didn't help that I kept forgetting some kinda basic etiquette for rulers and kept offending her.

The orphans... Well, the orphans I gave a choice to. They could come and live with me, or they could live with Nami. All of them but the runt of the litter, Suki, went with Nami.

Capper really latched onto the idea of restoring his country, but would only do so after I paid his debt. I instead arrested the guy he was indebted to for charges of slavery and slave trafficking. That in turn started a messy affair in the town, Klugetown, where I had to start a campaign against slave trafficking. Still hadn't stopped the trade, but I was damned if I wasn't going to. Though, again, this got me more flak from the Warrior-Nobles.

The Lizardmen and Fishmen were given their old territories of Nightmare Cliffs and Basalt Beach respectively, and they seemed just as happy to return for the most part. Some had grown accustomed to Klugetown and thus stayed, however. Why those Fishmen stayed in a desert town I will never know.

The Hippogriffs - which apparently were a race in this world, sentient, at that - well, they wouldn't talk to me, so they were pretty much on hold, but I made sure to tell Tempest that any act of aggression towards them would be considered an act of treason and worthy of an exile. Oddly, no one argued me on that point. Sympathy, maybe? I don't know.

Other than that, I was overseeing the redecoration of the castle and the building of a number of very special facilities. Namely, weapons development, an intelligence department, an R&D building, and finally, a new training ground for an elite group of soldiers I was calling, 'The Darkstriders'. This, thankfully, got the full support of the Warrior-Nobles. Note to self: Storm Creatures like beefing up their military. Anyways, a few more units might be formed soon, but I was still working on that. I was currently walking out towards the city from the castle, which was being reinforced with steel I-Beams and concrete and painted a nice royal purple. Guards flanked me on either side, though I honestly wished they wouldn't. I could take care of myself, after all.

But, Tempest and my teacher had been very clear - no ruler should go without an entourage.

I glanced to where Grubber was instructing a group of workers in the courtyard on where they were to put up the new banners. I smiled as I gazed upon the crest I had worked on for a good portion of a day. It's background was white, and the emblem was a combination of an emblem from Destiny 2 and the Dark Sign. Basically, it was the Storm Surge Emblem in purple in the center of the Dark Sign. Think a diamond with an almost hourglass shape on the inside, two lightning bolts to the lower right and left of the diamond, and a line with two clubs at the top, all surrounded by a burning, circle with a background of black.

I thought it was a pretty cool idea. Anyways, I turned back around and continued my walk to the city proper, my guards following and surrounding me. I passed a number of citizens on the way, some farming what I had learned was called Storm Fruit along with mindless beasts that looked like crocodiles with stony skin, and others just on their way to their own important jobs. Many of the children waved, and the adults bowed. I simply nodded to them before continuing on.

The city, while beautiful, was rather simple. Just stone houses and shops, with the occasional statue thrown in for flair - Skili architecture incorporated a LOT of statues. It was mostly industrial, with smokestacks coming out of every home and shop, making the factories almost tame by comparison.

Glancing to the coast line, I could just make out the giant stone crocodile maws spitting out greater volumes of water than most any dam I'd seen. The Great Drains. Honestly, that was one of the things I was really interested about when it came to the Skili. They were a very honorable and militaristic people, but they knew when to put down their weapons and furthermore, knew how to be creative and smart. And boy, did the Great Drains show that in spades.

They were basically a massive system of drains - hence the name - made to keep the island from flooding due to the eternal storm. According to local myths and religion, one of their Gods, the Mother, blessed them with the knowledge of advanced masonry and stonework, along with engineering and construction. She supposedly also blessed this island with a vast cave system that the Skili made use of to create the Great Drains.

I'd gotten a chance to even see it all up close, thanks to my...new condition.

I shook my head, and returned my focus to the path ahead. Eventually I made it to the main industrial district, where the Storm King kept his factories. I had made plans to improve them and make them more efficient, although I couldn't do much of anything about the fossil fumes. Needed to figure that out soon. Before I'd come along, the factories were typically powered by primitive steam engines, but after I inspected one of the ones in the city, I changed that pretty quick and instated basic AC motors to start with. Granted, only a few actually had them, but, if Ventus got more materials, I could make more. Either way, large scale electrification was slowly taking place within every factory. We were still a ways off from having every factory in the nation powered by electricity, but it was a start.

And don't even get me started on the fact that power plants would be needed in the future.

But back to the matter at hand. This was where I was making one of the weapons I knew I would need if I did have to embroil this country into a war again, and it was also where the weapons development building was going. We already had the bare-bones and infrastructure, now we just needed the equipment, machinery, and other essentials.

Currently, we only had a few rooms ready to go. I walked towards the front gate, nodding to the guards as they let me through, and stepped inside. My own guards followed me as I quickly made it to the testing room, where I soon found Tempest testing out two of our secret weapons, an Obsidian Orb and a fire bomb.

I watched her expertly toss an Obsidian Orb at a target, encasing it in obsidian, and then in the same motion swiftly flipping and lobbing a fire bomb at the same target, causing an explosion that destroyed the obsidian on the target and left it singed.

I clap as I walk further inside. "Good job. You've got some pretty good skill with these despite having only used them a few times."

Tempest wipes some sweat from her brow and turns to me, giving a crisp salute. "Thank you, Your Highness. I think it's because I've practiced with the Obsidian Orbs a lot, and these fire bombs are pretty similar in terms of use."

I nod. "Yeah, I can see that. Still, this is only the beginning. We just need to finish this place up and get more trade lines going, and then we'll really be in business," I said with a toothy grin.

"Yup! We still need a more steady supply of saltpeter and charcoal, as well as purpleheart wood," Ventus added. I nodded again whilst Tempest just gave us a curious look.

"What would we need purpleheart wood for?" she inquired. My grin grew and I just winked at her.

"Style," I said simply, before walking over to the table where most of the fire bombs and Obsidian Orbs were. I inspected them for a bit, trying to determine how to make them less unwieldy. Tempest spoke up again.

"Your Highness, I've been wondering... You said you would restore my horn. When can I expect it to be such?" she asked. I turned my head a bit to look at her. I could see it in her eyes. She was desperate for a horn. I guess magic is more of a big deal to her than I thought. I looked to Ventus, who cleared her metaphorical throat.

"Well, from the little I've been able to gather about unicorn physiology, I should be able to synthesize you a new horn, provided I can get my hands on some bone and nervous tissue," Ventus explained. "A horn from another creature would work, too."

"I'll see what I can do to get that for you," Tempest said with a firm nod of her head. Silence fell between us all again as I hefted the fire bombs. Hmm... We have plenty of metals... Maybe I should start making shrapnel fire bombs. Oooh, or poison shrapnel bombs. We have tons of excrement and fertilizer left over all the time from the few farms around here, I'm sure I could get the farmers to part with some for weapons development, hehehe...

Suddenly, the doors burst open, a messenger coming in with a letter. "~My Queen! My Queen! Urgent news!~" she cried, stopping in front of me and handing me the letter. I read it quickly, thankful I had learned some Equish, and my eyes widened.

"Tempest, initiate Lockdown Level Cyan, then prepare a small fleet of airships to escort the Equestrians here. Oh, and I want you to tell Grubber to double time it on the redecoration of the castle so it's at least presentable," I told Tempest. Tempest saluted.

"Yes, Your Highness," she said, before swiftly trotting off to do just that. I waved the messenger off to go back to her duties, then spared one last look at our weapons. I have to keep these hidden for as long as possible.

With that thought, I quickly walked out as well.

"So what's this Storm Queen like? Is she cool?" asked the cyan Pegasus Rainbow Dash, Bearer of the Element of Loyalty.

"Is she funny? Does she like parties?" asked the pink Earth Pony Pinkie Pie, Bearer of the Element of Laughter.

"I hope she's not scary..." muttered the yellow pegasus Fluttershy, Bearer of the Element of Kindness.

"I wonder what kind of clothes she wears... Oooh, the possibilities!" squeed the white Unicorn Rarity, Bearer of the Element of Generosity.

"Ah'm just hopin' things all work out," said the orange Earth Pony Applejack, Bearer of the Element of Honesty.

"Oooh, I can't wait to learn about their culture! I've never even heard of the Island of Storms, what if they have rare flora or fauna found only on that island? Oh, this is just so exciting!" squealed the purple Alicorn Twilight Sparkle, Bearer of the Element of Magic and Princess of Friendship.

"I'm curious too! I mean, an island surrounded by a near perpetual thunder storm? It's so mysterious!" said the pink unicorn Starlight Glimmer.

"I heard they have a very powerful military. I'd be interested to see how they hold up," mused the white unicorn stallion, Prince Shining Armor.

"Well, I'm sure they have nothing on you, dear," cooed the pink Alicorn Mi Amore Cadenza, Princess of Love, nuzzling her husband.

"I am quite curious about their military as well, Prince Shining Armor. I hope they live up to their tales," Luna concurred, the younger of the two Celestial Sisters looking at the horizon ahead with intrigue.

"This will be the first time in recorded history that outsiders have come so close to the homeland of the Skili. A momentous event to be certain," said the elder of the two Celestial Sisters, Celestia. She too was looking at the horizon with intrigue, but if one looked close enough, they would see a tinge of worry as well. Luna noticed.

"You fear this new ruler may be trouble, don't you, sister?" Luna asked her sister quietly. The others talked amongst themselves, too absorbed in their own conversations to notice. Celestia nodded slowly.

"I do not know why, but I feel as if we should be extra careful with them," Celestia answered slowly and just as quietly. Luna hummed in thought.

"Well, I am not going to second guess you. Your hunches have been right most of the time, even if only to a certain point," Luna conceded after a short time of watching the ground below pass them by, the far off Macintosh Hills rising high, a few of them with snow on their caps and crests. She looked to her sister. "Still...to have all of us leave our lands to meet this new ruler...How scared are you, sister, to want to make such an impression? You even persuaded Cadance and Shining Armor to come. Twilight and the Elements were understandable, and even to an extent us, but...all of us? Are you truly so worried?" Celestia remained silent. Luna frowned, looking back to the landscape. "...I see."

The Equestrian Royal Envoy sailed onward, towards the distant destination of the Island of Storms. They could do nothing now, save hope for the best.