THE TEMPEST TALES : FRAGMENTS

“I am here to report your majesty.”

For Ensign Cooper it was the first time he had found himself in front of the Empress in person. She was just as the newspapers had described her: tall with a broken horn, a scar over her right eye and an aura that would frighten even the most fearsome of minotaurs.
Cooper would do anything to leave a good impression on the one who governed millions of individuals.

“Go ahead, I'm listening.”

On the other hand, Tempest had barely noticed the pegasus in front of her. Her eyes were fixed on a map lying on her desk.
She was wearing her usual suit with obsidian plate armor over it; if there was one thing that hadn't betrayed her yet it was that damned armor of hers.

Cooper straightened his posture even more so that it looked like it might break any time soon.

“Captain Ryker said we are moving fast towards goblin territory.
At this rate we should be able to arrive in just under two hours.”

In fact, they were flying over the Bone Desert at that moment.
The empress was headed towards the border of the imperial territory in order to conduct a diplomatic meeting.

Tempest didn't say anything, his gaze was still fixed on the map and the silence was becoming embarrassing for the poor ensign.

“Um…. Your Majesty?" Cooper asked in a thin, uncertain voice.

Tempest raised her head and looked at him.
“Yes of course, you are free to go ensign.”

Hearing this the orange pegasus gave the usual military salute and turned 180 degrees to exit the cabin.

“Wait ensign!”
Cooper immediately froze
Had he done something wrong? Was he going to be punished? Relegated?! EXECUTED?!

“I don't even know your name. Who are you?" Tempest said nonchalantly.

His name?! HIS NAME?!
Ensign Cooper turned again and saw Empress Tempest waiting for a response.

“My name is Cooper.” he said in a professional voice.
He hoped he had managed to answer in the right way. Heaven only knew what would happen to him if he made a mistake.

"Thank you Ensign Cooper, you are free to go."

That's all?
Cooper breathed a sigh of relief and then left to go back upstairs.

Tempest was a little surprised by the interaction with the young ensign.
She was perplexed and wondered if the pegasus' rigid and fearful behavior was simply due to the fact that she was empress or that she instilled fear just as she was said to be.

She wasted a few seconds thinking about this and then she saw again the map she had been examining for a while.

On it it was possible to see the entire continent.
In the southwest area there was the Union of Free Peoples which covered approximately a quarter of the continent.
To the east of the empire there were two other kingdoms: the goblins and orcs Kingdoms.

The two nations were a great threat to the security of the empire, even when Storm King was in power there were several garrisons guarding the border.
However, during the war those precautions had failed and the goblins together with the orcs had begun to mass near the border.

Fortunately, the minotaur clan was nearby and Minox had managed to quickly organize a legion of soldiers to temporarily stem the problem.

Had she called them clan again?

Tempest mentally corrected herself.
In fact, following the formation of the empire, each people chose to reorganize themselves into a kingdom in order to be able to standardize the bureaucracy more efficiently.
It would have been hell if, for example, they had had to enact a different law for each of the dozens of prairie tribes.

However, what had interested her so much about that map was a kingdom that lay further north of the empire.

In fact, just beyond the Desert of Bones there was a kingdom called Equestria.

Before then she hadn't even glanced at that kingdom but one day she happened to hear about a couple of travelers coming from there.

She was undercover in a tavern looking for a criminal who was prowling around there.
Even though she was empress she still preferred to work in the field, despite Reddace's great displeasure as he insisted on her safety.

She initially didn't give it much thought until she heard about two alicorn sisters.

Needless to say, her cover was blown as soon as she awkwardly spat out the beer she was drinking.

That evening she ended with a big fight and two unexpected guests being escorted to the imperial palace.

Tempest took the time to greet them personally.
The unicorn couple seemed reluctant to talk to her but as soon as they realized that she didn't want to hurt them they became much friendlier.

From the long discussion they had she learned several facts.
From the kingdom of Equestria to the alicorn princesses, the fact that the younger sister had returned a few years ago and the reason why they were there.

According to their explanations, Equestria had emerged from a long period of isolationism thanks to an alicorn who was called the "princess of friendship".

Hearing this, Tempest couldn't help but burst out laughing. She laughed so much that she had to force herself to stop so as not to break her ribs.

Princess of Friendship?!
What kind of title was that? It had to be a joke or something.

Tempest vowed that if they were ever to give her that title she would rather abdicate immediately.

Tempest noticed that she was once again left looking at her map and knowing this she shook her head to clarify her thoughts.

"KNOCK KNOCK!!"
Someone had knocked loudly on her cabin door.

"Come forward!" Tempest said as she struck a slightly more elegant pose.

It was Ensign Cooper again, however this time he was out of breath as he had run quickly to reach the Empress' quarters.

"Your Majesty! The captain has requested your presence on deck immediately.” The pegasus said as he tried to get his bearings.

Tempest took no notice of such formalities and immediately rose to go where she was required.
“Of course ensign, I'll follow you.”

The two left the cabin and reached the main deck.

The airship they were traveling on was not a large vessel as it had a purely diplomatic function.
Together with them there were two other small airships that acted as escorts.

It took little to spot the captain, the old griffin was on the bow and was holding a telescope in his paws pointed towards the horizon.

The two approached the captain who, as soon as he heard Tempest's heavy footsteps, turned around and saluted.

“My empress, forgive me for disturbing you but there is a matter that requires your attention.” He said as he passed the binoculars with one paw while with the other he pointed in a direction in front of the airship.

Tempest wasted no time and brought the telescope to her left eye.
In the distance she could see a plume of smoke and at the base there was a recently crashed airship.
The fire had not yet consumed everything and some details could be seen.

The color of the hull was white with some dark pink finishes, there were also some golden details.

However, what caught her attention the most was the flag attached to the top of the airship.
In fact there was a blue flag with the sun and the moon depicted in the center and two alicorns revolved around them, one white and one blue.

"Captain! let's head there at full speed.” she ordered as she handed the telescope back to him.

Captain Ryker nodded and immediately went to the stern where the rudder was, while he gave orders to his subordinates.

A sailor was using a mirror to intermittently reflect light to nearby ships to tell them to increase speed.

The trio of ships were now less than a kilometer from their destination and in the meantime Tempest had obtained a telescope to observe the crash area.
The closer they got, the more she could make out details.

Near the wreck of the ship there were about twenty figures moving.

Maybe they had survived?

They were now less than 300 meters away when Tempest managed to understand that they were not survivors but Goblins, the greenish color of their skin made it obvious and that the design of the crashed airship was not theirs.

Tempest could see that some goblins had pipes on their shoulders and were pointing them in their direction.

Seeing this the alicorn immediately understood what it could be.

However, she didn't have time to turn around before a barrage of explosive bolts hit all three ships.

“BOOOM!!!”

Tempest was thrown through the air and fell overboard and as she fell she could see her three ships falling.

Tempest hit the ground and the impact stunned her.

Fortunately or unfortunately they were flying at low altitude. She must have fallen no more than 40 meters and furthermore she was wearing her armor while her alicorn physiology granted her greater resistance.

Tempest remained on the ground for a handful of seconds and then she stood up, shaking off the sand.

She immediately ran towards the area where her airships had also crashed.
While running she could reach almost 100 km/h but if she had had wings she could have gone at supersonic speed and first of all she would not have fallen on the sand.

When she arrived at the crash site she saw the airships engulfed in flames.
The smoke made it difficult to breathe and see.

Up ahead she began to hear the sound of swords clanking.
In fact there were Captain Ryker, Ensign Cooper and two other sailors.
The four were surrounded by Goblins.

Tempest charged forward with her wrist blades while simultaneously using her horn to zap anyone in her path.

The other four took advantage of the moment and began to fight ferociously together with their empress.

However, as skilled as they may have been, they were still in clear minority and at the end of the battle both unknown sailors had died pierced by a goblin blade.

Tempest remained still while she caught her breath and with a slight movement she sheathed the wrists blades.

She looked around, they had just eliminated all the goblins but sadly two of their group were dead.

"Captain! Report.” Captain Ryker approached her at attention and responded briefly and concisely.
“We lost all three ships, the only survivors are the three of us.”

Tempest sighed and lowered her head slightly.
What had happened was not a simple attack.

Not only had the mission failed but the goblins also opened fire on diplomatic ships.
It remained to be seen whether it was a deliberate attack or an accidental one.

“Thank you very much captain.” the griffin nodded in recognition and stood still waiting for orders. Cooper was also behind him

Tempest looked around and again saw the airship that had crashed first.
The flames had cleared but extraordinarily a large part of the hull still remained.

“Soldiers, you know the protocol. In 24 hours when our people realize that we haven't checked in they will send help to investigate. In the meantime our job is to find a safe place to wait.” The griffin and pegasus nodded promptly.

Then Tempest turned to the ensign.
"Scan the area, make sure there are no other threats, then confirm that there are no other survivors." With that the pegasus immediately went about his duty.

“Captain, follow me please.”
Tempest walked in the direction of the crashed airship.
It was leaning slightly on its side and there was a large hole in the bulkhead through which Tempest and Ryker could have entered.

“I have never seen a vessel like it.” exclaimed the captain who was now on her right.

“That's correct, we've never interacted with Equestria before.” Tempest explained as they continued to advance.

The interior of the ship was laid out similarly to most airships and they were currently located in the galley.

“Thump-thump-thump..”
Footsteps could be heard from above them, probably quadrupeds.
Apparently there were still some survivors.

The two continued forward until they reached the middle bridge. Along the corridors they had found the corpses of ponies who had died in the crash but there were no signs of other races.

Walking they had reached the cabin of what they presumed to be the captain. The door was finely detailed, the symbol of the kingdom of Equestria was engraved on it.

Tempest came closer and put her ear to the wood.
On the other side there were sounds of movement and whispers.

Tempest took a step back and signaled the captain to stay on guard and then finally knocked on the door.

"Knock Knock!"
Nobody answered....
"Knock Knock!"
Tempest tried again but again there was silence.
The two looked at each other and Ryker shrugged.

“WE ARE HERE IN PEACE! THE GOBLINS HAVE BEEN DEFEATED, OPEN THE DOOR.” she said loudly but without sounding aggressive.
On the other side, whispers could be heard again.
“WE DON'T WANT TO HURT YOU.” added the captain.

Tempest was tempted to break down the door until….

“HOW DO WE KNOW YOU DON'T WANT TO DECEIVE US!?”

Answering was the voice of a mare, mostly young as she had a somewhat high-pitched sound.

"IF WE WANTED TO HURT YOU WE WOULD HAVE ALREADY BROKEN DOWN THE DOOR." Tempest said in a slightly pedantic tone.

10 seconds of more whispers passed.

“OK, NOW WE'LL OPEN THE DOOR.”

In fact, from the other side we could hear sounds of sliding wood, it is probable that they were removing the door lock.

Tempest found a purple mare in front of her.

The two examined each other and were amazed.
Tempest first noticed the horn but then looked down and saw a pair of wings.
She had an alicorn in front of her and it made her heart skip a beat.

On the other hand, the purple alicorn didn't expect to find herself facing a unicorn of that height. There was at least 30 centimeters difference between the two.
But what shocked her most was that the horn was broken and she had a large scar over her right eye and they both had a reptilian shape.

The two stared at each other until Ryker touched Tempest's hind leg.
In doing so, the empress quickly returned to her senses.

“I am Commander Tempest Shadow.” she said, holding out a paw in greeting.

Captain Ryker mentally wondered why she hadn't introduced herself as empress, but surely there was a reason for her and he would have played along with her.

"Nice to meet you, my name is Twilight Sparkle.” The purple alicorn said as she smiled lopsidedly.
However the mare did nothing else and she remained in the doorway looking at Tempest or more precisely at her broken horn.

“Uhmm….so?" Tempest asked raising an eyebrow.

"Oh yes! Right." Twilight exclaimed as she came to her senses.
“Please come in.”

The mare stepped aside to let Tempest and her captain pass.

Upon entering they noticed that there were also two other unicorns in the room: one had white fur and the other grey, they were wearing golden armor and a helmet.
The old-fashioned style seemed to be uncomfortable and impractical.

However, there was another thing that caught the empress's attention the most.

In the center of the room was a large desk and lying on it was an immense white alicorn.

It didn't take Tempest long to realize who was in front of her.
If the flag of Equestria and what she had heard from the two travelers were authentic then at that moment she had Princess Celestia in front of her, the one who raised and lowered the sun every day.

“What happened to her?” Tempest asked as she examined the limp body in front of her.

“When we crashed Princess Celestia was on the main deck and in the accident she was impaled by a pole, miraculously it did not hit any vital organs and we managed to extract it safely.” Twilight said worried and at the same time relieved that her princess was still alive.

In fact, Tempest saw that there was a large seam on her side where she supposed the pole had penetrated.
A wound like this, although fatal for an ordinary pony, should have healed after a short while for an alicorn.

“Why she doesn't wake up?” Tempest asked as she prodded the white alicorn's shoulder with a hoof.

"We don't know." Twilight concluded briefly.

Tempest let out a sigh and then turned to speak to Ryker.
“We need to move the big alicorn here.” she said as she gestured with her neck to indicate Princess Celestia.

Twilight was a little displeased that her mentor was simply called “big alicorn.” It's not that Tempest was that small.

“Go back outside and get help from the ensign to build a cart or sleigh.”
The captain wasted no time and immediately went outside.

Tempest turned back to Twilight who was at Celestia's bedside.

While they waited it would have been useful to obtain some information.

“How did you end up in this situation?”
Twilight turned her neck towards Commander Tempest.

“We were headed to a city called New Metropolis to open diplomatic relations."

Tempest was surprised by this, did they know of her existence? However, it didn't seem like they recognized her.

“For what reason?” she asked keeping her voice neutral.

“We recently learned that a new empire had formed south of the Bone Desert, and Princess Celestia had decided to try to have peaceful relations between the two nations. So we left a week ago but we underestimated the journey ahead.” she said in a disconsolate voice.

“Initially we had a fleet of four airships but due to the grains of sand we lost three in just five days.
We tried to go back but were shot down by goblins.
They would have found us if it weren't for you."

This last sentence was full of gratitude.

“The bone desert can be lethal for those who are not adequately prepared.” Tempest confirmed.

“But how did you end up here?”
This time it was Twilight who wanted information.

“We saw your wreck in the distance and came to your rescue."
then Tempest grimaced in defeat.
“But we were also attacked by goblins and they shot down all my airships.” She concluded as she swung a paw out of spite.
“Now we are in the same situation as you.” she concluded.

“Oh… I'm sorry, if it wasn't for us maybe none of this would have happened.”
Twilight was sad to hear about this.

“It's not your fault, we were headed to this area anyway and they would have attacked us sooner or later.”
Tempest attempted to console her but it had little effect. Indeed, the purple mare burst into tears and sobs.

Tempest stood there watching for a moment until her common sense told her to do something.

The Empress sat down next to Twilight and before she could say or do anything she clung to Tempest and continued to cry her eyes out for at least 10 minutes.

“Sniff….sniff….” Twilight had finally stopped and was inelegantly wiping her nose with a hoof.

“I'm sorry, I just didn't expect things to turn out this way.”
“We set out with the hope of finding new friends for the first time in millennia and now dozens of good ponies are dead and we are stranded in the desert.”

Tempest listened as the little alicorn complained.
“Plus Princess Celestia is hurt and she won't wake up while I have no idea what to do.” Twilight had finished crying but her eyes were still red.

The two equestrian guards, however, remained impassive near the door.

“I had never been in a situation like this before and I certainly wasn't ready in the slightest.” she concluded, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath.

Twilight had resisted until then and when she felt more confident she poured out all her worries and fears.

“I understand you Mrs. Sparkle.” Tempest placed a paw on her back.
“But you're not alone right now, and besides, I'm pretty sure Princess Celestia wouldn't want you to waste time here despairing.”

"Commander! We did as requested."
Outside the door was Captain Ryker with Cooper, behind them they had a rudimentary sled made with planks and ropes recovered from the wreckage of airships.

Tempest promptly stood up to survey the work done.
The sled didn't look good but it seemed sturdy enough to carry the large white alicorn and withstand the stress.

Then Tempest went back to talking to Twilight.
"We need to get out of here, this place isn't safe."

“And where will we go!?” Twilight asked rightfully concerned.

“In about 24 hours my soldiers will notice my absence and will send help, however the desert is very large and it would take days if not weeks before they find us.” Tempest's words were not at all reassuring.
“Fortunately, 250 kilometers from here there is our safe operational base.” concluded Tempest.

Twilight was left wondering what to do. Such a journey would take at least two days, plus they didn't know if Celestia would wake up.
However, as Commander Tempest had said, they had no alternative.

“Okay, we'll do as you say.” for the first time Twilight's voice was firm and determined.

The group easily placed Princess Celestia on the cart thanks to Twilight's telekinesis.
The two horse guards had volunteered to do the towing.

When they emerged from the wreckage of the airship the three Equestrians were stunned by the destruction that surrounded them.

It wasn't the first time Twilight had seen dead bodies but never in those conditions.
The bodies of the goblins were scattered throughout the area, they had lacerations and some had had their limbs cut off.
There were also pony corpses but most had died in the crash.

“Bleaghhh.” Twilight had decided that a good thing to do was to empty her stomach nearby.

Tempest and Ryker rolled their eyes, it was clear that the little alicorn wasn't used to such bloody scenes.

Before leaving they took as many supplies as possible, or at least those that had remained intact after the crash

If there was one essential thing to face the journey it was water and food, without them they would have died in a short time.
Tempest could recover energy by eating gems but for the others it wasn't so easy.

“Captain Ryker, how many supplies do we have?” She asked the griffin who, like the ensign, had two bags on his back.
“We have two liters of water each and food for three days.” Ryker brought back quickly.

"And you?" She asked the nearest equestrian soldier since Twilight didn't seem to be able to answer at that moment.

“We have a total of three liters of water and food for two days.”
Tempest let out a soft sigh. Water supplies were very few and barely enough for two days.

“Okay, if we are thrifty we will have to be able to make do with it.”

Having said this the group set off towards the east
In that direction was an Imperial outpost where they could wait to be picked up.

A long and tiring journey lies ahead of them.