South of Equestria. Way more south. Further than that, I said! Beyond the sea, there was an island where thunder was omnipresent. Not a day would go by without a storm crossing the land. Which is what "omnipresent" means.
On this island, there was a castle. In this castle, there was a throne. On this throne, there was a king. A storm king, to be exact.
Far from the most regal-looking creature, he was, by all accounts, a brute who had grown lazy over the years, ruling over a country with no opposition, yearning for expansion, but at last, the lands he owned and conquered weren't lively enough to produce soldiers for war.
Sure, he could bring a few clouds with him, but that was mostly for show. He was the Storm King, but storms didn't obey his command at all. And further north, it was Equestria. It was the magic of those pesky ponies. It was the dragons, the griffons, the hippogriffs, and only the latter two would be weak enough for him to conquer in his current state. World domination is hard to come by when you can only dominate a tenth of the world.
"Booorriiiing," he sighed, nonchalantly leaning on his hand.
He looked around, his eyes landing on the bipedal hedgehog by his side.
"Hey, you. Wormer, is it?"
"Yes, majesty?" the hedgehog politely replied.
"Don't you have, like, a subordinate of some sort lying around?" the king asked, twirling his finger in the air.
"Grubber, yes," the chamberlain cringed with a restrained disgust. "What about him?"
"Is he fun to punch?"
"My guess would be yes, I've never tried."
"Great!" the king exclaimed, raising his arms. "We shall test it, then!"
As he declared this, they heard a rumble coming from the door, at the other end of the throne room. The guards looked at the entrance, ready to use their weapons.
"Oh, what is this all about again," the Storm King grumbled.
Another guard suddenly burst out the door, panting like he had run a mareathon.
"Your highness!" he shouted, out of breath. "We have an intruder!"
"What do you meeean an intruder!?" the King outraged, standing up. "This is my kingdom! I'm the one invading others!"
"I-It's a pony! But there's something wrong with he-EEEEE!"
The soldier was struck by a blue lighting bolt, before he yapped in pain, falling forward, hands in between his legs.
"What do you mean one invader!?" the Storm King shouted. "How is that even remotely enough!?"
A silhouette emerged through the door, stepping on the whining soldier. A pony, as had been told. Her two opened up eyes were glittering in the shadows, staring at the king with a haughty presence.
"I am looking for the Storm King," she calmly declared.
Wormer angrily growled and stepped towards the pony, brandishing an accusatory finger.
"I don't know who you are, ma'am, but you don't burst out into the-"
A blue string of electric magic went straight for the small hedgehog. It didn't shock him per say, but he still very much shouted a squeak of pain, before falling forward as well, holding his crotch.
"Who are you!?" the Storm King shouted. "Guards! Arr-"
"Before anyone here does anything stupid," the mare cut with sparkles coming out of her horn. "I'd suggest you look at your fellow brave warriors and wonder if it's worth the risk."
She stomped one hoof on the soldier's head, he moaned, but not in a kinky way despite what it may have looked like. The guards glanced at each other, seeing the chamberlain had passed out from sheer pain. They all kept a defensive stance instead of attacking, which enraged the Storm King:
"What are yo-"
"I'm here to make you an offer, Storm King," the pony cut. "My name is Fizzlepop Berrytwist."
Her last words felt like an anvil falling in the room, and silence was achieved for a couple of seconds, as the defeated soldiers had passed out. Then, a guard chuckled, followed by another bursting out laughing. He immediately received a bolt of magic and was left falling forward, hands in between his legs, like the two others.
"You should be more careful about mocking someone named berry-twist," the mare warned.
All the guards raised their shield, suddenly a lot more protective towards their own lower-body, while the Storm King attempted:
"You have a bad habit of cutting peo-"
"I'm here to offer you the power you've always wanted," Fizzlepop followed, ignoring his sentence.
The tall king had to pinch his nose to calm himself, as he replied, infuriated:
"You know, there are protocols, rules, manners to respect when you meet a king and want to propose your help."
Fizzlepop's head moved back a little, suddenly looking surprised.
"O-Oh, really? I thought this was the usual way, showing authority and stomping the minions on your way."
"No, no," the king sighed, waving his other hand in circles. "You ask for a meeting, maybe after punching one our two guards at the entrance to get some attention, yes. But you don't twist your way into the throne room."
The dark magenta on the mare's cheek became a little bite pinker, feeling suddenly very embarrassed.
"My apologies, I didn't know."
"It's fine, I'll just get new guards and a new chamberlain. Also, you need to change your name, it's not threatening. It's as if I was called Bob."
"Were you called Bob?" the mare asked.
"What- No! That would be ridiculous!"
"Sorry," Fizzlepop said, clearing her throat. "As I've said, I've come to offer you great powers."
"And great responsibilities? Because, I'm warning you, I hate those!"
"None of this, only a request."
"Few, that's a relief," the Storm King said, wiping his forehead. "Alright then."
He climbed down his throne, advancing towards Fizzlepop, grabbing a scepter that had totally been there from the beginning, as a smile crept its way up on his face.
"So, my little tempest, what do you want?"
Author's Note
Sorry if you're called Bob.
