“So we wouldn’t have to kill all of you,” Tempest answered, as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. “Equestria was the real target, not some island of separatists. The Storm King feared that you might not cooperate, and then he would have had to use the Stormbreaker against an Equestrian city. And even then, he was merciful. He could’ve killed all the ponies of Othar for their insult, instead of taking them in as citizens of his new kingdom.”