The King of the Dovah

"By Talos I swear Azura only sent those four here to make my job harder." I grumbled to myself as I was looking over the flood of reports given to me in my private study.

Seriously it had only been less than a week since those four had arrived and my workload had nearly tripled overnight! Despite this however, I could honestly say that I was happy they were here with me. Not only did I have some more familiar company, but now I had people I really trusted in positions of power which is what every ruler needed.

For one I had made Farkus and Aela responsible for training the guard alongside their deceased Harbinger, along with the fact that in times of war they would serve as my generals. Both of them were more than content with this but had also started dishing out mercenary work again to make some extra cash. The only real concern was what we were going to do regarding the beast blood Aela and I still possessed and if it should be passed on to the ponies, if they were even able to use it, but that would be debated on at a later date.

Brynjolf was given the task of making sure our treasury was well stocked and maintained, which he had no problems with whatsoever, as well as running another thieves guild for information gathering alongside Erane. This was because I had learned early on that both sides of the law were good at gathering information, and while you could trick one with false info tricking both of them was next to impossible.

Finally there was Serana who in my time away had cured her vampirism and become full human once more. While she may have no longer been a vampire she was by no means helpless and a very powerful magicka user as well as skilled alchemist, seems she had been taking more lessons with her mother before coming to this world. I had made her the ambassador for the Empire since she had the most experience being taught by her family at an early age how to manage such affairs, along with the fact she now worked alongside Aranea teaching Alchemy whenever she could.

Since then reports had been coming in daily about all the problems that were being fixed thanks to them being here. So while the extra workload and paperwork on my part was not fun I was thankful regardless for the fact that things were getting done better than I could have hoped.

I was broken from my musing when the door opened and in walked Twilight dressed as a stereotypical secretary with her mane done up and glasses completing the outfit. This also reminded me of the other decisions I had made regarding the Elements and what to do with them. Surprisingly enough they decided they would rather stay in the Empire rather than return to Equestria, where Celestia was no doubt waiting in order to punish them for 'siding with the enemy.'

I had no problem with taking them in but some special requirements had to be met beforehand, for one I had to hire quite a few of my workers and guards to travel to their hometown to collect their personal belongings and any family members that may have wanted to join them. This was mostly for Twilight, Rarity, Rainbow and Pinkie since all that was really moving with them was their family members or in Rainbow's case her pseudo little sister, while the others like Aj and Fluttershy were a little more complicated.

For the apple farmer and animal caretaker I had to literally move every tree and animal in perfect condition to the Empire which was going on even now but it would be damn well worth it in the end, despite the worker's complaining about a certain old mare who was personally supervising the move and was none too quiet whenever one of them screwed something up, and an apparent demon disguised as a small white rabbit. Not only would I have some powerful and influential figures on my side, but also Celestia loses her main weapon against the world in the form of the Element's of Harmony. Of course Celestia tried to stop this from happening but a little threat about exposing her to the public shut her right up, gotta love blackmail as it opens so many doors.

Since then Twilight had become a part of my staff while also running a library close to the castle in her free time in order to, in her words, 'make up for the sins of my teacher.' Not like I was gonna complain! Other than Twilight, Rarity, with my help, had opened up an even better store than the one she owned in Ponyville. With Pinkie I had moved the Cake's bakery and even made some new additions upon Pinkie's request. Rainbow had been given command of the Empire's air forces and was working on making her own version of the Wonderbolt's which I supported fully. Applejack and Fluttershy were just to be given their usual jobs though now, if they needed it, they could call for all the help they needed. I heard about how crazy Applejack had gone when she had to do a harvest all by herself and I wasn't ready to deal with that mess happening in the Empire.

"Ah Twilight! So what's on the schedule for today?" I ask, eager to get away from the paperwork currently plaguing me.

"Well we have a new addition though whether it's good or bad depends on your view." she said nervously making me raise a brow in curiosity.

"Oh? And what is this 'new addition' if I may ask?"

"W-well.. ya see..." she began to stutter while trying to find the words. This went on for about a minute before I had officially had enough.

"Oh Twilight please just tell me! I'm not gonna bite your head off if I don't like it!" I say with frustration and making her blush in embarrassment.

"Well its just that... an ambassador from the Dragon Lands is here and requesting an audience!" she yelled and honestly I froze in shock. I expected to meet and negotiate with some other species in time but I didn't expect them to come to me! Especially the dragons of all creatures since from what I heard they tended to keep to themselves.

"...ooookay not what I was expecting but whatever. Have them meet me in the throne room in a few minutes Twilight, and relax. I doubt their gonna try anything while in the Empire but be polite and try not to agitate them okay?" I finally managed to say after gathering my wits.

With a nod Twilight left leaving me to try and figure out what I'm going to do about this. This meeting could either go really good or really bad. Best case scenario, I form an alliance or even a trade agreement with the dragons. Worst case scenario, I end up having to go back to dragon slaying as a past time.

"Can I never get a break around here?" I finally sigh before heading to the throne room to get ready to greet my guest.

Sitting in my throne I waited patiently for the dragon ambassador to arrive. I had given specific instructions for the meeting to be with myself and them alone so as t show a sign of trust. Plus if a fight did break out I wouldn't have to worry about anyone else being caught in the crossfire.

It was a few minutes later when the door was finally opened and in strode my guest, needless to say as far as dragons went she was an odd sight. Sure Spike was different from any other dragon I have met being far smaller and actually being bipedal, but I thought Spike may have been a unique case, guess I was wrong.

The dragoness was about as tall as I was but with a much slimmer build similar to Rainbow's, though that can be due to the bronze plated armor she wore. Her scales were a sky blue with very dark blue spines but a unique feature about her were the two curved horns sprouting from her head.

As I studied her I could see she was studying me as well. Seeing each-other we quickly stopped and I decided it would be best to introduce myself first.

"I am Raddin the Dragonborn and ruler of the Crystal Empire. Who might you be and what is your purpose here?" I announced.

"And I am Ember, daughter of the current Dragonlord Torch and his soon to be successor. I am here on my fathers will to hopefully get you as an ally to the dragon's." she said calmly but I could detect the small hint of annoyance when saying her father sent her, guess she's not one for taking orders.

"That remains to be seen. Now how about we do this, you ask me some questions that I will answer as truthfully as possible and vice versa?" I suggested.

"As long as the questions are within reason I don't see why not." responded Ember with crossed arms.

So for the next hour or so it went back and forth between us as I learned more about her kinds culture, or lack thereof, and she learned of mine in turn. Apparently the dragons had no 'official' form of government save that the Dragonlord's word is law. Their legends however were a different story. I don't know how or why but her kind seemed to revere the Dragonborn as a bringer of lost knowledge on their kind. Weird to hear but can't say I don't fit the criteria, I was after all teaching Spike and from what I can tell despite knowing of the dragon tongue none of them know how to use the Words of Power and can only shoot flames that are nowhere near as powerful as when done with a Shout.

Needless to say, at the end of it all I had agreed to the alliance that would be written up the following day and made my off to bed. Hopefully tomorrow would be a lot more mellow and I could finally sit back and drink some mead.

I don't know how long I had been asleep but now I was wide awake but still pretending to sleep. The current time was unknown to me but that didn't matter as my senses were more focused on the intruder in my room. They had woken me the moment they had opened the window to my quarters and by that point I knew their intentions were less then pleasant.

Being the target of Thalmor assassin's for as long as I have had made me a very light sleeper and I had figured that my guest was just that, an assassin. Whether they were sent by Celestia or one of the nobles I threw out of power I wasn't quite sure yet but that would come later.

With my breathing even and my form still I listened to the approach of my would be killer as the clopping of their hooves drew them ever closer. Seriously this guy must have been an amateur as he wasn't even wearing anything to muffle his approach, rookie mistake's like that cost you, and that's speaking from personal experience from my time in the Dark Brotherhood.

Just when they had made it to the edge of my bed I heard the drawing of a small blade and internally had to smirk. Mistake number two, making noise when drawing your weapon, now I knew this guy was an amateur. An assassin was only successful when he was able to make the kill quickly and quietly and still manage to get away. He's already failed the first two, and he's about to fail the third.

In an instant my eyes snapped open and my hand lashed up grabbing the wrist of my assailant just as he was bringing the knife down. Then with my free hand I deliver a jab to their throat making them choke a bit as they backed away after I released my grip on their wrist. Throwing away my covers I stand from my bed to face my attacker.

Their a pony, that much I can tell, and male judging from the shape of the body. They were about a head shorter than myself and dressed in some dark leather armor with a hooded cloak concealing their face with the jagged knife still in their hand as the other was massaging their still hurting throat. Seeing them made me feel a bit underdressed for the occasion, mostly because I was in nothing but my underwear.

"So someone finally decided to try and assassinate me huh? Honestly it took longer than I had expected but sending just one assassin after me? Now that is just insulting. So who sent you? Was it Celestia? A pissed of noble?" I asked casually not at all threatened by the would be killer as I could practically feel him glaring at me under his hood.

"Does it matter? You'll be dead soon anyway!" he roared before lunging at me with his knife. His speed surprised me for a moment but I still managed to avoid the strike while lashing out with a punch to his jaw which sent him stumbling. I moved to continue the assault but had to leap back when he lashed out with the knife once more and lightly cut me along the chest where it began to lightly bleed.

Glaring at my foe I was surprised when they brought the blade up to their shadowed face and licked the blood that was on the blade. Weirder still was the hum of pleasure they let out from said act. It was reminding me of a certain creature of the night I had faced many a time back in Skyrim but that couldn't be right, as far as I've gathered vampirism didn't even exist in this world so this guy couldn't be one.

Shaking those thoughts away I just managed to dodge my attacker again and his blade that was aimed for my throat. Instead of punching him again however, I instead spun behind him and wrapped my arms tightly around his midsection. With nary an effort I lifted him over my head in a classic suplex which slammed him headfirst into the ground behind me where I finally released my hold and allowed my assailant to flop on his back and groan in pain.

Standing over him I kick his blade away and with a huff of annoyance I kick him in the side of the head sending him into Vaermina's realm. Just as I did this my door was bust down and a bunch of guards rushed in with weapons drawn and followed by the Element's and my friends from Skyrim.

They took a few moments looking between me and my unconscious assailant with some of the girls blushing at my state of undress. After a few moments of this I started to get a little annoyed, there was a guy who just tried to kill me in my sleep laying on the floor and their more focused on the fact I sleep in my underwear!?

"...well what in the name of Talos are you lot waiting for, a written invitation!? Get this milk drinker down to the interrogation rooms now! I'll be down within the hour to get my answers out of him personally so I want him up and ready by then." I finally say getting the Guards to get into motion as they grabbed the assassin and ran out of the room with the other's following.

"Things just never get boring around here." I sigh to myself as I go to get dressed at which point I see exactly what time it is.

"It's only three in the morning!? Oh to Oblivion with everything!" I shout in frustration. Today was not shaping up to be a pleasant one and I still had some clown to interrogate.