The King of the Dovah

After hearing the ponies call me their new King everything sped by in a blur. My body was on auto pilot as my mind struggled to comprehend what was going on around me. How had retrieving a simple dwemer artifact lead to me becoming the King of a place not even in the same plane of existence as the one I came from? Sometimes I think the divines just love to fuck with my life.

So now here I sat in the throne that once belonged to Sombra with Aranea on my right and Erane on my left reading reports to me given to them by the ponies. Why aren't they as freaked out as I am with all of this!?

"The guards are only a third of what they were a thousand years ago and-" Erane was saying before I suddenly stood up making her stop and both her and Aranea look at me with raised brows.

"Is there something wrong Raddin?" asked Aranea.

"Something wrong? Of course there's something wrong! We've been in this world barely two days and yet in that time I have been crowned a King of these 'Ponies' and yet the two of you are acting like its the most normal thing on Nirn! Aren't you the least bit bothered by this?" I exclaimed finally letting out all of my pent up stress with my words rather than my sword.

Aranea and Erane briefly looked at each-other before looking back at me.

"Of course we're bothered by this Raddin. However we both know there is nothing any of us can do about it and have decided to just go along with what comes at us. Even if that means you being crowned a king. We'll need to get you a crown by the way." said Aranea before Erane then took over.

"She's right Listener. Plus can you really just walk away from these people? After reading the reports they won't last a week without some help and guidance. Now you and I both know that you wouldn't ever deny a single soul aid when they need it. Well they need it bad and the only way to give it is by being their king. Plus you wanted some excitement in your life so your getting what you asked for."

"Being a King wasn't what I had in mind at all. *sigh* but you are right Erane, I can't and won't deny them aid but I will be damned if I wear some damned fancy crown!" I declared making the two of them smile.

"Oh? Well then what do you plan to wear since your helm can't very well be your crown." pointed out Aranea with a smile that I quickly returned.

"Well for your information I have just the thing. Ulfric ended up giving it to me after the Civil War as a sign of thanks and it just so happens to be back... at the... manor." I trailed off as I had completely forgotten about my home that I had built with my own two hands and had lived in up until this point.

"Guards!" I called out and almost immediately twenty of them ran in and kneeled in front of me.

"Yes your highness." said the one in front as I rolled my eyes.

"Okay this isn't gonna work." I said with a shake of my head making the lead guard look up at me in confusion.

"Sire?"

"Listen buddy I can deal with the 'sire' and 'your highness' crap but the only ones I wish to bow before me are criminals and my enemies. You're my subject now and I will treat you with the same respect you have shown me. Now stand as I have an important task for you." I said as hesitantly all of the guards now stood at attention.

"Alright I want all of you plus a few volunteer workers to head to a manor just south of the Empire. I want you to bring everything inside that manor back to the castle but if at all possible I would like the manor itself brought inside the walls even if you have to tear it down and rebuild it inside. That place is very special to me so please be careful with everything." I said in a commanding yet kind tone.

Then with a quick round of 'yes sire's they were gone leaving me with my two closest friends and now advisors.

"So what needs to be done first?" I asked with a small smile. Maybe this was just the kind of thing my monotonic life needed.

2 months later

"By the Divines it's finally over...." I grumbled to myself as I collapsed face first onto my large, and quite comfy, bed.

Lacking my usual armor after being nearly nagged to death by Aranea I was now donned in an elegant crimson cape along with some brown silk trousers. Luckily I managed to get Aranea to let me wear some form of armor with it being a steel plated chest piece and boots. My most notable piece of attire however was the crown still on my head that was none other than the Jagged Crown worn by the first true king of Skyrim.

If I had known it would be this strenuous being a ruler of a kingdom I would have ran straight to Oblivion in an instant. Although, the job may be strenuous it was very rewarding. For every deed I did in helping the Empire grow it was always a pleasant feeling getting the thanks from my new citizens. I even heard they were making a statue for me already!

As I laid in my bed I lazily flipped over onto my back and stared at the sparkling crystal ceiling as I let my mind wander back to some of the things I had already accomplished in such a short time as a king.

2 weeks after becoming King

Sitting in my throne I was looking over the reports on the progress of the repairs to the city and they were sadly far behind schedule. It couldn't be helped though due to the small bit of manpower. Most of the citizens were still severely malnourished and weak thanks to Sombra and it would be another couple of weeks before they were ready to start working.

Thankfully the blacksmith's were in good shape but that's just because Sombra needed them healthy in order to make weapons for his army so it was sort of bitter sweet. Now I had to figure out how to get rebuilding back on track without working the citizens to death.

After an hour of thinking about it I had a crazy idea. It was a long shot at best but if I was right then I could kill two birds with one stone!

"Guard!" I called out and almost instantly a Guard was standing in front of me in a sloppy imitation of standing at attention. I silently made a note to improve the guards training as soon as possible. Otherwise this Empire wouldn't be around for very long.

"I want you to head to my private library and get me the book I have on the stand. I also want you to get another Guard to bring Aranea to me immediately." I ordered and with a quick salute the guard was off.

A few minutes later the same Guard returned with the book I had requested which I thanked him for and promptly sent him back to his post. The tome in my hands was the most prized one in my possession and one I kept away from Aranea whenever possible and for good reason. Now however though desperate times call for desperate measure's.

Just then the doors to the throne room opened to reveal Aranea walking in with a curious look on her face.

"Raddin, why did you send for me?" she asked as she stopped in front of my throne.

"I have an idea you would be most interested in Aranea. If this works than not only will we speed up the reconstruction of the Empire, but we may also upgrade our military power immensely. And it all has to do with you, me and this book." I said with a smile as she looked at me even more intensely before looking at the book in my hands. Upon seeing it her eyes widen in surprise.

"Is that the-" she started before I finished for her.

"The Ogma Infinium. The book of infinite knowledge as it were."

She was silent for a good while as I let her take in the fact I had the greatest source of knowledge in all of Nirn in my hands. Eventually though she began to regain her composure and now looked at me with barely restrained glee with her interest now peeked to the fullest.

"And what is this plan you have that requires such an artifact?"

"If this book has the immense knowledge that I am sure it does I want you to go through the book and find the info on the Dwemer. More specifically I want you to find the knowledge of their automatons and how they are made. Then put the smith's to work in building them with the materials we have. Are you up for it?" I asked with a hidden challenge in my statement.

Aranea's response was a smirk and crossing her arms before saying, "when do I start?"

Present

I laughed as I thought back on that day. Not even three days later and Aranea was already an expert on the Dwarven automatons. Granted we didn't have the necessary materials usually found in making them but we found great substitutes that actually lead to even greater advancements.

While we lacked the Dwarven metal it was found out that the endless crystal mines connected to and iron ore vein that was as near endless as the crystals! Instead of using the iron though we decided to use stronger metals which was made possible due to mine and Aranea's use of our transmutation spells which we had perfected and even improved upon to the point of changing iron into ebony ore.

The mass amount of such an ore needed was too much for just two mages to handle though and after a suggestion from Aranea I had a wing of the castle changed into the Crystal College where Aranea now taught those who were willing to learn our version of Magicka. She would teach them until they were at the adept level in at least three schools of their choosing before letting them decide where they could go from there.

They could either train to become battle mages in the guard, or continue their studies with her and one day become teachers themselves. Important thing was though that the more who learned how to use the transmutation spell the greater the ebony ore supply increased. We still kept the iron ore to sell or simply turn into gold and silver for profit to be sold at a later date.

Next came finding the power source for the automatons which was actually the easiest problem to solve. Upon examining the crystal's upon sheer curiosity Aranea discovered the crystals were very similar to soul gems only with a few slight differences with the main one being that they drew in magic straight from the crystal heart constantly making them an endless supply of power. A simple chuck the size of my fist was enough to power a Centurion for Talos sake!

So now we had dozen of Spider's helping in the building of the empire. Sphere's patrolling the streets and walls of the Empire and two Centurions guarding the gates.

While this had been going on I had personally saw to it that the guards received the best training possible. Did I train them? Fuck no! Instead I had a very good friend of mine do it for me.

After practicing my Call of Valor I discovered that I could summon more than just Gormlaith, Felldir and Hakon to battle with me. Turns out that with enough practice I could summon any hero from Sovngarde I wished. And that is exactly what I did by summoning one of my old mentors Kodlak Whitemane.

The old dog was more than happy to pass on his knowledge of the Companions to the guards but it went a little to well in my opinion. Damn ponies were so damn impressionable that after the first three days they were all calling each-other shield brother and shield sister respectively. They started calling me Harbinger as well instead of 'my lord' or anything of the like so I guess it wasn't all bad.

So with the guard getting back into shape it was time for me to remake something that can either make or break a kingdom... intelligence.

6 weeks after becoming King

At this time instead of being in my throne I was in my personal armory that the guards had generously remade in almost the exact same manner as it was in my manor. Good thing to so I didn't have to spend a good few hours trying to figure out where everything was again. Though right now I was holding a rather particular weapon that was definitely older than I was by a good hundred or so years.

"You called for me Listener?" asked Erane as she walked into the room through the doors I had left open.

"Yes I did. I needed to talk to you about something important that I know only you would be fit for." I said without looking at her.

"Well it's about time. Reading you reports got old real quick. So what do you need me for?"

Hearing this I couldn't help the smile that spread across my face as I turned to face her with the weapon still in my hands. When Erane saw said weapon her once curious face turned into one of awe as she recognized the weapon.

"B-b-but that's-" she began only for me to finish.

"The Blade of Woe. The weapon and symbol of the leader of the Dark Brotherhood. You see Erane the reason I called you here is because I want to remake the Brotherhood.... with you as it's commander." I said dropping the stone as it were. The sight of Erane's shocked face was nearly enough to make me burst out laughing.

"W-w-what! B-b-but I can't, I-"

"But nothing Erane. You and I are the only ones who knows the in's and outs of the Dark Brotherhood. I'm a king now and can't do it myself so that leaves you to do so in my stead. I need an intelligence division and I can find no better than a guild of assassin's to do the deed. As such you need the symbol of your new station." I said while holding out the blade to her.

Hesitantly she reached out and took the blade in her hands with care. I understood her reverence of the ancient weapon of the Brotherhood but that didn't mean it made me feel a bit awkward.

"Any strings attached with the job?" asked Erane after finally snapping herself out of her little moment of awe.

"Only that you answer to me and me alone as well as those you want to join have to be approved by me first and that's only if they accept alright?" I said laying out the terms for her which in my opinion weren't much of a problem.

"....so where are my first batch of trainees?" asked Erane as she slid the Blade of Woe into her belt. Gotta love a women who doesn't beat around the bush.

Present

And like that the Empire was well on its way to getting back on its feet. Strangely enough the farms weren't as much of a hassle as I thought they would be and the food stores had enough to last the Empire well over a year and a half giving plenty of time for the farmers to get back into the groove of things and supplying food.

If that wasn't enough then the fact that the snow around the Empire was starting to steadily decline revealing fresh grassland underneath. It took some explaining from one of my pony advisors to get me to understand that the Crystal Heart, the Empire's source of power, was the one behind it. The happiness of the citizens was reflected in the Crystal Heart's power and the happier the Empire the greater it would prosper.

I was broken from my trip down memory lane due to the entry of both Aranea and Erane who both gave me looks of annoyance at seeing me just lying on my bed.

"Raddin do you know what time it is?" asked/demanded Aranea.

"Ummm, time for dinner?" I asked not really sure what she or Erane were talking about. As far as knew I had gotten done with all of my work today so why were they still bugging me?

"No you skeever brain! Today's the day you make your speech to the Empire! You were supposed to do so at your inauguration but due to the detrimental state of the Empire it was put off. Now that things have somewhat stabilized you are expected to make up for it! Now get up and inspire your people!" declared Erane as she kicked me off my bed and onto the floor harshly.

I didn't even bother trying to talk my way out of it as I knew it wouldn't work with these two. So instead I sucked it up and with a quick swig of ale for courage walked down the halls towards the balcony where I would be in plain view of the citizens of the Empire and where I would be heard clearly.

Walking down the halls on either side stood guards now bereft of the traditional crystal armor and instead they now all wore the Wolf armor the Companions favored. As I said before, impressionable. But it was a much more welcome sight than those damned eyesore of crystal armor. They were more for show than anything else!

Eventually though I stepped out onto the small balcony where below me thousands of ponies who had blindly followed me these past months stood waiting to hear what I had to say. On either side of me stood Erane and Aranea with looks of encouragement that helped ease my worries somewhat as I wasn't much of a public speaker save for when on the battlefield.

Taking a deep breath to steady myself and collect my thoughts I step forward and speak loud enough for my voice to carry down to the ponies far below which was helped by the enchantments placed up to amplify my voice.

"Ponies. My citizens. For two whole months now you have followed me, a man whom you are only seeing and hearing from for the first time. I know some of you may still distrust me even after slaying the tyrant Sombra, that you wonder if you just traded one tyrant for another. I am here to say that I am nothing like that monster. When I came to the Empire I didn't come with the mind to kill Sombra and take his place. No, I killed him because the crimes he had committed against you, his own people, were worthy of death. Now I may look different and my customs may be different, even barbaric to you in some ways but I assure you that as long as I wear this crown as your King I will do everything in my power to ensure that this Empire continues to prosper as it has these passed couple of months. If you don't trust me as a person than trust in my beliefs that this Empire can and will become better than it ever has before! This is my oath to you not as a King but upon my very soul, that if I should fail or falter in this oath than let me be cast into Oblivion itself!" I declare proudly.

Almost as soon as I had finished the crowd erupted in cheers and shouts of joy making my heart swell with pride. Turning to Aranea and Erane I see them giving me smiles of pride while behind them stood the guards. Once I set me sights on them they all kneel in unison before the one in front says, "we are ready to follow you, our King."

And in that moment I realized just how lucky I was to be the King of such a place. Not for the riches, the praise or even the respect garnered from such a position. Rather it was the simple fact of knowing that these ponies trust me enough to follow me to whatever ends and the sheer pride of knowing that I can have them proudly call me their King. I had unknowingly made another promise in that moment. Not to just bring the Empire itself to glory but to also be a King that these ponies could be proud of.

On my title as Dragonborn I would not fail these ponies. No, not ponies, my people. My citizens. My Empire.