“You look dashing, your majesty.”

Grover whirled about on the spot, nearly tripping and barely righting himself as his old friend continued into the room. Benito wasn’t wrong, he never was in truth, but the emperor had found it a little difficult to accept that compliment.

“Thank you. That means more from you than it does from the tailors,” The golden-feathered griff responded, smiling as he stepped forward past the table that he had almost fallen over.

The dog laughed haughtily and snorted as diamond dogs are prone to doing from time to time. He himself looked quite the gentleman, dressed up in his full military regalia for the day’s main event. As the Captain of the Royal Guard he had plenty of brass added on top of his already prestigious green-gold uniform. Grover remembered how he had looked in it for his father’s funeral all those years ago; age hadn’t really dulled the hound’s looks, even though he was now eighty-six. Unsurprisingly, he was planning to retire from his position not long after the coronation. Nocreature could fault him for that.

Turning to look at himself again in the mirror, the emperor finally admitted to himself that he did look the part. Besides the old artefacts that he would have to both wear and carry, the newly designed royal robes were quite something. They incorporated colours and elements of older regal wear such as the robe, but placed them upon a much more modern quasi-military uniform which looked really rather fetching. Between the golden trim, the golden buttons and everything else that was gold or gold-tinted; there was black, or in smaller areas purple. It really was quite the look, even without the crown and various other bits and pieces it was undeniably impressive; to the point where he actually felt a little small wearing it.

But his appearance wasn’t why he was nervous.

His mind was occupied with something far more pressing. Das Griffonische Reich was the world’s leading superpower, a status which likely wouldn’t change even if the nation was chronically mismanaged for several decades. Whilst the responsibility itself was terrifying, far more concerning was what such a title meant internationally.

Right this second it meant that the Nightmare and her husband King Sombra were invited to and present at his coronation, as was River Swirl. Nobody wanted the former pair here, nobody even wanted them close to the heart of the empire; but it was a necessary evil in order to make it out as though the empire favoured no side and could thusly maintain amicable relations with Equestria-Cyrstalia and the River Federation’s respective leadership. They had taken measures to secure the safety of the emperor and the rest of the attendees, but there is only so much one can do when in the presence of a demigod and her partner. He just had to hope and pray to Boreas that they wouldn’t cause a fuss.

“I’m sure they won’t do anything dangerous Grover.” Benito said reassuringly, recognising the look on his friend’s face almost instantly; snapping the griffon out of his contemplation.

He turned to face the hound again and titled his head with a slight frown. He was always right, but his majesty never knew how he could be so certain in his claims.

“After all, if they jeopardise their relations with the empire at such a critical moment then they risk a crisis which they are sure to back down from. For all their power, the moon and her lapdog can do naught but cower when threatened with the talons of Boreas’ chosen.” The old warrior explained with a warm smile and surprising vigour.

“As usual, you’re right. That doesn’t make their presence any less unnerving, unfortunately.” Grover agreed, sighing slightly and plodding over to his long-time friend.

“No, but it does mean you can be nervous whilst wearing a smile rather than a frown. You hold sway over the moon itself your highness!” Benito retorted with a toothy grin.

“That I do. That I do,” He conceded, finally cracking a smile of his own and letting out a slight chuckle.

But for how long could they rely on such sway?

~*~

A booth in the cathedral just for them? How pleasant, if entirely unsurprising. They’d even gone out of their way to enlarge the seats slightly in order to properly accommodate an alicorn. That was very polite of these feather-brains. Sombra could tell that his wife was pleased, as much as she could be, with the arrangement.

“Come, love. Sit and enjoy the festivities,” Nightmare called softly with her usually devious smile, already sat comfortably on the provided furniture.

The king smirked just a little and trotted slowly over to his partner before sitting beside the alicorn who, naturally, was little taller than he was; even when seated.

“You’re in a very good mood aren’t you… Not planning something, I hope?” He asked, nuzzling his snout into her deep blue coat.

“Well, not at this precise moment.” She returned, half playfully and half in earnest, “Since we are here by necessity and little else, I think it would be best if we enjoyed this time; don’t you think? I would rather reduce them all to quivering heaps of feathers, but that would be… Problematic.”

After the ceremony would be the celebrations; there they could terrify some of the guests, ‘inadvertently’ disrespect griffon customs, perform some less-than-appropriate-party tricks involving mind control... She could have meant so many things by that, which was part of the reason why he adored her.

“I quite agree. There’s nothing quite like making the most of your time,” The king concurred with a smile as the alicorn leaned over, resting her head on top of his for a moment.

For now however, they would simply have to wait out the ceremony. A necessary and dull evil for the both of them.

Within the cathedral there was possibly the greatest collection of important figures in recorded history. Many ministers from the empire along with goodness knows how many generals and nobles made up the greatest portion of the griffons on the pews below, alongside the emperor’s regents who were foolishly handing over their power to this child. Delegates from the Federation and River Swirl herself sat directly across from them; these weaklings had tried to sustain their sprawling and diverse republic with democracy, only to lose a war to the empire. Pathetic creatures.

“There he is, the traitor.” Sombra suddenly exclaimed with a snarl, looking towards the back of the building which she hadn’t yet inspected.

Jet Set, the puppet governor of New Mareland, had been reinstated by the empire once they had wrangled the colony from its separatist socialist overlords. He was a disgrace, both for letting such a revolution take place to begin with and for cooperating with their single greatest rival. Nightmare would have had him executed on the spot, if the opportunity had presented itself.

“I wouldn’t worry about him dearest… See his expression every time he glances up at us? The anxiety? The fear in his eyes? This is a greater revenge than we could every impart upon him through simple death or torture,” She noted with a cackle which drew one or two looks from the congregation.

Sombra grunted and relaxed, calmed by his wife’s words. He didn’t like it when ponies rebelled and lived to tell the tale, there was a reason why he had become so obsessed with mind control after all, but Jet certainly did look terrified. That was enough for him, at least for now.

Yes, it was quite the mass. They even had a seating area for the dogs, despite the fact that they were now an incredibly small minority within the empire. Neither of them understood why they were as loyal to the emperor as they were.

At least if they enjoyed themselves this wouldn’t be a complete waste of time.

~*~

Grover’s uniform wasn’t the only thing that was new about the ceremony. In fact, the vast majority of it was a new spin on an old idea. Instead of a carriage, the emperor now made use of an open-topped car; provided in a special order by one of the Herzland manufacturers, he forgot which one. It was a beautiful thing, black and trimmed with gold much like his attire; a machine fit for the boy, as the designer had said almost a year ago now. The royal guard wore their ancient enchanted armour, but held fully automatic magic rifles instead of halberds as they had done for his father.

The streets that the procession travelled through, once sprawling cobblestone and ancient paving were now tarmacked roads; roads that were lined with both old townhouses and new blocks of flats which themselves were beginning to get almost as tall as the cathedral that he was about to be crowned in. Everything was a combination of the new and the old, which would have made Griffenheim a marvel in its own right even if it wasn’t the largest and most prosperous city in all of Griffonia. Needless to say, the streets and buildings were chock-full of griffons, dogs and even ponies as far as the eye could see. Some waved, most cheered and all of them looked ecstatic.

The noise was deafening, with hundreds or thousands of citizens cheering on the kronprinz depending on which part of the journey they were on. It was almost enough to make Grover forget that he would only get this kind of reception here in the Herzland. The Wingbardians and Aquileians would more likely take the opportunity to attempt an assassination and the less thought about what might happen in the frontier the better. The empire was unified and functional, but the emperor represented everything that its diverse citizens might even think of hating. The wars of unification and the devastation they left in their wake, the return to monarchy from republicanism, a strong central government or even just the fact that their country was soon to be led by an eighteen-year-old; all were things that many despised outside of the nation’s heartland.

He couldn’t help but think that he was unprepared for this role, even if he’d spent his life so far preparing for it. The responsibility was just… Immense.

~*~

The rest of the journey flew by as the soon-to-be emperor occupied himself with thinking, waving and not falling over in the back of the car whenever it turned. Before he knew it, they had pulled to a stop just outside the massive building that his ancestors had been coronated in; as Grover himself was about to be.

As was tradition, the head of the royal guard led the emperor from his ‘carriage’ whilst flanked by his subordinates, until they reached the cathedral doors. As the spectacled griffon’s entourage peeled off, Benito threw him a wink; which caused a spontaneous smile. It wasn’t something he was supposed to do, but it was something that the young griff was immensely thankful for. This was when the tension was highest, when the cheering became a bearable volume and eventually stalled for the ceremony itself, when the world put him on a stage.

This was the first time a coronation would be filmed for the world to see too; there were plenty of cameras, already rolling as he set claw to red carpet inside the building. They wouldn’t just be recording video either, but capturing audio also; his vows to the country before he was crowned and the ensuing applause would be heard as well as watched. Well, the smile would look better on camera; the griffons that they’d hired for the broadcast had said as much.

The sound around him fell away slowly as he paced down the walkway, looking slowly from left to right between the various native dignitaries; then up at the balcony areas where most of the foreign guests were. He caught a glimpse of Nightmare and Sombra, both of whom seemed to have been making mischievous grins even before he’d spotted them. Just the thought of their scheming almost made him stop and start, but Grover continued plodding up to the throne.

Now for what was the planners had been calling the most grandiose part of the event. In front of the gold-feathered griffon the steps to the imperial throne lay; atop them the seat itself. He stopped and bowed before the throne and other emperors long past by proxy, as was tradition, before ascending the steps himself.

He wanted to stare at the throne for a moment, just to get any time more to contemplate this monumental decision that would define the rest of his life. But it was too late for that. He couldn’t marvel at the beautifully restored seat, the paintings that had been made in his honour or the fantastically decorated building which had been refurbished for this exact moment.

He was already on the seat, foreclaws on the armrests and head rigidly forward. From his left Karsten Grundgriff, Archon of Boreas, approached him holding the imperial crown followed by Hephaestus the Third, Archon of Eyr, with the imperial sceptre in one claw and a replica of the Idol of Boreas in the other. They stopped just beside him, the former taking his left and the other standing strong on his right.

“Will you swear upon your honour, life and devotion to Boreas to govern the multitudinous creatures of the Griffonisches Reich, in addition to the autonomous territories of Neustutenland, the Kingdom of Asterion and the Far North?” Karsten started, beginning the ceremony proper with the oaths.

“I solemnly swear that I shall,” The kronprinz returned, his voice echoing off of the cathedral walls.

“Will you, with all the powers granted to you, rule for law and justice; with mercy for all your subjects?” The archon continued, words booming out.

“I will,”

“Will you to the utmost of your power maintain the will of Boreas and the true profession of his most holy gospel? Will you in all of your granted strengths maintain the oaths of your forefathers before you? Will you with these gifts from our gods that raise the sun and the moon, do all in your power to work in service of your people before all else?”

“All this I promise to do. The things which I have before promised, I will perform and keep; so help me Boreas.” The young griffon finished, wondering for a moment what Nightmare’s feelings about their griffon gods encroaching on her moon were.

Some more ceremony followed, the anointing and the providing; all without issue, as expected for an event so rehearsed as this. Grover didn’t need to think much for those, only sit in his chair stoically until it was time to receive the crown jewels.

With the other ancient parts of this millennia old ritual now over, the golden-feathered griffon turned over his talons to take the artefacts in his grasp. First the replica idol was presented and placed in his left claw, then the sceptre in his right and finally the crown upon his head. They stepped away, allowing silence to fill the hall for a few moments and giving the crowd full view of the griffon that was moments away from becoming their emperor.

Grover looked for just a second at his smiling aunt and uncle, sitting in the front row of pews. They looked so happy, Gabriela in particular was beaming with pride. Then they stood, along with all the other attendees in almost perfect unison.

“Boreas save the emperor! Eyr grant him prosperity! Arcturius smite his enemies! All hail Emperor Grover!” Cried out the seated congregation first, then again along with the foreign guests and a third time with complete conviction.

The nation cheered with them then, outside the cathedral, in their homes across the Herzland and even in some places further afield. Grover stood and stepped down from the throne for his outward procession as the congregation took to their hooves, claws and paws to bow and applaud.

Finally the kaiser could look freely upon his subjects, gazing from the upper booths in the left of the hall to the central pews and then back up again to the right-hand-side. He couldn’t help but smile, for all his fears. This experience was something truly spectacular. The Emperor of Griffonkind could even make out River Swirl bowing out of respect, though Nightmare and Sombra simply stood and watched silently. They had at least been courteous enough to rise, which was more than he had earnestly expected.

For now, it was good to be emperor.

Author's Note

Well hey, this is planned to be my first longfic; hopefully that plan comes to fruition.

This is going to be based broadly off of my Feathers, Flaws and Family fic; starting instead at Grover VI's coronation and moving along until (and hopefully beyond) the events of that short story. With any luck I can create a decent character story and an engaging political scene, so here's to that.