Gilda stepped out of the bakery, head held high and wings slightly lifted and fanned out against her sides, not surprised to see that much of the town was waiting outside. They were perched on every surface and even hovering in the air, all of them trying to act like they hadn’t just been looking at her door. The whole place was filled with a lot of random squawking and other useless chatter. She had never seen so many griffons in one place before.
She stepped forward, giving Celestia enough room to follow her out. Scanning over the crowd, Gilda spotted Grandpa Gruff near the dead tree. The old buzzard might have been as annoying as a chunk of gristle, but he had a good head under that dumb hat of his and he didn’t take crap from anygriff. She couldn’t think of any other griffon who could do the job, she just had to not let him know about it beforehand.
Taking in a deep breath, she yelled out at the top of her lungs. “Hey, idiots!” Moments later the conversations all came to a stop and the flying griffons landed, pressing into the tightly packed crowd. A crowd that was now completely focused on her.
Gilda fought to keep her cool under so much attention, the force of it nearly crushing her. She squared her shoulders, and took a few more steps forward to put herself between them and the princess. No matter how confident she was trying to look, her thrashing tail made it clear just how nervous she really was. She ran her talons over her chest and fanned her wings out wider as she spoke.
“It turns out that the princess here wants to try and help us. Not just those of us here in Griffonstone, but all of us in the Griffon Kingdom,” she said, raising her voice as loud as she could.
A murmur went through the crowd, but they were still focused on her.
“Now we all know how ponies are, and I doubt that she’s talking out of her plot. It’s not like she can make anything worse around here! Here’s the deal. She wants to give us bits, food and all the help we need to rebuild this dump. She is going to give us everything.”
“What’s the catch?” some griffon in the crowd called out.
Gilda paused, glancing over her shoulder at Celestia before returning her attention the crowd. “You’re right, there is always a catch. Even when dealing with ponies. In this case it’s a big one, the Griffon Kingdom will become a part of Equestria.”
Silence fell over the square like a stone.
Celestia quickly stepped forward to stand beside Gilda, then started to speak, her voice effortlessly floating over the crowd. “The Griffon Kingdom will not cease to exist, it will be remade as a self governing part of Equestria. You will have your own laws, your own rulers and your own government. And you will all become citizens of Equestria, with all the rights and entitlements that every other citizen has.”
That didn’t seem to have an effect on the crowd as they all stared at both Gilda and Celestia with unblinking eyes.
The attention made Gilda’s wings sink slightly, but the princess hardly seemed to notice it as she continued. “I’m not looking to take away your homes, in fact I promise each and every one of you that you will be able to keep your land and your homes.”
“What if we don’t want to become a part of your happy magical pony land?” someone called out from deep in the crowd. A few seconds later the griffons parted around a young tom, exposing him to Celestia’s inevitable wrath.
The only thing Celestia did was smile at the young griffon. “Once your government and country are back on their hooves and no longer in need of ponies to help hold it up, you will be able to choose if you wish to remain a part of Equestria. It will be a number of years before that can happen, but when that day comes we will respect whatever you decide to do. I don’t want to take your country away from you, I want give it back to you.”
A new wave of murmuring started up in the crowd, but there was a different tone to it. They almost sounded hopeful as they spoke with each other, their voices growing louder by the moment. Gilda took that as her cue to step back in.
“Now, if we want this help from the ponies—to get the bits, and the food, and everything else she’s promising—if we are willing to become part of Equestria, then we need to appoint a ‘King’s Regent’,” she made air quotes with her talons. “To do that, we need to have ourselves a little vote. If the majority of us can decide on the poor son-of-Discord who gets the job, we can—“
“That’s you!” a voice yelled out from the back of the crowd.
Gilda didn’t even have time to correct them before another voice spoke up, “I second that!”
“Wait—“ she called out, but couldn’t even finished the thought before being interrupted again.
“All in favor?” the first voice yelled out. A moment later the crowd broke into a roar that seemed to shake the whole town. It was as if a thundercloud had gone off right on top of Gilda, the sound loud enough to make her guts quake.
Gilda found herself frozen in place, looking out over the crowd as the echoes faded away. This had all gone wrong and she had no idea how to fix it. This was a job for Gruff, not for her! “Anyone against?” she squawked out, her voice cracking around the words.
There were a few scattered cries, but they were almost silence compared to what had come before.
“Crap,” She muttered under her breath, pinching the top of her beak with her talons. It took a few moments to compose herself, brushing her talons down over her keel, smoothing out the feathers that had been ruffled.
Lifting her head, she glared out at the crowd. “Fine! If you want me to do it, then I’ll bucking do it!” she snapped, then with a huff she spun around in place and stalked back into the shop. She wanted to slam the door in her wake, but Celestia was following as close as the tuft on her tail.
The princess closed the door the moment they were both inside the shop. “That… was unexpected.”
Gilda spun around to face the princess, her feathers and fur bristling and she jabbed the tip of one talon against the gem on the mare’s chest piece. “I don’t like this! I don’t know how to do any of this crap that you want me to do. I’m a flyer and a baker, I’m not some… some… politician!” she spat out the word, finding that it tasted as foul as it sounded.
That didn’t seem to bother the princess, she just smiled that annoying smile of hers that never quite seemed to reach her eyes. “Gilda, they trust you enough to task you with this job. More may be asked of you in the future, but for now all you need to do is stand as Regent.”
“I don’t have to like it,” she grumbled, pulling away from Celestia and stalking back to the table, dropping into her chair with a heavy thud.
The princess nodded as she sat back down, lighting her horn and lifting a thick scroll out of her saddle bag. Her golden magic danced across the surface as she set it down in front of Gilda. “This is the treaty.”
“Fine, where do I sign?” Gilda asked, crossing her forelegs.
“I would recommend that you read it first. The last thing you want is to be surprised by some detail when you can no longer change it,” she warned.
That made Gilda roll her eyes. “I don’t care about that. Once this thing is done we can get a new king and then it’s off my wings,” she replied as she picked up the scroll.
Celestia shook her head, sending a wave along the length of her floating mane. “It will not be a king, such a position would outrank my sister and myself. Just as with the Crystal Empire, your new ruler will be a princess. Or a prince in the case of a male leader. Regardless of that, you still should read it.”
“I don’t care what the fine print says. Just be honest with me, is there anything in this treaty of yours that will be bad for griffons?” Gilda asked.
“I do not believe that is the case,” was the princess’s exacting reply.
Nodding, Gilda started to dig at the wax seal on the scroll. “Fine, where do I sign?” she asked.
Celestia frowned, the mask that she always wore on her face falling away for a moment to show a number of worry lines around her eyes and the corners of her mouth. “Gilda, while griffons as a whole should not be harmed by this treaty, the same cannot be said for yourself. If you sign this you will—“
“I don’t care!” she snapped, slamming a foreclaw onto the table. “I trust you. You ponies are stupidly honest, so I trust you. Now. Where. Do. I. Sign?”
Celestia lowered her head, every emotion falling away to leave her face completely blank. She sat that way for a few moments before letting out a heavy sigh, her violet eyes locking with Gilda’s. “Then on your own head be it,” she said.
Her horn glowed again as she reached back into her bags as the warmth returned to her face, pulling out two quills and a pot of ink and setting them on the table. “You need to sign at the start of the scroll, declaring that you are the appointed King’s Regent. Then you will need to sign at the end of the document, as will I. Once we both sign it, it can no longer be changed. It must be ratified by your people through another vote, but once that’s done it will become binding, and your kingdom will become part of Equestria.” She carefully worked free the stopper on the ink as she spoke, not spilling a drop of it.
“Good,” Gilda replied, finally breaking the seal and rolling out the scroll. Taking the quill, she dipped it into the ink and carefully wrote out her name at the start of the document, making sure it was as perfect as she could make it. After waiting a few moments for the ink to dry she unrolled the rest of the scroll—which was at least three wings long—and allowed the excess to spill across the table. It was covered with so many words that even the thought of reading it gave her a headache. At the very end of it was a place for two signatures: hers and Celestia’s.
Dipping the quill back into the ink, she put her familiar scrawling signature on the line, then pushed the document over to the princess. “There.”
Celestia took the quill in her magic as she turned the treaty to face her. Quickly she applied her long and looping signature to the document, the ink talking on a glittery shine as she wrote. The moment she lifted the quill from the parchment there was a flash of magic as the document was sealed, unalterable by anypony.
“I will make a duplicate of this and have the copy sent to Canterlot. After that I will start to arrange the transfer of bits and aid while you arrange for it to be ratified. I suggest that you should give them at least two weeks to allow them to read it first,” she said as she carefully rolled the scroll back up.
“Thank you, Princess Celestia,” Gilda said, slumping back down into her chair, the energy just draining from her as her wings sagged until her primaries were brushing the floor. This was the biggest thing she had ever done in her life, and all because she had made a bakery.
“You are very welcome,” Celestia replied, pausing for a moment to give her a smile. “Princess Gilda.”
It took about three seconds for what the mare had said to sink in. “What!?” Gilda squawked, pushing back from the table with enough force to send her chair tumbling backwards, only a flap of her wings keeping her from going down with it.
The princess’s smile turned into a smirk that wouldn’t look out of place on a griffon. “Section Seventeen, about the establishment of your new ongoing government. The highest title is, as I said before, princess, and to insure the continuity of government it will be bestowed upon the highest-ranking authority in the previous government. Or to put it simply, you are now the ruler of the Griffon Kingdom.”
Gilda stared at the mare is disbelief for a few moments before putting her face into her foreclaws. “Oh bucking hell, you’re not kidding, are you?”
“No, not in this case. I did try to tell you, even after you refused to read the treaty, but you insisted. Of course, once the government is established and functioning you can step down, but it will take a great deal of time and effort to reach that point.”
She let out a groan and pressed her face deeper into her palms.
Celestia placed a hoof on her shoulder. “Gilda, your people not only choose you, but did so very enthusiastically. I think you will do well leading them.”
Lifting her head up, Gilda glared at the princess, wishing she had the guts to rake her talons across that smug face.
The mare pulled her hoof away, picking up a second scroll from her bag. She held it, the treaty, and the bottle of ink together in her magic. There was a flash of power, and a stream of golden letters flowed from one scroll and into the bottle of ink, then from there they continued down into the second scroll.
Gilda watched the princess, trying to find the right words to say but discovering that she had nothing left. All she could do was stare as she sank back to the ground, dropping onto her belly the moment her feet touched down. Her head was spinning as she tried to comprehend what had just happened, she didn’t even know if it was possible to describe it in just words. Her whole life was suddenly turned upside-down, and she had no idea what to do about it. This wasn’t what she wanted! She wasn’t a leader, she didn’t know how to make speeches or rally griffons or anything else that a leader needed to do. She wasn’t a princess.
After the magic faded away, Celestia took the copy of the scroll and tucked it into her saddle bag as the original went back on the table. “Now, there is one last thing we must attend to before we go and introduce you to your people,” she said, lifting a bundle of cloth out of her saddle bags and setting it on the table.
Slowly, Gilda climbed back into her chair, glancing over to the counter where Greta and Skychart were watching with open mouths. They were both her employees and Greta was her oldest friend. She was glad they were there, because for the first time in her life she felt like she really needed help, that she couldn’t do this alone.
Not sure what else to do, she reached out and unfolded the cloth to reveal a pair of crowns. One she recognized from the history Gruff had forced into her head; it was the crown of King Grover. The gold was worn in places, but it had been polished and the ruby glittered with its own light. The second crown was much smaller, and much closer to the style of what Celestia wore: a tiara with a trio of points rising from it, the center one was taller than the two flanking it. In the center of each point was a large sapphire, and like the first crown, it too was made of gold.
“Which one would you like?” the princess asked.
Gilda froze, her eyes going wide as she looked at the crowns. This was really happening, suddenly the whole kingdom was on her shoulders and the crown would make it official. There had to be a way out of it, Celestia would never sign a treaty that didn’t have a way out. She could just run out the door and fly as far as her wings could take her. No griffon would question her on it, Celestia could just find some other idiot willing to be a princess. Just run away and never look back…
She curled one claw into a fist and pressed it against her keel. The idea of her running away was ridiculous, she had never run away from anything in her life! Not school, not bullies, not even her ‘not really’ family. She wasn’t always the bravest, or the smartest, or the nicest, but nothing would make her turn tail and run like a hatchling.
Letting out a breath, she let her eyes focus on the crowns. Then, she reached out a trembling claw and picked up the smaller one. She held it for a moment, looking at it like it was about to bite her beak off before carefully put it on her head. It hardly weighed anything, even though she felt crushed under it. “I feel like a peacock,” she muttered.
“Well, I think you look grand,” Celestia replied.
“It does suit you,” Skychart quipped from his place by the counter. It was enough to attract Celestia’s attention, causing the pegasus to let out a yelp and duck back under cover.
Greta walked around the counter and up to the table. She paused for a moment to look at Gilda, then smiled and gave her a deep bow. “Your Highness.”
“Don’t you dare start that with me,” Gilda said, poking a talon at her friend. “I’m still your boss and I still want the stoves working.”
The green tinged griffon smiled. “Of course Gilda, I’ll get back to that once we’re done with Princess Celestia,” she replied, giving a slight nod to the mare.
The princess smiled and walked over to Gilda, using a bit of magic to adjust the new crown and her feathers. “Come now, let us go and introduce you to your griffons,” she declared, then walked back to the front door, opening it with her magic.
Gilda slowly followed after, suddenly even more unsure about what her future held.