Finally, the day has arrived. It was the day of Gilda’s coronation. It is time for her to take the role of a queen. She kept thinking about the dream she had about King Grover and didn’t know how she could explain, so she keep it to herself and just went on with her day.
It was still morning, and everyone was getting ready for the big day. The venue is still in progress as decorations weren’t in place yet. Eventually, the Friendship Express showed up at the train station with an interesting train of rolling stock. It pulled the coaches it usually hauled, but it also had a few boxcars. The ponies that were on the train started unpacking the crates, furniture, and a colorful-looking cannon. Greta, who’s ready to be Gilda’s advisor, was heading to the train station to greet them. As she greets them, she could see two familiar ponies that the soon-to-be queen was close with: Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash.
They were both checking over the cargo being unloaded from the train when Greta walked over to introduce herself to them. “Hello there,” the advisor spoke. “I assume you two are here to set up the coronation, am I right?’
“We sure are,” Pinkie confirmed. “I got everything ready and waiting to be set up.”
“How’s Gilda doing?” Dash asked.
“She did a great show yesterday,” Greta responded. “Really put some griffs in their place.”
“Awesome. I gotta ask her about that.” They looked back to one of the coaches, where Rarity stepped out, carrying Gilda’s dress on a hanger. “Oh good, you’ve got the dress. Now, where’s the crown?”
“Twilight said she’ll bring it when she and the other kingdom leaders and ambassadors come,” Pinkie replied. She hooked herself up to a wagon and put it with her party cannon up to Griffonstone. “Come on, let’s make this party grand!” Greta and the ponies that brought supplies followed her up to the kingdom.
Dash flew ahead of them and quickly found Gilda talking with Gustave. “So, you’ll have everything ready in time, le Grand?” the soon-to-be queen asked.
“I do. The biggest worry will be the three-layer cake,” Gustave noted. “I’m afraid the oven I have on claw can only fit one layer at a time.”
“Don’t worry. Hopefully, everyone will be patient enough to wait for the big reveal.” She smiled.
“Yo, G!” asked a certain pegasus. The two looked up and saw Rainbow Dash landing next to her old friend from flight school. “What’s up?”
“Dash, you made it,” Gilda beamed.
“It’s amazing to see that you’re taking the responsibility as a queen.”
“Thanks a lot!” They slapped their wing together like an old handshake as she could see Greta returning with the rest of the ponies. “Oh, good, the rest are here.”
“Especially Pinkie Pie. You feel that you’re up for this?”
“If you’d ask me that last week, I’d be trying to find an excuse to say ‘no’. But after the last few hours, I’m ready to take the throne.” Dash smiled as she was proud of her friend.
Both of them and Gustave jumped when Pinkie suddenly joined with their conversation. “Gilda!” she cheered. “Since it is your special day, I figured you help give your opinion on which setup is best.” Pinkie quickly showed her a couple of drawings of having balloons and streamers in different styles. “Here. Pick one that’s best for you.” Either having them in arches, scattered, or just have a couple tied to one point.
“Hmm… they looked incredible… Let’s go with the balloon arches, it’s more welcoming than the others.”
“Okie Dokie.” Pinkie bounced over to her cart and managed to somehow pull out some balloon arches composed of purple and gold balloons. This was shocking to Dash and Gilda.
“How the heck…?”
“You know, G, some of the students have said she’s an anomaly in reality,” Dash would whisper.
“Yeah. I can see that,” Gilda admitted.
Gustave could believe what he was seeing and just simply turned around. “I better go before my mind gets blown,” he spoke. “Besides, the perfect pastries can only be made by the best for the best.” As the chef walked off, Dash smirked.
“I’ve met him before,” Dash informed. “It was a baking contest and some of the pastries were sabotaged.”
“Sabotaged? Who did it then?" Gilda asked. Dash felt steered around this question as Rarity walked over to the future queen with the dress.
“Sorry for jumping into the conversation, Gilda, I’m hoping that you and I can have a minute,” the unicorn spoke. “I want to help you prepare for your coronation.”
Gilda simply nodded and walked along with Rarity as Rainbow Dash decided to follow them towards the castle. “Wow! You got a truly adequate place,” Dash commented.
“Yep. Just wait until you see the bedroom. You’ll be surprised.” Gilda, Dash, and rarity walked into the castle so Rarity can get her dressed up.
During this, Dash explored the castle, amazed at her friend’s new home. She was astounded by the new looks at the place, including the floor, the windows, etc. The Pegasus nearly got lost for a minute until she managed to find the bedroom, where Rarity was grooming Gilda.
“Couldn’t I just toss the dress on and everything will be okay?” Gilda asked.
“Nonsense,” Rarity spoke. “This is a very special occasion, Gilda. You must look exquisite when you step out of that balcony, and everycreature will admire you more.” She combed the future queen’s feathers as the griffon saw her old friend from flight school standing by the door.
“I know the feeling,” Dash spoke. Gilda simply sighed and let Rarity do her work. Gilda still felt optimistic knowing what she remembered from last night’s dream.
Later that day, back at Ponyville, the students from the School of Friendship were let out early to go see Gilda’s coronation. Well… everyone. The griffons were especially happy knowing what their new queen’s actions were yesterday. Gus was one of them as he, Sunshine, Emerald, and the rest from the journalist club got their news reporting gear ready.
“Oh boy, it’s about time something like this happens,” Gus said with excitement. “It was a gamble of what’d happen to you in Griffonstone.”
“Too true,” Sunshine agreed. “Did we get a good picture of it before the reconstruction?”
“No, but I was able to find a couple of photos,” Emerald reported. “All we need is how the kingdom is looking right now… and a picture of Gilda.”
“Uhh… You mean Queen Gilda.”
The dragoness just rolled her eyes. “Yeah… right.”
It’s not just them, others were there to join with the griffons to witness the historic moment, including November Rain, Summer Breeze, Peppermint Goldylinks, and Berry Bliss just to name a few ponies. Pyther, Peridot, Coral, Kelpie, Pate, Trud, and Moss are also joining them. Rusty Wrench was also with them, together with Gale, who’s eager to witness the coronation. And of course, the Young Six, including Gallus’s parents and Quartz, are also going.
“You know it’s amazing to see that the griffons are going to live a new life,” Berry Bliss said. “Now they have the new queen, there won’t be any mess on the streets.”
“Yeah, I know, right?” Summer Breeze exclaimed. “I’m happy for them.”
“Me too,” November Rain agreed,… and then thought of something. “Hey, do you think we’ll witness déjà vu? You know… with Princess Twilight’s coronation where she almost fell from the balcony, and… other disastrous stuff?”
Peppermint chuckled. “I don’t think it’ll happen. Maybe it’ll be different from Princess Twilight’s coronation.”
“Hopefully. But we still have to write down our report about the coronation, which will be due next week. It’s extra credit.”
“Right… Thanks for reminding us.”
Pyther, Coral, Tarsi, and Kelpie are with Grace and Gregoria chatting while waiting for the train. “I’m so proud of both of you,” Coral exclaimed with joy. “I’m glad you won't be able to feel lonely again like before.”
“Thanks a lot, you guys,” Grace appreciated. “I’m also happy that I was able to see my Grandma Goldie again.”
“Me too,” Gregoria added.
“With that, I am hoping that I’ll travel to Griffonstone without any awkwardness from before,” Kelpie said.
“So do I,” Pyther declared. “I always wanted to see the new beauty of your home.”
“Me three,” Tarsi added.
Meanwhile, Gale was with Rusty, Moss, and Trud, also having a chat. They’ve never seen Gale so excited before since he’s frequently been a little grumpy and slouchy. “Gale,” Rusty said, “It’s amazing to know that you don’t have to live under the dumps anymore.”
“Yeah,” Gale said with a smile. “It feels great!”
“That got me thinking,” Moss said, “if we still have time, you think you can show us where your house is?”
“Trud agrees with yellow bug pony,” Trud agreed. “Yak would love to see Gale’s home.”
“I’ll think about that,” Gale replied. “My house ain’t that tidy yet…”
The Young Six, meanwhile, are also having a chat with each other. “I have a good feeling that Gallus, now that he has his parents, will have a better life there,” Ocellus said. “He’s been very down on not wanting to go back to Griffonstone to stay.”
“Yes, exactly,” Smolder consented. “I wonder what his house looks like?”
“You’re telling me,” Sandbar stated.
“Maybe new queen have new vacant house for Gallus,” Yona said. Silverstream nodded.
As they kept waiting, they all heard the train whistle. They saw the train to Griffonstone pull up to the platform. The doors opened and everyone on the platform quickly started getting on board while chatting about Gilda and the possible changes to the future of Griffonstone.
Gallus and his parents were finding their seats, with the young griffon feeling much better with his wings. “Are your wings feeling better?” Glynn asked.
“Much better, dad,” Gallus confirmed. He gave one of them a flap, barely feeling any fatigue. “No pain. How about you two? Are you settling well in Ponyville?”
“Now that we don’t have to keep worrying out about our relationship, we’re doing fine,” Gadget confirmed.
“Good one, Gadget,” said a voice. The family of griffons jumped when they saw Quartz had shown up again.
“Oh, please…!” Gallus cried. “Don’t… do that!”
“My apologies. I’ve been trying to get to know some creatures around Ponyville. Different verse, same as the first.”
“You’ll get there eventually,” Glynn reassured. “No worries.”
“You could try with some of the students that aren’t dragons,” Gallus suggested. He saw Geena and Garry walk past them to their seats. “Come.” Gallus had Quartz follow him over to the two young griffons.
Geena and Garry got comfy as she saw the two creatures walk over to her. “Oh, hi, Gallus what’s up?” she asked.
“Only a few things. First of all, how are you feeling after… you know.”
“Better than I’ve felt,” Geena admitted, “I never have to see him again! Last night was the best sleep I ever had.”
“Nice. Anyways, have you two been introduced to Quartz here?” He gestured to the kobold, who was hoping to make a good first impression.
“Hi there. It’s nice to meet you,” Quartz spoke. He held out his claw to which Garry shook it with his talon.
“So… What’s it like to have a metal leg?” Garry asked. He paused realizing how blunt the question was. “Um…”
“It’s okay. I’m used to having awkward exchanges. I’m getting used to the new leg. What I wish I could get used to is settling in Ponyville.”
“Actually, that raises a question,” Gallus commented, “Where do you sleep?”
“In the castle’s guest room. There’s more than one and I leave your parents to their privacy.”
“Right,” Geena commented. “So, why are you tagging along with us?”
“I’m not getting anywhere with either ponies or dragons, so I figured I start with you.”
“Oh, like having training sessions?” Garry asked.
“Um, I was thinking more of getting to know one another,” Quartz stated.
“I think some of us would like the idea of learning self-defense,” Geena commented. “I’d love to learn some of your techniques.”
“Me too,” Garry added.
Gallus was tempted to object but thought about it a little deeper. “…Yeah, they might have a point,” he commented. “There are some kobolds and gang members out there. If we do some of that pressure pointing stuff as self-defense instead of intentionally attacking other creatures, it would be a bonus.”
Quartz rubbed his chin when he heard this. “I have been considering this idea,” the kobold admitted. “Perhaps, if I mentor some of the students, then they’ll start warming up to me.”
“Yeah, you should tell headmare Starlight about this,” Geena commented. Quartz quickly sat down with the two griffons, chatting about how these training sessions would work out.
Gallus went back to sit with his parents as they noticed Smolder walk into the carriage.
“Hey, Gallus,” Smolder called, “look who I found.” She walked over to her friend and parents a small beige griffon that was holding her claw.
“Peter,” Gallus gasped.
“Hi, Gallus,” the little griffon greeted cutely. “It’s been a while.”
“You’re coming to Griffonstone with us too?”
“I am.” The little griffon simply nodded. “Together with my family.”
He then noticed Gallus's parents. He’s a little creeped out by their metal limbs, he tried hiding behind Gallus. “It’s okay, little one. They’re my parents.”
Peter was a little confused by this until Gallus began explaining a few things, though he did make sure to leave out some major details. Peter was a little too young to know everything.
They began building some more bridges as Peter led Gallus and his parents to his family. Glynn and Gadget were happy that they could have regular conversations with other creatures not needing to worry about their past anymore.
“It’s nice to meet you, sir,” Bronze Box, Peter’s adoptive father, greeted while shaking his claw.
“Nice to meet you as well,” Glynn said.
“I see that you’re Gallus’s actual parents,” Summer Bloom said. “What a shocking discovery he made.”
“Uh-huh,” Gadget affirmed, “I’m just happy that he’s finally united with us. Our relationship with each other is kind of rough until it has settled.”
“How’s little Ricky doing, Sun Snow?” Gallus asked.
“He’s doing great,” Sun Snow said. “He’s being well-behaved as well.” Ricky the cockatoo then squawks three times. “Yes, Ricky. I know you’re as excited to see the coronation as Peter. You better not fly away from me.”
“What about Star Drop? How’s her relationship with Peter?”
“Doing great. Ever since you and… what’s that dragon’s name?”
“Smolder.”
“Yeah, Smolder. Ever since you and Smolder left our house, Star Drop is feeling closer to him than before. She even tells him about her interest in the Wonderbolts.”
“That’s right,” Star Drop said. “It takes time for me to be more close to Peter. And when he heard about the coronation in Griffonstone, he jumped for joy.” Sun Snow nodded in agreement.
They then heard the while blowing, signaling their departure to Griffonstone. “Alright, we’ll talk again soon. I’m going back to my seat.”
“Okay. See you later then,” Sun Snow said to Gallus.
“I also wish you the very best for Griffonstone,” Star Drop complimented, which made Gallus smile. He then went back to his seat, the same goes with his parents.
A few seconds later, the train left the station heading towards Griffonstone. The train ride is a little mixed. Many of them were still hesitant to see how the griffons would be acting, hopefully not being mean nor cranky, though most of them had hoped after hearing that Gilda have laid down the law. The trip from Ponyville to Griffonstone took only between an hour or two. Some passengers took a long nap, and Gallus was one of those passengers who took a quick nap; while others chatted silently with each other, still talking about the renovation of Griffonstone, including the ones from the school’s journalist club.
After a long ride, they finally arrived at Griffonstone. The passengers got out of their coaches and started trekking towards the renovated kingdom. Several of them were amazed by the new look of its original home, which includes enhanced houses. They also noticed the decorations hanging around, thanks to Pinkie Pie working her hardest.
“Hi, everyone!” the pink pony called. “Welcome to the new improved Griffonstone!”
“Hey, Pinkie,” Glynn called. The party pony saw the griffons and other creatures show up.
“Well, You’re all just in time,” the pony spoke, “we’ve got the tables and chairs set up.” Pinkie pointed to the tables that were just having some table clothes placed on them.
“Wow, this place looks better than the former!” Silverstream cooed.
“Look at all of these houses,” Ocellus said in amazement.
“Look like Queen Gilda did a great job on this,” Smolder expressed.
They flew around the newly rebuilt Griffonstone with the other students being impressed. “Looks like somebody put a lot of effort into this place,” Gus commented.
“It does look splendid,” Gale added. He flew around to see if he could find his home.
Grace looked around with Gregoria until they spotted an old female griffon sitting at one of the tables. “Granny Goldie!” they called.
The griffon adjusted her glasses and looked over to the two students approaching her. “Grace! Greggy!” she exclaimed happily. “How are you, my little ones?”
“We’re fine,” Gregoria replied. “How about you?”
“I’m just being chipper. Everyone’s been acting nicer around here. I knew that Grayson was one of the toxins that are keeping this place down.”
“Yep, and we’re glad he’s gone,” Grace noted. “The less spoken about him, the better.”
Geena, meanwhile, was looking around for her mother. She promised herself that she’ll be with her to see the coronation. That was until she felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned around and saw her mother standing behind her with a smile on her face.
“Mom!” Geena exclaimed and gave a warm hug.
“Oh, Geena! I’m so happy to see you again,” Gloria cheered.
“Same to you, mom,” Geena said. The two let go of each other’s hug as Garry caught up with them.
“Hello, Miss Gloria. How are you feeling right now?” Garry asked.
“Much better, thank you,” Gloria explained. “I’ve finally managed to clean up the entire house since he isn’t around anymore.”
"Good riddance I say. So, what are you two going to do next?”
“Hard to say. Grayson was one of the worst griffons I’ve met in my life. Now that he’s away, we don’t have anything to worry about."
“I’ll be fine with that, mom,” Geena spoke. She then looked towards Gallus, who was with Peter and his family. “Hey, Gallus, Peter, come here!”
The blue and beige griffons heard Geena's calling. With the bigger griffon by his side, Peter flew over to the group of griffons. “Peter, I like you to meet my friends,” Gallus spoke. “That’s Geena, and that’s Garry. They’re very competitive…”
While Gallus helped the chick-cub break the ice, his parents looked around for Gilda with Quartz’s help. “So, you think I’d make a good teacher for them?” Quartz, who was walking beside Gadget, asked.
“I’m positive that you can do it,” Glynn commented. He stopped flying in mid-air as he looked towards the castle. “I have a feeling that our answers have been looking at us in the face this entire time.”
“I knew it,” Gadget said. “Since that place was so messed up, I kind of let it blend in with the background.” Both griffons felt kind of foolish to overlook the castle of all places. Quartz walked back to check on their son while they checked out the castle.
They were already inside the castle. “Hello?” Glynn called. “Gilda?! Where are you?”
“In here!” called a voice. The two followed the sound of where the voice came from and eventually found Gilda, in her bedroom, with her dress on. Dash and Rarity were admiring her look as Gallus’s parents entered the room.
“My, my, Gilda,” Glynn gasped. “You look magnificent.”
“Thank you,” the soon-to-be queen replied. “I’m glad this look will be worth it.”
“Your welcome for this,” Rarity spoke. “I’ll be outside seeing how the progress is going.”
“You need me for anything, G?” Dash asked.
“So far, I'm good at the moment,” Gilda responded. “You go ahead and check to see if there’s anything important that needs attending.”
“Sure thing. I’ll take care of that, your majesty.” Dash winked at her and walked away with Rarity as her friend was left with the other two griffons.
“That needs some time to get used to,”
“I don’t think a close friend has to call you ‘Your majesty’ every time they address you,” Glynn stated.
“Rarity didn’t call Twilight ‘Your highness’, Gilda remembered. “She addressed her like a normal friend. I’d have her address me by my real name.”
“That’d be wise, I’d say.”
“How are you adjusting to the new royal life?” Gadget asked.
“I honestly… I think I’m ready,” Gilda responded. “Would you believe me if I got some confidence from a dream?”
“…Possibly. It is good that you’re over this situation.”
“Yeah, I’ve got some other royals to help me out when my back’s against the wall. By the way, how are you and Gallus doing?”
“We’re doing much better, and so is he. He’s almost flying again."
“Wow! I see he’s almost recovering.” Gilda looked at the mirror seeing herself in the dress and imagined herself wearing the crown.
“Well, you’re doing amazing,” Glynn spoke. “We’ll just be waiting outside and check on Gallus. He’s watching Peter at the moment.”
“Isn’t that chick-cub that got adopted by a family in Cloudsdale?” Both griffons nodded in confirmation. “Sweet. I hope I get to meet him soon.”
“We’ll check on him and see if he wants to meet you,” Gadget spoke. "Good luck on your coronation, Gilda.” The two left the room as the future queen took a few minutes to prepare herself.
She breathes in and out slowly as she needs to gain confidence. She looked at her reflection on the mirror again and thought about everything she experience in her dream with Grover.
“King Grover… I know you’re watching me right now. I promise I won’t let you down.”
Later, Gustave pushed a three-layered cake towards the coronation, where Pinkie helped place it on the table with the rest of the pastries, which kind of looked pitiful in comparison. “Ah, my finest work,” Gustave commented. The cake had purple icing covering each layer with golden frosting decorating the edges.
“This looks so tasty,” Pinkie commented. She was doing her best to resist taking a bite.
“Contrôlez-Vous. We'll have a piece right after the queen is crowned.” Pinkie listened and stepped away from the cake.
Gilda took a peek outside of the castle’s window and could see plenty of griffons starting to sit down as well as the students from the School of Friendship. Then she saw a couple of creatures enter. There was Prince Rutherford, Queen Novo, King Thorax, Dragon Lord Ember, and Twilight Sparkle. The alicorn princess was walking towards the castle, accompanied by two guards that were carrying a small box. Gilda watched the other royal get to their designated seats.
“Gilda.” The soon-to-be queen jumped and found Greta standing beside her. “Your crown is here,” the royal messenger declared.
“Oh… I saw it from downstairs. Princess Twilight’s guards were carrying it,” Gilda responded. She took a deep breath as her girlfriend could tell she was nervous.
“Gilda, are you okay?”
“It’s nothing. I need to… take deep breathe for a moment.” Both griffons looked to see Twilight enter the room with the guards carrying the box.
“Okay, Gilda,” the alicorn spoke, wearing a confident smile. “It’s finally time. And everycreature is ready to witness it. Are you ready?”
The griffon in a dress collected herself before responding with, “I’m ready when you are. Let’s do this!”
“That’s the spirit!”
Twilight then went out to the balcony together with Gilda, where they can see everycreature talking with each other while waiting. Then on cue, with her hoof raised in the air, her guards sound their trumpets with melody, getting the crowd’s attention. The guards then placed their horns down, and Princess Twilight, who’s holding the microphone, and Gilda flew above the crowd to allow her to make an opening statement.
“Citizens of Griffonstone!” Princess Twilight proclaimed. “I greet you all a good afternoon. Today on this special event, I am happy to announce that with years of greed, cruelty, neglect, and various other misdeeds, Griffonstone has now finally entered a new era; one where all griffons can live in full harmony and prosperity with each other and creatures across Equestria and the Beyond. To help lead this kingdom into this new dawn, may I beseech you to direct your attention… to your new ruler… Gilda the Griffon.”
With the applause from the audience, Twilight passed the microphone to Gilda. She took a deep breath, and with courage, she speaks up from her heart.
“Citizens of Griffonstone, the Beyond, …and Princess Twilight of Equestria” Gilda declared with confidence and then starts her speech.
“Welcome. It is an honor for me to be your very first ruler of this kingdom after many years of disorderliness and chaos within our society. I’m very happy to see all of you here, so we can leave all the terrible ways of our home in the past. We’re reviving, we’re making our comeback, we’re bringing back the golden era that was once lost, we’re making it better for all, even outside of Griffonstone. I’m proud that all of you here are going to witness this blessed historic moment, especially for the young ones. We’ve been faced with so many challenges and difficulties in the past, especially when our home was destroyed by a specific group which I’ll not mention its name; they have been living under the chains of slavery and torture and been indoctrinated with immoral beliefs, and now they’re free, they’ll never live under that fragile roof again.
It’s been a long journey for griffons like me to come here this far. Ever since King Grover has made and found the Idol of Boreas, our kingdom became a very prosperous society, until… it fell again under King Guto. And, with the help from my good friends from the outside, I realized that the Idol was only a golden statue, it was only a symbol, like the Elements of Harmony as Princess Twilight here has said before. We don’t need that golden figure to make this kingdom look stronger, we have our hearts and actions to do what’s right to make a better community, and all of you can make a grand difference.
We still have a chance to make a good relationship with each other as a family. We also still have a chance to make good allies from within and outside. We cannot rely more on just money and valuables in our saddlebags, we all rely more on peace, progress, and responsibility. I’ve seen griffons before doing things that are vile, disgusting, and… downright cruel. But those kinds of creatures have no place here now. Our future generation will learn from what we’ve done and what they’ve done in the past, and they’ll fully understand and will become role models for the future.
My decision on being your queen is the one I never regret. I highly doubt I’d be able to get here on my own, I’ve had help from friends from all over Equestria and even beyond to help show me what we could be. If King Grover were alive today, he would’ve been more joyful than ever. I’ve seen him in my vision, and his spirit was proud of all I’ve done.
Citizens, let’s not look back on our tragic past as it has moved further away from time, let us instead look forward to the future for the very bright era to come. I promise to make Griffonstone great, peaceful, and prosperous again. I promise that I’ll allow every one of you to secure your individual rights as a citizen, allow you to voice out any concerns and criticisms regarding the problems out of your beaks, and above all things, every parent here must take great care of their own children; but if anyone dares to abuse and harass that right of the other, then they’ll face severe punishment according to the law and justice will be truly served, as it has been observed recently.
Remember this, my friends: This is not the end, everything is just the beginning.
From the bottom of my heart, I hope that we can help spread this era of peace throughout future generations. I thank you all for your support. I also want to thank all of my very close friends who also have their full support for me; if it wasn’t for them, I’d not be here to do what’s right. Now then, it’s time to march forward and unite as one! For the sake of our generations! For King Grover! For Griffonstone!”
With that, the crowd gave a loud round of applause, which made Gilda smile. Soon, Greta flew over to them with the box, which she opened up revealed the new crown. This gold crown has a ruby in the middle with a pattern of emeralds and diamonds beneath it, and it has a statue of a griffon on top, which represents strength prosperity instead of greed. Twilight levitated the crown above Gilda’s head.
“With great dedication, I now present to you…” she then lowered the crown onto her head, “Gilda, Queen of Griffonstone!” The crowd had let out several cheers and whistles as their new queen had never felt more proud. Greta then gave her the queen’s scepter, which is made of pure silver, with a tip of the scepter that has a head of an eagle on one side and a head of a lion on the other. She grabbed it, gave Greta a bow as a sign of respect, and raised it proudly in front of the audience, which made them cheer more.
After everyone had calmed down, they started helping themselves to the pastries. While Gustave required a small fee for each dessert, nobody cared that much. Gilda was offered some of the cake for free and walked over to where the other leaders were.
“Welcome to royal club,” Rutherford lauded.
“Congratulations,” Ember applauded.
“Thanks a lot,” Gilda responded. “It feels great.”
“So, how does it feel to finally be the queen of Griffonstone?” Thorax asked.
“So far… it’s not bad. But I’ll not put my expectations too high thinking that it’s too easy.”
“This place is looking better than from what I heard it was like,” Novo commented. “What other plans do you have after this celebration?”
“Right now… I’m thinking of working out the new tax laws. After that, I’m going to be assigning some new roles like guards for the castle. Ember, you think you could help with the training?”
“Sure thing,” the Dragon Lord responded. “Anything for an ally like you.”
“I could have Pharynx help out too,” Thorax suggested. “He knows what it’s like to be a soldier.”
“Whatever works, I’ll go for it,” Gilda said. “Thanks for your help.” They sat and chatted for a little while longer until they saw Grandpa Gruff walk over to their group. They were all confused to see him while the newly crowned queen groaned. “Give me a minute. I’ll be right back.” Gilda rolled her eyes as she turned to face the old griffon. “What do you want from me, Gruff?”
“Gilda, I had a feeling that you wouldn’t be cut out to be the queen," Gruff spoke. “I thought wrong.”
The new queen tilted her head in confusion. “What’re you talking about?”
“I just tossed the responsibility of you being the new ambassador of Griffonstone because…”
“You didn’t care?” Gilda answered.
"Exactly. However, after the ordeal yesterday, I have better hopes for you.”
“You serious?”
“I’m seriously serious. I’ve seen some of the chick-cubs that need proper attention. Gavin! Graff!” Two young griffons flew over to the old grump and stood beside him. “I’m trying to teach them new ways until they’re old enough to go to the school in Ponyville.”
“That’s… a very good plan, I say. Maybe I should start with building a school here.”
“I’m only taking on a few griffs. Don’t expect me to be a teacher.”
“Wouldn’t expect you to do that, but I’ll give you credit for inspiring the idea.” Gruff just smiled as he walked away with the young griffs by his side as Rainbow Dash flew over to the royal griffon.
“What did he say?” the pegasus asked.
“He gave us some more hope for the future,” Gilda explained. "You think it’d be a good idea to have a school here?”
“I think so. If you’re going to do that, you need to plan on a budget.”
“Thought so. I wouldn’t want to leave the work all for you.” Both friends chuckled as the pegasus gave the queen a play punch. It looked to be a good time for all. While nobody noticed it, a certainly ghostly king looked at the creatures celebrating the new dawn of the era. Grover simply smiled before ascending into the air and disappearing right into thin air.