A Roegadyn in Equestria

A Roegadyn in Equestria.

Chapter 62: Day of The Gala. Part One.

*Point of view: Princess Celestia*
*Location: Canterlot castle. Inside of Princess Celestia's private office*
*Time: Ten in the morning the day of the Grand Galloping Gala*

Right now, the princess of the Sun was sitting behind a large, mahogany desk that was covered in a couple of tall stacks of couldn’t have been mistaken for anything aside from paperwork. There was one tall window directly behind her chair and the door leading out was on the opposite end of the circular stone room that was bleached white all along the walls. Alongside walls, were a couple of bookcases and displays to show a number of artifacts that were collected over the many years of her life.

Due to the size of the space itself, there was more than enough room so that in the center, there was a small coffee table in the shape of a circle and that was surrounded by a few plushie bean bag looking chairs of varying colors that match those in her mane. There were even the remains of a half-used tea set to show that Celestia took a number of breaks during her extended time in that very same office.

That was when the clock struck ten and the door was open to reveal a mare with a dark brown mane and carrying a clipboard standing in the doorway. Along with her, was a couple of other servants. Celestia raised her head from what she was working on and gave a small nod as she gave her full attention to her visitors. Seemingly to understand the silent command. A total of four Unicorns came in and quietly use their magic to levitate the stacks of papers from the Princesses desk and exited the room with only leaving the first one remaining to have a few words with Celestia.

Once the door was closed and only the two of them were left alone. Celestia lower the quill that was in her right hand and addressed the mare. “How is the progress on the Gala, can I assume all is in order?” The mare carefully cleared her throat and pulled from her pocket a set of wide rimmed glasses, before taking a look at the clipboard in her hands with a scrutinizing gaze.

“Nearly all of the preparations are completed and should be scheduled well before the official start. The catering has been taken care of, so there will be no issues there. The orders for the Buffet are ready to be placed on to the table and as for the specialized dishes meant for the dignitaries, our chefs are ready at a moment's notice to provide them with whatever they should desire.” The mare gave a visible shutter before returning to that professional demeanor as she went on. “The variety of... M-Meat has been received and is on standby.”

“As for the decorations and entertainment. The former is already done and the musicians will arrive close to two hours before the appointed hour in order to give them enough time to set up. However, there is one small issue I'd like to address first.” This got a small raise of the eyebrow from Celestia, before she nodded for the mare to continue.

“It is in regards to the transportation that was intended to pick up your personal student and other guests over at Ponyville. It was originally believed that we would be sending some flying carriages to act as their mode of transportation, but that was canceled on Miss Twilights part.

Celestia replied while giving a small smile to this. “That's quite correct. I did intend to send some Pegasus chariots, however my student insisted that she already has travel arrangements in order. By the way Miss Inkwell. Were there any problems in sending that extra ticket a while back.” The now identified as Miss Inkwell had a thoughtful expression before she replied. “Oh! Yes, my princess. It was indeed delivered to a, miss Rory Mercury that resides within Ponyville. Might I ask as to why a ticket was sent out so much later than the others?”

In response to that. Celestia turned her gaze so that the window was just coming into the edge of her vision for her left eye and paused for a moment before speaking. “She happens to be a mare that I am interested in having a few words with.”

Inkwell gave a small nod to that and began to go through her paperwork for anything else to report on. So, for the next several minutes, a couple of small topics were brought up and given the go-ahead by the princess to continue with the procedures. Once that was all completed, the mare left the room in order to give Celestia some privacy.

As the seconds went by with Celestia looking out at the window. The grandfather clock that was situated between a couple of the bookshelves was beginning to fill the room with the subtle ticks and tocks being admitted by the many gears within. As this was going on, Celestia’s mind started to wander, as her thoughts started to drift over the last couple of weeks. First, there was the many letters that she would get from Twilight that would have her valuable lessons from her interactions with her new friends.

Then, it would shift to her royal duties. Which was on a daily basis and almost mind numbing with it all being the same. Although, one in particular did stick to her mind and came up now and then. That being a proposal made by Sir Fancy Pants in regards to a business venture that was in the works for many years and was about to finally show the fruits of his labors.

The whole thing actually got Celestia and her sister quite excited upon showing Luna the plans that were drawn up nearly a decade ago. In fact, it was only several weeks prior to this day that Sir Fancy Pants gave them the final report and stated that construction would be completed before the gala was to occur. This meant the day was fast approaching.

If Celestia was to be up front with anyone, then she would say that she was feeling like a school filly that just couldn't wait to go on a field trip. Honestly, it was no small feat to build everything that was proposed back then. Celestia herself even wondered as to how it was possible for the stallion to come up with so much capital in order to start such a business venture, when there was so many that he already had his hands in to manage.

Celestia even jokingly commented to her sister if it was possible to borrow money from Sir Fancy Pants if there was ever a problem with the treasury. Of course, the reaction she got was priceless with the way Luna's eyes were almost bugging out with the very notion that a non-Royal could possibly have more money than them. Of course, it took a bit of work after that to go into explaining to Luna that the two of them didn't really have their own money and that all of the bits in the treasury belong to the country itself.

But it's not like they were dirt poor and they did get paid, so that the money was placed into an account just for them to use on personal matters. At the very least, they were pretty well off. After a few moments of this, Celestia’s thoughts then went on to another topic and this one held her attention quite firmly as she went over the details. Of course, by this point, she already left the confines of her chair and made her way over to one of the more inviting ones in the center of the room and laid down on the largest, which happened to be the pink bean bag chair.

Once she was fully situated. Celestia took a quick glance to the door and shot a spell towards the lock in order to give her some privacy for a while as she continued her thoughts. Going back to six weeks. Gambit had already been away and they were receiving periodic reports in the form of dreams that would replay whatever the Spy of Luna's was perceiving during the trip.

Although, it was mostly the three of them being there and watching everything from the Thestral's point of view. She was quite annoyed with the way Luna was affecting the dream so that anything Gambit was saying, was pretty much removed and replaced with Luna filling in the parts herself.

That was when Celestia brought her left hand up to her face before wiping it down to show her discomfort at the very idea. It seemed that because of all their pass interactions in the Dream Realm. Luna was pretty much trying to keep up with their prior means of communication. There was more than one occasion that this was brought up, but her younger sister refused to budge on it.

Now as for the reports. They started off with Gambit leaving Ponyville and catching a flight here in Canterlot. Now that very thought alone made Celestia anxious when she found out about that. Just a very notion that he was nearby without her even knowing sent goosebumps along her body and it took her nearly a day or two to fully calm down. Not to mention the need to change her underwear more than two times in the day. Sometimes even so much as three or four.

Although, there was another reason that caused her to be in such a state for so long and that had a large part to do with who was with Gambit. First, he left Ponyville and was accompanied by a female Zebra. Then upon arrival in her City. He was joined by two others who were wearing made outfits. At first, it took everything she had in order to keep herself from freaking out and take hold of the spy from within the Dream Realm to squeeze more information about these new girls.

But judging from the interactions, it was safe to say that nothing was going on with the Zebra, but the other two were obviously treating Gambit with the same level of respect that her own subjects would for herself and wondered if they were sent by someone else or perhaps the maids could have worked directly under Gambit himself.

It even seemed that during their flight over to Las Pegasus was quite eventful when it came to Gambit being the center of attention because of the story that was being told to both the guests and crew members. Unfortunately for her, Luna didn't feel much for trying to translate over for her but only gave the main points of the story for the beginning.

This was all thanks to the superior hearing from the Bat pony from outside the ship. Although, it seemed that she was unable to board the craft and was forced to fly in the blind spots and land in small spots to rest along the ship itself.

Celestia and Luna were for a lack of better words disappointed, when they couldn't get any information once Gambit and the rest of them went under the deck and to their rooms. Their spy insisted that there was no way to sneak on board and track down their rooms, because of the level of security in place. It didn't really matter what she did, but there was always some crew member or guard that would be blocking her path, so there was no way of sneaking around without being detected.

Even if she did manage to get past one, another would just show up out of the blue and would force her to pull back before any significant progress could be made. Of course, this caused Luna to ask out loud if it was possible that those on board were given special training with the level of security that was even able to keep her most elite of spies from being able to find the smallest gap in their perimeter.

There was even the scene that seemed to cause their spy some discomfort that had to do with their first interaction together. The mare was attempting to force down a square cube of food with some difficulty, when Gambit showed up out of nowhere right outside of the restaurant they were just at and handed her some food. That was when Celestia came to the realization that this was the first chance she had at seeing Gambit doing something nice that wasn't in some written report about his activities.

It was because that very action, that caused her to zone out for a little bit during the streaming of the dream. During this, Celestia was wondering if it was possible for things to be different if she had done something else in the past and this made her mood quickly turn to melancholy, as she was now holding onto her left elbow and slightly lowering her head in shame.

What came next, was quite a surprise when it came to looking at the second ship, they were to be boarding in order to cross the South Luna Sea. There were a few reports in the past about there being a new breed of ships that was in the middle of the research phase. Which required no balloons for flight, but this one just blew both her and her younger sister's minds when they got a good look at it.

There was really no way for the two sisters to even conceive of how such a large ship could keep itself in the air without the use of a continuous supply of magic, which would have been almost impossible to keep up under normal circumstances. Even a group of a dozen Unicorns wouldn't have been able to work together well enough to sustain a levitation spell for more than a few seconds with something this large.

From the outside, they could see four large letters spelling out the word, Yuna. And close to that was the unmistakable logo that belonged to the, Tech Hex Institute of Science. It wasn't until then, that the two princesses came to understand that there was far more behind The Institute that could produce such a wonder.

Celestia even recalled a small rumor among those that worked in the science department on their supposedly being a new breed of airships on the way and quickly connected the dots to this very craft. This only brought up bits and pieces of conversations with the magic and science authorities and their attempts to persuade her into signing some preposterous proclamation to get them access to T H I S.

When it came to the exterior, that alone was enough to take their breath away, but the interior was on a whole other level. There were bits of technology all over the place that Celestia made it impossible for her to identify their purpose. Even the mechanism for lowering the door alone was something she couldn't quite grasp. The inside had lights that lit up everything without the use of any exposed crystals or any open flames. Even the doorways would open up with such frightening speed whenever anyone would even get near to them.

In a sense, the two royal sisters were getting a first account viewing of the inside of the ship when the spy was sneaking around. Unfortunately, she couldn't get anywhere that seemed important such as the bridge, engine room and what was marked off as the armory. Although, the observation deck was quite nice and enjoyed the view that gave them the perfect vantage point to see all of Las Pegasus.

The morning was quite eventful during the time their spy managed to squeeze herself into the air vent to get a look at the bridge. Luckily for the princesses and the mare standing beside them. The three weren't cramped in there as well, so they were now standing next to the rest of the passengers.

All the while, Celestia was pretty much pacing around Gambit and taking in his figure as best she could. There were even a few times that she would lean in and tried to crane her neck to see if she can get any kind of view past the gaps in his clothing, but only to come up empty.

It took Luna some time to explain that even if there was such an opening to show his bare skin, then there wouldn't have been anything there to begin with, seeing as their spy has no memory that would allow that to even happen. From then on, they all continue to watching until the scene with the approaching Griffin occurred and Gambit left in order to go to the outer door.

During this time. They got to see the wonders of their strange technology that allowed moving pictures to be shown on the front of their window. These being of Gambit making his way through the entire ship. Even with her eyes trailed on the male figure. Luna leaned in and voiced her opinions as to how beneficial it would be to them having such a system within their own castle for security purposes and made it a point to contact this institute on a later date on such matters.

Upon witnessing him jumping straight out of the ship after the Griffin started tumbling. Celestia's heart nearly stopped as she went into a full-blown panic attack and almost went into using the Canterlot voice to order Luna to save him with her dream magic. But remembered that this was a memory and not happening in real time.

Only a few more seconds went by upon his departure, that she got to witness the one pony sitting at the center of the three chairs in front and she was making some motions with her hands on some colorful lights being displayed on a glass like screen in front of themselves.

The next thing Celestia knew, was that the panel split itself apart in the center and produced a contraption that was gripped onto quickly by the mare. And once it was pushed forward, did the entire ship emulate the movement and go into a sudden nose dive. Luckily, the spy quickly gave them the warning to hold on to something when this occurred. But Celestia was too occupied with what was going on with the scene right outside the ship to understand the meaning in time and was thrown back and onto her tail.

Once he was finally able to grab on to the Griffin in mid fall. Lunar relayed a command given by Gambit through some means of a magical communication device that was heard within the ship. From what they could tell. It was coming from a small item being gripped in one of the maid’s hands. This being the order to get underneath them before hitting the ocean. Upon getting this, the ship gained of burst of speed that nearly caused the solar princess to begin sliding around a few steps here and there, before grabbing onto a passing railing.

The moving pictures in front of them began to change and showed Gambit putting himself in harm's way and erecting a green magic barrier around himself before colliding at a high rate of speed onto what could have been the top of the ship. This was only made more obvious with the exceedingly loud thud that rang through the ship in time with the picture showing of making contact.

Celestia, upon getting her legs stabilized. Ran right up to Luna and began to shake the poor lunar princess by the shoulders at a hysteric pace. All the while, begging for Luna to use her magic to teleport them over there and by Gambits side. But Luna carefully explained that they were subjected to only being in the line of sight of their spy.

Luna was just about to go into more details as to how her magic works in comparison to all the times that they entered the mind of Gambit. But the darker of the two alicorns was quite unceremoniously tossed over so that Celestia could run up as close as she could to the screen after letting out a loud gasp. Of course, this didn’t go well for the younger sister, as she huffed in irritation to the treatment.

She then turned to Luna, who was now rubbing her head and giving a very unamused look, as Celestia spoke up in an excited fashion. “Look Luna! His mask fell off!” Much to her word. Gambit was looking around and after a few seconds his arm outstretched and the missing article of face ware was pulled into his hand from a short distance. It didn't take more than a second before Luna's eyes were now wide and mirroring her older sisters to this revelation. From the perspective of the camera. It appeared as though the Griffin may have had the opportunity to see his true face.

Afterwards, the rest of the images were pretty much spread out over the course of the next month and a half, as the spy was now keeping a close eye on their activities from the very moment they all landed in Zebrabwa. At first, their group disembarked and started to make their way through the city that acted as a major port for both the airships and sea going vessels.

But at some point, the dream shifts to a scene where the female Zebra from before, was accosted by a group of lions judging from their upper muscular bodies. The only other dead giveaway, was the long tail that came out from under their cloaks and their leader pulling back their hood to show that they were of that species.

From what was heard. The one that was being cornered was called Zecora, and she was apparently a runaway slave. The thugs were pretty blatant with their accusations and even pulled out a rolled-up piece of parchment that had a very accurate drawing of the female. Although, before anything could be done. Gambit made an appearance and quickly dispatched them all by literally sending them flying with some simple punches to either their stomachs or the side of their faces.

Two attempted to come at him in a bum rush from the front and got their heads caught in both of his large hands. After a few seconds, Celestia could hear the two lions quickly apologizing and screaming from pain, before Gambit pushed forward so that they were both flung off their legs and slammed into the ground. This was accompanied by a pair of echoing thuds that displaced a good amount of the sand that was accumulating on the ground.

Once the rest of their party join them when all was said and done. All three watched as they went into a large building that had a number of empty cages sitting outside and only emerged after roughly fifteen minutes went by. Luna then relayed that Gambit said the following while holding on to a rolled-up stack of papers within his right hand.

“Zecora, I understand that you informing us that you were a runaway is a tender subject, but it would be best if we were not to go against your country's laws. From what the trader inside explained. The record show that you willingly went along with becoming one of these slaves in order to act as payment for supplies to be sent to your village. Please, keep in mind that this is only until we leave this country and to avoid any more problems in the future.”

Gambit received the response of a slow nod from the Zebra that had her hood pulled up. As said hood was being pulled off and revealed that the female Zebra was now wearing a thick iron collar. It appeared to be about an inch thick and nearly two inches in height. It seemed like there was just enough room to slip a few fingers in between the gap on either side, so it was quite roomy from a first glance. There was even a section to show a box and some writing inside that said, “Property of Gambit.” She then started to talk.

“I do understand the purpose of this steel collar. For getting constantly hounded would be quite the bother. I do not hold it against you for going with this plan. It makes perfect sense if we are to use any Caravan.” The Zebra coughed into her fist once, before continuing with a slight blush on her cheeks. Which could have been seen as embarrassment. “I suppose I should also get used to not rhyming anymore. With my current status in my homeland, it would only get me into trouble if any of the officials should hear of me talking as I once did.”

After Zecora said that. All of those present showed different signs that they were slightly confused and this also included the two princesses. Noticing this, she continued to explain. “The way one speaks is a sign of one’s status. Those that are training to be shamans are brought up to do this as a method of self-concentration. This also leads to other outcomes. Not only does the rhyming prevent us from talking far too much and choosing our words more wisely. But is a clear indication of our spiritual status.”

That was when Zecora reached up and began to run one of her fingers across the top of her collar in the front, as she went on. In Zebrabwe, there are two common ways that turns another into a legal slave. The first, is to be a part of a crime that is serious enough to warrant slavery as a form of public punishment.”

“The other one is to voluntarily become one yourself in order to receive a form of compensation that the rest of the family can accept. As you may have surmised by my change in speech, that I can no longer have others believe that I am still a shaman and trying to do so otherwise would only call forth a harsh penalty.”

It was Gilda that stepped in and began to ask her question, while scratching the back of her head in confusion. “Just hold on! If you're supposed to be a slave, then why were you in the Everfree forest?” Zecora gave a small smile before she looked in the general direction of the sea, before she spoke up again. “Shortly after being purchased. I was to be delivered into the hands of my new owner who resided here in this very city. After riding in the back of a wagon for several days, I succumbed to the heat and passed out shortly before arriving.”

“In the position I was forced to be in, caused me to have a vision. I was without a body and going over the great ocean. After some time, I found myself coming to a land full of ponies. There, I would find a city on tall mountain and a vast forest full of unknown properties to the South of that.”

“It was there that I pass through a thick patch of trees and caused a single acorn to fall right in front of me. But to my surprise, there was another right below where I was. And although I could not see them very well, it was quite clear that they picked up this very same acorn and took it with them to a nearby clearing and planted it.”

“From there, the sun and moon passed by before I could even track their movements with my eyes. A sapling came forth and grew into a mighty tree. Although the soil was barren and not a drop of water was in sight. The branches grew high and wide and sprouted leaves. Soon, this miracle of life took hold in the ground and caused all nearby to become rejuvenated. The grass started to grow and all the dead trees around sprang back with full vigor. It didn't take much longer until there was a trickle of water and that turned into a small river just a short distance.”

“Once I woke up from this dream. I found that nearly three days past by and was convinced that was where I needed to be. I was most fortunate when a riot broke out in the streets and this knocked over the cage that was holding myself and some other slaves. It wasn't much of a tumble. It was just enough to knock the door open and I made full use of the opportunity and snuck on to a ship that just so happened to be bound for Equestria. This all occurred a little over a year ago. So, I was quite surprised that my poster was still circulated when those Lions came.”

All of those from the memory were all standing in a position that had Gambit behind all of them. So, it was easy to tell that none of those present could have noticed the way he was becoming rigid for a moment, although the three dream observers did catch on to that little tell. That was when Luna posed a question to her older sister. “Would seem to be that Gambit has a connection to this story. Do you not agree sister?”

Celestia gave a nod as she replied, while keeping her eyes on Gambit. “Certainly does seem to be that way. This may explain as to why a Zebra is in our country. They are so scarce, that I have only seen a few with my own eyes. Still… It does not explain why Gambit is there.” Luna came up to her spy and started to chat amongst themselves after the dream came to a sudden stop, so that all were frozen in place. During all of this, Celestia was remaining motionless and keeping her eyes squarely on Gambit.

The older sister literally had no idea how long she was staring, until her little sister Luna started to shake her out of the weird trance and exited the spy’s dream. From then on, the reports became somewhat erratic with the timing due to a number of unforeseen circumstances. Most of which, was how Gambit in his group would suddenly disappear and it took days to be able to track them down once again. And the reports would end up with the following being shown.

In one place, a large gang would be toppled overnight. Only to be found neatly bound in front of the local authorities the next morning. The next would have them breaking up a drug maker's den and distributing what could have been only medicine among the masses and disappearing again before any were the wiser. Another would have a black-market mercenary Guild that was working with a local bathhouse as a front. Only to go down into a secret tunnel that needed one to empty out one of the larger bathtubs to enter.

The next report had them inside of an underground labyrinth and fighting these oversized toads in order to rescue a kidnapped family belonging to a high office official, who is being blackmailed and to doing some shady work with the life of his wife and newborn child being at risk. Moving on. Gambit could be seen in the middle of the night with a caravan stopping at a small village that just happened to be experiencing a problem with their crops.

Using a speed to run across the open planes and to a nearby Mountain. Gambit spent a couple of hours mining away into the side of the mountain and returned just as quickly to work on the fields that was more than three acres big. The old dried-up crops were pulled and the ground was tilled with a tool that he produced from out of nowhere. At the time, Celestia merely thought that Gambit had a magical storage device and left it at that.

By the time the ground had been worked over and new seeds seem to have been planted. Gambit would raise one of his hands and pointed straight up before a massive ball of water grew just over his palms and shot into the sky. After a few seconds went by, the clear night air was taken over by thick rain clouds that showered onto the fields. That was when the dream shifted to the next morning and found the group, along with Gambit, was missing once again.

However, what drew the spy’s attention, was all the commotion being drawn by the small group of villagers and a caravan that stood on the very edge of the land that the crops were supposed to be growing on. After the Spy got to a better vantage point to look over the heads of the rest. It was found that a wide assortment of organized fruits and vegetables were already growing and nearly ready to be harvested if one was to go off what was seen.

These sorts of things would continue to happen in different locations and all across Zebrabwe. There were even a few occasions, where Celestia even witness Gambit facing off against Fire, Earth, Wind and Water Elementals. Although, what made these stand out the most. Was their sheer size of nearly two meters tall or even higher. Whereas the very same things in Equestria would barely go over a meter tall. What's more, was the way they were all giving off this sickly black and green aura during the fight, which was then cleansed once Gambit defeated them.

Although there was one time, that Celestia nearly grabbed on to the spy in order to press for more answers after viewing a particular memory. Upon turning in for the night at local Inn. The group split off into three rooms, but the Zebra ended up staying in the one that Gambit was in. Thankfully, Luna was curious about this and asked the question before Celestia could act on her first impulse of wanting to scream into the mare’s face.

Since arriving in that country, their spy started to look up their customs in order to blend in if necessary. She then explained that Zecora must have been registered as Gambits slave and due to their rules. The Zebra was not allowed to be too far from her owner. Otherwise, she would have been perceived as a runaway slave and harshly punished, before getting dragged back in shackles.”

“This meant that there was no other choice than for the two of them to share the same room. Before leaving my land. There was tell of a new rule for those who were caught in such a predicament. In some, they would say that some chains would be placed onto their ankles. What made it worse. Was how they would be locked by pouring molten metal into the key-hole to prevent them from being removed… ever…”

In reaction to hearing this. Celestia's right eye began to twitch to the point that one might have heard a musical instrument and it was having one of its strings plucked. Luckily, it was soon shown in the memory that the spy looked into the window from the outside when the lights turned out and spotted the Zecora sleeping on the bed and fully covered. While Gambit was over in a chair a good distance away. It was then mentioned by the pony, that he did not leave his position the whole night and was not taking advantage of the odd situation that the two of them were forced into.

After that report. It moved on to one where there were these two warring tribes and they were forced into peace with the other one. This was done by Gambit literally placing himself between the two small armies and slamming their heads together in order to knock them all out. This only being done if they were to even try and cross the line that he made in the ground.

Later on, it was pointed out by him that the feud was orchestrated by a third party of war merchants and that they wanted their land for the resources. The plan was heavily leaning on the hopes that the two tribes would end up wiping each other out and making it easy for the unknown party to clean up the leftovers and stake their claim.

After that. The last time Luna brought Celestia in to review the next report. Was close to a week ago, when they were in the capital city. At the beginning of the briefing, it was stated that they slipped past the Spy for a good number of days until their tracks were picked up and this led the mare towards said capital. Unlike the other towns and cities around, this one was surrounded by an enormous wall made of a reddish stone that was easily five stories tall.

It was pretty much in an oval shape and the longest distance when going across amounted to eight or perhaps nine miles. As for the shorter, this was about five or six. Most of the buildings were arranged in a pattern to show that the further out one went from the center, the worse the conditions became. Just as the outside wall, the city had three more rings within.

The outermost section of the city, which was clearly the biggest in terms of population. It was so run down and Ill managed, that trash was quite literally covering nearly every inch of the roads. Now, if that wasn't enough. Then there were the buildings themselves. They hardly had any uniform style among them all, aside from all being made of purely mud with only a few pieces of wood that could be seen here and there being used for their construction.

These buildings weren't even smooth out with tools and were clearly made by hand with the way the walls were slanted and in odd angles. The same could be said for the windows that were merely holes with no glass in them. In fact, it was quite rare to even see a tattered piece of fabric draped over any of them.

There were even a few missing roofs that showed signs of collapse. While others didn't even have one to begin with. The spy even informed them about the awful smell that permeated every facet of this environment and even trying to pinch one's nose only added to the suffering from tasting it on the air.

When moving on to the second row of the ring. The only real difference was the major cut down on the filth littering the streets and the buildings now looking to have been molded using tools instead of bare hands. What's more, was there being spread about, these merchant stands that sold a large variety of goods.

As there was pretty much no rhyme or reason as to what one might try to find in the mess. One shop would be selling what appeared to be forms of nearly rotten fruit that should have been thrown away. While others sold shabby weapons that were covered in rust.

The third row looked completely different. As the first two were primarily composed of mud and some rocks. These primarily used stone and mortar. In a way, they had this feeling that was comparable to the noble section of Canterlot. There was hardly a speck of dirt or garbage that could be perceived anywhere.

There were fancy shops selling all manners of goods, as well as a cluster of homes with gardens that would even make the most snobbish of elites wish that they owned property there. Most of these buildings would be easily three to five stories tall and surrounded by tall metal gates. Lionesses would even be on sight to act as security.

Each one wearing clothing that was quite revealing and only protecting their forearms and lower legs. Also, they would have on some breastplates with shoulder guards connected to them. Each one being armed with either a short sword or a spear. From a glance, they may have been made of iron.

When it came to the final area at the very center of the city. There was a castle close to half the size of the princesses. The outer area was surrounded by a lush tropical Oasis that was obviously handmade. Exquisitely carved topiaries and fountains littered the landscape. Unfortunately, the decorations were mainly focused on a male lion in different poses. A few of them were in such poses as, standing straight with their chest puffing out and fists pressed against the side of their waist. Others would be in various states of trying to flex their muscles.

Upon seeing all of this. Luna just couldn't help but to state the following. Which caused Celestia to slightly blush. “Well, well, dear sister. It would seem we have found another who has the same tastes as you. I might even go far as to say he has nearly as many self-sculptures.” Of course, she was a loss of words for a few seconds, before quickly snapping back and giving a small pout as well.

“I'll have you know that I did not commission those. They were done by our subjects. I only recalled two around the castle if memory serves me right. This here is just pompous boasting of ego! So please, do not compare the two of us.” Of course, she also heard Luna grumbling under her breath as she said the following. “I'm a princess too. Yet I don't have a single statue anywhere...” This caused Celestia to think to herself on that matter and vaguely recalled that there was a statue of Luna somewhere, but was unable to place a finger on it.

However, her current thoughts were derailed when everything changed and was now showing the other side of the castle. What was over on that side, was a grand arena with tall outer walls that allowed multiple rows of seating going in at a sharp angle. Within, a tarp going over most of the ceiling and only leaving a little more than half of the center exposed for natural light.

There was even an announcement being made by a very tiny lion, that was currently standing on the back of a lioness who was on her hands and knees. Despite the male’s short stature. His voice boomed without the need of any type of magical enhancement by the looks of it. His voice came off as one of those stereotypical announcers that had just way too much energy, but at the same time, a low baritone voice that projected.

“Good day everyone from the capital~. Today’s entertainment has to be a big surprise for all of you! It sure was for me I’ll tell you! I was only informed but a short time ago, but it seems as though our King has been issued a gladiatorial challenge!”

This got a mixture of booze and hoorays from the crowd that was comprised of easily two thousand citizens. Among them, were groups holding up banners to show their support to the king. There were even those that pulled out their weapons and holding them over their heads, while roaring to add to that atmosphere.

Below the stands could be seen two entrances that were on opposite sides of one another. The entrance towards the North end was made in a half dome shape in the stone wall. With wooden doors being reinforced by iron that was installed so as a pulley system was required to lift. But right above that, was a sign that said, “The King” and made a pure gold. There was even on both ends of the words, a rendition of a male lion standing straight and in the middle of flexing his two arms.

As for the other door. This one looked as though it should have been put out of service with the way some of the wood was warped in some places. It didn't even have the metal reinforcements as the first did and as for the sign above. It was so tiny, that one would literally need to be within the arena and standing a few feet away to be able to read the words. But thankfully with a combination of the good eyesight from the spy and some subtle application of magic on Luna's end.

They were able to zoom in on it to see a plaque that was barely an inch and a half tall and saying the word, “Challenger.” What only added to the disgrace. Was how there were easily four holes for a nail to go through, but there was only one still in place. Which meant the sign was lopsided. Ironically enough, that was when a small gust of wind chose to go by and cause it to swing and fall to the floor after going back and forth just a few times.

The announcer went on without so much as skipping a beat after a few seconds of the cheering. “As you all may know, our King now has under his belt, nine hundred and ninety-nine straight wins and zero losses! Can you all believe that the day is finally come for our King to reach one thousand consecutive wins within the arena! Because I sure can!”

This got more from the crowd as he continued. “Over to the north gate! He's mine, he's yours, he's everyone's favorite... King of the Lions, Sahar! King Sahar has fought Lions, Rhinos, Monsters and Beasts, oh, my! all kinds of beasts and creatures both large and small! He has shown that he is the Alpha predator among Alpha predators!”

“None of his matches have gone over five minutes and the quickest one was only a paltry seventeen seconds long! Today, we'll see just how the King shows his dominance over challenger number one thousand! Maybe he'll give us a treat and drag this out, what do you say folks?! Give the young ones a lesson on how a warrior should grow up to be!”

This was followed with the entire arena now shaking from the collective stomping of the spectators in the seats. The announcer then said in a voice, that was somehow able to be carried over the noise. “I don't think the King can hear you from all the way in there! How about showing how you really feel?!”

This got a series of roars from multiple different species that caused quite a bit of the structure to vibrate with the raw intensity of not only the crowd, but the strength being used in the continuous stomping that accompanied it. Of course, with this being a memory and all. The Bat Pony was already covering her ears, so that meant that the two sisters got the full brunt of the sudden increase in volume and their ears flattened out of instinct. While showing a pair of deep cringes on their faces to indicate pain.

That was when the announcer pointed towards the north gate, while his free hand was cupped over one of his ears and began to raise his level of excitement while calling out to the crowd. “I think he heard your call!” The next thing to happen, was for the ground at the edge of either side of the fancy door to start erupting with technicolor fireworks that made a landing strip that was a couple of meters wide and going out a good ten forward. During this, the gate was slowly opened and some over the top band was playing in the background with trumpets and drums.

With this, King Sahar stepped out, while being garbed in a crimson red cloak, with fur lining the edges so that it was around his neck and going down the front was the color white. At an imposing two meters tall, he was easily able to look down at Celestia if they were to come face to face by an inch or two.

The broad shoulders almost made him appear to be as muscular as a Minotaur, even if his body was covered up. As for the exposed head of his. The mane was a vibrant gold, that flowed nearly halfway down his back. He was even giving a big toothy smile that gave off a white gleam from the sunlight hitting his sharp teeth.

This was immediately followed after reaching the end of the pyrotechnics, by him thrusting his arms wide in order to toss off the cloak and reveal Sahar to be wearing nothing but a piece of brass plating over his chest, along with some arm and leg guards. His pants only went down to his knees and was covered with something that was similar to the tunics made of segmented brass plating that was lined up against one another. After doing this, he released a loud roar while pointing his face straight up into the open sky and causing the spectators to cheer his name.

After witnessing this. Celestia ended up doing a face palm before throwing her arms in front of herself to gesture towards the king, before calling out in an exasperated voice. “By Mother's name! That blow hard hasn't changed one bit! I think he might have even upped his showboating as well from last time…” Luna leaned in after seeing this and asked her older sister a question, while holding up a hand in order to try and keep it from being heard by the third member of their group. “Do you two have any history with one another?”

Celestia crossed her arms before grumbling out an answer. “That insufferable Lion always tries to hit on me during the Gala... I don't know how many times I've refused his advances by this point, but he just will not take no for an answer. He already has nineteen wives and he stubbornly insists that I become his twentieth. Really! If he wasn't a royal to begin with, then he wouldn't even have gotten an invitation in the first place.”

“Honestly speaking, he's not all that bad, but I just can't handle his attitude. It just rubs me the wrong way and part of me just screams that I need to come up with any kind of excuse to get out of talking to him. Celestia then use both of her arms and cross them so that she was holding on to her upper arms and gave out a violent shiver as she said the next part. “There’s just something about that King that just causes my entire body to want to get away as quickly as possible.”

Luna's eyes went slightly wide at this, before a look of realization came across her features, as she replied in a deadpan tone. “I see, so he is what they call, a meat head.” Celestia shook her head at that, while looking pretty exhausted. She then asked Luna in a defeated tone of voice. “Where are you getting these phrases from?”

The younger of the two had a thoughtful expression before it turned to one of pretty much not caring and giving a light shrug before speaking up. “Not really sure as to where. Probably picked it up from one of the servants or the dreams ever so often. Does it not sum this Sahar up quite nicely?”

The alabaster mare gave a dead pan glare towards Luna before retorting. “You've been spying on the populace again, haven't you? I keep telling you to not use that sound amplification spell to listen in on the nightlife.” Celestia's face slowly started to relax as her shoulders lowered before she spoke up again. “Luna, I'm really happy that you acclimated to present day mannerisms of speaking, but there are times I think you may have taken it too far.”

They're little discussion came to an end when the announcer spoke up again and was now motioning towards the south gate. “Now that the introductions for the first combatant have been made! Let's introduce our challenger! Coming from parts unknown! Pretty much an unknown to any of you here. Heck, literally everything about him is unknown aside from him being a male and standing at it an impressive height of two and a half meters! The one who literally slapped the king in the face with a large fresh fish only a few hours ago! We have... Gambit!!!”

Celestia's jaw pretty much slammed into the ground with the reaction she had from hearing the part about the fish slapping and just stood there like a statue with disbelieving eyes. On Luna's part, she had already fallen over and was now kicking her legs into the air and loudly laughing. Even during the laughing, Luna was trying to speak through labored breathing thanks to a low amount of oxygen in her lungs. “Gambit, did what to Sahar?! I have to make sure I heard right!”

And with that. Luna used her magic to rewind the dream several seconds to catch that line once again and this only resumed the laughing fit with double the energy on her part. On the second time around for Celestia, she hardly really moved aside from her arms and wings limply hanging off of her body. However, she barely wheezed out the following question. “Why would Gambit slap him with a fish?... A King of another country no less?”

By now, everything caught up to where it was in the dream and Sahar was now giving the smaller Lion a shifted death glare from the side of his eyes, which caused the other one to give him an apologetic smile. Apparently, that bit wasn't really expected on the King's part to be made public knowledge and wanted to get past that as quickly as possible by shifting into the next part of his act. With a feral roar, Sahar called out to his adoring fans as his left arm was pointing towards the gate that was now slowly opening on the other side of the fighting arena.

“Come now and face me! Come! Let us show my people a fight for the ages! I cannot even remember when last I fought one of your level before. But worry not, I shall make this sporting and take it easy on the one who is weaker than I.” This got a loud gasp from the smaller Lion nearby, as he started to talk up a storm once again.

“Did you hear those words folks? Our great King is going to put on a show! Also, I must remind those sitting in the first two rows of the seating that you are in a Splash Zone!” In response, all of those that were called on, quickly lean down and pulled from underneath their seats what appeared to be rain ponchos and quickly dawned them in preparation for what was to come.

Luna quickly turned to Celestia, who also did the same for her little sister, before they both spoke in unison. “Splash Zone?” The one who spoke up next was Luna, who said, “Dear sister, if I am not mistaken. Hasn't gladiatorial battles to the death been abolished even in this country?” This got a quick nod from Celestia as she replied in a worried tone. “Such events were agreed upon by the leaders a couple of centuries ago. I so hope that they are just doing this for the spectators... Lions are known to be quite passionate when it comes to displaying their physical prowess.”

Luna took the opportunity and teleported all three of them up into the bleachers in order to get a better view right as the door to the South was fully open. From her new spot, Celestia's perceptions of the noises coming from the crowd were becoming faint as she witnessed Gambit stepping into the light from the dark. She could feel her pulse quicken, along with gritting her teeth from behind her lips as she looked on at the site of him wearing an article of clothing that she thought to have forgotten.

(Here is the current gear gambit is wearing for the fight.)

She literally felt her heart being squeezed tightly when alone tear fell from her eyes upon seeing the dark clothing. This turning out to be the travelers gear that she witnessed him with back when the assault on her part started at the castle of the two sisters. Thanks to her being at a higher elevation and looking down at him in that state, nearly triggered a panic attack as her mind quickly flashed to the dream she would have where the whole incident would repeat itself.

As Gambit approached. Sahar would be in the middle of eating up all the attention he was getting by turning slowly in place to allow the spectators to get a good look at them from all sides and making a few stretching poses here and there to flex his muscles. As soon as they were now five meters from one another and the smaller Lion was right at the center mark. The announcer spoke up, while holding both of his arms up to gain the attention of the spectators and have them quiet down.

“Here are the rules of the match! Both combatants were giving the option of using any weapon they wish. Now our King has chosen to fight bear-handed. Surprising enough, the challenger has chosen to do the very same!”

This got everyone there to get excited as they were rooting for the king with as much strength in their voices as they could muster by the sound of it. The announcer then said, “There is no time limit to this match and a loser will be decided when they can no longer fight, or is killed! In other words folks, the same rules as always!”

It wasn't until that last word was said, that both of the princesses looked utterly appalled. Not only was it wrong, but clearly made illegal through all international law. So, to have a King be a part of such a match was just unforgivable. However, Celestia did catch the devilish snarl coming from Sahar and this made her fur stand on end.

The reason for such a reaction on her part, was not out of fear but out of anger. No, it was from seeing that the ruler of Zebrabwe acting like this would surely cause Celestia to have quite a bit of trouble in containing herself when next they meet. Which would most likely be the Gala soon.

But what the announcer said next, only caused her face to fall and to show some panic, while looking between both of the fighters. “No weapons are to be used aside from your own body. This also means that natural weapons are allowed! She knew that the Lions had claws, but she had no idea what Gambit was. So, there was no telling if he even had any natural weapons of his own defend himself with to speak of for this situation.

After that, the referee left in a rush. But not first informing everyone that the fight would commence upon the ringing of a large gong, that was situated up in the stands. During those few moments before the gong was to be rung. The three spectators of the dream got to hear just what Sahar said to Gambit. This was all thanks to the Bat Ponies excellent hearing. “I feel rather sorry for you. To think you're only here because that Griffin got you into trouble. Really, one should do as they are told by their betters. Don’t you agree?”

Gambit didn't say anything at all for a few seconds before Sahar continued after looking a little annoyed, although he was still holding onto that confident look for his fans. “What's wrong? Too scared to say anything to a King now that you're all by yourself and without your females nearby to act as your body guards? I suppose not all of us can be as gifted as myself.”

That was when he began to do a few more of those ridiculous bodybuilder poses as he went on. “Ha! To be blessed with not only the looks. But also, talent and good luck. Sometimes I feel as though it's nothing but a curse. Hahaha-Haha! But I must be the one to bear such a heavy burden. Otherwise, it would only pain me to witness one of my dear subjects having to go through such an ordeal.”

That was when the announcer picked that instant to ring the gong to start the match. So, without even taking the chance to waste the opportunity of a first strike. Sahar launched himself forward and delivered a strong left punch that was swung in a wide sweeping ark to land squarely on the side of gambits head. As a result, his body was sent flying a few meters, only to slide and soon skidded to a halt after tumbling over a couple of times. Along with sending up some loose dirt.

As the crowd cheered for the painfully made hit. Celestia caught herself from reaching out her right hand in reflex, right as Luna spoke in a confident tone that didn't quite fit with the situation. “Ha! That arrogant blow heart has no idea what Gambit did just then.” At that moment, the King was throwing up his arms and giving out a loud roar to show his excitement from being the first one to make a move, as Gambit slowly got back to his feet and took on the same waiting position he was at the start of the match.

Luna then continued with her arms crossed and giving a small smirk of her own. “He already moved his head just before that fist even made contact. He also shifted his legs to push off to go along with the momentum. If anything, King Sahar was not the one that sent him flying. But Gambit himself.” Due to Sahar being in the middle of his little show, his back was currently facing Gambit and was unaware that he was back on his legs again.

Because of this, the crowd began to pick up momentum and the King took it as a sign of them really getting into his quick win. However, his face fell slightly once he completed his rotation and saw Gambit just standing there as if nothing even occurred and was ready for more.

After giving a small snarl and returning to that over-the-top grin of his. Sahar began to speak loud enough for the crowd to hear. “Haha! Good, good! How about we continue. Now show me what you can do!” The King of the Lions took on a ready stance with his legs slightly spread and is left leg forward. Both arms were raised and Claws fully extended from the ends of his digits has he flexed his hands.

On the part of Gambit, he made no movements at all for a good several seconds before his opponent got tired of waiting and went for another attack. This time, it was done using his right fist that ended up slamming right into Gambit's gut from below. This had a similar effect as the first, as Gambit's body was slightly lifted off the ground a couple of inches, before falling back a meter or two. But much to the surprise of both the King and the crowd. Gambit got right back up again even faster than the previous time.

From where she was, Celestia could hear some murmurs in the crowd as one of the spectators made a comment that didn't go very well among the rest of those around in regards to the king not being a strong as previously thought. As a result, that one was pounced on by some adoring fans and promptly knocked silly. When turning her attention back to the arena. The King was already back at it and using a number of attacks the strike Gambit.

Whether it be kicks, thrown punches or even slashing at him with his claws. Gambit just kept on getting back up. As the minutes went on and they were coming up on the ten-minute marker. The murmurs in the crowd were starting to grow as the confusion took hold. To their eyes, the unknown fighter could be seen exhibiting the signs of being an Undead.

Especially with how he just kept on getting back up without showing any signs in his body movements that he was in any pain at all. It even made it creepy in a way, when he lazily straightened his body as one would when sleepy after getting up and doing an odd stretch and swaying.

Even King Sahar was showing that he was getting a little tired by this point in the fight, with the way his upper body was raising and lowering with each deep breath he was taking. If that wasn't enough, then the expression he was giving off displayed how much he was getting annoyed with what was going on.

After baring his teeth and giving a snarl of anger. The King leaped forward and tried to slash at Gambit with both of his arms going down to form a large X motion. Surprisingly enough, that did very little aside from pushing Gambit back a few paces from the force, as he skidded along the floor several paces but remained standing up straight after taking a stance to take the blow.

Both Luna and Celestia couldn't help but the gawk at the site, as gambits clothing showed no signs of taking any type of damage whatsoever from the sharp appendages. There were rumors circulated about that very same move from Sahar, should have been able to cleave right through shields. And it was because of that that, they began to wonder to one another about what Gambits material must have been made out of to be able to withstand such a move and not be shredded apart.

Back with the competitors. Gambit's head could be seen lowering as his right hand after finishing with lightly brushed off his chest. This obviously got the King to become more furious as both of his hands were now clutched into tight fists and shaking. He then pointed towards Gambit and yelled out in a tone that was very much unlike him and had no hint towards his cocky attitude from before.

“Are you making a mockery of this! Of me! Gerrrrr! Have you forgotten who I am! You are a worthless commoner who doesn’t belong in my land! For an alpha predator such as me, to be made into a mockery... I invite you into my home and give you a chance to take a seat under my command. But in return, all I get is insolence! If you will not heed my command, then you are not worthy of being allowed to live on!”

As far as Celestia knew. Sahar was always a quite full of himself and love to show off. But never did he allow any kind of anger to be displayed in her presence. But right now, it seemed as though something snapped and that charming personality was replaced with one of pure bloodlust and loathing. But that last part that was said, struck a sour chord with Celestia and this puzzled expression began to grow on her face, before she was distracted yet again by what was about to happen.

Sahar’s body took on a stance with his legs spread apart, both arms pulled in at his sides and fists lifted and pulled in close. With a look of Rage plastered onto his face. His teeth were fully exposed into a snarl, as his eyes now beginning to turn completely blood red. As for the rest of his muscular body. That too began to go through an odd change, as the muscles could be seen rippling underneath the fur and swelling up to bolster his overall size.

A feral growl was now filling the air as the crowd went silent. The tension was so thick, that it could be cut with a knife. With his form now beginning to hunch over. The fur on his back was beginning to grow a little longer as it ran down his spine. His mane also grew in length, till it looked completely wild and unkept. Even the animal features on his face became more prominent to the point that it was on par with the wild Lion monsters that would roam the land.

Even the armor he was wearing, now buckled under his new size and eventually broke off once he was over three meters tall, which meant that he was now the tallest of the two by far. If that wasn't enough. There was even his claws and fangs that also grew in length. As the teeth in his mouth grew an extra inch longer. The claws on both his hands and feet gained an extra two or three inches. What came next, was him talking in a rage filled growl, that was at a very low tone. “Be honored! This is the strength I used to take the throne!”

Obviously, it was not loud enough to be heard by the crowd. But the sisters heard it nonetheless. Celestia's face then scrunched up into a scowl as she went over her mind something that she had heard a while back. Close to six or seven years ago, Sahar took the throne after his father passed away. The official report said that it was due to an accident involving a random monster attack when the previous King was out of his castle.

She then thought to herself as she locked eyes onto the red ones belonging to Sahar. “Could it be... If what he proclaims to be true... Then is it possible that he killed his own father?!” Her suspicions were only compounded further, when she heard the announcer speaking up.

“Oh, my folks! Look at that our King showing his true strength now! It has been years since he's pulled out all the stops! Don't blink everyone or you might miss the bloodbath! When the previous king was slain by a monster, it was our very own Prince that slew the beast after the guards finally caught up.”

Even then, the announcer was trying to sound excited. But there was still this hint of fearfulness behind his tone. Of course, the rest of the crowd was feeling pretty much the same as all of the cheering was beginning to lower, as more and more of them were watching the fight progress. And without giving any type of notice, Sahar lunch at Gambit with speeds that were nearly impossible to follow with the naked eye after kicking off of the ground and closing the distance.

Within the next couple of seconds. The Kings arms were nothing but blurs as they launched a furious set of attacks in an attempt to slice up Gambit with his overly sharp claws. Some of the attacks would hit the ground and leave a gouge that was easily two or three hoofs deep. The strikes themselves were even powerful enough to send a shockwave to do the same over a dozen yards behind Gambits location.

But when it came to Gambit himself, the dark cloaked figure was seemingly unfazed as he was now dodging the swipes. From Celestia's angle, Gambit was only moving what was needed to avoid a slash before dancing around them and immediately transitioning to the next needed segments of body movements. These avoiding tactics weren't even over the top or flashy with him just shifting his weight from one way to the next at such speeds, that it could only be conceived on pure instinct.

During all of this, the Lion King was constantly roaring throughout the entire assault and only became wilder by the second, as his movements went from precise and calculated, to being completely random near the end. Said end, only came after Gambit started to talk for the first time and Luna relayed his words. “I've waited long enough. That's enough embarrassment for one day. How about I give it a try?”

After the last words were spoken. Gambit changed his movements and closed the gap so that he was now too close for the random swipes to even come close. From where he was now. He sent a gut punch right at Sahar’s stomach and effectively stunning him with his arms still out to his sides. The force of the punch that was used on the king, caused his oversized form to lurch forward. Also, his mouth was stuck hanging open as some spittle and blood came flying out after releasing a small cough.

Even his red bloodshot eyes were on the threshold of coming right out of his eye sockets, while the right one was twitching erratically. And even with his sight being locked straight ahead. Sahar tried to speak as his voice was now showing a great amount of pain and a lack of oxygen from being unable to breathe properly at the moment.

“Gah!... Ha-how... Only lev-... Who!... What are-. I-I give up! You win! I'll even apologize...” However, his little speech was cut off when Gambit spoke up in in a way that made Luna's fur visibly bristled, along with her feathers getting slightly ruffled. “You murdered your own father. You butchered your mother and younger brothers as well... You turned what was a utopia into a land we're only the strongest have any rights.”

“Your slaves are mostly those of family members who had to sell themselves in order to save the rest of their family from starvation or sickness. All of it due to your mishandling of the country. I know all about your operations to mine crystals. You don't care one bit of those who live here and allow crime to go unchecked. Your views on being a ruler are completely wrong! Believing that they just have to do everything you say without question is just the height of stupidity.”

But before Gambit could continue. The fist he used was pulled away from Sahar and another one was launched straight up so that it would collide with the bottom of his jaw. The force in which that was applied, caused his entire facial features to be slightly warped for that split second before the Lions body was flung back and crashed onto the dirt, but not first doing a complete flip and crashing onto his back. From where she, stood Celestia could plainly see a couple of broken teeth flying off when this was done.

He then continued. “A ruler is meant to be the one that stands to help the People! They are not meant to just order others around for their own personal gain, but for the betterment of their society! What you have done is nothing but showing off and brainwashing the masses and to believing your ways are right. You warped their views. Corrupted their souls. You broke up families! Destroyed communities! You make me sick! that way of thinking will only make your citizens appear to be nothing but animals!”

“Fathers, Mothers, Sons and Daughters. Even the newborns were not left untouched by your thoughtless and selfish actions... Even when those with power try to do what is right in your lands, you go and send mercenary’s and thugs to kidnap their families and threaten with their death's?! You even go so far as to poison the land with your drug operations and caused the forces of nature to go mad! You have nearly two dozen wives and you still go after others and force your way into their bed chambers!!!”

If I hadn't stepped in, and you went even an inch further with your attempts, then you would have been dead last night... But no, I wanted to make sure that you are made an example. Why else would I put forth this challenge? I already knew all about you and your ways. Why do you even think I let it slip to one of your guards that you had eavesdropping on me about being level forty?”

“Huh? Come on, use that brain of yours. I held back enough so you should still be able to have common sense. That is if you even had any to begin with! Wasn't your new plan to have me killed in front of a massive crowd? With the whole fanfare you were giving out, I expected so much more.”

King Sahar rose on to his hands and knees after rolling over and coughing up some teeth. Only to quickly get back onto his feet once again and turn to face Gambit. Visible veins could be seen pulsing on his head from the extreme anger flooding his body. If it were even possible, the fur all over bristled to where it was standing up like needles. It was quite clear that the king lost all sense of reasoning when he dropped to all fours once again and tried to pounce on Gambit as though he was some wild cat with rabies.

Although, this came as a surprise to everyone there, that is aside from Luna. That Gambit dodged this and Sahar only ended up tumbling until he was rolling onto his back, before getting back on to all fours once more and attempting to do the same move over and over again with constant failures. After the fifth attempt, the king got back onto his hind legs and thrashed his arms around and released another roar that caused pretty much everything to shake within the structure.

However, this one didn't exactly end like the other, as there was this thick black gas being emitted from his mouth. This was quickly followed with weird, slimy tendrils sprouting and wrapping around his own head. What followed next, was accompanied by the King gasping, with his mouth for the first few seconds. While wheezing for air, along with choking gargles.

Soon, his head was slowly taken over inch by inch. As his fur was being flattened before hardening into a metallic black sheen. Eventually, most of his upper half on the right side of his body was now a black suit of armor, which had some lion aesthetics thrown in. Such as the Kings original fur pattern along the arms and mostly in his mane.

By the time the transformation finally slow down to a stop. The right side of his chest going out was now clad in a suit of armor. This covered his shoulder and entire right arm. Whereas the leg was only partly covered. When it came to the head, that was now a solid metal covering, that took on the strong facial resemblance of Sahar. It also included the mane going out and into imposing spikes. On the top of his head could be seen two horns that were growing and made out of the same black substance.

The left one was only out by a couple of inches, where the one on the right was easily three hoofs long, as it was now in a straight line going up after curving at the back sides. Where the eyes should be. Were completely glazed over with a white metal and the mouth was locked open as more of the black ooze trickled off of the sides of the mouth and stuck in mid roar, if one was to go off the facial expression. His body began to flail about for a few more seconds, before coming to a complete stop with his head partly tilted upwards.

He then lurched forward and spewed up a large amount of the substance. That muck quickly pulled in front of him on the stone and dirt ground. This went on for at least several seconds and the amount that came out was clearly more than what was meant to be held within one's body.

This site caused Celestia to hold one of her hands up to her mouth out of fear, as Luna stepped forward and grabbed on to the railing so that she could try and get a good look at what was going on with a steely gaze. The spy however, having already seen this should have been fine. But judging from the way she was looking away; the Bat Pony was unable to relive the scene a second time.

The amount of goop on the ground started to ripple as it was flowing towards the middle instead of going outwards. Soon, it began to build up until it was now nearly a few inches high, before it went further by condensing itself until it took on a solid form. The King reached out and grasped onto what it was before pulling it free. As his hand drew further from the puddle, more and more of it came along until it was nearly all used up and now forming a very long two-handed blade that gave off a peculiar curve.

(Here is a picture of the blade.)

The whole thing was made to have only one side having the edge and the metal being pure black that reflected the light of the sun very easily. What made it more impressive, was how it seemed to be made for his tall stature now that the King was a good three and a half meters tall. If the blade itself was stuck into the ground, then the handle might have reached as far as Sahar's upper chest without a doubt.

By the time the transformation was completed. Everyone there was in a full panic. Among the screaming, there were those trying to rush out of the arena and almost trampling one another in order to do so. Some others ended up fainting upon witnessing the horrific change and were now slumped over the chairs in front of them.

When it came to the announcer, he was up in one of the box seats and cowering behind a large chair along with the Lioness that was with him earlier standing at his side and in plane view as she kept still and had this look on her face that just screamed out, “I don’t get paid enough for this.”

The princess then heard the very same Lion calling out in a mix of determination and fright, in his voice as it boomed across the arena. “Everyone! Remain calm and exit in an orderly fashion! What? No-no! What are you talking about? I'm going to stay here! You go ahead and leave if you want, but I'm staying! Who else is going to announce the winner! I'm telling you to stop trying to pull me! Don't worry folks! I'll be right here to announce the results even if it cost me my life!”

Even from where Celestia was standing. It was clear to see that the lioness in the box seat was giving an indignant stare towards the Lion, while crossing her arms in protest. Yet she made no signs of leaving and reach down and picked up a sword and shield and just stood by the announcer. Back in the arena, everything went completely silent as the two fighters squared off against one another. But after a moment, Celestia heard a hallowed echoing sound of one of them breathing that came off as extremely haunting to her perked ears.

The next thing to occur, was a sudden explosion of dark mist with Sahar being the focal point. It didn't even take a full second before the entire arena below was covered with a miss, that obstructed all vision to the point that everything within could only be seen as rough outlines. The dream even showed their spy approaching the railing and reaching out her hand in an attempt to touch the mist. But instead, she was blocked by a physical barrier. On closer inspection, it was a perfect circle and completely closed off the battlegrounds from the outside world.

This was made obvious when the memory of the spy could be seen taking to the air in an attempt at getting overhead. Only to quickly discover that it went higher and higher and she was unable to go over. That was when Celestia's eyes were drawn to a flash of light from the ground below. King Sahar was unchanged, but Gambits attire was now different, with him wearing something on top of his head. Whatever it was, there was no doubt it was a kind of hat, but its shape was quite strange with how it was a wide rim going all the way around as though it was an umbrella.

Upon squinting her eyes and getting as close as possible. Celestia could just barely make out the new change of clothing. Even though her vision was still deeply muddled. The shoulders could be seen being a little sharper and the rest gave off a different feel compared to the white robes from earlier. She was also positive that he was now holding something that was attached to his left waist. The object was pretty long and had a slight curve along the length.

Gambit then took one step forward with his left leg and crouched a little. As is left arm could be seen holding on to the object, the free right-hand reach down and grabbed onto it as well. From then, the air was still riddled with that odd sense of breathing coming from Sahar. But Luna's voice broke the silence as she relayed what was said within on Gambits part. “This brings back old memories... What would you say, this would make what, the twelfth or thirteenth time we fought?”

King Sahar could be heard now, although his voice came out as two toned and clearly both confused and worried. “Eikon Slayer... Kin killer... How… How are you still alive? Weaker... you're weaker now!” For that whole time, he was speaking quite cautiously. But when it got to the point when he first said that Gambit was weaker. The tone of his voice started to turn more confident. By now, the two started to walk in a clockwise manor, while still keeping their distance as Sahar continued speaking and that weird voice of his.

“Others say you became weak. Not as strong as before...” There was now this slow cackle that echoed on the wind from King Sahar, as his shadowy form was now jerking from the act before continuing. “We thought we were through with you. But here you are... Titan... Garuda... even Ifrit... No! I am not a failure! I prove... Not failure!” From what she gathered. These two obviously had a history and if one was to follow the choice of words being uttered. A history that was not friendly at all.

Then Celestia continued with her thoughts. “This monster was confused as to why Gambit was around. And that he was apparently stronger in the past?” But she couldn't really wrap her mind around the concept of this thing being worried so much of being seen as a failure. There was also the term, Eikon Slayer. That didn't register in her mind. However, she did notice at the corner of her vision, that her younger sister Luna was looking quite pale and was about to ask her what was wrong, when the fighting started back up again.

All Celestia could see where the silhouettes of the two going at each other. As Sahar brought up his large sword, which was held in one hand. While Gambit kept his hidden until the last second of avoiding his opponents swing and drawing out a long, thin blade to strike at the monster while in the middle of running by. Sahar swung weapon around to try and get Gambit from behind in retaliation. But the smaller of the two leaped out of the way by doing a backflip, which sent him a good fifteen yards away.

But right as he landed. Celestia saw him swinging his blade after first, returning it to the sheath and redrawing it. This ended with him sending a crescent moon shaped source of light and immediately gave chase at nearly the same speed. In doing so, he was less than a quarter of a second behind.

As the Lion King brought his sword up to defend against the aerial attack. Gambit closed in the distance and hit him with a flurry of attacks. Because of the dark mist, there was only the short flashes of light that shined off of the blade with each swing Gambit made and the loud metal on metal clashing.

After several blows were dealt. Gambit leaped away right as the ground in a circular pattern around Sahar exploded with a vibrant white light. Not even a second had gone by, before the large weapon was swung and sent smaller orbs of the same color right at him. Which gave him no other choice than to dodge by running in a counterclockwise direction, along with weaving and changing direction ever so often.

Wherever one of the orbs landed, there was another large explosion that sent some dust and debris high above the strange mist. She even noticed how these attacks were trying to change direction while in midair in response to Gambits own movements in real time. This sent the thought that the spells were locked on to him and it was a miracle he was not struck yet with the speed that they were flying towards him with.

Given the way he was running around and contorting his body. While going into a number of different lunges and flips to narrowly miss getting struck. This gave Celestia the impression that he was somehow able to tell where they were going to land ahead of time and was using that information to use the least amount of energy possible, while trying to stay one step ahead. Surely, that could have only been done by a seasoned warrior with much time being on the battlefield.

Once the attack from Sahar was exhausted and the obstruction only got worse from the amount of dirt being kicked into the air. Celestia was barely able to see Gambit rushing in and delivering another furious set of attacks and causing the King to let out a pained roar. While trying to hit Gambit with a counter attack of his own. But before the large blade was able to gain enough momentum to be effectively used.

Gambit used yet another technique, which gave off a pale white light of his own after turning his blade around so that when he pulled in words, the blade would pass underneath his own arm and strike at Sahar just above the hips on the left side without the armor. That was when Luna called out almost excitedly. “Sister! I saw it, that was ice magic just then!” What followed next, was a series of blinding flashes that gave off an orange hue of light.

What immediately followed after that. Was Sahar screaming in agony. As he flailed his weapon around in a vein attempt to get Gambit, as he skillfully dodged it and used another set of attacks before going with something new. After re-sheathing his blade. It was pulled free yet again. However, Celestia only saw him moving his arm for a single swing, but there could be seen these five flashes of blueish white light emanating from where he stood and causing deep wounds to be dealt to Sahar. This was obvious with the amount of blood that could be seen spilling into the air right after.

Although the attack did strike and do what might have been a massive amount of damage to the monster that was once a king. Gambit was in place for far too long and was finally hit by the oversized weapon and sent flying. By the time he stopped, Gambits form could be seen slamming into the edge of the barrier, which then gave off a ripple effect that went along the entire network and passing by where the three spectators were now standing.

As Celestia was about to further go on with the memory. A gentle set of knocks came to her door and broke her from her thoughts and turned her head towards it with a look of mild annoyance crossing her features for about a second. This only lasted until they return to their normal serene one after a moment and she called out. But not before sitting up straight so she was no longer simply lounging on the bean bag chair. “Please, come in.”

The pony who came in, turned out to be the same one from before and Celestia took a quick glance at the clock in the room and found that almost a half an hour went by. After, the mare came in and fixed her clipboard for a moment. She then said, “My Princess. There are a few matters that require your personal attention. We have only six and a half hours until the Grand Galloping Gala commences, yet you’re fitting for tonight's dress and a few last-minute finalizations have yet to be completed and handed out.”

As Celestia was giving a small nod and getting ready to leave the room along with the secretary. She couldn't help but to scowl on the inside, as she really wanted to finish with her little trip down memory lane. Also, it didn't quite help with her not really wanting to wear a new dress when she already had so many stuffed in her closet. Yeah, her subjects would most undeniably be disappointed if she didn't at least do this much and resigned herself to the fate.

But just before she left the room. She glanced towards the window that barely had a good enough view to show the tower that housed Luna's bed chamber off in the distance and began to wonder to herself the following. “Luna... I know not why, but you have been troubled these last few days. I do wish you would confide in me in what it might be. Please reconsider and join me for tonight's festivities.”

*Point of view: Third Person*
*Location: Princess Luna's bed Chambers*

With the lights off and the windows closed so completely, that not even a single thread of light was able to enter the room. Luna was fast asleep in the middle of her large bed for the day. Unlike the time she would spend in the Dream Realm during the night, where she was wide awake. The day was when she truly slept and right now, this was made pretty clear with the way her eyelids would shift to indicate that she was having a dream of her own right at this very moment.

She pressed her lips after a few moments went by. While contorting her face and displeasure, before letting out a heavy huff of air and turning onto her right side. This was soon followed with her doing the same and the other direction, before gripping onto her blankets and pulling on them quite roughly. But before long, she began to mutter a string of words over and over again. “Eikon… Eikon… Eikon Slayer...”