Entirely sure I’d be able to easily handle any challenge the king could throw at me, I allowed the guards to bind my hands behind my back with chains. RD and Gilda certainly didn’t appreciate my cooperation.

“Are you insane Sharky?! Do you know what happens in there?!” Gilda screeched.

“I dunno, some kinda gladiator thing I figure.”

“Well... yes...” Gilda admitted.

“You can’t just go and agree to something like this!” RD yelled angrily. “You could die!”

“As if. Gilda, is anything in this arena capable of killing me?”

“I don’t know! I’m not even allowed to watch! As a matter of fact, only hardened warriors go and watch! Sometimes even they have to leave!”

“Wow, so whatever happens in there must be pretty bad huh?”

“Duh!”

“Sweet, we gonna kill it. I’m sure I can take whatever is waiting. Whoa! Hey! Those are my weapons!” I shouted as the gryffin guards took my blades from my back. Something struck me right in the center of my lower back and I was thrown to the floor. It didn’t hurt, but it surprised me.

“Hey! What the buck are you doing?!” RD shrieked.

“Get your claws off him right now!” Gilda chimed in. My armor was pulled off of me in one swift movement. I leapt to my feet in surprise with a small blush on my face.

“H-hey! What’s the big idea!”

“My apologies hero, but this is how you must enter the Arena.” The king explained. “The fighters are only permitted the weapons we provide and the armor we provide.”

“You could have warned me you were gonna strip me down to my boxers!”

“Oh yes, those must go too.”

“No!”

“It’s the rules hero!”

“To hell with that! This isn’t even armor! It’s just to protect my dignity!”

“Arena fighters get no dignity. You fight the way the rest of the challengers do, or not at all and you leave here a proven false hero.”

“... Girls, turn away please... and you better fucking appreciate what I’m doing for you Gilda.” I couldn’t see the girls because they were behind me, but I hoped they had turned around.

“He said turn around Gilda!” The king barked. I blushed as I realized Gilda might have just seen me naked had I been stripped already. “Good, it’s bad enough he has to do this without you dishonoring him further. I truly am sorry for this hero, but I refuse to leave my daughter in the company of somepony incapable of protecting her.” The king surprised me a bit with his apology, but I found that I didn’t really care as I was forced out of my boxers.

“... Eep!” I heard a small squeak from RD.

*pomf* *pomf*

“... I will pretend I heard none of that.” I mumbled to myself.

Wait, where did that second *pomf* come from? I turned my head to see Gilda’s wings were just as straight as RD’s. Most likely unrelated... I hoped. I was quickly ushered out of the throne room by the guards. Then I heard galloping behind us.

“Wait! He needs me!” I heard RD shout. She rushed up to me and leapt on top of me. She was awkwardly balancing on my head.

“That’s ridiculous miss. Leave and let us take him to the Arena or we’ll be forced to remove and restrain you.” One of the guards ordered.

“No no, he needs me to keep his wings or he’ll fall through the clouds and die!” She explained. The guard snorted.

“That’s the most ridiculous excuse I’ve ever heard. Besides, the Arena is made of stone. He is in no danger of falling.” I was again a little surprised, but I didn’t say anything. I just whispered to RD for her to go back to Gilda. She left reluctantly, but didn’t complain like she obviously wanted to. My escorts continued rapidly towards our destination while I struggled to retain as much of RD’s magic as I could. Before I knew it, we had exited the castle and flown clear to a huge stone building that looked exactly like the Colosseum.

Just intact and smaller.

We walked into one of the huge arches and through a few halls. I could feel magic emenating from the stone. I couldn't absorb it, but I could guess it was what let the stadium float. We started passing individual halls that looked like dead ends. We turned down one of the halls and I was thrown into a cell that had been just out of view from the main hall.

“You will be staying here in between matches. Food will be brought to you as well as water.” One of the guards explained.

“Wait, wait! This wasn’t part of the deal! How long am I to stay here?!”

“Until you’ve won ten rounds of combat. Assuming you don’t lose... or die, it should take roughly two days.” The guards pivoted curtly and took off without another word.

“Wait! WAIT! This is bullshit! I was supposed to fight! Not be a prisoner for two days!” I leapt up and ran to the cage bars. They hadn’t even bothered to undo my bindings, so all I could do was scream. I briefly contemplated kicking the door down, but I reminded myself that this was to ensure Gilda’s safety. I resigned myself to sitting in the corner of my cell and waiting.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Less than two hours later, my cell door was unlocked. The guards that walked into my cell were unarmed and not wearing armor. They knew I wasn’t going to try and fight them or run. They tossed a leather battle skirt, a breastplate, and a helmet at me.

“Suit up. Your first fight starts now.” One of them ordered gruffly. His voice wasn’t commanding or rude though. It sounded more like a suggestion. I walked over to them and turned so that they could undo my bonds. The chains quickly fell to the floor with a clatter and I walked back to the armor. It was made for gryffins. I could only get the battle skirt on and they brought me a larger helmet which I managed to make work.

“What about a weapon?” I asked patiently. They handed me a large, for them, gladius. It equated to about a shortsword for me, but a longsword to them. They didn’t say a word and simply started walking down the hall away from my cell. I followed just as quietly. After navigating through another series of halls, we came to a huge wooden gate. It lowered and disappeared into the ground, suddenly blinding me with bright light.

I was on my way to the battlefield.

It was a huge circular field that looked like it was well used for combat. The few patches of dirt that weren’t blood stained were dry and dusty. There was a huge amount of stands, and they were unsurprisingly pretty empty. The few spectators there seemed very excited and eager to see another fight. I stepped into the sun and the crowd went silent as they saw who I was.

Then they started cheering like idiots.

I ignored them and started looking around the field. I could feel a magic aura above me that was different from the one in the walls. I had no idea what it did. The only thing that really stuck out to me was a huge splatter on the left side of the stadium. It looked pretty fresh, so the fight before me must have been pretty brutal. Suddenly, across the field, a second gate opened. One of the little gryffin assassins from earlier popped out and the gate slammed shut. The assassin immediately turned and started clawing at the gate.

“No! No! Don’t leave me in here! I don’t want to die like this!” He wailed. I snorted.

“Well, then don’t.” I boomed across the field to him. “Pick up a weapon and fight.” The gryffin flinched and slowly turned around. I knew he had recognized my voice.

“N-no... impossible... You aren’t a criminal! Why are you in here?!?” He returned to banging on the gate with renewed vigor. I sighed and strode towards him. The crowd laughed in delight at the theatrics of the cowardly assassin.

“I’m here to earn my title as a worthy guardian of the princess.” I explained. “You just happen to be the first blood smear we get to add to this stadium.” I grabbed him by the feathers on the back of his neck and threw him across the field right into the center. The crowd cheered.

“No! Please! I have a wife and chicks!” He cried. I ignored him and kept walking. He started crawling desperately, but I ran over and planted my foot on his chest. He went limp under me and simply cried.

“Is that all?” I mumbled to myself. “Is this all the challenge you have to offer me?!” I screamed to the stands. They roared in disagreement. A large familiar voice boomed over them.

“Don’t worry hero. You’ll get your worthy opponent soon. For now, this opponent has earned...” The crowd went silent to hear the king’s decision. “Death!” He roared. I scoffed and kicked the gryffin away.

“If you wanted somepony to kill for you, you got the wrong guy. He’s not even a threat to me.” I turned my back to the king and started to walk back to my gate. The crowd unleashed a chorus of boo’s. I stumbled over a small rock, then a piercing pain started up in my right shoulder. I screamed out in surprise as blood began to course down my arm. I whirled around to see the little gryffin behind me, holding a dagger that he had just stabbed into my shoulder.

“... Oops...” I guess he had missed his intended target when I stumbled.

“I show you mercy and you attack me like that?!” I screamed. “I’mma kill ya bitch!” I slammed the hilt of the gladius into the gryffin’s forehead and he crumpled to the ground. He’s wasn’t dead, but he was screaming in pain. One quick stab to his throat ended that. The crowd went dead silent. I looked around in confusion. “Isn’t that what you wanted?!” I shouted out to them.

There was no way I’d pass up a moment like this.

“ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED?!” I screamed. The crowd erupted into cheers and I turned back to the gate. It opened for me and the guards were standing there. They led me back to my cell and locked me back in after taking my sword. They didn’t take my armor or helmet, but they also didn’t give me a bandage or anything for my bleeding shoulder. It stopped bleeding after a while and I figured I could only hope it wouldn’t hinder me in the next fight.

At least I was off to a good start. Kind of.

---------------------------------------------------

I wasn’t called on again for a while. I guess it was night now or something. It had been pretty late when we had gotten here after all.

Ah shit, Twi is gonna kill me when I get done with this. Well, I’ll just have to push this dating thing back a bit. I’ll give her that day RD took back too. Since I’m already adjusting the time. The sound of talons clicking against stone distracted me from my thoughts. Another soldier appeared at my door. I didn't bother to stand up.

“Uhh... good evening hero...” He mutters flusteredly. I groan, already knowing what was going on.

“Lemme guess, just like the roman tradition, you auction off a night of sex with gladiators?”

“... What’s a roman?”

“Just answer the damn question.”

“Well... uhh... yes...”

“Refund the girl’s money and send her away. I don’t do that kinda stuff.”

“The king said you’d say that. He also said that’d mean you weren’t acting like a real gladiator and his deal about his daughter would be off.”

“He doesn’t seem like the kind that would force me to abandon my honor!”

“... It was a very high bid...”

“... Fuck. That.” I struggled valiantly to think of any idea that would save me without endangering Gilda. She seemed safe here, but I knew it would only be a matter of time before an assassin got through the king’s guards and past him. I was the only one that could really defend her. Mostly with my reputation, seeing as how the assassins were terrified the moment I discovered them. The only thing I could think of doing was talking the bidder out of the sex. “Send her in.” I sighed exhaustedly.

“Good choice sir.” The soldier nodded approvingly. He left and shortly afterward brought in a hooded figure. He unlocked the door, allowed her to step in, then locked it behind her. He left quickly, obviously not wanting to keep her from having her way with me because of his presence.

“Hello hero...” The figure muttered. She pulled down her hood to reveal...

“Esmerelda?” I gasped in bewilderment.

"Hee hee, surprised?"

"Yes! How did you do this?!"

"As soon as I found out about this I flew your rainbow friend back to Ponyville, I would have taken the gryffin to but the king didn't let me, grabbed a bunch of my gems, then flew back here, waited until the bidding was almost finished, and changed to a pony at the last possible second to place the winning bid. No big deal."

"... Ok, well thanks for that. I'm glad you went through all that just to keep me from having to fuck a random buyer." Esmerelda gave me a blank stare for a few moments. Then she burst out laughing.

"Oh that's cute! I finally get it now! Good one Sharky! Pretending like I did this only to save you..."

"... If you didn't do this for me, then why?"

"Oh, I did do this for you!" She explained with a smile. "I've timed this all just right. By the time I would normally change back, it will be midnight and my transformation time will reset for the day, giving me another two hours! That's a grand total of about four hours of nothing but us, alone in this cell..." Esmerelda whispered as she trotted over to me. She leaned up against me and moved her head next to my ear. "Rutting like crazy..." She moaned into my ear. She exhaled into my ear, sending shivers down my spine as nerves I didn't even know I had tingled.

I quickly grabbed one of the whistles on my neck and blew it hard.