"Just look at them all!" Simba exclaimed as he stood by the water hole, watching the cubs playing with each other. "Fools. All of them. They know nothing. They don't even deserve to live in my kingdom! They're just lucky that I'm a very nice King." He turned to Nala, who was holding the diamond. "Nala, give me the diamond," he ordered, holding out his paw. "It's time to make the cubs more… obedient."
"Yes, Simba…" Nala obeyed, giving him the shiny diamond. "I will do anything for you…"
Simba smiled evilly. "That's what I like to hear," he said, before striding over to the cubs. "Hello, losers!" he called, catching the cubs' attention immediately. "Your brand-new King has something for you to see."
"Losers?" one cub exclaimed, staring at Simba angrily. "Who do you think you're talking to?"
"You, duh!" Simba replied. "All of you. You're pathetic. But I can fix that, if you'll just look at this…"
Simba grinned widely as he held up the diamond. Sunlight shone down on it, causing the diamond to sparkle brightly with light, which reflected everywhere.
The result was instantaneous. The cubs were immediately entranced, red spirals spinning in their eyes. "Pretty, pretty, shiny, shiny…" they all said in unison, staring at the diamond. In just a matter of seconds, they were all under Simba's control.
Simba tossed his head back and cackled at the top of his voice. "Yes!" he cried, embracing the power he had been granted. "At long last! The idiots are finally respecting me!" He looked down at the sparkling diamond held in his paw, and stroked it gently. "And it's all thanks to you." He rubbed it against his cheek softly. "Simba loves the shiny thing! Simba will look after it for ever and ever…"
"What is your next command, master?" the cubs all asked, willing to do anything for Simba now.
Simba chuckled sinisterly, and pointed to Pride Rock in the distance. "To Pride Rock! I think it's time for me to become the King I was born to be!"
"… So then Nala starts talking about how she thinks she's lost Simba," Sarafina told Sarabi, as they sat inside the den, talking to each other. "But cubs are always falling out like that. You know what they're like."
"Simba and Nala had an argument?" said Sarabi, surprised. Normally, Simba and Nala never argued. At least, not to her knowledge. Such an occurrence was rather… strange, she had to admit. "Over what?"
"Oh, over a certain problem Simba had," Sarafina replied. "Something like that. Of course, I helped Nala out with a bit of my motherly knowledge."
"What did you tell her?" Sarabi asked, curious. Sarafina was always giving out advice left, right and centre. She just happened to be a very wise and intelligent lioness – even if she was a little odd. But that was one of the things Sarabi admired about her the most.
"I told her she should go after him," Sarafina said. "Well, I did say she should go after him and force Simba to give in to her demands, but she thought it would be better to talk it out with him in a very calm and peaceful way. Actually, I don't know why she decided to take that approach. I didn't mind when my mate kept asking me to marry him all the time."
Sarabi narrowed her eyes. "Wait, but didn't you say that it was you who wouldn't stop asking your mate to—"
"Anyway," Sarafina interrupted, "I think that the Prince and Princess are back together. You wouldn't see them breaking up any time soon!" she exclaimed with a laugh. "They'll be back in here any second, talking and laughing like they always do."
"Oh…" Sarabi's eyes narrowed in anger when she saw something. "For some reason, I sincerely doubt that."
"Huh?" Sarafina turned to look at her best friend. "What do you mean?"
"There is an army of cubs marching towards us, with spirals in their eyes and very entranced looks on their faces, all being led by Simba," Sarabi explained, sighing. "Just another ordinary day, really, isn't it?"
"Ordinary?" Sarafina looked towards the den entrance, to see that Simba was indeed leading an army of cubs into the den. "What part of that is…? Ooh…" Sarafina stopped talking when she saw the shiny diamond Simba held in his paw.
"What is it?" Sarabi asked, looking at Sarafina. "Why do you look so dazed?"
Spinning red spirals appeared in Sarafina's eyes, and a wide smile spread across her face. "Pretty, pretty, shiny, shiny…" she said, instantly mesmerised by the diamond's magical power.
Sarabi followed her gaze, and before she knew it, she was hypnotised, too. "Pretty, pretty, shiny, shiny…"
In fact, all of the lionesses in the den had been hypnotised, which only pleased Simba even more. "This is great!" he exclaimed, a big grin on his face. "It's only been a few minutes and already I'm running the kingdom! What do you think about that, Nala?"
"Pretty, pretty, shiny, shiny…" Nala replied, her eyes focused on the sparkling diamond.
"I knew you were going to say that," Simba said, smiling. "Now, I think I'll have the lionesses all hunt me some food, while I lay down and soak up the sun. It's fun being the King. Nala, carry me to the edge of Pride Rock." He climbed onto Nala's back, gesturing for her to move forward. "Now!"
"Yes, master…" Nala carried him out of the den, making her way up Pride Rock until she reached the edge.
Simba rolled from Nala's back to his paws, slumping to the ground, staring down at what had become his new kingdom.
He chuckled evilly. "It's all mine, Nala. All mine…" He held the diamond up to his face. "Well, ours," he said, petting the diamond affectionately. "Our kingdom, my precious… little… shiny thing…"
"What is your next command, master?" Nala asked, eager to serve her King.
Simba pulled her close, a sly look in his eyes. "How about a kiss?" he asked, raising his eyebrows at her.
"Yes, master…" Nala leaned in and kissed him on the muzzle, happy to oblige…
"Wow…" Haiba opened his mouth and let out a big yawn as he awoke, stretching his body out. "You can't say the Pride Lands aren't comfy," he said, slowly getting to his paws.
He blinked a few times, and then looked around the den. His eyes widened in surprise when he saw all of the lionesses staring back at him. They all had spinning red spirals in their eyes. It looked like they had been hypnotised or something.
"Oh, dear…"
"He has been untouched!" one lioness hissed, pointing to Haiba with a claw. "He has not been cleansed of imperfection by the power of the Shiny Thing!"
"He will be brought to King Simba," Sarabi announced, taking a step towards Haiba. "He will decide what to do with him."
"King Simba?" Haiba raised an eyebrow. "Ladies, please, I think you're giving Simba too much credit. He's not scheduled to be the King for at least another—" A lioness roughly grabbed Haiba by the throat, and started dragging him outside the den. "Hey! Normally, I would consider being touched by a cute lioness a good thing, but the circumstances are different this time!"