After their big adventure, now the gang must go on a rescue mission
Other people have been stranded in two new places in Bakula, and now it's up to the gang to go on a big rescue mission, and what big cats do they encounter in these places? And what are the adaptations of these hunters they meet?
The spirit realm, the place where the powerful spirit animals roam, and where animals go when they pass on, now the location of a meeting between three of these powerful spirits. They were the lion, cobra, and rhino. Once they got to their positions in the open plains of the realm, they began to speak.
"In two regions in Bakula, humans have gotten stranded after plane crashes, we must help them before it's too late!" said the cobra
"Humans? humans are a plague to the world, why should we assist these humans?" asked the rhino
"Just because man is cruel to the animals doesn't mean we should be the same way, and these humans don't deserve to be in the situation they're in, not all humans are cruel to animals. As for the solution, I know a group who can be of assistance." Answered the lion
"Really?' asked the rhino
"Yes, a group of teenagers and a hyena to be exact, they've been stranded in Bakula before, and the girls have great powers, Banda is a great fighter, comes in handy when going to places with predators, Tulu is a great tracker, and Kama is a great huntress, I'm confident that they can accomplish this task." Answered the lion
"Do what you must." Replied the cobra.
In the mortal world in Canterlot, it was night, and the group of friends were sitting on the ground, looking at the stars.
"Look! a shooting star! make a wish!" said Applejack
"Alright.....I wish for a.....uuuuhhh.... another date with my lady!" said Banda
"Hehehe, aw alright Banda." Responded Rainbow Dash
"Wait, what's that?" asked Kama who was pointing at the night sky at a bright white light, out of the light came the spirit lion, who then walked right up to the group.
"You!!!" said Sunset Shimmer
"Greetings, I've come to give you an important task." Said the lion
"Well what's the task?" asked Tulu
"Am I dreaming? or am I actually looking at a ghost lion?" asked Spike
"You're not dreaming, this is reality, but as for your task, there are 2 regions in Bakula you've never been to, in recent times, some humans have become stranded in those places, and you have been chosen to go and rescue them." Explained the lion
"Well in that case, we'd better head home and get some rest, and prepare for this mission, where should we meet?" asked Banda
"Come back to this spot in the morning, and you'll be on your way." Answered the lion.
"Any chance that I could come?" asked Spike
"It's best you don't, this task is too dangerous for you to go on, especially since the cats of Bakula would stop at nothing to kill a dog." Answered the lion
When the morning came, everyone was prepared for the task, and Rarity being Rarity, brings a mountainload of luggage.
"For pete's sake Rarity, were gonna be in the wild! why would you need that much stuff for?" asked Applejack
"Applejack, darling, it always pays to be very prepared, you never know darling." Answered Rarity
The lion came in the way he did the night before, and he gave each of them necklaces with green rubies on them.
"Take these, they will transport you to your destination, they will glow when you found all the people in a region, just tell the rubies to take them home, or some other place when you found them. Good luck."
After that, the lion returned to the spirit realm, the gang did as he ordered them to do, and they went to their destination. When they got there, they saw that they were in a coniferous forest, lots of conifers, but it was warm, and pretty dry, they happened to be on a river bank, but the river was dry as old bones. Meaning that this place was in a drought. The group decided to split up, Tulu, Applejack, Rarity, Sunset, and Fluttershy would head north while the others went south. While Tulu's group was searching, yelling out to those they came to rescue, they encountered a bull auroch in an open meadow, knowing this animal could be dangerous, they gave him a wide berth, however, it turned out that they weren't the only ones looking at the auroch, as a huge cat with saber teeth, a long tail, dark brown fur, and black spots came charging from ambush, before it could react, it leaped onto the auroch, used it's muscular forelimbs to wrestle it to the ground, and sink those huge fangs into the throat, and soon, the auroch was dead.
"RRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA"
After the kill was made, it noticed the group, it bared it's teeth, and grolwed.
The group soon made a hasty retreat, allowing the big cat to eat his kill in piece.
LOKOCHUMALA Height: 4 ft tall Length: 11 ft from nose to tip of the tail Weight: 300-880 pounds
The Lokochumala is the biggest, most powerful cat in the region it inhabits, and it takes down big game, like aurochs, moose, and bison, but it normally will not eat smaller game like deer and wild boar, but why? the reason for that is that it coexists with cave lions, and both cats are able to coexist by selecting different food items, cave lions hunt deer, boar, etc, while these sabertooths stick to bigger game, however, when food becomes scarce, competition between these two intensifies, and during those times, the lions must eat quickly before their larger cousins can steal their kills they made. There isn't much of a size difference between males and females, and for that reason, they aren't as aggressive towards each other as pantherines are because male cats are bigger so they can do better in combat over the right to the ladies. Females can have anywhere from 2-3 cubs in a litter, and after about two years under her care, the cubs will leave their mother, and start their own lives. They also compete with leopards and wolves when things get rough, but these cats dominate these predators as well.
With the other group, Banda was using his keen senses to try to track down the people they were looking for, while the others were doing what people do when searching for lost people. However, they got no response, but they did however, get a bit of a surprise when a pack of wolves ran past them, and it became crystal clear why that was as a female cave lion was chasing them, caught one in her paws and killed it with a bite to the throat, when the wolf was dead, the lion grabbed it and dragged it off, or at least it was until another member of the same species of cat that killed the auroch came along, and challenged the lion for the kill. While the lion was smaller, it wasn't going to give up it's prize without a fight, so it charged at the bigger feline, the cats clashed.
"HURAAAHH!!"
"RRAAAARRGGGH!!!"
The lion got a swipe to the sabertooth's shoulder, but the sabertooth was larger, and more powerful, and used it's strength to slam the lion down, and eventually, the lion was forced to back down.
"Rainbow, fly overhead and make sure that thing doesn't hunt the people we're looking for, in this drought, predators seem to be desperate." Ordered Banda
Rainbow did as he asked, as she ponied up and flew overhead and followed the lion for quite some time, in doing so, she was able to get a good look at the lion, she could tell it was a female, but also that is was bigger than an African lioness, but it was hairier, light brown, and had a dark brown stripe on the sides of the body.
-"I swear, that's the weirdest looking lion I've ever seen." Rainbow thought to herself.
As she kept following the lion, she saw that it was about to enter a cave, and saw two cubs run out of the cave, and the lion nuzzled her cubs and laid down next to them.
-"Aw man, now this makes the whole thing more emotional, wait...what's that smell?" thought Rainbow Dash who then went to investigate the smell, finding it to be the carcass of a Red Stag that died of starvation, she then got out her knife her parents gave her in case she needed to get out of a sticky situation and used her new butchering skills Applejack had taught her in recent weeks, and then proceeded to bring it to the den, but not on foot of course. She dropped the deer meat right in front of the lions who then ate the meat, leaving Rainbow to feeling some pride and flying back to the others.
CONIFER CAVE LION Length: 10 ft from nose to tail Height: 3 ft at the shoulder Weight: Males are from 300-660 pounds while females are 200-480 pounds
The cave lions in this region are descendants of those that came from Europe during the Pleistocene age, and unlike their African cousins, they're solitary like tigers or leopards. Females can have up to 3 cubs in a litter, and she is very protective of her offspring, as males will kill cubs that they didn't father to bring the females back into heat so she can have his actual cubs. While they are powerful hunters, their diet mainly consists of Fallow Deer, Caribou, Red Deer, and Wild Boar, it's not very often they go after aurochs or bison. The reason for this is because they coexist with the Lokochumala, which is bigger and more powerful than the lion, so to avoid competition, they select different prey items. However, when food becomes scarce, then the competition intensifies, and the lions must eat quickly before their kills get stolen, and it's not very often they actually fight the sabertooths. However, in normal conditions, the cave lions are more aggressive towards the leopards and wolves in the region than the sabertooths because normally their dietary overlap is bigger, and due to this, wolves are rather rare in the region because of the competition with the lions.
After Rainbow Dash returned to the group, they continued on with their ongoing search for the stranded people, however, what came next, was not what they expected.
A scream and a roar, a clear sign that something that something wasn't right. The group rushed to the scene, and in the forest, they saw two little boys who seemed to be around ten years old, and their mother who was trying her best to fight off a leopard. Now this leopard had no signs of injury, nor was it sick, nor were it's canines broken, making it clear that this leopard was doing this out of desperation for food. The woman had a large branch in her hand, and was repeatedly hitting the leopard with it, however, the leopard looked like it could care less about that, and pinned the woman down to the ground, she instinctively grabbed the leopard by the neck to keep the fangs from getting to her throat. However, the leopard used it's claws to slit her throat, but before the leopard could finish the job, Banda charged over and knocked the leopard right off of her. The leopard didn't run off right away, as it charged at Banda, but of course Banda slammed it down to the ground with his paw and claws, and then the leopard retreated. Banda then went back over to the woman, who was now bleeding to death, but she was at least able to say one last thing.
"T-thank you.....please.....p-promise me you'll look after my b-boys." Said the woman
"I promise." Replied Banda
After that, she was still, not moving, not breathing. The boys soon sobbed over the death of their mother.
"Why did that thing have to do this!? Why was it so evil!?" asked both boys
"The leopard may have killed her, but it's not evil, this place is in a drought, so it was desperate for food, it was only trying to survive." Answered Banda
Speaking of which, Banda heard some footsteps nearby, he turned his head and right under a tree nearby, the leopard was laying there, waiting for his chance to claim his prize. Banda decided it was time to go, although it was difficult getting the boys away from their mother. Banda and the gang watched as the leopard walked right in, grabbed his kill, and dragged it off somewhere where it could eat in peace.
The rubies began to glow, meaning that they found all the lost people in the region. Banda then made a long distance call to gather up everyone.
"BOW! BOW! BOW!"
Once the whole group was together, and Banda told the others what had happened, after that, Pinkie Pie and Sunset volunteered to go back home with the boys to help them get to a new home, and with the rubies teleporting them back, they were gone. With this part of the mission done, the rubies teleported the others to their next destination.
PINE LEOPARD
Length: 5.4 ft long Height: 2.3 ft tall at he shoulder Weight: Males are from 120-160 pounds while females are from 99-130 pounds
Like all leopards, the Pine Leopard is an adaptable hunter, preying on animals from rabbits all the way up to large deer. However, Fallow Deer are their absolute favorite. Along with that, they also are very stealthy hunters, those rosettes allow them to blend in perfectly with the forest. While they are powerful hunters, they aren't the most dominant predator in the region, cave lions, being larger and more powerful, are able to kill leopards in disputes, and wolf packs will take kills from leopards every now and then, and when food is scarce, they live in fear of the Lokochumala sabertooths. In most places, leopards drag their kills up into trees to keep them out of reach of other predators, but pine leopards can't do that, as conifer trees don't have the right branches to hold a large carcass up into a tree, so the leopards have to drag a kill to a safe spot to eat it, and then cover it up with foliage to keep it hidden from scavengers.
When they got to their next destination, they saw that once again, they were in another forest, but this time, this was a temperate forest. The kind of forest one would bump into if they are in states like Ohio, Kentucky, etc. However this time, they saw the place wasn't in a drought like the last place, giving the group a sigh of relief. They were off once again, although when it came to splitting up, Rainbow Dash, Twilight, and Fluttershy went ahead into the sky to search from above while the rest would go on foot.
While they were searching, they did bump into animals they bumped into before like bison, deer, aurochs, elk, moose, and wild boar. But they also came across some turkeys, something they've never seen in Bakula at all. when they got to the river, they saw a large beaver lodge, as well as the busy beavers gathering branches to build their "water wall". However, they noticed the beavers slapped their tails on the water's surface. Something was in the area, something the beavers didn't like. Looking to their left, they saw what it was. a pair of big cats had come out of the surrounding woods. Now these cats were as big as tigers, had stripes and ruffs like tigers, but their fur was black, they had white underbellies, and tufts of fur at the ends of their tails like lions, but one was smaller than the other, and it's ruffs weren't as pronounced as the bigger ones, making it clear that this was a mating pair. The male looked up at Banda, bared it's teeth, and snarled at him.
The feline charged at Banda, and in this case, Banda wasn't in the mood for a fight, so he backed off quickly.
"Gee wiz! calm down! i'm not interested in your girl! I already have one!" responded Banda
As for the girls in the sky, they had no luck, but they did bump into something else. They saw for the first time in Bakula, a human camp, however, things were not at peace as a group of 5 cats of the same species they others encountered at the pond were attacking the humans, one had a man pinned down, and was biting the spear the man was holding to keep the cat's fangs from getting to this throat. Then without thinking, Rainbow Dash used her super speed to fly down and knock the big cat off of the man, Twilight lifted the other cats and was able to throw them away from the camp, after that, they retreated. The cat knocked over by Rainbow Dash wasn't about to give up so easily, as it charged at his attacker, until Fluttershy stepped in of course.
"STOP!!!" shouted Fluttershy
The cat stopped dead in his tracks.
"Listen here you big bully, you shouldn't be doing this to those weaker than you, now leave or else.." Said Fluttershy before she gave the cat her famous stare, and this time, it actually worked as the cat ran off at the sight of her disapproving eyes.
After that, they went to make sure the people were okay, and they explained why they were in the region to begin with, and in gratitude for the rescue, some of the natives decided to help the girls search for the lost souls, and so they were off again.
LEOTAKA Height: 4 ft at the shoulder Length: 13 ft from nose to tail Weight: Males are from 300-650 pounds while females are from 120-430 pounds
Leotaka's are powerful killers, able to hunt animals 5 times their own weight, like moose, bison, aurochs, elk, etc. But unlike other forest cats like tigers and jaguars, they live in groups, their groups are like those of African Lions, with males fiercely defending the prides territory from other males. However, their groups are small due to being in the forest where it's more beneficial to be solitary. While they may be black in the warm periods, they turn white in winter to allow them to blend in with the snow during the winter, and being black helps them blend in with the dark shadows of the forest when it's warm. For competition, they do not have much competition other than black bears which avoid them at all costs, and weird cats called Borpers that will run up into the trees to escape their larger, more powerful cousins. As for humans, just like the Tougarions, they have no tolerance for humans in their hunting ground, hence why these cats attacked the humans in this chapter.
The other group was still looking on foot, however, they started to get a little hungry, so like in the old days out on the plains, Tulu sniffed the air for any signs of game, and Banda and the others followed. They were in luck, as a White-tailed Deer stag was in view, browsing on the leaves in the forest. Banda crouched down, and began stalking his quarry. With his padded paws and camoflauge, he was able to get close to the deer. He got ready to attack, however, he wasn't the only one who was hunting the deer, as a medium sized cat came out from ambush and used it's heavy build to get the deer on the ground, and those small saberteeth to finish it off. This cat had a white underbelly, dark brown fur, black stripes, pointed ears, a long tail, and small sabers that were now covered in blood. Despite this however, all wasn't lost for Banda, he just got up, walked over to the carcass, although this cat was deadly, there was no way it going to be able to fight off Banda, so it left the kill to the tiger boy.
After he dragged it back to the group, Applejack butchered it, while Kama made the fire to cook the meat. While the group was eating, something unexpected happened once again.
"HELP!!!" "HELP!!!!!"
They group went straight to the cries for help right away, and when they got there, they saw a man who clearly wasn't from here being chased by what were possibly the weirdest cats they had ever seen. They were as big as leopards, had black spots, but had small bobbed tails, white underbellies, and were orange in color. But before they could kill the man, Rarity used her magic to make a huge shield to protect the man from the cats fangs and claws, and Banda charged and pinned one to the ground while Applejack was able to pick up two of them and throw them in the air, then Banda released the one from his grip.
Afterwards, Rarity released her shield and the man gave her a big hug.
"Thank you thank you thank you!!" said the man
"You're welcome darling, now where are you from?" asked Rarity
"New York City, why do you ask?" asked the man
The ruby she had then teleported them man back to his home in New York city, then all of their rubies began to glow, which meant they rescued all the people stranded in the region, and since the lion said two regions, their entire mission was now accomplished. Banda called to get the others to come to them, after that occurred, the rubies teleported them back home, knowing that they had done a great deed.
Back in the spirit realm, the three animals that met before had now met again.
"I told you they could accomplish this task." Said the lion
"They sure did.... and you know what, I'm impressed by them." Said the rhino
"Yeah, and now they have some great tales to tell." Said the cobra
"Indeed, while they may never go back to that place ever again, I know that they will never forget their encounters with the big cats of Bakula."
BORPER Height: 2 ft tall Length: 3 ft long Weight: Males are from 130-200 pounds while females are from 70-160 pounds
Borpers are indeed, very odd cats, and unlike other cats that have long tails that act as rudders, a short tail can't do that, so when it comes to hunting, they have 2 methods, one is to sneak up really close to the prey, and then in a short burst of speed, charge, get the prey to the ground, and kill it. Or the cat will climb a tree, wait for something to come by, leap from the tree and onto the prey, kill it, and after each hunt, like a leopard, will drag a kill up a tree to keep it safe from other predators. Their diet consists of deer, rabbit, turkey, fish, hares, and wild boars. As for enemies, they comepete with a sabertoothed medium sized cat known as Lynkosmilus, which these cats dominate due to being bigger and more powerful. Black bears will steal kills from these cats and kill their cubs, but Borpers will kill bears while they're hibernating. Their biggest rival is the Leotaka, which will kill a borper on sight, luckily, a borper is much better at climbing trees, and can make a quick getaway from their bigger cousins.