The Big Cats of Bakula

by PantheraMan


Chapter 7: The Cotamuna

The next morning, when everyone woke up, Applejack was now determined more than ever to finally build a boat that would actually be able to take them home.

"Alright everybody! Let's get the stuff for the new boat!" ordered Applejack

"Hold it Applejack, before we do anything like that, we'd better eat first. Come on Tulu." Said Banda

Tulu was once again smelling the air to get a scent, they ended up finding a huge herd of bison. When I mean huge, I mean huge, as this herd had hundreds of bison in it. A far cry to the huge herds of buffalo and Wildebeest back in the Hunters Deathtrap.

"That's one big herd!" whispered Tulu

"I know, makes stalking them more difficult, but I can see a bison with a huge injury on it's leg." Said Banda

Banda got close to the herd, close as he could, like he normally would. Once within range, he gave chase. The bison feld with terror, Banda leaped onto his target, wrestled with it, got it on the ground, and sank his canines into the throat, crushing the windpipe, and killing it.

"Well done old friend!" Said Tulu

"Thanks Tulu, now to get this back to the girls." Said Banda

Banda, with his immense strength, dragged the dead bison to the cave, or at least he was until a pride of big cats appeared. These weren't lions, they were sabertooths, with short tails, powerful, muscular forelimbs, and canines that only got down to the bottom of the lower jaw, and their pelts were the same color as a lions, for camoflauge, and this pride had five of them. Banda growled to tell them to back off.

"RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR"

"RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR"

"Banda, are you crazy? You can't take these things on, they're too much for you!" Said Tulu

"I know, we gotta get outta here now!" Said Banda

One of the sabertooths attacked, and fought with Banda, Banda got the upper hand until the rest of the sabertooths attacked, and unlike with hyenas and wild dogs, Banda was just no match for them, and he was forced to retreat.

"Perfect, this is EXACTLY why I stuck to the spots with trees in our old home, so our kills were easier to hide." Said Banda

"I know, we'll just have to hunt again-sniffs the air-and I can smell the scent of something else edible." Said Tulu

Back at the cave, the girls were waiting for the hunters to return, wondering what they'd bring back. When Banda and Tulu did return, they brought back a horse.

"This is going to be so weird." Thought Sunset Shimmer

But this is what the hunters brought back, so Applejack butchered it, and put it over the fire.

"Well this is certainly a new experience, I've never had horse before." Said Rarity

"Well we would have brought a bison but a bunch big cats I've never seen before stole it from us." Said Tulu

"A kill got stolen from you?" asked Applejack

"Yes, I may be powerful, but not invincible." Said Banda

"Yeah, when he made a kill, he always had to hide it so no social cats or huge bears could steal it from him." Said Tulu

However, as thy were chatting, another group was on the move.

"ROOOOOOOWWWWW" "RRRRRRROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWW"
They looked in the direction of the noises, only to see the same cats that stole Banda's kill coming straight for them. Only this time, there were thirty of the big cats this time.

"OH COME ON!!!!" shouted Banda

The cats charged, and with the gang severely outnumbered, they were forced to retreat.

"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH"

When they gang was a good enough distance away from them, they saw that the cats wanted the cave for themselves.

"First we get stranded, then attacked by many kinds of animals, our boats get destroyed, and now we got chased out of our cave, WHY DOES NATURE HATE US SO FREAKING MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!" complained Rainbow Dash

"I don't know, that's the way it is. Let's go before they come after us again." Said Kama

They moved on, but they went to the river Tulu's group found, and he was right we he said it was a big one. Not only that, but it was full of fish. The perfect meal, as fish are easier to catch than things like horses and bison, and fish can be eaten more quickly and therefore, less likely to be stolen from them. But now was the time to get the supplies for the new boat. However, they were distracted by a battle between two male brown bears. The bears grappled with each other, trying to push the other one to the ground, fur was flying, but then the bears stopped, and then ran off. The reason for this was the arrival of a herd of Columbian Mammoths, these mammoths are bigger than Woolly Mammoths, and not as hairy. This was a matriarchal herd, made up of females and their calves. Banda and Tulu got out of there right away, not wanting to be chased around by the mammoths.

"Nope, not doing this today." Said Banda as he and Tulu went away from the mammoths.

Noon had come, meaning it was lunch time.

"Well, time to do a little fishing." Said Banda

"I can help you out, I made a fishing rod." Said Applejack

Of course you would." Replied Rainbow Dash

Banda got into the water, and Applejack threw her line. Banda waited patiently, when a fish got close enough, he took a swipe at the fish, but he missed, as it dodged his swipe. Applejack on the other hand was catching lots of fish, making Banda look rather bad.

"Seems Applejack's the better fisher." Said Fluttershy

"Oh hush, I get one, just you wait."

Banda set his sights on a huge fish, he waited for it to get close, but this time, he jumped at it, but it darted away. Banda wasn't about to give up so easily, as he gave chase to it, he ran around down the river, but then he ended up back where the mammoths were drinking, but the mammoths were gone, but there was now a bull mammoth there.

"Hehe, ummmm hi?" said Banda

The mammoth threw Banda in the air with it's tusks, and Banda ended up falling and landing right in the middle of the river, and he went back to the girls, without the fish.

"I thought you said you were good at fishing." Said Sunset

"Oh shut up." Said Banda

Applejack cooked the fish she caught in the fire, and while Banda wasn't too pleased with his fishing attempt, he did like the taste of the fish.

"Don't worry Banda, I'm not that good at fishing either. Believe me, I tried to beat Applejack at a fishing contest, didn't go well for me." Said Rainbow Dash

"Good to know I'm not the only one, though the next time Tulu and I go hunting, I think we'll take you with us since you can confuse anything trying to take our kill with your powers." Said Banda

"GASP! REALLY!!!" squealed Rainbow Dash

"Uhhhhhhh....yes." Said Banda, having no idea how to react to Rainbow Dash's reaction.

After the gang ate, it was now time to get to work on the new boat, again.

COTAMUNA
Height: 4 ft tall at the shoulder
Length: 7 ft from nose the the tip of the tail
Weight: Males are from 200-550 pounds while females are from 120-300 pounds
The second largest cat in the plains, the Cotamuna is a deadly killer. Living in groups numbering in the thirties, their diet includes bison, horses, camels, aurochs, young mammoths, caribou, and elk. The competition includes wild dogs called Gongers, which the cats easily dominate, Miracinonyx, which are also dominated easily, brown bears, which can be a formidable opponent one on one, but are dominated when confronted by a pride. Lions are their worst enemies, in fact, Cotamunas hunt during the day to try to avoid lions, however, prides of Cotamunas have been known to kill lions when they significantly outnumber them. The social structure is similar to lions, the only difference is that males will help with the hunting more often than male lions. When they hunt, they have to get as close to their prey as possible, for they don't have as much endurance, so they can only run fast for a short distance. Then they use their powerful forelimbs to get a victim down onto the ground, and kill it quickly with those saber teeth.