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.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!"
"RRRRRAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHUUUUNNNNNNGGGGGGG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
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.