The Pony Guard (Season 1)

Episode 15:

The Lion Guard began their day with a bang...or rather a stampede of buffaloes who were running from a mudslide. Ono, Fluttershy and Rainbow flew over the stampeding herd and the rest of the Guard, who were busy keeping them contained, searching for higher ground to lead the buffaloes.

"This way!" Ono yelled over the bellowing bovines.

“Come on!” “Hurry!” Rainbow and Fluttershy added. They swooped down and hovered over Twilight and Kion.

"Pony and Lion Guard! Ono's found dry ground." Kion called out to the rest of the Guard. "We gotta round up the buffalo and guide them over there fast!"

"Nobody does fast better than me. Huwezi! " Fuli said with a grin as she sped towards the front of the herd. "This way, everybody! Follow me!" she called as she ran beside the buffaloes. "This way! That's it."

The rest of the Guard followed behind, keeping the herd contained. As they neared the safe ground, a buffalo in the rear of the herd slipped in the mud and fell, letting out a grunt and a bellow. "Beshte! Bunga!" Kion looked over her shoulder at the pair, "That last one's yours!"

“Applejack, help them out!” Twilight added.

"Got it!" Beshte charged in with Bunga on his back.

“Yeehaw!” Applejack added.

Applejack and Beshte got behind the buffalo while Bunga grabbed it by the horns, "Come on!" grunted the badger. "Let's go, buffalo!"

"Twende Kiboko!" the Guard's strongest grunted as he and Applejack gave one final push, freeing the buffalo from the mud. The sudden jerk of the buffalo's head sent Bunga flying into a bush. A second later, the honey badger jumped out with a "Yowch!", his hands rubbing his backside.

"Bunga, are you okay?" Kion asked, running to his friend's side.

"Something bit me." Bunga answered. "And it was him." he pointed to the red cobra that emerged from the bush with a hiss.

"We did it, Kion!" Ono reported as he landed with the Guard. "The buffalo are all safe and-"

"Hapana!" Ono gasped, once he saw the snake near the bushes. "Egyptian Cobra! Whatever you do, don't let him bite you." Ono added cowering, holding his wings in front of his face.

Bunga rubbed his backside, "He already did." he informed. Everyone had gathered by this point and they all gasped.

"Hey, Ushari? Why did you do that?" Beshte asked as he approached the serpent expecting an answer for doing so.

"He landed on my head, Beshte." Ushari hissed back. "He's lucky I only bit him once." the snake rolled his eyes and slithered back into the bushes.

"He's got a point." Bunga agreed not even denying he deserved that while trying to look at his rear. "Wonder if he left a mark?"

"Bunga!" Ono exclaimed, standing in front of the honey badger to emphasize the seriousness of this. “You don't understand! That snake, his bite is venomous!"

"You mean it did leave a mark?" Bunga questioned.

"I mean, his bite is poison!" Ono clarified, holding the badger's head between his wings. Everyone gasped.

"Poison?" Bunga gulped as his face fell in horror. "That's not good. That's bad. That means...I'm a goner!"

“Let’s get him to Rafiki. Ono, have Timon and Pumbaa meet us at Rafiki's tree." Kion said.

"Affirmative." Ono saluted before taking to the air.

Bunga let out another groan and fell back against Kion. "Hang in there, Bunga." Kion said to the badger. "Rafiki will know what to do." He picked up Bunga by his scruff and helped him onto Beshte's back, before the Guard took off toward the large Baobab tree where Rafiki lived.

At Rafiki’s tree, Kyoga was still recovering from her wounds. They were healed but she was still sore from her fierce fight with Reirei last week. Kyoga heard Bunga letting out moans of pain just as Timon and Pumbaa met the Guard as they ran to the base of the tree.

"Bunga!" Timon cried out, standing on top of Pumbaa's head. "The bird said a snake bit ya on the bottom."

"Oh! Say it ain't so!" Pumbaa sobbed.

Bunga moaned again, "It's so." he answered his two uncles. Timon and Pumbaa burst into tears.

"Rafiki, Bunga was bitten by a poisonous snake." Kion informed, stepping up beside the Royal Mjuzi.

The aforementioned honey badger slid off the hippo's back and let out another groan, "You gotta help me. I can't have much time left." he sighed, resting his arm against his head. "I think this is the end. Goodbye, everyone. Hello, Circle of Life." He fell onto his back, grabbing a nearby flower and held it over his stomach.

"Bunga?" Kion questioned. "Bunga!" Timon and Pumbaa burst into another fit of sobs. Kyoga grunted irritably and went over to the honey badger, “Get up you badger, you’re fine..” she grumbled.

“How do you know?” Timon sobbed.

“Honey Badgers are immune to venomous snake bites.” Kyoga deadpanned.

“Immune?” Rainbow asked.

“That means they aren’t affected, feather brain…” Kyoga growled.

“Hey! Watch it!” Rainbow snarled, earning a scoff from Kyoga.

“How do you know honey badgers, Kyoga?” Kion asked the lioness cub, who sighed and rolled her eyes at the prince, “I’ve seen honey badgers like Bunga actually kill and eat snakes like the cobra. Say they taste like chicken.”

“They eat them?!” Fuli exclaimed.

“Duh. That’s what I just said.” Kyoga deadpanned.

“It is true.” Fluttershy confirmed. “Honey Badgers sleep off venomous snake venom before they get back and kill the snake. It’s interesting and kinda gross…”

Bunga, who had heard everything Kyoga said, then leaped to his feet, "Great! Let's go, guys!"

"Are you kidding me?!" Fuli angrily exclaimed with a raised brow. "We were worried about you and you were faking it?"

"Uh, not exactly." Bunga chuckled dryly.

Fuli ran right up to the badger, glaring at him with narrowed eyes, "I should bite you myself." she growled ready to teach him a lesson until Kion intervened.

"Easy, Fuli." Kion said calmly, nudging the cheetah away from the badger. "Bunga, we just thought you were really hurt."

"Me, too." Bunga agreed.

“Next time don’t scare us like that.” Twilight chided.

"But he's not. He's fine." Timon sighed, wrapping his arm around his nephew's shoulder. "So let's celebrate!"

"Yeah!" Pumbaa agreed. "A feast at Hakuna Matata Falls. And everyone's invited!"

"Thanks, Pumbaa. Sounds great." Kion smiled, "But I have to meet my family for dinner."

"Me, too." Beshte added.

"The flock gets jittery when I don't show up for mealtime." Ono followed.

"How 'bout you, Fuli? Are you meeting your cheetah family?" Pumbaa asked. “Or you Kyoga, aren’t you gonna meet with Kion’s family.”

"Nah." The Guard's fastest replied. "I'll just go hunt by myself."

“No. I don’t hunt with other creatures. I hunt alone.” Kyoga stated boldly.

"By yourself? All alone?" Pumbaa questioned. "That's the saddest thing I've ever heard. Isn't that the saddest thing you've ever heard?" he asked his meerkat buddy.

"You're right, Pumbaa. It is." Timon agreed. "Friends don't let friends eat alone."

"It's not like that." Fuli rebuked. "Girl cheetahs hunt alone. It's what we do."

“And I’m not interested in socializing with you, so do me a favor and don’t bother me.” Kyoga said sharply, before she moved off, ignoring her soreness.

“Hmph, somepony needs to teach her a lesson.” Rainbow growled, wanting to give Kyoga a nice kicking.

“Rainbow, you heard what the Princess said, her attitude probably stems from whatever caused her to get those scars.” Twilight sternly reminded the rainbow pegasus, earning a groan from her.

"Anyway, as for you Fuli, you're eating with us, and I'm not taking no for an answer." Fuli opened her mouth to protest, “But I-” but the meerkat held up his hand to silence her. "Not another word. I insist." he stepped aside, "After you."

Fuli rolled her eyes and sighed heavily, “Okay…” and she walked with the trio towards Hakuna Matata Falls.

"Is what Timon said true?" Ono asked, as the rest of the Lion Guard watched Fuli leave with Bunga, Timon, and Pumbaa. "Do friends not let friends eat alone?"

"If it is true, we haven't been very good friends to Fuli." Beshte noted, his ears falling to the sides.

"We need to be sure Fuli knows we're here for her." Kion spoke up.

"How do we do that?" Ono questioned.

"From now on, if any of us sees Fuli all alone, we'll invite her to join us in whatever we're doing." the Guard's leader answered.

"Good idea, Kion." Beshte agreed with a grin. "Then Fuli will know we're her friends, but what about Kyoga?”

“Hmmm…. Let me and the girls deal with Kyoga, while you guys deal with Fuli.” Kion said before he headed in the direction Kyoga walked off in.

At Hakuna Matata Falls, Timon presented the groups’ dinner, which of course, was bugs. “Dinner is served.” he announced placing the bugs down. Fuli sat off to the side, a disgusted look on her face as she watched Timon and Pumbaa eat bugs off of a large leaf. She was offered one and fought the urge to gag, "Uh, thanks, but I'm not really hungry." she declined, moving to sit away from the water.

"Of course, how rude of me. How can you dive into a meal without a little dinner conversation?" He walked over to the cheetah and hopped onto a large rock so he could be eye-level with her. "So, how are things on your end of the food chain?"

Fuli, who was cleaning her paw, looked at the meerkat. "Um...good?" she answered, not really sure how exactly.

"Good, good." Timon replied, reaching out to stroke the fur on Fuli's cheek. "Wow. You are so soft." he gasped, holding the cheetah's face between his hands. "Do you know how soft you are?" He continued to rub against her face, making the female very uncomfortable.

"I, uh, don't really love having my fur touched." Fuli informed through gritted teeth.

Timon ignored the comment and continued patting the cheetah's face. "Pumbaa. Feel this fur. You could drown in fur like this."

The warthog bounded up and rubbed against the cheetah's side, "Mmm. Cuddly." he muttered, half-asleep. "Bunga, you try-" Pumbaa opened his eyes and couldn't see his nephew anywhere "uh, where'd he go?"

"Oh, I'm sure he's around somewhere." Timon waved off, leaning against Fuli, who was fighting the urge to eat the two animals currently obsessed with her fur.

"I'm right here!" Bunga called out, standing next to a sleeping crocodile. "Check it out! Open wide!" He opened the croc's mouth and stood inside of it, dancing around shouting, "Look at me! I'm immune! Whoo!"

"Bunga!" Fuli shouted in alarm, rushing to the badger's aid. She grabbed him by the scruff of his white fur, ripping him from the crocodile's mouth just as it clamped shut.

"What ya doing, Fuli?" Bunga asked, looking up at the feline.

"Saving your life." the cheetah replied angrily, still holding the badger by his scruff.

"But you heard Rafiki. I'm immune. I can't be hurt." Bunga reminded. "I could've stayed in that croc's mouth all day."

Fuli rolled her eyes at his stupidity and dropped Bunga right on his bottom just about done with him at this point. "Fine! Go get eaten if you want to." She added as she scoffed as she jumps over him. "I'm out of here." She added as she sped off away from the falls.

Meanwhile, Ono was flying overhead scanning the savannah when he spotted Fuli in the tall grass all alone, hunting a lone gazelle. “Hapana… Fuli’s all alone..” Ono flew down and called, “Fuli! Fuli!”

His shouting spooked the gazelle and it ran away while Fuli looked at him, “Ono? What’s wrong? Is there trouble?" Fuli asked as she ran up to Ono as he perched on a small rock.

"Trouble?" the egret repeated. "Uh, no."

The cheetah sighed, "Ono, I was hunting."

"Hunting?" Ono perked up. "That's perfect. I was on my way to hunt with the other egrets. You should join us." he invited.

"Okay." Fuli smiled. "Nothing like a good hunt."

Unfortunately for Fuli, it was not her kind of ‘hunt’ due to the fact that they were weaving between the feets of elephants through the mud. "This is nothing like a good hunt." Fuli muttered under her breath as her earlier smile turned into a frown.

"What?" Ono asked over the elephant's trumpeting. "A good hunt? Yeah, it's great."

"Ugh, what are we doing here, Ono?" Fuli groaned, annoyed with the bugs. "Do egrets eat elephants?"

"No!" the small bird chuckled as he kept leaping through the wave of elephant feet. "We eat the bugs kicked up by the elephants' feet."

"Bugs? Again?" Fuli rolled her eyes. "What is with everyone eating bugs?" She stopped walking when some mud splashed onto her fur. “Agh!”

"What's wrong, Fuli?" Ono flew back to his friend. "Why'd you stop?"

"Ono, I'm covered in mud!" The cheetah stated, annoyed.

The small egret hopped forward and sniffed the brown splash on his friend's fur. "Oh, that's not mud." he informed. The cheetah's eyes went wide as she stared at the not-mud on her side, "Gross." she whined, running to the nearest watering hole to clean herself off.

Once she was done, she was about to head out on another hunt when, “Fuli, Jumbo!”

Fuli sighed, but she turned around and saw Besthe, “Hey Besthe..”

"Hey! I couldn't help but notice you're all by yourself." the hippo said with a smile.

"So?" Fuli quirked her brow wondering what the big deal is.

"So, I thought you might want to join me for a swim." Beshte suggested, pushing his spotted-feline friend towards Lake Matope. "You can meet my whole hippo pod." Besthe gently pushed Fuli near the water, but cheetahs are known to not like water very much and Fuli was no exception to that.

"That's okay." Fuli chuckled dryly, jumping back away from the lake's shore. "I'm not a real fan of water."

"It's not that bad once you get used to it." Beshte grinned. "What do you say?" The Guard's fastest looked from the lake to her grinning friend. She sighed, "Well, maybe just my paws." she slowly padded towards the water.

"That's the way! Yeah!" the Guard's strongest cheered, stepping onto the stone his friend was on, which accidentally launched her into the lake with a yell. "Whoops." Behste chuckled. "Fuli?"

A hippo surfaced with the cheetah on his back. Fuli coughed and sighed, her eyes slightly narrowed, "Okay, I'm in the water. Just like a hippo."

Beshte chuckled dryly. "Well, uh, how do you like it?" he asked.

"It's great." Fuli answered sarcastically, jumping onto the shore and shook herself dry. "Maybe we can do it again. Some other time." She walked away, her eyes still narrowed and her patience wearing thin.

Meanwhile the Mane Six and Kion found Kyoga laying underneath a shady tree, looking at her leg injury. She was caught up in her thoughts pertaining to the scar.

“Leave my sister alone!”

“Get away from my friend!”

ROAR!

“Karabi! Lite!”

“Hey, Kyoga!” Her thoughts were interrupted, “Huh?” and she turned and saw Kion and the Mane Six. “Ugh, what?” she asked annoyed.

“Uh, hi Kyoga. We were just wondering if you wanted to come and hunt with me and my family?” Kion asked politely.

“No thank you. I prefer to hunt alone.” Kyoga said in refusal.

“How do you even hunt with your messed up leg?” Rainbow asked, earning her a swat on the head, from Twilight, “Ow!”

“I can hunt fine.. Without anyones’ help…” Kyoga huffed as she asserts herself. “I’ve been doing just fine without anyone’s help and I don’t plan to start now…”

Finally, Rainbow had enough of her attitude, “Alright that’s it! You’ve been acting rude and mean to my friends and I don’t take kindly to ponies or lions that do that. So you better treat us with respect, having saved your life, you disabled lioness!”

Kyoga let out a terrifying roar and her eyes turned white for a moment, “LOOK I DO NOT PLAN ON MAKING FRIENDS WITH ANYONE ELSE AFTER WHAT I’VE BEEN THROUGH. SO UNLESS YOU ALL HAVE GONE THROUGH WHAT I HAVE, STAY OUT OF MY WAY AND STAY AWAY FROM ME!” Kyoga exclaimed in a booming and terrifying voice, which terrified Kion and the Mane Six. Kyoga’s eyes stopped glowing white and just huffed before she ran off.

“.............So…… does she want to be friends or not?” Pinkie questioned.

Meanwhile, Bunga was in the Outlands volcano going near the steam vents. “Hmm, that seems fun…” Bunga said as she sat in one of the steam vents, unaware that he was being watched by Janja and his hyenas. “I don’t understand, what’s that honey badger doing?” Chungu asked. “Not even I do that.”

“Hehehe, yeah. What’s that honey badger thinking…..?” Cheezi questioned.

“Who cares?” Janja smiled evilly, “Our dinner is cookin itself.”

Meanwhile, Fuli was by herself and sighed, “The Guard always used to let me be by myself. What’s gotten into them?” Fuli walked for a little before she broke into a song all the while venturing around the Pride Lands and visiting various animals along the way.

My Own Way

Meanwhile, Kion and the Mane Six met up with Ono and Besthe, “Hey guys have you seen Fuli?” Kion asked, a bit shaken.

“Uh, not since I accidentally knocked her into the lake. She was kind of upset after that.” Besthe said.

“She didn't seem happy hunting with my flock either.” Ono reported sadly, “Did things go any better with Kyoga?”

“Not… exactly….” Kion winced before he shuddered.

“What’d she do?” Besthe asked.

“Oh! It was so cool! Rainbow got all up in her face saying ‘You should treat us with more respect’ and Kyoga’s eyes turned white and her voice got really scary and she said ‘Stay away from me and stay out of my way’ and then she ran off.” Pinkie rambled on quickly.

“Her eyes glowed white..?” Ono echoed in awe.

“Yeah… it was…. Scary…” Kion said. “It was like...like…”

“Like she was possessed or something…” Twilight said. “Guess… we should have just left her alone and not try to force her to be friends with us. All we did was just push her further away.”

“Yeah, same thing with Fuli. Maybe we shouldn't have tried to stop her from being alone.” Besthe said.

“Yeah. Guess we were being better friends when we just let Fuli be Fuli.” Kion added.

“Hey! Let's find Fuli and tell her from now on, we'll leave her alone!” Ono said.

“Poa! Great idea!” Beshte smiled as another thought occurs in his mind. “But… what about Kyoga?”

“For now, let’s just let her come to us...and see what happens.” Twilight suggested. “We don’t want to upset her anymore than we already have.”

Everyone nodded and went off to search for Fuli.

Meanwhile, Bunga was wandering around the volcano. “ Zuka Zama, I'm immune. Zuka Zama, zoom, zoom, zoom. Zuka Zama, I'm immune. Zuka Zama, zoom, zoom, zoom”

Then Janja appeared in his face, “Hello, morsel.”

“Move it, Janja! See that volcano up there? I'm gonna go play in it!” Bunga stated.

“I don't think you get it. We're going to eat you.” Janja threatened to which Bunga laughed, “You couldn't eat me if you tried. You know why? 'Cause I'm immune! That's right! Immune!” he exclaimed which echoed throughout the Outlands and caught Kyoga’s hearing.

“Bunga? In the Outlands? Ugh… Idiot…” Kyoga groaned as she headed over there.

“You're what?” Janja questioned.

“Immune.” Bunga repeated.

“What's immune?” Chungu stated.

“I hope it's not contagious!” Cheezi added.

“Stuff it, fur brains! It doesn't matter. Let's just eat him!” Janja growled.

“Hey!” Janja paused before Kyoga came and tackled him, “Back away from the badger..!”

“You again!” Janja growled. “Where’d you come from?”

“None of your business.” Kyoga growled. “But you stay away from Bunga!”

“Oh yeah?” Janja smirked before he punched Kyoga in the face, knocking her off of him and to the ground. “Or what? You can’t fight! You’re just a disabled lioness…”

Hearing that insult again made Kyoga furious, causing her eyes to glow white and she lunged at Janja and slashed him in the face, leaving three deep claw marks in her cheek, “AGH!” Janja fell on the ground.

“Janja!” Cheezi and Chungu gasped before Kyoga snarled at them. The pair whimpered and hugged each other but Kyoga didn’t lunge at them. Bunga was jaw dropped at how furious Kyoga was, “Zuka Zama….”

“Do not.. Call me… that… again Janja…. You’ve been warned….” Kyoga snarled at Janja, who actually looked terrified of the lioness cub as he nodded quickly before he and his boys ran away for their lives. Kyoga puffed out some smoke before she turned around, “Let’s go….”

Bunga didn’t disagree with her as the pair exited the Outlands only to be met with Kion and the others, “Bunga! What happened? Ono saw you in the Outlands while they were searching for me.” Fuli said as she notices the shock in the honey badger's eyes. “What’s got you so spooked?”

Kyoga just walked past the group and just sat under a tree. “K-Kyoga… s-she… clawed Janja…” Bunga stammered in fright.

“Clawed Janja?” Kion echoed.

“L-Left three deep claw marks in his face when she called her a….” Bunga leaned in so Kyoga couldn’t hear, “Disabled lioness…I’ve never seen anyone so furious or with white glowing eyes…”

“White, glowing eyes? That was she did earlier when Rainbow called her the same thing…” Twilight said.

“Sounds like the Princess was right about her traumatic past…. Question is… what would happen to make her so angry.” Besthe wondered before Fluttershy fluttered over to Kyoga, “Kyoga…?”

Kyoga sniffled before Fluttershy saw tears running down her face, Fluttershy gasped, “Y-You’re crying….!”

Kyoga sniffled again and just sobbed. “Oh you poor thing…” Fluttershy cooed as she hugged the lioness cub. Kion and Fuli lowered their ears in great worry while the others winced.

“Wow…. didn’t expect her to cry,,,,” Rainbow said, rubbing her left arm, anxiously.

“She must have poor mental health from whatever happened to her. Her being so angry and rude, must be her way of pushing others away so they don’t get close to her, because of the trauma. A defense mechanism” Twilight sympathized.

“Poor darling… what do we do…?” Rarity asked.

“For now…. we just comfort and support her. We hold off on trying to be friends with her. She’s obviously going through enough right now…” Kion sighed, looking at a still sobbing Kyoga. The others nodded with a burning question in their heads, “What happened to Kyoga?”