Episode 10:
The Trouble with Galoagos
The Pony and Lion Guard happily relaxed at Hakuna Matata Falls after their uneventful morning patrol. Beshte stood in the small lake, while Fluttershy played with some birds, Fuli rested on a slab of rock far away from the water. Ono was perched on the branch above Fuli and near the water laid Kion, Kyoga and the other girls.
Meanwhile, Bunga was showing off the many dives he's made up since living at the falls.
The honey badger jumped off the high branch near the waterfall and did two flips in the air before breaking the water in a cannonball, splashing the group near the water. “Agh! Bunga, darling! Must you do cannonballs near us!” Rarity whined, shaking the water out of her fur along with Kyoga.
The honey badger resurfaced and climbed back up the same tree to do another dive. "Of course I do and you're gonna love this one!" Bunga laughed, jumping on his diving branch. "I call it the splash-less triple spin-a-rama dive." he ran to the edge of the branch and dove off, shouting "Zuka Zama!" as he did three flips then dove into the water, this time no splashing.
"You barely made a splash." Ono noted with a laugh.
"Nice one, Little B." Beshte complemented, swimming up to the badger once he resurfaced.
"Yeah." Fuli agreed, tapping her tail on the stone. "That's one dive even I can appreciate."
“Me too.” Kyoga agreed.
Bunga shrugged his shoulders, "What can I say? When ya got it, ya got it." he boasted. "You want me to teach ya?"
"That's okay." the cheetah declined. Bunga gave a half-content sigh before he climbed up the tree, rubbing his palms together in preparation for another dive.
"Lion and Pony Guard!" a high-pitched, panic stricken voice called out. "Lion and Pony Guard! Help!" More voices screamed. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, a small group of brown-furred primates ran right for the Guard members.
Kion jumped to his feet, "Hevi kabis-" he was cut off when Laini, the galago leader, jumped onto his muzzle. "Please say you'll help us, Kion!" she shrieked. "Please, oh, please, oh, please!"
Two more of Laini's group came running towards Bunga, knocking him into the lake, which splashed Fuli, much to her annoyance.
Adding insult to injury, two more infant galagos jumped onto her head and clung to her ears. "Hey, hey!" the cheetah shook her head, "Easy on the ears!"
Bunga climbed out of the lake, holding two more galagos, "Hey, there, little gally-ally-go." he grinned down at the small primates.
"Laini, what's the kerbubble?" Beshte questioned, swimming up to shore. "What's gotten all you galagos so upset?"
"Oh, nothing." Laini gave a nervous chuckle, "Just that...a leopard moved into our trees!" she screeched, clinging to Kion's muzzle.
"A leopard?" Kion repeated, the two galagos clinging to her shoulders nodded their heads in confirmation.
"What?" Fuli yelled. "What did she say?"
Ono flew down from the branch he was perched on, landing next to Kion’s paws. "But the Pride Lands doesn't have any leopards." he informed.
"It does now. He climbed up into our tree this morning." Laini informed. "And he wants to eat us! So will you help us, Kion? Huh?" she asked, looking right into the prince's amber-brown eyes. "Speak up!"
Kion tried to speak, but it came out muffled. "Uh Laini, he can't really speak up since you're on his muzzle." Kyoga told her, leaning in closer to the female galago.
"Oh." the furry primate blinked, climbing up the bridge of Kion's nose to the top of his head, sitting on his mane. "Sorry."
The golden-furred cub let out a sigh, "Of course we'll help you." he agreed.
"Yeah, we'd never let a leopard eat you guys." Beshte added.
"Eating flies?" Fuli blinked, her voice still louder than everyone else's. "Who's eating flies?"
Kion looked upwards at the galago on his head, "Stay here." he ordered. "We'll go get the leopard out of your tree. Sounds good?"
"Oh, I don't know." Laini shrugged. "We were hoping we could stay with you. Nothing can hurt us if we're with the Lion Guard."
Fuli continued to swat at the two babies on her ears, getting annoyed. "Will someone get these galagos off my ears, so I can hear what's going on?!" she yelled.
A second later, Bunga yanked one of the galagos from her ear, "You didn't miss much." the badger informed the cheetah. "They want to stay with us."
"Please?" the infant galago pleaded, looking up at the cheetah with wide eyes.
"No way." Fuli shot down, using her hind leg to knock the other galago off her right ear.
"Oh, come on, Fuli. They're not so bad." Bunga chuckled.
Kion lowered his body so the two galagos on him could easily jump off, "You and the other galagos will be safe here." the Guard's fiercest noted. "A lot safer than if you're with us, when we take on the leopard."
"Oh, good point." Laini agreed.
A wailing in the distance caught everyone's attention.
"Now what?" Kion sighed heavily and rolled his eyes. "Ono."
"On it." the keenest of sight saluted and took to the sky, following the sound of the wail. He had to take a few seconds longer than normal to comprehend what he saw, before reporting back to the Guard.
"There's a giraffe stuck in a tree." he reported, landing in front of Kion.
"A giraffe stuck in a tree?" Twilight repeated, blinking.
"Are there still galagos on my ears?" Fuli questioned, exchanging a confused glance with Twilight.
"That is what I said." Ono replied. "It's... He's... Oh." he stuttered, taking flight once more. "You've gotta see it for yourself."
"Lion and Pony Guard, let's go!" Kion ordered, looking to the rest of his friends.
"But the leopard!" Laini squealed. "You promised you'd get the leopard, Kion! You promised!" she tugged on her ears, her eyes wide.
"And we will, right after we help the giraffe." the lion prince assured. "Then we'll come back here for you."
"Okay." the galago leader grinned. "Thank you, Kion."
The Guard's fiercest gave a nod before taking off with the rest of his team.
"Till the Pride Lands' and Equestria’s end...Lion and Pony Guard defend!"
The Guard rushed across the grasslands towards the Acacia Savannah, all of them skidding to a halt when they saw what Ono had reported. Fuli let out a giggle, standing beside the lioness, "It really is a giraffe stuck in a tree."
"Like my dad says..." Beshte followed. "Live long enough and you'll see everything."
Shingo tried pulling himself free when he noticed the Lion Guard approaching him. "Oh, uh, hi." he greeted, embarrassed.
"Shingo?" the Guard's strongest questioned. "What happened?"
"I was just trying to get to the last of the acacia leaves." the male giraffe answered. "They're so good." He stuck out his tongue to try and get a small patch of leaves a few branches above him, which ended up getting it stuck as well.
"Don't worry, Shingo. We're on it." Kion told him.”Rainbow, Fluttershy?” The two Pegasus ponies flew up and grabbed the branches that were poking the giraffes fur. They pulled on them making an opening for her to break free.
“Thank you Lion and Pony Guard.” Shingo smiled.
"Help us!" screamed the galagos as they came running towards the Lion Guard. Laini jumped on Kion's muzzle once more, the four infants latched onto Nyota's legs, and two adolescent ones ran up Shingo to lunge into Bunga's arms.
"I thought we told you to wait at Hakuna Matata Falls." Kion reminded, staring down at Laini who had jumped off him. "What happened?"
"Everything was fine at first. But then we heard this sound." the lead galago replied.
"Was it the leopard?" Beshte asked, worried.
"No, it sounded like this." Laini demonstrated the sound by blowing a raspberry.
Bunga hopped down from the tree, still holding the two adolescent galagos. "Yep. That'd be my Uncle Pumbaa." he chuckled.
"And then there was this horrible smell." Laini added, covering her nose with her small hand.
"Definitely Pumbaa." Ono agreed, perched on Kyoga's back. The lioness cub let out a giggle,
"Well, Pumbaa's not gonna hurt you."
"Kyoga's right Laini." Kion nodded. "You and the galagos should go back to the falls. It's safer there."
"Oh, we have to stay with you. Please." The female galago's eyes widened as he clasped her hands together, begging.
Not seeing another choice, and because when the rest of the galagos repeated Laini's expression, the Guard agreed to bring the galagos along with them back to Ndefu Grove.
"Okay, galagos. We'll be right over there at your tree." Kion informed, motioning to the tree where a leopard was currently sleeping in. "Stay here."
"Be careful, Kion." Laini warned. "The leopard is fierce. Really fierce."
A smirk crossed the prince's muzzle. "Don't worry, so am I." he replied.
The galagos hopped off Beshte's back and hid in the bushes nearby as the Lion Guard slowly approached the tree, the leopard snoring loudly.
"Surround the tree." Kion whispered, glancing to each member of the Guard. "When he wakes up, we want to be ready."
“Relax, Kion. I got this.” Kyoga said, approaching the tree.
“Kyoga, be careful!” Fluttershy fretted.
“Relax, Fluttershy. Besides, I know this leopard.” Kyoga replied.
“You do?!” The two Guard members exclaimed in shock as Kyoga nodded and went over to the tree,
“Hey! Badili!” Kyoga called, waking the leopard up with a shock and he fell on the ground. “Wah! Oof!” The leopard, now known as Badili opened his eyes and saw Kyoga,
“Oh, hey Kyoga.” Badili greeted happily. “How have you been.”
Badili was an average sized leopard with pale cream-colored fur, dappled with brown rosettes outlined in black, a small tuft of brown hair on his head. He had pointed ears, with dusty brown inner coloring, rimmed in darker brown, thick, dark eyebrows and almond-shaped brown eyes, and a dull taupe-brown nose.
Ono flew down from the tree and landed in front of Kyoga, "Hang on, are you the big, scary leopard?" he inquired.
"No! I'm Badili." the leopard introduced. "The big, friendly leopard."
"If you're so friendly, why'd you scare away the galagos?" Fuli questioned with a quirked brow.
"Galagos?" Badili repeated. "What are galagos?"
"They're the animals who live here." Beshte informed.
"You took their home." Kion added, motioning to the little primates hiding in the bushes. When Badili smiled and waved at them, they shrieked in fear at his sharp claws. "They're a little scared of you." the lion prince informed.
"Oh, they shouldn't be." Badili replied, his ears flat against his head. "I didn't mean to take their home. I just didn't have anyplace else to go." He looked down at his paws.
"What about your home?" Twilight raised her brow, "You're a leopard. Don't you have your own territory?"
Badili nodded, "Yeah, it's in Mirihi Forest." he answered.
"Mirihi Forest." Twilight repeated. "Isn't that in the Back Lands?"
"It is." the keenest of sight confirmed.
"Yeah, but I really like it here in the Pride Lands." Badili grinned, chuckling nervously. "The trees are more comfy. Say, I've got an idea!" he perked up. "Maybe the galagos and I could share the tree?" he suggested. "We'd have all kinds of fun together, right?"
The galagos let out another terrified scream, seeing Badili's sharp fangs. "The leopard is not staying in our tree!" Laini said sternly.
"The galagos are right, Badili." Kion agreed. "You need to go back home."
Badili let out a low sob, "Do I really have to?" he cleared his throat, "I mean...are you sure you don't wanna keep me around? I'm lots of fun." he chuckled, turning towards the two females and bird, "I'm great at games! Wanna play tag?"
Fuli and Kyoga jumped back, "Not with those claws." they muttered in unison as the cream-furred cub locked eyes with the leopard,
"Badili, is there a reason you don't want to go home?" she asked.
"What? No, don't be silly. Of course I want to go home." Badili chuckled nervously. "It's my home. I just, you know, uh, wanted to try a new home for a while." he gulped.
Kyoga raised an eyebrow at Badili, “Let me guess… he came back again?”
“He?” Kion and the others repeated, while Badili folded his ears back and shyly nodded at Kyoga. Kyoga sighed and rolled his eyes, “Come on, let’s go Badili.” Kyoga walked off with Badili following her.
“There problem solved, let’s go.” Bunga said.
“Hold it Bunga, something’s going on here that we’re not seeing.” Twilight spoke.
“Twilight’s right. Kyoga said that ‘he’ came back again. It’s like she knows the reason as to why Badili’s suddenly in the Pridelands and not back home. Let’s follow them and see what’s the problem.” Kion suggested and the Guard nodded and followed their friends.
"Mirihi Forest, just ahead!" Kyoga stated.
"Great! That's fantastic!" Badili exclaimed, although his expression was less than joyous as they reached his territory. Badili and Kyoga approached his tree before Badili started scratching it, marking his territory when suddenly another leopard jumped out and let out a roar. "Mapigano!" Badili yelped, his ears falling against his head.
The other leopard known as Mapigano let out a cackle, "What's the matter, Badili?" he laughed. "Scare ya?"
"Um, maybe a little." Badili replied meekly.
“I thought I told you, this ain’t your tuft anymore!” Mapigano growled.
“I know, I know, but-”
“So get out!” Mapigano demanded.
Mapigano glared down at Badili and continued to belittle him. From the bushes, Beshte shook his head, "That Mapigano is not a nice leopard." he noted.
"Not at all. That fellas' a big bully." Applejack pointed out.
"He's a big party pooper." Pinkie Pie added.
"Yeah, but Badili can't just let him take over his home." Fuli added, her eyes still on the two leopards.
"I think he already did." Ono sighed.
"All of this is my turf now." Mapigano reminded with a snarl. "So you need to scram. Again."
“Or I can just make you scram again…” Kyoga stated back.
“Ha! You brought your little lion friend here again?! Is she always going to bail you out, Badili?” Mapigano mocked before he laughed.
“Mapigano, you already know how this will end, so just save yourself the trouble and leave…” Kyoga deadpanned.
Mapigano rolled his eyes as he conceded in defeat, “Ugh fine, Kyoga. But you can’t keep covering for Badili forever.”
With that he went away from Badili’s territory and Badili sighed in relief.
“T-Thanks Kyoga.” Badili smiled.
“Your welcome, but Badili, you need to start trying to stand up for yourself. I’m not always going to be around to help you chase away Mapigano, I told you this before, remember?” Kyoga replied.
“Yes, but you’re way different than me. You’re a fierce female lion. Even with your injured leg, you can stand up for yourself no problem. I’m just a nice leopard who wants to be left alone.” Badili replied.
“Poor Badili…..” Rainbow sighed.
“Yeah, he’s like a leopard version of Fluttershy…without the Stare or assertiveness.” Pinkie Pie added.
“The poor guy doesn’t know how to stand up for himself.” Kion replied.
“So he just allows Kyoga to do the standing up for him with his Mapigano bully.” Twilight added.
“But Kyoga’s right. She can’t always be around for the darling leopard. If that ruffian comes back he’ll just kick him out of his home again.” Rarity added.
“Well… how about we help him with that..” Kion replied. The Guard nodded together and they slowly came out the bushes. “Hey Kyoga, Badili.” Kion called, grabbing the pair’s attention.
“Oh hey guys.’ Badili greeted again.
“Hey.” Kyoga sighed. “So I’m guessing you saw our little confrontation?”
“Yes and it was kinda more your confrontation, Kyoga rather than Badili's.” Fuli replied.
"Badili, we overheard your conversation with Kyoga and in a way, she’s kinda right. She not helping you by scaring that other leopard away for you everytime he comes into your territory." Twilight gently said, looking Badili in the eyes, "We need to teach you how to stand up for yourself."
"You mean, teach me to fight?" Badili gulped. "I don't know if I can do that."
"You don't have to." Rainbow shook her head. "Kyoga didn't have to fight Mapigano when she scared him away."
"Have you met Kyoga?" Badili pointed out.
"Fair point.” Fuli replied.
"But I will back down." Badili admitted. "I'm not confident like you guys."
"The only reason we're confident is because we believe in ourselves." Kion told him.
"How am I gonna do that? I'm not like you." Badili looked to each member of the Guard. "You're the fiercest, bravest, fastest, strongest and keenest of sight." he lowered his head and stared at his paws.
Kion lowered his head, "Badili, look at me." she said calmly, the leopard doing so. "Mapigano is picking on you because he knows you'll back down."
Beshte walked up to stand beside his new friend, "But you can still be nice and stand up for yourself."
"Beshte's the perfect example." Kion noted. "He's a super-nice guy, but he's still confident."
"And you can be, too." the Guard's strongest encouraged.
"But...how?" Badili asked, not really believing he could.
"I think we can help you there." Kion answered.
"Yeah!" Fuli agreed, speeding up to the leopard. "Rainbow Dash and I can help you learn to be fast on your feet."
"And Applejack and I can help you get stronger." Beshte added.
"I'll teach you to be brave!" Bunga grinned.
"And I'll teach you to be... " Ono began to say, as he flew around the group before landing on a small rock. "Huh. I can't really teach you to be keener of sight."
"Oh! I can teach you how to party!" Pinkie Pie cheered, bringing out her party cannon.
"I don't think that'll help Badili, Pinkie Pie." Twilight dismissed gently to the party pony.
"Ono, you and Fluttershy can help Badili with eye contact." Kion suggested. "Looking someone in the eyes lets them know you're confident and fierce." he grinned.
Badili nodded in understanding, "It sounds great, but I'll never be as good as you guys at all that stuff."
"You don't have to be." Fuli replied.
"Fuli's right." Bunga agreed.
"As long as you believe in your own abilities, you'll be confident enough to stand up to Mapigano." Beshte smiled.
"You really...think so?" Badili questioned, looking between his new friends.
"We know so." Kion answered.
Badili took a deep breath and exhaled, "Okay. Let's do it!" he grinned.
So the Guard split up to help Badili in the areas that played to their strengths. Rainbow and Fuli helped Badili get fast on his feet, easily dodging her attacks, while Applejack and Beshte helped him get stronger by pushing some small boulders over a ledge.
Intially it took some time to get the leopard's mind in the game and up to speed as he got easily distracted by a butterfly to which Fuli rolled her eyes while Rainbow face-hooved herself in annoyance. In addition, Badili had trouble moving even smaller rocks than Applejack and Beshte can easily push to which Beshte and Applejack shared worried looks upon seeing. But Badili was eventually able to press forward and push the rocks off of the ledge as well as kept his full focus on keeping pace with Fuli and Rainbow Dash.
Ono and Fluttershy worked with Badili's eye contact and how to stand strong in the face of the enemy, while Bunga helped with Badili's bravery by randomly sneaking up on him and yelling.
Likewise, Badili was easily spook at the simplest non-scary looks Ono and Fluttershy gave him as he quickly turned around and buried his paws into his face. He was even scared of seeing himself try to be intimidating. And even Bunga was easily able to scare him when jumping out into the open by surprise.
But likewise, Badili was able to improve himself to the point he could growl and keep eye contact with Ono and Fluttersh and growl back when Bunga tried to jump scare him again.
Once they were all confident enough, Badili put his training to use by going up against Kion and Twilight as Ono moves his wing in front to signal for the three to stare off into each other's eyes.
Kion let out a low snarl, trying to intimidate Badili along with Twilight as she gives the leopard a glare in his direction with her horn lighting up, but it didn't work. The newly confident leopard unleashed his roar, and the Lion Guard cheered for their friend.
"What do you think, Badili?" Kion asked, "Ready to face Mapigano?"
Badili turned to face the Guard, "I can't wait." he replied, his voice laced with confidence.
The Lion Guard walked with Badili back to his home in Mirihi Forest. "So when you talk to Mapigano, what do you do?" Ono asked, flying next to Badili.
"I speak calm and strong." Badili replied, keeping his head held high. "I stand tall, and I look him in the eyes."
"And if he calls you a mean name, what do you say?" Beshte walked up to him.
"I say, 'My name's Badili. Use it'." the leopard smiled.
“And what if he tries to scare you?” Bunga asked.
“He’s not scary, he’s just a leopard, same as me.” Badili replied.
"Better believe it." Kion nodded. "Now go take back your turf."
The rest of the Guard watched as Badili strode up to his tree, keeping his head held high. "We're gonna stay and watch, right?" Bunga asked.
"Wouldn't miss it for the whole savanna." Kion answered, the Guard rushing to hide in the bushes to get a view of their new friend.
Badili ran into his tree, shaking it to wake up a snoring Mapigano. "Huh? What?" the red eyed leopard snorted. After a few more hits, he fell to the ground, flat on his back. "Wha...what just happened?"
"I happened." Badili answered with a smirk.
"I'm totally gonna use that line." Bunga whispered from his spot behind the bushes, standing in front of Kion.
Mapigano let out a laugh, "Back again, Badili? Where’s your little lioness friend?" he questioned, looking around. "Did you bring her along to stand up for you again?"
The newly confident leopard shook his head, "Nope. Just me." he replied. "This is my turf." he narrowed his eyes. "That means you have to go."
"Oh, yeah?" Mapigano chuckled. "And who's gonna make me?" he slowly approached Badili, baring his teeth. "You?"
Badili backed up against his tree, letting out a whimper. Mapigano roared and lunged for the whimpering feline, who ducked to avoid his attack, yelping. "That's what I thought." the red eyed leopard laughed at his cowering rival. "Same old Badili. You're nothing but a scaredy-cat."
"No...I... I'm not scared." Badili stuttered.
"This doesn't look good." Ono sighed, covering his eyes with his wing.
“Come on Badili…. Come on…” Kyoga thought, looking at her leopard friend.
"We gotta help him." Fuli suggested.
"No." Kyoga halted, placing her paw on the cheetah's shoulder. "Badili can do this himself."
Mapigano laughed at Badili again, "You sure look scared to me." he narrowed his eyes to intimidate the other leopard.
Badili took a deep breath and exhaled. "Well, I'm not." he rebuffed. "I'm not scared of you, Mapigano."
"Is that right?" he snickered, lunging forward, only to not make contact. "Huh?"
"You'll have to be faster than that." Badili chuckled, his tail swishing behind him. Mapigano let out another roar and lunged again, only for Badili to dodge by jumping on his tree branch. "See. I have confidence in myself. 'Cause I know what I can do." he chuckled again, jumping over Mapigano and staring him down. "And I'm not afraid to prove it."
"Oh, yeah?" Mapigano challenged, his voice breaking just a bit taken aback by this newly grown courage he's putting up. "Well...step a little closer and say that." he snarled as he challenged him.
Badili obliged and got right in his face, "Is this close enough?" he bared his teeth as the bully is now intimidated by him for a change. "Oh, was that too close?" Mapigano stuttered, trying to think of a comeback, only for Badili to cut him off for a change.
"I'm not scared of you, Mapigano. And I'll never be scared of you again." he stated, his voice full of confidence. "So you should go. Now." He unleashed his roar and Mapigano ran away with his tail between his legs. "And stay out!" Badili called after him.
"Way to go, Badili!" Kion praised as he and the Guard ran up to him.
"I don't think you'll see that guy again." Fuli laughed, a grin spread across her muzzle.
Badili let out a heavy sigh, "Could you tell how scared I was?"
"You kidding?" Bunga scoffed. "You looked nothing but brave!" he gently punched the leopard in the shoulder.
"I'm the keenest of sight, and what I saw was a leopard standing up for himself." Ono added, flying above their leopard friend.
“You did very well, Badili.” Kyoga grinned. “I’m happy for you. Now if another rival tries to takeover your tuft, you’ll be able to defend it.”
"I couldn't have done it without you guys." Badili admitted. "Thanks for believing in me."
Kion shook his head, "No. You believed in yourself." he reminded with a smile. "That's what really counts."
"And now that you have your turf back, we can let the galagos know it's safe to go home." Twilight added, turning to head back home with the rest of the Guard, leaving Kyoga behind a little before she started to follow, but not before turning back to see Badili leap into his tree and take a nap. Kyoga smiled, happy that her shy leopard learned to stand up for himself…. something she learned very early on in life.
Kyoga followed the Guard back to the Pridelands, failing to notice a faint glow on her right cheek.