//------------------------------// // Episode 7: The Imaginary Okapi // Story: The Pony Guard (Season 2) // by MXCDarkHorse2020 //------------------------------// Episode 7: The Imaginary Okapi It was a beautiful day in the Pride Lands, and the Lion Guard were running through another one of their practice drills. Kion sniffed the air as he followed a set of tracks in the dirt. He saw that the tracks disappeared into the grass, near few trees. Kion chuckled and rolled his eyes. A rainbow tail fell over the side of a branch, brushing against Kion's mane. The golden colored cub quirked his brow and grabbed the rainbow tail between his teeth and pulled, yanking Rainbow from the branch. "Kion!" she whined, casting an half-lidded glare up at the prince, who only grinned while still holding her tail between his teeth. The female pegasus sat up, her eyes still on her friend, "Could you please drop my tail?" With a laugh, Kion dropped Rainbow’s tail, "Found ya." he chuckled. "Yeah, you did." Rainbow giggled with a roll of her eyes. "You two done?" Bunga asked, standing on top of a rock with his arms folded over his chest. "Or can I get in on the wrestling?" "We're done." the pair answered in unison. Fuli sat with her tail wrapped around her front paws next to Bunga. "I still don't get it, Kion." she sighed. "Why are we playing hide-and-seek in the first place?" "It's not just hide-and-seek Fuli." Kion informed. "It's a way to practice our tracking skills." "Besides, it's fun." Bunga added. "How long did it take Kion to find you guys?" Fuli asked, raising her eyebrow. "Somehow he found me and Pinkie Pie right away." Bunga answered. "You two laughed when I walked past you both." Kion informed with a smirk. "Kion found me pretty fast, too." Ono added, perched on a rock between Twilight and Fuli. "He found me and Twilight before he went to look for you." Fuli said while tapping her tail on the ground. “He found me mighty quick because my mane was sticking out…” Applejack replied. “He found Rarity cause of whining.” “I wasn’t whining! I was just expressing my discomfort.” Rarity objected to the contrary. “That’s whining…” Applejack deadpanned. Fuli looked around and realized they were missing two more members. "What about Fluttershy and Beshte?" Kion chuckled, "Yeah, I found them a while ago." he answered. "I just haven't told them yet." He looked back in the direction of a large rock pile not too far from where they were standing, one of the rocks looked a bit darker in color and smoother. "Okay, Fluttershy and Beshte! You two can come out from behind the rocks now!" Kion called. Fluttershy and Beshte revealed themselves with a chuckle, "Pretty good hiding place, right?" the hippo questioned, joining their friends. "I have to admit, for someone your size, you're a surprisingly good hider." Ono pointed out. "Thanks." the hippo grinned. "Okay, Fuli. Everyone's been 'it' but you." Kion looked at her cheetah friend. "Close your eyes so we can all go hide." "Fine." the Guard's fastest let out a long groan. "But I warn you. I'm the fastest finder in the Pride Lands." She grinned. "Oh, yeah?" Bunga challenged, jumping onto a large boulder behind them. "Well, I'm the fastest hider!" He laughed as he jumped from the rock to a tree before diving into the tall grass while everyone else just stood there and blinked in response. "He does realize that doesn't count for anything, right?" Twilight questioned. "I'm not sure he does." Ono answered with a shrug. Fuli rolled her eyes and let out a sigh. "Okay. Everybody go hide!" She exclaimed, closing her eyes. The rest of the Guard scattered to find their own hiding spots. After a minute or two, Fuli hunched her body, "Ready or not, here I come!" the cheetah called out as she tracked her friends. Meanwhile, Kyoga was wandering around the Pridelands by herself, looking for something to do while she was here. Kyoga sighed, not seeing anything exciting, until some bushes started to rustle. “Huh? Whose there?” Kyoga called out. Out of the bushes stepped an animal that Kyoga had seen before. He had a well-built body with a long neck and brown fur. He had white, skinny legs, donned with black stripes, pointy ears, white markings on his face and green eyes. He was called on Okapi. “Huh? Ajabu?” “Kyoga?” the okapi replied with a laugh, “Well, I didn’t think I’d find you here.” “Me either after the….. Incident.” Kyoga said, folding her ears a little showing visible discomfort from the subject. “How have you been holding up?” Ajabu asked the lioness. Kyoga sighed before answering, “I’ve…. Been better….. Haven’t found any sign of Karabi or Lite…. If they’re even still alive…” “I’m sure you’ll find them one day, Kyoga.” Ajabu replied with a smile. Kyoga grinned at the Okapi, “Thanks Ajabu. Anyway, what are you doing in the Pridelands?” “I came here seeking shelter from a leopard. He chased me all the way here.” Ajabu replied. “Woah, that must be on persistent leopard.” Kyoga replied. “Don’t worry Ajabu. You’ll be safe with me. You’re in the Pridelands now. Come on I’ll give you a tour.” With that Kyoga gave Ajabu a tour of the Pridelands all while singing. Life in the Pridelands “Wow…. this place does seem very nice..” Ajabu replied as the pair walked towards Kyoga’s territory that was at the very edge of the Pridelands. It was a large field with some trees for her to relax in and a large lake fed by an underground spring that held fish for her to eat. There was also a cave that served as her home/den during the nights as well. “Well, this is where I’ve started living….” Kyoga replied. “Nice place.” Ajabu grinned. “So what else is there to see?” “This way…” Kyoga said, leading Ajabu towards some fields. Meanwhile, Fuli caught the scent of one of the Guard and tracked it to a hollow log. She chuckled before growling into the log, causing Bunga and Pinkie to jump out with a shout. "Gotcha!" the fastest giggled. "How come everybody always finds me first?" the bravest asked, resting his cheek on his hand. "Maybe it has something to do with your smell." Fuli stated with a smirk. Bunga took a long whiff of his own scent and stood tall with his hands on his hips, "It is unmistakable, isn't it?" he grinned. "That's one way of looking at it." Fuli muttered of how it sure is unquestionably before focusing on those she has still yet to find. "Now to find Ono, Beshte, Twilight, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Besthe and Kion." the cheetah then looked around and spotted a set of tracks in the dirt. "Oh, and speaking of..." she sniffed the ground, catching the scent of the lion prince, "...here's a nice fresh set of Kion's tracks." "Right behind ya, Fuli!" Bunga called, running after the spotted female. “Yippee!” Pinkie Pie cheered. Fuli continued to follow the prints in the dirt, when she suddenly realized that they didn't belong to Kion. Bunga was following close behind her and ran into her back leg when she stopped. "What you got, Fuli?" the honey badger asked, rubbing his forehead where it collided with her leg. "These aren't Kion's tracks." Fuli answered, with a raised brow. Bunga examined the tracks, noticing a size difference, "Unless he's got one foot bigger than the others." he noted. The Guard's fastest shook her head. "Everyone! Game's over!" she called out. "You guys need to see this!" The group heard the female cheetah and they came out of their hiding places, regrouping with Fuli and Bunga. "You found something, Fuli?" Kion asked as he ran up to his cheetah friend. "Any idea what kind of animal makes tracks like that?" Fuli asked, motioning to the prints in the dirt. "Hevi Kabisa! These are leopard tracks." Kion exclaimed upon recognizing the shape of them. “That’s what I thought too.” Fuli added. "Leopard tracks." Bunga repeated, "You sure?” “Yep.” Kion confirmed. "But there aren't any leopards living in the Pride Lands." Ono reminded, perching on the lioness' shoulder. "Well, there's one now." Kion informed. "The question is, where." The Guard's Fiercest glanced at the egret on her shoulder, "Ono?" “Affirmative.” Ono saluted before he got looking. "Any chance it's just a hyrax with really big feet?" Bunga questioned, earning a glare from Fuli. “No….” Fuli deadpanned. Ono flew overhead and spotted a large cat with pale lemon fur, donned with brown rosettes lined in black, stalking through the tall grass near a herd of gazelles. "Hapana." the egret gasped as he circled around to the rest of the Guard. "Everyone! I saw the leopard!" he alerted, hovering above his friends. "He's going after some gazelles!" "Lead the way, Ono." Kion ordered, glancing back to his friends. "Till the Equestria and the Pride Lands' end..." "...Pony and Lion Guard defend!" The others finished as they ran towards the gazelle herd. The leopard hunched low to the ground, his claws digging into the soft dirt. He let out a low growl as he stalked towards a gazelle that was grazing. It looked at him but paid no attention, not realizing the threat. The Lion Guard jumped between the leopard and the gazelle herd, "Get out of the Pride Lands, leopard!" Kion growled. "Now!" "Name's Makucha, lion." the leopard snarled with a smirk. "You want me to go, you're gonna have to make me. But you'll have to catch me first!" he spun around and sped off into the grass. “No problem!” "Huwezi!" Rainbow and Fuli yelled confidently, racing after Makucha with the rest of the Guard on her heels. The two three raced down the side of Big Ravine, "You got nowhere to go now!" Fuli called out. "That's what you think, cheetah." Makucha chuckled, before quickly turning sharply and leaping over the ravine. He landed on the other side and laughed at the Guard before running away. Fuli tripped over her own paws and let out a grunt as she fell on her stomach. The leopard laughed before he was tackled by Rainbow Dash, “You forgot, I can fly buster!” The leopard snarled and slashed Rainbow near her face, clipping some fur, “AH!” “Rainbow!” Twilight gasped before Makucha pushed her off and ran away. Rainbow managed to fly back to the others, “Rainbow, are ya alright?” Applejack asked before Fluttershy took a look at the claw mark. Luckily, it missed her eye and just showed to be an inch long on her right cheek. “Doesn’t look that bad, Rainbow.” She told her. “Man, that leopard sure can jump," Bunga observed. "Pretty fast, too." Fuli added, still panting. "This guy's not gonna be easy to catch." Kion noted. "Did you see the gazelles?" Ono asked, "They weren't scared of the leopard at all." “That’s why we have to get him out of the Pridelands before he hunts again. Because there’s never been a leopard here before so they don’t know it's a predator. ” Twilight replied. "So, they don't realize they should be scared." Fuli quirked her brow. "They're all going to be sitting ducks." Bunga gaped. "Especially the ducks." Ono added under his breath. Kion nodded, looking to the rest of his team. "Now let's split up so we can cover more ground." he ordered. "Twilight, Girls with Me and Fuli." "Bunga, you, Besthe and Ono check the fields and valleys.” “Right.” Everyone said before they split up. Standing on a small cliff overlooking the fields, Kyoga and Ajabu were overlooking a field filled with zebra and gazelles. “Wow… there are so many animals here.” Ajabu smiled. “Yeah there are, and there are no leopards in the Pridelands. Most of them live in the Backlands.” Kyoga replied. “I wouldn’t be so sure about that….” a sinister voice came from behind them. Ajabu and Kyoga turned around and Ajabu gasped seeing the male leopard, “Makucha!” “Hello Okapi, glad we could catch up….” Makucha snarled. Kyoga stepped in front of her friend. “Back off leopard, unless you want trouble.” She warned him against pursing this. Makucha laughed the threat off, “What can a lioness like you possibly do against me? You only got three legs…!” “Don’t underestimate my fighting skills. Ajabu, get out of here, now!” Kyoga replied and ordered as Ajabu nodded before he made a break for the field below. “Oh no you don’t!” Makucha snarled before he tried to lunge at Ajabu but Kyoga rammed him to the side and into a tree before she pinned him to the ground. “Get off me!” Makucha snarled before he pushed Kyoga off of him. Kyoga snarled and pounced onto Makucha’s back, biting him on the base of the neck, making him scream in pain before he threw Kyoga off and ran away. Kyoga licked her lips and spit out the leopard's blood, “And stay away!” she yelled right before Kion and the girls arrived, “Kyoga! Are you okay?” “We saw you fightin’ that leopard varmint.” Kion and Applejack started. “I’m… fine… right now. I have to find Ajabu again.” “Who?” Kion and the girls asked in unison. “Ajabu, my Okapi friend from my old home.” “What’s an Okapi?” Applejack asked. “It’s a very secretive animal that only lives in Africa. Their legs and back half have stripes like a zebra while the upper half has a long neck and small acicone like horns on its head.” Fluttershy replied. “That sounds like a magical creature rather than a real one, Fluttershy.” Fuli said, not really believing Fluttershy or Kyoga. “That’s because they only lived back where I came from…. Until….” Kyoga folded her ears and Kion and the girls looked concerned for her, knowing she was referring to whatever incident lead to her injuries and her mental health issues as she sighed before quickly changing the subject, “Anyway, I have to find Ajabu before Makucha does. He said he chased him all the way here.” “We can help too. Fluttershy, you know what an Okapi looks like so you can search from the air to find him.” Kion replied. “O-Okay….” Fluttershy replied before she fluttered into the air in search of Ajabu. Meanwhile, Ono, Besthe and Bunga were examining the field that held lots of zebras before they spotted something that was brown with stripes on its legs and back, running past them, “Pardon me!” “What the-? What was that?” Beshte asked. “I have no idea…” Ono added. “Whatever it was, it sure is fast…” Bunga replied, seeing the animal running away. Then, they heard from above, “Wait Ajabu, come back!” “Huh? Fluttershy?” the boys quipped seeing the pegasus flying after the Okapi. “What’s going on?” Ono replied. “I don’t know but let's follow her.” Besthe suggested and the boys followed after Fluttershy and the animal, called Ajabu. Meanwhile, Rainbow spotted her best friend chasing after the Okapi and the boys chasing after them, “I think Fluttershy’s found him and so have the others.” she reported. “Twilight?” Kion asked, looking at the unicorn. “Right.” Twilight replied before she teleported everyone in front of Ajabu, spooking him and making him fall on his side. “Wah! Who are you all?” Ajabu asked. “Easy Ajabu, it’s alright. They’re the guys I met here.” Kyoga replied to the skittish Okapi. “Oh friends of yours?” Ajabu questioned. “Er….. more like…. Creature I know..” Kyoga replied. “It’s alright. They won’t hurt you.” “Okay Kyoga.” Ajabu replied. “Wow… what kind of animal are you?” Besthe asked as the boys caught up to the others. “I’m an Okapi.” Ajabu replied before he used his long purple tongue to clean his ear. “Woah, nice tongue.” Bunga smiled. “That’s another feature they have in common with giraffes, they have long purple tongues they use to eat their food.” Fluttershy replied as she landed near Abaju. “And that Okpai will be my food.” Makucha snarled as the group saw him stalking near them. “Makucha, back off! Ajabu’s not your prey anymore!” Fuli snarled. "Why don't you mind your own business?" he growled at the younger animals approaching him. "I'm just saying 'hello' to an old friend." "This is our business." Kion snarled. "And you're not acting too friendly." Fuil growled, standing beside the lioness. "So leopards say hello with their teeth, so what?" Makchua chuckled. "So it's time for you to say goodbye." Kion growled. "Come on!" Makucha challenged, preparing to attack. "I can fight eleven at once." The leopard narrowed his eyes and bared his teeth. But Twilight blasted him with her magic and sent him crashing to the ground. “How about against Magic?” Twilight smirked. Makuchua got up and snarled, “You’re gonna regret that!” He then made a lunge at Twilight but Rainbow tackled him, “That’s for scratching my face!” Makucha snarled and tried to take another swipe at Rainbow but the pegasus quickly flew up, allowing Applejack and Rarity to kick him in the face. “Ha! Take that you ruffian!” Rarity smirked. Out of nowhere, Ono dive-bombed Makucha, jabbing the cat's head with his beak. "You guys are amazing!" Ajabu praised, standing next to Beshte a few feet from the fight. "Thanks." Beshte replied. "Now you stay here. I'll be right back." Makucha snarled as the group advanced towards him. A loud bellowing drew his attention away, making the leopard back away to avoid being trampled. "Fine, have it your way!" Makucha growled in annoyance. "Not even an okapi is worth this." He spun around and ran back towards his own territory. "Don't stop till you're out of the Pride Lands!" Fuli yelled after him. When he was finally gone, Ajabu sighed with relief, "I don't know how to thank you for saving me." "It's what we do." Kion replied with a smile. Bunga walked up to get a better look at Ajabu, who leaned down and sniffed him. "Are you a honey badger?" he questioned. "I sure am!" Bunga agreed with a grin. "Wow! I've heard of honey badgers, but I never believed they were real." Ajabu laughed. Bunga raised an eyebrow in confusion, asking why. "I figured nobody could look and smell like that. I thought they had to be made up." the okapi laughed again. "But you're real." Bunga nodded, "I'm as real as it gets!" "Oh brother." Fuli sighed with a roll of her eyes. "You're not planning on going back home, are you?" Kion asked, "Makucha will be waiting for you." “Yeah….. I don’t have a home anymore.” Abaju replied looking at Kyoga, whose ears were folded at the mention of their old home. "What else am I gonna do?" "Kion?" Twilight glanced back at her friend. Seeing the look in her eyes, Kion gave a nod, "I've got an idea." he said to the okapi. "Follow us." The Lion Guard escorted Ajabu to Pride Rock to meet with Celestia, Luna, Simba and Nala. "Princesses, Mom, Dad? This is Kyoga’s friend, Ajabu. He came to the Pride Lands as a visitor, but he'd really like to stay." Kion informed his parents and the Princesses. "If he has your blessing." Simba exchanged a glance with Nala and the two shared a nod. "Of course, Ajabu." the King agreed. "You're welcome to stay in the Pride Lands." "For as long as you like." Nala added. “Indeed.” Celestia added. “Any friend of Kyoga’s is welcomed to stay here as well.” Luna added. "Oh, thank you, Your Highness!" Ajabu replied. "Thank you!" "We're happy to have you here, Ajabu." Nala smiled. The rest of the Lion Guard cheered as they circled around the newest addition to the Pride Lands.