Episode 13:
Janja's New Crew
It was another day in the Pridelands after another rainstorm hit from the previous night. As a result, some of the trails were blocked by mudslides, and the Pony and Lion Guard were hard at work clearing each and every one of them.
"Nothing better than the feel of squishy mud under your feet." Beshte grinned as he jumped in a medium sized mud puddle.
"Except maybe the feel of no mud under your feet." Fuli rebuked, shaking mud off her paws.
"After last night's big storm, I'm glad the mud is our only problem." Kion noted, bringing up the rear of the group.
“Yeah, I agree sugarcube.” Applejack replied before they heard Rarity scream,
“I just got my hooves manicured! Now they’ll be ruined!” Rarity cries dramatically, making the Guard chuckle and roll their eyes at their fashionista friend.
Meanwhile, from behind a nearby rock pile, Janja and his hyena clan watched as the Pony and Lion Guard went on their way. "Hahaha that white unicorn is so whiny." Cheezi chuckled, his tongue falling over the side of his mouth.
"Yeah haha..." Chungu followed.
"Stuff it, fur brains." Janja huffed. "Everything's going exactly as planned." the hyena leader chuckled under his breath.
"You mean you planned for them all to get muddy?" Cheezi questioned.
"No!" Janja snapped, "I planned to go after those wildebeests." he corrected, motioning to the nearby herd. "With all this mud, they'll never outrun us."
"Wait. You planned on the mud?" Chungu blinked in confusion, before letting out a drawled-out gasp. "Did you make it rain?"
"No, fur-brain!" the pack leader growled. "Look. We just gotta wait for the Pony and Lion Guard to clear out... " the hyena pack watched as the six animals walked out of sight, "...and now it's lunchtime. C'mon, fellas!" Janja cackled, taking a step forward, only for his paw to slip on a patch of mud. He let out a yelp as he slid down the hillside.
"Huh?" Rainbow stopped and raised her ear.
"What is it, Rainbow Dash?" Bunga asked.
"I thought I heard something." Rainbow replied.
“I’ll take a look.” Ono suggested and the egret flew higher to get a better view. He saw a line of black, spotted furred animals sliding down a hillside a few feet back. "I see what you heard, Rainbow. It's Janja and his clan."
"Let's go Pony and Lion Guard." Kion ordered, him and the Guard doubling back to cut off the hyenas.
Janja ceased his sliding when he ran right into Beshte. The rest of his clan stopped shortly after, all of them lined up single-file. "Well, look who it is, the Lion Guard." Janja chuckled, the six animals glaring back at him. "What are you guys doin' in the Outlands?"
"Nice try, Janja." Fuli smirked.
"We all know this is the Pride Lands." Twilight corrected. "And you don't belong here."
"Yeah, yeah..." Janja rolled his eyes and got back on his feet. "C'mon, fellas, let's go. It's too muddy around here, anyway." He turned his nose up as he walked away, followed by another pair of hyenas.
"But, Janja, I thought you liked the mud." Cheezi said.
"Yeah!" Chungu agreed. "'Cause it slows down the wilde... The wilde..."
"Wildebeests?" Ono finished with a quirked brow, from his perch on Beshte's shoulder
"Yeah! Them!" the muscular hyena nodded.
"We was gonna have 'em for lunch!" Cheezi laughed, only again to be hit on the head by Janja. "Fur-brains! Shh." he snapped.
"The mud might slow down the wildebeests." Kion stated, stepping forward in front of his team. "But I don't think it's gonna slow you down." he opened his muzzle and unleashed his Roar, sending the five hyenas flying back into the Outlands.
Bunga wiped his hands together, "Good riddance." he crossed his arms over his chest.
"Come on guys, let's get back to work." Kion voted, leading his Guard back the way they came, searching for more trails needing to be cleared.
Fuli let out a frustrated groan as she walked through another mud puddle, "Remind me again, why are we slogging through all this mud?" she asked, sticking her tongue out in disgust.
"We gotta make sure all the trails in the Pride Lands are safe after the big rainstorm." Kion reminded, standing beside the cheetah. The ground beneath them started to rumble, and quickly after, a portion of a nearby hillside came sliding down. "Mudslide!" Kion warned. "Everybody! Run!"
The wave of mud swept past some boulders and trees. Bunga jumped onto Twilight’s back as she leaped over a fallen tree, landing safely away from the mudslide. "Okay, so this trail is no longer safe." the Guard's wisest noted, the bravest still on her back.
"But this is the main path from Big Springs to Mekundu Cliffs." Beshte informed. "Everyone uses it."
"So we'll need to clear it and make it safe again." Kion ordered. "Rainbow, Fluttershy, you take Ono and Bunga, keep everyone off this trail till we're done."
“Right.”
“Okay...!”
“Affirmative.”
Rainbow, Fluttershy and Ono replied.
Kion faced the strongest and bravest members, "Applejack, Twilight, Rarity, Pinkie, Fuli, Beshte, you're with me." he continued. "We have to get all these trees and boulders off this trail."
"Sure thing!" Beshte agreed with a grin.
“Yee-Haw!” Applejack cheered, ready to get down and dirty.
"Well, if I have to get muddy, might as well do it for a good cause." Fuli chuckled, jumping from the boulder she was on to the ground, landing right in the mud.
"That's the spirit, Fuli." the hippo smiled.
Meanwhile, Rainbow, Fluttershy and Ono were at the entrance to the path when they spotted the giraffe leader making her way towards them, "Excuse me." Ono called, flying up to Twiga's eye-level. The female giraffe took a step back, "Sorry, didn't mean to startle you." the egret apologized. "You might not want to go this way."
"But I have to get to Big Springs." Twiga defended, trying to step around the bird.
"Sorry Twiga, but you've got to go around." Fluttershy informed, fluttering up to the giraffe. "There's a mudslide up ahead."
Twiga craned her head a bit higher, seeing there was in fact a mudslide blocking the trail. "I see what you mean. Thanks for the heads-up." She gave the three Guard members a smile.
“Your welcome.” Fluttershy smiled.
The sound of rapid hoofsteps broke through the air, "Whoa!" Rainbow blocked the way just as Thurston came to a stop in front of her. "Slow down there."
"Hello. I'm trying to get through." the zebra leader huffed. "Step aside."
"Sorry Thurston, but you can't go this way." Fluttershy spoke up, standing next to her best friend. "There's a mudslide up ahead and..."
"You don't understand." Thurston scoffed. "You're in my way!" He gave a whinny and charged right past the two animals, heading right for the mud.
"Well, we tried." Ono sighed, hovering just above the two pegasus.
"Maybe he'll get through okay." Fluttershy shrugged.
They heard a distinct splash, followed by Thurston calling out, "Excuse me! A little help here?" The zebra closed his eyes and turned his snout up.
“Come on Fluttershy.” Rainbow called and the pair flew down to help the trapped zebra, who was slowly sinking into the deep mud.
“Guh!”
"Twende Kiboko!"
Applejack and Beshte grunted as they moved the final tree out of the blocked trail. "That was the last one." Beshte sighed.
"Great job, Beshte and Applejack." Kion praised. "Looks like the trail's safe to use again."
"At least till the next big rain." Fuli pointed out.
"Does that mean we can take a break?" Ono asked as he, Rainbow and Fluttershy regrouped with the rest of the Guard, al of them nearly completely covered in mud.
"What happened to you three?" Beshte asked with a raised brow.
"Would you believe a zebra?" Rainbow replied with her own brow raised.
"I'd believe it." Fuli chuckled as she jumped onto a rock and started cleaning her paws.
"Heads up!" Ono alerted, flying over the rest of the Guard.
"Was that it?" Bunga mumbled.
"No, I mean, heads up!" the keenest of sight corrected. "I just spotted two animals in trouble."
"Then let's go." Kion ordered, looking to his friends. "Till the Pride Lands end...Lion Guard defend!"
Ono led the Guard to the next mudslide, "Hurry!" he called down to the rest. "They're headed for the canyon's edge!"
"Beshte, block their path." Kion looked to the hippo she was running next to. "You're the only one strong enough."
"I'm on it!" Beshte jumped into the mud and held his ground as the two animals slammed into him.
Once the mud slowed down, the Guard was clear to drag the animals out. "Bunga, you and Fuli help the smaller one." Kion ordered, “Applejack, help me with the big one."
Bunga ran right into the mud with Fuli right behind him, the two lion cubs following suit. Bunga grabbed the smaller animal's tail and pulled him out with the help of Fuli pushing, while Kion took the larger animal's tail in his teeth and pulled while Applejack pushed.
Bunga wiped his forehead, "You're pretty heavy for a..." he looked at the mud covered animal, unsure of what it was.
"Whatever you are." the Guard's fastest finished, quirking her brow.
Both Kion and Applejack grunted as they pulled the larger animal to safety, spitting out the mud that had fallen into their mouths.
"That was a close call." Applejack sighed, stepping back.
"Are you two all right?" Kion asked, closing his eyes as the pair shook off the mud covering them, revealing it to be Cheezi and Chungu. "What?" the prince blinked. "You two?"
"Is it?" Cheezi questioned, glancing to his larger companion.
Chungu looked down at himself, "I guess so." he shrugged.
"If you're here, then Janja's here, too." Kion stated, looking from the two hyenas to the Guard's keenest of sight. "Ono." The egret gave a nod and took off, searching for the hyena leader.
"Janja's here?" Cheezi gasped, looking around. "Do you see him?"
"Maybe he's come back!" Chungu exclaimed with a grin.
"Yeah!" Cheezi agreed with a laugh. "Maybe he's gonna let us back into the Outlands!"
"Wait." Fuli blinked. "What?"
Chungu's ears fell to the sides of his head, "Janja kicked us outta the Outlands." he informed.
"We ain't on his crew no more." Cheezi whined.
"You really expect us to believe that?" Fuli asked stoically.
"He said we always messed things up." the larger, muscular hyena added.
"Okay, that I believe." Fuli spoke up, sharing a glance with Kyoga.
"Now he's got two new guys." Chungu continued with a roll of his eyes.
Cheezi nodded, "Yeah. Nne and Tano." he narrowed his eyes.
“Those two smarter hyenas?” Twilight quipped.
"And they're mean..." the larger hyena quickly added. "...and ugly." he muttered under his breath.
Ono flew back to the Guard and landed between Kion’s paws, "No sign of Janja." he informed, earning a groan from the two hyenas.
"So..." Bunga spoke up, "...what are we gonna do with these two?" he looked from Kion.
"Well, they can't stay here." the prince answered. "You two have to go back to the Outlands."
"But we can't go back!" the smaller hyena rebuked.
"If we do, Janja's new crew will just kick us out." the larger hyena followed. "Again." they both groaned.
"You know, Kion." Beshte said. "I don't see these two guys causing much trouble."
"Yeah." Fuli agreed. "They're not smart enough."
The two hyenas laughed and voiced their agreement with the young lioness. "See what I mean?"
"But what if they chase after the herds like Janja always does?" Kion pointed out.
"Why would we do that?" Cheezi asked before he and Chungu ran to a nearby rib cage. "When there's leftovers lying all over the place?" and the two hyenas started chewing on the carcass.
"Maybe we should let them stay." Ono said, the rest of Guard to look at him. "After all, hyenas are scavengers. By cleaning up after everyone, they'd actually be helping the Circle of Life in the Pride Lands."
“Yeah, that’s what Jasiri said most hyenas do.” Rainbow piped in.
"Maybe you're both right." Kion pondered, "And I guess letting them stay would be the nice thing to do."
"Feels weird, though." Bunga noted.
Kion sighed, "Okay, as long as you two don't cause any trouble, you can stay in the Pride Lands." he told the two hyenas. "Just don't make us regret it." The lion prince glanced back at his Lion Guard, "Let's get back to our patrol." The Guard left the two hyenas to their scavenging. "Ono, check in on them every once in a while." Kion told the egret once they were away from the hyenas. "I still think this might be one of Janja's plans."
"Affirmative." Ono agreed.
As Ono flew a little ways ahead of his friends, he caught sight of a stampeding herd. "Hapana!" he gasped.
"Problem, Ono?" Kion asked, skidding to a halt, looking up.
"Is it those two hyenas?" Fuli wondered, standing to the right of Kion.
"No." Ono answered. "A herd of antelope is stampeding in the Rocky Plains!"
"Lead the way, Ono!" Kion ordered, "Till the Equestai and the Pride Lands end..."
"...Pony and Lion Guard defend!" the rest of the Guard finished as they raced towards the Rocky Plains.
"Did you see what made them run?" Kion asked, catching his breath. Ono shook his head, "No, I didn't." he informed me, landing on a boulder next to Fuli.
Kion took a few more steps and sniffed the air, "Doesn't matter. I think I know." he informed. "Come on!" the fiercest looked back to the others. "We gotta catch that herd and calm 'em down."
The Guard ran right past a large pile of boulders, where Janja and his new hyenas, Nne and Tano, were hiding.
"Oh, great!" Janja groaned. "The Lion Guard spoiled the plan. Again."
"No." Nne rebuked. "The plan's working perfectly."
"It is?" Janja raised his brow, "What kinda plan lets the Lion Guard win?"
"Janja, they're not winning." Tano corrected. "They're doing exactly what we want them to do."
"Did you even listen when we explained the plan?" Nne asked with a quirked brow at their boss's cluelessness.
"Sure I did." the pack leader held his head high. "It's all about rocks and leaves and...stuff."
"We scared off the antelopes so the Lion Guard will chase after them." Tano explained.
"While they're busy, we're gonna go after something else." added Nne.
"In the opposite direction." Tano finished.
“Oooh… right…” Janja replied.
“Now let’s go furbrain..” Tano smirked.
“W-What did you call me?” Janja gaped at what he just said to him.
“Oh sorry…. Boss..” Nne laughed.
“Y-Yeah. I’m the Boss.” Janja replied before the three hyenas ran off unaware of a certain lioness watching from a large boulder.
“This won’t end well… for Janja..” Kyoga sighed before she trailed behind them.
The Guard caught up with the stampeding herd. Ono flew above them, "Slow it down. No need to run." he said calmly. "The Lion Guard's here to help."
Bunga jumped onto the back of the antelope's leader, pulling on his horns to get him to stop, "Yeah, but help them with what?" he asked, scratching the back of his head.
"Good question, Little B." Beshte agreed. "I never did see anyone chasing them."
"Me neither." added Ono. "Kion, you said earlier you've got an idea what started the stampede?"
"Yeah." Kion answered. "It's all our fault."
Fuli blinked, "What?"
"How could it be our fault?" Ono asked.
"I'd never start a stampede." Beshte shook his head, sharing a glance with Bunga.
"We didn't start the stampede." Kion clarified. "But we let Cheezi and Chungu stay in the Pride Lands."
"You think they had something to do with it?" Twilight questioned.
"Either them or Janja." Kion answered. "I caught the scent of hyenas earlier." The golden cub glanced from the lioness to the egret on her shoulder, "Ono, find Cheezi and Chungu and lead us to 'em." Ono saluted and took off.
The two hyenas in question were laying back to back, snoring away. They didn't even notice a herd of oryxes stampede right past them, along with Nne and Tano nippin their heels. They only woke up when Janja crashed into them.
"Janja!" Cheezi exclaimed. "Is it really you?"
"Did you come looking for us?" Chungu asked. "Do you want us back?"
"You kidding?" Janja laughed. "I got two new hyenas that do everything I say. They really respect me." he held his head high with pride.
"Janja!" Tano called back to him. "You coming?"
Nne rolled his eyes, "Just let him stay behind." The pair ran off after the oryx herd.
Janja let out a nervous laugh, his ears falling flat. "See what I mean?" he chuckled, turning back on his heels. "Fellas! Wait up!" he yelled after his new hyena crew.
Cheezi blinked, "Did that really just happen?" he asked, glancing to his friend.
"Maybe it was just a dream." Chungu guessed, meeting Cheezi's glance.
"Yeah, yeah." the smaller hyena nodded. "I'm gonna dream about Janja some more."
"Me, too." the muscular one agreed. They went back to their position, back-to-back and snoring away.
Nne and Tano chased after the large antelope with Janja by their side. “Hahah, we go ‘em now.” Janja laughed.
“We do but you don’t.” Nne smirked before he pushed Janja off of the cliff and onto a muddy ledge. “What the-? Hey! What’d you do that for! I’m your leader!”
“Not anymore, Janja!” Tano laughed. “See ya later.”
Nne and Tano laughed before they left, leaving Janja on the ledge.
The Lion Guard soon came upon the two snoring hyenas. "You still think they started the antelope stampede?" Besthe asked, now doubtful.
"Let's ask 'em." Kion met her eyes before looking back to the hyenas. "Hey!" Cheezi and Chungu awoke with a gasp. "Okay, you two, why'd you start that stampede?" Kion interrogated.
"Stampede?" the smaller hyena repeated.
"It wasn't us!" Chungu defended. "We was busy dreamin' about Janja."
Cheezi nodded in agreement. "Maybe it was Dream Janja that did it."
"Dream Janja?" Ono repeated.
In the distance, they heard the voice of the real Janja, calling out for his two new subordinates. The Lion Guard raced in the direction they heard the voice, followed by the two hyenas.
"Those double-crossing no-goods." Janja growled. Ono swooped down over Janja, turning his attention to the Lion Guard staring down at him from the cliff's edge. "Oh, great. Just when I thought it couldn't get any worse."
"Why'd you scare off the antelopes, Janja?" Kion asked, narrowing his eyes at the hyena leader. "What's your plan?"
“Quit jumping to conclusions, Kion.” Kyoga said as she arrived on the scene.
“Kyoga?” Kion quipped.
“Nne and Tano pushed him off of the ciff.” Kyoga replied.
“Yeah! She’s right! It was their idea! The new guys!" he informed. "Something about getting you to chase the antelopes while we chase the oryxes!" Janja added.
“Looks like it wasn’t such a good idea to replace Cheezi and Chungu, huh?” Kyoga quipped.
“Pfft. What would you know about me?” Janja snarled.
“Cheezi and Chungu may be bumbling idiots to you, but at least they’re loyal to you and don’t push you off of a cliff when you don’t catch on right away to their plans.” Kyoga advised. “That’s what true clan members act like, Janja.”
"Ono, find those two hyenas and the oryx heard.” Kion ordered and the egret immediately took off and searched for the oryx herd. "I see them!" the keenest of sight alerted. "They're chasing the oryxes into a dead-end canyon!"
"Pony and Lion Guard!" Kion called out. "Let's go!" and the group quickly raced off after the herd.
"Hey, wait, where are you going?" Janja yelled after the Guard. "You're just gonna leave me here?"
“Don’t worry Janja.” “We won’t leave you.” Cheezi and Chungu smiled before they both slid down the cliffside to keep their clan leader company, much to his annoyance as they landed on top of him.
"Oh, whatcha staring at, oryxes?" Tano chuckled as him and his partner advanced on the now trapped oryx herd.
"Never seen smart hyenas before?" Nne taunted.
"They still haven't!" Fuli hissed, tackling Nne and knocking him a few feet back. Tano went to run away, but ended up running right into Applejack, who kicked him in the face with her hind legs.
The two hyenas shook off the blows. "Don't tell me." Nne rolled his eyes. "The Pony and Lion Guard."
"And you must be Janja's new crew." Kion deduced, standing on a medium sized boulder with the rest of his team split up on either side of him.
"We're our own crew." Tano corrected with narrowed eyes.
"So now what?" Nne pressed. "You gonna scare us off with the Roar?" he cackled.
"Hmm, they are pretty smart." Kion smirked before he narrowed his amber-brown eyes and unleashed his Roar, creating a strong wind that blew the hyena pair back into the Outlands.
The Roar's echo reached the cliffside where Janja, Cheezi, and Chungu were stranded. A grin spread across the hyena leader's muzzle, "That's the first time I was ever happy to hear that sound." he chuckled.
However, the power of the echo was enough to shake the ledge loose and it slid down the cliff-side all the way to the ground, covering the trio in mud.
"So, what are we going to do about Janja?" Fuli asked as the Guard made their way back to the cliff where said hyena was stranded.
"Can't we just leave him on the ledge?" Bunga suggested.
"I wish." Kion chuckled. "But we gotta get him off the ledge and out of the Pride Lands."
"Might not be easy." Beshte noted, seeing how steep and slippery the cliff-side was.
The Guard lined up along the ledge and looked over, seeing that the three hyenas weren't anywhere to be seen.
"Uh, are we sure this is the right cliff?" Ono wondered, landing on Twilight’s shoulder
"Janja? Cheezi? Chungu?" Kion called over the cliff, the three hyenas poking their heads out from the mud pile.
"You okay?" Beshte asked.
"Uh, yeah." Janja answered. "I think so."
"Okay, then." Kyoga smirked. "It's time for you to go home."
Janja pulled himself out of the mud, shaking off his paws. "Fine with me." he huffed. "I've had enough of this place for one day." He walked a few feet, before looking back at Chungu and Cheezi, "You coming?"
"Sure, Janja." Cheezi grinned, his eyes lighting up.
"We thought you'd never ask." Chungu laughed, the pair running up to their leader.
"I love a happy ending." Beshte grinned as they watched the three hyenas run back to their den in the Outlands for today Janja himself learned a valuable friendship lesson in regards to Cheezi and Chungu because for all their faults and antics they were always by Janja's side from day one much like true companions through and through.