In the heat of the day, a mother warthog rested with her piglets underneath an acacia tree. She twitched her ears and turned her head, looking out to the grasslands. She saw a pride of lions, along with a pack of sabertooths, a pair of human girls, and a tiger coming her way. With a raise of her tail, her piglets get up and they flee. While walking, Applejack glanced at Partak who was walking next to Talamba.
“Sooo of all the animals, which one do you hate the most?” she asked.
Partak turned his head. “I don’t actually despise any creature,” he answered.
“Uh huh, sure.” Talamba scoffed.
Applejack noticed Baagh Raaja staring off into the distance. “Well Raaja, what about you?” she asked him.
Baagh Raaja stared at her, then turned back. “Cows.”
Applejack and Rainbow Dash raised their brows. “...Cows?...of all the things you could’ve chosen you hate...cows?...Why?” Rainbow asked.
Baagh Raaja turned. “That’s none of your concern,” he sternly replied.
Partak turned his head. “What exactly is a cow?” he said with a lifted brow.
Applejack placed her hand on her hat. “Oh...right. A cow is like a buffalo, only the horns are different and they come in different colors.”
Partak lifted his brow higher. “Ah, I see.”
In the front Sulu stopped, and the lionesses and sabertooths paused. Baagh Raaja took a step forward, but he stopped. He, Talamba, and Partak turned their heads to a patch of woodland. Rainbow Dash walked right next to Baagh Raaja and opened her mouth slightly, but then a creaking noise came. Rainbow looked at the trees and saw an acacia tree fall, but behind the tree was an elephant. This elephant, however, was different. The elephant had ears smaller than its head. Its tusks were longer than a man’s height and straighter than an african elephant’s. It walked next to a lone acacia tree; its shoulders exceeded the very top.
Applejack, Rainbow, and Pinkie dropped their jaws. . “Whoa...that...that thing makes the elephants at the zoo look tiny!” Rainbow exclaimed while pointing at the elephant.
Applejack widened her eyes. “Yeah no kiddin! Ah wonder what’s called though.”
Pinkie scratched her chin. “Maabye it’s just called the gigantic elephant?”
Baagh Raaja turned to Pinkie. “Actually it’s called a Paleoloxodon. Paleoloxodon namadicus from the looks of it,” he said before looking at the elephant.
Talamba raised a brow. “A pa-what? We just call them Straight-Tuskers.” he replied.
Applejack looked at Talamba. “You know what ah’ll just stick with calling them that,.” she responded.
“Straight-Tuskers it is!” Pinkie said while raising her arms.
“You all, come here!” Sulu yelled. The big cats trotted to the front, while the girls ran up to Sulu. He was standing at the edge of what looked like a cliff. The girls walked right next to Baagh Raaja, whose eyes Rainbow noticed were twitching. When she looked down she saw a jungle stretching for miles, the birds were singing, and the tree tops were completely blanketed by the sunlight.
Rainbow widened her eyes. “Coooolll!”
Baagh Raaja gritted his teeth. “Y-you’re kidding right? You mean to tell me there was a JUNGLE here!? And I’m just NOW learning this!? That knowledge would’ve made my life much easier!” he yelled, echoing through the canopy and making the birds fly off.
Sulu began walking down the cliffside. “We mustn't waste time, we have to keep moving,” he ordered. A lioness followed him, along with the rest of the lions. Baagh Raaja’s blue aura began to rise and his transformation began once more while the sabertooths were beginning their descent. Talamba and Partak watched with big eyes as Baagh Raaja’s form turned from tiger to human. Once fully transformed he glanced towards the cats before making his way down with Talamba and Partak keeping their stares.
As their group made their way through the jungle, the cats had to keep swatting at plants. Baagh Raaja, who was back in tiger form, took in the view of the jungle, with patches of light touching the forest floor and the shadows that blanketed the ground. The sounds of monkeys echoed in the trees, and a Sambar fled on the approach of the cats. Taking in a deep breath of air and exhaling, he felt a warm tingle inside him. As she was walking, Applejack began to notice the sunlight was fading away. She looked up and saw the clouds clumping together, covering the sun and turning the sky gray. Applejack rushed to Sulu and got to his side. “Ah think we should start looking for shelter, those clouds don’t look good.”
Before Sulu could react, thunder shot from the sky, and the first drops of rain fell. Baagh Raaja frowned, and Talamba’s mane became soaked. Soon the rains came down hard. Game trails were starting to run with water, the treetops blew, leaves fell, and as the group kept moving, it began to hail. The hail hit Talamba on his head, back, and neck. He looked up at Baagh Raaja. “Don’t you just love this weather?” he asked.
Partak turned to Baagh Raaja with his ears folded and his brow lowered. “And you thought life would be easier in a jungle.”
Baagh Raaja rolled his eyes. “I’m just saying tigers are more at home here.”
Rainbow Dash stopped. “Hold on, do you hear that?” The group stopped and listened. They could hear a loud, crashing sound coming right in their direction. They turned to see what was making the commotion and it wasn’t long before a flash flood rushed through the jungle, sweeping up everything in its path. Bagh Raaja and the big cats folded their ears and widened their eyes along with the girls.
“OH CRAAAAAAPP!! GET TO HIGH GROUND NOW!!!” Talamba screamed before they ran for their lives. The lions sprinted faster than the sabertooths, Talamba ran and caught up to the head lioness, Sulu sprinted, and Baagh Raaja charged through the undergrowth like a buffalo. Applejack and Pinkie both dashed through the vegetation. Rainbow touched her geode, but before she could make a mad dash she tripped over a root.
“Gah!” She crashed on the forest floor, and while trying to get up she saw the water right in front of her as she was caught in the flood. Pinkie and Applejack were next to be engulfed by the water, then Baagh Raaja got caught and then the rest of the group was swept up in the flood. Baagh Raaja paddled through the water. t first the current was too strong, but he didn’t back down. With each stroke of his paws he got closer to the surface, and finally, with one final stroke he breached the surface. With his strength he managed to keep his head above water.
Baagh Raaja looked around. “Anyone! Someone! Where are you!?” he shouted
Talamba surfaced, gasping deeply. “Hey! Anybody!” he yelled.
Partak broke through the water, and he searched until he saw Talamba and Baagh Raaja. Not long after, the other sabertooths began to surface, and then the lionesses started to come up, stroking through the water to stay afloat. “Oh good, you’re all alive!” Partak exclaimed.
Baagh Raaja began to swim to Talamba. “Where’s Sulu!?” he asked, stroking through the current.
Sulu popped his head through the water and gasped for air and saw Partak swimming to him. “There he is,” Talamba responded.
Applejack’s voice came about. “Guys! We’re over here!” she yelled.
The cats looked to her direction, and saw both Applejack and Pinkie. But they weren’t swimming, rather Pinkie’s hair had gotten much larger, big enough that she and Applejack were sitting on it like a raft. “Is...is her HAIR carrying Applejack?” Talamba asked.
“Everyone, over here!” the head lioness yelled. The group looked over and saw the rest of the group swimming to a cave on the side of a hill. Each one was climbing onto shore one at a time for the most part, as one sabertooth carried a lioness on his back. The girls grabbed a pair of floating branches and paddled their way to the cave while the cats continued to swim. Applejack was the first to get off, and Pinkie’s hair deflated after she reached land. Baagh Raaja came on land next, Partak was carrying Sulu and he climbed on next, then Talamba finally climbed on.
“LAND!!” Talamba yelled before he plopped down onto the earth. However, Applejack looked around, and then she looked again rapidly.
“Wait, where’s Rainbow!?” she asked, scratching her head. The group looked around, and they couldn’t see her anywhere. They quickly ran out of the cave and looked across the water for any signs of her. They didn’t see her anywhere.
Applejack began to sweat. “RAINBOW! RAINBOW!!” she shouted, her voice echoing through the land.
“RAINBOW DASH!!” Pinkie screamed as she waved her arms rapidly. Baagh Raaja looked on at the flowing water, the floating logs, and a sambar carcass that floated past them.
Baagh Raaja stood, his pupils shrunk, and shook. “-No...not again!” he thought.
xxx
Farther up the flood, the logs were still floating. Suddenly Rainbow Dash blasted through the water. She quickly scrambled onto a log. She tried to flap her wings, however, she didn’t get airborne. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw her wings were soaked.
Rainbow Dash felt her heart begin to pound harder. “Oh no! My wings!” she yelled.
She looked around for anyone, but she couldn’t see anyone. “GUYS! APPLEJACK! PINKIE! BAAGH! SOMEONE!” she screamed.
Once more, there was no response, only the continuous stretch of flood was in sight. “Where are they?” she asked before all of a sudden a lot of punctures dug into her leg, and she felt herself being pulled under the water.
Under the surface, she looked below her and her heart started pounding even harder. Blood. Her blood was flowing through the water, and it was apparent why. She was being pulled down by a crocodile. Rainbow tried to punch the crocodile in the snout but to no avail, then she tried to punch it in the eyes. It let her go for a brief moment, only to grab her again and pull her deeper. As she kept beating the crocodile, she felt something with her teeth, not a toothache, but as if they were...changing. Rainbow punched the crocodile in the eyes again, but it kept its grip this time. Then, suddenly, she felt her instincts get stronger, and then, to her surprise, she bit the crocodile in the face, one of her teeth puncturing the eye. The crocodile let go of her leg, and this time it swam away while blood came out from its eye. Quickly she made her way up to the surface and gasped for air. She noticed high ground and with the last ounces of her strength made it to shore, but after she climbed onto the land she fell over on her side. She slowly began to close her eyes as she felt her blood oozing from her leg, breathing heavily and then her eyes closed entirely.
In the morning, the sun shone very brightly against the forest floor which was now covered in puddles. Out of the thick vegetation, a male Gigantopithecus walked on his knuckles out into a game trail covered by the flood, finding some fallen fruit as a result. Before he could reach for it, he heard the voices of the group. He smelled the air and picked up the unmistakable scent of cats, only he smelled an entire group of them and thus quickly abandoned the fruit.
“RAINBOW!” Applejack shouted through the forest.
Pinkie was up in a tree, looking around the canopy. “RAINBOW WHERE ARE YOU!?” she screamed.
Baagh Raaja looked from side to side while the rest of the group split up to cover more ground. “WHERE ARE YOU!?” he roared.
He lowered his head. “I wish she wasn’t sleeping close to me!” he said to himself.
Applejack turned to him with a raised brow. “-Huh? What the hay is he talkin about?” she thought.
In the skies above, Harpy, the martial eagle soared over them, watching them search for Rainbow. He turned around and flapped through the air and continued soaring, passing over trees and landing on a ledge. He began calling, and from the trees, Bladed Claw and Bloody Knife walked to him.
“What is it Harpy?” Bladed Claw asked.
He lowered his head and Harpy shrieked into his ear, and Bladed Claw began to grin. “Really?” He lifted his head back up and walked to the ledge, peering over the jungle.
Bloody Knife approached. “What is it, boss?” he asked.
Bladed Claw turned his head. “Apparently Rainbow Dash has been separated from the others. Either that or she’s dead,” he answered.
“Are you saying we should look for her?” Bloody Knife asked.
Bladed Claw turned back to the jungle. “Yes, especially since apparently the girls and Baagh Raaja got some...help. This might give us the chance to kill her off and make that group of there's a bit smaller,” he replied.
“What if we end up encountering them? More specifically, if Baagh Raaja sees you?” Bloody Knife asked.
Bladed Claw dug his claws into the earth and scratched it. Then he turned back to him. “That won’t happen, we’ll move quietly through the jungle.”
Bloody Knife widened his eyes. “You’re really gonna take the chance?” he asked.
Bladed Claw turned around. “If it means making that group a bit weaker, then yes. Now get some men together,” he ordered.
Bloody Knife bowed his head and ran off to the camp. Bladed Claw soon followed him into the jungle.
Night had come again, the moonlight cast across the waters of a river. But it was not a silent night. “RAINBOW!!” Applejack shouted.
“RAINBOW DASH!!” she shouted once more.
“DASHIE!” Pinkie yelled, scaring a herd of Rusa Deer across the river.
“RAINBOW!” both girls shouted in unison.
Sulu watched this, and he walked over to the girls. “Girls, night has fallen, if she’s still alive she’s resting and we must do the same as she’d likely be tired after being caught in the flood,.” he said to them, placing a paw on Applejack’s shoulder.
Applejack turned around. “But what if something finds her and mauls her while she’s sleeping!?” she asked.
Pinkie got right up in Sulu’s face. “And we were caught in the flood yet we’re out here looking for her!”
Sulu pushed her back and then sat down. “Yes, but for all we know she could’ve been in the water for a long time, much longer than we were. The pride itself is getting exhausted and we must keep our energy up if we’re going to find her. And it’s not guaranteed she’s even still alive so for all we know a tiger or a leopard or a crocodile has killed her already,” he explained to them.
Applejack and Pinkie looked across the river into the dark jungle, and looked back at Sulu. “You promise we’ll keep looking in the morning?” Applejack asked.
Sulu nodded. “I promise, but again, I cannot promise that we will find her.”
Talamba walked up to them. “We’ll keep looking for days if we have to,” he reassured her
Partak was resting nearby and then got up and made his way over to the girls. “And we shall search even into the thickest parts of this jungle.” he told them.
Partak placed his paw on his chest. “Pack’s honor.”
Applejack and Pinkie began to form tears and Applejack wrapped her arms around Patak’s neck, Pinkie doing the same to Talamba. “Thank ya,” Applajack said.
Baagh Raaja watched as he stood close by to them, then continued to walk to the river. He walked away from the group and found a pair of boulders and placed himself next to them, sitting and staring up into the sky.
His blue aura began to come around again, and he walked to the river's edge, watching himself as his tiger features turned to human features, all except for the massive scar on his face.
.“-You shouldn’t have slept close to me that night Rainbow. Now...you’re probably gone because of it. Why...WHY does this happen to me?”