//------------------------------//
// Chapter 15: A Tiger in The House 
// Story: The Rainbow and The Tiger 
// by PantheraMan 
//------------------------------//

In the morning rays, the grass gleamed in the light. Inside the shed, Baagh Raaja still sat on the table, looking out the window. He had bags under his eyes and he yawned. “I should probably get some sleep. Why didn’t I do that in the first place?” he thought as he got off the table. His blue aura began coming back and his tiger features started to return. “I’ll be more comfy in tiger form.” One he fully transformed, he laid down on the floor and put his paws under his head before resting his jaw on them. He began to close his eyes, however, a dog began barking, and right after a radio was turned on and rock music began playing. Baagh Raaja growled “So...this is why my family never lived in a place like this,” he thought while covering his ears with his paws.

Rainbow Dash opened the back door and carried a fold-up chair with her. She unfolded it and laid down in it in the sun. There was something in the grass that caught her eye, what seemed to be a trail of matted down circles in the grass. “Why is part of the grass matted down?” she thought before getting up and walking to the circles. Looking ahead, she saw they led to the shed. She opened the doors and gasped. Baagh Raaja jerked his head up and looked at her.

“Oh...hi Rainbow,” he said before getting up off the floor. 

Rainbow Dash stared at him for a moment as he was transforming back into human form. “Baagh Raaja what are you doing here!?” she asked while getting in the shed herself. 

Baagh Raaja yawned. “I came to visit you,” he answered.

Rainbow Dash was taken aback. “You...came out here...at night...just to see me again?” she asked.

Baagh Raaja rubbed his eye. “Yep, I was in here all night,” he said, stretching out his arms. 

Rainbow Dash simply put two of her fingers between her eyes on the top of her nose and shook her head. “Why didn’t you write saying you were coming?” 

Baagh Raaja crossed his arms. “I wanted to make it a surprise.” 

Rainbow Dash slightly giggled. “Well, you got your wish,” she said before walking out of the shed and looking in both yards next to her house. “Okay come on, the coast is clear,” she told him, and they quickly moved into the house. They walked into the living room and Rainbow Dash walked in front of the couch. “You can sleep on the couch if you want,” she said. 

Baagh Raaja smiled. “Thanks,” he said before plopping down on the couch and snoring. 

Rainbow Dash hugged herself and grinned. “Baagh Raaja’s actually here, in my home!” Suddenly there was knocking at the door. Baagh Raaja immediately woke back up and grunted. Rainbow Dash opened the door and saw Rarity and Sunset Shimmer standing at the doorway with large plastic bags in their hands. 

Rarity smiled and waved. “Hello darling!” she said.

Sunset waved and leaned on the door frame. “Hey Rainbow!” 

Rainbow Dash fist bumped Sunset. “Hey, what’s up?” she asked.

Sunset scratched the back of her head. “I ended up cooking way too much food,” she said, slightly kicking the ground. 

Rarity giggled. “My mother did the same, so we figured we would bring you some of it.” 

Rainbow Dash moved to the side of the doorway. “You can put it on the table,” she said, pointing her thumb towards the dining room. 

Sunset and Rarity walked in. “Alright-” Rarity paused. Sunset gave her a weird look until she turned and saw Baagh Raaja sitting on the couch and frowning. 

“Hiii,” he said, slowly waving his hand and grumbling. 

Sunset’s eyes widened. “Whoa.” 

Rarity’s eyes gleamed as she looked all over him. “My my what a muscular one you are!” she said, holding his arm up. 

Baagh Raaja rolled his eyes. “Yeah, and I’m a light sleeper also.” 

Sunset crossed her armrs and grinned. “So you’re the mighty Baagh Raaja.” 

Baagh Raaja turned his head to her, ignoring the girl who was staring at his biceps. “Yes, yes I am,” he said in a deep, grumbling tone. 

Sunset shook his hand. “Well it was nice to meet you,” she said before making her way to the door. 

Rarity finally stopped staring at his biceps and grabbed the food and placed it on the table. She began making her way to the door. “Yes it was nice to meet you indeed.” Baagh Raaja had no reaction whatsoever. Rarity nearly walked out the door.

Sunset waved before leaving. “See ya Rainbow.” 

“Toodle-loo,” Rarity said before she left as well. 

Rainbow Dash looked at Baagh Raaja. “See, I told you the girls would swoon over you,” she said, poking his chest.

“Yep,” he said before letting his head fall on the couch and snoring once again. 





Baagh Raaja began opening his eyes. He yawned and stretched his arms. Looking around, he saw Rainbow Dash walking in, carrying a pair of mugs in her hands. “Sleep well?” she asked

Baagh Raaja grinned and chuckled. “Yes I finally did.” 

Rainbow Dash giggled before handing him a mug. “Here.” 

Baagh Raaja grabbed the mug handle and looked down in it, seeing a brown liquid with marshmallows. “Hot Chocolate, right?” he asked.

Rainbow Dash nodded “Yep,” before sitting on the couch next to him. 

Baagh Raaja looked back down at the beverage. “Never had one before,” he said before taking a sip. “Mmm tasty.” He took a few gulps of it before something clicked in his head. “Say, where are your parents? It just occurred to me that I haven’t seen them.” 

Rainbow Dash suddenly lowered her brows and looked away for a moment, then looked back at him. “They’re...gone.” she said.

Baagh Raaja froze, and stared at her for a short moment before speaking. “I-I’m so sorry about that. What happened?” he asked. Rainbow Dash looked away again. Baagh Raaja also looked away for a bit before looking back at her. “It’s okay, you don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to.” 

Rainbow Dash looked back at him, then put her mug on the small table in front of them. She pulled her legs close to her and hugged them. “I came home from work one day and I was home alone. A couple hours went by and they still didn’t show up. I heard knocking at the door and a pair of policemen were standing there. My parents died in a car crash. They hit a moose on the road.” Tears began rolling down her face. She started wiping them away. Baagh Raaja placed a hand on the side of her face and wiped a tear away with his thumb. 

“So you’ve been living by yourself?” he asked.

“Mmhmm.” She kept looking at him. “My aunt and uncle co-signed the lease to this apartment so I could live here,” she said before she wiped another tear away. Baagh Raaja hugged her tightly. She rested her face on his shoulder and sobbed. She sniffed before lifting her head and looking at the TV. “Hey, do you wanna watch a movie or two? It’s Saturday so I have more time.” 

Baagh Raaja looked at the TV “Sure.” 





Nighttime had come, and in the living room, Rainbow Dash and Baagh Raaja were on the couch staring at the TV screen. The credits began rolling. “How many movies did we end up actually watching?” Baagh Raaja asked.

Rainbow Dash got up and got the disc out. “About five.” she answered.

Baagh Raaja looked outside, seeing the dark night. “I better get going, it’ll be daylight in the savanna,” he said before hugging Rainbow Dash.

They stopped hugging and Rainbow Dash fistbumped him. “See ya.” 

“So long!” he said as his blue aura came back and he transformed back into tiger form. He opened the door and saw himself out. He began to sprint,  jumping over the wooden fence and dashing off into the forest. He ran farther from the road and deeper into the trees. Before long he found the big rock and ran through the portal. The Mookarina Stone was the first thing he saw, then he ran to the entrance of the cave where he was greeted by Night Sky who was laying on a rock. 

“Well there he is,” she said with a smile.

Konda walked up to him. “So, how was your date?” he asked.

Baagh Raaja snarled. “It wasn’t a date,” he said. 

River Sand had just arrived. “Suuuurrree it wasn’t,” she said before grinning.

Talamba was walking up to him. “You can’t tell us otherwise dude,” he said before sitting. 

Baagh Raaja rolled his eyes. “Alright look, Rainbow Dash and I have something in common. We’re both orphans,” he said. 

Everyone paused, except for Night Sky. “What?” 

“What happened?” Konda asked. 

Baagh Raaja sat down. “Her parents died in a car crash with a moose,” he answered. 

Talamba raised a brow. “What’s a moose?” he asked.

Baagh Raaja looked at Talamba. “It’s a large deer with weird lips, anyway, I wanted to ask you a favor.” 





Rainbow Dash had just put on her pajamas and was getting ready to head to bed before she heard knocking on the back door. She went back down the stairs and opened the door, finding Baagh Raaja at the door panting “Baagh Raaja?” she started giggling. “I figured you’d come back but this soon?” 

Baagh Raaja continued panting. “Would you like to come to the savanna with me tomorrow night?” he asked, finally catching his breath.

Rainbow Dash grinned. “Well, you did come here so I guess I should be fair,” she answered.

“Great!” Baagh Raaja said before turning around.

Rainbow Dash stuck her arm out of the doorway. “Wait, why didn’t you simply write to me asking that?” she asked.

Baagh Raaja turned his head back around. “Just wanted to see the reaction on your face,” he said before jumping over the fence again. 





The sun was beginning to set on the neighborhood. Rainbow Dash stood by the wooden fence, pacing back and forth with her hands in her pockets. She heard footsteps behind the fence and looked over and saw Baagh Raaja in human form. “Ready?” he asked.

“Ready,” she said, climbing over the fence. 

They began walking through the woods. A red squirrel ran past them, carrying a pine cone in its mouth. The birds were singing, and a great horned owl hooted. A white-tailed deer raised it’s tail before running off deeper into the forest. A coyote began howling, and Baagh Raaja growled. “Are you serious?” he grumbled. 

Rainbow Dash raised a brow. “What?” she asked.

Baagh Raaja turned his head to her. “The coyote. I find it annoying,” he said. They saw the big rock up ahead and kept walking to it. Soon they were up against the portal. Baagh Raaja moved to the side, and Rainbow Dash walked through the portal, seeing the Mookarina Stone. Baagh Raaja came through the portal. They both walked towards the cave entrance. At the cave entrance, Night Sky, River Sand, Talamba, Konda, Sulu, and Partak all stood there. 

“Hi Rainbow Dash!!” they all said in unison. 

“Welcome back Rainbow,” Baagh Raaja said, putting a hand on her shoulder.

Rainbow Dash hugged Partak. “It’s so good to see you all!” she said before hugging Sulu.

Partak tapped Rainbow Dash with his paw. “Baagh Raaja told us about your living situation.” 

Rainbow Dash looked at Baagh Raaja with crossed arms. “You did?” she asked.

Talamba walked up to her. “And, he asked us for a favor.” 

Konda smiled and sat down. “And we decided that we’d like to have you as a part of this family.” 

Rainbow Dash paused. “Are…”  Tears began rolling down her face. “Are you serious?” she asked in a raspy tone. 

Sulu nodded. “Yep, and you can thank Baagh Raaja for it,” he said, pointing his head at Baagh Raaja.

Rainbow Dash looked at Baagh Raaja who was scratching the back of his head. “Well it was nothing really-” Rainbow Dash threw herself onto him and embraced him and her lips met his. Baagh Raaja’s eyes widened. 

Rainbow Dash opened her eyes and removed her lips from his and released her grip. “Sorry, I couldn’t help it. It’s just…” she sniffed while wiping a tear. “This is the best thing that’s ever happened to me.” she said.

River Sand smirked. “Go on, say it. We know you do,.” she said.

Rainbow Dash looked at Baagh Raaja who’s face was as red as blood. He looked at River Sand with crossed arms. “Say what?” 

Rainbow Dash touched his arm and looked into his eyes. “Baaghy, I love you.” 

Baagh Raaja’s face got even redder as his eyes got wider. “Wait what?” he asked, looking at her. 

“I love you,” she said, making everyone smile.

Baagh Raaja was once again taken aback. “S-S-Seriously?” he stuttered, nearly falling over. 

Rainbow Dash grabbed his wildebeest hide shirt. “How’s this for an answer?” she asked before pecking him on the cheek. Baagh Raaja smiled and nearly fell again. “I think I’ll move here after I graduate high school,” Rainbow Dash said.

Baagh Raaja smiled. “Wait, really?” he asked.

Rainbow Dash grinned. “Yeah, but for now, I wanna enjoy this moment,” she said before embracing him, resting her head on his chest. Baagh Raaja embraced her back. 

Night Sky and River Sand’s eyes gleamed. “AAAAAAWWWWW!!!” they said. 

Rainbow Dash saw the blue aura reappear on Baagh Raaja. She released her grip and stepped back. His tiger form was reappearing. “Babe, what are you doing?” she asked.

Baagh Raaja fully transformed before looking at her with a smile. “I’m just so happy that, well, you might wanna cover your ears.” As the sun rose, the light began blanketing the grass, the trees, and the water. Baagh Raaja let out a roar that echoed across the plains, beyond the hills as the sun rose further into the sky.