The Big Cats of Bakula

by PantheraMan

Chapter 2: The Petriasmilus

The next day, in the Hunters Deathtrap, the girls wake up to find their attackers asleep. Quickly, they get out of the tree before the cats wake up again. Now on the move, they must find some breakfast. They weren't sure which fruits were safe to eat or not, so they had to look for some meat, and there's no shortage of that on the savanna. With tons of game like Hipparion horses and pigs, they had plenty of options, but they had to make weapons to do the killing. Applejack, using her craftmenship, made a spear for each of them. They went for a watering hole and waited for game to come by, and it came in the form of a herd of Gemsbok. The antelops took their drinks while the girls got into position.

"Get down." whispered Applejack

They did, and they snuck up close to the herd, staying downwind to avoid their scents from being detected. Once they got close enough, Applejack and Rarity charged, scaring the Gemsbok and chasing them towards the others, Sunset Shimmer, Pinkie Pie, and Twilight got out of their cover and drove the herd toward Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash being the fastest, was the one to throw her spear at the target, which it got a Gemsbok in the shoulder. Applejack threw another spear into the side, and Sunset Shimmer threw another one into the heart, killing it instantly. The went and got their spears out of the animal and then Applejack went to butcher their prey while Twilight got some wood to make a fire to cook the meat.

"Oh Applejack, can we at least say a few words about this Gemsbok?" asked Fluttershy

"Alright Fluttershy, go ahead." Said Applejack

"I didn't know him, but I'm sure he was a good antelope, starting from being a cute little calf, and now, may he rest in peace." Said Fluttershy as tears were going down her cheeks

"There there Fluttershy." Said Sunset Shimmer

"Look at it this way Fluttershy, at least he wasn't killed for fun. His meat won't go to waste." Said Applejack

"Yes, and he'll be helping us survive in this place." Replied Rarity

"Uhhh yeah, just one little problem with that." Said Sunset Shimmer

"And what exactly is the problem?" asked Twilight

Sunset pointed north, when the girls looked in the direction she was pointing, they saw a group of sabertooth cats the size of lions with brownish gold fur with spots like a cheetah, long tails, round ears, and long fangs that went down farther than the jaw. As for numbers, there was at least 20 of them.

"AW COME ON!!!!" shouted Rainbow Dash

"I'm not sticking around here, I'm going up that tree." Said Sunset Shimmer before she ran quickly and climbed up the nearest tree.

"RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR"
"RAAAAARRGH"

The cats were closing in, the rest of the girls being outnumbered, also ran to the tree and climbed it. Well, except for Fluttershy who wanted to try to reason with the cats.

"Look, we made this kill, you have no right to take it from us, so we'd really appreciate it if you'd leave us alone and got your own food." Said Fluttershy

"RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR"

"Don't make me give you the stare buster!" warned Fluttershy

"RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRr"

Fluttershy used her stare on the cats, but just like with the Tougarions, it didn't work as one of the cats knocked her off her feet and gave her a nasty scratch across her shoulder, causing Twilight to pony use her magic to lift and carry Fluttershy to the tree. The girls watched as the cats fed on the kill that was rightfully theirs, with their stomachs growling like crazy.

"Why does nature have to be so cruel!" whined Rarity

"That's just the way it is Rarity." Said Fluttershy

"Well it ain't right if you ask me." Said Applejack

"Honestly, I'm just amazed that Fluttershys stare doesn't work on them." Said Rainbow Dash

When the cats did finish eating, they moved off, the girls got down from the tree to their kill.

"You're not seriously considering eating that now are you? It's just covered in cat germs!" Said Rarity

"Oh course not, we'll just have to find something else to eat." Replied Applejack

However, before they left, a giant bear came running at them, once it got close, stood up on it's hind legs, making the girls run like gazelles. After that, the bear chowed down on the carcass, and the girls were back on the search for food.

PETRIASMILUS
Height: 3 ft tall
Length: 9 ft long from nose to tail
Weight: 450 pounds
Social unit: Social
Habitat: Savannas of the Hunters Deathtrap

The Petriasmilus is the second largest cat in the Hunters Deathtrap, and is also social. But it differs from the lion and Tougarion since its social structure is similar to that of wolves, where an alpha pair breed and wolves from previous litters help raise current litters. The reason for this is because in pantherine cats like tigers and lions and maybe some sabertooths, the larger size of males is attributed to fighting for the ladies. However, with Petriasmilus, both genders are the same size, just like in wolves, so their social structure is like that of wolves. At most, they live in groups of up to 50 members, for the same reason Tougarions live in groups. As for competition, the hyena clans avoid them, as these cats will kill them. When in groups, the cats will kill the huge bears, and they've helped in making the wild dogs not exactly thriving. However, they are dominated by Tougarions, which can live in bigger groups and are larger, and typically bigger cats dominate smaller ones. But how do they coexist? in order to avoid each other, Tougarions do most of their hunting at night, while Petriasmilus are strictly daytime hunters. Because they're diurnal hunters, they're more hostile towards wild dogs and bears than Tougarions. their diet includes hipparion horse, buffalo, giant pig, and all the large antelope species, with Gemsbok being their favorite. They will maul humans on occasion, but they're not as intolerant of people as Tougarions, Petriasmilus are descendants of the sabertooth Megantereon, which made it's way to the Hunters Deathtrap when it was connected to Africa. With no Homotheriums to comepete with, they took the niche Homotheriums had, as the top daytime hunter of the plains.

Comments

[Comickook]

Again, this is a really good chapter with excellent action, exchanges and future chapter set-up. And really good info on the Petraiasmilus.

So, I will very certainly be looking forward to more of this.

[PantheraMan]

9401943
Why thank you. Since you appear to be fond of cats in the 100-300 pound range, I think you'll really like the next one