The Rainbow and The Tiger

by PantheraMan

Chapter 3: A Night in Africa

Author's Note:

Thanks to Norm De Plume for editing!!! I really recommend this guy.

The moonlight pierced through the savanna, casting light like the sun across the grass and creating shadows with the trees. Baagh Raaja walked through the tall grass, looking to both sides of his path. He stopped and turned his head to look behind him. Seeing nothing, he walked on. Up ahead lay a small patch of acacia trees. He walked towards the patch of trees and found a waterhole, where he crouched down slowly and folded his ears down on his head.

“-Good, now all I need to do is wait.” Baagh Raaja thought as he stared at the waterhole.

As he waited, he watched as a herd of impala walked out of the acacia forest and drank at the waterhole. One of the impala lifted its head up, its ears moving. Rumbling sounds could be heard from the trees and out from the forest came the matriarch walking to the waterhole with the rest of the elephants following close behind. The impala left the waterhole when one elephant came to the spot they were drinking at. The elephants sucked water into their trunks and sprayed it into their mouths, while a young calf sprayed mud into the air.

Baagh Raaja’s legs were stiff, his muscles tensed, and only his eyes moved to look around. The matriarch raised her tail, lifted her ears, and turned towards the thick acacia brush. She lifted her trunk high, then she turned and trumpeted to the others. Out from the cover, a pride of lions gave chase, and the elephants scattered. There were more than thirty lions on the attack.

The adult elephants grouped together and tried to encircle the calves as they ran, protecting all but one. One of the females was slower than the rest and she ran with her juvenile calf. The lions caught up with them. Unable to outrun them, the mother elephant charged. She swung her trunk at them, but they kept out of reach. Three lions leaped onto her backside, grabbing her attention and she gave chase. Baagh Raaja followed them, watched them from the cover, and saw what they were doing. In truth, the lions being chased by the female were doing as they planned. While those lions distracted her, the rest of the pride attacked the juvenile. Two lions pounced onto it, while the other grabbed on the backside and flanks, drawing blood from their prey, they dragged it to the ground as the young elephant thrashed its trunk and trumpeted. The mother turned to her offspring and watched as one lion clamped its jaws around its throat and another down on the trunk. The mother looked on as the rest of the pride rushed over to join the others. The mother stood silent, and walked off into the night. As Baagh Raaja watched, his stomach twisted, and he looked away from the sight.

“-I wish I could save you…..”

Baagh Raaja slowly turned his head back to the kill site, the lions had already begun eating the young elephant’s hindquarters. The lioness released her grip on the trunk, but she looked to her front, ears erect, growling, and waving her tail upwards. A male lion with muscular forelimbs and a big, bushy, black mane casually approached the kill. However, as Baagh Raaja looked on, he saw the big male wasn’t alone. From the trees, a human girl with pink skin and bushy pink hair walked very hesitantly at first. The big male looked back and raised his tail up and the girl, although still somewhat hesitant, slowly joined him.

“-What the!?” Baagh Raaja thought as he watched .

The lioness trotted right up to the male and got very close to his face, staring him in the eye. “Talamba! Why is there a human with you!? They’re forbidden to be here!!” The lioness said as she unsheathed her claws.

“I know they are, but she’s not a threat. In fact, she escaped from the clutches of Danger Beasts.” Talamba said as he maintained eye contact with the lioness.

“Danger Beasts!? Those unlawful beasts!!?” the lioness yelled

“Yes, from what I understand, they’re going after the Mookarina Stone.” Talamba replied while looking at Pinkie Pie

“Why am I not surprised? Well then, we must go after them once we get our energy back,” The lioness responded

“No, wait! Plenty of them are larger than you girls are! You won’t stand a chance! And I need to find two of my friends!” Pinkie said as she waved her arms rapidly.

“No, but there is strength in numbers. We’ll simply get some backup.” The lioness replied as she looked Pinkie in the eye.

“You mean like that huge tiger over there?” Pinkie asked while pointing west.

Baagh Raaja’s jaw dropped once again and his eyebrow twitched. “-How did she even know I was here!!?? She didn’t even look in my direction!”

“Uhh….what’s a tiger?” Talamba asked, raising an eyebrow

“OOOOOHHHH Right, a tiger is a huge cat that’s orange with black stripes with a white belly and there’s one right there in the patch of trees.” Pinkie Pie answered, pointing to Baagh Raaja once more.

“So that’s what they’re actually called. We’ve seen one before, but we’ve always called it a fire beast,” The lioness responded

“And this tiger has been with your friends for a while.” Baagh Raaja began walking out from the trees. When he made it out into the open, the lions’ eyes widened.

“Wait….she was RIGHT? HOW!!?” Talamba yelled with a raised eyebrow.

Pinkie Pie dashed at Baagh Raaja, stretched her body and looked him in the face. “You do!!? Take me to them!” she demanded as she raised her arm.

The lioness turned and began walking to the dead elephant. “We’ll be here, to provide you with some food.”

“Thanks, now let’s go, Baagh Raaja!” Pinkie said before she sprinted into the trees.

Baagh Raaja didn’t even move his legs, but he turned his head behind him. “....... How did she even know my name!?”

---

Rainbow Dash lay on one of the tree branches on her back. While breathing she caught a scent, but the smell was odd, something she never smelled before. She kept sniffing the air until she quickly opened her eyes and sat up. Rainbow couldn’t see anything, so she sniffed the air again, only to see it was coming from the limbs above her. Rainbow turned to Applejack who was snoring and was laying on her side with her hands under her head.

Rainbow slowly walked off the branch and when she got to Applejack, she shook her. “Applejack, wake up!”

“What the hay is going on?” Applejack asked while getting up.

“Do you smell that?” Rainbow Dash asked while looking above her.

Applejack looked at her with a frown and her arms crossed “That’s seriously what you woke me up for?”

“I know it sounds stupid but, I also have this feeling something’s…….off.” Rainbow replied while looking at her.

Applejack sniffed the air to try to get the scent, then looked back at Rainbow Dash. “I don’t smell anything, sugarcube. Now go back to sleep.”

“How do you not smell that?” Rainbow Dash asked

From the branches above, a male Dinofelis, a jaguar-sized cat with small sabers, a muscular body, brownish gold in color and black dots for spots, jumped at Rainbow Dash.

“GAH!!!!” Rainbow yelled as she quickly got out of the way. Applejack grabbed her geode and stood still, staring at the saber toothed feline, and then yet another unexpected thing happened: the Dinofelis also spoke.

“What do you think you’re doing here?” the Dinofelis growled

Applejack and Rainbow Dash both dropped their jaws. “You can talk too? Are all of you people who can turn into animals!?” Applejack asked while pointing at him.

The Dinofelis turned his head towards Applejack, and sat down. “No, I am a normal animal, and my name is Sulu.”

“Okay hold on! First, we bump into animals that should be extinct, then we meet a teenage boy who can turn into a tiger, and now we meet a normal whatever you are that can talk to humans…….just how the heck is this possible!!?” Rainbow Dash asked, squeezing her eyes shut and putting her hands on her head.

“Unless this somehow was caused by Equestrian magic eons ago,” Applejack suggested

“No, this is not Equestrian magic,” Sulu said with a confused look

But before he could say anything else, a familiar voice came from below. “Hey girls, you won’t believe who I found, come see!”

Rainbow Dash and Applejack both climbed to the outer edges of the limbs. They saw Baagh Raaja standing at the base of the tree, but with him, Pinkie Pie was bouncing up and down, waving her arms. “Pinkie!!!” both girls said.

Rainbow Dash clenched her geode and flew to the ground. Applejack on the other hand was in a bit of a pickle. “Uhh...how am I supposed to get down?” Applejack asked

Sulu walked right next to Applejack and lowered his body. “Climb on my back.”

Without hesitation, Applejack climbed onto Sulu’s back, wrapping her arms around his neck. Sulu slowly walked on the tree limb, then he descended down the tree’s massive trunk headfirst with Applejack clinging tightly.

Once Sulu got off the tree, Applejack immediately climbed off of him and sprinted towards Pinkie Pie, hugging her tightly. “I was so worried something may have happened to you.,” Pinkie said as she squeezed Applejack.

“How did you escape?” Applejack asked as she let go of Pinkie

“I simply drilled my way out.” Pinkie answered, pointing to her hair.

Baagh Raaja raised an eyebrow. “You drilled your way out?”

“Yep” Pinkie answered.

“Have they done anything horrible to the others?” Rainbow Dash asked

“Yeah, Bladed Claw decided he was gonna starve Fluttershy!!” Pinkie replied

Baagh Raaja uttered a deep, chilling growl. His claws unsheathed, his teeth bared. The girls looked at him with wide open eyes. “Take me to him…..now.” Baagh Raaja hissed as he looked at Pinkie.

Pinkie began scratching her head, and backed away from Baagh Raaja. “I would buuuuuut….”

“But what!!!??” Baagh Raaja yelled

Sulu got himself right in front of Baagh Raaja, and looked him straight in his eyes. “Calm yourself!” Baagh Raaja inhaled a deep breath of oxygen, then exhaled and sat down.

“I’ve heard a few stories about Bladed Claw and his gang from migratory birds. We must be in a big group to take him down.” Sulu said as he looked towards the girls.

“We bumped into the Titan pride, they killed a young elephant and they’ve decided to share it with us, so you guys can get some food before we head out,” Baagh Raaja replied as he got up and began walking

“Wait, aren’t you coming? Why?” Rainbow Dash asked

Baagh Raaja stopped, and turned to Rainbow Dash “I’ll….just get a wildebeest or something,. I’ll catch up with you later.” He then turned back and walked off into the night.

“Well, that’s just weird, why in the hay would he decline to eat with us tonight?” Applejack asked, placing her hand on her hat.

“Maybe he just doesn’t like elephant meat?” Rainbow Dash suggested as she shrugged.

“Come along, we best not keep the pride waiting,” Sulu told them as Pinkie Pie took the lead and started walking.

---

Sulu, Talamba, the lioness, and the girls sat around a small fire,and a large boulder behind them with the girls eating small chunks of cooked elephant meat. “Thanks for letting us eat some of your kill.” Rainbow Dash said

“You’re welcome,” The lioness replied

“We’ll rest here for the night, I imagine you must be tired after the hunt and eating all that meat.” Sulu said while laying in front of a small tree

“You bet we are, right girls?” The lioness asked

“Most definitely.” The rest of the pride answered as they were laying down

Sulu got up on his feet. “So, you girls want to know the answer to all of your questions?” he asked

Applejack perked up. “Yeah, like how is all this even possible?” she asked

Sulu walked over to the boulder, and he turned back around and sat down. He placed his paw on his chest and cleared his throat, then he began.

“A very long time ago-”

Pinkie raised her arms in fists “WOO-HOO Story time!!!”

“Yes….like I was saying, there was a powerful being who took the form of a white feline with rounded ears, an erect mane like a zebra, yellow eyes, and had a pair of white wings like an eagle. His name was Karu, and he was the being that created the land we lay upon, the maker of all life.”

“In other words a god?” Rainbow asked

“Yes, In creating life, he also created a few laws for all creatures to abide by. The laws were to never kill for pleasure, never destroy the land, never harm your offspring, no being shall betray their own family, nor shall they harm those who save them, no family member shall choose who another settles down with, and do not kill to eradicate competitors if you don’t need to hunt to survive.”

Applejack lowered her eyebrows “Somehow I feel we humans are attacked.”

“ Actually the laws were made right before before humans existed. While Karu could create life, he had a limited ability to protect it from catastrophe. With his limited magic, he created this place, a zone where all creatures could be safe if they wanted to go there. Many animals came here either by walking , flying or by Karu teleporting them here from other places, so now, there are some animals here that were not here before.”

“So that means….this part of Africa might have kangaroos!” Rainbow said

Applejack lifted her head “Or maybe bison!”

Pinkie gasped again “Or maybe even...PANDAS!!!”

“Anyway...Years passed, and things began to change, as now humans were very common, and some of them wanted to be able to hunt like big cats, and some of the big cats wanted to be able to use fire like humans. Karu trusted them, and thus he decided to grant the big cats the ability to transform into humans. The humans who wanted to hunt like big cats wanted to be unique from the rest, so Karu created furry belts for them to wear that allowed them to transform into what we call Danger Beasts. That way their children could decide if they wanted to have the ability of their parents. Karu did not do the same for the cats because they can’t simply take off a belt.”

“Huh, sounds like fashion even Rarity would hate.” Rainbow chuckled

“Little did Karu know that this was perhaps his biggest mistake. The Danger Beasts began to break all the laws he created, and this led to a war between the Danger Beasts and the big cats. This was a bloody battle, and though the Danger Beasts gave it their all, the big cats won because they were more experienced, and the surviving Danger Beasts went into hiding. But it didn’t end there. You see, Karu had a brother called Tarak. Unlike Karu, he could only create stones and was always jealous of his brother’s ability to create life, and so he decided that he would create the Mookarina Stone.”

Applejack scratched her head “A jealous brother....why does that sound familiar?”

“He tried to get the humans and Danger Beasts to touch it, and with it, they would become even better killers than they already were. However, Karu intervened and he fought with Tarak. Karu killed Tarak, but he too was fatally wounded. Before he passed on, however, he placed the Mookarina Stone in this place. He had the predators chase the humans out of this place, and gave them the ability to talk in the tongues of man. He also changed the Mookarina Stone in a way that its power can only be used if touched by the blood of a being with magical powers as he was now too weak to destroy the stone completely. With his last act, he told the predators to protect the land from humans, right before he died from his wounds.”

Pinkie began sobbing “WHYYYY!!! Why did you have to go Karu!!? WHY!!??”

“There there,” Talamba patted her shoulder

“As for the cats in the battle, most of them decided to never transform into humans again for fear that greed would turn them evil. A very few continued on as humans, as they found human life easier for them and to this day, there are some but not many humans who can turn into large cats, but they do not for their instincts never kick in. But if those humans were to live in the wild, their instincts would slowly kick in.”

“Whoa! That’s so cool!!” Rainbow Dash replied.

Pinkie’s eyes widened, and gasped. “So that’s why Talamba attacked me.”

“Well, I’ll be!” Applejack said while tilting her hat.

“And my family took it upon ourselves to be the storytellers of the land, that way the new generations remember our past,” Sulu said as he leaped off the boulder.

“So you’re basically a history teacher,” Rainbow Dash said

“You could say that,” Sulu replied as he lay back down.

From behind them, a twig snapped in the distance. They turned around to see Baagh Raaja returning to the site, walking across the clearing to the other side of the trees. “Well look who decided to finally show up,” Applejack remarked

Baagh Raaja turned his head to her. “Hey, catching prey isn’t easy. I had to try five different times to catch something, and I killed an ostrich in case you were wondering,” he said as he stood in the clearing.

Applejack began to yawn. “Well, I’m gonna turn in for the night.” She stretched out her arms and lay down on the ground. The cats yawned and placed their heads on their paws and Pinkie just plopped down on the ground and started snoring.

Rainbow Dash looked at Baagh Raaja, watching him keep walking to the other trees, away from the pride. “-Weird, why doesn’t he come to sleep with everyone else?” Rainbow Dash thought before she got up and followed him. Baagh Raaja walked into a spot in the acacia woods and lay down, stretched his body, and fell asleep. Looking back, Rainbow Dash saw they were a good distance away from the others, she looked back at Baagh Raaja, and back to where the pride was, then she quietly walked to a tree close to him, laid herself down, and closed her eyes.

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