The Mane Problem

Chapter 1

Rafiki was listening to the spirits. Many seemed very content, but unfortunately, there was one in particular who was not.
“Oy, Mufasa,” The mandrill stated, “What do you need this time? You're son has grown to be a great king, and no more problems that cannot be fixed by him or his daughter arrive in Africa!”
The wind blew a bit more.
“Not in Africa? But what does Simba concern in places besides Africa?”
The wind blew again, a bit longer this time.
“A land not on any map, far away from humans can find it. Only way to get there is by magic.” The shaman repeated. “But Mufasa, I still don't see, what does this have to do with your son?”
The wind grew silent.
“Alright, I'll do it, but I have no idea why. And besides, you know I need to bring someone here from that land to trade them, or else the circle of life will be out of balance! Is there anyone you have in mind?”
The wind blew again.
“Someone to liven up the Pride Lands? Of that species? And some people call me crazy.”
The wind blew much harder.
“Alright! You're plans may not make sense to me, but I still follow them. I just hope you know what you're doing.”
And so, the shaman sent to work, muttering his favorite chant along the way.
“Asante sana, squash banana, we we nugu, mi mi apana.” Still, no matter how much the monkey worked or chanted the strange phrase that made less than no sense, he could still not help but wonder why on earth the past king wanted his own son to go in a place not concerning him at all.

“Sire!” The hornbill cried out, flying into the cave,“Simba, where are you?”
“Boo!” a lion cub shouted, sending Zazu into a cave wall.
“Mkuu, you must have a bit more self-control!”
The prince just laughed.
“Sorry Zazu, but you're just too easy!”
Zazu just stared at the prince in annoyance. He had his mother's coat and his father's eyes. Kovu and Kiara had this cub two months after they had been married. He had greatly admired his grandfather, and seemed to be almost a complete replica of the cub his grandfather had once been.
“Where is your grandfather?” Zazu asked.
“Er-I don't know.” Mkuu lied. Zazu had realized a while ago that Mkuu was still working on the talents of lying his grandfather had once had. In fact, many lies had been told on both sides of the family, so why Mkuu couldn't do it yet, he wasn't sure.
“Mkuu, you better tell me.” Zazu said, knowing that Mkuu had found himself trapped.
“Mkuu! Breakfast is ready!” a voice called.

The cub rushed over to the warthog and meerkat, of course getting his breakfast of bugs. Zazu sighed, knowing the cub had just found this as an excuse. He wondered if they were planning a prank, like they did a lot. Nothing, though could've compared to that musical number Simba once did when he was a cub.

Zazu shook his head after he realized he was thinking off topic.
“Young master, where is your grandfather?” Zazu asked.
Mkuu stopped.
“Er- are you talking to me or Pumbaa?” he asked
“Young master, you know very well who I'm talking to. And it's not either one of those insectivores.”
“Well, er- You know how I go see him just about every morning?”
“Yes?” all three asked in unison, concerned about Simba.
“Well, I went to see him this morning...”
“Yes?” They asked in unison again.
“I couldn't find him! But in his place I saw-”
“Can I come out now? It's kind of boring around here.” a pink pony came out without waiting for the reply.
Zazu stared at her for a while. She was not like any horse he had ever seen. Her body was a bit... different. And she had a picture of three balloons on her flank.
“Pinkie Pie, I told you to wait!” Mkuu snapped at her.
“Sorry, but I was getting all bored and I really wanted to meet someone, because back home I know everypony, but here I barely know anypony, and not knowing anypony makes it really hard to make friends, even though that's something I'm supposed to report on a lot, which I do a lot because the princess asked me too. Hey do you know the princess? Me and my friends saved our country when she couldn't, three times! Oh, but I don't like to brag. And the third one wasn't really us. But I'll will say I'm the element of Laughter, and my friend Applejack's the element of Honesty, and my friend Rarity's the element of Generosity, my friend Rainbow Dash is the element of Loyalty, my friend Fluttershy is the element of Kindness, and my Friend Twilight's the element of Magic! Except when Discord came, then we became all meany- mean pants, except Twilight, Twilight Sparkle that is, who just became sad, but we defeated them with a beautiful rainbow and-”
“Pinkie Pie!” Mkuu shouted, getting annoyed he'd have to hear more rambling.
“Right, That's all fine and good Mrs. Pie,” Zazu started, “But, if you're here, where's Simba?”

“Are you sure you can handle him, Fluttershy?” Cup Cake asked.
“Don't worry, Animals, big and small, Fluttershy can tame them all!” The pale yellow pegasus said, noting that she should remember that for her business, which was of course taking care of animals.
“J-just be careful Fluttershy, it doesn't look like any animal we've seen before!” Carrot Cake informed.
“Don't worry, Mr. Cake, I can handle it.” Fluttershy said.

She went up to Pinkie's room, where the Cakes said they had found the creature. Fluttershy stared at it for a little while. It was a lion but a bit... different than what she had seen before. His body structure just seemed... out of place. His mane was red and he was rather muscular. Fluttershy decided she should stop thinking about looks and just think about how to peacefully wake up the lion.
“Umm... excuse me, mister lion.” Fluttershy meekly stated.
The lion started to wake up.
“Huh? Where am I?” The lion asked.
“Oh, um, this is Ponyville.” Fluttershy stated.
“What country am I in?” The lion asked.
“Equestria. Don't worry, Mr. Lion I'll make sure you have a nice place to stay until you can get back home.” Fluttershy stated, hoping that she was making a convincing point.
“I have to get back! They're probably already looking for me!”
“Oh well, I know a friend who might be able to help.”
The lion calmed down a bit.
“Really? What's their name?” he asked.
“Twilight.” the pony replied.
“What's your name?”
“Fluttershy.”
“I'm Simba.”