Meanwhile, in the middle of a barren desert, Cheeky and Flower (who are the only ones who weren't captured but were transported into somewhere else instead) found themselves and each other in the hot and barren desert to which they accidentally got transported (by mistake), but they're able to survive in the desert, since both jerboas and meerkats are mammals which have adapted to life in large, hot and deserted areas, which were no places suitable for most other animals (most other mammals, birds and reptiles), and so the two decided to search together for a way out of the desert in order to find some help and then go and save all their friends who got captured by the eight evil shape-shifting animals.
While traveling together in the desert in order to find some help and then go and save all their friends, Cheeky said to Flower "We must keep going forward! All of our friends are counting on us! We must save them all!", but then Flower asked "Wait, what's that?" as she suddenly stopped and pointed with a tiny finger of hers at something that looked like a bovine animal which resembled Monica, but it looked much bigger and older than her, as Flower saw that the bovine have horns growing on top of its head, moving to the sides and then curving back towards the head and pointing at each other, which makes them bigger, longer and much heavier than the ones of a domestic cow or bull, and therefore the bovine animal which was standing in front of Cheeky and Flower (albeit also a bit far away from them) was none other than an adult African buffalo (from the same species as Monica herself).
Just then, however, the adult African buffalo suddenly turned its large and horned head and turned to barely see Cheeky and Flower standing in front of it (and also a bit far away from it), before the adult African buffalo started running lightly towards them, but rather than running away for their lives, Cheeky and Flower decided to stay still and wait for the much larger animal to come close enough so it can see them much more properly than it barely did just now, and once the adult African buffalo got close enough, it stopped dead in its tracks right in front of them and then it lowered down its head and neck to look at them in the eyes, and when Cheeky and Flower looked up at it and gave it an eye contact, the adult African buffalo suddenly spoke up and said and asked in a feminine voice "Oh my goodness! Who are you two? What are you both doing out here in this barren desert all alone by yourselves?", thus shocking Cheeky and Riley as they realized that the adult African buffalo who just talked to them is actually a female and not a male.
However, the two little animals soon snapped out of their shocked states before Cheeky said first "Hi there, Miss. We're looking for some help and also for a way out of this here desert.", and then he asked "Can you please help us and take us with you?", and when the adult female African buffalo heard what he said, she said back "Well, I know a way out of here. My family and my herd have been here before.", and then she raised up a cloven forehoof and then she pointed southward and explained "They all went that way, to the south.", and then she turned back to look at Cheeky and Flower and then she added "Come with me, little ones. Jump onto my back and I will take you to meet my family and my herd. My father and my mother are the leaders of my whole herd, and their names are King Mebaya and Queen Zhenya. I'm sure they would like to meet you two, because they're both really nice to all kinds of animals other than just themselves and the rest of our own kind.".
However, when Cheeky and Flower heard the adult female African buffalo saying that King Mebaya and Queen Zhenya are her parents, since Monica is their granddaughter (or at least one of many grandchildren), the two gasped in shock for a second time when they realized that the adult female African buffalo might be somehow related to Monica herself, but then they (again) snapped out of their shocked states and looked as the adult female African buffalo lowered down on all fours so to let them climb up onto her back and also to give them a ride out of the desert in order to find King Mebaya, Queen Zhenya, their family and all the rest of their African buffalo herd.
However, when she saw the two small animal friends are still standing there right in front of her and looking at her but doing nothing else, the adult female African buffalo asked them "Is there's something wrong?", and then Cheeky said "Well, I'm kinda curious to know if there's any connection between you and a friend of ours whom we've already before.", and then Flower asked her "I'm curious too, because I wanna know one important thing before we leave the desert with you to meet with the rest of your herd - do you know our friend Monica?", and when the adult female African buffalo heard the tiny meerkat saying that, she gasped in shock and looked down and very close at her in the eyes before she then asked "You know my precious Monica?", and then Flower said back "Surely, we know her, and she's a good friend of ours and we're all really happy to have a friend like her.", and then Cheeky asked "Do you know Monica?", and when the adult female African buffalo heard what he said, she said back "Well, of course! I'm her mother!", but when she said that, Cheeky and Monica jumped together in shock before they asked together in high voice tones "What?! You're Monica's mother?!", and then the mother African buffalo said back and then asked "Well, yes, I am. After she got separated away from the rest of the herd, I also left and started searching and looking for her. Where's my precious little daughter at?".
When Cheeky and Flower both heard Monica's mother asking them about her daughter's whereabouts, the two sighed heavily before Cheeky explained "Your daughter and all our other friends are all imprisoned by Lysander, Ganda and all their evil friends.", and when she heard what the little baby jerboa just said, Monica's mother gasped in shock before she asked "What? Why do they want from my precious daughter and fromI all of your other friends?", and then Flower explained "They want to have them as a meal for all the carnivores in their animal team - Lysander himself, Buldeo, Zenobia and Clayton, which may last them for at least two weeks (or so), with Monica and our adult friends also included.", and when Monica's mother heard what the tiny meerkat just said, she snorted angrily and said "These monsters will suffer if they dare to touch my precious daughter, but what will make me even more angrier at them is the fact that they also want to eat other young and helpless animals for dinner!", and then she added and said to the two small animal friends "Climb up onto my back, kids! I will take you both out of this desert to meet my parents and the rest of my herd!", and when Cheeky and Flower heard her saying that, they nodded and said together "Right!" and then they climbed up onto Monica's mother's back, and once they sat down on top of her back, she slowly stood back up on her feet and then she started running really fast (and as fast as she can do) with the two small animal friends riding on her back as the three animals started traveling together through the barren desert in search for the rest of the African buffalo herd.
Meanwhile, back at the evil animals' cave in the forest, everyone else are still trapped and locked inside the cage with no way out, and it didn't took long before Terrence and the rest of his friends returned to meet them with Topsy following very close behind Terrence himself in tow, thus showing and revealing to everyone's shock that now both evil African bush elephants are mates, and therefore their chances of bringing evil baby African bush elephants to Equestria is now possible, but when Topsy looked down and saw Kyra, Opey, their friends and even Maisie and Riley, she quickly recognized them and then she gave them all an evil smile, thus scaring them all as they went close to Shufai and to the three other (adult) animals for comfort.
However, when Topsy saw the youngsters and the older juveniles cowering in fear and hugging the adolescent and the three adults for comfort, the adult female African bush elephant just laughed evilly at them before she said "You'll never escape your doom, stupid little kids! My new mate's best friends will eat you all for dinner!", but when she saw Maisie and Riley with the other young animals from an even closer look, she laughed evilly once again before she said to them "And you two will end up meeting your stupid mothers! But, I still must admit and say that it was my pleasure to crush them to death for not respecting me!", but when Shufai heard what she said and realized that Maisie, Riley and Cheeky lost their moms and got orphaned all together by Topsy herself, the adolescent male Indian elephant yelled at her "How dare you?! How dare you do that to these sweet little ones, you monster!", but when Topsy heard him yelling at her, she turned to face him and then she looked at him in the eyes and asked "And what do we have here besides these stupid little brats?", but then Shufai yelled at her "What did you just to me?!", but then Topsy said back "Oh, you're another Asian elephant! Just like the stupid little one behind your back!" and then she motioned towards Kyra, who is standing and cowering in fear next to Shufai and against his larger body for comfort.
However, Shufai yelled back at the older female elephant "Enough! I will not tolerate someone who is as bad as you are, and I will not let you call me, my little sister or any of her friends any insulting names, do you understand me?!", but then Topsy said back "Just shut up your mouth if you wanna last longer than you actually will!", and when she said these words, she indeed managed to shock and scare Shufai a little bit, but he still stood tall and proud with confidence and looked Topsy right in the eyes as he wanted to attack her for orphaning Maisie, Riley and Cheeky, for insulting and harming his little sister, and for harassing his sister's non-elephant friends for fun, but deep inside his heart and mind, he clearly knew that he can't attack her (yet) because he's still locked up with the other good animals inside the cage, but Topsy wasn't done with him and with the young animals yet, and when she saw Monica from a closer look, she gave an even scarier and more evil-looking smile as she quickly recognized the African buffalo calf by her appearance and by the frightened look in her eyes, before Topsy then said evilly "And it seems like that stupid little African buffalo calf is here with all of you too! Just the way I really like it, especially after I separated her away from her family and away from the rest of her herd and tried kill her to show what real elephants do and what is our true destiny in life!".
When Shufai heard what Topsy said about what she herself did when she separated Monica from her family and also from all the rest of her herd just in an attempt to destroy her, the younger male elephant felt himself boiling in his own anger before he yelled angrily at her in the face "HOW DARE YOU ATTACK AND HARASS OTHER ANIMALS WHO DID NOTHING TO YOU?!" as he suddenly managed to push one of the cage's bars from a normal, upright-standing shape into a twisted shape that was moving a bit forward by using his own head and also his still-growing tusks, thus shocking and surprising not only Topsy herself, but also Terrence and all his seven evil non-elephant friends, but then Terrence said back to him "You're such a dumb animal for an Indian elephant! We African bush elephants we're much more bigger, stronger and smarter than you!".
However, Shufai said back "No! What you're saying is absolutely ridiculous and wrong! You don't know what poor innocent baby animals, ponykind's foals and even little children all around this world are going through because of your pure malevolence! You two don't deserve to have kids of your own after everything bad you've already done for all this long and unforgettable time!", but then Topsy entered with only her trunk into the cage and then she slapped Shufai three times across the face before she said "We will see about that, you big, filthy Asian elephant!", and then Terrence added "You don't even know with how many elephants you're even messing up!", and then he turned to Akeno and said to him "Akeno!", and then the evil okapi turned to him and asked "Yes, Terrence?", and then Terrence said to him "Please, bring me, my new mate and my other friends all the adult and elder okapis whom you have brainwashed after we destroyed that worthless Asha!", and when Akeno heard him saying that, he said back "The great honor is all mine!" before he then went back into the darker and deeper parts of the cave to call all of the brainwashed okapis to come with him so one or two of them can help guarding the cage so the good animals won't be able to escape until Lysander, Buldeo, Zenobia and Clayton all will receive and have their meal at dinner time (when evening comes).
Later, after a few minutes, Akeno returned with all of the brainwashed adult and elder okapis (whom he brainwashed after he destroyed Asha) and then he showed them all to Terrence, Topsy and all the other evil animals, who grinned evilly and proudly at him, but when the good animals also saw all of the brainwashed okapis from behind the cage's bars, they (and particularly Opey and her mother) were all shocked to see them all like this (ever since Asha had died), and both Opey and her mother recognized all of the brainwashed okapis as all their family and herd members whom Akeno had taken away from them (and from all the other okapi youngsters) to his side to work for him and for all of his non-okapi evil friends.
Then, Akeno called for three of the okapis to come forward, and when these three okapis, two males and one female, came forward, Akeno smiled evilly at them before he turned back to the cage to see Opey and her mother's shocked and frightened expressions, and then he said and then asked the three brainwashed okapis whom he called to come forward "You three, you stay here and guard the cage so that our prisoners won't be able to escape, understand?", and when the three brainwashed okapis all heard him saying that, they nodded in agreement and said together "Yes, our strong and beloved leader Akeno!", and when he them saying that to him, he nodded in agreement before he said back "Good, now you three start guarding the cage, while my friends and I we're all going to discuss with each other and think about what do we want to prepare and have for our dinner!", and when they heard what he said, these three brainwashed okapis went together to the cage and started to guard it to prevent the good animals who are all trapped and locked inside it from having any chance to escape, but as Akeno and his friends (now including Topsy) were about to go away and leave the three brainwashed okapis in charge or the prisoners, Akeno said to them "Oh, and one more thing - do not interact with the prisoners or talk to any of them, because they're able to manipulate you against your will into setting them free, so do not let any of them mess up with you, okay?", and then he laughed evilly and started to walk away with all the other brainwashed okapis following behind him and behind all of his non-okapi evil friends, before theythe all disappeared into the darker and deeper parts of the cave, thus leaving the good animals trapped and locked all together inside the cage with the three brainwashed okapis (whom Akeno chose to guard them and their cage) guarding them and their cage so they won't be able to escape.
Meanwhile, Cheeky, Flower and Monica's mother all have already left the desert and they're now searching for the rest of the African buffalo herd, but it didn't took them very long before they finally found them all still traveling southward in search for a new home, and so this is when Cheeky, Flower and Monica's mother all went up to them and finally caught up with them, and when King Mebaya and Queen Zhenya turned their heads to see their daughter coming towards them, the two ordered the rest of the herd to stop so the patriarch and matriarch can both come to meet their daughter and reunite with her again, but the happy reunion was cut short when they noticed that their daughter didn't yet found Monica, but when they noticed the little jerboa and meerkat sitting and riding on her back, this is when Cheeky and Flower started introducing themselves, and they also told King Mebaya, Queen Zhenya and all the rest of the African buffalo herd how do they know Monica as their friend, but then they also told them about her whereabouts - she's held hostage alongside all the other good animals in the villainous animals' cave and is to become the dinner for Lysander, Buldeo, Zenobia and Clayton.
When all the African buffaloes heard what the little jerboa and meerkat just said about Monica's going to become the dinner for the carnivorous members of the evil animals' team, all the young calves who were all around Monica's age gasped with fright while all the adolescents, adults and elders were all in shock, but that is until King Mebaya came up with an idea and made a wise decision - go and bring all the rest of his herd to fight the evil animals and save Monica and all the other good animals from the cave, and so he told everyone (all the African buffaloes) to come with him to the forest to save Monica and all the other good animals from the evil animals' cave, and when they all heard him saying that, this is when his mate, Queen Zhenya, went up to him and asked "My dear Mebaya, won't we get hurt trying to save our little granddaughter and her new friends from those evil animals?", but then King Mebaya gave his mate a reassuring smile before he said "We won't. There are many of us, and the more we are is what makes us stronger than our enemies.", and then he turned to the rest of the herd and called for all of them "Everyone, we're going to save my precious little granddaughter and her new friends from those evil animals who wants to eat them all for dinner!", and then he demanded "Let's go!", and so King Mebaya, Queen Zhenya, their daughter, Cheeky and Flower, and all the rest of their African buffalo herd went all together to the forest to save Monica and all of her friends from becoming dinner for Lysander, Buldeo, Zenobia and Clayton (the four carnivorous members of their own evil animal team).
Meanwhile, back in the cave, all the good animals are still trapped and locked inside their cage with the three brainwashed okapis guarding them from outside it, while at the time, they're trying to prevent themselves from interacting with the prisoners and/or talking to them, but Opey and her mother still recognized one of the brainwashed okapis, which was in that case - one of the two males, very well, as they both knew exactly who he really is - the adult male okapi whom Opey and her mother recognized and knew for the most out of all the three brainwashed okapis is none other than Marjan, Opey's father and her mother's mate.
When Opey and her mother both recognized their father and beloved mate Marjan (while he and the two other okapis are still brainwashed), Opey quickly went up close to the bars of the cage and called for him "Daddy!", thus suddenly getting his attention, but then he quickly stepped aback when he saw the young female okapi who was his own daughter looking right at him in the eyes and started bearing his teeth at her like an angry carnivore, and when all the other animals saw Marjan looking down angrily at his own daughter (while he's still brainwashed), Maisie, Riley and Monica all went up to the mother okapi and then they asked her "Mrs, who is that adult male okapi who is looking angrily at Opey?", and when she heard what they said, Opey's mother turned and lowered her head and neck to look down at them in the eyes before she said and explained "This is Marjan, my beloved mate and my little Opey's father!", and when they, Opey's friends (minus Opey herself) and even Shufai heard what the mother okapi said about Marjan being her mate and Opey's father, they all gasped in shock before they said out loud in unison "WHAT?!".
Then, Opey cried again for her brainwashed father and said "Daddy! It's me, your daughter, Opey!", but then the brainwashed adult male okapi (Marjan) asked her "Who are you?", and then Opey cried "Daddy! Don't you remember me? I'm your own daughter! I'm Opey!, but then Marjan said back to his own daughter "That name means nothing to me, prisoner! I don't have a mate OR any children! Tell me what do you really want, and make it quick, because I'm not supposed to interact with the prisoners or even to talk to them!", and when Opey heard what her own father just said to her, she gasped in shock and then she cried "Daddy! I can't believe you completely forgotten both mommy and me! I'm your daughter! And I love you!", but then Marjan yelled at her in the face "Shut up your mouth, prisoner! I don't even have a daughter! Akeno is my leader and master! I don't yet have any children!", but then Opey cried and yelled to her father as tears of sadness started to form in her eyes "No! Akeno is not your leader or your master! He's a vicious traitor who betrayed our family!", and then she added "Don't you see that, Daddy? Akeno has brainwashed you and all the adults and elders, and he's fooling you all to make you think that he's the rightful leader of our family!".
However, Marjan said to his daughter "What are you even saying, prisoner?! Akeno is our family's rightful leader!", but then Opey cried "No! You're wrong! Asha is our family's rightful leader! She may be gone, but we should never forget all the good things she have done to us before what Akeno did to her! Don't you see, daddy! Akeno destroyed Asha and then he took you all under his lead against your own will!", and then she cried out loud "YOU DON'T KNOW ME ANYMORE, DADDY!", and then she finally burst into tears, and so her mother, her non-okapi friends, Jayma, Lin Raju and even Shufai all went up to her and hugged her all around her body to comfort her.
However, after no more than just three minutes, something started to happen to Marjan - he suddenly started to recall and remember all the good memories he had with his mate and daughter so far, from the moment his daughter Opey was born to just before Asha's death, and at first, Marjan struggled and didn't know who he should trust and believe and/or what to choose, but after having an inner struggle for a few moments, he finally made it up in his own mind and then he managed to snap out of Akeno's evil magic and redeem himself back to normal, thus finally setting himself free and becoming the second adult okapi who managed to snap out of his brainwashing and free himself from Akeno's evilness.
Then, Marjan shook his head from side to side to shake away the dizziness he got when he snapped out of his brainwashing for a few moments, and once he got his vision and eyesight cleared from the dizziness, he looked down and saw his daughter crying with her mother, friends, Lin Raju, Jayma and Shufai all around her and trying to comfort her, and this made the okapi father gasp in shock before he quickly lowered down onto his haunches and then tears started to form in his own eyes to see his own daughter this very sad, and then he softly and kindly asked "Opey?", and when Opey heard her father's soft and kind (and gentle) voice speaking to her again for the first time since before Asha's death, Opey sniffled before she looked up to see her father sitting down and looking at her with some tears forming in his own eyes, and when she saw and realized her father is no longer under Akeno's vicious influence, Opey quickly got up on her feet and then she ran towards the cage's iron bars and then she cried "Daddy!", and when the others also noticed that Marjan has reformed from Akeno's evil control, Shufai went up to Opey and gently pushed her out of the way for a moment, before he then rammed his own head and tusks at the single iron bar which he twisted earlier (but didn't yet broke free from the rest of the cage) and after a few times, Shufai successfully managed to break the single twisted iron bar free and out of place and sent it flying out of the rest of the cage (without accidentally harming Marjan in the process) and landing and hitting the cave's floor, thus leaving a larger gap wide enough for Opey to stick her head and neck and try to interact with her father.
Then, when Shufai moved out of the way and walked back to the rest of the group, Opey stuck her head and neck through the new gap to get much of herself out of the cage as possible and then she cried again "Daddy!", and then Marjan responded back by lowering his own head down to her and then he started to nuzzle Opey's face and he tried to calm her down by saying "Shhh, it's okay, Opey. It's alright, everything's fine. Your Daddy's back.", and then Opey cried to her father "Daddy! I truly missed you! I thought you don't love me anymore!", but then Marjan tried to calm his little daughter down and said to her "But I do love you, and I always will. You're my daughter, and just like your mother whom I love so much, I also love you too with all my heart.".
When all the good animals saw the touching moment between Opey and her own father, they all couldn't help but cry tears of joy, but the moment became even more touching when Opey's mother joined in to let Marjan nuzzle her face like he did with Opey, thus showing everyone a touching moment between a father, a mother and their little child who just got reunited with one another, and when Opey calmed down thanks to her now redeemed-back-to-normal father, Marjan then asked her and her mother "What is this horrible place?", and then Opey said "It's Akeno and his friends' new cave, he brainwashed you and all the adults and elders, and then he and his evil friends took you all here, but thanks to me, you're now free from his influence, and that's exactly how I also managed to save Mommy before!".
However, when Marjan heard what his daughter Opey said, he gasped in shock and asked "Where's Asha? Is she okay?", but then Opey's mother said "She's gone, Marjan! Akeno destroyed her!", and when Marjan heard what his mate said, he gasped in shock once again, before he then growled in anger and said "How dare he?! That traitor dared to kill our family's beloved leader! How he couldv done such thing?! How could he turn us adults and elders on our own children and make us leave them all alone and join him just like that?! He's so barbaric!", and then Opey said to him "Please, Daddy! Help us get out of here!", and when he heard what his own daughter said, Marjan said back "Oh, yes! Of course! I will get you, your mother and all of your friends out of here in no time!", and then Opey said back to her father as she her mother smiled at him "That's my dad!".
Then, Marjan thought about a plan to get his own daughter, his mate, their friends (the other juveniles and youngsters), as well as Jayma, Lin Raju and Shufai out of their cage so he can set them all free and then escape from the cave with all of them, and just then, Terrence and Topsy came by and returned to check on him and on the prisoners, and so Marjan decided to pretend to be scolding his own daughter, his mate and all the others in front of them (Terrence and Topsy themselves) in an attempt to fool the two evil African bush elephants into thinking that he's still brainwashed, but then Topsy (this time, instead of Terrence himself) cleverly looked very close into his eyes and saw that Akeno's influence doesn't have any effect on him anymore, thus causing her to yell "You snapped out of control! You're back to normal! Traitor! Traitor! Traitor!", and this caused Opey, her mother, her father (Marjan), her friends, Shufai and the good adult animals (Jayma and Lin Raju) to gasp in shock all together when they realized that much like Terrence himself, Topsy is not fooled by the okapi father's trick at all and that she found out that he snapped back to normal, thus promoting Marjan to then push and force her first to charge into the cage and destroy apart of it without having anyone getting hurt in the process, and then he did the same thing with Terrence, thus causing the two African bush elephants to accidentally create a big hole that was big enough for everyone (including Lin Raju) to escape, and thus also finally setting Opey, her mother, her friends and the others free, and they all got out from the broken cage, seconds before Marjan then tripped the two brainwashed okapis (who are still (of course) brainwashed) together with his even-toed forehooves, which causes them to lose their balance and fall down and hit against Terrence and Topsy's faces, as the two evil elephants barely turned around to face them and see them coming, but neither of them had any time to react, thus getting both Terrence and Topsy knocked out cold and unconscious.
With Terrence and Topsy (and the two brainwashed okapis who haven't yet redeemed or reformed) knocked out cold and are unable to move, Opey, her mother, her father (Marjan), her non-okapi friends, Shufai and the good adult animals (Jayma and Lin Raju) all saw this as their chance to escape from the cave, and so Kyra and Shufai the Indian elephants cried "We can finally escape from the cave!", and then Marjan said to everyone "Come with me, everyone! Let's get out of here!", and then everyone nodded in agreement before they all started to run away together and they all started to search for their way out of the cave, but they all knew that they must do so quickly, or else the villainous animals will capture them all again, and this time - they will imprison Marjan himself as well alongside the children, Shufai and the other adults (including his own mate, and also their little daughter, Opey) for snapping out of his brainwashing and for betraying Akeno and all of his evil friends.