Sorry this is long... And kinda weird.

Under a moonlit sky, Pow wandered around the Valley of Serenity when she began hearing voices.

“Nicely done, Moonstar! Such a beautiful color!"

“Thank you, Lazuli," said the young woman. Pow found herself just outside Faunlette Village, near a small sewing circle.

“You all did great today, ladies," Lazuli decided. “Let's hang our patterns above our doors for the whole village to see!"

“This was pretty fun, Lazuli!" Helga Hedgewinks replied. “Same time next week? I'm sure looking forward to it!"

Lazuli laughed. “Goodnight, Helga."

Once everyone's home had their lights turned off, Pow approached Helga's door and saw the cross stitch pattern of Poppy, Branch, and Willow. She took it off and stroked her thumb against it in thought.

“I sense your pain, Pow," the Ghost Girl whispered. “After all, the Pop Trolls are loved by everyone while you have been left completely alone. But one could argue if they deserve the admiration they've received."

Pow sighed. “It's not like they tricked their friend into helping them fulfill their destiny."

“They did much worse than what you did," the Ghost Girl informed her. “They tried to destroy everyone else's music, Willow murdered her own mother, and she has already stolen a piece of your newfound power."

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

“Welcome, Branch," Cybil greeted. “I see you've come to hear your future."

“Let's just get it over with," Branch grumbled as she looked into the crystal ball.

“Hmm, I sense a very important event in your life coming up," she predicted.

“What big event?" he asked, although he had a feeling she was just gonna give him a hug or whatever.

“Your daughter's birthday."

Branch turned to notice Flower looking away from him with an innocent grin.

“Okay, what do you see me giving my daughter for her birthday?" he asked curiously.

Cybil leaned down to listen to the little princess whisper in her ear, and returned her gaze to the crystal ball.

“I predict you getting her a Rainbow Hug Watch with HPS, an MP3 player, and smells like hot cocoa."

“I see a very picky little girl," Branch replied. Flower just giggled.

“There's also a cake," Cybil added. “But not just any ordinary cake. I see a..."

“Hey, everyone!" DJ Suki shouted. “Amp's here!"

Cybil gasped in delight. “This session is over!" she announced, and ran out the door.

“What about my birthday cake?!" Flower yelled. Branch rolled his eyes and took Flower outside to see Amp, a merchant from Volcano Rock City.

“What's up, Pop Trolls?!" she greeted loudly. “Step right up, come see all the rad stuff your girl Amp has to offer!"

“Oh, my goodness!" Satin exclaimed. “Buckle up boots!"

“You have such weird tastes," Chenille pointed out before gasping. “Look at this jacket!"

Willow's Dad (he was technically her stepfather) found a pair of glasses studded with tiny red gems.

“What do you want for the glasses?" he asked Amp.

“That depends on what you have to offer," she answered.

“How about this Honesty Opal amulet?" he suggested. “My niece's husband told me that they force whoever wears them to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth."

“I don't know, I'd hate to see it in the wrong hands... But you know what? You got a deal."

“Yee-haw!" Willow's Dad shouted, and tried the glasses on in front of a mirror. “The sum of the square roots of any two sides of an isosceles triangle is equal to the square root of the remaining side!"

“That's a right triangle, you idiot!" someone yelled.

“Psst, Amp!" Branch whispered. “Do you have my thing?"

Amp winked at him and gave him a large box. “I hope you don't mind this style."

“Style?"

“Yeah, this comes in four others, but you were never specific," she explained.

“Never mind," said Branch. “I just hope this helps."

“What helps?" Poppy asked suddenly.

“Nothing!"

Flower, meanwhile, was looking in a large box, and found a large, marble-like object that glowed orange.

“Pwetty," she cooed, and rolled it over to her parents. “Mommy, Daddy, wook!"

“Oh, that's a pretty ball," Poppy said, picking it up. It was so big, she had to hold it with both of her hands. “And it's nice and warm."

“It'd make a nice nightlight," Branch added. “Amp, what do you want for the orange orb?"

“That's funny, I don't remember buying that," Amp said, feeling a little concerned. “I must've brought it by mistake. Well, better take it back to Volcano Rock City."

“No!" Flower cried, holding the ball tightly.

“Come on, we'll give you anything," Poppy insisted.

“Sorry, Queen Poppy, but not even I'm sure what it is," Amp explained. “I need to figure out what something is before I exchange it."

“Well, just let Flower hold onto it until you find out what it is, then we can trade something for it."

“Poppy, I don't think that's how it works," Branch pointed out.

“Please, Amp?" Poppy pleaded. “For this cute little girl?"

To persuade her, the Pop queen held her daughter up and she gave her a sad puppy face.

“I don't know, it's pretty risky..." Amp tried to reason with Poppy, but couldn't look away from Flower's gaze. “Ugh, fine. But only until I find out what it is."

“Yay!" Flower cheered as she hugged her new ball. “I'll name you Nightwight!"

•••••••••••••

Later that day, Willow and Ash found Willow's Dad hiking in the Swag Stag Woodlands, holding a field journal and wearing a bowtie. He approached the King Stag rather carelessly, and got kicked by him.

“Right in the batteries," Ash said as Willow winced. The two of them ran over to help Willow's Dad up.

“Good evening, gentlemen," he greeted, trying to sound smart. “Charming forest, ain't this. Must be why I was named after one."

“Dad, you were named ‘Forest' because you ate an entire black forest cake at ten minutes old," Willow pointed out. “You know, you shouldn't wear glasses that weren't prescribed for you."

“Willow," he said, turning to Ash, “just because you're ten feet tall don't mean you can tell me what to do."

“I'm Ash."

“Give me those!" Willow said, taking the glasses.

“Aw, frosting," her Dad groaned. “Just when I thought I could prove to Clyde his old man wasn't ignoramus."

“Ignoramus is a noun," Ash corrected.

“Whatever!" he groaned, wiping the sweat off his brow. “And how are you not overheating?!"

“I live inside a volcano, this is nothing."

While her Dad and girlfriend were arguing, Willow used her inhaler and waved her hand through the air.

“Hmm, the wind is dry and hot, it hasn't rained for two months," she said to herself. “Branch said these were signs of fire weather."

“I'm just saying, you shouldn't just waltz right up to a wild animal," Ash continued.

“Well, what would you call that sister of yours?" Willow's Dad asked with a smirk.

“Guys!" Willow shouted. They stopped arguing and turned to face her. “We need to get back to Pop Village to warn Poppy and Branch about the fire weather."

“This ain't over," Willow's Dad warned Ash, and headed back to Pop Village with the two teenage girls.

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

That night, Poppy and Branch watched their daughter sleep next to her new nightlight while holding her worm plushie.

“She's so cute when she's asleep!" Poppy gushed.

“Yeah, I can't believe I helped you make her," Branch said quietly as Flower sucked her little thumb. “I mean, I'm Branch, the village grump. And she's the sweetest little girl ever."

“Maybe we should have another," Poppy suggested, wrapping an arm around his waist. Branch's eyes glowed red and he felt an uncomfortable stir in his body. “Branch, you okay."

“I, uh... I gotta go! Love you!" he said rather quickly, and ran off.

“Love you, too!" Poppy called out. “What was that about?"

“Poppy! Branch!" Willow shouted, flying in. “There's something I gotta–"

“Shh!" Poppy shushed her. “Flower's asleep!"

“Sorry, Pops," Willow whispered. Ash used her hair to swing up to Poppy's pod. “There's something I got tell you. Where's Branch?"

“You just missed him," Poppy replied. “All I said was we should have another baby, and he just ran off. It was weird."

“Riff said something would happen," Ash muttered.

“He probably just went to his bunker," Willow figured. “I wanted to tell you guys we're facing fire weather, and we'll need a plan."

“Fire weather?" Poppy said nervously. “What do we have to do?"

“Nothing complicated," Willow answered. “Just save water, don't light fireworks, and while we're at it, don't go overboard with the scented candles. We'll tell the rest of the village the same thing. Right, A...sh? Where'd she go?"

•••••••••••••

While Willow told Poppy about the fire weather, Ash decided to go to Branch's bunker to check on him.

“Branch? It's Ash!" she called out, knocking on the stone. “I'm just here to check on you. Since, you know, my sister accidentally cursed you. Branch?"

Ash noticed Branch's trapdoor was accidentally left open, so she snuck in. She noticed a big button that read “DO NOT PUSH!" Although hesitant, Ash decided to press the button anyways. She found herself falling hundreds of feet into the depths of the earth.

“Ow, my Hard Rock heinie!" she groaned before hearing what sounded like a... vicious growling? “That doesn't sound good."

She followed the sound to a door, and without thinking, she opened it wide to see what was happening... only for something large, black and pink to be thrown in her face. She looked at it and noticed it was a Troll's head! As Ash screamed at the sight, she heard another scream and noticed Branch hiding under his bedsheets. The Alternative Troll looked around the room to find white fluff everywhere, and ripped-up Troll body parts. Fortunately, they were all fake. She noticed the head was actually plastic with artificial black and pink hair.

“Come on out, Branch," she said. “I'm not gonna hurt ya."

Branch pulled the sheets down to his waist and looked away nervously. “Hey, Ash."

“Hey, man," she greeted, looking at the fake head. “So, uh, you got a Poppy doll?"

“Well, that's what it was," he admitted, looking at all the fluff.

“You miss being with her, don't you?"

Branch nodded. “I'm just afraid I'll end up hurting her. I mean, I already destroyed the replica I traded half my squish ball card collection for."

Ash nodded sympathetically.

“I don't know what to do," he continued. “Do you think you can help?"

“Branch," she said, “I'm not sure if you've noticed, but I'm not into chubby dorks."

“Not like that!" Branch insisted. “Just to help keep myself under control."

“I'll see what I can do," Ash replied. “Speaking of control..."

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Flower was sound asleep when her new Nightlight began rolling away. Not feeling the warmth on her face made her wake up immediately. She noticed the ball bouncing out of the pod and immediately followed it.

“Nightwight, wait!" she said, trying not to wake Poppy up. She followed Nightlight all the way to the Fearsome Forest, and managed to catch it with her hair. But suddenly, it began cracking, and got hotter and hotter, until in a bright flash, it burst!

After being knocked over by the blast, Flower got back up and noticed a creature she had never seen before. It looked like a tiny, red and black Velociraptor with a stubby horn on its nose, orange tailfins, glowing yellow eyes, and large bat-like wings on its back. The Pop princess approached it cautiously.

“Nightwight, i-is dat you?" she stuttered. After sneezing a tiny flame, Nightlight stumbled towards Flower and nuzzled her affectionately. “I wuv you even more!"

Hearing his stomach growl, Flower knew she had to give Nightlight something to eat. She took him to a Gigglefruit grove and got the trees to laugh by wearing glasses with a fake nose and making weird faces, causing the fruit fall off. Except they were so dry, they were more like Giggle-dates. Nightlight ate all the Gigglefruit he found, and Flower kept making funny faces at the trees until he was full. Unfortunately, a full belly also made him sleepy. He clumsily flew up a tree and made himself comfortable on a branch before falling asleep. Not wanting to leave him alone, Flower climbed up to him and snuggled up to his toasty body.

••••••••••••

Back in Volcano Rock City, Amp was looking through every book the library had. She would search all night if she had to. Eventually, she came across a zoology book and found what she was looking for. Or, more specifically, what she wasn't looking for.

“Great Bon Jovi..."

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

After a night filled with nightmares, Flower woke up with a start the following morning and noticed something different. Nightlight was now twice his original size! His horn was also less nubby, but his wings stayed the same size.

“Gee wiz!" Flower exclaimed. “You got big fast!"

Nightlight took a good look at himself. His flying was less sloppy now that his body was the right size. Flower jumped on his back and flew him back to Pop Village.

“Mommy! Meet my new fwiend!" Flower shouted as they approached her pod. “Actually, I thinks we should supwise her. Hide in that bush over there."

Nightlight nodded and hid in a flower bush nearby. But just before she could get to the pod, Amp and Queen Barb showed up.

“Morning, Popsicle."

“Hey, guys, what's going on?" Poppy asked them.

“You and the rest of the Pop Trolls are in grave danger," Amp explained. “That ball I gave to Flower was actually a Lava Lizard egg. They're very aggressive and can breathe fire."

“Ash told me you guys were facing fire weather," Barb added. “Once it goes through the final growth spurt, it could burn down the entire forest!"

“Uh-oh," Flower muttered, looking back at the bush. Nightlight noticed a butterfly hovering over him and tried to catch it with his jaws. He ended up abandoning the bush and chasing it back into the forest.

“We don't know for sure if it was a Lava Lizard egg," Poppy said, not wanting Flower to be upset about giving it up.

“And if it is?" Barb asked skeptically.

“We'll do whatever it takes to keep Pop Village safe."

“No!" Flower cried out. The three adults turned to her, confused about her outburst.

“Flower, what are you doing up so early?"

“Just... jogging," she lied. “Hey, can I go pway with my fwiends early today?"

“In your pajamas?" Amp wondered. Flower just ran inside, changed into a pink dress with a ribbon in her hair, and ran off into the forest. “And in the forest?!"

“It's a shortcut!"

“Well, that was odd," Poppy admitted. “But I'm sure she'll be fine."

❤️☀️🧡🌙💛☀️💚🌙💙☀️💜🌙

“Okay, Branch," Ash began, dressed like a schoolteacher. “If you're gonna make sure your hormones don't get in the way of your sense of rationality, you're gonna take a brief class of self-control. Let's start by showing a short video originally made for blossoming teenagers. Willow, play the tape!"

“You got it, babe," she said and put it in a VCR underneath a small TV.

“Feel anything?" Ash asked Branch, who just shuddered in disgust. “Interesting. Now for some treatment. We need to take that rough and gritty part of you and press down on it. Like during a game of Whack-A-Lizard."

“That won't work," Branch argued.

“It helped me get rid of my Western Cowgirl side," Willow pointed out.

Branch groaned. “Fine. How do we do this?"

Ash and Willow smirked at each other before turning back to him.

“They don't call it the birds and the bees for nothing," Willow said, and let out a loud screech.

“Birds?" Branch whimpered. He looked up to find a whole flock of them in the trees, glaring at him. With another signal from Willow, they attacked him.

“We shouldn't watch this," Ash told her girlfriend, and they both turned around as Branch screamed in pain. “Okay, that should do."

“Caw-caw!" Willow screeched, driving the birds away. “Feel better, buddy?"

“I think the treatment broke my spleen," Branch moaned in pain.

“Think it worked?" Willow asked Ash, who just shrugged.

After struggling to get to his feet. Branch heard a sweet, familiar voice calling his name.

“Branch... Branch..."

“Oh, Poppy... The things you do to me..."

Willow turned off the tape recorder and poured a bucket of ice-cold water onto his head, snapping him out of his trance.

“So, what are we gonna do?" Ash asked herself in frustration.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

“Good thing we got this giant shade to keep the sun from shining on our marbles," Tiny Diamond said. “I'd hate to have our fun ruined by setting the ground on fire."

“I just can't wait till it wains again," Crystal grumbled, wearing a ten gallon hat to cover the giant crystal on her head.

“Hey, kids," Poppy greeted. “Where's Flower? Wasn't she playing with you kids early today?"

The four Troll tots looked at each other, slightly confused. They hadn't seen Flower all morning.

“I'm glad she has something to keep her mind off of this whole fire weather and Lava Lizard thing," Poppy said with a sigh of relief.

“What's a Lava Lizard?" Clampers asked.

“Apparently, a critter from the Badlands that could burn down the entire forest," Poppy explained. Crystal nervously hid behind Coral Blush. “Don't worry. If there is one out there, we'll find it and send it home before anything bad happens. Just keep an eye out, okay?"

“Sure thing, Aunt Poppy!" Tiny Diamond vowed.

“Well, I should go," Poppy said. “Flower's probably waiting for me back home. Stay safe!"

“Bye, Miss Poppy!" Clampers replied, and turned back to her friends. “Why would Flower tell her we were gonna play earlier?"

“Dat not twue!" Crystal added.

“I don't know," Coral Blush replied. “Maybe she didn't want her to know where she was really going."

“Where's that?" Tiny Diamond asked. Coral Blush picked up his marble, a bright red and orange one he called the Fireball.

“Hmm, I bet I know..."

•••••••••••••••

“Nightwight?! Where are you?!" Flower shouted, searching the forest for her reptilian friend. She pulled a wagon full of ice cream and cupcakes. “I got tweats for you!"

Suddenly, a bone landed right in front of her feet and she jumped up in horror. She found Nightlight eating whatever was left of a Grossum. The moment he spotted Flower, he ran up to her and licked her face with his forked tongue.

“I got you something yummy!" she said sweetly. Nightlight sniffed the contents of the wagon and ate up everything. “Careful with the ice cweam, or you'll get a..."

Before Flower could finish her sentence, Nightlight cried out in pain and banged his head against a rock.

“... bwain fweeze," she finished. Nightlight just laid down and Flower tried to comfort him. “You okays?"

In response, Nightlight let out a loud belch, which set a tree trunk on fire! It began spreading rather rapidly.

“Uh-oh," Flower muttered, and jumped on his back. “Nightwight, fwy!"

The troublesome pair managed to get away from the fire, but they still ended up noticed by four tiny trolls.

“I see her!" Coral Blush shouted. “Follow the flames!"

With that, Clampers ran off, pulling a cart that carried her three friends. They were gonna find Flower and talk some sense into her. Hopefully.

Elsewhere, Hickory and Dickory were keeping a lookout on one of the watchtowers Branch had built to keep an eye out for Pow.

Hickory sniffed the air and could tell something was off. “Is that me, or... Do you smell something burning?"

“Come on, Hickory," Dickory said. “Who can smell anything over all this smoke?"

“SMOKE?!"

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

After the Yodelers alarmed Pop Village about the fire, everyone rushed into action. Willow flew around the fire and used her powers to create a tornado that trapped the fire, preventing everything else from burning.

“Phew! Remind me not to do that again!" she told Poppy and Branch once she landed. Willow let out a few coughs and used her inhaler.

“Yep, these definitely belong to a Lava Lizard," Carol said, looking at the tracks Nightlight left behind. “You can tell because one toe is bigger than the other. Right over here is where he flew off, so it's only a matter of time before the final growth spurt. Once he does, he won't be able to fly. He only needed to in order to not get eaten by fully grown Lava Lizards."

“Wow, Carol, you really know a lot about Lava Lizards," Branch pointed out.

“Oh, yeah. I grew up on an farm full of these bad boys," she explained. “My mom even lost an arm to one of them. Fortunately, Lava Lizards have one weakness: They can't burn if they get wet. You need to send a team to carry as much water as possible and if they find the Lizard, soak him."

“No Troll's strong enough to carry that much water," Ash pointed out. “We need animal power."

“What kind of animal?" Barb asked. Suddenly, they noticed the shadows of creatures flying above them. They all looked up to find...

“Hippogriffs!" Ash exclaimed in delight.

Poppy was confused. “Hippo-what?"

The flock of Hippogriffs landed at the Pet 'N' Vet, and Milton Moss climbed off Starclaw to give him a hug.

“Well, take care of yourselves now," he told the flock. “And you did a great job on your first flight, little fledgelings."

The babies all squawked and chirped gleefully.

“Milton!" Willow shouted, running up to him. “Thank goodness you're here! We need the Hippogriffs to help us catch a Lava Lizard so we can return him to his natural habitat before he burns up the entire forest."

“You can count on us!" Milton assured her.

••••••••••••••

Flower looked around to see if anyone had found her and Nightlight. Lucky, there was no one in sight.

“I think the coast is cwear," she said. “Okay, Nightwight. Wet's see if we can... Uh-oh."

Flower turned around to find Nightlight super-sized! He was now much taller than a Funk Troll, and his horn was long and curved with a sharp point. His wings, however, were still the same size, and now too small for him to fly with.

“I hope this isn't dat final gwowth spurt," Flower muttered.

“Fwower!" a familiar voice shouted. It was Crystal! Her voice was joined by those of Clampers, Coral Blush, and Tiny Diamond.

“Yo, Flower!"

“Flower, where are you?!"

“Where is she?!"

Feeling protective, Nightlight growled and began to flame up.

“No, no, no! It's just my fwiends!" Flower tried to reassure him. “Just... Don't buwn anything!"

As Nightlight dimmed his fire, Flower stepped out of the thicket. She found her friends searching the forest.

“Flower, there you are!" Clampers sighed in relief. “What are you doing out here?! It's dangerous!"

“I, uh... I wanted to help find the Wava Wizard," she lied.

“What's behind you?" Coral Blush asked, feeling suspicious about the bright orange glow behind her.

“N-Nothing?"

To see for himself what was going on, Tiny Diamond jumped out of the cart and ran towards the thicket.

“No, wait!" Flower pleaded. “You'll scare Nightwight!"

“Who's Night– Whoa!"

At that moment, Nightlight stepped out of the thicket, set himself full ablaze, and ate Tiny Diamond in one bite! Crystal screamed at the sight.

“Nightwight, no!" Flower shouted. “Spit Tiny out!"

“Go, Clampers! Hyah!" Coral Blush yelled as everything began burning up. Clampers pulled the cart away to a safer area, but it was only a matter of time before everything else began burning.

“What do we do now?!" Clampers asked, beginning to panic.

“We gotta find the grown ups!" Coral Blush answered. “They'll know what to do!"

“I don't know," Crystal said skeptically. “My daddy says no one wikes a tattle-tale."

“Yeah, but this is important," Coral Blush said. “I'd rather be a tattle-tale than burned alive."

“Me, too!" Clampers agreed, and kept running till they found Willow flying above them.

“Miss Willow!" Clampers shouted. “Down here!"

Willow looked around to find the kids on the forest floor beneath her.

“We found the Wava Wizard!" Crystal yelled. “It ate Tiny!"

“Flower's with him!" Coral added. “Hurry, before we're all toast!"

Willow found the nearby fire and let out a signal to alert the strike team, and flew off to the burning brush.

“That's Willow's signal!" Branch said, on Starclaw's back with Poppy. “Let's go!"

With that, Starclaw flew off and Barb, Ash, Riff, Carol, and Milton followed on their own Hippogriffs.

•••••••••••••

“Nightwight! I... said... spit... him... out," Flower kept coughing between words. Her tiny lungs couldn't handle the smoke. “Can't... bweathe..."

Just when Flower began to lose consciousness, she felt a pair of arms grab her and pull her up into the air!

“Ash, take Flower!" Willow shouted, handing her the little princess. “I'll deal with the fire, you guys get him wet!"

With that, Willow flew back down and used her cryokinesis to freeze out the flames. Barb and her Hippogriff flew down and dumped the water on Nightlight, causing his flame to go out. The rest of the group poured their water on the remaining flames. Once the fire was completely out, the Trolls and Hippogriffs blocked every possible path the Lava Lizard could follow.

“We got you surrounded!" Willow announced. “Now, you have no choice but to come into custody!"

“No!" Flower cried, running up to her fiery friend. “Don't take Nightwight away, pwease! I know he wooks wike a fire-bweathing monster, but he's more than that! He's my best fwiend!"

“What am I, a moldy cupcake?!" Tiny Diamond shouted, still inside Nightlight's stomach.

“I got this," Carol said, kicking him in the gut so he'd puke out Tiny, who ended up landing in Barb's hands.

“Yuck!" he groaned in disgust. “Could someone run me a bath?"

“Kid," Willow said to Flower, “believe it or not, I know what it's like to give up a best friend. About a year ago, I won a baby bird on a bet against Archer. I loved that bird, took her everywhere. Then, her mother showed up and nearly destroyed the village looking for her. I had to give her back, it was the kindest thing I could do."

“Willow's right, Flower," Branch agreed. “Sometimes, you have to let go of something, even though it's hard. Look at Nightlight. He won't be happy here eating only cupcakes and ice cream, unable to use his flame without hurting anyone. The forest is no place for a fire-breathing beast! You understand, sprout?"

“Yes, Daddy," Flower said sadly. “Can I at weast say goodbye?"

“Of course."

Flower approached Nightlight and gave him the biggest hug her tiny arms could give.

“I wuv you, Nightwight," she cried. “But my daddy's wight. You bewong with your own kind."

After he licked her affectionately, Flower let go and backed away from the Lava Lizard.

“Okay, let's get this bad boy out of here!" Barb announced, and used her Hippogriff to carry Nightlight away. Carol followed, but Ash took a minute to say goodbye to Willow.

“I love you, Will," she said.

“I love you more," Willow replied.

Branch watched them and realized something. “Wait, that's it!"

“What's it?" Poppy asked him. She had no idea what he was talking about.

“Find someone to watch Flower tonight and come to the bunker," he whispered into her ear.

Speaking of Flower, she was still crying after the Rock Trolls left with her beloved Nightlight.

“Well," she sniffled, “he's gone, and I'll never see him again."

“It's okay, sweetie," Poppy reassured her. “You did the right thing. He's free now, and we have no right to separate that critter from his natural habitat."

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

“Branch, I still wanna know why you wanted me to come here at night," Poppy said, feeling confused as she went inside his bunker.

Branch sighed. “Look, Poppy, I gotta be honest with you. When Barb hit me with her power chord, it awakened something Dark that affected my grandma and was still deep in my blood. It messed with biological urges that I haven't been able to satisfy ever since you lost your memory. I didn't know what to do about it at first, but I love you, and the last thing I want to do is hurt you."

“I love you, too, Branch," Poppy replied. “And... maybe I have been holding back a few things, too."

“Like what?" Branch wondered, raising an eyebrow.

Poppy smirked. “Last week, I got a tiny butterfly tattoo somewhere below my waist."

“Where, below the waist?"

“Only one way to find out."

In Poppy's pod, Flower stared sadly at a bright red marble. If she kept thinking about Nightlight, she wasn't going to get any sleep.

“Hey, kid?" Willow said, holding a small box. She agreed to spend the night keeping an eye on Flower. “I made you something."

Flower took the box and opened it up to find a glowing, crystal statuette of Flower and Nightlight together. Flower had never seen anything like it!

“You're just like your mom, you know," Willow pointed out. “She's always looking forward to making friends, even with people she shouldn't."

“Thanks you, Wiwwow," Flower said sweetly, hugging her. She put it on her nightstand and tucked herself in. “Goodnight."

“Goodnight, Flower."

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

“What do you mean, Willow stole some of my power?" Pow asked the Ghost Girl.

“Shortly before you found the Black Rock, Willow and her friends discovered the Black Rock's daggers," she explained. “When Willow touched one of them, the Moon gave her their protective power. This kept Sol's Light safe inside her until she found her way to Callisto's Sanctuary."

“So that power that she took belonged to the Black Rock?" Pow asked rhetorically.
“And the Black Rock belongs to you," the Ghost Girl added. “So, you see, even the power of the Black Rock is not completely yours."

Enraged, Pow accidentally caused a small dagger to sprout up from the ground, shattering a flower pot. She ripped the pattern in half and threw it to the ground.

Here's a little something extra for you guys...

Inside Willow's head...
“I'd like to call this meeting of the Council of Willows to order," Magic Willow announced. “Let's take role. Filmmaking Willow?"

“Action!" she shouted.

“Bird-Talk Willow?" Magic Willow called out, receiving a wolf whistle in response. “Lesbian Willow?"

“'Hey," she greeted with a flirtatious smirk.

“Angry Willow?"

“This better be important!" she spat.

“Where's Supermodel Willow?" another laughed. Lesbian Willow just raised an eyebrow at her.

“Not the time, Comedic Willow," Magic Willow pointed out. “First order of business. Do we grant Western Cowgirl Willow a seat on the council?"

“Yee-haw!" she exclaimed. “Together, we will wrangle Puffaloes and drive 'em 'cross the Great Beyond!"

“Cut!" shouted Filmmaking Willow. Bird-Talk Willow whistled in disapproval.

“I don't like her face!" Angry Willow replied. Comedic Willow shook her head and blew a foghorn.

“Can we kick her out, too?" Lesbian Willow asked.

I don't know what I'm gonna do next, but it's only a matter of time before... You know what? Don't stress yourself thinking about it, just rock on. 🤘