Branch's hand hadn't healed yet, but it was getting better. He had trouble taking care of his bunker, however, so Willow offered to help (mostly out of guilt for burning his hand in the first place).

“Will, nevermind those rations, could you get the phone, please?" Branch asked as he was fixing his remote, Gary.

“Sure thing, boss," Willow replied, and answered the telephone. “Hello? Is this Mr. Appleburn's secretary? Well, this is Mr. Birchwood's secretary. He's still recovering, but if you need your plumbing fixed, I recommend his book in the Troll Village Library. Wait, what? Thanks a lot, man, but you're not the type of guy I'd have lunch with. Then again, no guy is. Bye!"

“Thanks, Willow," Branch said. “A Troll could never ask for a better friend."

“Or a cheaper secretary," she pointed out.

“Branch, are you home?" Poppy called out from outside the bunker. “I need your opinion on something."

“Think I'll take a coffee break, blacker than my hair, or at least half of it," Willow said, and headed for the kitchen. Branch headed up the elevator and opened the doormat, which caused Poppy to jump back.

“Hey, Poppy, what's up?" he asked, confused by her surprise.

“I was just thinking about which color ribbons should be used to decorate the village for the Summer Sun Soiree," she answered. “Which should it be, yellow or green?"

“I forgot about that," Branch realized. The day of the Summer Sun was the longest day of the year, so it was one of the best times for the Trolls to throw a party. “Well, they're both very festive."

“Poppy used red last year, and you should never use the complimentary color the year after!" Willow called out. “Tell her to pick the yellow!"

“Go with yellow," Branch suggested.

“Thanks, Branch!" Poppy said. “Well, see you tomorrow!"

Branch was confused. “What about our thing tonight?"

“What thing?" Poppy asked.

“You know... our thing," Branch said quietly, trying to sound seductive.

“Oh, that thing!" Poppy said, snapping her fingers. “Don't worry, I cancelled that thing. Bye!"

Okay, Branch was suspicious. Before Poppy could leave, he grabbed her wrist with his hair.

“What was our thing supposed to be?" he asked rhetorically.

“A, uh... uh... pizza party with my friends?"

That wasn't the right answer, obviously, but Branch let Poppy go so she wouldn't worry.

“I'll see you tomorrow, too," he said. With that, Poppy left without another word. Willow poked her head out of the bunker to see what was happening. “Something's not right with Poppy..."

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

“I dunno about this, Branch," Willow said nervously as they stood outside Poppy's pod. “Spying on the queen isn't a very nice thing to do."

“Willow, that might not even be Poppy," Branch pointed out. “She could be a Party Crasher pretending to be Poppy. The fate of the village could be at stake."

“Okay, but why does it have to be me?" Willow asked. “You're the stealthy one."

“Yes, but you're the one with magic powers," he explained. “Come on, Will. You said you wanted to help the Trolls despite being destined to destroy them."

“Alright," Willow agreed, and turned invisible as she headed inside. Poppy was just dancing around the pod with the biggest smile on her face.

“What a wonderful life I have!" she said gleefully. “Surrounded by so many wonderful Trolls! I just love being a Troll... Shame I wasn't born that way."

As Poppy looked in a mirror, Willow saw her reflection was a creature she had never seen before. One with glowing blue-green eyes, bat ears, three pairs of insect wings, the antlers of a stag, a horn on her nose, thin green hair, skin as black as night, fangs sticking out from her jaw, and a broken crown on her head. Willow almost screamed, she backed up into a counter and knocked over a vase, which shattered as it hit the floor. The imposter turned around to see the vase. She slowly approached the area, sticking out her forked tongue. Willow lowered her body heat so it would match room temperature, and slowly stepped outside the pod. The creature just shrugged and carefully picked up the pieces.

Turning visible again, Willow used her hair to swing down the trees to tell Branch about her discovery.

“So it's not Poppy or a Party Crasher?" Branch asked. Willow nodded. “Then who is she?!"

“I don't know!" Willow replied. “I just saw her reflection, she was something really creepy."

Branch and Willow decided to head for the Troll Village Library for answers. They searched all night until they found something.

“You read it, I'm too tired," Willow said, giving Branch a scrapbook titled “Primrose And Morpho: A Tale Of Two Princesses." It was written by Queen Penny, one of Poppy's most famous ancestors, who discovered the world's magic.

“Once upon a time, there were two kingdoms. One kingdom was home to the Trolls, and the other was home to the Changelings. Each kingdom had a princess, my daughter Primrose of Troll Village, and Morpho of the Larx, and the two of them became the best of friends. They would do everything together. Primrose taught Morpho how to scrapbook, and Morpho showed off her shapeshifting abilities. They were inseperable, until they each had a baby brother, and things changed from then on.

“The laws of the Trolls were quite different from the laws of the Changelings. One of them had to do with our heirs. In Troll Village, the firstborn was usually destined to take the crown once his or her parents died or decided to retire. But in the Larx, it was the firstborn son who would take the throne. While my little Primrose and Perky became as close as a sister and brother could be, Morpho felt nothing but loathing and jealousy towards her brother, Varian. Once he was born, the entire Changeling kingdom loved him more than Morpho. She soon learned that love was not something given, but something that had to be taken away.

“Primrose could sense her suffering, but by the time she tried to tell Morpho she was loved, it was too late. Morpho kidnapped her best friend, hid her away, and took her place in the Troll kingdom. A Changeling's true form could always be seen in their reflection, so when everyone saw her standing by the lake, I saw Morpho in the water, but it wasn't the Morpho even I knew. She had the Darkness in her. I demanded her to tell me what happened to my real daughter, but she didn't answer. She just attempted to drain out the love of my subjects, trapping us all in chrysalises. If her parents hadn't shown up, we would have all been doomed. Morpho once again refused to tell us what she had done to Primrose, and the Changeling king cast a spell so she would fall into a deep sleep, and warned us she may wake up again. I searched everywhere for my lost daughter, but I never found her.

“After passing the crown to my son Perky, I promised I will spend the rest of my life protecting the world from the Darkness, and those who are cursed with it. And to make sure of it–"

“That's odd, the rest of the pages have been ripped out," Willow pointed out.

“That's not important right now," Branch said. “You go look for Poppy, I'll tell the gang about Morpho."

“Aw, I wanna tell them about Morpho," Willow pouted.

“Why?"

“Branch, I was created to destroy the Trolls," she explained. “I want to show them that I'm not going to, because some of them are saying I will."

“Who's saying you will?"

“Technically, no one, but I feel their fear... and yours," Willow said. Branch suddenly remembered Willow was an empath, she could sense another Troll's feelings.

“Willow, I am not afraid of you," he lied. “You are the closest thing I have to a little sister. And to prove it... You can tell the gang about Morpho, I'll go look for Poppy. And maybe I'll get help from the Changelings of the Larx."

“Thanks, Branch," Willow said. “But what do I do after I tell them?"

“You guys need to come up with a plan to expose Morpho as a Changeling. I suggest showing the entire village her reflection during the Summer Sun Soiree."

Willow nodded in agreement. Branch whistled, a bug flew down to him, he jumped on it, and it flew off.

“Good luck finding Poppy!" Willow shouted, and flew off using her own wings.

🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤

“Willow, are you feeling okay?" Satin asked.

“Yeah, you look like you haven't gotten any sleep," Chenille pointed out.

“Yeah, I pulled an all-nighter," Willow replied. “You're not gonna believe this, but the Troll you think is Poppy isn't Poppy."

“Who else could it be?" DJ Suki asked.

“She's actually a Changeling named Morpho," Willow explained. “Hundreds of years ago, she caused the disappearance of Queen Penny's daughter, Princess Primrose. The spell that put her to sleep wore off and I think she did something terrible to Poppy."

“How do you know she's a Changeling and not the real Poppy?" Legsly asked.

“Because Changelings can change their appearance, but their reflections stay the same," Willow answered. “Branch is out looking for the real Poppy, but it's up to us to expose Morpho."

“But how?" Biggie asked.

“We need to get a mirror, and everyone has to see her reflection," Willow replied. “Everyone will be at the Summer Sun Soiree today, so we'll have to act fast."

“And then what?" Guy Diamond asked.

“Hopefully, Branch will find the Larx and the rest of the Changelings can help."

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

“Poppy?!" Branch called out, no sign of his lover. “She's got to be around here somewhere. Poppy, where are you?!"

Suddenly, something large and black caught the corner of his eye. It was a giant, black bird headed straight toward him! He tried to avoid it, but the enormous avian was too fast. It hit Branch's bug, causing him to fall. Luckily, he grabbed a tree limb with his hair, but it broke and he landed on his back, the branch falling on top of him. His bones weren't crushed, but he felt rather sore. And he felt a slight sting in his injured hand.

“Well, well, well," the bird said, much to Branch's surprise. Suddenly, the “bird" transformed into Morpho's true form. “Look how the mighty hero has fallen."

“What have you done with Poppy?!" Branch shouted, trying to grab her with his hair. But she was too fast for him. Apparently, you fly faster with three pairs of wings.

“Don't worry, your precious queen is still alive," she assured him. “The real question is, will you be?"

“Do whatever you want with me, just don't hurt her!" Branch growled.

Morpho giggled. “Sounds like you really love her. You would literally die for her. In fact, that's probably how you were able to see the real me without seeing my reflection. If only the Changelings could see me the way you see her. But they preferred my little brother. I had no one to love me."

“No, you had Primrose," Branch said in defiance. “She was your friend, she loved you, and you betrayed her for your own personal gain!"

“So what?" Morpho scoffed. “No friendship is more powerful than being adored by hundreds! If you want to be with your precious Queen Poppy, then I will take you to her. Afterwards, I will make a quick trip to the Larx, and make sure no power on Earth can stop me from being loved by the Trolls!"

With a flick of her wrist, a wall of green fire surrounded Branch and he found himself being sucked into a pool of ooze. Once Branch was gone, Morpho flew off with a sinister grin on her hideous face.

To be continued...

There's only gonna be about two more chapters after this one, and they're going to be pretty emotional...

Until next time. 🌈