Chapter 4. Yay, the final part. Now the treat I promised all you guys.

Enjoy the story!

Birds chirped in the fresh summer air. Hummingbirds flitted from each flower in the treetops to dip their beaks into the sweet nectar. Down below, a small gathering of creatures had gathered around a rock where a rabbit was telling a story. A family of opossums, a chipmunk, a racoon, a family of quails, a skunk, a porcupine, several other rabbits, a young fawn and Friend Owl had all come to hear the tale of Thumper's part in the fight between Bambi and the dogs.

"It was raining and thundering. It didn't look good for the young prince. There were thousands of dogs, but Bambi wasn't a bit scared. They came closer...," his audience gasped, "and closer. There was nowhere to go. Then a dog that was tall as a tree roared from the shadows, but Bambi was too fast. He jumped up..."

"High in the air," one of Thumper's sisters said, interrupting him as she jumped into the air to add emphasis to her point. Thumper glared at her and continued.

"And then came crashing..."

"Crashing down. Right on the big dog's head," another one said and several hopped up too.

"Quiet. I'm telling it," he said while thumping his foot down several times on the stone to shut them up. "But the best part was..." He cringed and groaned when his sisters interrupted him again.

"The best part was when Thumper helped Flower make his bravest brave face," she said while squishing her paws against her face to describe the scene.

"And scared all the dogs away," they all said, but then quickly looked up and placed their paws on their mouths. "Oops."

"Uh-huh. That's how it went," he said proudly while he stuck his chest out at them.

"Hooray for Thumper," his sisters cheered while some of the other creatures clapped their approval.

"Look who's here," one of the sisters said.

"Oh, the young prince," another confirmed.

"Hooray," they all cheered before hopping towards him.

"You know, they're ok for sisters. Just too bad they're girls," Thumper said, though not realizing who he was saying it to.

"Hey," Faline said and glared at him. Thumper cringed and smiled sheepishly while nervously chuckling.

"Oops. What do you know, Bambi," he said while pointing at the young prince as he came up to him. Unfortunately for him, his head got stuck under a flowering, wild cherry branch.

"Ooh," he said as he shook to get free. He then backed away and ducked under it before continuing his way towards the group. Petals fluttered down around him and the sunlight revealed his form and everyone noticed the lack of the spots on his back and the two antler stubs he was sporting on his head.

"Well, looks like those antlers are finally coming in," Friend Owl commented from the stump he was on.

"Really? I hadn't noticed," Bambi casually replied as Thumper's sister bounced and giggled around him as he walked.

"Thumper's been telling us quite a story," Faline said as he came closer.

"Yes, yes. The one with the thousands of dogs," Friend Owl explained.

"Thousands," he asked toward Thumper. Said bunny rubbed his foot sheepishly on the platform.

"What can I say? I'm a born storyteller," he replied.

"I'll bet it seemed like a thousand dogs," Faline said as she walked closer, causing Bambi to back away a bit from her. However, the porcupine was behind him. He chuckled mischievously and pointed up his quills as the young prince got close.

All of a sudden, Bambi felt the prickling quills on his hindquarters and jumped forward with a yelp, right at Faline. Their faces met and their mouths touched each other. Thumper's sisters oohed at the kissing fawns. The two then separated. Bambi began stuttering while Faline just turned her head to the side and blushed.

"Huuh, twitterpated," Friend Owl sighed before he commented.

"What's twitterpated," Flower asked and looked up to him. Thumper's sister and a chipmunk also stared up at him and that was when Friend Owl realized what he had said.

"Well, uh, it's... I'll tell you when you're older," he quickly replied.

Then came a voice from behind them that surprised all of them. All eyes turned to beside the pond where two fawns were approaching. Thumper, Faline and Flower's eyes narrowed once they saw that it was Ronno and an unfamiliar girl fawn. She had a slightly darker coat than Ronno with white spots that clustered closely together by her neck and tail. Her eyes were a sparkling, deep blue.

"Hello Bambi," Ronno greeted, and everyone was taken aback by the new friendly tone in his voice. All eyes turned to Bambi, who ignored them and smiled at the two newcomers.

"Hey Ronno. How's it going," he asked.

"Pretty good. Thanks for asking," Ronno replied. Thumper then scurried over and jumped up in between them.

"Wa-wa-wait. Since when did you two become friends,"Thumper suspiciously asked.

"Since he said he was sorry for the way he behaved earlier and helped me get away from the dogs," Bambi explained.

"Yeah. Oh, by the way, there's someone I'd like you all to meet. This is Carmen, she's my new girlfriend," he explained. Said doe bowed her head lightly and smiled.

"Hello," she shyly said. Her voice was calm and sweet, like the bubbling creek behind her.

"Hi," everyone replied. Suddenly, Bambi perked up and spoke up again.

"Oh, I gotta get going. My dad's waiting for me. C'mon Ronno," Bambi said and Ronno nodded.

"Wait! Why is he going with you," Thumper asked.

"My dad said Ronno can learn from him, since his parents don't really teach him about anything really important. See ya guys," Bambi quickly replied before he and Ronno started prancing off together, leaving Carmen, Faline and the rest behind.

"Bye Bambi," they all called after them.

"Aww, Bambi. You never have time for us anymore," Thumper complained out loud once the two were safely out of ear hearing distance.

"Yeah. Isn't it wonderful," Faline asked and Carmen nodded. Thumper just stared confusedly and slightly disgusted at the two them.

As the two walked up the hill towards where the Great Prince had told them to meet him, Ronno was the first to speak.

"Hey, thanks for telling them back there. I appreciate it," he said. Bambi nodded.

"Of course. My dad says you can come live with us, since they don't treat you as well back home," he replied.

"Yeah, well, that really means a lot to me, so thank you both," Ronno said. Bambi nodded again and smiled before playfully nudging Ronno's shoulder with his own as they made it to the spot where the Great Prince was.

"You're welcome, Ronno," he replied.

And there's the sugar! I hope you enjoyed the final installment of this story. Thank you again Carmen738 for suggesting this idea in the first place and to SennaFan4ever and Teddi 8347 for checking out and reviewing my story.

Thank you all for reading, please leave a review and tell me how you think I did. Sincerely., v.t.7