Chapter XXIV: Return to the Valley, Return to the War

In which the gang of seven return home and yet another battle ensues.

"What in the world!" Cera exclaimed, gazing at the devastation in the valley. "Dusk is gonna pay for this big time!"

"Hold it, Cera. I don't think Dusk is responsible for this. That is, unless he controls flying rocks. They're all over the place," Littlefoot reasoned. The log they were riding lowered gently to the ground and the gang dismounted. Petrie was panting, so Littlefoot scooped him up with his tail and let him ride on his back. "Good job, Petrie."

"Huff thank huff you."

"Oh no!" Chomper cried, dismayed. "I forgot to say good-bye to my parents."

Ruby rested a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sure they understand. They probably know you wouldn't take off like that unless it was very important."

"Thanks, Ruby," and she smiled at him.

A voice suddenly rang out, and they all turned their heads. "Littlefoot?"

"Grandpa!" he exclaimed back. He rushed over and nuzzled his head against his grandfather's.

"It was good fortune that you were gone," he told his grandson. "As you can see, things got a little out of hand over here."

"Did these flying rocks seem normal?" Cera asked him.

"What do you mean?" he asked back.

"There was nothing strange about them? Odd colors? Weird shapes?' she inquired further.

"Mm, not that I noticed. They seemed just like the ones that blocked the water to the valley a long time ago."

"I see."

"Now Littlefoot," his grandfather went on, "I think we need to have a little talk. I know how adventurous you are, but your grandma and I really wish you'd start telling us where you are going. We trust you, but we still feel uneasy when you vanish like that."

"I'm sorry, grandpa. I'll work on it," he replied quickly, scanning the area.

"I'm sure grandma would you like to see you," his grandpa continued.

"Can it wait just a little longer?" he pleaded.

His grandpa was taken back at his hesitance to see her. It was so unlike him to have something on his mind over his family. He knew it must be very important and that he'd probably hear about it later, so he simply said, "Alright."

"Can you find them, Cera?" Littlefoot asked.

"Already did. Follow me." The kids entered a run which led them up a hill. "They're really close!" she shouted. They reached the top at a great speed so couldn't stop in time. They collided with a pack of Three Horns and both groups tumbled a short distance then came to a halt.

One of the "Three Horns" looked up in surprise and started to say, "How did you-" but Menta quickly covered Agu's mouth.

"They don't recognize us," she said in his thoughts.

"Oh yeah," Agu thought back, feeling foolish.

"We're really sorry about this," Littlefoot told them all.

Ceit quickly closed his eyes, and Dusk replied, "No problem at all." However, he didn't sound like he normally did. "I can always count on you, Ceit," he thought to himself.

Littlefoot motioned to his friends to move on, and they all followed him down the hill.

"What happened, Cera?" Chomper asked her. "I thought we were tracking Dusk and his friends, not some Three Horns."

"I don't know. Maybe I'm just tired and didn't use my power right. I could have sworn it was Dusk I sensed on that hill."

"Hm," Ruby said thoughtfully. The others turned to her. "Did anyone else notice how many Three Horns were up there?"

"Sorry, me no pay attention to that," Petrie told her.

"Neither did I," Ducky added. Spike shook his head.

"Why do you ask, Ruby?" Littlefoot asked her.

"There were six of them, and it looked like one of them had a stone under his foot. Maybe Cera wasn't wrong…" All of the kids' eyes widened at once in realization.

"Hurry!" Littlefoot exclaimed as they raced back to the hill. However, when they reached the top, the "Three Horns" were gone. In their place, a tiny hole hovered slightly off the ground.

"I remember the Rainbow Faces saying something about how when they warp away, they leave a tiny hole behind that they can be followed with," Ruby recalled.

Littlefoot turned in the direction of his nest. "I'm sorry, grandpa, grandma. This is just too important," he said aloud quietly. "Come on!" he instructed, and the lot of them walked into the hole and vanished.

Dusk and his companions were at the mouth of a cave outside of the Great Valley. They were about to walk in farther when they heard a noise behind them. They turned to see Littlefoot and his friends standing right behind them.

"You caught on quicker than I'd anticipated," Dusk told them.

"This ends now, Dusk. Give up Ali and the stone and we'll walk away," Littlefoot told Dusk.

"Huh? Whaddaya want with me?" Ali asked him curiously.

"Come on, Ali! Snap out of it! You don't belong with them," Cera coaxed.

"You must have me confused with someone else," she told them. "Dusk raised me from a hatchling."

"No, he did not!" Littlefoot exclaimed, outraged at how Ceit was messing with her mind.

"Quiet," Dusk ordered menacingly. "Now, you can forget about Ali and the stone and we'll let you walk away from this."

"Not a chance!" Littlefoot shot back. "We beat you once; we can do it again."

"We learned a lot from last time. You won't be so lucky this time," he replied calmly.

"Littlefoot," Cera said.

"What?"

"Use your dark form."

"But Cera! I might hurt you guys again."

"We'll stay out of your way. It's just that, your light form won't be of much use here. It's about healing, not hurting, and Dusk needs to go down."

"Alright, I understand."

"How about this?" Dusk proposed to Littlefoot. "Why endanger us all? Let's fight, just you and me."

"Fine," he agreed. "Darkness, burn within my body!" and Littlefoot's body shone like night itself. "I have more stamina now. This ends when you die!" he shouted to Dusk.

Dusk raised his arm. "Shadow Pull!" The top of the cave broke loose and fell on him, covering him in shards of stone.

"Littlefoot!" Chomper exclaimed.

The rocks quickly exploded off of him, and he snarled, "That only succeeded in ticking me off!" His front feet began to glow and sharp claws protruded and curled from them. He dashed at Dusk, who dived out of the way. Littlefoot broke clean through the wall of the cave.

"Such power," Dusk marveled. He quickly ran out of the cave to the wooded area just outside.

"You cannot run!" Littlefoot shouted. He followed Dusk outside who had stopped near a tree. Littlefoot tried pouncing on Dusk who barely ducked in time. Littlefoot landed in the shadow of the large tree, and Dusk grinned.

"Shadow Bind!"

Littlefoot tried tearing into him, but stopped abruptly from the weight he suddenly felt behind him.

"I bound your shadow to that tree. You aren't going anywhere." Dusk proceeded to slam Littlefoot to the ground with Shadow Pulls over and over again.

His friends rushed over to help him, but Dusk's group got in their way.

"Your friend agreed to fight one on one," Menta told them. "Are you really going to go against his wishes?"

The Leaf Eaters did not even have to think. "Yes," the said in unison.

"Copy!" Agu yelled and four more of him appeared. "Then you'll have to go through us." He thought to himself, "I got the feel of making four at once back when Dusk was trapped. Now they're in trouble."

"Copy!" Ruby repeated, and there were quickly five of her. "Fine with us."

xxxxx

Littlefoot was panting hard. He had been slammed to the ground with immense force many times. He looked up to see Dusk standing a safe distance away. At least, Dusk through it was safe. Littlefoot's body glowed with intense darkness, and he bolted hard enough that he pulled that tree from its roots. He slashed into Dusk's chest and his whole body erupted in pain. The searing pain caused Dusk to lose focus and the Shadow Bind dissipated.

Littlefoot chuckled and said, "I did not deliver a fatal blow. No, there would be no pleasure in that. The dark energy from my blow is filling your body with an intense agony. I will greatly enjoy watching you writhe in torment."

Dusk could barely move. His whole body felt like it was sitting in fire, but he still managed to look up at Littlefoot defiantly.

Littlefoot spit on him. "You don't seem sore enough!" He whipped his tail back and let loose a mighty sweep that sent Dusk sailing into a tree. He coughed up a small amount of blood. Littlefoot dashed into him with so much force that the tree behind him started to splinter.

xxxxx

Ruby's and Agu's copies were struggling against each other evenly; none were winning. Chomper watched five Agu's fight five Ruby's and didn't know where to jump in.

"Strength," Ali said, and started to dance. She swung her tail around, whipped her head back and forth, and moved her body rhythmically.

Agu's copies started to overpower Ruby's until they had all vanished. They all made their way to the helpless Ruby until Chomper stood between them.

"I'll handle them, Ruby," he told her.

Ruby knew that Chomper's great strength might be enough for all five Agus, but she did not leave it to chance. "Strength," she said, and started to move her body in a fashion similar to Ali's.

Chomper paused, his now-intense strength nearly overwhelming him. All five copes piled on top of him, but he threw them all off with one move. The copies vanished, leaving Agu wide open.

Ali was at a loss. Any power up that she made for Agu would simply be copied for Chomper. Then she had an idea. She quickly ran away, far enough into the cave to be out of eyesight.

"Looks like you've been left alone," Chomper told Agu.

"I don't think so," Ruby said. Running after Ali, she added, "I think she's trying to keep from being copied."

Ruby hurried into the cave, turning the corner to find Ali. The Long Neck, however, was waiting. She slid her tail on the ground in a fell swoop, knocking Ruby off of her feet. With Ruby on the ground, Ali continued to lift her tail and bring it down hard on Ruby's head, knocking her out. She ran back out to see Chomper taking out more of Agu's copies, and Agu himself panting hard.

"Don't worry, Agu. We can take him," she encouraged.

"Where's Ruby?" Chomper demanded.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Ali retorted. "Quick, make some copies." Agu did so, and she said, "Speed," while starting to dance.

Agu's copies rushed Chomper very quickly. They all collided with him at once, knocking him down. Chomper swung at one of them, but it moved out of the way with ease. Chomper saw that the real one was standing back safely beside Ali. He rushed him, trying to defeat the copies at their source, but Agu dashed away.

"How do I defeat someone I can't catch?" he thought desperately. Then he remembered the fight against Redclaw and his Fast Biters, especially Thud. He smiled, knowing how to get them all at once. He raised both hands and brought them down hard onto the ground. There was a small tremor and Agu, his copies, and Ali lost their balance and fell to the ground.

"Ugh, you won't beat us again!" Agu shouted. The tension of the battle was really getting to him. This was the first time he'd made four copies without help, but his adrenaline wasn't letting him stop there. "Copy!" Another two copies came out, making seven Agus in all. Though he wasn't breathing hard before, with seven copies he seemed to be gasping for breath, barely able to stand.

"No, Agu! That's too many. You'll exhaust yourself," Ali said as she stopped worriedly.

"I'm fine," he replied, but he was trembling. They all rushed Chomper who stood tense, and Ali began her dance of strength once more to account for how weak Agu was getting. Chomper flexed his muscles and starting wailing at the copies.

They began to vanish, one by one, but Chomper's strength was waning. Powered up, they were taking numerous punches to go down. Chomper defeated the last copy and fell to his knees.

"Now, Agu! Take him down while he's defenseless," Ali shouted.

Agu rushed with his claws out, but Chomper suddenly rose to his feet and grabbed him by the throat.

"Ho- how…?" he choked.

Chomper pointed behind Agu and he turned slightly to see Ruby back and dancing.

"It's over," Chomper told them. Chomper let Agu go who immediately lunged at him. Chomper shoved him back with great force, sending him back a great distance into the outer part of the cave wall, dazing him. Ali rushed to his side while Chomper shook his head. "They just don't know when to give up."

xxxxx

A tree began to collapse on Menta, but she telepathically shoved it back. "You waste your time," she called to Cera. "Anything you throw at me, I can throw back." Several trees started falling on her but with one swing of her arm, they all shot backwards.

Petrie flapped his wings and a small whirlwind formed, coming right for Menta. She simply pulled her arm back and Petrie was thrust head-on into the very attack he'd created. He started spinning uncontrollably until the wind finally died down, but he was too dizzy to see straight. He accidentally shot a gust of wind right at Cera who was knocked back hard into a tree. The tree lowered its leafy branches just in time to cushion the impact.

"Watch what you're doing!" Cera roared.

Petrie looked at Cera who looked like three Ceras to him, and said, "Me sorry."

"I have a plan," Cera whispered to him. "I'm gonna throw a tree at her and you make the attack stronger with wind like we did with Redclaw. She won't be strong enough to shoot it back."

"Gotcha," he replied.

Cera focused and a giant tree uprooted and came right for Menta, Petrie flapped his wings hard, sending a gust behind it that greatly increased the force it went through the air. Menta, however, did not try shooting it back. She dived out of the way and the tree went crashing into the cave behind them.

"Ugh," Cera moaned.

"They seem to have forgotten I read minds," Menta thought to herself.

"New plan," she said to Petrie. "I'm going to throw one to her, and when she dodges, blast it back. She won't expect the tree that misses her to come back." Menta grinned.

Cera ripped out another tree with her energy and it came flying towards Menta. She dodged again, then turned to prepare for it to come back. Instead of the tree flying back however, Menta was hit in the back with a strong blast of wind. She staggered to her feet, but Cera quickly had the tree behind her wrap around Menta, holding in place.

"You can't move things if you can't move your arms," Cera taunted.

"I don't understand. You were planning to have that tree swing back and hit me, but that didn't happen."

"Hee, think we forgot you can read minds?" Cera asked. "I said that strategy to Petrie while thinking about it, but even though I kept picturing that same strategy, I told Petrie my real plan. That way, reading my mind worked against you."

"Clever girl…" Menta thought dejectedly.

xxxxx

Ceit swooped down, clutched Ducky in his talons and flew into the cave. Spike followed in hot pursuit, but Ducky suddenly ran out of the cave. "Get him, Spike!" Spike charged into the cave, but he was stunned to see Ducky inside the cave as well. The one inside said, "No, get him, Spike! He made himself look like me!" Spike turned to the one outside, who screamed, "Quick, Spike! I'm the real one! Get him before he does anything else!" Spike placed his head on the ground and covered it with his front feet. This scenario was making his head hurt.

The real Ducky had an idea, recalling Ceit's lack of altering the sense of smell. "Spike, use your sniffer!"

Spike went over to her, smelled her, then went to the other one. They smelled no different from each other.

"Oh no," she thought to herself. "He did not slip up this time." Getting a new plan, she called out, "Remember when we got the night flowers for Littlefoot's sick grandpa?" she asked, trying to prove it was really her.

"Yes," Ceit added, "And they ended up making him all better, yep yep yep."

Ducky's mouth dropped open. "How did he-?" she wondered, puzzled, not knowing that Ceit had met Littlefoot's grandfather. The few trees around were rotting and dry. Ducky had no water to manipulate to prove that she was the real one. Spike lifted his front foot and brought it down hard into a mud puddle, splattering both Duckys. One laughed while the other said, "Hey, what did you do that for?" Spike ran over to the one spoke, hardened his head, then swung it hard, knocking Ceit into a tree who changed back from the impact.

"Good thinking, Spike," Ducky cheered. Spike had cleverly reenacted the time Ducky was splashed by the mud the day before they had all met Mo. The battle was now drawing to a close.