Hey, guys. Here's a more (somewhat) lighthearted chapter to make up for the last one. I hope you all enjoy reading, and as always, please leave a review! Thank you, and have a nice week!

Amelia sat in front of the cave, staring out past the lone tree star tree sitting on the top of the grass covered hill, along the fog covered horizon. The bright circle was just beginning to rise into the sky, vibrant streaks of pink and orange mixing in with the sky's lovely blue. A gentle but cold breeze drifted through the air, caressing the rainbow face's green scales. In the light of dawn, with her multicolored snout, she appeared to match the sky.

Tristan laid inside, finding that he had more room than usual to stretch and kick his legs. To him, this was very much out of the ordinary. He awoke to find the nest empty, and quickly rose to his feet. He peered towards his right, and saw that his daughters were still slumbering contentedly. He wouldn't bother them.

Stepping out into the light, he saw Amelia, looking directly ahead. He walked up, and seated himself beside her. "Good morning."

"Good morning, dear," replied Amelia, her gaze still fixed outwards.

Tristan yawned, throwing his head back. "I don't understand how you can get up so early...the bright circle's barely up."

"It's quite simple, really. As soon as I feel the bright circle in my face, I'm awake."

"I still don't see how you do it."

Amelia chuckled, and gave her mate's snout a brief prod with hers. "Don't worry about it. Let me worry about getting up early."

Tristan touched her snout as a reciprocal gesture, allowing himself a rare smile. "So, what are you going to do for Nibbling Day today?"

"Whatever you're doing, handsome," Amelia cooed, offering a wink.

"Well then, let's go get some food."

While it was undeniable fact that Amelia and Tristan had spent much of their days in the mysterious beyond bickering and arguing, one could see that they cared for one another, especially now that their fates were no longer hanging in the balance.

They passed through the tall grass, Amelia snorting and laughing as Tristan beamed with a sense of accomplishment. At last, when her laughs dissolved into soft sighs, she lowered her neck to graze on a patch of grass among some white flowers. As she lifted her head, a blue winged buzzer flew past, causing Tristan to startle and fall over. Amelia then extended her neck outwards, chomping up the insect in one bite.

Tristan watched as she chewed the buzzer's blue body into tiny pieces, producing a loud crunching sound. She swallowed her meal, burping not even a minute later. Having an odd sense of humor, the pair burst into laughter once again.

It soon became apparent to Tristan and Amelia as they wandered across the valley that Nibbling Day was quite a grand occasion in the valley. There wasn't a single dinosaur that didn't know of it, and everyone seemed to be celebrating in preparation, in spite of the actual event not taking place until later in the day.

Mr. Threehorn stood next to Tria under the shade of the tall fir trees, talking to the rainbow faces — a rare sight to behold. Andy sat across from them, watching as his daughter played with Tricia, her threehorn friend.

The two dinosaurs were dragging around a tree branch, a tree branch that was a few sizes too big for them. However, the tiny dinosaurs made the best of it, babbling and giggling. Andy couldn't help but smile at the sight of his daughter playing to her heart's content, without any worry of being snatched up by sharpteeth. It was exactly what Diana would have wanted, maybe even more.

Andy looked up towards the clear, blue sky. "You'd be so happy to see this, Di. This place is amazing, but...I really wish you were here." Feeling melancholic, he then contented himself by grazing on some grass.

"So," Mr. Threehorn began, "I ran towards the tree, and rammed my head against it." He made a sort of pushing motion with his frill to emphasize his point. "Some tree stars fell, and that was when I knew I'd mastered being a threehorn."

"My mother told me that if you ram your head against a tree to get food, it means that you were born stupid,"Amelia said, her eyes absolutely deadpan.

"I'm surprised your horns didn't get stuck in the tree," Tristan added.

Mr. Threehorn huffed. "You're just jealous!"

"Not really," said Tristan, "Perhaps butting your head into things works for you, but not so much for us. We'd crack our heads wide open."

"Then how do you get food from trees?"

"We don't. We eat from the ground. There are dinosaurs who do that, you know."

A screech sounded from above the air, and Pterano's shadow quickly passed over them. Petrie, along with his brothers and sisters, cheered loudly as they hitched a ride on their uncle's back.

"Go faster, uncle!" One of the little flyers goaded him on.

Pterano gave a light hearted chuckle. "I'm going as fast as I can go, child."

"Aw," crooned Tria, watching from below, "Pterano's so sweet to give the little ones a ride."

Mr. Threehorn scoffed in disgust, watching as the flyer became smaller, flying farther and farther away.

Then, another shadow looked over the group of dinosaurs, nearly blocking out the light of the bright circle. Amelia looked up, and smiled at the sight she saw. "Mr. and Mrs. Longneck," she said, as if announcing their presence, "It's good to see you."

"It's wonderful to see you too, dear," said Linda, lowering her neck to establish eye contact with the rainbow face.

"Are you excited for your first Nibbling Day?" Kenneth inquired, following the movements of his wife and lowering his neck so that he could have a proper conversation with the others.

"Well, all I know of it is that there's tree sweets involved...which is good enough for both of us, really," answered Amelia. "Anyway...what brings you here, may I ask?"

"We're here to watch our grandson," Linda replied simply.

"As well as the other children," added Kenneth. "They have a bit of a tendency to, um...wander off."

Amelia and Tristan glanced at each other, knowing that struggle all too well. Tristan then glanced towards the longnecks. "Yours too, huh? Our girls wandered off whenever they had the chance."

There was the rustling of grass as a bipedal dinosaur walked up towards the group. Lines of age were etched onto the grey-blue scales that covered his body, and his yellow eyes were tired yet stern.

"Have any of you seen Hyp?"

"I'm afraid not," said Kenneth, his red eyes concerned, "Where did you see him last?"

Tristan had never seen the dinosaur or his son before, but was able to find a resemblance when he noticed another dinosaur hanging about on the branch of a tree. "Up there," he said, pointing towards the tree.

Kenneth was wide eyed. "Oh, my."

"Kids!" Linda yelled in her urgent and worried manner, "Get down from there!"

Hyp's father looked up, and found that the rainbow face was correct. Hyp was standing on a sturdy branch, Mutt on his back, hooking his arms around the other's neck.

"Uh...Hyp..." He drew in a shuddering breath, "I-I don't wanna do this..."

"Oh relax, you big baby," scolded Hyp. Then, he looked downwards, where Mackenzie was lying on Nod's back. "You ready?"

"Just get on with it," Mackenzie yelled in return, "Nod's back is hurting my back!"

"Well, your big, fat body is hurting my back," griped Nod.

Littlefoot and Cera had been nearby, eating their fill, when they realized that Hyp and Mutt were both in the high treetops, and that their eyes were not deceiving them.

Cera narrowed her eyes. "What are those two up to now?"

Littlefoot swallowed his food. "How did they even get up there?"

Ruby, along with Chomper and Eva, came to observe.

"That is not a good idea," stated Ruby, "A good idea that is not."

"I kind of want to see what happens," said Eva.

"Hey, Ducky, Spike!" Chomper called eagerly, "Come look at this!"

Ducky, sitting on Spike's back as he munched on a bush, turned around. Then, she looked at her brother. "Come on, Spike. Let us go see what is happening."

Spike bellowed softly, taking one last bite before making his towards his friends.

"What is it, Chomper?" Ducky asked, looking curiously at the sharptooth.

"It's Hyp and Mutt," explained Chomper, "They're in the tree!"

Ducky felt that Chomper was telling a joke, but when she looked up and saw the two dinosaurs in the tree, she could not will back a gasp. "Oh, no, no, no! They should not do that!"

Hyp looked back at Mutt, grinning. "You ready?"

Mutt shook his head, swallowing the lump in his throat. "No..."

"Too bad." Sucking in a breath, Hyp bent his legs, his body coiling. Then, he leapt from the tree, plummeting towards the ground.

"Well, he's a goner," said Cera, her voice flat.

The parents watched with apprehension, not knowing what would become of the two dinosaurs. Hyp's father, fearful and angry, yelled out his son's name.

"HYP!"

Mackenzie lifted her legs, carefully positioning them into the right place. Hyp and Mutt drew closer towards her. When they were an inch away from her face, she kicked her legs up, hitting Hyp in the stomach.

Hyp and Mutt flew forward, landing on some sort of a rough surface.

Amelia's eyes widened as she watched them land. When she saw that there had been no physical damage done, her expression then contorted into a frown. "Kids, get off of Mr. Clubtail, NOW!"

"Huh?" Hyp, startled by the rainbow face's booming voice, looked down, and saw that he and Mutt had landed on the back of Mr. Clubtail, who had been enjoying a pleasant meal, until the pair of adolescents dropped in on him. Hyp and Mutt quickly skittered off.

"Darn kids," grumbled Mr. Clubtail, promptly walking off.

Kenneth smiled kindly at the dinosaur as he walked past them, feeling sympathetic. "Good morning, Mr. Clubtail."

Mr. Clubtail either ignored the longneck or didn't hear him, because he did not respond. Hyp and Mutt then ran over to where the adults had watched the entire scene unfold.

"Hey dad," Hyp said, offering a sheepish smile to somehow appeal to his father.

Hyp's father was beginning to tire of his antics. He was in no mood to scold him, and simply gave a sigh of disappointment. "Don't you ever learn?"

"Dad, I—" He began to defend himself, when he spotted Mackenzie sauntering over with Nod. He waited until they were face to face before opening his mouth again. "You didn't tell me our folks were watching!"

"I thought you knew," said Mackenzie, flashing a knowing grin, her brows raised in a way that seemed to mock him.

"That's enough, Mackenzie," said Amelia, placing a hand on her daughter's back, "Go fetch your sister."

"Okay, mom." Without further argument, with a little bounce in her step, Mackenzie ran off.

"Come on, son," said Hyp's father, exhausted.

"But dad," Hyp protested, "She didn't get in trouble!"

"That's nothing for you to worry about, Hyp. Now, let's go."

"But—"

"Hyp."

Hyp sighed, defeated. "Fine..." He then began to follow his father.

"Bye, Hyp," said Mutt, waving his hand, "See you later!"

Hyp waved him off, not even bothering to look at him. "Yeah, whatever."

Kenneth turned towards Amelia, a chuckle escaping him. "That was, erm...quite uncharacteristic of you, Amelia. I've never seen you raise your voice."

"Oh, believe me," said Amelia, "This is very 'in character'."

"Mhm," Tristan said with a nod, "She can be quite frightening when she wants to be."

"Kind of like Topsy here," said Tria, gesturing to her mate.

Mr. Threehorn groaned under his breath, looking away. They all burst into laughter, enjoying themselves and each other's company.

Miriam and Mackenzie walked down the slope in silence. Miriam looked more at ease than her sister, who seemed to have something on her mind that was troubling her.

"Are you still thinking about that sleep story?"

Mackenzie sighed, looking up at the sky before looking at her sister. "It was just so vivid...it felt so real, like it might actually happen."

"Mackenzie, I've told you before, nothing of that sort will happen." Her eyes softened. "It'll be alright."

"I know. I just— I need to keep my mind occupied so I stop thinking about it." She brought her hands to her temples, closing her eyes. "Think of something nice…think of something nice..."

"Like Gabriel."

"Yes, like Gabriel— hey!" Mackenzie's eyes snapped open, and she whipped her head to look at Miriam, who looked rather proud of herself. "You're lucky we're related, or else I'd put you into the ground."

Miriam paid no attention to her threat. "Come on, let's go see what Gabriel and Adam are up to."

When they arrived, Molly had her back turned towards her sons as she crouched down, using her arms to push the dirt covering the floor of the cave aside.

"Mom, come on," Adam pleaded, "Won't you please go out with us?"

"I'm sorry, son, but I'm busy."

"Why are you doing this?"

"Because if I'm too busy digging, I'm too busy to think about your father."

"Mom, please listen," said Gabriel, "I know you miss dad. We miss him too, but he wouldn't want you to be like this."

"...I know," Molly said softly. "But it hurts too much. I wouldn't be able to bear seeing all those happy families… and I don't want to stop you from going off with your friends just because I'm lonely."

"So...you're not going to come with us?"

"I'm afraid not. I'm sorry, baby. I was never one for celebrations, anyway."

That was a blatant lie, and Gabriel knew it. Regardless, he indulged his mother. "...It's fine." He looked behind him. "Miriam and Mackenzie are here. We're going to go off with them. We'll bring you some food."

"Have fun, sweetie. Be back before dark."

"We will. Bye, mom. Love you."

"Love you too."

Reluctantly, Adam and Gabriel left their mother to her work, stepping outside with Miriam and Mackenzie.

"Is your mom okay?" Miriam asked.

"She still misses my dad," Gabriel answered.

Adam looked down at the grass, his eyes worried. "Do you think she'll ever be over it?"

"I don't think she'll ever be over it, Adam. She'll always miss dad, but I think that she'll be able to move on from it, eventually."

"I suppose...I know that dad wouldn't be able to go on if he was in mom's place, though."

"My dad wouldn't be able to either," said Miriam, "He really loves our mom. I don't know what he would do if she—"

"Don't say that!" Mackenzie blurted out.

Miriam looked at her sister as if she were off her tail, and then shook her head, realizing the reason for the outburst. "Of course, that would never happen. Let's not talk about this anymore."

Gabriel shifted his worried gaze towards Mackenzie, but agreed to drop the subject. "I think everyone's going to eat the tree sweets now. Should we go?"

Mackenzie offered a slight nod, and the quartet of rainbow faces headed downwards to the tree sweet tree.

The pink tree sweets were in bloom, blossoming into a radiant pink, covered in dew drops. The entire Great Valley gathered around the tree, anticipating the sweet taste that made their mouths water. Mackenzie and Miriam, alongside Gabriel and Adam, ran up to stand beside Amelia and Tristan.

Amelia looked down at the adolescent rainbow faces, smiling kindly. "Hello, boys. Is your mother not here?"

"No," said Adam, " She wanted to stay home."

"Poor dear," Amelia murmured, feeling a pang of sadness for her grieving friend. "I wish there was more we could do for her."

Just as she began to say more, she was suddenly rained upon by a shower of tree sweets. She looked up, watching as more and more tree sweets fell to the ground. Tristan snatched one from the air, holding it out to her. She smiled knowingly before giving the flower's petals a firm tug, eating half of the plant, while Tristan ate the other half.

Then, at the same exact moment, they both burped. Tristan looked away in embarrassment, while Amelia brought a hand to her mouth and chortled. They exploded into laughter, taking a moment to embrace each other.

"Yuck," complained Mackenzie, scrunching her nose. "You guys are gross."

"Oh, hush," said Tristan, his arms hanging loosely around his mate's figure, "How do you think you came into existence?"

Mackenzie folded her arms. "Still gross."

Elsewhere, Eva caught a fluffy pink tree sweet that landed in her arms. She brought the flower to her nostrils, sniffing the petals. She then looked to Chomper, who snacked happily on some crawlers hiding under a log.

"Do you guys actually like this?"

"Well, I don't," said Chomper, "But everyone else does."

"Yeah," said Cera with a mouth full of tree sweets, "You two like those nasty buzzers."

"I think they taste good," Chomper mumbled somewhat sadly.

"Chomper and Eva are sharpteeth, Cera," chirped Ruby, walking over, "Sharpteeth they are."

"I noticed," groaned Cera.

"Ruby's right," said Littlefoot, "They like different food than we do."

Eva let the tree sweet fall to the ground. Spike did not hesitate to walk over and snatch it up with his tongue.

"At least Spike got an extra snack," she said, offering a good natured giggle.

After some time, Amelia and Tristan walked away from the others, having eaten their fill. They climbed the upwards slope, although Amelia seemed to struggle a bit with the climb.

"Are you alright?" Tristan asked her once she'd made it over and they'd begun walking towards the grasslands.

"Yes, I'm fine. It was just a bit steep. I've yet to get used to all this climbing, you know."

"Amelia...we lived on a mountain."

"Now you're just making fun of the fact that I can't climb very well."

"Amelia. Hello."

Amelia turned away to find Mr. Thicknose approaching steadily. She'd never talked to him in person, but was amazed with his vast knowledge of the outside world.

"Mr. Thicknose, good afternoon," she greeted, dipping her head slightly.

"How do you know everyone here?" Tristan questioned, his voice softer than a whisper.

"Because I actually talk to them," Amelia whispered back.

"How are you?" Mr. Thicknose inquired. "Is your first Nibbling Day going well?"

"Well, it's a bit strange that we actually have more than enough food to go around, really. I mean, food was so scarce in the mysterious beyond...but I suppose we are enjoying it. Thank you."

"Of course. But I say, you've seen more of the world than I have. What is it like for you, out there?"

"Harsh and unforgiving," Tristan answered. "I wouldn't recommend it."

"But we did have stories that we told occasionally," said Amelia. "It was a good way to get the children to fall asleep."

"Indeed," replied Mr. Thicknose, chuckling, "Many of our little ones won't go to sleep until Mr. Longneck tells them a story. What stories do your kind tell?"

"The more popular ones are about a figure called the Rainbow Prince. He was the first rainbow face, but was very boastful and foolish. Many of the stories about him are cautionary tales."

"Oh, my...that certainly is something. Er, forgive me if this question comes as a bit strange, you rainbow faces have always been somewhat of a mystery— does your kind know anything about what might lie beyond the mysterious beyond?"

"Um...not really. Well— we do know there's so much more we don't know about, but that's just it— we don't know."

The juvenile rainbow faces, having eaten as much as their hearts desired, began the trek back towards home. Suddenly, at some point, Mackenzie crumpled to her knees, covering her eyes. This was actually quite contradicting, as when she closed her eyes, all she saw was the image of her mother amongst the green leaves, gradually fading away and becoming nothing more than an empty space. She knew what this strange vision entailed, but was not very fond of the message.

"NO!" She hollered. "No, no, no! Mom!"

Miriam ran to her sister's side, gently nudging her with her snout. "Mackenzie! Mackenzie, what's wrong?"

"Mackenzie?" Gabriel hovered over her, worried to death, "Mackenzie! Answer me!"

Mackenzie's breathing quickened, her limbs twitching as she moaned. "Mom..."

Miriam looked at Adam and Gabriel. All three of them knew what had to be done. "Stay here and watch over her," she commanded, "I'm going to go get my mother."

"Just go," said Adam. "Hurry."

Miriam nodded silently, and ran off.

Amelia had been waving goodbye to Mr. Thicknose when she heard her daughter's distant voice.

"Mom!" Miriam came into view, running towards her mother, out of breath.

"What is it, Miriam? Why are you in such a hurry?"

"Mackenzie's calling for you. She needs you."

Amelia and Tristan exchanged worried glances, both of them silently making the decision to follow their daughter.

When they arrived at the clearing, Mackenzie was still in the same position as before — limbs twitching, eyes closed, lying on the ground. Amelia darted towards her without any hesitation.

Mackenzie, with her eyes still closed, stood up. Then, she opened her eyes to meet those of her mother's. Amelia had a fearful and worried look in her eyes, as if she wasn't sure what to expect.

"It's alright, Mackenzie," she said calmly, "I'm here."

Mackenzie looked to her father, and then her mother. When she peered into those gentle sea blue eyes which always looked upon her with the uttermost adoration and love, Mackenzie couldn't bring herself to voice her troubles.

Amelia lowered her brows, her voice as soft as the whispering wind. "What is it, Mackenzie?"

"I...I was just thinking about a bad sleep story I had. It just felt really real, and...I got scared."

Amelia knew that her daughter had always been plagued by troubling sleep stories from the time she was very young. She held Mackenzie's chin in her hands. "I'm so sorry, love. How would you like me to stay with you?"

Mackenzie managed a smile and allowed her mother to walk her home. Tristan glanced towards the worried faces of Gabriel and Adam.

"You boys should go. There's not much you can do here. Thank you for watching over her until her mother and I arrived."

Gabriel and Adam obliged, bidding Tristan goodbye before walking up the hill. Tristan watched them depart, and then rushed to catch up with his wife and daughters.

Amelia remained with Mackenzie until the bright circle began to lower. She told her daughter about the wonderful times they'd had, reminding her that she wasn't going anywhere. When Mackenzie fell asleep at last, Amelia felt some sense of peace, but refused to leave her daughter's side.

Down the corridor, Tristan spoke to Miriam as the father and daughter relieved themselves with some ferns.

"Miriam, when you go in, do you think you can tell your mother to come to bed? She shouldn't be up for too long."

"Dad, you worry too much. It's not even dark yet."

Tristan gazed into his daughter's eyes, pleading with her to not pick up an argument.

Miriam sighed, standing up. "You're just lonely without her, aren't you?"

"Miriam..."

"I'm going, I'm going." She disappeared into the corridor, making her way to the nest. "Mom?"

Amelia shifted her tired eyes away from Mackenzie, looking up at her other daughter. "Yes, dear?"

"Dad wants you to come to bed."

"But what about your sister?"

"I'll stay with her, mom. It's alright. You should go."

Amelia couldn't deny how tuckered out she was. She relented, and stood up. "Thank you, Miriam. Good night."

"Night, mom." Miriam curled up next to her sister, watching her as she slept.

"Miriam's with her now," Amelia announced, practically tossing herself onto the bed of leaves and grass with a thud that caused some of the bedding to fly off into the air, "They're both sleeping."

Tristan watched as she made herself comfortable before resting her head. "Is Mackenzie doing better?"

"Yes. She was much more relaxed, which I believe is a good sign."

"That's good." Tristan gave a sigh, looking downwards at his wife, who had closed her eyes. He grinned. "You've been getting a bit lazy, haven't you?"

"Just tired," she mumbled, opening her mouth wide to let out a yawn, "Raising children is exhausting..."

Tristan scoffed. "Tell me about it."

"Did you have fun today?"

"Well...yes, I suppose I did. It's amazing how much food they have. There's so much to spare."

"I know. I remember when Miriam and Mackenzie would fight over a single tree star."

Tristan burst into chuckles, smiling fondly at the memory. "Oh, yes. Those were not our proudest moments as parents."

"They're still alive and healthy, so there's that. We weren't complete failures."

"You're right about that."

Amelia lifted her head, leaning against Tristan's shoulder. "I can't wait to do this again."

Tristan smiled, and happily sunk into the embrace. "Neither can I."