A/N: New chapter! Enjoy! We don't own Trolls.

Edit: Added some details and fixed some typos.

"I found the vegetables!" Bridget said, pleased with herself. That hadn't taken nearly as long as she'd expected. "Is there—" She looked at the troll tank and saw a gaping hole in one side. Dropping the vegetables, she let out a gasp. "W-what happened to the tank?" she asked as she ran to cover the hole.

Oh, this wasn't good. Poppy froze where she was. "Uuuhh..."

"Well..." Satin trailed off.

"You see..." Chenille tried.

Bridget could only think of one possibility. She'd had no trouble holding onto her nine trolls before. It had to be one of the new ones. She looked at Branch—he was the most likely culprit, given how violent and armed he was.

Branch felt her gaze on him but hardly cared. He lifted his head up and looked at her. If he lied, he could save himself...but then one of the others would be in trouble, most likely Poppy.

He couldn't live with that. He decided on the truth. "...Yep," he answered Bridget's unspoken question.

"You put a hole in the tank?" Bridget asked.

Poppy ran right over to him, blocking him from Bridget's view. She waved her arms frantically as she said, "No, no, no! I-it wasn't him this time! It was me! I did it to save my friends!"

The rest of the Snack Pack gasped.

"Oh, my ga!"

"What!?" Branch asked behind her.

"You? But..." Bridget pointed at Branch uncertainly. Somehow it just made more sense for him to be the culprit.

"Well, duh, Bridge," Poppy answered. "Who else here cares so much about everyone else they'd risk their necks to save 'em? Branch here only cares about himself! Everyone knows it. Right, guys?" She turned a smug look on the others—if they were going to insist on believing that, she'd use it to save Branch's neck.

They weren't sure what to say. On the one hand, most of them did still think Branch was selfish. But, on the other hand, he was the one who put the hole in the tank.

"Uh, well—" Smidge stammered.

Chenille started, "Actually—"

"Er..." Satin said.

Only Cooper sounded confident when he said, "Yup!"

"Well, that is true, but—" Guy began.

Poppy cut him off cheerfully, turning back to Bridget, "Ya see!? So Branch couldn't have done it because he's way too selfish to!"

Branch just stared for a moment, then turned away and looked back at the ground. He'd let her do this for now if she intended to take the blame, but he'd step in if it looked like anything bad was going to happen to her because of it.

Bridget, meanwhile, thought that made very little sense as she replaced the cut glass and taped it into position. Branch didn't seem selfish—he'd asked for food to keep the others healthy, and he'd tried to help them all escape yesterday. But if everyone insisted he hadn't done it, then him taking the blame might just have been another instance of him trying to help the others stay out of trouble.

Okay, now it made sense.

"...Oh. Well, how did you do this, anyway?" Bridget asked Poppy as she finished fixing the tank.

"Simple! I used my shovel to cut into the glass," Poppy answered, pointing at an object on the ground near the former hole, "then I pushed it off!"

Branch glanced over there and saw his shovel. He mentally kicked himself—he'd missed it when packing things up again. Was he in that much of a hurry to get out of here that he'd really almost left something behind?

"It was easy. You bergens really need to reinforce your cages better. Anyone could break through that," Poppy finished, smiling smugly.

"Really? I guess it must be old," Bridget said. She opened the tank and took out the shovel. "You don't have anything else you could use to break the glass, do you?"

Poppy shuffled her foot a little nervously. "Well, there is my mallet and knife and possibly my screwdriver that I asked Branch if he could carry for me... Oh! And Branch has a baseball bat and some weird knife thing that he thought could cut glass better!" She crossed her arms, giving a smug smile again, as she continued, "Can you believe that? I mean, what cuts glass better than a shovel anyway?"

"Poppy!" Branch protested, whirling to face her. She'd just told the bergen about way too many of his tools.

Bridget thought that a lot of things would cut glass better than a shovel, but she kept that to herself. "Branch? Can I have those?" she asked the gray troll. "...And the mace?"

If they were going to use those things to escape, he'd just have to get over his fears and learn to trust her and Poppy to keep him safe.

Branch didn't answer. He just stood there, horrified, imagining all the things that could go wrong if he not only had no weapons but no tools to help them escape when things inevitably went wrong.

Seeing Branch frozen, Poppy hurried to grab his backpack, pulling it off his back and tossing it to Bridget before he even knew what happened. She then reached into his hair and started tossing things out, purposely skipping the tennis racket she'd given him. She did, however, find a few things up there that left her startled—a bear trap, a grappling hook, and a chainsaw.

"Here, Bridget, you devilish fiend, you!" Poppy said to the bergen, trying not to show her surprise. She glared at Bridget as she spoke. What in Troll Village were those even doing in there!?

"Poppy!" Branch protested.

Bridget gathered up all of the weapons and tools that Poppy tossed out. She gave the chainsaw a startled look, grateful that Branch hadn't tried to use that on her, and took the weapons away.

Once Bridget was out of earshot, Poppy put on a lame look, put a hand on her hip, and sarcastically said, "Oh, darn. Now we're all out of weapons. How will we ever escape now?"

"Ugh!" Branch whirled on her. "You're driving me crazy!"

Poppy turned to him, looking like she felt exactly the same. "So are you! She could have killed you, Branch! Just what were you thinking telling her that!?"

"What does it matter!? We're all going to die, anyway, and I wouldn't be stuck here with them if Bridget finished me off first!"

The implication there worried Poppy. He sounded suicidal, like he wanted to die, and it was her friends' faults. Now she was angry—angry at them for making Branch feel that way, and angry at Branch for even considering that as a solution to his problems. There was no way in the world she was letting him do that. Besides, he was overreacting. She had a plan to keep everyone alive, and she'd already told him this. Why did he always have to be such a pessimist?

She growled. "Stop it, Branch! Nobody's gonna die and especially not you! Urgh! Honestly! One wrong word from anyone's mouth and you completely freak out! What is your problem, anyway!? You're acting like this happened to you before!"

Bridget came back over, saying, "Okay, is that—"

"You don't know anything, Poppy!" Branch snapped, cutting Bridget off. "How long is it going to take you to realize the world's not what you think it is!?"

"When are you gonna realize that it's not all bad!? I mean, I know Smidge was way out of line back there, but you didn't help that any!"

Really, he didn't. Poppy could have stopped Smidge easily enough by just talking to her, but Branch's reaction had prevented that. Why was his immediate reaction to any threat always "attack first, ask questions later?" That never ended well for anyone, him included, she thought, remembering the comments about him being aggressive and the dead growlbeasts from earlier in this adventure. How was he supposed to redeem himself to the trolls if he never practiced any self control? It was almost as if he wanted them to hate him.

The twins looked at each other in concern. The way those two were going at it reminded them of Guy and Biggie, only instead of fighting over a love interest they were having an unhealthy lovers' quarrel.

"Smidge needs to learn not to attack people based on rumors," Branch said. "She lives a charmed life, and, if she's not careful, she'll lose that life! I ought to know! I mean, she almost hit you, which sounds like reckless endangerment of the princess to me! I live in a swamp alone because I made that mistake! Everyone hates me and thinks I'm some kind of dangerous beast! Even you think there's something seriously wrong with me! Now I'm stuck in a glass tank with you and a bunch of other blissfully ignorant rainbow trolls who are all about to meet the same fate as my whole family!"

Biggie and Cooper grimaced at each other. They knew what fate he was talking about—Trollstice.

Smidge sweat and looked at Biggie uncomfortably. She just realized she might be in trouble if they ever got home. "That law only applies if you're running the risk of killing her, don't it?"

"Yes," Biggie reassured her. "Don't worry, Smidge. You're safe." He handed her a cookie to help calm her.

With a gasp, Smidge snatched it in excitement. "A cookie!?" She happily munched it, forgetting all of her problems for now.

Branch glared at them both, then gestured at the scene as he said, "I rest my case! She's eating cookies in a breeding tank, getting ready to raise kids so they can be eaten by bergens! And she can get away with putting you in danger as long as you don't die from it!"

That last seemed especially unfair, considering that Smidge would have hurt Poppy herself whereas Branch's mistake wouldn't have technically been his doing. It seemed obvious to him, looking back, that King Peppy had stacked the odds against him, probably on purpose. What better way to get rid of the village outcast than to set him up as a law-breaker?

Watching this unfold, Bridget was definitely picking up on a lot of tension. "Uh... Is this a bad time?" she asked hesitantly.

Poppy slammed her eyes shut and threw her head back in exasperation. Branch was such a drama king! He wasn't the only one affected by Trollstice, so why was he making such a big deal out of it!? "Urgh! But, Branch, lots of trolls lost family because of that!" she told him. "You don't see Biggie or Cooper turning gray, now, do you!?" She gestured at the colorful trolls in question, both exasperated and angry. How could one guy be so difficult? "I mean, I get that you're still mad about what happened when we were kids, but—"

"You don't 'get' anything, Poppy! So Biggie and Cooper are still rainbow trolls! So what!?"

"So that's totally pathetic!" She threw her arms up over her head, sick of the unnecessary drama. "Seriously! The banishment thing makes a little sense, but you were gray way longer than that!" She pointed at him and started lecturing, "You need to suck it up and get over yourself before I—"

Branch couldn't take this anymore. She didn't know him, she didn't know what he'd been through, and she wouldn't understand even if she did. Who was she to lecture him?

"It's not like anyone else got their grandma killed, IS IT!?" he bellowed.

Nobody spoke, stunned into silence. Poppy stared at him. She hadn't expected that.

The anger went out of Branch then, and his shoulders slumped. He turned and walked away. When he hit another tank wall, he put his back to it and sat down, hugging his knees to his chest. He put his head down to hide the tears threatening to fall—he refused to cry in front of these guys. He wouldn't show that kind of weakness.

Cooper leaned toward Biggie and quietly said, "I did not see that coming. You?"

Biggie shook his head, looking at Branch sadly.

Poppy realized she might have gone too far this time. Looking sympathetic, she walked over to Branch. "How...did you get your grandma killed?" she asked gently. "Did you do the same thing to her you did with me?"

He lifted his head slightly and answered simply, "I was singing."

Poppy stared at him with wide eyes. Singing? Branch? Those two words didn't belong in the same sentence unless it was something like "Branch hates singing" or "Branch wouldn't be caught dead singing." Yet he had been singing once and gotten his grandma killed because of it? How did that happen?

She got her answer when he said, "That day, I was so lost in the song, I didn't hear my grandma trying to warn me. When a bergen came up behind me, she pushed me out of the way to save me. It took her instead." He kept his gaze averted as he spoke, refusing to look up at her.

Poppy looked at him sadly. And all this time she'd just thought he had a terrible voice. The rest of the Snack Pack headed over as well, all looking sympathetic. Even those who hadn't been at all sorry for anything Branch had gone through looked sorry now.

"Maybe I shouldn't have attacked him," Smidge said guiltily.

The others nodded in agreement.

"I haven't sung a note since," Branch finished.

"I'm so sorry, Branch... I had no idea..."

The others all looked at each other, really feeling the guilt now. As kids, they'd all thought Branch was a boring spoilsport. Now...they'd just learned the reason why he'd been like that. It was apparent to them now that they had misjudged him. All this time, there had been a reason for his behavior—a really good reason. And they never knew. It wasn't that he hated anyone—except maybe himself.

Maybe what happened with Poppy ten years ago really had been an accident.

Smidge took a tentative step forward, her fingers laced together in front of her and a guilty look in her eyes. She said, "Oh, wow. Branch, I-I'm sorry. I didn't know you were grouchy because of something like that!"

"Yeah," Cooper added. "I mean, if I knew that was what was going down, I never would've judged you like that."

"I'm sorry, too, Branch," Satin added. "That must have been terrible."

Poppy stood there staring at him for a bit longer before she ran up to hug him. She got down on her knees beside him and wrapped him in her arms.

She hadn't known his life had been so tragic so far. Sure, she'd known about the banishment and the fact that gray trolls were unhappy, but she'd had no idea that she was almost the second person whose death Branch blamed himself for. She was the lucky one—he'd managed to save her. His first "victim..." not so much. It was no wonder he'd felt so bad about the bird thing—something similar had happened once before, with him not paying attention and someone being snatched up and taken away. His life was so tragic that Poppy didn't even have words to describe it. It was no wonder, she thought, that he was so willing to give it all up. She was surprised he hadn't already, with that in mind.

It was a testament to how upset he was that he didn't even complain about the hug. He didn't mind Poppy hugging him on this occasion, at least. It did surprise him a bit, though—he'd just confessed to another time in his life when someone actually did die because of him, yet Poppy was hugging him? She'd seen him kill a couple of growlbeasts, nearly gotten killed by him multiple times, and now heard his deepest, darkest secret. Yet she was hugging him instead of rejecting him. This girl was... He wasn't sure what, but he knew he didn't deserve her.

Then things got weird—every member of the Snack Pack ran in to hug him, too, even the jealous Creek. Watching this scene and hearing Branch's story, Bridget kind of wanted to hug him, too, but she couldn't with them in the tank. She settled for looking down at him with sympathy instead.

Well, this was moderately less okay with Branch, although the fact that everyone wanted to hug him implied a level of care for him that he hadn't thought these guys capable of. With his emotions fully back under his control, Branch wiped his eyes—no tears would ever be shed among these people—and said, "Okay, that's enough." He started pulling free of the group hug, getting back on his feet, as he went on, "Let go, back off!"

The Snack Pack complied, allowing Branch to get away from their grip. Then they all looked at Cooper and Smidge in concern.

Cooper sweat and asked, "Am I too close?"

Smidge sighed and looked down. She felt a bit embarrassed about her behavior now. "Sorry for attacking..." she mumbled.

Branch chose not to acknowledge either of them. He still hated Cooper, and he still didn't trust Smidge. He didn't see either of those changing any time in the foreseeable future.

"Uh... Is everything okay?" Bridget asked.

Poppy moved closer to the bergen, a smile on her face, and answered, "Yeah we're all good. But what's all this about you and King Gristle? Huh? Huh?" She crossed her arms and fluttered her eyebrows at Bridget.

"Huh? What about me and the king?"

"I heard your song last night, Bridge. It was so sweet," Poppy told her, making a cutesy face at her.

"S-song? What song?" Bridget asked nervously. Had Poppy seen something?

Bridget got her answer when Poppy sang, "Hello. Is it me you're looking for?" She skipped ahead, singing, "And I want to tell you so much... I love you." She turned to Bridget, hands on her hips and a knowing look in her eyes, and asked, "Ringing any bells?"

Bridget sweat, now looking very uncomfortable. This was the last thing she needed, someone finding out about her secret crush. She tried to think of a way to deny it, but realized she couldn't. She sighed, slumping, and dejectedly said, "What does it matter? It's not like he even knows I'm alive."

"Bridget! I can help you! What if there was a way that we could both get what we want?"

"How?"

"See these trolls behind me?" Poppy asked, gesturing at them. "They're all my dearest friends. And I'd do anything to keep them safe. But that can't happen if they're all locked up in here. Sooner or later, each and every one of us is gonna get eaten unless you give us a chance to escape!"

"But, if you leave, then I'll be in trouble," Bridget answered, eyes widening. "I mean, I'm in charge of watching you, hel-lo?"

Poppy hadn't thought about that. She fidgeted uncomfortably, thinking of what to do. "...Well, not if at least one troll stays behind and puts all the blame on Chef again, right!?" She sounded nervous at the start of that—she knew what she had to do, and it seemed she couldn't keep her promise to Branch that nobody would die.

Most of Poppy's friends cried, "What!?" They looked horrified, eyes wide.

"Poppy, what are you thinking?" Branch asked her.

Guy started, "You can't mean that—"

Looking resigned, Poppy turned to them all and said, "It's the only way, guys! I'm not risking everyone else getting hurt! And besides..." She turned back to Bridget, closing her eyes and putting a hand on her chest. "It's my duty as princess... My people's safety comes first. Even if it costs me everything."

"Aw..." the Snack Pack crooned, touched by that level of caring. Several put their hands to their chests.

Guy wiped a tear from his eye and said, "That's so beautiful it's almost too beautiful!"

"Oh, Poppy..." Biggie sniffled.

Leave Poppy behind? Not in a million years. "Yeah, and I can't take that as an answer," Branch told her.

"I'm sorry, Branch. It's the only way..." she said, turning to him as she slowly opened her eyes, "to make things up to you..."

She felt resigned and guilty. Her family had made Branch's already miserable life worse, and it was partially her fault. If she hadn't been out there that day, none of that would have happened.

The Snack Pack gave another collective, "Aw."

"It's so beautiful!" Chenille cried.

"It's so tragic!" Satin agreed.

The two hugged each other, both on the verge of tears. This was starting to look just like some tragic love story, and that line sounded like the parting words of one before their lover dies, separating them forever.

Branch ignored the idiocy that was Poppy's friends and countered, "No, that's not going to make anything up to me! Poppy, nothing that's happened to me was your fault!"

She smiled sadly at him and said, "Goodbye, Branch..." Then she turned back to Bridget, smiling normally again, and asked, "So, Bridge? What do you say? Let my friends go, and we'll get you a date with the king?"

The Snack Pack looked at each other apprehensively, but they nodded in agreement, choosing to respect Poppy's wishes. Branch looked around at all of them, enraged that they could think this was the right time to leave Poppy behind.

"...But...how?" Bridget asked. "I can't just walk right up to the king! His royal awesomeness would never talk to a scullery maid like me." She looked at her hands, tapping her fingers together.

Poppy thought about it for a second before answering, "What if he didn't know you were a scullery maid? What if he thought you were this total babe?"

"What kind of total babe would be dressed like a scullery maid!?" Bridget asked, holding out the skirt of her dress to emphasize her point. "I smell like gravy."

"Good point, Bridget," Branch said. He looked at Poppy and asked, "How are you planning on getting around that, huh?"

"Branch," Poppy said as she gave him a lame look. You're doing it again. Stop being so pessimistic!

"What if we made you a new outfit?" Satin suggested, jumping forward.

"I'm thinking..." The twins gasped and looked at each other before both finished Chenille's thought with, "jumpsuit!"

Oh, come on! Branch thought, frustrated. Am I the only one who doesn't want to sacrifice Poppy to escape!? Talk about endangering the princess she's doing it herself!

"What's the point of a jumping suit if I still have this hair?" Bridget asked, looking at her short pigtails in disdain.

Branch nodded in agreement, further crushing Bridget's self esteem.

"Oh, we can fix that!" Poppy said, and the others nodded in agreement.

"Oh, come on!" Branch cried, frustrated.

"Branch. Chill," Poppy said lamely. "I've got this."

Honestly, she just couldn't believe this guy sometimes. Here she was, trying to save everyone, and he was shooting her down at every turn! What was his problem, anyway? It was as if he wanted to stay now.

"That's what I'm afraid of!" he told her.

Now she knew what he was doing: He still didn't want to leave her behind. But there wasn't anything she could do about that.

She just looked at him for a second before saying, "I'm sorry, Branch. It's the only way." She turned back to Bridget and asked, "So? That work for you?"

"What's the point of a new outfit and new hair...if I don't even know what a total babe would ever say?"

"We can help with that, too!"

"Of course, you can," Branch muttered.

"Really?"

"So? What do you say, Bridget? Can my friends go if we get you a date with the king and I stay to pin the blame on Chef?"

Bridget thought about it, taking in the encouraging looks from most of the trolls.

There's gotta be another problem. Please let there be another problem! Branch thought desperately.

Finally Bridget said, "Let's do it?"

Branch's eyes widened. No!

"A-five, six, seven, eight!" Poppy cued her friends, dancing around excitedly.

The Snack Pack sang, "When you look in the mirror, let it disappear, all your insecurities."

While they sang, Bridget removed the lid uncertainly, letting the trolls out.

"Hold it, hold it, HOLD IT!" Branch bellowed, waving his arms in front of him with each reiteration.

Bridget froze with the lid of the tank still in hand.

Poppy eyed Branch in disturbed confusion. "Uh, Branch? What's—"

"I'm not leaving you here," he cut her off firmly.

As the others used their hair to grab the edge of the tank and pull themselves out, Poppy turned to him in exasperation. "Ugh! What are you talking about, Branch!? Of course you're—"

"No, Poppy, I'm not," he cut her off. "I don't care if that means I have to sneak back in and try to rescue you myself. Either we both leave here together, or neither of us leaves at all."

"But, Branch, if you did that, you'd run the risk of—" She cut herself off with a gasp, eyes widening as that fully sank in. "Wait. What did you say?" she asked, looking at him with disbelief.

"You heard me."

The Snack Pack gasped, too.

Creek, looking bitter, turned away. "Uh-huh. I knew it."

"Oh, my ga. The feeling's mutual!" Smidge cried, slapping her hands to her cheeks. Silently she added, Now I really wish I hadn't done that!

"Aw!" the twins cooed, holding hands.

Everyone started gossiping at once, either awestruck, excited, or touched.

"I think he likes you," Bridget told Poppy.

As the gossip continued, Poppy looked around uncomfortably. "Uuuhh..." She backed away from her friends as she started blushing.

They had a point—Branch's intense desire to stay with her was exactly what a guy might do with his lover at a time like this. But she thought he didn't like her all that much! He always said she was annoying, too cheery, and too positive, despite the fact that they were friends. Where was this coming from all of a sudden? For crying out loud, he agreed with her that Branch Appreciation Day made her look like a lunatic! If he left her here, he'd be free of the maniac who'd created that abomination!

It hit Branch all of a sudden what that sounded like. He sweat, crossed his arms, and added, "Besides, it makes more sense for me to stay behind, not you. You've got a lot more to live for. Your friends, your dad, your people. The only person who'd care if I was gone is a selfless princess who cares about everyone."

Really, that was the only sensible thing—leave him here and let Poppy go. Nobody would miss him, so it would be like nobody was sacrificed. He didn't want to be here alone with her. He'd only said neither of them leave if they don't leave together because he doubted she would go without him. But he knew he wouldn't be able to leave her here. She was the only troll who cared what happened to him, even though she had every reason to hate him. She didn't deserve to die like this.

Poppy gave him a lame look. Was he serious right now? "...We're both staying. There's no way I'm letting you do this alone. Not with that attitude."

Staying behind to save everyone was one thing, but doing it to end your own life because you were unloved? Since that's what it sounded like his other reason was, there was no way Poppy was letting that slide in a million years.

"Aw. Look at that, Smidge," Guy said, giving her an excited smile. "It's just like you and me!"

She looked awkward and said, "Uh...Guy?"

"Are you forgetting Smidge is with me?" Biggie asked.

Poppy whirled on them, her eyes wide in confusion. "She is, Biggie? When did that happen?" Silently she added, I mean, I get that you both hooked up for the breading thing, but—

"Oh, you know! When he stole her from me by being a worm-hugging elf! Everyone knows we'd have made the better match if not for that!" He crossed his arms, looking extremely jealous as he turned his back to Biggie.

Calling another troll "elf" was greatly insulting. All the other Snack Pack members gasped and covered their mouths.

"Ah! Guy, how could you?" Biggie asked, hurt. "Smidge made her choice, and she chose me!"

Creek stepped in, saying, "Alright, everyone. Let's all calm down. There's no need for all this negativity. We've got enough drama as is." He gave Branch a jealous look before turning back to the others with a smile and adding, "Besides! We all promised Poppy we'd help Bridget get a date with the king! So then, if we're all done with negotiations, I suggest we get on with it!" He turned to the three negotiators and asked, "Well?"

Poppy looked at Branch uncertainly. She really didn't want him to stay—she knew full well that those left behind would be facing a lot more danger than those who left. He'd been through enough already, so she just wanted him to be able to go home...but he was adamant about not leaving her.

Branch shrugged. "As long as you're not trying to stay here alone, do what you have to do."

Poppy looked up at Bridget the same way.

"I'm okay with that," the bergen said.

Poppy looked at the others, then she closed her eyes and sighed. "Sure, why not? It's not like he ever listens to me anyway," she said, gesturing behind her to Branch in defeat. She was also rather annoyed with him—why did he always have to make things so difficult?

Branch crossed his arms and smirked. "We do that to each other."

Poppy turned to him with a lame look. She quickly turned it to a smile as she jumped out of the tank to join her friends, saying, "Okay, people! Hair we go!"

Poppy grabbed Branch and dragged him with her to Bridget's head. The Snack Pack all leaped onto the bergen scullery maid and swirled their hair together in a rainbow wig, singing, "You, you, you, you, you..."

"You gotta let it show..." Poppy sang. Her friends (minus the non-singing Branch) echoes the last word.

Loving her new hairstyle, Bridget smiled, excited. This might actually work! She put on the pink and black jumpsuit the twins had made for her in minutes and a pair of pink platform heels. With her nails painted a shade of pink by Cooper, who realized he should have done that before getting on her head, she set out to find the king.

"I'm coming..." Poppy sang, dancing to the beat with everyone but Branch. "I'm coming..."

"Awright, awright," Cooper sang.

"Out."

As Bridget made her way through the halls of the castle, bergen servants and guards stopped working and stared at her in amazement. She was the most attractive thing in this castle.

"I'm coming... I'm coming out."

So distracted were the bergens that they didn't even realize this total babe hadn't come in from outside. They were all too entranced by—or jealous of—her beauty to care.

"I'm coming..."

With the trolls' encouragement and the reactions she was getting from everyone, Bridget, previously very nervous about this, grew much more confident.

"Yo!" she said, joining in their song as she now danced her way down the hall toward the throne room, where the king was holding court. "I'm coming out, like the sun after rain."

She passed a window, showing a dark, rainy sky. As she went by, the rain suddenly stopped and the sun shone bright.

"Ready to shine, no time to be plain."

A bergen guard she was passing started drooling on his spear. His partner, jealous, punched him upside the head.

"Ow! What!?" he complained.

His partner just narrowed his eyes at him as Bridget carried on.

"Feeling good, gonna get, get what I, what I want."

She passed some maids, who all stopped working and looked at her. They looked down at themselves, feeling considerably less attractive than Bridget, and sighed, feeling jealous.

"Gonna show ery, erybody how I, how I bump," Bridget continued, causing one of the guards to swoon as she shook her hips. She continued along to the throne room, now with many bergens following her along. She twirled on one foot, arms above her head, and rapped, "Look at me now, my confidence is soaring. Dudes be impressed with the points I'm scoring, like..."

She stopped at the end of a line of bergens waiting to have their complaints heard by the king. She pointed at some of the guys, cuing them for the next part. "That ain't boring," they joined her rap number, responding to her signal.

Bridget continued her dance and rap while waiting in line, earning stares from all the other bergens. "And I just don't quit. Watch the king drop his jaw when I'm shaking my hips, I'm saying."

All the trolls but Branch sang and danced along with her, backing her up. Branch just sat there, feeling like he was surrounded by idiots.

"She's coming out," Poppy sang.

"She's coming," her friends echoed.

"It's time to take a stand," Poppy sang.

"And show the world that I'm..." Bridget continued the song as the line grew shorter. She posed impressively as Poppy poked out of her hair slightly, a smile on her face.

"She's..." Poppy sang.

"Coming out..." the girls sang together, smiling at each other.

Poppy held her hand up for a high five. Bridget lifted her index finger and let Poppy high five that as they grinned slyly at each other.

So far, so good. They had managed to give Bridget the confidence she'd need to pull this off. Now they just had to get her a date with the king. And Poppy still had to find some way to get Branch out of here as well. She wanted all of her friends to be safe, not just some.

A/N: Branch's comment about Biggie and Cooper being "still rainbow trolls" isn't based on their troll family in this case. He's referring to the fact that they didn't lose their colors and are still "rainbow" in coloring rather than gray, like him.