Hello everyone, and welcome to another chapter. It's a long one, so I'll just say that usual comments and disclaimers apply.

Also, I want to warn everyone in advance: I'd give a strong T rating to this chapter, primarily towards its end.

Chapter 20 – A Grim Triumph

After a quick meal, the gang began to head home the next morning. Much as they'd like to stay with Sue, Ross and Herbie for another day, they knew they had to get back. They knew their family and friends would be concerned with their absence, especially given their abrupt departure to bring Shorty back from the brink, and their return would bring peace of mind to everyone worried about them.

But they knew that probably no one was more eager for their return than Tricia's gang and Hyp, Mutt, and Nod. While the two groups were very different, Littlefoot knew that at this moment, they both wanted the same thing, access to get back into the Secret Spot, with the former wanting a place to play happily together without having any trouble, and the latter wanted to see their two struggling friends, who were dealing with their challenges on the other side of the Secret Spot's boulder.

Everyone knew that even with Tippy and Sophie's help, the littler dinosaurs would have a hard time moving the boulder without them, and that they undoubtedly had been searching through the whole Great Valley for the gang. All of them, especially Shorty, were feeling slightly guilty for not letting anyone know that they were gone, and knew they had to get back to the Secret Spot as soon as possible.

As they headed back, they first talked about Sue, Ross and especially Herbie for a little bit. However, this caused a lot of self-consciousness, for the very thought of a mixed-parent child was enough to force uncomfortable questions to the top of everyone's mind. Having been through these with Chomper and knowing the others weren't quite as open about things like this as she was, Ducky took it upon herself to change the subject. "What about the rainbow faces' visit last night?"

"Oh, not this again," Cera groaned exasperatedly.

"You have to admit Cera," Littlefoot pointed out. "That it's kinda strange they keep checking in on us."

"And it's always when the ten of us are together," Guido pointed out.

"And they make it way too hard," Shorty said irritably. "They talk about their clues as though we've just heard them … Like anyone can remember all that crap. It's not like they'd do anything useful and give us the clues again."

"That would be telling, wouldn't it?" Cera deadpanned, causing the others to stare and snicker. "What? It's not like I haven't heard them say that way too many times."

"Well, they kinda did give some of them again," Chomper pointed out brightly. "They told us that we would meet new dinosaurs our age in the Valley, and we have!"

"For good or for ill," Ali said. "Chomper's right, at least that clue makes sense."

Cera snorted. "Well I'll say for ill. We've got Earl attacking Sis, Brara creeping Petrie out …"

"You right, she kinda creepy. But me no know for sure she bad inside," Petrie interrupted. "If she Pterano daughter, maybe tree star no fall far from tree and she good inside, even if she have funny way of showing it."

"Yeah, if," Cera sneered.

"Maybe you're right Petrie," Littlefoot said. "Just because someone acts badly doesn't mean they're bad inside."

"Well, we know Earl's bad inside," Shorty growled. "He tried to kick me out of the Great Valley! He's the reason why my Dad hates me ..."

"Shorty, Dad does not hate you," Littlefoot said at once. "I think the only reason he did that was to try to protect you."

"Protect me? How?" Shorty asked angrily.

"He wants to make sure you understand you can't hurt anyone else," Littlefoot explained. "Otherwise, you'll be in even real danger, beyond what he can do to help you."

"Yeah, you're kinda like me that way," Chomper said knowingly.

Shorty looked at Chomper. "What do you mean? I'm not a sharptooth."

"No, but we both have to be extra careful to control ourselves because of who we are," Chomper explained. "Let's say a couple grownups get mad and get into a fight. They could be really angry, but unless one's a lot smaller than the other or they're trying to hurt each other, neither would really get hurt."

"Yeah, so?"

"Well, let's say someone got into a fight with me," continued Chomper. "They could get mad as they want and probably only leave me with a few bruises. But if I lose control, I could end up killing them with just one scratch or bite, even though I'd never mean to."

"Yeah, well, you're a sharptooth," Shorty countered.

"Right," Chomper explained. "It isn't fair that I can't get away with something everyone else could. But I am what I am, and I've just gotta live with that. Just like you've got to live with how big you are."

Shorty looked confused. "You mean ... My size can make me as dangerous as you? Pah, yeah right."

Littlefoot however, seized a sudden idea. On the ground, he eyed a long, sturdy but dead branch from a burned tree. "Shorty," he said. "How about we play some tug of war?"

"You're on," Shorty said cockily, his eyes lighting up. So they found a clearing, and Petrie and Guido stood right between them while the others watched. "All right, when me say pull, you pull!" Petrie announced. "Marks, set ... Pull!"

So Littlefoot and Shorty began pulling at the tree branch. At first, neither one budged, but soon, Littlefoot, despite digging his heels in, slowly felt himself getting dragged toward Shorty's side. Littlefoot saw that Shorty, unable to resist a competitive game, was really getting into it, his eyes sparkling in triumph. Once Littlefoot's front paw dragged past Petrie and Guido, Shorty cheered, "All right, I win!"

"Good game, Shorty!" Littlefoot said encouragingly.

"Right, now you wanna take both Littlefoot and I on?" Cera dared.

"You bet!" Shorty said boisterously.

So Littlefoot and Cera pulled on one side of the branch and Shorty heaved on the other. This time however, neither side made much progress, fighting each other to a standstill.

"You three look evenly matched, you do," Ducky observed.

"Maybe the rest of us should join in," Chomper suggested.

So only after Spike, Chomper, Ducky and Ruby filed in with Littlefoot and Cera did Shorty finally feel himself getting pulled over. But after Ali joined Shorty's side, the tide immediately turned, and the two of them once again were in a standstill against the other six. Then Littlefoot and Ali each left the game, leaving Shorty to tug against Cera, Spike, Chomper, Ducky and Ruby. This too ended up as a stalemate. But then Ruby put her hands down, and slowly, Shorty began to pull the other four over. "Well what do you know?" Shorty said proudly. "I'm really good at this!"

"Yeah you are," Littlefoot nodded. "See what we mean now about how strong you are?"

Shorty's smile vanished at once. "You tricked me! You guys didn't try hard!"

"No Shorty, we pulled as hard as we could, but in the end, you could pull harder than any of us," Ruby reasoned.

Shorty looked stricken before Chomper went up to him. "It's okay Shorty," he reassured. "Your strength is a part of who you are, just like my diet is a part of who I am. And though we can't change it, we can learn to make the best of the bad and celebrate the good of who we are."

"Yeah," Cera piped up. "Even though you can't get away with being as mad as I can, you can also stop anyone who'd try to hurt you. Just one step and bam! You'll flatten anyone who'd be that stupid."

"Which makes you a lot safer than the rest of us," Ruby said. "So only packs of sharpteeth like we just saw could give you trouble."

Shorty wanted to keep on denying it but seeing how badly he injured Earl made it impossible. "I didn't mean to hurt him," Shorty sighed. "Not like that ... Even though he deserved it."

"I don't know Shorty," Ali said quietly. "I'm not sure Earl's really bad inside."

"What?" Shorty asked, flabbergasted. "He was a real jerk with you! Claiming you as his like that! It made me sick! And I'm sure it made you sick too!"

"It did make me uncomfortable," Ali acknowledged. "And I'm not saying he's innocent. But ... he did tell us which way you went, Shorty. And without him, we might not have been able to find you ... And having you back ... more than makes up for anything he might have done."

Shorty was at a loss for words as Ali turned away with a slight blush plainly visible on her face. Luckily for them, Cera cut in. "All right, back to the farwalkers. Even besides Brara and Earl, there's still plenty of creeps. There's stupid Monty, who lied to my face to get me to attend my dad's crazy rant. And then there's Veno who's such a specieist jerk ... Though I can't blame him for complaining about Bella and Leigh. They're way too gaga for each other, and make other mixed couples like us look stupid. Then you've got Tuck's tail biting, Gus and Len following whatever the hell stupid order Earl comes up with, and Halle coming in and causing Ceph to ditch his other friends. A whole bunch of characters, who knows if we can trust any of them."

Ducky giggled. "You do not trust anyone, Cera. But they cannot all be bad. Some of them have to be good inside."

"I'll believe it when I see it," Cera retorted.

"Let's think about the other clues they mentioned," Ruby suggested.

"Well, they mentioned those sleep stories," Littlefoot said. "Everyone still remember yours from that night?"

The gang paused for a moment, before nodding. "The Rainbow Faces keep talking about our sleep stories, so maybe we should go over them again," Ruby suggested. "Besides, the more we'd go over them, the better we'd remember them."

"Ugh, not again!" Cera complained.

"We might as well Cera," Ruby said. "I'll even start. I was in a dark cave, so because it was dark, I couldn't see anything. I was hiding from something. I don't know what, but I will say I was really, really, really mad. I felt like bubbling goo was erupting everywhere within me. I felt my fists clench ... And vowing to myself that I would get revenge on whoever it was who did this me."

"Ruby, you didn't say you wanted to get revenge in your sleep story," Chomper explained in surprise. "That doesn't sound like you!"

"Huh, I didn't?" Ruby said. "That's funny ... I must have forgot. Hey, if I forgot to mention that, there are more details we might have forgot that we won't forget again if we tell each other."

"That could help us piece the puzzle together!" Chomper exclaimed. "I'll go next! Well like Ruby, I was really, really angry. I felt painfully alone and powerless ... And I knew I had to toughen myself up and become as strong as I could be so I'd never feel that way again. I wanted to make myself so feared and invincible so that ... I could get revenge on those who ... Hey, there's something Ruby and my sleep stories had in common," he said. "We both wanted revenge."

Everyone looked expectantly as Ruby asked, "Chomper, where were you in your sleep story?"

"Well," Chomper said, "Call me crazy but ... I think I was on an island, like the one my parents and I lived growing up."

Ruby frowned. "Well it doesn't seem as though our dreams took place in the same place, as I was in a cave."

"Who did you want revenge against? And what for?" Littlefoot asked thoughtfully.

Ruby shook her head. "I don't know, I was alone, and I couldn't see anything," Ruby said. "And all I could feel was a seething fury within myself ..."

"I ... don't know either," Chomper said uncomfortably. "It doesn't feel good to think like that."

"All right, I'll go next," Shorty said. "I was angry too, madder than I've ever been. And I know I was definitely a sharptooth, because I could tell because I wanted flesh," he said, sticking his tongue out in disgust. "And where was I? I guess I was out in the Mysterious Beyond ... Yeah, that's it, somewhere nearby here. Because I saw Saurus Rock. And that made me really mad. Looking at it made me want to rip it to shreds. I don't know if I wanted revenge on a rock. But for some reason, I sure was mad looking at it."

Chomper and Ruby looked at each other. "I think we'd remember if we were mad at Saurus Rock," Chomper told Ruby, who nodded in agreement. "We must have been mad at something else."

"So the three of you all felt really mad," Ducky said thoughtfully. "Maybe I was mad in my sleep story too ... But I do not think so. I was more excited, I was. I was hopping along a riverbank, feeling tall grasses under my toes. And I felt really light on my feet, but I had this big rush of energy in here," Ducky said, pointing to her heart. "It was almost like I was playing a game that I had to win, I did."

"I wasn't angry either," Ali said. "I was really looking up to someone. It wasn't a parent, he was only a little older than me. He kinda felt like a big brother, which is funny since I'm an only child. But I kind of ... Well, hero worshipped him," Ali said, embarrassedly. "Being by his side made me feel warm and strong inside. I felt like I had to support him at all costs and give him the power I knew he deserved," she said.

"Please don't tell me you're talking about Earl," Cera snarked.

Ali giggled as Shorty eyed her. "Oh no, it wasn't Earl. In fact, I'm not even sure I was in my own body, if you know what I mean ..."

"How about you Spike?" Ducky asked. "How did you feel?"

Once again, Spike rubbed his tummy.

"Big surprise," Cera said. "Spike felt hungry."

"Did you feel anything else, Spike?" Littlefoot asked.

Spike thought hard, trying to recall the rest of his sleep story and then thinking of a way to communicate it. At last, he tried communicating by mouthing and grunting, before nuzzling his first four friends and grunting affectionately.

"Hey Spike," Ducky asked. "Were you mad at anyone?"

Spike thought for a moment before nodding, and strangely, pointed at himself.

Unsure of what to make of Spike's sleep story, Guido went next. "Like I said, I can't remember much of mine," he said. "But I do remember feeling life wasn't fair. And that somehow, I had to ... Do something about it. To get back at ... Them," he said, pausing.

"Them?" Littlefoot asked.

"I don't know who," Guido said. "But it was them. I thought about them, whoever it was," Guido said puzzledly.

"Me go next," Petrie sighed. "Me no know why me feel like this, but me feel on top of Bright Circle in sleep story. "Me flying so high land looks tiny and me no see waves in Big Water. And me feel better than everybody else. Like whole world mine and me just had to prove meself."

"I still do not get what story the sleep stories are telling us," Guido said.

"It not who we are, that for sure," Petrie said before teasing, "Well maybe sleep story is who Cera is."

Cera snorted again. "If you think I'm gonna tell you what happened in that stupid sleep story …" she said. "It's just a load of sharptooth dirt, all right?" she snapped.

Littlefoot, however was persistent. "Come on Cera. Tell you what, I'll go next, and then you can tell us one thing. Just one thing."

"Pretty please?" Ducky asked sweetly as everyone looked at Cera imploringly, who groaned and said, "Fine."

"Okay," said Littlefoot. "Well, I was a sharptooth in my sleep story, and I felt really hungry ... I was stalking my prey, and then I attacked," Littlefoot said uncomfortably. "We got into a fight, and then I woke up. And how I felt ... I remember thinking of my prey being beneath me ... It was like it was almost a game, where the goal was just to destroy my prey as soon as possible."

Littlefoot saw Chomper's eyes widen in fear and looking at his own claws uncomfortably. "Littlefoot, I ... I ..." Almost immediately, he realized he had elaborated too much. Chomper was looking very pale all of a sudden, and he was only glad that he didn't mention that he happened to be a sharptooth hatchling in the sleep story, and that the prey he attacked was a threehorn.

"It's okay, Chomper," Littlefoot tried to reassure him, but Chomper cut him off. "Littlefoot ... I know what you're talking about. That's what sharpteeth feel like when we're on ... the chase."

The air was thick with tension as Chomper sighed, "In fact, you saw what I was like when I ..."

He trailed off, as Ali, Shorty and Guido gasped while the original gang looked at each other darkly and Ruby put her hand up soothingly on Chomper's knee. "You ... You ..." Guido tried asking, but he couldn't get the words out.

"Hunted them?" Ali asked, appalled as Chomper shamefully lowered his head.

"You sicko!" Shorty roared. "How could you ..."

"Shorty, listen!" Littlefoot interrupted. "Chomper's good inside."

"Yeah, he even bit me once," Cera admitted. "But he hasn't done anything like that for a long time. Even I have to admit."

"Yeah, since before Littlefoot even met you!" Petrie pointed out.

"For as long as I've known him, in fact," Ruby said. "And he was even willing to starve himself to prevent him from becoming a danger to anyone. I know, I tended to him every day when he was in that cave starving himself, begging him to not starve himself. And it wasn't until his parents showed him an alternative food source that he began to eat normally again."

Chomper smiled modestly, appreciating Ruby's strong words of encouragement. "So if you've got a problem with him, you've got a problem with me, because I will stand with him no matter what!" she said determinedly.

Guido was first to respond. "Wow, that's incredible."

"When you put it like that," Ali said in amazement. "I don't know if I could have done that!" she exclaimed, looking at Shorty, who blushed before saying, "Uh, yeah ... Sorry about that."

"It's okay," Chomper said. "Hey Ruby, I haven't told the others of the day I swore off leafeater meat, have I?"

"No you did not," Ruby smiled. "But now is not too late to tell that story now."

Chomper sighed and began sharing the story.

"It all started when my folks decided I was ready to begin hunting for bigger food. They raised me on that island, safe from other sharpteeth, where I had eaten lots of crawlers and buzzers, and my parents figured it was time. They asked me to hunt a shellback. But though I could jump on it and scratch at its shell, the moment it looked at me with those wide, fearful eyes ... I couldn't bring myself to actually bite its neck and kill it."

Chomper sighed and admitted. "My parents were getting scared. They only wanted what was best for me and didn't want me to starve. So though I couldn't bring myself to actually kill bigger things, they had me practice my skills by chasing things. They told me to think of it like a game, just as you said Littlefoot. And they probably hoped that I'd get so into it that I'd eventually get used to killing."

"You were a good chaser," Ducky said. "You had us scared when you chased us into that corner, you did."

"Yeah, Petrie not want to think about it," Petrie agreed.

"And your eyes," Littlefoot said. "They were so determined and focused I couldn't even recognize you."

"You looked like any other old sharptooth," Cera added as Spike agreed.

Chomper smiled sheepishly but Littlefoot said, "It all turned out okay though. Chomper recognized us, and he kept us safe from his parents."

"Except it wasn't his parents who we really needed saving from," Cera snarked.

Chomper nodded. "I guess being born in the Valley made me hesitant to attack leafeaters ... But meeting you guys again really made it a commitment," he explained. "Later that day when you guys left, my parents told me dinner was ready," Chomper gulped, before saying, "And they showed me that longneck they killed. That's why I was able to get away with saying I had longneck for breakfast," Chomper explained, before saying. "That's when it happened. Every time I looked at that longneck's carcass, I could only see you. I tried to ignore it, but it just wouldn't go away. And then mid-bite, when I was chewing on that flesh and I could taste blood all over my lips ... Something in me revolted, and I spat it all out."

Everyone looked on as Chomper continued, "And in that moment, I decided. I refused to take another bite and walked out right there. I was still hungry, but I didn't care. I wouldn't eat something that looked like my best friend ... No offense," he said to the others.

"None taken," Ducky smiled. "You and Littlefoot have a special bond, you do."

"Littlefoot stand up for you even when we all scared," Petrie admitted as Spike grunted.

"Or worse, act like big jerks," Cera added.

Chomper and Littlefoot smiled warmly at one another as Littlefoot said, "Chomper ... I never realized."

"Yeah," Chomper said. "My parents understood, but they were getting worried. The land pass was gone, see, and who knows when it would come back, and food was getting hard to come by. My parents found whatever washed onto shore and asked me to eat. But the thing is ... They were of a swimmer, threehorn, flyer and spiketail, and I could only see you guys when looking at them. And I refused every time."

Seeming not to want to stay on the subject, he cheekily turned to Cera. "So Cera ... We've shared all our sleep stories. It's your turn now. You promised, just one thing."

"Oh fine!" Cera snapped. "It took place in the Mysterious Beyond. Happy?"

"Yeah, a little vague, but good enough for now," teased Chomper.

"So let's think about this," Ruby said. "What do all these sleep stories have in common?"

"We all see through someone else," Petrie said. "And me like who we are better than who we were in sleep story."

"Oh yes yes yes," Ducky agreed. "None of us seemed very nice in our sleep stories. Even Spike had a bad side. All of us seemed to be ... I do not know, kind of dark inside."

"Hmph! You can say that again," Cera interjected as many of the others looked at one another, knowing Cera most likely dropped an inadvertent hint. "Whatever they are, they're sure NOT how to behave."

Having felt they made good progress and deciphered everything they could on the sleep stories, Littlefoot asked. "So what about the other clues? There were four of them."

By now however, such time had passed and so much had been going on that they had mostly forgotten the clues that the rainbow faces only vaguely mentioned. All they had to go on was how the Rainbow Faces described each clue. "The first clue is happening, the second is something we are doing right," Ducky pondered. "The third we are doing good with too, stopping it, whatever it is. But the fourth clue does not look good, it does not."

"Hey, I remember bits of those clues," Guido piped up.

"You do?" Littlefoot asked hopefully

"Well, tiny bits. All I remember is they rhyme," Guido said, concentrating. "Let me think …"

Guido paused as the others looked at him hopefully. "Let's see. The first clue had begun and one, the second had years and peers, the third had break and wake, and the fourth had need and feed and vision and division."

"Ugh, rainbow face poetry," Cera groaned. "Well, it's obvious what the division is. Our folks fighting each other all the time."

"And that is the one that does not look good," Littlefoot said, nodding. "Their … Hey, that's it … The lack of their vision leads to division, or something like that."

"Like we didn't know that already," Cera snarked.

"Let us think on the bright side, yep yep yep," Ducky put in. "The third clue was break and wake …"

"Hang on, I think that was the metaphor," Littlefoot realized. "Yeah, that's it! The web may break … The web being the relationship everyone has with another."

"And if we doing good with it," Petrie said. "That mean we already help keeping web together! That good!"

"And the other good one is years and peers …" Chomper said.

"Wasn't there dark and light in that one?" Ruby asked. "Something about dark years and light peers …"

"Dark years … Light peers," Chomper said thoughtfully.

"Wait, isn't it the path is dark by not having years, but light will come from our peers?" Guido remembered.

"Yeah, that sounds right," Ruby said reasonably.

"Who are our peers?" Shorty said. "I hope you don't mean those creepy farwalkers."

"It could be," Littlefoot said. "Or Hyp and his friends, or Tricia's …"

Then suddenly, Chomper smiled, "That's it!"

His eyes were gleaming, but no one else seemed to get it. "What are you saying?" Littlefoot asked.

"You know how they said we'd be going on an adventure?" Chomper said breathlessly. "We don't know where we're going, hence our path there is dark … Because we don't know how to get there! But someone does, our peers, Tricia and her friends!"

"What?" Cera asked, aghast.

"No listen!" Chomper exclaimed. "Thicknose gave them a lesson about directions. Something he never gave us. Maybe they know the way we have to go!"

"Go where?" Guido asked tentatively, but then Littlefoot gasped, remembering something the Rainbow Faces said.

"Something that happened that no one but us seemed to know about," Littlefoot said, repeating the Rainbow Face's clue from the prior night. Suddenly, the significance of one event dawned on him. It happened the night of his grandparents' death, and all of them had seen it. But when they asked Mama Swimmer and Flyer about it, they didn't see it, and no one else had made any comment about it. His heart racing, he exclaimed, "That flying rock! That big flying rock landing somewhere far away the night I lost my grandparents! And some dust sprinkled in our eyes … The rock that we were able to see but the others couldn't!"

And suddenly, Littlefoot's heart began pounding. Suddenly, everything was fitting together. The darkened path, the Rainbow Faces' sudden appearances, all the mysteries …

"Guys," Littlefoot said excitedly. "I think … I think we saw a Stone of Cold Fire!"

"What?" Cera exclaimed in disbelief. "There's no such thing as a Stone of Cold Fire! We found that out from those stupid wingbrains!"

"No, all we found out was that that rock wasn't a Stone of Cold Fire," Littlefoot said hurriedly. "But who's to say there isn't a real Stone of Cold Fire? Why else would the Rainbow Faces keep appearing? What if ... We have to go find it?"

"Well even if there is a Stone of Cold Fire! How the heck are we supposed to get to it? It could have fallen anywhere!"

"And wherever it fell, it sure was far!" Petrie gasped. "No way me could fly all way over there meself!"

"I'm sure that's not what we're supposed to do Petrie," Littlefoot said. "If we are to go on this journey … Maybe we'd all have to go together …"

Most of the others looked intrigued with this conclusion. Cera however still wouldn't budge. "Okay, how about this? If we were supposed to go find this Stone of Cold Fire or whatever it is, why wouldn't the Rainbow Faces just say that? If it was so important, you think they'd be telling us something useful rather than giving us these stupid clues. Besides, what would we even do with a Stone of Cold Fire, anyway? It's not like we want to take over the Great Valley like Pterano did."

"No go there," Petrie teased.

"You're right," Littlefoot said thoughtfully. "They don't seem to act like we should be in a hurry. Maybe there's something else we need to do first."

"Well if there is, it better be in the Great Valley," Cera snorted. "Because I don't want to risk my neck for some crazy adventure in the Mysterious Beyond."

Littlefoot smirked. "Like we don't do that already," he said playfully.

"Shut up," Cera teased, and the two of them broke out snickering.


At last, they had returned to the Great Valley the same way they came. Earl was still lying down, unable to move from his injuries, and while he friendlily greeted Ali as she passed, he couldn't help but roll his eyes in disgust as he and Shorty exchanged glances. Shorty however, remembering to keep his cool, did not escalate things further as they kept going further into the Valley.

It wasn't long though before they saw a swarming mob of hatchlings happily chirping as they boisterously ran over to greet them. Even from a distance, there was no mistaking who it was as they arrived, each out of breath and thoroughly excited.

"Hi Big Sis! You're finally here!" Tricia exclaimed, her eyes gleaming. "Can you open the Secret Spot up for us? Pretty please?"

"Hush or there won't be any Secret Spot," Cera grumbled.

"But sure, we can move that boulder," Littlefoot said, and he and his friends obligingly strolled over to the boulder as Tricia's gang scampered along to keep pace.

"You won't believe what that Hyp jerk has been like since you've been gone!" Mono said frustratedly. "He's a big bully!"

"Me no surprised, Hyp sure can get cranky," Petrie commiserated.

"He wanted us to help move that big boulder! As if we could do anything like that!" Cassia exclaimed.

"Like we could if his big friends couldn't," Oplax said.

"I was kinda scared," Perri said. "He was really angry!"

"Ah, don't listen to him," Cera said.

"He's probably tired from sealing the Valley's walls from his punishment for lashing out to Thicknose," Littlefoot pointed out.

"That right," Petrie agreed. "It no fun working that hard!"

"His punishment must be nearly over by now," Chomper said hopefully. "Maybe he'll be less grouchy then!"

"Oh yes yes yes!" Ducky agreed. "He will feel lots better when his punishment is over, he will!"

As they arrived at the boulder, they saw Hyp, Mutt and Nod standing by the Secret Spot's walls, Hyp looking impatient while Mutt and Nod looking confused, as if they were awaiting instructions.

"There you morons are," Hyp growled. "Where've you been? Out on some adventure, I suppose?" Hyp said mockingly.

"None of your business," Shorty said curtly, still guilty about the trouble he had caused everyone.

"We're sorry Hyp," Littlefoot said. "But we had to do something that's really important."

"Sure you did," Hyp growled. "Just move that stupid rock."

"Allow me," Shorty said, eager to prove himself, and with a great push, Shorty's sheer mass and strength allowed him to move the boulder aside all by himself as Ali looked at him, intrigued, having never seen him move a giant boulder before. Even when pushing rocks, he was kind of hot …

"Not bad," Hyp said, reluctantly impressed.

No sooner did Hyp, restless to get inside the Secret Spot, enter than someone already inside ran to greet him. Her face was flustered as she held her hands to her heart, struggling to keep it all in. "You've made it … Just in time! They're … Oh …"

For abruptly, Ann stopped herself, as her eyes fell upon the children, not easy to see next to the bigger dinosaurs. "Oh, uh …. You nosy kids didn't … I mean, uh … Sorry, I meant … Uh … I better go."

And sheepishly, Ann hurried back to the far side of the Secret Spot, causing the kids to look at each other with curious expressions. Seeing this, Hyp glared at them.

"You kids better stay out of this," he threatened. "Or you'll be very, very sorry!"

And he, Mutt and Nod hurried off to their side, Hyp glowering back at them every few moments.

"What's the chance Tricia and her friends will listen?" Chomper whispered to Cera as almost immediately, Tricia and her friends gathered into a huddle and began to whisper with one another.

Cera shook her head and sighed. "Less than zero."

Littlefoot too knew that Hyp made a fatal blunder in trying to keep Ann's secret safe from Tricia and her friends, but luckily, he remembered that he and his friends needed to talk with Tricia and hers, which would at least delay the inevitable confrontation, and perhaps keep them occupied ...

"Hey kids," Littlefoot asked. "We've got some questions for you."

At once, Tricia's gang broke out of their huddle. "Are we in trouble?" Oplax asked.

"Oh no no no," Ducky giggled. "But we would like to know more about your lesson with Mr. Thicknose."

"About the directions," Petrie said. "Because we wanna learn more."

"We didn't get that lesson ourselves, well, and who knows, it may come in handy," said Chomper excitedly.

"And if any of you learned something on your journey here, we would like to learn that as well," Ruby said.

The kids, unaccustomed to older dinosaurs asking them questions as if they were the grownups, felt flattered. "Sure, we'd love to tell you!" Tricia exclaimed.

"Everything we can remember, that is," Cassia said, and so with that, everybody sat down as Littlefoot pondered his first question.

"All right," Littlefoot smiled. He closed his eyes, trying to think in which direction the mysterious rock fell. Picturing it in his mind's eye, he had lived in the Valley long enough to know approximately what way everything was relative to one another, and in turn, what way he was looking when he saw the mysterious stone fall. As he saw he was facing the near wall of the Secret Spot and away from Ann and her eggs, he asked, "Can you tell us what way that way is?"

The kids thought for a moment, trying to remember what Mr. Thicknose told them. "It's off to the west!" Sam said. "I know that, I do!"

"And you would know what way is what, yep yep yep," Ducky smiled at her little brother.

"Great," said Littlefoot, thinking carefully on how to pose this. "And …Do you know what is west of us? What if say, we kept on going that way?"

"A long, long way from here," Ali clarified. "Like … If a herd migrated there for several Bright Circle passings."

The kids oohed in awe, and began to whisper to one another, trying to recall Mr. Thicknose's lecture. "You couldn't," Oplax finally said, shuddering. "You'd run into Big Water that's really deep and really far to get across. I'm just glad I'm far away from it."

The gang looked at each other. It was not as simple as a direct path west, for whatever the coating of dust in their eyes was after the stone fell, it certainly was not Big Water.

"That is the way we went to take Mo to the Big Water, it was," Ducky noted. "And there was lots of Big Water that way. Way too much for me to swim across."

"I knew those Rainbow Faces were filled with rubbish," Cera muttered triumphantly, as Littlefoot gave her a quick glare and nudge upon seeing the kids' curious glances.

"She means the Rainbow Faces in my parents' herd," Ruby fibbed quickly, calming the kids' interest, hoping that Garnet and Pearl didn't any questions of the Rainbow Faces in their herd. The two of them, however, seemed to be whispering with one another, and did not seem to hear what she was saying. "Garnet? Pearl?" she asked curiously.

The twins looked at her, both with guilty smiles on her face. "Sorry Sis," Garnet said uncomfortably.

"What were you saying?" Pearl asked.

"Oh, nothing really," Ruby said, suspicious of the twins' behavior but glad to see they didn't seem to hear any talk about the Rainbow Faces.

"But," Cassia pointed out. "Mr. Thicknose did say there was land way, way off to the west! Somewhere that we swimmers couldn't even make it to! Or flyers either!"

This piqued the gang's interest as they looked at each other. If this was true, perhaps they could have seen the rock's landing from somewhere far, far away. But the impact had to be massive, for how else could its dust cross the vast expense of Big Water and fall in their eyes? If that was the case though, how come no one else seemed to have seen it?

The kids looked curiously at them. "You aren't thinking of going there, are you Big Sis?" Tricia asked teasingly.

"Me? Of course not, you'd have to be a rockhead to cross Big Water," Cera said dismissively.

Tricia made eye contact with her friends, and smirked. "Well if you guys go adventuring," they all rolled out their begging, puppy dog eyes and broke into song. "We want to go adventuring too!"

"Don't even think about it," Cera deadpanned as the rest of the gang broke out laughing. "Where'd you all learn that song, anyway?"

"From you guys, who else?" Tricia answered, smiling cheekily. "It's not like I haven't heard you sing that song over and over growing up! Cass and I just taught the others. Isn't our chorus line great?"

"Gee Cera, I think they outdid us in effort," Littlefoot snickered as Cera just sighed.

Still laughing, Littlefoot returned his thoughts to the mystery of the fallen rock. If it did fall directly west from where they were, and the most direct path was unavailable, they had to think of the next best alternative. There had to be another way to get there, somehow ... Then it occurred to him as he realized he was sitting in front of four kids who by themselves made a long journey to get to the Great Valley. "Mono, Rachelle, Oplax, Perri," Littlefoot said, looking at them each in turn. "You guys all came from the north, right?"

"Yep, we did," answered Rachelle.

"I still miss home," Perri sighed dreamily.

"It's so hot down here," Mono said in annoyance. "I can't wait for the time of the changing tree stars."

"Hot?" Shorty laughed, shaking his head. "You haven't seen anything. Where I grew up, it was way hotter than it is here. There weren't even ground sparkles during the Cold Times!"

"Maybe that's why …" Littlefoot paused and seized on another thing they said. "You said you've never seen any longnecks or spiketails before us, right?"

The kids nodded. "Maybe that's because the weather up there is too cold for our kinds," Littlefoot said thoughtfully.

"More like there's not enough food," Cera teased. "Because longnecks and spiketails eat a lot."

"That's what Thicknose said," Cassia said. "There aren't a lot of tall trees growing up there."

"Yeah, they only get as big as my kind all grown up," Perri added.

"Well no wonder, considering it's so darn cold!" Shorty exclaimed.

"And it only get colder if you're higher up!" Petrie added.

"But there are lots of pretty flowers," Perri smiled.

"You would have liked them, Cassia," Rachelle winked.

"I bet I would," Cassia sighed dreamily. "It must be so beautiful."

"Great," Littlefoot smiled. "So your home is cooler than down here, you've got less tall trees but lots of flowers," Littlefoot noted. "Can you think of anything else?"

"Lots of different kinds of dinosaurs," smiled Oplax as he closed his eyes. "A lot like our kinds, actually. Threehorns, clubtails, noteeth, and swimmers."

"And sharpteeth," Perri said, trembling.

"Yes, but it's not like our parents weren't able to deal with them," said Mono confidently.

"So how did you get here from there?" Littlefoot asked.

"Let's see," said Oplax. "We went through this flat land Mr. Thicknose called the Egg Valley. It was very dry and not many trees grew. We all were getting pretty hungry. But we loaded up on green food back home, so we did all right."

"Then we had to navigate through, uh … What was it called again?" Rachelle asked.

"The Biter Bluffs," Perri said, shivering.

Petrie jerked back in surprise. "Biter Bluffs! That where Uncle Pterano lead herd!"

Cera snorted. "What an idiot, going through a place named after sharpteeth! Bet you anything the sharpteeth that killed the herd were fastbiters."

Perri nodded. "Biter Bluffs really scary,"

"Yeah, but your story about how you got through there was awesome!" Tricia exclaimed. "Tell Big Sis and her friends what happened!"

So the kids once again recounted the story of how they navigated through the Biter Bluffs with their makeshift shieldback skeleton. The gang smiled and commented with lots of questions, impressed with the resourcefulness the kids were able to generate in that moment of peril.

Spike took a big bite of food, giving Ducky a cue for a question. "Spike asks if there was lots of green food in the Biter Bluffs."

"Me can answer that," Petrie said, remembering. "Pterano say he take herd through Biter Bluffs because there plenty of food and water."

Oplax nodded. "Yeah, we saw quite a lot of green food … Plenty of green food and water to snack on. Even though it was a tight fit."

"Tight fit?" Ali asked.

Oplax nodded. "The Biter Bluffs is like a maze of high cliffs," he explained. "We took the ground path. But big rocky walls were around us everywhere, from which the fast biters lurked from above, looking down for prey."

"If only it didn't have sharpteeth, it would have been a nice place," mumbled Perri.

"Then yeah, it turns into what everyone calls the Mysterious Beyond," Rachelle finished. "And then you found us, and so yeah, that's how we made it to the Great Valley."

"Great," Littlefoot smiled, thinking. Now that they knew what lay to their north, maybe if they kept on going that way, they would reach a point where the Big Water would end, and the land would curve off to the west, giving them their land bridge and access to the other side of the Big Water. Curiously, he asked, "Do you know what ..."

But he never got a chance to finish. From the other side of the Secret Spot, a shriek ran out, and Tricia's gang looked at each other in horror. At once, Ruby's head jolted up, seeing her two siblings missing from the pack of kids. Swift and clever as they were, Garnet and Pearl must have sneaked away from the rest of the group. She cried out, "Oh no! That was Garnet! But where's Pearl?"

As if to answer her question, Pearl came shooting out from the other side, breathless and panic-stricken. "Help! Hyp's got Garnet!"

And without any further delay, everyone hurried off, past the log separating the two sides. They soon got to the other side, where they found Hyp had grabbed the end of Garnet's tail, letting him dangle helplessly, while with his other hand, he relentlessly spanked Garnet's butt as the young fast runner cried out in anguish.

"Don't … You … Ever … Say … Anything," Hyp huffed venomously, grunting a word with each slap he gave.

"Hyp! Put my brother down right now!" Ruby shouted as she hurried over to them.

Hyp snorted. "No way. I knew all along these brats couldn't be trusted. And now look! They've …"

Then Hyp saw the entire group of kids were coming in, along with the rest of the gang. Hyp threw up his arms in anger, sending Garnet flying to the ground. "Now look what you've done! You morons! You led all of those brats here!"

"Well, torturing my sister's friends is not okay," Cera said angrily.

"That is right, it is not good to hurt my brother's friends!" Ducky agreed.

"I'm sorry," Garnet whimpered. "We didn't mean anything by it."

"We just want to find out what you were doing over here," Pearl confessed.

"You brats promised you'd stay on your side! You didn't! Now get lost!" Hyp roared.

"Yeah!" agreed Nod.

"Yeah!" agreed Mutt.

Ann and Dispo too were furious, though they both had a harder time concealing their hurt. "We told you to stay out of our side," Dispo said in frustration, unable to stop himself from looking at the spot where the decaying pile of vomit he had made during his withdrawals laid. "What gives?"

"Don't you know you could hurt someone by being so nosy!" Ann asked indignantly, taking a quick gaze toward her eggs.

Unfortunately. Oplax's eyes followed hers, and then noticed the nest of eggs stashed away by the wall. His eyes widened as he asked, "Is that what I think it is?"

And before anyone could move to stop him, Oplax took off running right at Ann's nest, where the three eggs had steadily begun to wriggle. "It is!" he exclaimed. "It is a nest! Who's the mama?"

But the question was obvious, for there was only one dinosaur in the Secret Spot who it could have been.

"Yes, it's me," Ann sighed, falling to her knees as she looked down at her eggs in sorrow.

Oplax however, looked up at her, his eyes brimming with excitement. "They're beautiful!" he exclaimed. "And by the looks of it … They're gonna hatch today!"

"What?" Ann said in surprise. "How do you know?"

"Oppy's been a babysitter back home," Perri explained.

"As soon as he could walk and talk," Rachelle added.

"This is great!" Oplax cheered, barely being able to control his eagerness. "It's someone's hatch day today! And you're gonna have the cutest little babies, I just know it!"

Ann was taken aback by Oplax's compliment and enthusiasm and stared at the young clubtail in disbelief. "You really don't mind?"

"Mind what?" Oplax said blankly.

"That I … That my eggs don't have a daddy? That I'm a …" Ann shook her head and looked down in shame. "You know what!"

"That you're a mommy?" Oplax said, looking at her gently. "Why would I? I know plenty of babies without mommies or without daddies … But that's where I can come in and help! I love babysitting!"

"But … But …" Ann stammered. "You don't get it. Their daddy didn't die. He … he …" Ann paused, trailing off again.

"Sounds like your …. I mean their father was a real jerk," Mono put in sympathetically.

"I'll tell you, if my Dad sees him, he'll sure be sorry!" Destiny exclaimed, hitting her tail against the ground like a whip.

"But that doesn't mean you can't be a great mommy," Oplax said breathlessly.

"Oplax knows all about good mommies and daddies," Perri added with a gentle smile. "And if he says you will be a great mommy, I'm sure you will be!"

"It's not your fault some creep had to hurt you," Pearl said consolingly.

"And we don't like you any less for it," Tricia smiled.

"Nor for whatever you might have done to throw all that up," Garnet said to Dispo, causing him to chuckle shiftily. "I really hoped you wouldn't notice that."

"What caused all that mess?" Mono asked bluntly.

"Take my advice," Dispo said matter-of-factly. "Don't get your head in a bunch of spiky flowers."

"Why?" Perri asked innocently.

"Just don't, kid," Dispo said simply. "Unless you want to look as stupid as I did."

Everyone, even Hyp, began to laugh, but Cassia stopped first as she realized something. "Wait? Spiky flowers ... You mean … Those funny plants? Which are banned from the Great Valley?"

The atmosphere immediately changed as Dispo and Ann grew visibly tense. "Ugh, now I blew my secret," Dispo groaned as he looked at the kids frantically. "You gotta promise to keep this secret. Or else I could be in real trouble! The elders would expel me from the Valley if they found out I got in trouble with spiky flowers again!"

"And my eggs!" Ann added hurriedly. "They might kick me and my babies out if you tell them and they find out I'm a …"

"Hang on, who said anything about telling anybody?" Tricia asked with a smirk.

"But you said," Mutt began, turning to Hyp, who grabbed his snout to get him to be silent.

"You let us share the Secret Spot with you," Tricia said fervently. "Which means we're gonna keep everything we learned in here secret!"

Mutt and Nod bewilderedly looked at each other, as Hyp watched, intrigued. Ann and Dispo looked at each other in shock, making sure they understood, before turning to the kids in incredulity. "You mean … You'll keep our secrets?" Ann said in hopeful disbelief.

"Yeah, why wouldn't we?" Cassia smiled back.

"We now know your secrets, but we like you just the same," Pearl agreed.

"Actually, we like you more now that we know you better!" Sam piped up.

"And that means we won't tell anyone!" Tricia said to her friends. "Right?"

"Right!" they all said, and putting their front paws together, the ten kids cheered as they lifted them simultaneously up in the air.

"Wow, Tricia has sure grown into a leader," Ducky whispered.

"She sure has," Littlefoot smiled.

"Even I'm impressed," Cera commented.

Hyp too had even dropped his scowl. "All right, maybe you kids aren't as bad as I thought you were. But one more bad move … "

The kids nodded in understanding, and at that point, the division in the Secret Spot was no more. Where once Littlefoot and his friends had to keep peace between the older and younger dinosaurs, they now were able to share one big hideout, with three groups of friends able to coexist and intermingling with each other peacefully.

With the cloud of tension in the Secret Spot finally dissipating, the rest of the day seemingly went without a hitch. With the discovery of Ann's eggs, and knowing that they would hatch very soon, the kids were extremely eager to help. They looked all around the Secret Spot for treestars, berries, and sweet bubbles that they could dice up for the babies just before they hatched. Guido had discovered several small infestations of grubs in the trees, and quickly proceeded to remove them, gliding from tree to tree as he did. Dispo, Mutt, Nod and Hyp comforted Ann as she was expressed apprehension on how good of a mother she could be. And apart from Guido, the rest of the gang, exhausted from their last foray to the Mysterious Beyond, just slumped down and relaxed, appreciating everything that just happened.

Far from the cryptic messages within the Rainbow Faces' riddles, everything in the Secret Spot was going great. Everyone was keeping everyone's secrets, Hyp's and Tricia's gangs finally put their antipathies aside for one another, and even Ann's eggs were finally hatching. They could finally just relax and enjoy watching Tricia and her friends bustling about for the arrival of Ann's hatchlings. Things only got better when Shorty heard a rap on the boulder, and peering over the wall, he saw some more familiar faces. Moving the boulder open, Avie, who had been quietly watching throughout the tumult, had gone over to get Sophie and Tippy, and the two spiketails gladly entered the Secret Spot. Tippy, taking his mantra of "fun fun fun" to heart, had begun to entertain the kids in a game of melonball when they finished preparing the hatchling food, while Sophie took a spot next to Spike, causing him to blush furiously, before they both fell into a deep sleep. Her soothing presence had also affected the rest of the gang, and soon, all of them were all off to sleep storyland.

By the time they awoke, the Bright Circle had mostly set. Hungry after several hours of not eating, the gang went and collected a lot of tree stars for everyone's dinner, which they ate over by Ann's nest. The hatchlings, especially Oplax and Perri, were all chattering excitedly about the hatching babies, while Ann, deluged with positive attention, began to seem a little more confident with the prospect of becoming a mother. Even Hyp didn't look grumpy for once, and as they ate, the eggs began to wobble intensely.

Once dinner was done, everyone gathered around Ann's nest, anxiously awaiting the birth of the hatchlings. The kids were all very excited whenever the eggs moved. Each time an egg shook a little, hey oohed and ahed with amazement. Then the cracks started appearing in the eggs, causing the hatchlings to cheer further. Then, just when a gray hand finally began to stick out of the egg ….

ROARRRRRRRRRRR!

Everyone looked to Chomper in alarm, who looked back at them as if he was stricken by a ghost. "Uh guys," he said nervously. "We gotta go."

Hyp asked, "Is that a sharptooth? In the Great Valley?"

Chomper nodded, "Fraid so."

But Hyp shook his head. "But it can't be! I broke my back sealing up all those walls for my stupid punishment! How could one get in without anyone knowing about it after I ... UGGGGGGH!"

"We'll find out," Littlefoot promised. "But Hyp, for now, you guys stay with Ann. We'll go see whatever this is," Littlefoot said.

"And Sis, you and your friends stay out of trouble. Got it?" Cera said as this time, Tricia and her friends, realizing the seriousness of the situation, quickly nodded.

"Don't worry kids, Sophie and I will be here for you," Tippy promised.

"That's right. You'll be fine," Sophie added.

Everyone nodded, and so the gang left the others in the Secret Spot and headed out into the Valley.


Upon leaving the Secret Spot, the gang instantly could feel something was terribly wrong. Screams broke out all over the Great Valley, along with the unmistakable sound of frantic, hurried footsteps. Through the din, they could still clearly hear the unmistakable snarls and growls of sharpteeth. Not wasting a moment, they charged to the denser feeding grounds of the Great Valley, where they knew most of the residents were bound to be located.

When they got closer, a ghastly sight lay before them. From a distance, they could see what seemed to be an unbelievably sizable horde of fast biters had somehow made their way into the Great Valley, along with smaller contingents of browridge, horned, sailbacked and twoclawed sharpteeth as well as several sharpbeaks, belly draggers and sharptooth flyers shrieking, roaring and growling earsplittingly as they went on their rampage, attacking anyone who was in sight. With every step they took, they saw leafeaters, especially the ones with children, the smaller and more senior leafeaters running for their lives into far away hiding spots, hoping against hope to find a way to safety, though they often had pursuers on their tails. Many of the larger, braver dinosaurs stayed behind to engage their foes in combat, trying their best to determinedly fight their attackers off. Littlefoot could make out his father, Mr. Threehorn, Tria, Doc, Dara and Mr. Clubtail among others each engaging with several sharpteeth, while others like Mama Swimmer, Mama Flyer, Pterano, and even Mr. Thicknose try their best to handle what they could, and he could see many of Tricia's friends' parents looking around restlessly for their children.

"We've got to stop them!" Littlefoot exclaimed.

But no sooner did he say that did something happen which caught them all off guard. As they approached, they saw they were being approached by a large group of unfamiliar leafeaters. What's more, as they tried to get closer and closer to the action, the newcomers in turn grew closer to the gang, and soon, they realized they were completely surrounded.

"Uh ... Hi," Littlefoot said politely to the unbudging circle. "Can you let us through, please?"

No answer came from the strange leafeaters, except for some hard stares from some surprisingly cold, narrow eyes. Instead, a threehorn from the crowd snuck up behind Ducky and with a surprisingly hard grasp, chomped hard on her tail with its beak. At once, the crowd broke into a raucous laughter.

"Ow! That hurt!" Ducky exclaimed, causing the others to laugh even louder as Spike let out a cry of concern for his sister.

"You rockheads are gonna pay for that!" Cera exclaimed, preparing to charge at the aggressing threehorn, only for a spiketail to lift its paw up and trip her, resulting in the laughter becoming explosive.

"Real funny, you jerks," Shorty said impatiently. "Now get out of the way before we make you!"

"Shorty, remember!" Chomper exclaimed. "Try not to hurt them!"

The leafeaters didn't say anything, but only smiled more broadly at him. "Really, we have friends and family we have to save," Ali implored. "Can you please let us through?"

Once again, only a series of tantalizing grins was the response. Cautiously, Petrie tried flying past the group, but one of the longnecks grabbed him by the wing and threw him to the ground, resulting in more whoops and hollers.

The gang confusedly looked at one another. "Hey! Don't hurt my friend!" Guido exclaimed, only for the laughter to vanish, and an excited murmuring to break out as a bigmouth beckoned Guido to come over.

"Me?" Guido asked in surprise as the bigmouth nodded, the rest of the farwalkers grinning broadly.

"No do it, Guido," Petrie warned. "You little and they not friendly."

"Yeah, good point," Guido said, and resolutely glided onto Littlefoot's back, glaring at his taunters.

The mysterious leafeaters however, only grinned expectantly. "Guys," Chomper said tentatively. "Maybe it's me they want."

"What? Chomper, you can't be serious!" Littlefoot cried out.

"Especially when there's a bunch of real sharpteeth who'll have no problem picking their bones," Cera added.

"We've got to try something without hurting these guys!" Chomper exclaimed. "You guys try going on without me! Maybe I can tell them I'm a friendly sharptooth ... Yeah, that'll do it."

"But," Littlefoot exclaimed, but Chomper interrupted, "Hi, I know I look scary, but I'm a friendly sharptooth!"

Chomper's goodwill gesture did not seem to work however, as ravenously, some of those surrounding Chomper crept toward him, malicious sparkles twinkling in their eyes. However, the wall in front did not budge as they only stood on and smirked.

Then, one of the clubtails whapped Chomper on the knee with a hit from the club as the others began to laugh raucously. Chomper grabbed his knee in pain, clenching in agony as a spiketail, threehorn, and spikethumb moved in.

"Hey! Leave Chomper alone, you big bullies!" Ruby said, scooping up some mud and throwing it into their eyes.

This did the trick as Ruby felt a savage pleasure in her heart. But without a word being spoken, the mob drew in closer. Littlefoot sighed.

"We really don't want to hurt you," Littlefoot said warningly. "But if you don't stopping hurt us ... We'll have to fight back."

"About time," Cera smirked as Spike gave one last warning cry, lifting his spiked tail threateningly.

The leafeaters did not budge, and instead, only slowly closed in to attack.

Really hoping not to have to hurt anyone, the gang launched their defensive counterassault. As Petrie and Guido sneaked out to find healing flowers, the gang packed in tightly with one another, their body armor facing the crowd as they made their onslaught. Luckily, the crowd's reflexes were surprisingly slow, giving the gang the edge to strike back as Littlefoot and Ali brushed attackers to the side, Cera headbutted, Spike tail swatted, and Shorty knocked down attackers, while Ruby continued throwing mud into the attackers' eyes while Ducky and Chomper kept lookout. But just as the fast biter armies in the Mysterious Beyond did before them, these leafeaters did not give up easily, promptly getting up and closing in despite their slower and clearly weakening bodies.

"Ugh!" Cera finally shouted, losing patience, and she ended up stabbing a small, jumping green runner. It fell to the ground, bleeding profusely, very obviously not having survived the blow. But the other leafeaters did not even acknowledge the loss of their apparent comrade, only continuing their attack, and Littlefoot, Cera, Spike, Shorty and Ali soon found themselves accumulating many nicks, cuts and bruises.

As the battle plowed on in seeming endlessness and they kept on racking up injuries, the gang felt forced to increase the ferocity of their battle style. Rather than brushing them aside, Littlefoot and Ali were compelled to use their whip tails to slam their attackers to the ground, Cera straight out horn stabbed rather than headbutted, Spike used the sharp spikes on the end of his tail to stab rather than using his tail to knock down, and Shorty began using his full body weight to crush his opponents. But it took significantly more effort to emerge victorious from these attacks, so much so that they failed to realize what their opponents' strategy was until it was too late.

Looking around, the gang gasped in horror. Each of them had been tightly pinned in by at least four attackers a piece, cornering them in space and giving them no room to make any counterattacks. With vigor, their opponents seized on their opportunity and began to attack each of them vigorously. Often, they even resorted to biting and clawing like a sharptooth would, which were surprisingly effective for leafeaters. Littlefoot, Cera, Ducky, Spike, Chomper, Ali and Shorty were being battered by their attackers, enduring blow after blow as they desperately sought an opportunity to counter, let alone escape. Even Petrie and Guido had been captured, a shieldback and domehead pinning their wings to the ground. And in the middle, a hollowhorn stood, its expression in a smile of broad glee, as it held Ruby high in the air, stretching her arms out painfully as she cried out in pain, trying to kick the much larger dinosaur to no avail.

It was then when something snapped in the friendly sharptooth. Gone was the fear of being afraid to hurt anyone with his dagger-like teeth, massive jaw, and sharp claws, or any hope that he could resolve this peacefully. Rather, a fierce rush of energy coarsed through him, aching to be unleashed in any way possible. The sight of his friends being in danger, on top of it all from leafeaters who had no reason to hurt any of them, chewed away at him as he saw how desperate each of them looked to fend off their combatants. Especially Ruby, who struggled mightily to escape the hollowhorn's clutches ... Ruby, who had given up everything she had to bring him safely to the Great Valley and take care of him like the big sister he never had ... The one who always had her eye out on him, ensuring he would be protected ... And the spirit of the sharptooth inside him roared, for now, it was he who had to do the protecting ...

It happened in a flash. Without warning, Chomper quickly swerved, decapitating all of his attackers in rapid-fire quick motions, before leaping over their bloodied bodies and ferociously slashing at the hollowhorn's belly with his clawed foot, knocking it down instantly as all life quickly poured out from it. The rush inside him not quelled, Chomper quickly tore around the group, making quick bites on every single one of the attackers' necks, severing their heads as their bodies crumpled to the ground. The group of attackers, already with slower reflexes to begin with and shocked at Chomper's unexpected behavior, was no match for Chomper's wildly swinging mouth and driving body. Before he knew it, only one of the mob was left, a small spikethumb, which was pinned down by one of Chomper's clawed feet. Although it was dying from blood loss, as Chomper lowered his head down to sever its neck, he was caught off guard by the small spikethumb giving him an unmistakable smile.

"Didn't think ..." he said as he wheezed between breaths, "You had it in you, sharptooth. But we won, sharptooth. It's all over for you."

And with a satisfied grin, the spikethumb keeled over and breathed no more, and it was only then that Chomper realized the true extent of what he had done. His head spinning, he couldn't believe it, and closed his eyes, hoping against hope that things would look different upon reopening them. But only seeing the same grisly picture in front of him, Chomper felt his heart drop deep into the pit of his stomach as a wave of chills powered through every part of him.

"Oh no no no no no," Chomper said, terrified, as he looked at all the carnage around him, lowering his head far enough so his tiny arms could grab it. "They're all ... Dead?"

"It's okay Chomper," Littlefoot tried to soothe. "We did everything we could, but in the end, we didn't have a choice. They really wanted to hurt us, our lives were in danger, and the only thing we could do besides be killed was to fight back. That goes for all of us, I too had to kill at least some of them."

"But you were our most effective fighter by a long shot," Cera smirked, trying to make Chomper feel better, only for it to backfire horribly.

"Oh no ... Oh no ... I killed ... Most of them?" Chomper exclaimed, hardly daring to believe it.

When the rest of the gang couldn't bring themselves to reply other than to look sadly at him, Chomper couldn't keep it all in. With a desperate look at the Night Circle, Chomper let out his head and roared. Though on the surface it sounded much like any other sharptooth roar, the gang could tell just by the expression on Chomper's face and body language that it was a cry of sorrow, pain, and horror over what he had done.

But almost as if to answer Chomper, another roar broke out, and at once, the fighting in the rest of the Great Valley ceased. Looking up in the Night Circle's light, they could see someone had climbed on top of a tall rock right at the Valley's edge. It was clearly a sharptooth, a twoclaw like Chomper, and upon closer inspection, there was no mistaking that svelte build, long, lean legs, and even in the near total darkness, shiny, sinister smile.

"Hey, that's … The sharptooth that attacked us! When I was in the Mysterious Beyond!" Shorty exclaimed, as the sharptooth roared out clear, unmistakable orders.

"What's he saying?" Littlefoot asked as Chomper frowned, trying to understand.

"It's a she," Chomper shivered. "And she said … Take your conquest and go! Report back!"

"What?" Cera asked bewilderedly. But in that moment, an abrupt shift happened. Suddenly, off in the distance, the skirmishes they had seen had halted, for the aggressing sharpteeth had instantly stopped fighting and began to rush off in the same direction. Ominously, many of them were carrying pieces of flesh in their mouth, and many of their skins were splattered with blood. The Valley residents watched in confusion at this sudden retreat, many breathing a sigh of relief and just grateful the battle was over. Some, like Bron, had begun to look over the battlefield, tending to the injured and trying to restore calm to a panic-stricken Valley. Other leafeaters, such as Topps, were in hot pursuit of the retreating sharpteeth, often diverting the smaller or injured individuals from the pack and killing them on the spot, or making a sneak attack on a larger predator in the hopes that they could be caught off guard.

"How did they get in?" Ducky asked incredulously.

"Me thought Hyp supposed to seal up all Valley walls!" Petrie exclaimed.

"Maybe they figured out a way in that nobody else knew about," Littlefoot said.

"Well there's only one way to find out," said Cera. "Let's follow them!"

So cautiously, they followed the sharpteeth to the edge of the Great Valley, where they saw that much of the Valley's wall had been removed so that a tunnel-like space several sharpteeth wide had been erected through which, the remaining sharpteeth were desperately jostling to gain access to in their frantic bids to escape. They had reason to worry too, for many of the Valley's toughest dinosaurs, Mr. Threehorn, Mr. Clubtail, the onehorns who were Mono and Rachelle's adoptive parents, Hyp's friend Ceph's father Lance Bonehead, and Doc among the group of powerful spiketails, clubtails, threehorns, onehorns, longnecks, domeheads and shieldbacks which had responded ferociously to the sharptooth attack. In the end, while most of the sharpteeth were able to escape, a sizable amount of bodies had piled up from this counterattack.

"All right sharpteeth," Mr. Threehorn bellowed warningly. "If we find you in this Valley again, next time you won't be so lucky!" he said, to ravenous cheers and applause from his fellow combatants.

Following the exodus, at first, everyone was on high alert, wondering if any more sharpteeth had stayed behind to launch a surprise attack. Littlefoot saw that Tricia and her friends had all found their guardians, while Hyp, Mutt and Nod, had also rejoined the rest of the Great Valley residents, presumably leaving Ann and Dispo behind to tend to Ann's hatchlings. Fortunately though, none of their expressions seemed to suggest the Secret Spot had beenwas discovered.

The tension brought about a long silence as everyone waited for the sound of a sharptooth. But as none came, the immediate tension began to fade, slowly being replaced by an atmosphere of fear and uncertainty, and in some cases, tearful cries of grief.

Then at last, Littlefoot heard some shuffling. Turning, he saw that huffing and puffing behind him was Mr. Thicknose, his face pale and eyes stricken with shock, while his head was lowered in grief and shame.

It was so quiet now that everyone had no problem hearing Mr. Thicknose this time. "Everyone, uh ..." he said in a voice seemingly conveying the pain and fear the rest of the Valley felt. "We found all the bodies and brought them to the Rock Circle, where we will uh ... Have an emergency herd meeting," he gulped, hanging his head.

Littlefoot's heart dropped. All of the bodies? Whose lives had been lost in this attack? He thought frantically. Apart from Hyp's and Tricia's gangs back in the Secret Spot and those he had seen in the fight, anyone in the Valley could have fallen victim to the attack. He shook his head, dreading to see the carnage that would soon be revealed.