I wanna hide the truth, I wanna shelter you

It's woven in my soul, I need to let you go

Don't get too close, it's dark inside

It's where my demons hide...

Willow was softly singing in her sleep before waking up feeling snug and cozy. She then noticed she was trapped in something, and only one of her large eyes was sticking out. She looked around and noticed she was in a room with black walls. As she squirmed around, freaking out, the thing she was trapped in set on fire! She climbed out frantically, realizing it was just a sleeping bag and she was in Ash's bedroom. Willow had a habit of not remembering where she falls asleep, and not even she knew why. Desperately, she tried putting the fire out with her own hair.

“Willow?" Ash said suddenly, the sound of her voice startling Willow. She accidentally destroyed a bookshelf with a lightning bolt and froze the ground beneath her feet, causing her to slip and fall flat on her back with her legs in the air.

“Ow," Willow muttered in pain as Ash stared at her. “Uh... Top of the morning?"

“Well, nothing tops off the morning like having your medieval literature collection destroyed," Ash joked, helping her up.

“Sorry about that," Willow apologized.

“Don't worry, I'm sure there are other old books I can read," Ash assured her, examining the damage. She turned around to face the Pop Troll once again. “You really have magic powers."

“What, you didn't believe me?"

“Of course not!" Ash answered. “I thought you were insane, and possibly dangerous."

“Well, you're-you're not wrong," Willow admitted quietly. Ash just laughed, not quite understanding what she meant. But Willow was too ashamed to tell her about her Darkness. “It's true, though. I do have powers."

“Where did they come from?" she asked.

“Well, my empathic abilities, I got from my father, who was this sorcerer snake called a Rattlecobra," Willow explained. “But the rest of them... I don't know. I just have them."

“So you're not entirely Troll?" Ash asked. Willow shook her head sadly. “I should've known, you're an outcast. Well, guess what? So am I."

“But you're the Queen of Rock's sister," Willow pointed out.

“That's the only reason anyone likes me," Ash replied. “If anyone else took me in, I'd probably be treated like dirt."

“Took you in?" Willow repeated, confused. “What do you mean by that?"

“I wasn't born a Rocker," she confessed. “My birth parents were Pop Trolls. I don't know why, but they decided they just didn't want me. They painted my egg black and left me in Volcano Rock City. Dad wasn't fooled, but he took me in anyways. When he told me the truth about my birth parents and Pop... I felt ashamed. What if I have that blood in me? I rock as hard as I can to avoid it all, but I still don't feel like a true Rocker. Or, at least, not a Hard Rocker. But I've sworn off pop music, no offense."

“None taken," Willow said.

“Barb loves me, anyways," Ash added. “Even though I have Pop blood and they're terrible Trolls... No offense."

“None taken."

“– she just told me I was too good for them. Whenever one of us felt lonely, we would be there for the other. But ever since she became queen, that became her only focus. She just forgot about me. I guess she thinks I don't understand what's it's like to rule a kingdom, even though we promised we'd do it together. It's why I came with her to unite the Trolls under Rock, even though I think it's a bad idea, and she's just repeating history."

“Wait, you're saying what you and Barb are doing happened before?" Willow asked curiously.

“Yeah, and it's why the Trolls were divided in the first place," Ash answered. “It reminded us how our music is different, too different for us to get along. I tried talking Barb out of this, but she thinks once the strings are back together under just one music, so will the Trolls."

“And the other Trolls agreed to this?" Willow wondered.

“Not exactly," Ash admitted, remembering that she had no idea what was going on.

Willow raised an eyebrow. “Then how are you getting all of the strings?"

Ash took a deep breath. “Look, I-I'm not proud of this, but, um–"

“Little sis!" Barb shouted. “What are you doing? You're about to miss getting the Country string with me!"

“Sorry, Barb!" Ash replied before turning back to Willow. “I gotta go."

“Ash, what's going on?" Willow asked, grabbing her arm.

“I'm sorry, I can't explain it," Ash said apologetically, pulling away. “Just stay here."

“Ash, wait! Come back!"

But it was too late, Ash had left the room.

“What were you two talking about?" Barb asked suspiciously.

“Nothing important, just girl talk," Ash lied.

“You can talk when we have all six strings," Barb said, turning back to glare at Willow as she peeked out the doorway. “Now, what are we waiting for? Let's go to Lonesome Flats!"

Ash took one last look at her black-haired friend before heading out of the bus.

What was this strange feeling?

🖤☠️🖤🌺🖤☠️🖤🌺🖤☠️🖤🌺

That same morning, not too far away, Hickory was playing a sad country song on his guitar as the group continued floating down the river through a marsh, with cattails singing backup.

I fall to pieces (Pieces)

How can I be just your friend? (Just your friend?)

What Biggie said to Poppy was still on her mind as she steered the raft. If she couldn't even protect her friends and daughter, how was she supposed to prove herself a good queen? Branch, on the other hand, was more focused on Poppy. How could they be friends if he wanted to be more than that? He just lied down and groaned in frustration. Flower was the only one not bothered by the dreary lyrics, she just sat near her mom's feet, making a lotus blossom kiss a stick.

“Somethin' tells me your heart ain't in this mission, Branch," Hickory said, offering him a hand.

“What do you mean?" Branch asked as the Country Troll helped him up. “I'm here, aren't I?"

“Yeah, you're on the mission, alright, but your heart is with Miss Poppy."

“Hey, hold your horses!" Branch shouted before remembering Hickory's four-legged body. “I'm sorry, is that offensive?"

Hickory laughed and sat next to the Pop Troll. “Not as offensive as you thinkin' I can't see what's right in front of my eyes. Did you tell her yet?"

“I tried, but..." Branch admitted, signaling how his attempt had bombed. Flower stopped playing with her plants and listened to what her dad and Hickory were talking about.

“Well, if you did tell her, who knows if she'd even hear you," Hickory figured.

Branch was confused. “What do you mean by that?"

“Well, let's just say only one of you is doing the listenin' in this relationship, and it's not her," Hickory explained, pausing for a moment so Branch could let it sink in. “It's you."

“Yeah, I got that, thanks," Branch said sarcastically, turning away with his arms crossed.

Not paying attention to what the guys were talking about, Poppy looked up and saw something strange headed towards the raft. “Uh, guys?"

Flower's jaw dropped as the entire group saw a giant spaceship hovering above the river!

“What in buttered biscuits?!" Hickory exclaimed as the raft was enveloped in what appeared to be a giant soap bubble blown from the spaceship. A smaller one floated up to Hickory and he tried to fight it off with his guitar, only to accidentally whack Branch in the face. Branch tried to fight it off, too, but ended up kicking Hickory in the jaw. The bubble ended up trapping both of them and they were sent floating up into the air.

“Pwetty!" Flower cooed as she and Poppy reached for a second one, but it ended up trapping them both and they, too, were lifted off the raft and into the spaceship!

There are a couple things about Ash's character development I'm still trying to figure out. I'd explain it to you guys, but I don't wanna spoil anything.

Until I figure it out, rock on. 🤘