Thoughts about the teenager still haunted Commander Moon. She had to be carried back to camp due to being in shock from the weapon coming in contact with her fur. This morning, Color Breeze introduced a couple of her pony friends to her. All Commander Moon did was smile since she was feeling a little dazed.

I wonder where Cinnamon flew off to, Commander Moon wondered as she laid on her back in the Doctor’s Cave. Riverbird placed a paw on her chest and pushed in farther.

“Pulse is good,” Riverbird purred as Commander Moon started coughing.

The purple molly got back on her paws. “That hurt,” she whined.

“Well, I couldn’t feel the pulse at first,” the light blue Doctor meowed smiling.

Nodding slowly, Commander Moon left the cave and found her mate talking to Trainee Will who looked worse. His cuts had healed but he was now paranoid, and he kept eyeing each of his comrades as if they were going to turn into monsters and kill him.

“He’s probably insecure,” Riverbird said. “We’ll keep an eye on him.”

Commander Moon wondered if anyone else would wake up in this darkness that Trainee Will spoke of. She found the brown tom leaving Stormwing with his head down. He lifted it back up when he saw her approaching.

“Trainee Will, is there anybody else in that darkness?” Commander Moon asked.

Trainee Will unsheathed his claws. “You’ll have to come for yourself because we’re not allowed to share who comes,” he growled.

Wasn’t expecting that answer, Commander Moon thought. She wasn’t tired, so she couldn’t just go to sleep. And besides that, she’s only been able to reach the Dream World. I wish he could tell me.

“Perhaps your friend has met a personal friend of mine,” The voice spoke.

Did I ask? Commander Moon growled.

“Why not ask Poisonpool? I can see darkness inside her,” the voice explained. “Oh, those two boys who helped you have been in and out of the Dark Realm as well.”

Mouse Floyd and Lucky? Like I believe you, Commander Moon hissed. She needed to get out of camp.

“Sean’s missing!” Lionpool shrieked.

Perfect excuse! Commander Moon smiled to herself. She swiftly ran over to Lionpool. “Don’t worry, I’ll search for Sean!”

“Thank you,” Lionpool purred.

***

Commander Moon was sniffing around the territory. There was no scent of Sean anywhere. It was almost as if he disappeared off the face of the planet. “Sean? Where are you?”

The sound of coughs answered the purple molly and she rushed over to see a black molly with a light brown heart marking on her chest. From the looks of her, she looked like she was going to give birth at any time. Wait a minute, she’s from Light Family!

“Have you seen Sean?” asked Commander Moon.

“Hm? Yeah, he was chasing a goose into Bird Family territory,” the pregnant cat answered. “As for me, this nice young man placed me in a tree while he casually murdered some ugly creatures.”

How did he spot the goose from inside camp? Commander Moon wondered.

“Where’s the boy that put you up there?” Commander Moon asked.

“No idea,” the black molly meowed.

Are you serious? Commander Moon slapped a paw on her face. She decided to find a way to get this cat down before she goes into labor. Sean would be fine if Pigeontail wasn’t in a shredding mood today. Inspecting the tree, Commander Moon couldn’t find out how to bring her down safely.

If I shake the tree, she could fall and damage her kittens, Commander Moon thought. Could that boy be around still?

“You hang tight, I’m going to find that boy!” Commander Moon yowled.

“You don’t have to, he promised he’ll come back,” the molly meowed. “I won’t give birth, I promise!”

“Fine, I’ll go find Sean then,” Commander Moon murmured not caring if the molly heard her or not. She was really getting tired of all this stuff happening.

Sprinting, Commander Moon manages to catch one of the patrols. And to her dismay, Pigeontail and Commander Bird are both a part of said patrol. They all stopped when they saw her, and she gave a friendly smile to show she came in peace. “Have you seen one of my Campmate’s kit?”

"Why do you keep losing kittens?" Pigeontail spat.

Jaypelt nudged the gray tom. "No need to be rude," he growled. He cocked his head to one side when his eyes burned into hers. "We're actually looking for him as well since a strange goose wandered into our territory."

Strange goose, huh? Commander Moon was suddenly interested in seeing that. "Can I help?"

Commander Bird snorted. "Stay on your side of the border then!"

His words stung the purple molly a bit, but she lashed her tail and lifted her nose in the air. A sweet smell of flowers caught her nose, and she followed that scent trail. If she was intrigued by this smell, maybe Sean got distracted by the goose and followed the flower scent.

The farther she got in following the trail, the more unrecognizable the territory was suddenly getting. Stopping in her tracks, Commander Moon didn't recognize the flower field she had just coincidentally followed right into. There were no scents leading to Bird Family and she wondered if she should stay and investigate this new land.

"AND STAY OUT!" A sudden screech causes Commander Moon to leap into the air before landing back down.

Two creatures, a strange dinosaur with bat wings and a chihuahua wearing shades, were bolting her direction followed by an angry russet colored vixen. Worried about being caught, Commander Moon pretended that she might've accidentally wandered into rival territory.

Once she was back into Moon Family territory, she realized the other two had stopped not too far. "Rats, we got caught again," the dinosaur said with spite.

"I've never seen that Family before," Commander Moon piped up. These two should know more about them than her since they were getting chased after all.

The young chihuahua who didn't look much older than her kittens wagged his tail. "That's Flower Family, they're weird compared to other Families."

"Yeah, they act like one big household full of drama," the dinosaur went on twirling his claws in a circle.

What...? Commander Moon couldn't even believe what she heard, nor did she have time to ponder on those thoughts either. Turning around, she was about to take off when the two animals stopped her.

"Hey! We never properly introduced ourselves!" The dinosaur roared. "I'm Sochi and this here is Stray Dog, a top-notch dog in weaponry."

Commander Moon showed her disbelief but meowed, "I'm Commander Moon and I have a goose to catch." She made sure to dash off right after saying so to make sure they didn't ask any more questions. But she did catch them say one thing.

"COLE GOOSE!"

Their loud ruckus was going to wake up the entire forest if they kept it up. Paws pounding on the forest floor, Commander Moon thought she spotted Jaypelt near the border carrying a red kitten in his jaws. His eyes lightened up as she got closer to the border.

"This little rascal done snuck into our nursery," Jaypelt exclaimed laying Sean right next to Commander Moon's paws. "Too bad that goose got away..."

Commander Moon sniffed. "I don't think he was much of a threat anyway." Jaypelt gave a smile before bouncing off further into his own grassy territory. Picking up Sean, Commander Moon made her way back to the tree where Lightheart was at.

***

If there was anything Commander Moon was shocked to see, it was Lightheart laying in a nest made of feathers with three kittens curled up next to her. You've got to be kitten me! Why was she still there? Who made the nest? There was no sign of this Mother's mate anywhere.

"Did he come back?" Commander Moon asked.

"Oh yes," Lightheart purred. "A soft nest made of goose feathers is quite comfortable if I dare say so myself." She was gazing fondly at her three kittens, which looked to be three girls and one boy.

Sean was interested in the bundles of fluff. "What are their names?"

"The girls are Holly and Puma," purred Lightheart. "And the son is named Lion. Aren't they beautiful?"

Seeing the kittens kind of brought back warm memories of when Commander Moon gave birth to her own. Back when Bluestep and Porphyry were our only problems. In fact, she hasn't seen either of the two in a while since these weird humans started showing up. Can't say that's a good thing either...

"How are we going to get you home?" Commander Moon asked starting to worry. This mother couldn't just stay in this one spot all night. It would've been safer if the nest was made in camp where she could be protected.

Lightheart just shrugged. "I'm fine sleeping out here."

"We won't hurt you," Sean reassured.

Commander Moon scowled. You don't see the big picture, do you?

There was a whoosh before she caught sight of a Shadow Portal just behind her. Sticking close to Lightheart and Sean, Commander Moon unsheathed her claws just in case whoever was coming out was a threat. A part of her almost groaned in disgust when a familiar teenage boy stepped out. And from what it looked like; he didn't seem too eager to see her either.

"Why are you here?" Zeval asked. A light brown tom with a white spot on his forehead and chest came to stand beside him. From what Commander Moon could remember, that was the Doctor of Light Family.

Commander Moon's jaw dropped. "It's my territory!" She wasn't liking Zeval bit by bit.

"Whatever looks like our kittens arrived safely," Zeval said clearly not wanting to speak with Commander Moon who scowled.

Birdyfeather padded on over to inspect each of the kittens as well, ignoring Commander Moon and Sean's presence. A small smile slowly formed on his face as he sat back down. "The kittens are healthy; it should be safe to carry them back home."

"The Shadow Portal will lead you right back to your camp," Zeval said coolly eyeing Commander Moon.

Nodding his head, Birdyfeather picked Lion up while Lightheart carried Holly in her jaws and Sean helped her lift Puma onto her back. After getting situated, the Light Family cats padded into the Shadow Portal and disappeared. Few seconds went by before Zeval started glaring Commander Moon down.

"Focus on Bluestep, don't let those hooded guys distract you," Zeval growled his bright blue eyes flashing.

Sean took a step forward. "Who says you can tell us what to do?"

Zeval quickly spun around. "Your course has been mapped out. Straying off it will only delay our progress," he explained.

"Can you speak plainly?" Commander Moon spat. "I'm tired of the riddle talk."

"Hmph. Figure it out," Zeval murmured before being consumed by his own Shadow Portal.

Shaking her head multiple times, Commander Moon went to head back to camp with Sean darting ahead of her. Why was Zeval so fickle with them anyway? His intentions are questionable, and he suddenly wanted them to only focus on Bluestep.

Was Lionpool right about them being no good?