"Since I can't convince Ungatt Trunn to fight me, we'll have to take Salamandastron back by stealth," said Lord Brocktree. He was back in the otter cave with all his allies around him.

"Super wheeze, wot!" Dotti exclaimed. "Now, what's your jolly old plan, Sire?"

"Well, I don't exactly have a plan yet," the badger admitted. "We still need to come up with one."

"We've gotta be thinkin' hard, rasslin' with our brains," said Cookie. This was followed by a long silence.

"Surely somebeast must have some glimmer of a plan?" said Princess Platinum after a few minutes. No one answered her.

"I say we just charge the mountain, and whack 'em, an' whack 'em, an' whack 'em!" Commander Hurricane shouted.

"Weren't you listening to the Badger Lord?" Chancellor Puddinghead responded. "He said we need to come up with a plan based on smartness instead of fighting-ness! We need to think outside the box and inside the chimney… but there's no chimney in this cave."

That gave Lord Brocktree the idea he was looking for. "The chimney… inside the chimney!"

Nobeast knew what he was talking about. "What are you talking about?" Celestia asked.

"Salamandastron is basically a big volcano," Brocktree said. "It stopped erupting long ago, but there's still a huge crater in the top where lava used to pour out. We can get inside the mountain by climbing in through the hole, or one might say, the chimney."

"I say, that's using the old noggin!" Fleetscut shouted.

"But how would we get up there?" Clover asked. "The mountain looks much too steep to climb all the way to the top from outside. I don't think we could do it."

"Maybe you can't, but we can," said Commander Hurricane proudly. "My pegasi can fly up there in no time."

"That's right," said Brocktree. "I want all of the pegasi, along with Celestia and Luna to fly up into the crater and sneak into the mountain."

"But that won't work," Luna objected. "They'll see us and shoot at us."

"It sounds like we need to come up with another part of the plan, to distract the vermin so they won't be able to stop our fliers from getting in," said Celestia.

"Maybe if they were fighting the rest of us, you could fly in without being noticed," said Brocktree.

"But the cat already said he wasn't gonna fight you," mentioned Pansy.

A gleam came into Bucko's eye. "We'll have tae make him mad, like Dotti did wi' me!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The next morning, Ungatt Trunn was talking to his captains, Ripfang, Doomeye, and Karangool.

"We should build a wall around the mountain, to stop anybeast we don't want from getting in," he said.

"Can we pay for a wall?" Ripfang wondered.

"We'll make THEM pay for it!" the cat declared confidently, gesturing out the window to the creatures outside. Suddenly he heard music coming from out there. It was Dotti singing an insulting song.

"When God made a cat he was desperate

For something to make himself laugh.

He gave it the brain of a monkey,

But dropped it and broke it in half.

Cats are stupid,

They don't have the sense of a snooker ball.

That's why monkeys

Deny any kinship at all!"

Ungatt Trunn wasn't sure what infuriated him more, the rude song, or the awful voice of the creature singing it. But there was one thing he was sure about.

"They can't get away with making fun of me like this!" he shouted angrily. "They are very bad (or sick) beasts! We'll gather all our forces and smash them once and for all!"

"But won't that leave the mountain undefended?" Ripfang asked. "Yew said we 'ad to 'old onto this fortress no matter what!"

Ungatt Trunn's eyes blazed savagely. "Perhaps you'd like to stay here?"

Ripfang knew that when the wildcat said stay here he meant "Stay as a corpse wrapped in a spider web." He averted his eyes from the murderous gaze. "No, I don't wanna stay 'ere, ha-ha! Me an' me brother are loyal to ye, sire, you lead an' we'll follow yer, true blue an' never fail!"

Trunn smiled, but that only made him look scarier. "Good! Get the columns ready to march, captain. We are gonna win so much that you guys are gonna be sick and tired of winning!"