Narrator's POV
Ruby and Trollex were both having a stare down as both Coral Blush and Beatdrop were watching from the side. "How... How did you get here?" Ruby managed to say as she was confused and a little nervous on why he was here. Trollex was staring at Ruby in surprise as he was studying her appearance. Her hair scheme was same color but instead of yellow tips being ocean wave-like; it was more flame-like, her skin color was also the same and she has legs. At first, Trollex was about to doubt that she was the one who saved him but then he noticed something about her, something he will never forget... Her beautiful lime-green eyes as he noticed that the sunlight made it look like her eyes were glowing as Trollex felt his heart skip a beat.
He didn't know that he had been staring at her for long until he saw Beatdrop was in front of him as he saw his best friend raising an eyebrow at his new and strange behavior. "Are you okay? Who are you?" Ruby asked as she didn't want him to get suspicious of her since Ruby already knows who he is. Trollex snapped out of it and says "Oh, sorry! Uh, ahem. I am King Trollex, King of the Techno Trolls. And I'm here because... I wanted to thank you for saving my life". Ruby was surprised for a moment before she gave him a smile and said "It's no problem. I always help those in need. And I'm pretty sure you know this little guy" and then she stepped to the side to reveal Coral Blush, who was behind her legs and immediately, a smiling and giggling Coral Blush zoomed towards Trollex, tackling the Techno King with a tight hug.
"Coral Blush?!?! What are you doing here?! H-How did you escape?!?!" Trollex immediately asked the baby Techno Troll in concern, but Coral Blush simply snuggled in his King's arms and Ruby says to him "Don't worry. I found him on the shore, I can assure you that he's not hurt or injured" and Trollex looks at her and smiles at Ruby and says "Thank you" and it was quiet for a moment before Trollex realized something before asking "And... You are?" and this made Ruby chuckle before she bowed while saying respectfully "Well, your majesty, I am Ruby, Protector of Pop village".
Trollex blushed a little before saying "You can just call me Trollex and... Wait did you say Pop village?" and asked the last sentence in surprise and Ruby responds "Yes, why?" and then Trollex slowly floated out of the water, making Ruby look surprise. Trollex smirked and asked "What? Surprised to see me floating in air?" and this made Ruby roll her eyes in amusement as she was about to say something when Beatdrop spoke.
"Are you done flirting yet, pal?"
Trollex immediately blushed brightly while Ruby blinks with a small blush on her face and Trollex glared at Beatdrop, who had a smug look on his face. "You. Are. Not. Helping. Beatdrop!" Trollex stammered/growled in embarrassment and then suddenly the group was startled when someone shouted really loud nearby. "RUBY?! WHERE ARE YOU?! I WANTED TO ASK YOU SOME-!" Poppy came out from the bushes but stopped talking as she stared at Ruby, Trollex, Coral Blush and Beatdrop in surprise. Ruby gave a nervous smile while Trollex looked at Poppy in confusion. "Poppy! Did You Find Her?!" Branch's voice was heard as he also suddenly came out from the bushes before he stared at the scene in front of him in surprise too. 'What is it with everyone coming out from the bushes?' Ruby and Trollex both thought the same thing before Branch slowly narrowed his eyes and asked in a serious manner "Ruby... Who is this?" and then Trollex gave the two Pop Trolls a small wave before saying in a nervous tone "Hello..".
"Guys, this is Trollex, King of the Techno Trolls. Trollex, these are my friends Branch and Poppy, Queen of the Pop Trolls" Ruby introduced the three and just before Trollex could say anything the group was suddenly alarmed by someone screaming for help.
"Ah! Poppy, help! Poppy!"
"Biggie?!" Poppy and Ruby both looked at each other before rushing back to Pop village with Branch, Trollex and Beatdrop following them from behind. The group made it to Pop village and saw that Biggie was being chased by a bat to which Ruby recognized the bat as Debbie, Barb's pet. Coral Blush cried in fear seeing the bat, making Trollex quickly comfort the baby Techno Troll as he was still in the King's arms. "Help! I'm being harangued by a monster! Someone stop it!" Biggie exclaims as Debbie keeps attempting to bite him and Ruby was about to summon her staff when Poppy uses her hair to grab Debbie and pulls her back. "Gotcha!" Poppy said before Debbie starts squirming around in Poppy's hair, causing her to freak out, "Ah! It's in my hair! It's in my hair! Get it out, get it out, get it out!".
Branch lets out a yell and tackles Debbie out of Poppy's hair and pinned her to the ground as this surprised Beatdrop and Trollex. "Shh, shh. There you go. There you go. Calm down. Who's a good boy?" Branch soothes Debbie by rubbing her eyes and wings to calm her down while Ruby walks over to Branch and Debbie. "What is that thing?" Legsly asked. "It's creepy" Cooper said. "It's scary" the fashion twins said in unison. "And nasty~" Guy diamond says in an auto-tuned voice. "Hold me, Daddy" Tiny says and Guy diamond held his son. "First of all, Branch it's a girl and second... She's cute!" Ruby says while picking up Debbie and holds her close and everyone looks at her as if she's crazy.
"What?" Ruby asked in confusion and then Beatdrop whispered to Trollex with amusement in his voice "Nice choose on picking your first love" and this made Trollex stiff with a small blush before he glared at Beatdrop, who smirked. Then everyone noticed a black rolled up paper that the bat had with her and Poppy went over to it and picked it up and read out loud, "To Queen Poppy".
This made the Trolls gasp while getting nervous but Poppy reassured everyone "Oh, don't worry, everyone. It looks like it's just an invitation" and this made the Trolls sigh in relief and Legsly repeats "Just an invitation" and while Cooper says "I love invitations" and then Poppy clears her throat while unrolling the rolled up paper and reads out loud to everyone "Barb, the Queen of Rock, announces her 'One Nation Under Rock' World Tour. Bring your string to the biggest party the world has ever seen" and after Poppy finished reading the paper, Trollex and Beatdrop both stiffed as they got nervous while Coral Blush whimpered quietly and Ruby's eyes widened at this.
"Queen of Rock?" Poppy questioned in confusion before former King Peppy appeared out of nowhere and snatched the letter from Poppy. "It's Nothing! It Means Nothing At All! It's Just Junk Mail! You Don't Need To Worry About It! I Mean, Quit Lookin' At It, Everyone! Forget What You Saw!" former King Peppy exclaimed as he stomps on it before chewing it, surprising and shocking Trollex and Beatdrop. Branch then lets out another yell and tackles the former King of Pop and calms him down like he did with Debbie as Branch rubbed former King Peppy's eyes and twirled his mustache while saying "There you go. There you go. Calm down. Calm down. There you go".
"Okay, I'm calm. I'm calm" former King Peppy assured everyone as Ruby rushed over to him and helped him back up on his feet. "Dad, what's going on?" Poppy asked as she was completely confused about the situation. "Well, I have long feared this day would come. I was hoping to protect you from this, Poppy" former King Peppy says to her. "Protect me? I'm not a little kid anymore, Dad. I'm the queen now" Poppy said to him and that's when former King Peppy noticed Trollex, making his eyes widened in shock and was about to say something when Ruby spoke, "She's right. As her Protector; I won't let anything happen to her... And she needs to know".
Former King Peppy stares at Ruby before saying "You're right, Ruby" and then he looks at Poppy and says "The truth is Poppy... We are not alone in this world" and then a spooky eerie warbling was heard, making former King Peppy look confused while this spooked the two Techno Trolls and Beatdrop as everyone noticed it was Mr. Dinkles, who was making the noise and this made Biggie stick his finger in his pet worm's mouth while shushing him. 'I mean aside from the Bergens and the critters in the forest' Ruby thought to herself.
"There are other kinds of Trolls" former King Peppy continued and this surprised everyone, especially Poppy while Ruby and Trollex weren't surprised since they already know. "Wow. That's... Dad, that's great! The more Trolls, the merrier!" Poppy says with excitement in her voice. "You don't understand. These other Trolls aren't like us. They're... different" former King Peppy told her.
"Different how? Different like Legsly?" Poppy asked while gesturing Legsly, who says "I love being me".
"Or Fuzzbert? Or Smidge? Or Skyscraper Troll?"
"Yeah, different like me?" The four heads asked in unison. "No, it's not that. They're different in ways you can't even imagine. You see, we love music with a hummable hook, with an upbeat melody, with a catchy rhythm that makes you want to snap your fingers, tap your toes and wiggle your butt" former King Peppy explained. "That's your music. That's what makes you guys, Pop Trolls" Ruby says as she comes in the conversation.
"Ooh"
"It is"
"Yes"
"But these other Trolls, they sing different" this made everyone gasp, "They dance different. Why, some of them can't even begin to grasp the concept of Hammer Time!" former King Peppy exclaimed and after that, everyone started to panic-dance. "Can't touch that!" Legsly yelled and then everyone started panicking. Trollex and Beatdrop were both completely bewildered by this as Trollex whispered to Ruby while holding a sleeping Coral Blush in his arms "Is this how they panic?" and Ruby nods while whispering back to him "Yes" and then she takes a deep breath before placing two fingers in her mouth and lets out a loud whistle, instantly making everyone freeze on the spot.
"Thank you, Ruby... How about we break down to a smaller group?" former King Peppy thanked the girl before suggested. "Good idea" Ruby replies to him.
In a Secret Grotto
The Snack Pack, Poppy, Branch, Ruby, Trollex, Beatdrop and Coral Blush were all standing behind a mushroom table while former King Peppy came with a scroll and placed it down as he says "It's a story as old as time" and then he clears his throat and adds while unrolling the scroll "In the beginning, there was silence".
"Boring!" the scrapbook Pop Troll says.
"Until one day, someone made a sound. Your ancestors were so inspired by the sound, they took six strings. And those six strings had the power to control all music. They could play anything" Ruby narrates for former King Peppy.
"Techno-" Ruby got cut off when Trollex suddenly sang out "🎶One more time~!🎶" and everyone looks at him surprise and interest at his song. Ruby smiled and shook her head as she continued "Anyways there's Funk, Classical, Country, Hard Rock and Pop. And every kind of music in between. There was something for everyone. It was one big party".
"Yay!" the scrapbook Trolls cheered.
"But little by little, Trolls became intolerant of each other's music" former King Peppy suddenly took over.
"I want it!"
"I want to listen to Techno!"
"No fair!"
"Hey, y'all, I want Country"
"They fought over what kind of music the strings would play. The elders realized there was but one solution"
"Blah, blah-blah-blah-blah. Agreed"
"Each tribe would take a string and go their separate ways. Those six tribes have lived in isolation ever since: Techno, Country, Rock, Classical, Funk, and us, the Pop Trolls" former King Peppy finished telling the story.
"Now Barb's announcement makes sense. She wants to reunite the strings so the Troll World can be one big party again!" Poppy says and this made Ruby smack her forehead at her Troll best friend's conclusion while Trollex and Beatdrop were both dumbfounded as Coral Blush slowly starts waking up from his nap. "Wait, that's all you heard? One big party?" Branch asked skeptically. "That's what the letter literally said Branch if you were listening earlier" Ruby says in a teasing tone before giving a small smirk as Branch playfully glared at his human friend/sister figure. "Yeah! It's when all the Trolls lived in harmony. And what's more important than living in harmony?" Poppy replied to Branch, who says "Well, I heard fighting. The strings together leads to fighting".
"Exactly, Branch. That's why we need to keep our string safe" former King Peppy says as he made his way to the waterfall and then the waterfall splits revealing a white harp with a glowing pink string.
Everyone was in complete awe while Ruby smiled as she noticed Trollex and Beatdrop were both in complete shock and awe since they have never seen the other tribes strings other than their own. "Behold! The Pop music string" former King Peppy said before he strummed the string as it let out a sparkling heart with a beautiful harmonization "💗Ooooooh, yeah💗".
The group gasped at this before the glitter heart fades while glitter showers them all. "It's beautiful" Poppy says while Ruby was amazed as some glitter landed on her hair while one lands on her nose and then Coral Blush got out of his King's arms and went into Ruby's arms as he cooed in awe and wonder at the beautiful glitter, making Ruby's expression soften at the baby Techno Troll's curiosity and unknown to her, Trollex was looking at her with a dreamy look as Beatdrop noticed this and smirks.
"And powerful. Which is why we can't let it fall into the wrong hands" former King Peppy says and Branch comes in the conversation as he says "And we won't. Not on my watch. What we need is a plan" and then former King Peppy says calmly while the waterfall behind him closes "Don't worry. I've been preparing for this day for years" and then he exclaimed "We run!" and takes off running, only to be stopped by a confused Poppy as she asks "Run?!".
"And hide!" former King Peppy adds. Branch, who was already in his cameo gear wipes two mud streaks on his cheeks says "On it!" and then the two began running off. "But we don't even know what we're running and hiding from" Poppy said, causing the two Trolls to halt their tracks. "We're hiding from Barb and all the other different Trolls" former King Peppy says unaware of Cooper's speechless look on his face before the former King of Pop looks at Trollex and adds "No offense" and this made Trollex raise an eyebrow while crossing his arms, clearly unamused. "But Trollex is different! He's just like you guys!" Ruby says as she came into Trollex's defense, much to his surprise.
"You're right Ruby. The Techno Trolls are different. Unlike the others, they listen to reason" former King Peppy says to the Protector of Pop village. "You're assuming the worst about someone you haven't even met" Poppy stated as her father looks at her.
"You're not listening to me"
"You're not listening to me"
"I'm your father!"
"And I'm the queen"
Uh, father trumps queen! Now, there's no time to debate this. Let's go. Come along, Branch" former King Peppy says before calling out to the former gray Troll, who stammers "Well, I, um..." and gives his crush and human friend/sister figure a sheepishly grin before rushing off with the former King of Pop. "Seriously?!" Ruby says in disbelief and then Poppy said "We're all Trolls! Differences don't matter" and then she had an angered look on her face as Ruby noticed this and immediately knew what Poppy was about to do next.
Timeskip to Ruby's Home at Nighttime
Ruby was currently packing the items she and the others will need for the adventure. Trollex and Beatdrop were both watching the human girl pack while Coral Blush was playing with Blaze and then the Techno King noticed that Ruby was packing lots of water bottles and this made him get curious.
"Why are you packing so many bottles of water, Ruby?" Trollex asked curiously and this made Ruby chuckle as she went over to him and booped his nose while saying "They're for you, Beatdrop and Coral Blush so you guys don't get dehydrated on the journey. We wouldn't want that now, would we?" and gave him a warm smile before she goes back to packing, unaware of Trollex's blushing face.
After Ruby finished packing, she then went to change into her new clothing that the fashion twins made for her a while back. "I'm ready!" Ruby says as she stepped out of her room and into the kitchen where Trollex, Beatdrop and Coral Blush were at and they were amazed by Ruby's outfit.
( ↑Remember this is the outfit in the chapter 'Ruby's info' that Ruby is gonna wear for the adventure along her leaf flower headpiece↑ )
"Now let's get going before Poppy leaves without us" Ruby says with a confident smirk as she throws a small satchel over her right shoulder while Blaze hops on her left shoulder and watches his new 'mother' grabbing a sports bag that she packed everything in and then Ruby, Blaze, Trollex, Coral Blush and Beatdrop left and starts heading towards where Poppy is.
Meanwhile with Poppy
Poppy was admiring and putting the finishing touches she made on Debbie as she was covered in glitter.
"Oh, look how cute you are!" Poppy squealed. "Barb is gonna love your new look! Tell her I look forward to helping her plan the world's biggest party!" Poppy says as she took out an envelope and handed it to Debbie. "Poppy!" a voice whispered/yelled from behind her, making Poppy scream and turned as it revealed to be Branch as he asked "What are you doing?" and Poppy says while attempting to hide Debbie "Oh! Nothing".
"Ooh! Poppy's busted" Sheila-B says and Poppy shushed her while grabbing Debbie, who was about to fly away. "Sneaking out to meet Barb? Headed into enemy territory?!" Branch accurately accused. "She's not the enemy. She's a queen, the same as me" Poppy sassed back and then Debbie managed to get out of the Queen of Pop's arms and flew away while bumping into Branch in the process. "Bye-bye, little bat" Sheila-B called out to Debbie. "Your dad just told us that Queen Barb is bad news" Branch stated. "Well, my dad doesn't know everything" Poppy said as she picked up a basket of supplies. "He knows more about this. You didn't even know there was a string until this morning" Branch pointed out and Poppy was about to say something when someone spoke.
"First of all, Branch, you didn't know about the string's existence either"
This made the two Pop Trolls whip around and saw Ruby, Trollex with a sleeping Coral Blush in his arms, Blaze and Beatdrop standing nearby. "What are you guys doing here?" Branch asked and Ruby looked at him with an 'are you serious' look and said "We're going with Poppy too and since I'm her Protector, I am not allowing her to go alone on this journey". Poppy smiled at her human best friend before looking at Branch and said while getting in the hot air balloon along with Ruby, Trollex, Blaze and Beatdrop "He may be fine in a world where everybody lives in isolation, but I'm not" and then she placed the supplies down before bending down when two gumdrops fell out. "Well, but we don't know anything about the other Trolls. Except maybe Techno on the account of Trollex" Branch reasoned and then Ruby cleared her throat, making the former gray Troll look at Ruby, who had an annoyed look. "And the fact that Ruby also knows more about the other tribes" Branch corrected himself and this made both Trollex and Beatdrop looked confused as they said in unison "What?".
Poppy looks at them and simply said "Yeah, Ruby, here, is from another world, a different dimension. So she's seen and knows what's gonna happen in the future" and this stunned and shocked Trollex and Beatdrop. 'Another world? Does she know about me? And what will happen to the strings?' Trollex thought to him and then snapped out of his thoughts when Poppy said "Well, we know they're Trolls and Trollex's tribe seems delightful! Branch, look around Troll Village. Everybody's different, even us" and then suddenly a distant sneeze was heard, causing everyone to get alerted except for Ruby since she already knows who it was.
"Huh. Did you hear something?" Poppy asked Branch, who says to her "Stop trying to change the subject" and then Poppy says "Look, being queen means having a lot of power, and it's my job to use it for good. I can't stay home when I know there's a world full of different Trolls out there just like us" and Branch sighs and says "This is a terrible idea that will most likely blow up in your face" and smirks at the group while hoping Poppy would change her mind. "Okay, bye" Poppy said as she cuts the rope for the balloon with a pair of scissors. "What?!" Branch exclaimed as both Poppy and Ruby looked down at him with a smirk while Trollex was confused as Branch crossed his arms, occasionally looking at the group. "Is he seriously gonna let us leave like that?" Trollex whispered to Ruby, who whispered back "Wait for it". Eventually Branch groans in defeat and uses his hair to swing himself onboard with the help of nature. "And I guess I'm coming with you" Branch said with his arms crossed, making Ruby chuckle as she side glanced at Trollex and said to him "Told you".
"Oh, thank you! I really didn't want to go by myself" Poppy said to Branch in relief. "HEY!" Ruby, Trollex and Beatdrop all said in offense, earning a giggle from Poppy as she apologized "Sorry, guys".
"Road trip!" Sheila-B exclaimed, making Poppy cheer "Yeah!".
3rd POV
Unknown to the group except Ruby, someone was eavesdropping on their conversation as it revealed to be Cooper. Then he went back to the secret grotto and went up to the scroll about the six ancestors as it was still open. "They are all different. A-And this one looks a little bit like me" Cooper said to himself before pointing at the tall Troll who looked like him and then a small leaf landed on its head, making Cooper gasp before exclaiming as it echoed "We even have the same hat!".
At Cooper's Pod
Cooper went back to his pod and grabbed his bag, his harmonica, replaced his 'everything's good cap' with the 'destiny cap' and puts on a purple cloak on. Copper peeks at his door before leaving, but not before looking back at Pop village. "Goodbye. I hope I see you again, friends. But even though it's scary, I-I have to go out there and see if there's other Trolls like me" Cooper says and turns around as he was about to take the first step back jumped back with a shriek as he looked down at the edge.
"Oh, man, this is gonna be hard"