In The Stardust

The Rattlecobra (Pt. 1)

Get excited! Three, two, one, action!

While Poppy, Branch, and Archer screamed with either joy or terror (terror, in Branch's case), Lily sat in the cart deadpanned as it whooshed them across the track... until it stopped.

“We are experiencing technical difficulties. Please remain in the cart."

While Branch shook in fear and Poppy in anticipation, Archer turned to his uninterested fiancee.

“Say, what's the point in this roller coaster again?" he asked her.

“Eh, it's just for fun," Lily answered. Then, the ride resumed and took them to the Troll Village Library.

“Why are we here in the middle of the night?" Poppy asked Branch, yawning. Archer turned to Lily, wondering the same thing.

“I found the perfect wedding date, and after doing some math, I realized the time to start preparing is now," Lily answered. “I thought it'd be easier to start here. We need to find my great grandmother's cookbook and a book on wedding gowns."

“And you," Branch began, “you promised me we'd spend a whole day doing what I wanted to. And I don't want to waste a second. So we're going to start by looking around in the Practical Matters section."

“Frosting, I forgot about that," Poppy admitted.

“Let's just get this over with," Archer and Poppy said at the same time.

While Lily and Archer looked at the Fancy Etiquette section, Branch took Poppy to Practical Matters and read safety guides while Poppy just sat and watched him.

“Bored, bored, bored," she muttered, grabbing a scrapbook on quantum computing. “Who else would want to come down here at this hour?"

“Excuse me, Queen Poppy?" a voice spoke up. “I was reading that."

“Clyde, what are you doing here?" Poppy asked the young prodigy.

“Mother told us to leave the house before midnight, like we do every year tonight," Clyde answered. “And this is my favorite part of the library."

“You need to get out more kid," Poppy said, giving Clyde the book.

“Wow, this is a thick layer of dust," Branch said, grabbing a book with a ribbon tied around it. He rubbed his finger on it, caught some dust, and licked it. “I say this has been here for... seventeen years... nine months... three days... and eight seconds."

Now Poppy was curious. Branch noticed a note tucked in the ribbon and read it aloud.

“WARNING! DO NOT OPEN THIS BOOK, OR YOU WILL UNLEASH A THREAT TO ALL OF TROLLKIND!"

“‘Unleash a threat?'" Poppy repeated. “By reading a book? Someone's playing a trick on us."

“You only want to read it because it's the most interesting book in Practical Matters," Branch figured, putting the book back. “We don't know what they meant, but I'm not going to be the one to destroy the Trolls, and neither are..."

Suddenly, Branch felt a wave of energy burst through the library. He turned around to find Poppy holding the open book. He rolled his eyes in annoyance.