//------------------------------// // Prologue: Road Trip! // Story: Poetic Thrill and Blade Star's Semi-Exciting Adventure // by rcmero //------------------------------// “Wish, time for lunch!” Just another day in the life of amateur writer Poetic Thrill. His life has been somewhat average, publishing his novels whenever he can. His sister Mythic Wish is also got a knack for drawing, he feels as if she might get her cutie mark any day now. Recently, he got permission from Blade Star to publish his life’s adventure from the moment he and his family first showed up in Ponyville. He’s been releasing the stories in volumes, since the full story is quite long, and he knows ponies don’t want to read a 500-page book. That is, if the pages are of the small kind. He got down on his seat on his kitchen table to get something to eat, when he heard a knock on the door. “Now who could that be?” he asked. He then asked his sister who had just entered the room: “Were you expecting somepony?” She nodded negatively. Thrill got up and went to the door, opening it. On the other side was Rarity. “Oh, hey there, Rarity. What’s up?” “Oh please, Thrill, this isn’t a social call. Me and the girls have been going to every house to warn everypony in Ponyville about Tirek.” “Come again?” “Tirek is a magic-consuming centaur who has escaped from Tartarus. If you don’t look out, you might end up getting your magic sucked up.” “Oh my Celestia!” Thrill was at this moment starting to sweat of fear. “Oh yes, so I suggest you stay indoors. Wouldn’t want Tirek to see you, you know.” “Don’t… worry… Rarity…” Thrill at this moment started to wonder what to do. “I’ll be sure to do that…” After Rarity left the area, Thrill trotted back to the house. “Wish, we need to go!” “What? What’s going on?” asked Mythic Wish, obviously looking concerned. “Tirek’s going on!” “Who’s Tirek?” “Evil villain. Long story short, he’s gonna suck up your magic. Now come on, let’s go!” “Why are we running away again?” Mythic Wish asked her brother. The two were in the outskirts of Ponyville, just near Sweet Apple Acres. “Do you want your magic sucked up?” Poetic Thrill replied.  “Because that is what’s gonna happen if Tirek gets his hands on us.” Wish looked up at her horn in worry. “Well, no I don’t, but…” “Good. Now let’s go.” Thrill suddenly hear a voice calling for them. He spoke up. “Now who could that be?” Thrill looked behind him and saw somepony else run towards his location. He immediately recognised him. “Blade Star, what’s the matter?” “Ya heard the news, right?” asked Blade Star. “You bet. Worried too, aren’t you?” “Increasingly worried. In case ya were unaware of, Ah have magic Tirek could take.” “Well, why do you think we’re here?” Thrill lit up his horn. “Luckily, I still have magic.” Blade Star looked at Mythic Wish, who smiled and lit up her horn as well. “I see your sister is safe,” Blade Star spoke up. “Yeah. Is yours?” It took a moment, but Blade Star processed Poetic Thrill’s question and started worrying even harder. “Oh no, Lizzie!” Blade Star started to trot out of the scene. “Hurry, we gotta go and see if she’s fine!” “Just teleport us there, Blade Star.” Took another moment for that to process. With a bland “Oh,” Blade Star lit up his horn and teleported himself and Poetic Thrill out of the scene. We are outside Fluttershy’s cottage. A flash is seen and Poetic Thrill and Blade Star appear at the scene. “Why are we here?” asked Thrill. “Well, Lizzie is either here or in Cloudsdale, and unless ya wanna fall off the clouds and plummet several meters down to your doom, Ah suggest we check here first.” “Makes sense.” The two trotted over to the cottage, upon which Blade Star knocked on the front door. There was no response. Poetic Thrill and Blade Star looked at each other. “You sure she is here?” asked Thrill. “Well, only one way to find out, Ah suppose.” Blade Star then slowly opened the door. “Lizzie, you here?” Walking around, Blade Star couldn’t help but feel like something was missing. “I don’t feel her magic…” Suddenly, a quiet moaning was heard. “What was that?” asked Thrill. “It’s comin’ from outside!” Blade Star pointed out. The two ran towards the outside. Once there, they looked around. Looking down, they see a sight they were not expecting to see: Lizzie, feeling completely drained out. “Oh my…” Blade Star spoke up. He then looked at her sister’s flank. “Look, Thrill, her cutie mark’s missing.” “What does that mean?” “Either Tirek stole her magic, or somepony forcefully extracted the cutie mark outta her.” “Taking cutie marks out of ponies? Is that even possible?” “Good point. Let’s go with Tirek takin’ her magic then.” Pause. Blade Star looked at Lizzie, who started to move her head slowly and looked back at Blade Star. “Lizzie…” “Blade Star… save yourself…” Blade Star nodded his head in determination. “Don’t worry, I will.” He looked at Poetic Thrill. “Come on, let’s go, Thrill. At least your sister is safe, right?” “Don’t worry, I won’t let her out of my sight.” Thrill then looked around. “Wait, where is she?” Blade Star looked around as well. “Oh shoot, don’t tell me Ah forgot her when I teleported ya.” “Wait, what?” Poetic Thrill looked at Blade Star with a surprised face. “What were ya thinkin’, Blade Star?” he then yelled at him. “Sorry, sorry! But don’t worry, Ah’ll just teleport back and get her.” Blade Star lit up his horn again and the two teleported away. Mythic Wish was walking, alone. When Blade Star teleported her brother to find his sister, he accidentally left her behind. Now, she had no idea where the two went, and her magic is too weak to attempt to do follow them. Besides, she did not have magic lessons from Princess Twilight like Sweetie Belle did--or Blade Star, now that she realizes it. At least, nothing bad can happen to her, right? “Well, well, well… what do we have here?” Oh shoot, Wish had a scared look on her face, starting to sweat. She turned around and she saw the last thing she expected to see. She saw Tirek. “What are you doing walking around these parts all alone?” he asked, a mischievous grin on his face. Mythic Wish could not respond. “Well, no point in letting your precious magic go to waste then.” Tirek started to inhale, the little filly’s magic being his goal. Mythic Wish was able to blurt out “Poetic Thrill, wherever you are, HEEEEEEEELP!” Just then, a flash is seen between the two, Blade Star and Poetic Thrill appearing out of thin air. Thrill pointed at Tirek. “Keep your filthy hands off my sister, you creep!” He then turned towards Blade Star. “Uh… they’re hands, right?” “Ah think so.” “Well, what do we have here?” Tirek spoke up. “And what are you gonna do, little pony? Zap me with that horn of yours?” Blade Star responded by firing a blast of dark magic out of his horn at Tirek. Tirek covered his face from the blast with his hands, and then looked at Blade Star. “Dark magic. Well, ain’t that something.” “Yeah, well, ya can forget suckin’ this up!” “Well, we’ll just see about that!” Blade Star turned towards Poetic Thrill. “Thrill, grab your sister. I don’t wanna leave her behind again.” He looked at Tirek. “Especially not now…” “Gotcha,” Thrill got Wish real close to him and then nodded at Blade Star. He then lit up his horn as Tirek was preparing to suck up the three’s magic. With a flash, the three were out of the scene, and luckily away from Tirek. Another flash is seen. The three have safely teleported away. “Phew… that was close,” Blade Star spoke up. He then looked around. “Where are we? I was in such a rush I didn’t even set a destination.” “We seem to be in my house,” Thrill responded. “Well, anywhere is better than where we were.” Blade Star put on a thinking face. “So what do we do now? Where do we go?” “What do you mean?” “Well, ya saw what happened with Mythic Wish. Tirek’s gonna go for us, Ah know it.” Thrill thought about what Blade Star said. “True, Tirek’s already gone for nearly everypony else…” Mythic Wish spoke up. “Big brother, can I make a suggestion?” “Shoot, Wish.” “Why don’t you try and use that thing?” Took a minute for that to process. “Oh yeah, ya mean that thing?” “Yeah, that! You haven’t even tried it since you learned it!” “True, but that’s because I’ve been worried I might buck it up.” “Oh come on, how hard can it be?” Blade Star just looked at the two, confused. “Uhhhh… sorry, you’re confusing me here. What are ya talkin’ about?” “Oh, sorry, Blade Star. Guess ya don’t know.” Poetic Thrill scratched his head. “How should I put this… we’ll teleport out of here.” “Come again?” Blade Star is not amused. “Sorry, but how do ya expect to get away from Tirek by teleporting? You saw what Ah did, that was a teleport. It just brought us here.” “You see, that’s the tricky part… this is a different kind of teleport. It… well, best if I show it to you.” Thrill then lit up his horn. He then tapped the ground with his hoof three times, disappearing on the spot. Blade Star looked at the area where Thrill was just at. “Wait, what? How did he do that? Ah didn’t even see the magic go off!” “Give it time…” Mythic Wish spoke up. Just as suddenly as he left, Thrill appears again, again no flash. Thrill looked at Blade Star, mount open in surprise. “Poetic Thrill,” Blade Star spoke up, “pardon my language but… how the buck did you do that?” “I told you you wouldn’t understand,” Thrill responded. “I mean… that teleport ya mention… it was not a regular teleport…” Pause. Blade Star was trying to choose his words carefully. “Where did ya even learn that?” “You won’t believe it… but I got it from this guy who said was my human self.” “Wait, what?” “I didn’t believe it either. But he said he was looking for this pony… I forget his name. But anyway, I accidentally went along with him when he left, so he took the opportunity to teach me this… I guess you could call it an interdimensional teleport.” “But how did he learn somethin’ like that?” “He said it was from some girl who calls herself Child. I didn’t get all the details.” Pause. “So what you’re saying is…” Blade Star spoke up, “we can use… that… to get away from Tirek.” “Yup.” “And where will we end up?” “That’s the cool part!” Thrill was clearly excited at this point. “Since no place in all of Equestria is safe from Tirek, why not just get away from Equestria altogether?” Blade Star raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?” “What, didn’t I say it? This is an interdimensional teleport! We’ll go and see other worlds! Explore the multiverse!” “Road trip!” Mythic Wish spoke up. “I’ll grab my drawing stuff!” She then excitedly started to trot to her room. “Wait, wait, hold up,” Blade Star told Poetic Thrill. “Not sure if I wanna do this. I mean… this could be dangerous.” “More dangerous than the power-hungry centaur that’s gonna suck up our magic if we stay here?” Pause. “Good point. Okay, let’s go.” “K’. Just gotta wait for Mythic Wish.” “Why does she want that stuff she mentioned anyway?” “I have a feeling drawing is Wish’s special talent. I saw her doing a whole bunch of drawings on her room a few days ago. Better help encouraging her to do more drawings.” “So why doesn’t she have her cutie mark yet then?” “I also have a feeling that she has a knack for singing. I saw her sing a bit while she was drawing.” “Singing and drawing? What kind of cutie mark would a special talent like that be?” “You’re one to talk, mister I-Have-A-Sword-As-A-Cutie-Mark-And-I-Don’t-Know-What-It-Means!” “Well, yeah, that was kind of a dumb question.” “Now talking serious, I’m guessing maybe an artist’s palette with a microphone where the paintbrush would be. I think I know how that would look like.” “Haven’t you ever thought of the possibility that… well… that she might get two cutie marks?” “Wait, are you serious? Pretty sure you are aware of the Cutie Pox, what with that show of yours and all.” “Well, yeah… but Cheerilee said that it wasn’t impossible. Besides, you said so yourself: she has a knack for two things.” “I think that it’s much more likely that she’ll get one cutie mark that represents both talents than two cutie marks that may eventually evolve into a cutie pox.” “Well, yeah, you’re right.” Pause. “What’s taking Wish so long?” “Don’t worry, Blade Star. I’m sure she won’t take long.” “What happened to her?” Thrill was clearly inpatient at this point. “She usually shouldn’t take this long.” “You think Tirek got her?” asked Blade Star. “If, so I should know.” Pause. “You know what, I’m gonna see what’s taking her so long.” As soon as Thrill said that, Mythic Wish trotted back towards the two, a full pair of saddlebags on her. “Sorry I took so long. I had a lot of used sheets of paper.” “Well, glad to know you’re alright. Now we’re ready to go.” “Oh yeah, running out of drawing paper. You may want to buy some more.” “Don’t worry, I’ll be sure to buy some more. Once, y’know, this whole thing is over. You got enough for now?” “I think so. That was kind of why I was taking so long.” “Like I said, don’t worry. When we get back, I’ll be sure to get you some more paper.” Poetic Thrill turned towards Blade Star. “Ready?” “So where are we going first, if ya don’t mind me asking?” asked Blade Star. Thrill thought about that for a while now. Suddenly he got a small grin on his face. “That’s the fun part…” “Come again?” “Let’s randomize it!” “I don’t like the sound of this…” “Come on, Blade Star, what’s the worst that could happen? As long as we don’t mess with whatever world we’re in, we should be fine.” “Okaaaaay… but I trust you, Thrill. Anything that happens, I’m blamin’ ya.” And with that, Thrill got real close to the other two, making sure that he did not forget them, lit up his horn, and tapped the ground three times. He was then transported away, taking his sister and Blade Star with him. The adventure had just begun.