Greetings people. I don't approve of the long title of this story, but I thought it was fitting.

So, after being absent for a year, I've decided to make a comeback because of the lack of SVTFOE lately.

I am making this before season 2 comes out. If some information or content is incorrect later on in the story, then I apologize. I may alter it, but for the sake of my plot, I may not.

As for Star's wand, it is fully functional and repaired.

This takes place about three years after the events of season one, Star would be 17, etc. Tom's age is uncertain, so he is 18 in my story.

So, without further ado.

"Give it back, Star!" Marco complained. He helplessly watched as Star shoved the hoodie over her head. She hadn't realized she putting it on backwards until the hood covered her face.

"Marco, I think your hoodie's broken." Star said, her voice muffled by the fabric. Her hands attempted to grab anything in front of her. She finally managed to pull the hood back.

"Success!" she grinned. Blue eyes looked up, only to see Marco running towards her. She let out a surprised yelp and began scrambling towards the opposite direction. The princess stumbled over the various things laid out across her room. It was difficult to see, considering most of her hair was still trapped on the inside of the hoodie. A few stray golden strands covered her eyes, causing her to trip onto the floor. She landed with 'oof.'

Marco stopped running to laugh at her ungraceful face-plant. He approached her with a small smile. Once he was beside her, he crossed his arms. "The Great Princess Star Butterfly, defeated by a hoodie. Alas, what a tragic defeat," the teen rehearsed melodramatically.

"Mmph opher yth..." she mumbled, while still on the ground.

"I'm sorry, what was that?" Marco asked with a satisfied grin. Star suddenly turned around, wand grasped firmly with two hands.

"It isn't over yet," she exclaimed, "Stardust Daisy Devastation!"

"Uh oh..." Marco's eyes widened. A golden energy beam shot out from her wand, shooting Marco in the gut. He was pushed back, landing harmlessly on a large pile of feathers. Star stood up and let out a satisfied chuckle. She strut over to Marco, wand spinning in her hand. His head popped up from under all of the mess.

"You were saying?" she teased. Marco blew a feather that had landed on his face in the midst of the chaos.

"Marco: 3, Star: 7," he mumbled. Star let out a laugh.

"C'mon Marco," she quipped. She let herself fall to the ground. The princess gave her friend a quick kiss on the nose. "No one likes a sore loser."

Marco grinned and took the opportunity to steal back his jacket. Two hands spontaneously emerged from the pile of pillows. He gripped the sides of the red jacket's fabric.

"Ah! Stop! I'm ticklish." Star laughed. The other teen continued to yank the jacket off the blonde. He struggled a little more before the jacket was successfully removed from her body. Marco's eyes widened when he saw the shambles and knots that was currently Star's hair.

Both teens made eye contact. There was a few moments of silence before they burst out laughing. It took another few moments before they were able to calm down. The princess grabbed her wand and gave her head a light tap. Messy, golden hair suddenly straightened itself out.

That's what had consisted of their routine for the past couple of years. Waking up was just a door for an adventure that lied in the day before them. To Star, it was like starting fresh. It was a great feeling, one she'd never experienced while on Mewni. In the past years, the princess had been able to see more beauty in this dimension than in her own.

Her mother had thought that sending her to earth would be more of a punishment to correct her "unruly" behavior. However, it actually did the contrary. It gave her a sense of liberty to be outcaste from all the stressful duties her parents had to endure.

Queen Butterfly had certain expectations for Star, something she was reminded of almost every day.

Even though her parents had been slacking lately. They'd gone a little quiet, calling less frequently as more days passed by. Not that Star was complaining. She could live the rest of her life in peace without their insistent badgering.

It wasn't that she didn't want to be a princess, it was the responsibility she couldn't bear. From what Star had seen, her father seemed pretty much miserable and although she loved her mother with every fiber in her heart, Queen Butterfly could be... daresay, boring.

She'd seen what the title did to people, and it either made life mundane or tyrannical. It wasn't a lifestyle she had a preference for. Sure, Star could deal with the glamor and certain perks of royalty, but other than that, there wasn't much to look forward to.

There was also the thought that one day she would have to leave the earth dimension. The blonde girl cherished everyday with Marco. She refused to think that those moments could end.

All it took was her mom's word and poof, back to Mewni it was. It was scary how little say she had on the matter. The thought crept on her even more the older she grew. Month after month passed, and Star tried her hardest to postpone the inevitable. The princess knew she couldn't hide forever, but she could dang well try.

As long as it meant more time with Marco and other friends, she would try.

Despite the fact that the princess paid frequent visits to Mewni, she was about ready to make earth her permanent home

Here, Star could do what she loved: fighting evil. It what she was born to do, it was in her genes, inherited from her father. He had said so himself. Her mother had never really approved of Star fighting monsters by herself, preferring knights to fight a princesses' battle.

Like she said, boring.

It didn't matter; as long as she had her dad on her side, she would one day reach her full potential. Nevertheless, Star was perfectly content with keeping evil off the earth dimension. There wasn't much action for her on Mewni, her parents could handle that. They always had.

"Star, you okay...?" Marco questioned. He must have noticed her sudden change in moods. The princess perked up. This wasn't the first time these sort of thoughts had been triggered out of nowhere. It seemed that they were becoming more recurrent.

Star noticed Marco's concerned expression. The princess couldn't help but smile.

What would she do without her Marco?

She reached over and punched him. "Better than you," she remarked. Marco rubbed his arm and good-naturedly rolled his eyes.

"If we're done here, I'd like to get going." he said, putting the hoodie over his head.

"Oh yeah sure, sure... Let's go." she replied. The princess confidently headed towards door.

She opened it, then stopped. Star turned to Marco and her blue eyes blinked owlishly at him, "Um, go where exactly?"

"It's free comic book day!" Marco exclaimed. Star jumped up in glee, momentarily startling Marco.

"Woo-hoo! It's free comic book day!" she exclaimed as she bounced around the room. It might have been Marco's imagination, but he could have sworn he was seeing sparkles gleam off Star every time she happily took a step. The blonde suddenly stopped and turned to Marco. "What's... free comic book day?"

"The day where they give out free comics, hence the name..." he said. Her eyes narrowed in confusion.

"Comics...?" she asked. The way she pronounced it seemed foreign to her tongue.

Marco sighed, "You don't know what comics are, do you?"

"No, but I like free things, so let's go!" she suddenly grabbed his hand.

"Whoa, Star-!" the teenager was suddenly cut off as Star suddenly raced for the window. Luckily Marco was able to firmly plant his feet onto the ground.

"Hang on, at least let me put on my shoes." the Hispanic teen said.

The princess gave an exaggerated sigh, "Fine..."

She allowed him to put on his footwear. "Okay, done."

"Star Butterfly, away!" Her grip tightened around his hand and they suddenly crashed through her window. Marco let out a shriek.

"Star what are you-" a scream escaped his mouth as they plummeted towards the ground. In a flash, Star pulled out her wand and pointed it towards the ground. A bright streak hit the ground, covering it with soft daisies.

Both teenagers landed softly on the flowers. Star landed gracefully, while Marco landed face first. He scrambled up, shaking the flowers from his hair.

"Uh, Star," he spoke, spitting a mouthful of yellow daisies.

"Yeah?" asked the cheerful princess.

"As much as I love jumping out windows, could we use the door next time?" he asked wearily.

"And miss out on that fun? Heck no!" she replied.

"Alright, let's just get going," Marco said rubbing his head. The pair stood up. Star flicked her wand so that the mess of plants disappeared.

"Free comic book day, here I come!" Star said, excitedly pumping her fists in the air.

"You don't even know where the store is." the boy said, shaking his head.

"Psh. Well that's 'cause you haven't told me." she crossed her arms.

"Well, we better get going if we want the best issues," the teen explained, "If we walk five miles per hour, we should be able to get there 10 minutes before the shop opens-"

Star rolled her eyes at her friend. He always had to overcomplicate the simplest of things.

"Marco, Marco... shh..." her hands patted his face. Marco lightly slapped her hands away. "There's no need for that mathematician junk. Not when I got this." the princess presented her gleaming wand.

"Star, I don't really think there's any need for that," Marco said. It seems he wasn't as impressed as her.

"But don't you want to get there early?" Star asked.

"Yeah, but you shouldn't rely on your wand so often. Look at me, for example." he said. Star's eyes focused in his direction. "I don't have a wand, and I'm doing just fine."

"Well that's because you're not a princess from outer space." she waggled her finger knowingly, "Relax Marco, trust in your good compadre Star." she said motioning to herself.

"That's not the right usage of the word," the boy deadpanned, "But if you say so."

Star jumped in glee while going to take his hand. "Lightning change back!" She stood in her pose for a few moments. After the blonde saw nothing was happening, she began knocking on the faceplate of her magical device. Her blue eyes carefully inspected it.

"Is everything alright, Star?" the other teen asked.

"Lightning change back!" she commanded. Again, there was nothing. "Hm, I could have sworn I replaced the battery just last week."

The wand suddenly started beeping loudly.

"It's never done that before!" the blonde began growing worried. She looked at Marco, he seemed as confused as her. Star lightly tapped it.

"Make it stop," she gave it to Marco.

"What? Why me? Does it look like I'm the wand expert here?" Marco panicked.

The wand then stopped beeping. They both gave a sigh of relief.

Replacing the noise of the wand, was a loud tear. Star looked up to see a large hole sprouting from thin air. Large men in silver armor began surrounding them, the metal on their feet stomping the ground so roughly the concrete shook.

Marco began getting in position for combat. The blonde was about to copy until she realized that the men were knights from Mewni. Star raised an arm towards Marco, a sign for him to stop.

"Princess Star Butterfly, we have received strict orders by King and Queen Butterfly to escort you to Mewni. Please come with us." a guard spoke. He was the only one without a helmet, so Star assumed he was the leader.

"What's going on?" she asked, her voice filled with confusion.

"The King and Queen urgently wish for your presence," was all that he said. Star and Marco exchanged glances. She knew better than to go against her parents.

They began walking towards the portal. Suddenly, two spears crossed in front of Marco. He slightly jumped back.

"The earthling cannot come." the guard spoke. The princess looked up at the soldier defiantly.

"He goes or I'm not going." she declared. The girl crossed her arms and met the intense stare of the knight. The man gripped his weapon, trying to intimidate her. Star was not so easily scared, and pointed her wand at him.

The man scowled and ordered his crew to remove the spears blocking Marco's path.

Star threw him one last glance before grabbing Marco's hand.

"That was a close one..." he mumbled.

Star didn't respond, too puzzled on why her parents would cause this much of a scandal for her. Sure, they had called for her on many occasions, but never on terms this seriously. Well, except when she was in trouble, but Star hadn't done anything wrong, at least not lately. She began to feel worry gnaw on her numbing fingertips.

The other teen sensed her distress and was quick to send her a reassuring smile. She looked at him and squeezed his hand.

The pair entered the portal, followed by the array of soldiers.

Upon exiting the portal, Star noticed they had directly transported into the castle of Mewni, specifically her castle.

Her large blue orbs gazed around the room, but something didn't seem quite right. The usual organized interior of the castle was now an unruly disaster. Chairs were thrown across the room and papers were flying everywhere. The walls were scratched and stained with ugly colors.

Across the room, there was a long vertical table. About a dozen Mewnians surrounded the table, all consisting of officials, generals, and senators.

Star recognized them; most of them had a strong reputation for their prestigious and calm demeanors. They were the leaders that helped the King and Queen maintain order in Mewni, it was necessary for them to be calm under pressure.

Though at the moment, they didn't seem all that calm.

They were all out of their chairs, their boisterous yelling resonating across the room. The Mewnians argued with one another. Their usual passive faces currently held angry and unfriendly glares. Star could hardly even recognize the people with all the disorder surrounding them. She had to look around again to make sure she was in the right castle. The princess had never seen such a disarray. Whatever was happening couldn't be good if even the calmest of senators were reacting this way. The situation did nothing to reassure her concern.

A guard stepped forward.

"Announcing, Princess Butterfly," he spoke loudly.

Absolute silence.

It frightened Star how abruptly everyone had quieted. She released Marco's hand to approach her parents.

"Mom... Dad, what's going on?" she asked almost timidly. The Mewnians at the table exchanged glances and murmured amongst each other.

"Silence," her father commanded. The King acknowledged her and Marco.

"What is he doing here?" he asked, motioning towards the boy next to her. The tone of his voice almost offended Star. Her dad had never referred to Marco in such a cold way.

"She wouldn't come unless the earthling accompanied her." the Guard said, throwing her a spiteful glance. Star stuck her tongue out at him.

The King then turned to Star. Her eyes widened momentarily, and she sheepishly waved at him. Her father wearily sighed. "Fine, so long as he does not cause disruptions, he can stay," River Butterfly turned towards the guards, "You are all dismissed."

"Star please take a seat." her mother's voice rang in ears. The princess looked at Marco for reassurance. He nodded. Two seats were positioned next to the King and Queen for Star and her 'guest.'

The blonde girl looked at her parents, suddenly realizing how tired they looked. Her dad looked like he had aged 10 years since the last time she had seen him. Grey hairs were sticking out from his messy beard, and there were prominent wrinkles on his cheeks. He looked thin, which didn't seem to help his appearance.

Her mom had always been a beautiful lady. However, it seemed that stress had gotten the better of her too. There were dark rings under her eyes, making Star believe that her mom hadn't slept in days. The permanent lines on her skin also hinted that she was worrying more than necessary.

"What's going on?" Star asked again. Queen Butterfly nudged her husband.

"Star, dear... I-I..." he looked away for a moment, "There is no easy way to tell you this." King River Butterfly desperately looked at his wife for guidance.

"W-what? Dad... you're kind of scaring me." Star said.

"We had no choice- I'm sorry!" he blurted. Queen Butterfly sighed in frustration. She seemed to already know that her husband was unfit to deliverer this type of news. All it took was a look from their daughter's baby blues for the mighty King to cower back like a child. The Queen rubbed the bridges of her nose.

"What's going on?" Star asked louder.

"Star, you are to be betrothed." her mother said firmly. The princess blinked at them. Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. She nervously gripped her fists together.

"Ha... that's a good one, mom and dad," she began awkwardly laughing, hoping others would join. Star looked at Marco and nudged him to join. The pair uncomfortably laughed in the silence.

When no one spoke or laughed, they stopped. Star looked at the other disorganized Mewnians. Apart from weariness, they all wore serious expressions. They looked at her, but said nothing. She turned to her dad for some type of support, but she saw he was avoiding her gaze.

Her eyes met her mother's. Queen Butterfly's eyes were sharp and impatient.

"No..." Star whispered. Many emotions overcame her, and the realization that this was no cruel joke made anger and desperation bubble up in the pit of her stomach. She looked at Marco, but it seemed he had nothing to say either.

"Betrothed? As in married?" she asked, her tone a little sharper than usual.

"Yes," was her mother's immediate response. There were many questions in her head; there was so much clarification she needed. The moment seemed to be happening so quickly, she couldn't believe how much her day had escalated. Today was supposed to be a good day, just another part of her usual routine.

The princess felt the room spin. She clutched her stomach.

Star struggled to say something, however, there was only one question made it past her spinning head. It wasn't the most important one on her list, but no other words managed to escape her lips. She had said it before she had time to comprehend it.

"To who?" she asked.

This time, her mother didn't immediately respond. In fact, the room seemed to have grown even more quiet, if that was possible.

Behind her, the door opened. Almost everybody turned to look, except for her. The blonde girl looked directly at her mother. Queen Butterfly's face softened, her expression seeming to morph into something Star could only identify as guilt.

There were multiple footsteps coming from behind, but Star was stubborn. The princess kept her gaze firmly locked on her mom. She refused to turn around, even as the familiar aroma of fire filled her nostrils. Not even at hearing the other people's gasps. Not even as the footsteps approached her. Not even as dread began sinking in.

A familiar voice emitted from behind her.

Her insides ran cold and she gripped the edge of the table so tightly, her knuckles began turning white. Her throat constricted; despite all her attempts, she wasn't able to say anything.

"Hello, Starship."

Her stiff neck turned until she was able to see the owner of the voice. Crimson eyes stared down at her in an amused manner, but it was that smirk that made her scream.