Chapter 1

Star Butterfly couldn't sleep. It was late at night, and the castle was silent. But Star couldn't get to sleep. She tossed and turned, and shifted in her bed, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't find a comfortable position. Everywhere was either too hot, too cold, too lumpy, too uncomfortable. She had tried counting sheep, and deep breathing, and many others, but none of them helped.

Giving a frustrated groan, the blonde-haired princess sat up and crossed her arms. Her eyes wandered over to her tower's window. The sky was pitch-black, and the stars were shining brightly up above. Star sighed. On a normal night, she would have been asleep many hours ago. But this was not a normal night. Oh no. Far from it.

Star sighed, deeply and lay back down against her pillow, trying not to think of what had happened in but the last few weeks. Between Miss Heinous, real name Meteora Butterfly, attacking Mewni and draining nearly all the Mewmans of their souls, including Star's best friends Marco, Kelly and Ponyhead, and Eclipsa taking the throne, Star's head was spinning. She was glad that Meteora had been stopped, and that the throne and royal magical wand had been returned to its rightful owner, but all this was too much to take in for a fourteen-year-old. Although it didn't end there. Her mother, Queen Moon, was gone.

A tear trickled down Star's face. Queen Moon had entered the magic dimension after Meteora had drained half her soul. Star had tried to rescue her, but...oh, the magic dimension was tricksy. Everything about it was as dangerous as it was mysterious. You never knew when you would find yourself getting sucked in by its beauty, and forget all your memories. Star had barely escaped from there the first time, and when she had tried to rescue her mother...well, she wasn't quite sure what had happened. Her memories were very vague, but she remembered that she had found her mother, but the magic had affected them both. Star had woken up back in her own bed, but she had no idea where her mother had gone, or where she was now. The universe was a colossal place, and her mother could be in any one of the nearly infinite dimensions. She had even tried using Eclipsa's All-Seeing Eye spell to locate Moon, but even that hadn't been able to find her. It was all very hard to take in.

Star's eyes drifted over to her bedside table, where she had always kept her wand. It was strange not to see it there after having it for so long.

"Oh, mom," she whispered, clutching the duvet tightly, "Where are you?"

After a few minutes of tossing and turning, Star rolled off her bed and put on her slippers. She headed over to the painting of the captain that hung on her bedroom wall.

"Uh, Captain?" she said, uneasily, "Permission to come aboard."

To her relief, the captain winked and the portrait swung to the side to reveal a staircase leading upwards, just as it had the last time she had used it. These had been built a long time ago, long before Star was born, and they led to where the person Star needed to ask for advice slept.

The rose tower.

Ever since Meteora's defeat, and Star had given Eclipsa back the throne, the Queen of Darkness had been staying in the rose tower, which had been her room when she was Star's age. These days it had been old, dusty and broken, but with a little of Star's magic, it was now returned to its former glory. She had thought it would be more worthy of Eclipsa. Although like the rest of the castle, it seemed dark and spooky at this time of night. Star shivered in her nightgown as the cold night air blew through the windows. She reached the top of the stairs, where the rose vines curled over the top of the wooden door that opened into Eclipsa's bedroom.

Star reached out her hand to knock, but then hesitated. Was this really the best time?

Eclipsa probably wouldn't want to be bothered at this hour, she thought, nervously, Maybe I should just wait until morning.

She turned round, intending to go back down the stairs, but stopped. She clenched her fists tightly. No. This couldn't wait. She knew Eclipsa would understand. Eclipsa always understood her. Turning back round, she raised a hand and knocked on the door, before opening it and entering the room. To her surprise, her eyes fell upon the Queen of Darkness standing in the centre of the room, gracefully moving and twirling the royal magical wand above her head.

"Eclipsa?"

"Star?" Eclipsa said, in surprise, stopping mid-pose and turning round to see the blonde-haired Butterfly princess standing in the doorway, "What are you doing up so late?"

"Oh, well," said Star, awkwardly, "You know me. Just going for a li'l nighttime stroll!" She gave a weak laugh.

Eclipsa tilted her head in concern.

Star sighed. "I—I kinda needed to see you," she admitted, rubbing the back of her head, awkwardly.

Eclipsa smiled and sat down on her bed, patting the duvet beside her, indicating for Star to sit down. Star awkwardly sat down next to her, nervous about what she was about to say.

"Now tell me, what's the trouble?" asked Eclipsa.

Star hesitated, nervously rubbing her arm, wondering where to start.

"Come now," said Eclipsa, consolingly, placing her black hand on Star's cheek, "You know you can tell me anything."

Star knew she could. She took a deep breath, and it all came flooding out, how so much had changed over the span of merely a few weeks, how she felt so broken, her family history having been tampered with by the Magical High Commission, about Meteora and what had almost happened to her kingdom only a few days ago, and finally, the seemingly hopeless lost cause of her missing mother.

"—a-and now I'm just so scared," she said, tears trickling down her face, "I d-don't know w-what happened to mom, a-and w-what if sh-she's..." She trailed off, and gave a sniff, as a fresh surge of tears ran down her cheeks. "I'm sorry," she sniffed, wiping the tears from her eyes.

"Oh, sweetie," said Eclipsa, sympathetically. She gently caressed Star's cheek, tilting her head to look at her, "You've gone through so much these last few weeks. There's no reason for you to be strong right now. I lost my mother when I was not much older than you," she said, gently, "I can tell how you must be feeling right now. It's OK, sweetie. You can cry."

Star gave a sniff, then buried her head in Eclipsa's chest, crying tears of sadness into her pink velvet nightwear. Eclipsa rubbed her back, soothingly, cradling Star's head in her arms as she cried.

"It's just so hard," sobbed Star, as Eclipsa rubbed her back, "I—I don't even know what to do. Is my mom gone forever?"

"Shh," Eclipsa soothed, rubbing her back, "It's OK, sweetheart. Your mother isn't gone. We'll find her. I'm sure of it."

Star wiped her eyes and looked back up at her grandmother-figure. "You really think so?"

"Trust me, Star," said Eclipsa, with that comforting smile she often wore, "We'll find her. Even if we have to search to the ends of the universe, we'll find your mother. I promise."

Star wiped the tears from her eyes, and smiled. "I really needed to hear that. Thanks, Eclipsa. You're always so easy to talk to."

"Oh, well," said Eclipsa, smiling, "That's what grandmothers are for. Now, we should get you back to bed. It's very late, you know."

Star smiled and nodded, and Eclipsa took her hand and they both headed out of Eclipsa's room and down the steps of the rose tower.

"Oh, you used the secret passageway," said Eclipsa, in delight, as her eyes fell upon the open secret door near the bottom, "I'm so proud." She pinched Star's cheek, affectionately.

Star laughed, and they both climbed through the secret door, closing it behind them.

"So," said Star, as they walked down the long staircase, "How's Meteora doing?"

Eclipsa smiled. "Oh, she's doing splendidly," she sighed, happily, "My darling daughter and I were apart for so long, and now I know it was all worth it to have her back in my arms."

Star smiled too. "And what about Glossaryck?" she asked.

Eclipsa chuckled. "Oh, he's as right as rain," she said, amusedly, "He'll never change."

"I still can't believe that whole "Globgor" thing was just pretend the whole time," said Star, with a smile.

"Oh, you know Glossaryck," said Eclipsa, tapping her nose and smiling, "He has all sorts of tricks up his sleeve. Sometimes even literally."

Star laughed! "That's true."

They reached the end of the passage, where the painting in Star's bedoom hung ajar. The queen and her granddaughter climbed out, and Star headed towards her bed.

"Have there been any...well...restless nights since Meteora's attack?" asked Eclipsa.

"Not a thing," said Star, smiling, as they both sat down on her bed, "It's crazy to think I travelled through portals in my sleep. Why'd you think that portal to the magic dimension was calling me?"

Eclipsa gave her a wry smile and shrugged her shoulders. "Magic is mysterious," she said, tapping her nose with her finger, "You might never know." She winked.

Star chuckled, quietly, her elbow leaning against the pillow. She lifted her legs up onto the bed, and Eclipsa drew the covers over her. Then her smile faded. "I might never know where my mom is, either," she said, quietly.

"Ssh," said Eclipsa, smiling, crouching down next to the bed and pressing a finger to Star's lips, "Don't worry about that any more tonight, my little shooting star. You'll feel better in the morning. Trust me."

"Thanks," said Star, smiling. Then her smile flickered. "Things will go back to normal, right?"

"I promise," said Eclipsa, with a gentle smile, "Now." She stood back up and gently placed the tip of her wand on Star's forehead. "Sleep."

The tip of her wand glowed bright purple, and a swimming drowsiness instantly flowed through Star's head. Her vision swam and her eyelids began to droop, and her head fell back onto the soft pillow. The last thing she saw before she fell into a deep sleep was Eclipsa leaning down and placing a kiss on her forehead.

The Queen of Darkness closed the door of the secret passageway and headed back up the steps to the rose tower. Opening the door, she stepped inside and strode towards her bed. It was getting late, and Eclipsa was feeling a little tired. She placed her wand safely by her beadstead, and climbed into her bed, pulling the covers over her lap.

Then she stopped.

Her eyes grazed the room, before coming to rest on the windows. A tiny sliver of moonlight shone through the curtains, casting a pinprick of light on the room's castle. Eclipsa hesitated, before getting back off her bed and heading over.

"Oh, just for one night," she said to herself, "It won't do any harm."

Picking her wand back up from her bedside, she headed over to the windowsill. Unlocking it, she pushed open the window, the fresh night air immediately hitting her face. She stepped up onto the windowsill and raised her wand above her head. Its tip glowed bright purple again. A wind whistled at her feet, ruffling her nightgown, and Eclipsa lifted off her feet and rose into the night sky.

There was a light breeze as Eclipsa's feet touched the ground of the ancient monster temple. Folding up her wand, she headed inside. The moonlight shone through the holes in the walls, showing a clear view of the night sky. But Eclipsa knew where she was going. She turned the corner and headed down the steps to the lowest floor. Pulling back the curtain that hid the nursery, Eclipsa stepped through the threshold and into the room.

At the end stood two statues of monsters holding their child. A rocking-unicorn stood in the centre. But to the left, a huge red-skinned creature with tiger-like stripes and four yellow eyes with slitted pupils stood crouched over a cradle, from which emitted a faint crying sound.

A blush tinged Eclipsa's cheeks, just below her magenta spades, and she gave a polite cough, which echoed through the room. The red-skinned monster looked up from the cradle, and when his eyes fell upon the Queen of Darkness, his face lit up into that smile Eclipsa loved so much.

"Eclipsa, my darling!"

"Hello, sweetie," Eclipsa smiled.

A/N

That's it! It was short, but I hope people liked it! I always found Star and Eclipsa's grandmotherly bond super sweet, so even though they aren't blood-related, Star still thinks of Eclipsa as her grandmother, and Eclipsa still loves her like a granddaughter. I really don't think it matters that they aren't blood-related, because they are still as good as family. I just really wanted to write something like this. Anyway, hope people like it!