Training with Moon

"Star, really? This is a simple beginners spell." Moon continued rubbing her temples as she tried, and failed, to stay patient with Star. Without the spell book, it was up to Moon to continue Star's training. However, it was proving to be more difficult than what she had originally thought. "Try it again, Star. This time use more energy."

"Ugh, Moooommmm, this is stupid! Why can't I just use the spells I already know? Glossaryck never tortured me this much." Star slid to the floor in desperation. She wanted nothing more than to spend time with Marco, but her mother was making her train again.

"How many spells do you know from the book?"

"Pfft, like…five." Star rolled her eyes, she could already tell her mother was going to lecture her.

"Star! Why don't you know more than that by now? What was Glossaryck doing all that time?"

"He ate his dumb pudding and told stupid riddles. Besides, I'm fine. I passed the evaluation, brought myself back, and defeated Toffee, all without knowledge of basic magic." Star sat up to look at her mother. Moon looked like she was going to explode with fury. Instead, she took a couple of deep breaths and calmed down.

"Why don't we try that spell again?" Star sighed and got into formation. Moon double checked her stance and then allowed her to proceed.

"Keeper of Memories, Holder of Secrets, turn back the clocks hands of age and reset." Nothing happened and Star flopped back on the floor once more. "Why do I even need this dumb spell, I don't plan to erase memories or restore them."

"Star, what if someone has an accident and needs their memories restored? This spell is the only thing that can find lost memories and remove memories. Not even the inhabitants of the Plains of Time can restore or destroy a person's memories."

"Really, I was just about to say that. Well, why do you think the spell is going wrong? I'm trying really hard!" Star stared at her wand. "Maybe I don't have to follow the book anymore."

"Please, Star, try one more time, then you can go off with Marco." Moon decided to use Marco to motivate Star. To her delight, Star jumped up with renewed energy. Star was too excited to notice she ended up pointing the wand at Moon. Moon ducked and avoided the spell before realizing that the spell had rebounded from the mirror and hit a crystal hanging from the chandelier. The beam of light split into six different sized beams. Star was hit with a larger beam and Moon was hit with a smaller beam rendering both unconscious.

Marco and River had just finished riding warnicorns when they entered the castle to join Moon and Star for lunch. Since Toffee, the two had spent more time together. River enjoyed spending time with River, especially since it had worked so well with Star and Moon during their 'girl's day'. Marco raced River to the dining hall only to find it empty. Confused, the two made their way to Star's room. Chances were Moon was holding Star hostage until she learned a new spell. Upon opening the door, River stood in the doorway, staring down at the two unconscious bodies. Marco pushed past him to check on Star. Dazed, River followed suit and tried to wake Moon.

"Moon, Moon! Say something! Please!" River rested her head in his lap and looked over at Marco. He seemed to be checking for injuries.

"Star, wake up! Come on Star, we need you to tell us what happened."

Laying Moon's head carefully on the floor, River rushed out in search of help. Thirty minutes later, the king had one of the royal family's doctor come and help the two unconscious girls. The doctor stated that the girls were fine but did not know what caused them to faint. Always a loyal friend, Marco decided to take the first watch and waited for one of them to wake up. It wasn't until the first rays of light that Moon began to stir.

"River, come quick, the queen's awake!" Upon hearing the good news, River ran as quickly as he could, not stopping until he reached his wife. By now Moon had sat up and was shocked to see Marco in her room. She immediately pulled the sheets to cover her body as if she were naked.

"Guards! Guards!" Moon yelled in alarm. Marco jumped when he heard the guards approaching like a stampede of angry bulls.

"No, wait! I'm sorry, I'll leave your room." Marco backed out of the room quickly. Beating the guards, River ran up to Marco and tried to catch his breath.

"What…happened?"

"Queen Moon just started yelling for the guards. I didn't know I wasn't allowed in the room." Unexpectedly, the guards grabbed Marco who immediately began to panic. "No wait, I can explain! River, help!"

"Stop this nonsense and release the boy." The guards reluctantly released Marco and stepped back. "Marco, wait out here. I'll see what's wrong with Moon." River walked into the room and narrowly dodged a pillow. "Moon-pie, what's wrong? What happened yesterday?" A look of confusion spread across the queen's face.

"River, is that you? Why do you look so…old? Wait…who's this next to me!" Moon jumped out of the bed and backed up against the wall farthest from the two 'strangers'. "Where am I, what's going on?"

"Moon, what's happened to you? You don't recognize your own daughter or husband?"

"Husband? Daughter? River, I'm only fifteen, I'm too young to get married and have a family." River looked distraught and confused. He always found his wife young, but fifteen!

"Moon, what are you saying? You're thirty-four, not fifteen years old!" Moon felt like she was trapped in a nightmare. She began to breath heavily and looked around for her wand.

"I don't understand, I…don't remember any of that. Wait… I'm married to you?" River looked down as if Moon said she never really loved him. Moon immediately saw that she had hurt River's feelings and felt guilty. "I'm sorry, River, I didn't mean it like that. You're a wonderful person, I'm just…confused." She walked over to the distraught blonde and laid a hand on his shoulder.

"Marco, you can come in now. We've got a bit of a problem." Marco slowly entered, prepared for any surprise attack Moon might have planned. "Marco, I think Moon is suffering from amnesia. She remembers me, but not that she married me or gave birth to Star." Moon looked over at the sleeping figure in her bed.

"So, does this mean that Star might have amnesia too?" Marco looked worriedly over at Star. "Are you sure you can't remember anything from yesterday?"

"No, I just remember dancing with River at a party, what happened to my mother, and…Toffee." Moon said the Septarian's name quietly as she shook her head solemnly.

"Well, we'll just have to wait for Star to wake up to see if she remembers anything." With a final look at the perplexed queen, River and Marco left Moon alone to take in everything that had happened.