Star vs The Forces of Evil
The Ballad of Earth-Mewni
Disclaimer: Star vs The Forces of Evil was created by Daron Nefcy and is owned by Disney. I own no part of Star vs.
Episode 17: Sleepwalking SuperStar
Episode Summary: Following an incredibly bizarre night that saw Star sleepwalk herself into a long night of helping her fellow townspeople - including a bunch of ungrateful Mewmans - Star must summon up the courage to finally confront the very thing that originally caused her to sleepwalk in the first place: her mother issues.
Original Release Date: May 13, 2020
Star slowly opened her eyes, coming out of her extremely deep sleep. From the way she looked, one would think she hadn't slept for a week straight. Her vision remained blurry; she couldn't make out any shapes or objects for the time being. All she knew that she was resting on an extremely comfortable object. "Good morning, Marco..." She whispered in as flirty of a tone as she could. She gently patted the object and smacked her lips. Her vision slowly began to come back to her...just in time for the pain in her chest to return. "Stupid heart problems..." She gritted. But her nerves cooled down long enough to turn back to the object she was patting. "Marco, have I ever told you what a nice pillow you make? Your abs might be squishy but they're so comforting. It's like a cloud made out of marshmallows. Hmm...I wonder...I wonder if your hot boy tush would make for a better pillow..."
"Not nearly as good as yours, babe."
"Oh stop being so-" Uh oh. That voice didn't come from the ground. And finally her vision cleared completely, allowing her to see exactly what was wrong around her. She saw her boyfriend not a few feet in front of her, wearing a red bathrobe and waving nervously to him.
"Hi honey."
She then looked down at the ground and saw a sight that disturbed her. She saw that she had been sleeping not with or on her boyfriend, but on a large sack of flour, evidenced by the large puddle of drool on it. That wasn't what disturbed her; she was used to waking up to a wet pillow. What disturbed her was the fact that she was not in her room, her boyfriend's room, or even on the ground. No, in fact, she was...on a rooftop. Yes, on a rooftop. It took a few moments for the revelation to sink in for her. "Marco..." In a panic, she dashed to the edge of the roof and peered over, noticing the busy street below her; people were up and going about their day, while cars were passing by in a hurry.
How did she get here? What in the name of Earthni happened? And why was she so physically exhausted? She turned hastily to face Marco, her beating bloodshot eyes locking in on his concerned smile. "Marco...start talking. What is going on?!"
The boy stayed silent for a moment, slowly shuffling himself closer to his girlfriend. "You sure you want to know? I don't think you're gonna like what you hear."
"It's better than racking my brain trying to guess. Just tell me, Marco. I'm a big girl."
He took a deep breath and edged closer to her, eventually wrapping her in a hug. It was like his warning shot for what was to come. He was certain she was not going to like the answer he gave. He pulled back from the hug and looked her square in the eye. "...You've been sleepwalking."
Her tired eyes shot right open. No, that couldn't be true, could it? She hadn't sleepwalked since her early days on Earth, the days when she was still a wayward princess being incredibly reckless with magic. And now it was happening again? But why? "If that's a joke, Marco, it's not funny!"
"I wouldn't kid about something like this! Why would you think that?"
"I don't know! Why on Earth am I sleepwalking again!?"
"I was gonna ask you that. People don't just randomly start sleepwalking repeatedly out of the blue."
"...repeatedly?" Her inquiry made the boy realize he made a goof-up, covering his mouth quickly in a vain hope that she would drop the matter. "Marco...how long has this been going on?"
"STAR!"
But before the boy even had a chance to answer, their attention was directed again at the ground. The two peered over the ledge and saw a small group of people gathering on the grass. This group consisted of Star's parents - Moon & River - Marco's parents - Angie & Rafael - Eclipsa, Globgor, Janna, & Pony Head. "Star!" Moon was the one calling out for her daughter.
"M-Mom!" Star instantly felt a wave of shame coursing through her veins as her face turned red. All she could produce was incomprehensible stammering. She felt completely humiliated. "I...I'm so-"
"Are you alright, sweetheart!?"
Moon's question, for whatever reason, completely knocked the wind out of Star. The last thing she expected was immediate concern for her well-being. Perhaps she was wrong to have that mindset, but this was still her mother. "I-I'm fine...I think?" She found herself being gently enveloped in Marco's embrace as he slowly helped her get off the roof. "This is so embarrassing..."
Once Star was safely back on the ground, she found herself wrapped in her Home Vacation pink bathrobe and tended to by her folks. "We were petrified for you, pumpkin." River exclaimed. "Thank heavens you're not hurt."
"No I'm not hurt, just...embarrassed." She explained. "And confused. Can someone please tell me what's happening!?"
"Sweetheart, you've been sleepwalking, but I assume the boy's already relayed that information." Eclipsa explained.
"Yes, he has. But, like, what is going on?!" She found herself approached by Marco, who gently patted her shoulder as he readied himself to speak.
"We think you've been sleepwalking for the past three nights."
"What!?" She shouted, her jaw almost hitting the ground. "Three nights!?"
"...Yeah."
"Girl you, like, zonk out and praddled all over town and you drove us nuts, girl!" Pony Head exclaimed, putting it about as elequently as only she could.
"...What happened, exactly?"
"Well..." Marco explained. "The first night that it happened, I didn't even realize what was going on. You just walked in one morning..."
[Flashback]
Marco slowly opened his eyes and allowed the bright Earthni sky to envelope his room, where he and Star had slept the night prior. Unfortunately, when his vision cleared, he saw that his girlfriend was not actually in the bed with him. Based on the position of the blankets, it appeared that she had gotten out of bed some time ago. That position was further strengthened when he heard footsteps enter his room. He sat up and saw that it was Star who walked in, looking rather disheveled & tired, dark circles around her eyes. But there was something different about her. Her eyes were wide open, but there was...a certain spark missing. An outsider would speculate she was under a hypnotic spell.
"...Star...?" Marco said quietly, left in a befuddled state as he stared at his life. Luckily, whatever trance she was in was broken by his mere voice. She blinked and loudly gasped for air, panting as she looked around and tried to regain a sense of her surroundings. "You okay?"
She turned to him, just as confused as he was. "I...I think so?"
"What, were you in the bathroom or something?"
She genuinely had no idea how to answer him. She shrugged. "I guess so?"
Despite his suspicions, he accepted her answer & leaped out of bed. "Whatever. Let's go get breakfast." He grabbed her hand, and the two of them went downstairs where his parents were making them a hot breakfast.
[End Flashback]
"Marco, I swear on all that is corn I have no idea what happened. One minute I-I was cuddling you in your bed and you were kissing me all over my face. Then the next I shot up awake and found myself standing in the middle of your room! I must've looked so stupid to you..."
"I didn't think anything of it that night. Or the next night when it happened."
"...But then?"
"Then there was last night..."
[Flashback]
Star & Marco were both peacefully slumbering in Star's bed. All was quiet...that is until Star began to stir. Without provocation, the girl rose up out of bed, eyes wide open with the same trance-like stare she had before, and methodically got out of bed. Luckily she had her sleepwear on or this would be awkward as all get out. She put on a pair of boots and then slowly started walking towards the door, making her way out and out of the house entirely. Marco sat up at this exact moment, suspecting that Star was going to leave again, but unfortunately he was too late.
"Shoot." He said quietly to himself, leaping out of bed and preparing himself to chase after her. As he left his room, the door to his parents' room swung open.
"Is it happening again?" Angie asked her son while holding a sleepy Mariposa.
"I think so." He groaned in frustration. "Mom, Dad, you go after her, I'm gonna go get her folks."
"Be careful mijo." His father called out as his gave them a thumbs up and raced off out of the house, chasing after his sleepwalking girlfriend.
[End Flashback]
"I thought if I went straight to the castle to get your folks I'd lose track of you too easily. So I went to get Janna instead." Marco explained, formally introducing Janna into this web of insanity.
"Aww, I'm sorry you got dragged into this," Star lamented to her friend. Janna shrugged.
"Eh, I had nothing better to do, and unlike you I'm not a total mess without my beauty sleep."
Star could not help but groan. It was true, back in the good old days and especially now. Although frankly, given her state, it didn't matter how much sleep she actually got. She was eternally tired.
"So I got Janna to rig up a flare that I knew your folks would interpret correctly."
"And once we saw the pretty lights in the sky..." River picked up.
"And I convinced my loving husband that the sky was not on fire..." Moon interjected, causing scattered snickering in the group.
"We went off to find you, pumpkin."
"So the sky wasn't exploding and stuff?" Pony Head inquired. "We're not all gonna die or whatever?"
"No, Miss Pony Head, we're not going to die." Eclipsa reassured her. "Today, that is."
"Have you guys really been chasing after me all night?" Star asked, clearly horrified. "Was I that out of it?"
"For someone who was sleepwalking, you sure were hard to catch." Marco explained. "Even when we had the noise trail we could follow."
"...noise trail to follow?"
"Let's just say when you said you snore like a lumberjack, you weren't kidding." Janna approached her and leaned in to Star to whispered something...rather loudly. "It took all of Diaz's willpower to not be aroused while we were looking for you."
"SHUT UP, JANNA!" The boy shouted, his face going an entirely new shade of red.
"It's your own fault, lover boy."
"Marco, she's right." Not even Star could fault Janna's logic here.
"Yeah...I know...except n-no it's not, we didn't even have the noise trail to help us for most of the night."
"...okay I thought I was confused before, but now..." Poor Star, but unfortunately she wasn't alone. Though the others mostly knew the circumstances of their situation, even they expressed confusion.
"We'll try to explain it on the way home..."
"...I was...sleep-helping?"
As it turned out, Star's sleepwalking was surprisingly more productive this time around than it was all that time ago. Over the past three nights, every time Star had managed to leave her bed, she schlepped herself all around Echo Creek in a bizarre, almost hypnotized trance that compelled her to find people - or monsters - and do something to better their everyday lives. Even at the dead of night. Unfortunately, this resulted in Star being left in a state of extreme fatigue & sleep deprivation. Despite the fact that she was technically in a sleep-esque state, her body wasn't actually registering the sleep.
"Yeah...you were..." Marco hugged his girlfriend & allowed her to rest her weary head on his shoulder.
"Okay, so, like...what exactly does that mean?"
"Well...there's this..." As he spoke, the group took note of the street they were walking on. The street appeared to have several potholes scattered that had been filled & painted over.
"Wait a minute...isn't this street usually, like, damaged with...craters or something? What does Earth usually call them?"
"Pot holes."
"Right, pot holes. This street is like urban legend for those pesky holes. Where are they?" It didn't take her that long to connect the dots. "Oh no...did I..."
"Yeah, you did. I don't know how you did it, but you filled in every single one of these pot holes all by yourself."
"It's true!" Yelled a female bystander that was standing in front of their lawn watching the group pass by. This female bystander was a Mewman - one of middle age. Though recent run-ins with Mewmans have left quite the bitter taste in their mouths, particularly Star's, this Mewman would show herself to be significantly different from the ones they've encountered before.
"You...you saw me do that!?" Star asked in utter shock.
"Saw you? Honey, I helped you."
Again Star's jaw nearly dropped. "You helped?"
"Three nights ago to be exact. Well...if you count me providing you with the supplies you needed to actually do it as "helping."
"So you just happen to have a bunch of gravel, asphalt, and every other supply one would need to actually fill in roadside potholes at your disposal?" Janna questioned, rightfully skeptical of the woman's claim.
"Certainly. I am the one that's been doing it all of these years." And now it was everyone else's turn to have their jaws nearly hit the ground. "Well, I was back when this place was just Mewni and not..."
"But isn't that work kind of tedious and unrewarding?"
"Of course it is. But someone has to do it."
"And you just let a sleepwalking girl who's also going through a heaping level of stress herself just take the responsibility away from you?"
"She was sleepwalking?"
The kids and Pony Head all exchanged looks with each other before turning back to this woman. "Uh, yeah, she was."
"You mean, like, she wasn't sleepwalking or whatever?" Pony Head inquired.
"She didn't look like she was when I spoke her her. She seemed lucid, she understood everything I said to her...nothing seemed out of the ordinary. I swear I had no idea!"
"What did I say to you when we talked?" Star asked, her curiosity giving way to panic.
"You knocked on my door - you were ever so polite - and you asked me point blank if you could "give me a hand" with the potholes. I thought you just meant help me out, not take over the whole darn job! You were dead set in doing the whole thing, I was not really comfortable with trying to talk you out of it."
"And why's that?" Marco asked her.
"Well..."
[Flashback]
Star - still in her sleepwalking state - was very hard at work filling all of the potholes scattered along the street. By this point, she had been working well into the night for several hours straight with no break for herself. The fatigue was quite evident. The poor woman Mewman, watching from afar, slowly approached Star, nerves clear as a day on her face. "...Honey...?" Just the mere sound of her voice caused the still-entranced Star to whip her head around to face her, panting loudly & visibly sweating. "You've done more than enough, I think you should go hom-"
"NO!" Star blared, her face suddenly turning white as a ghost, as if she was crippled by an immeasurable fear. "N-No, I can't! It's not finished yet!"
"But that's okay, I can do the res-"
"No, no!" She shouted louder, gritting her teeth. "The queen entrusted me with this job, and I refuse to ever fail the queen again!"
With her frustrations growing and her mental state slowly spiraling, the woman Mewman chose to back away slowly, completely unsure as to how she should proceed.
[End Flashback]
Needless to say, every single one of them was completely horrified upon hearing these revelations, especially Moon, who took it especially hard with how Star referred to as "queen." What could any of them really say to this? "I...I-"
"I'm so sorry, dear. You...threw me for a loop, to say the least. And even if I knew you were sleepwalking...aren't you not supposed to wake up a person who's sleepwalking?"
"The jury's still out on that." Janna remarked. "But, you could've at least...you know, tried."
"Wait, Janna," Star stopped her friend. "Don't be too hard on her. She didn't know, and obviously she did try to stop me..."
"Yeah but she still let you work yourself to the bone for who knows how long!"
"It's not her fault I was sleepwalking, was it?" Janna could only shrug. Star sighed defeatedly. "Let's just go-"
"Wait!" The female Mewman yelled again, this time carrying her short legs over to the group while holding a perfectly cooked pie. "Please, take this." Eclipsa stepped forward and took the pie from the woman, suspecting that Star was likely too physically exhausted to be able to hold any with weight at the moment.
"A-Are you sure?"
"I'm truly sorry for your plight, dear. Consider it a thank you for you help the other night. It isn't much b-"
"Oh no no no, please, it's...it's wonderful. Thank you." Star hesitantly but warmly hugged the Mewman. "Really. Thank you."
On that somewhat uplifting note, the group departed & left the Mewman woman to her devices, while they continued along the road, recapping exactly what Star had been up to on her mini-sleewalking spree.
Further on down, they passed by another house that they would soon learn had major significance in Star's recent actions. This house was also inhabitant by a Mewman - a male Mewman at that - but while the previous Mewman they ran into was a happy camper, this one was decidedly not so. "You there!" The husky, male Mewman shouted towards the group, specifically aiming his ire at Star. "You got some nerve!"
Star remained quiet momentarily, taking time to realize he was talking to her. "...Me?"
"Yeah, you! You got some nerve coming into my house in the dead of night and messing up my house with your fancy...housewarming, cleaning skills and what-not!"
All she could do was stare at him. She had no idea what he was talking about. "I'm sorry...sir...I-I really don't know what you're talking about-"
"Oh don't give me that. You know exactly what I'm talking about!" He barked back in a loud and boisterous voice. Two nights ago I found you in my house, wandering around with a washcloth a-and a mop a-and a duster a-"
"Wait, I was in your house!?" Star exclaimed, horrified. "Oh my gosh I'm so sorry!"
"You don't know the meaning of sorry! Not yet, anyway!" This Mewman was not in a particularly compromising mood today. But luckily Star had a whole host of friends & family to keep her safe.
"Don't you dare move a step closer to my daughter!" Moon threatened, River also stepping forward.
"I'm warning you, lad! I once took down three bears while blindfolded!" River bragged loudly, earning an impressed smirk from Marco.
"You go, River!" He turned to his girlfriend. "I keep forgetting how much of a tough hombre your Da-"
"The bears were blindfolded, Marco."
And his face fell instantaneously. "Oh. That sounds much less impressive."
"Pumpkin! You swore you'd never tell." River moaned before the angry Mewman got them back on track.
"I ought to call the authorities on you pu-"
"What in the name of corn is going on out here!?" Yelled a high-pitched, equally angry voice coming from behind the male Mewman. Turns out it was the Mewman's wife, who was both upset at her husband for causing a commotion, and delighted to see Star in the picture. "Oh, hello there, deary! I hope you're doing better today."
Talk about a tonal whiplash. "Okay, like somebody better start opening their yaps and tell us what the heck y'all's talking about right now!" Pony Head piped up, agitated as all get out.
"We don't have to take orders from you!" The male Mewman roared to Pony Head. "I already told you what happened!"
"...Did you, though? Did you really?" Angie perked up, finally getting a chance to speak up.
"What does your wife have to say about this?" Rafael chimed in, also relishing his rare chance to speak.
"That's not important."
But the wife disagreed; she used her left hand to pinch her husband's neck. What resulted from this was an ear-splitting scream that nearly broke the sound barrier. How did a man of his stature produce a scream that high-pitched & loud? "Give it a moment, his voice'll give out!" She assured them...which only furthered their confusion.
"Their relationship seems incredibly unhealthy." Globgor whispered to his lovely wife.
"I think that's an understatement." Eclipsa replied back.
Finally the Mewman's screaming died down as his voice gave out, but the woman kept her pinchers on him, as it continued to incapacitate him. "Sorry about that. It's the only way I can calm him down."
"Ma'am..." Star stepped forward, her nerves shooting up once again. "What...happened? You know...with me?"
The woman took a breath, keeping her pinchers on her husband. "It's true, you were in our house two nights ago..."
[Flashback]
It was the dead of night. The male Mewman in question ventured downstairs to discover a sleepwalking Star, standing in the middle of the room, completely entranced. "HEY!" The Mewman shouted, getting her attention. "Who the hell are you!? What are you doing in my house!?"
Star, even in her trance, didn't know how to answer him. "I...I don't know..." She said with a quiver in her voice. "I...I just know I need to do something...I-I can't let down the queen again. I just can't. P-Please, you have to help me."
It was at this exact moment that it clicked for him. Everything. He knew who she was. He knew she was sleepwalking. And subsequently, he knew who she was referring to as "the queen." And then he got a rather sinister idea. "Oh, oh that's right. Yeah..." This Mewman in particular was one of the Mewmans who was a part of Mina's new-age Solarian army. And he held a deep resentment towards Star thanks to her surrendering the crown to Eclipsa, an act of treason in his mind. "No I remember now. Yeah the queen, sh-she, uh...she sent you here because she needs you to...clean my house! Y-Yeah, the whole thing, every room! Top to bottom!"
Star took a quick look around where she was standing. Indeed it was a messy, disorganized place. Not inherently dirty, but still. "A-Are you su-"
"Don't talk back to me, young lady! You report to me! Or am I gonna have to give the queen a bad report?"
Star gasped loudly, tears forming in her eyes. "NO!" She shouted loudly. "I'll do what you say. I'll make the queen proud!"
"You better!"
Without another spoken word, Star was put right to work. Indeed, as the Mewman demanded, she cleaned the entire house from top to bottom. Every single room. And there were several rooms in the home, some dirtier than others. And just like she did with the pot holes, she allowed herself no time to rest or recoup. It was clean, clean, clean for essentially the entire night. And the Mewman lorded over her like a slave driver the entire time. All the while, his wife sat back in her room and watched in concern from afar, afraid to intervene...
[End Flashback]
And these revelations were enough to make the group sans Star outright infuriated. "So...you mean to tell us..." Marco spoke up, using all of his willpower to avoid snapping. "Your husband knew that Star was sleepwalking. He knew she was vulnerable. And he still took advantage of her anyway?"
"...Yes."
"And where were you throughout all of this!?"
"...I was in the bedroom...hiding." She thought she whispered that last word softly enough for nobody to hear her.
"Hiding!? What could you possibly have been hiding from!?" Moon questioned, her own anger rising from the situation. Angie, having read her body language and inflections carefully enough, suspected she knew what was going on, and carefully whispered it into Moon's ear. The woman's eyes lit up in a horrified manner. "Really!? Are you sure?" She had to ask, but Angie nodded. "Well why doesn't she just leave?"
"What's the problem, anyway!?" The male Mewman finally spoke again, having wrangled his way out of his wife's pincher grip. "She wanted a little redemption and I gave her a chance, what? She said she couldn't afford to upset your majesty again!"
And once again a wave of guilt consumed Moon.
"That's not the point, jerk! You knew she was vulnerable and you took advantage of her!"
"Y-Yeah, bu-but you know what they say: you're not supposed to wake up a sleepwalker!"
Oh, this again? At least the woman earlier was acting in good faith when practicing this claim. This punk, though? "Even if you are right," Janna began, not one to let obvious malarkey stand when it came to her friends. "You're right for the wrong reasons, and you know it. We know it. Your wife knows it."
"Aww, don't pay not mind to this woman. In any case, she-" He pointed aggressively to Star. "Didn't even do a good job! Yeah, the morning after I woke up and I saw there were parts that weren't cleaned a-and oh there was even some damage to our couch! Like she was having a cat fight with it or something."
Star's stomach continued to sink. All this from sleepwalking? "I...guess I must've snapped or something. Must've been exhausted, not thinking clearly..."
"Oh sure, go with that excuse. Sure is a great fallback to explain why you decided to give the throne over to a Monster Lover."
There were just some Mewmans out there that would not let that go. None of them really liked or agreed with the decision to do so. But with the information that had come out about Eclipsa and the Magic High Commission's actions, some at least came to an understanding of the decision. But others? Others remained completely undeterred from their hatred of the decision and their resentment of Star over it.
"You know what? Screw this, let's go." Star said flatly as the group turned and started to walk away.
"...Take care, sweetie." The wife said calmly, waving to Star, which earned her her husband's ire. Pray for her...
The group continued making their way back to the Butterfly castle. At some point Star became too physically exhausted for her legs to continue carrying her, so she hitched a ride on Marco's back. Now she had knowledge of two instances of her sleepwalking turning her to a work-obsessed lunatic, turning the clock emotionally back to when she was still a reckless, irresponsible princess who was one bad move away from St. Olga's. Except Star these days was nowhere near that same princess from a year plus ago.
"You doing okay, honey?" Marco asked his beloved, who remained uncharacteristically quiet while riding on his back. They all chalked it up to her simply being wiped - which she was - but no, if only it were just that.
"I'm embarrassed." She said. "I'm sorry about all the trouble I've caused...again." This day full of bombshells and discoveries were not going to do wonders for her mental health.
"Hey, look at it this way: at least you were trying to, you know, help people." Marco said in response. "And at least one of your people were grateful for what you were trying to do."
"And you can bet even more people's gonna be groveling at your feet, girl, when they see what you did at the park." Pony Head exclaimed triumphantly, setting off alarm bells in everyone, Star included.
"...at the park?" Star asked, and it was only now that Pony Head realized her mistake.
"Oh shoot! Was I not supposed to say anything!?"
Marco groaned, Janna face-palmed, and the adults all exchanged silent looks. Finally, the boy spoke up again. "Guess we better show her..."
"Show me WHAT!?"
"Star...do you remember that playground that we were all gonna pitch in to help build in a few weeks?"
Star's heart almost literally stopped. She knew where this was going to go. "...Yeah...?"
"Well..."
They arrived at the site where said playground was going to be build. And what sight befell their eyes? "You already got a head start." Marco said bluntly. As it turned out, bits and pieces of the playground were already well underway with being built. And this was the activity Star partook in the night prior, culminating three nights of a hellish sleepwalking spree into a back-breaking exercise of labor.
Needless to say, Star was completely dumbfounded. "I did this? All of it!?"
"...yeah..."
"Girl, what in the heck got into you!?" Pony Head lashed out, clearly concerned for her friend's well being. "What would possess your overactive brain to do any of this?!"
"Do I look like I have the answer!?" Star weakly shouted. "I'm just as confused about all of this as you guys are."
"Frankly I think it's a miracle you're even still conscious." Janna stepped forward.
"I concur, dear." Eclipsa agreed. "If what any of those guys said about what you were doing is remotely true, then you pushed yourself just as hard if not harder than you did when you worked for me. And in a fraction of the time."
"All in the name of a political structure that...no longer exists..." Moon sighed, garnering Star's attention.
"Oh no no no, Mom, d-don't worry about that part. I'm sure that was just the scrambled ramblings of a girl running on like 5 minutes of sleep." Star tried desperately to change the subject. But something inside her kept refusing to deny the truth. In every instance, she kept lamenting the prospect of disappointing "the queen." Or...her mother.
"Speaking of which..." Marco intervened. "We should get you home to bed, honey. You pretty much haven't slept in three days."
"The boy's right." Moon insisted rather firmly, approaching her daughter & gently caressing her hair. "I'll make you a nice, piping cut of tea."
"And I'll whip you up cold bowl of ice cream." Marco finished. "We got your back, Star."
The girl tiredly sighed, uncomfortable but grateful for the gestures. A truly deadly combination of emotions. "Thanks, everyone...but wait, what about the park? If I already got a head start in building the thing, isn't everyone going to be bummed out that they'll have, you know, less to do?"
"Or they'll be incredibly grateful to you for lightening their load." Angie reasoned, a logic that everyone mostly accepted. "Let's go home."
As they all promised, they took Star back to the castle, letting her shower & put on a nice clean pair of sleepwear. Moon made her a hot cup of tea, while Marco made her a chocolate fudge sundae with sprinkles, before everyone left Star alone to sleep for a while. It was a peaceful, quiet sleep at first. Unfortunately, it didn't stay that way. The nightmares returned again. Her sleep-grunting was loud & concerning enough for Moon to enter & check up on her a few hours after the fact.
"Star? Honey?" She said as she made her way to the bed, taking a seat at the edge. Now she had herself a front row seat to one of Star's night terrors, a somewhat common occurrence for her ever since her meltdown.
[Dream]
Star found herself hurriedly building the playground that was supposed to be built by everyone. There were several portions of the park already built, but by this point in the dream Star had been hurriedly working for almost 36 hours straight with no rest. She couldn't rest. Not with the queen lauding over her, just waiting for her to screw up so she could reprimand her.
"Hurry it up already!" The Queen - Star's imaginative stand-in for her mother - shouted angrily. "You're wasting precious time! Everything must be perfect!"
The weary, exhausted Star turned to The Queen, her eyes red with exhaustion & her body shaking from fatigue. "I-I'm sorry, I...I'm doing my best."
"Hardly!" The Queen was clenching her fists very tightly. "I should've known trusting you to do this was a mistake!" She edged herself closer to Star and reached out to grab her by the collar. "Why can't you do anything right!?"
"I-I'm sorry!" Star was nearly hysterical now.
"You WILL be!" The Queen lifted Star off the ground and tossed her clear across the park, where she crashed into one of the nearby swing sets and slid to the ground. The impact nearly cost her her consciousness, but that did stop The Queen from approaching her again. "All your life you have been nothing but a thorn in our side. A nuisance. A screw-up. Such immaturity from someone who claims to want to rule the kingdom!" She again grabbed Star by the collar, sending the girl into tears. "I should have never granted you the wand! I should have listened to my judgement!"
"B-But I tried! I really did!"
"Yes, you did...you tried to ruin everything we've worked for! But don't worry...I'll fix everything so that it never happens ago!" She raised a fist and prepared herself to launch it, right at Star's face...
*SMACK*
[End Dream]
"AHHHH!" Star screamed loudly and shot right up, her heart racing & her nerves completely shot. She was sweating up a storm & almost delirious. She looked to her side and saw both her mother & boyfriend sitting at the edge of the bed, wrought with worry.
"...Star?" Moon tried to reach out a comforting hand to her, only to have Star pull back in a paranoid manner that one would often see in victims of abuse.
"...I...I'm sorry..." She mustered, struggling not to break out into sobbing. "...I hope I didn't let you down with those jobs that I..."
Seeing her own flesh & blood in this state shattered Moon's heart. The knowledge that she - even unintentionally - played a role in her getting like this broke it even further. She reached out further and tried to hug her daughter, who instantly snapped back to her position & accepted the hug. Eventually Star just broke down & began sobbing into her mother's shoulder, bearing her soul out for her & Marco to see.
"It's alright, sweetheart, it's okay..." She responded, softly cooing her daughter back to a state of calm.
"No it's not..." She lamented, eventually pulling herself out and wiping the tears away. "This isn't okay...I shouldn't be like this..."
"Be like what?"
"You know...lazy, uneducated, reckless, irresponsible, immature, disobedient..." These were words often used to describe Star in the past, before she was ever sent to Earth, before the Toffee incidents, before the whole "Star must resolve Monster/Mewman racism" ever was even a thing. Granted, most of those adjectives were somewhat justified given her reckless & rebellious behavior, as well as her disregard for authority. But that Star Butterfly was long gone. Sitting before Moon - past all of the paranoid, depressive shivering - was an intelligent, mature, responsible, level-headed girl that stepped up to the plate more times than she had business doing and serving her kingdom with pride, especially when her mother was out of commission due to being trapped in the Realm of Magic for so long.
"You stop that right now, young lady." Moon said sternly with almost a quiver in her voice. "That young girl is long gone, and in her place has come a vibrant, mature, responsible adult."
Even though Moon has shown since Star's meltdown that she was prepared to step up emotionally & be there for her, her actions & words often took Star by surprise. This was clearly not the same woman that raised her while being strict & somewhat distant. "Do you really see me like that?"
Moon couldn't pretend like she understand what her daughter was going through, what demons were crucifying her mind & playing tricks on her. Still, to hear her ask that question knocked the wind out of her. "Of course I do. And it's all earned."
"Is it, though? Mom, what kind of "responsible adult" goes out and sleepwalks around town, breaking into people's houses o-or disrupting road work o-or breaking into the park to set us back-"
"Star," Marco said firmly, approaching his struggling girlfriend & hugging her tightly. "It's okay."
She loudly groaned and bit her tongue. "I hate when you do that."
"You weren't thinking straight. You couldn't have been for you to push your body past its limit the past three nights doing all of that."
"Or maybe she was..." Moon offered. "Perhaps her intentions and goals were clear, but they were simply..."
"Misguided?" Star shifted her gaze away from her mother. She was too ashamed to look her in the eye any further. "Like how I didn't want to fail "The Queen" again?"
Moon didn't hesitate in giving her daughter another hug. Oh how Star was hurting, both physically & emotionally. "You've never failed me."
Star's eyes shot right open. "...You're kidding, right?"
"Why would I be joking?"
"What about when you first gave me the wand and I burned the castle down in minute one? Or what about all those times I recklessly used magic on Earth for my own selfish or fun needs? Or what about when I lost the Spellbook to Ludo & then you and Dad got in trouble for covering it up? Or that stupid monster party where I tried to unite my people and the monsters? O-Or giving the throne back to Eclipsa while you were stuck in the Realm of Magic? Or deciding on a whim without consulting you that magic just had to be destroyed because Mina was going to kill a lot of innocent monsters & Mewmans? Face it Mom, I have failed you! So many times! I even failed you while I was sleepwalking!"
"No, Star, that's simply not true!"
"Why are you doing this? Why are you not calling me out on my behavior? Mom, you've seen me screw up time after time after time! I've never redeemed myself for my screw ups and yet you keep letting me off the hook!" She buried her head frustratingly into her pillow & groaned again. It was a fun time all around. Marco laid himself down next to her and hugged her, waiting patiently for her to take her head out of the pillow & face him.
"Star," He said sweetly, pecking her lips, which elicited a smile from Moon. "You're doing it again."
Another groan from her. "I know, I know..." She turned back to her mother, more shame consuming her face. "Sorry..."
But Moon wouldn't hear any more self-loathing from her daughter. It was entirely undeserved, and she was determined to get her to see that, evidenced by the hugs & kisses she gave her daughter. "Sweetheart...words can't begin to describe how proud you've made me."
Even in her delirious, depressed state, Star found herself completely dumbfounded. "What?!"
"Yes, it's true, your beginnings were quite...rocky, to say the least. You were quite immature when you started out and your father and I were concerned you were never going to be ready to ascend to the throne when your time came. Your propensity for "fun" and "adventure" overwhelmed your judgement at times when we needed you to hunker down and take your responsibilities seriously. But slowly, that changed. Before our eyes you morphed into a level-headed, responsible young lady that put the weight of her kingdom on her shoulders. You could've returned to Earth with Marco after the tiff with Toffee. But you chose to remain behind. You chose to step up for once and actually serve your kingdom."
"Yeah, hooray for me deciding to do the right thing once in a whopping 15 years..." Star sarcastically rolled her eyes. The demons in her mind were back with a vengeance.
"It's true that I wasn't very fond of your decision to host that party. I thought it was an irresponsible decision, and I saw it as you reverting back to your old ways. But reflecting back I could not have been more wrong. And I never properly apologized for that misconception. You were also right about Meteora being Eclipsa's rightful daughter. You were right about the Magic High Commission and all of their reprehensible actions. You were right to trust Eclipsa and look past all of the prejudice & bigotry throne her way, and you were right to do what you did to fix the sins of our ancestors and how they wrongfully kicked the monsters out of their homes & stole their land.
"You stepped up in ways that you never should've been obliged to. Fixing those mistakes should not have been your obligation in the first place. But, you decided to make it yours. I can't imagine the physical & emotional toll it's taken on you, but I'll never forgive myself for allowing you to shoulder that burden all by yourself. How can I possibly embrace all of this and not be proud of you?"
She meekly shrugged. "I don't know, but...you could try..."
They shared another hug, Moon hugging tighter than she had ever hugged before. "There is nothing about what you've done that I could possibly be ashamed of. If anyone bears any shame, it's me." Star's eyes went wide again, but Moon continued. "I'm the one that betrayed you and the entire kingdom. I undermined everything you worked so hard to achieve.
Even though the girl internally accepted what her mother was saying as true, she still could not believe that she was hearing it. "Yeah, b-but that's water under the bridge..."
"Is it?" She waited for her daughter to respond, but Star couldn't bring herself to say anything. "It's alright, dear. You can say you've not forgiven me for what I did. I'm an adult, I can handle it-"
"No, but Mom...that's the problem..." Star lamented. "I've forgiven you. But I haven't forgiven myself..."
"But why?" Marco chimed in after an extended silence. "You heard your mom. To her, you didn't do anything wrong."
"So then why do I keep insisting that I did? Why am I literally unable to just accept when people are telling me I'm not in the wrong and that I'm a good girl!?" Both Marco and Moon hugged Star this time, allowing the girl to lean on each of their shoulders while she emotionally recovered.
"I know I put a lot of pressure on you to be prim and proper," Moon spoke again. "Threatening you with that hellhole excuse of a reform school didn't help matters."
"I was so scared of not living up to your expectations that when I was first on Earth I started sleep-spelling." Star explained to her. "Marco...really helped me out in trying to curb that, but...I never really got around to fixing why I was sleep-spelling."
"It was me, wasn't it? I was making you nervous." Star weakly nodded, afraid of Moon's next response.
"It's not like I didn't deserve it. I was a hot mess back then and I refused to grow up. It took our kingdom nearly getting destroyed and for magic nearly going away for me to wake up and start being more mature."
"But then it was like a 180 degree flip with you." Marco insisted. "You made all of us proud, especially your mother."
Star looked over again at her mother, as she beamed with pride in her smile & tears in her eyes. There wasn't a drop of doubt in Star's mind: she knew her mother was sincere. But that begged the question: why couldn't she agree with her. "Mom, Marco, I want to believe you guys. I really do. I just don't understand...why I don't...or why you're..."
"Why I'm what?" Moon asked again.
"Mom...you're not acting like you used to." Star was happy that her mother had changed so much, but a small part of her continued to lament that it was an undeserved change. "You're...loving, you're...affectionate, you're...lenient with me. This is not the Mom that raised me for my whole life."
"But...don't you like it?" Marco asked her.
"I want to. I really do, but..." She groaned yet again. "You know what infuriates me? I should be elated that my own mother encouraged me to leave town on a two-week getaway with my boyfriend. I should be happy that my mom is going out of her way to make me comfortable on this "home vacation" that everyone insists that I'm on."
"But you are on a home vacation." Moon further insisted with a smile.
"And why are you so okay with that!? Why are you okay with me being a lazy sack of garbage?"
"Star, you're the farthest thing from lazy. Even on your home vacation, you've gotten yourself two part-time jobs, you're helping set up a brand new Cornball League, you're gonna help us build that new playground..." Marco explained, going into giving her a shoulder rub. "How can you look at all of that and call yourself lazy?"
"What makes you think I have the answer to that question?" Both she and Marco alternated with shrugging before she turned to her mother, who was also rubbing one of Star's shoulders as a sign of solidarity. Why couldn't she get out of her own way and just embrace this? "Mom, can I ask you a question?" Moon nodded. "...Why did you let me go on that getaway with Marco?"
And then the shoulder rub temporarily stopped. "What do you mean?"
"Well it's never been like you to just be so lax with what I do or who I do it with. You were fine with me going on a long trip with Tom after I finally stopped working for Eclipsa, and then you were just okay with Marco whisking me several states out and almost entirely cut off from you and everyone else for two weeks. That's...not like you. Or, at least it wasn't..."
Moon had to bring her daughter in for another embrace. She kept telling herself that things were going to be different with her daughter, and Star so badly wanted to embrace that idea. "It's because I felt you deserved it. Star, I'm still hopeless clueless as to the full extent of the workload you shouldered over the last year. But...it's beyond clear it's taken its toll on you. And I thought it was worrying before..."
"You mean when I smashed that mirror?" Moon nodded solemnly. "I didn't mean to scare you. And I really wasn't trying to commit suicide."
"I know, deary. I know." She gently kissed her daughter's cheek, struggling to hold back tears. "You deserved a reprieve after everything you had been through, and you still deserve a reprieve."
"She's right." Marco stood firm. "You're still on an indefinite home vacation, and nothing is going to change that." They really did mean well. Star knew that. She was grateful that they both felt so strongly about it, especially her once-strict mother.
"I appreciate that, I do. But...what about you, Mom?"
Her mother raised a confused eyebrow. "Me?"
"Yeah, where's your reprieve? You went through a hell of a lot more trauma than I did. You actually lost Grandma to the hands of Toffee! You had to take over the throne permanently! I only had to keep your seat warm. Well, okay, technically I was keeping it warm for Eclipsa, but you get my point. You had it way worse than I did, but I don't see or hear anyone talking about how you need to heal! When is it going to be your turn!?"
"Please, you mustn't think like that. I'm your mother. It's my job to worry about you. It's not your job to worry about me. Not like this..."
"Yeah, but..." Star wiped some tears from her eyes. "You went through actual hardships. All I did was sacrifice some of my personal time & work myself too hard-"
"No, you stop that right now." Moon said sternly, putting a finger gently to Star's lips to quiet her distraught daughter. "Your pain is just as valid as anyone else's. It's not fair to you to compare yourself to me like that. You having a different experience from what I went through in my time does not invalidate what you're going through right now."
Moon's stern but soft lecture was followed by Marco hugging her and smothering her in kisses. "Everyone hurts differently."
"Maybe someone should tell that to that stupid Mewman..." Star angrily muttered, recapping the arrogant, pig-headed Mewman they encountered earlier, the one that blatantly took advantage of Star's sleepwalking & manipulated her with threats of selling her out to "The Queen."
"Don't mind that fool. He has his own self-serving agenda. You were wonderful, sweetheart." Moon continued.
"I was?"
"Yes. You matured into such a wonderful princess. You carried on the Butterfly name admirably. You worked so hard to fix the sins of our past ancestors. I was resistant to the message, but you managed to change a lot of minds & open a lot of hearts. You rose to the occasion and then some, while I turned my own name into a pile of mud..."
"O-Oh, you mean..." Believe it or not, all this time later, and Moon still hadn't forgiven herself for her betrayal. "But Mom, I-I forgave you for that. You helped me destroyed the magic-"
"And that magically nullifies what I did that forced us to take that drastic action?"
"...You haven't forgiven yourself, have you?"
Moon shook her head. "No, and quite frankly...I'm surprised you have."
"Why, though?"
"You pushed yourself so hard trying to make everything right. You finally get your chance to rest and I go ahead & ruin all of it. All because I wanted to free Globgor from his prison..."
Contrary to popular belief, it was Moon that championed to have Globgor released for Eclipsa's coronation. Despite not fully trusting Eclipsa and remaining unsure of Globgor, she considered it a token of good will for Eclipsa and for Star. Unfortunately, with the Magic High Commission hellbent on overthrowing Eclipsa and making Star pay for making a mockery of them by turning the throne over to her, things quickly became extremely complicated. "...I've always wondered: Why did you do that?" Marco asked. "And...what happened with all of that? Was it you that did it, or was that-"
"No, no, it was Rhombulous. He was the only one that actually had the power to free Globgor. Nobody else could control crystals like he did."
"So you convinced him to free Eclipsa's husband."
"But why, though?" Star chimed in.
Moon took a deep breath. "...I didn't fully trust Eclipsa, and I was quite suspicious of her husband. But I couldn't forgive all of the trouble the Commission had wrought because of their actions. Eclipsa at least deserved to have her family with her on her big day. So...I made a deal with Rhombulous. And don't worry, dear, I've already recounted this to Eclipsa..."
"Was that really worth it, though? You were making a deal with a one-track-minded, racist, bigoted jerkface that was part of a group more worried about maintaining the status quo & their power than doing what was right for the kingdom." Marco pointed out. "What did you think would happen?"
"Do you want the truth?" Marco & Star both nodded to Moon. "I...was hoping he would just forget. He was quite the moron while he was around, I thought it would just fall out of mind and it would never come up again."
"But that didn't happen."
"Well, Rhombulous certainly forgot...but Omnitraxus & Hekapoo did not."
"And what was the deal?"
Again, Moon took a deep breath. "When I returned to the Butterfly Castle to collect something, I ran into Mina. That was where she originally proposed that I revive the Solarian army to help take Eclipsa down & destroy the Monster race once and for all."
"...So the deal was that you accept Mina's proposition in exchange for Globgor's release?" Star asked her.
"Correct. Unfortunately, Rhombulous is not only incredibly stupid, but also incredibly short-tempered..."
"Yeah, he and the MHC tried to frame Eclipsa for freeing Globgor from his prison on the day of her coronation. And I almost bought into it..."
"But you didn't." Marco reminded her.
"And then they started causing trouble & mayhem just to try to lock them up again..."
"Was you sitting on the sidelines and not interfering also part of their deal?" Marco asked her rather sternly. "You were so worried for Star's safety & well-being, but you didn't actually do anything to help her..." There was no anger in Marco's voice. He was past his anger. It was mostly disappointment, but no ill-will.
"You're right, it was. And I resent myself for agreeing to that condition. But Star handled herself beautifully and held her own. Every moment that day she showed me just how much she had matured & how much I had truly underestimated her."
Star took great pride in giving herself the nickname "The Underestimated," so hearing her own mother validate it brightened her mood drastically. "So...you really were just trying to keep Mina from doing more damage? Right?"
Her mother hesitated this time. She looked away, almost as if she was ashamed of the truth. "I think...I was partially resentful..."
"Of me?" Star interrupted her, now refusing to look her in the eye. "Because this was just another one of my tactics to avoid having to do the hard work of actually running things."
Moon couldn't help herself. She let out a small chuckle. "Well if that was your intention, you certainly failed, didn't you?" Even Star & Marco had to get a laugh out of it. "No, I think...I think I was resentful of how...quickly the kingdom...at least a part of the kingdom...embraced Eclipsa."
"Star worked her cute butt off to make that happen." Marco interjected, beaming with pride...and flirtatious attraction.
"Marcooooo...not in front of my Mom." Star playfully pushed back. "But you feel like what you did undermined all of that..." She said back to Moon, who nodded, now with tears flowing right from her eyes.
"I didn't just betray my people, honey. I betrayed you, my own flesh & blood. You, who were going to inherit the throne until all of the chaos began. And you had to clean up my mess...just like every generation that came after..." She reached out & hugged Star again, tighter than ever. Star could only reciprocate silently. "I'm so sorry, sweetheart..."
Moon may not have been prone to showing it as much or as badly as Star was, but she still felt just as much pain over everything that had happened as Star did. She just wasn't as much of a cryer as her daughter was. But Star easily recognized the signs that Moon was exhibiting. Overly beating one's self up over past mistakes, refusing to recognize praise, struggling to move forward, depressive episodes...it was all there, just not nearly as strongly with Moon as it was with Star.
"...one day we're all finally going to get over this hump once and for all." Star said calmly, giving her mother a cheek kiss. "We've let the past kill us for way too long. It's easier said than done, but we deserve to give ourselves a break."
"That's right." Marco agreed, patting Star's shoulder as Moon calmed down but tightened her hug. "We didn't cause the hundreds of years of oppression or burned bridges or bigotry, but we're doing our damn best to fix it, and we need to remember that. Nothing gets fixed in one day. As long as we just take it one step - one day - at a time..."
Finally, Moon pulled out of the hug and wiped the remaining tears from her face. "Star, I'll never be able to say this enough, but you have made me so incredibly proud. You are such a mature, level-headed, vibrant young lady and you have a great head on your shoulders."
"Even with the way it is right now?" Star jokingly asked, referring to her severe depression, exhaustion, & PTSD, among other problems she was suffering from.
"Absolutely. What you're going through is an unfortunate byproduct of the unnatural stresses and workloads you took on, but you served your kingdom and your family proudly, and I promise you, we are forever in your debt."
"Mom, I appreciate the sentiment, but please don't put it like that..." She almost begged, which understandably confused her mother. "It makes it sound like you guys all want to act like my servants, a-and I don't want that. I know you're not, a-and I know I'm not like that, I just-argh!" She rubbed her eyebrows & forehead furiously, frustrated at her own words & thoughts. "Why am I so stupid sometimes?"
Marco leaned in & lovingly kissed his girlfriend, who smiled once he came out of it. "You're not stupid. You're sick. Really sick."
"...I know."
"Star...do you know why you're like this?" Moon had to inquire. Her curiosity was spiking and she was desperate for some - any - way to help her daughter heal.
"No, I don't. B-But please don't get me wrong, I'm grateful for all of it. I'm grateful that you were okay with Marco taking me on a vacation for some rest. I'm grateful that you and the family are insistent on me staying on this "home vacation" arrangement. I'm grateful that you guys want to pay your gratitude to me, I'm grateful you want me to be rewarded for everything I've tried to do. I'll never believe that you guys are wrong or bad for wanting to do that. I don't understand why I'm so tired and so worn down, o-or why my heart is constantly giving me pain. I don't understand why I feel like I constantly deserve to be punished. I don't understand why I hate the person I see in the mirror. I hate her so much!" Star was now practically pouring her heart out to her boyfriend & mother, both of whom were ready to emotionally support her however they could.
"Sweetheart...please be honest. Are you...?"
Star gave herself a moment of pause. A dark, deep moment of important contemplation. "...I don't know. I really don't know...if I'm suicidal." How could it be a lie or a truth if even she wasn't sure? "I...I don't want to die. I just...want to stop hurting. I wanna stop hurting myself, I wanna stop hurting the people I love-"
"Star, stop. You're not hurting us." Marco tried to reassure her. How badly she wanted to believe him without question.
"You sure?"
He nodded proudly. "And I'm not just saying that either."
"He's right." Moon was quick to take his side. "You're not hurting us. Not even by accident. Every day we have the privilege of having a strong, vibrant, determined young woman in our lives that is hellbent on doing everything she can to make the lives of those around her that want it better. I am so thankful to have you as my daughter, and I will always love you & be proud of you, no matter what you do. That's a mother's promise."
Marco gently tapped her shoulder to get his girlfriend's attention. "Hey, uh...you know my offer's still on the table, right?"
"...Offer?"
"You know, if you ever wanted to go on another getaway: all you have to do is say the word. Doesn't matter what we're doing or busy we are. Just say the word and we're off, wherever you want to go. And don't worry, it wouldn't interfere with anything. You'd still have a home vacation to come back to."
Always considerate, Marco was. Putting her needs first despite his pledges to pull back on that. But at least he wasn't torturing himself this time, thinking he wasn't doing enough for her. "That's sweet, honey. And I promise if I ever really want to go away again, I'll let you know. But I'm fine right now. Honest."
He nodded, humbly accepting her answer & kissing her. "I know you are." He then turned his attention back to Moon. "Hey, you think we should show her?"
Moon gasped, realizing what he was referring to and getting herself excited. "Oh, that's a wonderful idea! I almost forgot all about it."
"...Show me what?"
So Moon & Marco led Star down to the castle's tapestry room, where in the place of Star's original tapestry sat a new large picture. But it was not a traditional tapestry. Instead...it was a painted mural, looking very similar in content to the original tapestry, but this time Star was holding Marco's hand while having magic shoot out of her right hand. The rest of their families were looking on in the portrait with proud smiles. "...W-What the...I-I don't-"
"I've finally been able to put my painting to good use." Moon smiled.
"I don't understand..."
"Marco relayed to me your dismay at your tapestry not featuring him, so...I've been working to fix that. But instead of a tapestry..."
"It's a painting." Marco finished, while also admiring the painting itself. "And a really good one, I must say."
"Thank you, hon."
Star slowly approached the painting, taking the time to soak it all in. It was a water color painting, and it was mesmerizing. Moon had been practicing her painting ever since deciding to take it up as a hobby following the Cleaving. This was her first major painting project and she was proud of it. And she had every reason to be proud of it. Star also took note of the pedestal that was below her painting, the pedestal that hadn't previously been there. Inscribed on the pedestal was the message that Queen Solaria had written on a piece of paper and left on her original tapestry (in my previous fic When Dimensions Cleave). "What's this?" She leaned in and started reading the message out loud. "The seeds of hate deflated...at the hands of Star the Underestimated. Mom, did you write this?"
Moon shook her head. "No, I didn't. I think that was left behind by Queen Solaria."
"Solari..." Suddenly her mind began flashing back to that entire ordeal: the events that happened right after the Cleaving, the ones that forced them all to confront the MHC once and for all and expose them as the lying traitors they were. "Oh wow...she wrote this. She thought this highly of me?"
"Yes, she did. The painting is now an appropriate compliment to it, and only one symbol of our gratitude for all that you've done."
Star turned slowly to face her mother & boyfriend again. "...How long have you been working on this?"
"Since the Age of Magic properly came to a close."
"And...did-"
"Yes, everyone else knew about this. Even Marco." She beamed proudly at her daughter's boyfriend.
"Do you like it?"
Star stood there silently, internally contemplating her answer. IN a flash, everything came flooding back into her head. All of the good, all of the bad, all of the unknown...all of the questions she had for herself, all of the answers she didn't have...and finally, after some time passed, she began slowly breaking into laughter. "Like it? I love it! It's amazing! Look at this! This is incredible talent, Mom! You...you got this figured out, this whole...life thing, huh!?" And she was making no sense whatsoever. But that was something the two of them would soon realize, as Star's laughter began to go from controlled to uncontrollable. Slowly but surely it then devolved from laughter to a mix of laughter & crying to mostly crying.
Until finally, Star was unable to control herself and completely burst into loud, uncontrollable, hysterical sobbing. Right where she stood, she let the tears explode out of her eyes as her loud, shrill crying echoed throughout the room. She opened her arms out, desperate for any kind of physical interaction. Moon & Marco immediately obliged & dashed over to the sobbing girl as she broke down & collapsed onto her knees. They hugged her & joined her on the ground, allowing her uncontrollable sobbing to spiral as it needed to. Of course it wasn't a pretty sight to see their beloved Star bawling her eyes out like this & repeatedly apologizing for literally no reason. But holding in their emotions for the greater good was a common failure of the monarchy. That was over with. If Star needed to cry - hell, if any of them needed to cry - they were going to cry. In their eyes, it was all part of the healing process.
And yes, while it didn't look like it, Star was and is continuing to heal, day by day. It's painful, but it's necessary. There was a light at the end of the tunnel.
End of Episode 17!
This is by far the longest chapter I've ever written. Not just for this story but for any story. I hope you all enjoy it, because it was both difficult and fun to write. Our little princess and her loved ones are getting there, slowly but surely.
And as always, please read & review! The feedback is greatly appreciated!