Sorry for the wait, I hope it was worth it.
I was supposed to upload the next sketch page alongside this but I had forgotten about it until I was finishing the chapter. It's done but because I need adequate light to photograph it I'll have to wait until tomorrow afternoon to upload it.
I'm pretty sure you guys will recognize Soluna's main inspiration after reading this chapter, well the main inspiration for her younger self at least.
to viceversa96: The story may be ending but I am definitely not moving on. I love the show and to this day I still check each of the websites I browsed while it was airing just for the littlest piece of content! This tale was always meant to end when it will, you'll see once it gets there. I may do more one shots from time to time, but I also want to write for my other fandoms as well. I'm just happy that other Starfan's enjoyed what I have written!
"Soluna, I am going to ask you a very important question…why is your hair pink?"
7-year old Mandy Lucitor stared at her best friend's unnatural hair color. Rather than the chocolate brown coloring the same as her father, Soluna's hair was a sweet pink color. The human princess reached back and brushed her fingers through one of her pigtails as she shifted awkwardly "It's kind of a long story, but that's what I came to tell you. I just had the craziest week of my life!"
"But I saw you yesterday?" Mandy raised one of her three eyebrows in confusion, remembering the normalcy and brunette hair her friend had just one day prior.
"Yeah it's been a week for me but only like an hour for you." Soluna took a seat on one of the bean bags scattered around the small table in Mandy's room "Did you end up in the Neverzone place your dad talked about?" the little demon recalled hearing once of a dimension where time passed much faster.
Soluna shook her head "Nope, I mean I was kind of in another dimension but at the same time I wasn't." getting comfy, the Lucitor princess eagerly listening to her friend as she recalled her tale "So it started technically this morning…"
OXOXOXOX
I was taking a walk through the castle, I wasn't going anywhere special, I was just walking around. I ended up going past the storage room when I heard a noise coming from the other side.
The princess poked her head through the doorway, tiptoeing inside as she cautiously took a look around. Everything seemed to be in order, boxes were stacked where they should be and most things were stored away neatly. Soluna almost turned back when a glimmer on the floor caught her eye; she reached down and picked up a strange object, or rather a fragment of something from long ago. As she tried to figure out what the thing was, a creaking noise came from behind an old mirror.
Soluna quickly whipped around "Who's there?!" she held out her hand and summoned a red magic orb, ready to be fired at a moment's notice. Something moved from behind the mirror, a tall humanoid figure that stayed back in the shadows "Looks like the jig is up, guess I don't have to be sneaky anymore." The figure fully emerged from his hiding place and directly faced the young princess.
It was a human man, or rather almost human. The man's left leg and right arm were replaced with robotic limbs, clunky yet intimidating up close. His pants ripped at the top of the robotic leg but the other side stayed intact, his crop top was torn with a mechanical chestplate on top of it (how he had it over his shirt nobody knew). His flesh arm had a leather glove up to right below the elbow and a small bone tattoo near the shoulder, a ripped leather vest was worn only on the left side of his body with a bandana around his neck. A fedora-like hat obscured the man's face, all that could be seen was a balding head and some circuits running down to his neck.
"Wh-who are you?" Soluna took a step back, unable to mask her fear of the stranger.
"Oh, I'm just a local bounty hunter." The man sarcastically bowed "Now if you would just hand over that little fragment your holding then I can quietly leave and you can act like I was never here."
Not trusting this man in the least, Soluna used her magic to change the object into a golden star shaped necklace, which she promptly wore around her neck "No way! I watch enough TV to know when a weird guy is in your house trying to take something, that it's important for some reason!" she kept her magic charging in her palm, aimed right at the bounty hunter.
The man scowled "Looks like the little princess is trying to play the hero. Sorry sweetheart but you're a few years too early to-" he stopped his monologue, watching Soluna dash off and heading towards the door "Wha-you-you don't run away when someone is in the middle of a cool monologue!" he chased after her, pulling a pair of dimensional scissors from his pocket.
Soluna was in arm's reach of the door, her hand nearly touched the handle when a portal appeared and blocked her way. She skidded to a stop as the hunter's robot arm came through and made a grab at her, Soluna quickly ducked and started running in the opposite direction. When she turned back the hunter retracted his arm from the portal and quickly morphed the cybernetic limb into an arm cannon, taking aim at the princess and firing a couple of shots.
Soluna took cover behind a crate, taking a few deep breaths before trying to come up with a plan. Taking a brief glance over the box, she spied the bounty hunter removing his arm before closing the portal and watched him place the scissors in the pocket on his belt. It was enough to give her an idea of how to stop him "Ok Soluna, you can do this. Just do what mom showed you."
Jumping out from behind the crate, Soluna pushed her arms in front of her and shouted "Spider with a top hat blast!" she summoned a tiny purple spider with a black top hat, who proceeded to launch bullets from said hat directly at the hunter. As the bounty hunter shielded himself with his arms, Soluna made her way over to another pile of boxes, she struggled to pull off a second spell as dozens of small objects lifted out of their boxes bathed in a red light "Levitato!" she guided all of the stuff towards the bounty hunter.
Being barraged with an onslaught of bullets and small objects, the bounty hunter didn't notice the young girl sneaking up on him until she had yanked his scissors from his pocket "Hey, give that back you little thief!"
"You're the one that broke in here to steal something!" Soluna reminded him.
"Huh, oh yeah." The bounty hunter remembered before giving chase to the small princess. The two weaved through all of the junk in the room, against common sense Soluna started to use the scissors while running. She frantically tried to think of somewhere safe to escape to, a memory flickered in her mind of the grotto grandpa Globgor had shown to her a few months ago, she tried to picture the canal and the gondola as she cut through the air quickly.
As the portal opened she felt an arm grab her leg and start to pull her backwards, her concentration shifted from her intended destination to simply any canal with a gondola. Hitting her attacker with a bunny rocket blast, Soluna launched herself through the portal and skid to a halt as she landed on her back. Rubbing her sore torso, Soluna sat up and looked where the portal had taken her, she was beside an underground river with a broken down gondola to the side however it was not the one she had been intending. Hearing a footstep from beside the portal, Soluna threw caution to the wind and started running along the narrow pathway down the river.
The princess ran as long as she could, but she was tired enough already and slowed down after a few minutes, her pursuer didn't seem to get tired as he cornered the girl at a wider space in the tunnel. He kept his arm cannon fixed on the girl, inching closer with an intimidating atmosphere "Nowhere left to run young lady, Hunter has never failed to claim his target in his life!"
"Hang on a second-"Soluna stopped cowering "You're a bounty hunter named Hunter?"
"Yeah, actually it's what inspired me to take on this career path." Hunter said matter-of-factly "My mom wanted me to be an accordion player like my father but I knew my destiny fell on a different path."
As Hunter went on explaining his origin story, and all of its heartaches and plot twists, Soluna spotted a gondola passing by. It looked exactly like the one she had passed in the beginning although it was no longer decrepit and there was a giraffe man rowing it. Soluna slipped away and hopped on the boat "Excuse me sir, this maniac is trying to kidnap me. Would you mind helping me escape?"
Before the giraffe could say another word, Hunter had realized his prey had begun to escape "You are a rude little princess! You could at least stay and listen to one monologue!" he back flipped onto the gondola and grabbed the giraffe man by his balding hair "And you-do as I say and no one gets hurt!"
"Well strange man before your sentence was done, the tiny girl took off and is now long gone." The giraffe gestured to the empty space Soluna had been sitting in moments prior. Hunter growled with frustration, yanking a piece of hair out of the giraffe's head, before he spotted a familiar pair of scissors that had fallen down a close by staircase. Approaching the steps he leaned down and picked up his scissors "I'm going to get you princess, you can't hide forever!"
OXOXOXOX
I opened a portal as fast as I could while going up the steps, I ended up dropping the scissors as I went through. I wanted to go to the park in the middle of down and I got it right this time…but it wasn't the park I knew…
Tumbling onto the grassy field, Soluna brushed off her dress and sighed with relief. Yet something was amiss, it was the same park she had known but it was different than when she had last seen it. The flora was much less exotic, and the only people around were humans, not a monster or pony head in sight. An older woman began to jog past Soluna until she spoke up "Um excuse me, where am I?" she was certain she opened the portal to the correct place, so why did she hardly recognize it.
"Why this is Echo Creek Park, a place I run through every day here in Echo Creek, California." The woman answered before sprinting away. Soluna froze momentarily, and then proceeded to scream and hide inside of a nearby bush.
I was in the right place, but not the right time! Somehow that river had let me travel back in time before Earth and Mewni had merged! Without those scissors I was stuck in the past! I panicked for a bit before I remembered the number one rule of time travel, don't change the past! I couldn't walk around in public, not with these marks on my face; I couldn't risk anyone noticing my resemblance to my parents, so my first order of business was to create a disguise.
"Cloud Puff Cover Up!" with a poof of magic, a layer of concealer hid the eight-point stars on her cheeks. Now that the main thing that would blow her identity was hidden, she needed to change one more thing before she could leave the bush. In order to throw people off the trail even further, she held onto her hair and cast another spell "Sugary Sweet Hue Change!" her dark brown hair turned a sweet pink in a flash. No one would suspect her now, neither of her parents had pink hair after all.
It was perfect, nobody would suspect a thing! I got out of the bush and started walking through the park, I had no idea how I would get back, and I can't open a portal on my own like mom and dad, so I would need some scissors. But even if I got some, I wasn't sure which dimension I had been in. The hunter wasn't chasing me so I didn't have to rush with coming up with a plan, all I had to do was stay under the radar and avoid meeting anyone I know from our time.
The now pink haired girl hadn't gotten far before the sound of several dogs barking got her attention. The moment she moved to see what was happening, a litter of puppies plowed into her and scattered around the grass "Grab the puppies!" a voice shouted frantically. Soluna's body moved on its own as she chased after the two puppies nearest her, they scampered away as she made a grab for them. The little critters were fast but somehow Soluna had managed to herd them near a tree and nab them in a sneak attack "Gotcha!"
Now that the puppies had been caught, Soluna took a better look at them, they seemed really familiar somehow. All of a sudden they both shot lasers from their eyes and happily yapped as their owners came over "Thanks for catching them, those little trouble makers burned their leashes and escaped." The girl spoke; the boy noticed the shocked expression on Soluna's face and sighed "Sorry, these guys are magic laser puppies. It sounds weird but it's true."
Soluna's shock wasn't from the magic canines, it was at who was currently talking to her, a duo of 14-year olds consisting of a blonde girl with hearts on her cheeks and a boy with a mole and a red hoodie. They were younger but there was no mistake about it, they were her parents.
"Hi, I'm Star Butterfly!" her future mom held out her hand "This right here is my best friend Marco! What's your name?"
Completely dumbfounded by this turn of events, Soluna tried hard not to panic "Uhhhh…I'm-I'm Sol-"she stopped, even saying her name might be too much "Er-I'm…Sally! Yeah, Sally…" she stuck with the first name that came to mind.
Thankfully neither of her future parents noticed her hesitation "Nice to meet you Sally!" Star beamed happily, she then noticed the peculiar color of the young girl's hair "Oh my gosh, your pink hair is so cute!" Star scooped Soluna into her arms and gave her a hug. Marco simply sighed, he would have held a hand to his forehead had he not been carrying a bunch of puppies in his arms "You'll have to excuse her, she can be a little hyper at times." Marco said with a fond smile.
I didn't really focus much on what they were saying after that, I was really freaked out that my mom and dad had found me so quickly and that my teenaged mom was hugging me and telling me I was cute. Pretty soon one thing led to another and I was sitting at the fountain eating ice cream with them while we watched the laser puppies play.
"So Sally, you're here on vacation to visit your relatives for a little while?" Marco repeated the cover story Soluna had invented. Soluna took a bite of her strawberry ice cream and nodded "Yep! They had somewhere to go today and they let me go to the park on my own." She lied to the person who ironically taught her that lying was bad.
Star finished off her vanilla ice cream and quickly dipped her finger in the chocolate flavor one Marco had ordered "Well I can say with great experience that Echo Creek-nay! Earth itself is a pretty great place!"
"You could've just asked for a bite instead of stealing it." Marco muttered.
Soluna couldn't help but let out a short giggle, back in her time Star still stole some of Marco's ice cream whenever she had finished hers. There were things that were different from the two that she knew, Star used a wand for her magic, Marco lacked the red moons on his cheeks and seemed to lack magic of his own, but at their core they were still the parents she knew and loved. The one thing she found odd was the lack of flirting between them, her parents were sickening lovebirds that practically spewed cartoon hearts out of their bodies when they so much as locked eyes. She still could feel an attraction between them, but it was subtler, more hidden than she had known they were capable of.
A loud chime echoed from the clock in the middle of the park, causing the three of them to look up at it "Shoot it's that late already? We gotta get the pups back and get ready for tonight." Marco reminded his companion.
"Why Marco, what are you two going to do tonight?" Soluna asked and Star dramatically answered "The same thing me and Marco do every Thursday night, Friendship Thursday!"
That was when the pieces clicked into place for Soluna, her parents had relationship Thursday (and family Saturday) not friendship Thursday. Now she got why her parents weren't as overly affectionate like she was used to, this must be a time before they got together. And here she was, living proof of their future right under their noses.
We parted ways after a quick goodbye, somehow I ended up saying that I'd see them around and I went off to meet up with the family I was supposedly staying with. That's when I realized that I had nowhere to stay, I couldn't stay with anyone I knew since they didn't know me yet, and I went right back to panicking. I ran around in circles trying to think of what to do, I almost walked right into a tree and it gave me an idea!
"Sparkle glitter bomb expand!" Soluna recited an old spell she had seen her mom use to redecorate her room a year ago. The tree lit up as colorful lights swirled around it, twisting it and expanding the upper half of the tree. As the light dimmed, the ordinary tree had been transformed into a modest treehouse. The treehouse lacked a staircase or any way to physically reach the top, so Soluna called upon a large butterfly summon spell of hers to lift her up to the top "Thanks Betty!" she gave the spell a gentle pat on the head before it disappeared.
Inside the treehouse was modest enough, it had all the necessities for Soluna if she was going to be stranded here for a while "It'll only be for a little bit, just think of it as another camping trip with grandpa."
"Excuse me?" a voice outside caught Soluna's attention, her little head poked out of the window and spotted a police officer standing below the structure "Hi there little missy, do you happen to have a permit to build a fort out here?" he kindly asked.
Sticking her head back inside momentarily, the officer saw a flash of light before the pink haired girl reappeared "Yup! It's all right here!" she produced a sheet of paper and let it float down into the officer's hands. Written in crayon, the paper stated 'Girl's treehouse. Very legit.'
"…Alrighty then, you're good to go!" the officer saw nothing amiss with letting a small child stay in a treehouse in the middle of a public park.
And so I was all settled in for my brief stay in the past. I had no idea how I was going to get home, but it didn't mean I couldn't enjoy my time there. I never knew what the world was like before the cleave, with my foolproof disguise I could go exploring and check out the place.
Wait a sec, what happened to Hunter the bounty hunter?
Oh, him? I didn't see him until six days later; I wonder what he was up to while I was on Earth?
OXOXOXOX
Mewni, Year 20-something.
In the quiet of night, the old Butterfly castle was illuminated by Mewni's three moons. All of its inhabitants slept blissfully unaware of the portal being opened in the bowels of the castle. Hunter stepped through the portal into an unlit hallway, if the schematics were the same as they were nineteen years in the future then he was close to the storage room.
"The boss only said I had to take it from the basement, he didn't say when I had to take it from."
Hunter tiptoed through the hall, hiding behind a pillar every now and again in case someone was to walk by. No one ever did and yet he continued to sneak like he was the lead in a spy film. The storage room was unguarded, after all most people believed all that was in there was junk. Those people were still mostly right.
Shifting his robotic arm into a lock pick, Hunter hunched down at the door and started his attempt to pick the lock. His elbow gently pushed against the wooden frame and the door creaked open on itself "Huh, you'd think they would remember to lock the door."
Casually waltzing inside, Hunter whistled a tune to himself as he started searching for his target.
He searched…
And searched…
And searched…
After eight hours Hunter finally took a break from searching "Where the heck is that stupid fragment?! It was here in the future!" at that moment, Hunter finally realized an important detail "…it hasn't been put here yet." He slapped his forehead with his flesh arm, remembering not to use the robot arm to facepalm after an incident in the past.
In all of his time looking for the fragment, he had completely forgotten it wasn't a fragment in this point in time. The object was still intact and functional at the current moment, he knew where to find it in its entirety, however he wasn't tasked with getting the functional version, he was being paid to snatch the less dangerous piece from his time.
"Gr-oh that stupid little princess! I'm going to find wherever the heck she ran off to and rip that dumb piece right out of her hands!" nobody made a fool out of him, he'd be a laughingstock if anyone heard that a little girl had gotten the better of him. Getting the fragment was his job, but getting payback on the princess was personal.
Seething in anger, Hunter blasted a hole in the door with his arm cannon on the way out. There hadn't been anyone down here in several hours so he figured he was in the clear. He did not expect to come face the face with four strange magic beings that happened to be walking past the door that very second.
Both sides blankly stared at one another momentarily, Rhombulus broke the silence with his scream "Intruder!" he aimed his snake arms at Hunter and shot a crystallizing beam toward him. Hunter sprinted down the hall before any beam could make contact with him, he'd heard tales of the late Magic High Commission and what they were capable of, he was strong but he knew he couldn't beat these guys in a fight.
A flaming portal swirled to life in his path; the fiery woman known as Hekapoo came charging straight at him using her scissors as blades "You're not going anywhere." Hunter changed his arm into a blade not a second too soon, it clashed against Hekapoo's as they reached a stalemate. The half-mechanical man swung his blade-arm outwards and deflected the scissors, slicing off a small piece of Hekapoo's hair in the process "Oh that's it! You are dead!" the fiery redhead burst into flames.
Distracted by Hekapoo, Hunter had no time to react as Omnitraxus and Lekmet snuck up from behind and struck him with a combined attack. Hunter was knocked to the ground but lifted his mechanical leg up, activating a rocket and flipping himself above the two. He landed atop Omnitraxus' horn and saw Lekmet flying in closer; his arm morphed into a chainsaw and grazed the goat man on the wing "Lekmet!" Rhombulus voiced cried as he approached. A crystal beam barreled towards the intruder, it hit Hunter's leg but failed to turn it to crystal, instead it clogged it up with a few tiny shards "Oh this is not the time for magic to be on the fritz!" Rhombulus groaned.
Without a moment to waste, Hunter unsheathed his scissors and cut open an escape portal. His form retreated out of sight before Hekapoo was able to reach him "No! He got away!" she cried in frustration.
The four of them looked over one another, other than Lekmet's wing they were virtually unharmed "Baaaw?" Lekmet bleated to his companions "I have no idea what that guy could have possibly wanted from the basement?" Rhombulus answered the bleat "Unless he was after Stump Day decorations, there isn't any reason for anyone to break in there." Omnitraxus shrugged.
"Alright boys, let's just be on the lookout and keep our guards up." Hekapoo sighed, wishing she could slip off and grab a drink. The guy was not a major threat, he was an average bounty hunter at least, but still he came here for a reason. Right now, Hekapoo could care less, now that he had tangled with the commission chances were he wouldn't try breaking in again.
OXOXOXOX
Before I knew it a week had already passed. I spent most of my time in the treehouse, trying to figure out a spell that could either get me back to my own time or open a portal to that dimension I was in.
Copying what she had seen her parents do, Soluna held out her hands and focused every ounce of magic she could muster as she attempted to open a portal. Her marks lit up under the layer of makeup that was keeping them hidden, a tiny spark appeared before her but that was it. That one spark was all she could manifest on her own, she knew her mom and dad were the only one's powerful enough to make portals without scissors or demon magic, but she had hoped that she was possibly strong enough to do it too.
A purple colored fox with a tiny chef hat strolled up beside the princess and gestured to the table, showing a plate of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches it had made. Soluna smiled and followed the magic fox over to where her lunch was sitting.
I wasn't lonely at least, all of my summon spells were around to keep me company and help me out. When I wasn't trying to get back, I was out on the town. The whole world was so different back then, it was so much more mundane but also kind of cozy. I went to all my favorite places, and somehow every single time, I would run into my mom.
The little pink haired girl hadn't even taken more than two steps into the mall when Star Butterfly came out of the bathroom and spotted her new friend, greeting her with a wave and a huge smile.
I saw her every day, no matter where I went we seemed to bump into each other.
The future princess strolled down the streets of Echo Creek, gazing into every store that caught her eye. A neon sign stole her attention as she recognized the boba shop her parents liked to take her to. She bought a drink and took a seat at a table, sipping on her honeydew boba when a familiar voice rung in her ears and she looked up to find Star and Marco ordering at the counter.
My dad was with her a few of the times; I probably talked to him around four times while I was there. Oh! I even met your mom one of those days!
Sitting at Britta's Taco's, Janna stared intently at the pink color of Soluna's hair "So why is your hair pink?" "Your hair is blue." Soluna countered with a mouth full of taco. Janna shrugged "Touché."
I didn't think anything was strange when I saw my mom on her own without dad, not even my parents spend every second with each other. On my second to last day there I saw my mom watching the sunset on top of a hill; I sat and joined her for a bit, she told me about her day and we just kept talking. We laughed and were having fun, but then I had to ask where dad was…
The air was filled with laughter from the two girls sitting together as the sun began to sink below the horizon "-and this was all because of a possum statue?" Soluna asked between giggles.
"Yeah, it was really weird! And that's coming from a magical princess!" Star laughed as well, feeling much better than she had all day, talking to this little girl seemed to lift her spirits up, she couldn't place why but her presence was very comforting and familiar.
The sky had gone from blue to orange above them; the rays of twilight seemed to sparkle as Soluna stared over the city. While most things were different, the sunset was just as beautiful as it was in her time "I love this time of day." Star sighed, cupping her cheeks in her hands. Soluna mirrored her pose "Me too, it's like its day but it's also night."
"Y'know me and Marco often sit up somewhere high like this and watch the sunset." Star sounded wistful as bittersweet thoughts crept into her mind.
"Where is Marco anyway?" Soluna suddenly realized that Star had yet to mention her best friend this entire time they had been chatting.
Star forced a smile and answered "Oh, he's out…on a date with Jackie…" a flash of guilt and horror flashed across Soluna's face, she had only heard a little bit from the story of Toffee's defeat, before her parents got together her dad had dated this girl named Jackie. Soluna had met Jackie a few times, but honestly she would never have guessed that woman had dated her dad for a while.
"Oh, I'm…I'm sorry." Soluna hugged her knees to her chest and looked towards the ground.
"Sorry about what? Its fine, Marco's been dreaming of going out with her since I met him. It's really cool that it finally happened." Star tried to convince not only the small girl, but herself as well "Oh! I even have a cool surprise for them! I bought us tickets to our favorite band Love Sentence and I secretly invited Jackie to come with us! It's gonna be so much fun!"
Despite the cheery way Star had said it, Soluna knew her better. Beneath that positive exterior her mother was hurting deeply over the situation she herself had pushed Marco towards. While Soluna knew that things would work out between them, she herself was their daughter for crying out loud, she couldn't share any of the good knowledge she knew with her.
"Marco is really lucky…to have a friend like you…" Soluna did what she could to console her mother. She wanted to say more, but she was afraid she'd slip up and spoil Star on her future.
The blonde turned to the younger girl, her smile was genuine this time "Thanks Sally, you're a sweet kid."
It was weird, comforting my mom instead of her comforting me. Then again, everything in my life is weird.
OXOXOXOX
When are you going to get to the part when you got back to now?!
I'm getting to it, chill out Mandy! So it was already the seventh day I had been in the past, I was starting to think that I would never be able to go home. I was preparing to go outside and take a walk to clear my head, but things never go according to plan.
A hatch on the bottom of the treehouse opened up and a rope ladder fell down against the trunk of the tree. After a few times Soluna felt that entering her hideout with magic might give her away so she fashioned a more normal way to go in and out. Her foot slowly inched onto the last step when a voice caught her by surprise "Sally?"
Soluna shrieked and lost her footing, falling backwards onto the grass while Star looked down at her curiously "Star! H-hey!" Soluna awkwardly greeted her. The blonde's eyes gravitated from the ladder she had been climbing up to the treehouse that it was attached to "Why is there a treehouse all the way out here?" the dots started to connect, most of the times she had run into her new friend had been inside or near the park "Wait-have you been living here?"
Panic swept over the pink-haired girl, what in the world could she say to keep her cover hidden "Star, I-"the need for an excuse vanished when both girls heard a cutting noise a few feet away. A portal cracked open and someone Soluna wasn't keen on seeing again stepped out of the portal "We meet again little girl." Hunter sneered.
"You! What are you doing here?!" Soluna couldn't help but shout, causing Star to stare back in forth between the two with confusion "Uh, you mind filling me in on who this guy is? Also…why he's wearing a hat with mouse ears from that one theme park?"
Hunter stopped and looked on top of his head; on top of his regular hat was indeed a black cap with large round mouse ears on it. He quickly took it off and shoved it away "Sorry about that, I accidentally portaled into an amusement park. I ended up taking a few days off there, that place had the best popcorn."
Changing his robot arm into its cannon form, Hunter pointed it at Soluna "Hand over the girl and I'll let you walk away from this!"
"Not on your life robo-man!" Star countered defiantly "Winter Storm Hyper Blow!" a frozen beam erupted from her magic wand and covered Hunter in a sheet of ice. Star grabbed Soluna by the hand and started running, hoping to get her new friend a safe distance away before going back to fight this guy "Ok, Sally I really need you to tell me what the heck is going on and why than guy is after you?"
Rather than answer her future mother, Soluna tucked her head down and stayed silence. Backed into a corner, she pondered if telling Star the truth would be safe? Would doing so mess up her future? Had she already messed it up? She was just a little kid, how was she supposed to know the right way to keep her timeline in existence?
A laser shot fired and struck a tree a few feet from the girls, causing the two of them to stop in their tracks and face the defrosted bounty hunter coming closer to them by the second "We can do this the easy way or the hard way! Now hand over Princess Soluna!"
"Princess Soluna?" Star did a double take at the small girl standing behind her, wondering just who exactly her friend 'Sally' actually was. That moment of distraction was enough for Hunter to zap Star with a Taser attachment in his wrist, causing the blonde to be pushed back into the fallen tree branches.
"STAR!" Soluna cried, a forceful yank on her shoulder stopped her from going to Star's side. She gaped in horror realizing she was in Hunter's grasp "NO! LET ME GO!" "SHUT UP KID!" Hunter slapped her cheek, inadvertently wiping off the cover up that masked her cheek emblems. Star pushed herself out of the branches just enough to get a clear view of the red eight-point stars on Soluna's cheeks "Those are-"
Holding onto Soluna with one arm, Hunter used his free hand to cut open another portal. As she was dragged through the portal, Soluna frantically called out to her mother one more time "STAR, TIME DIMENSION!" was all she could get out as Earth swirled away, replaced by a land of clocks and dirt.
While Star had yet to understand the complete situation, Soluna's cry of distress was all she needed to know in order to follow them.
OXOXOXOX
With the girl that would one day be her mother out of sight, Soluna was free to use her magic to fight back against her captor…or she would be if he wasn't holding a blade against the back of her neck. One wrong move and she'd have the weight lifted off of her shoulders. Feeling helpless in her current predicament, Soluna sadly peered downwards at the ground, the star shaped necklace bobbing around with every step. All of this happened because of that broken thing she currently held around her neck, and in all this time she never wondered why someone would go to all this trouble to steal it.
"Hey, what's so important about this thing?"
"Come again?" Hunter didn't expect to hear his captive ask him a question.
"The broken piece of something I turned into a necklace, what is it?" Soluna asked point blank, undoing part of her spell and changing the fragment back into its original shape while still attached to a necklace. It was flat and looked to be broken off of a circle shape judging by the round edge, the piece was a dark teal with a small dark grey line in the center; the colors appeared to have darkened with age. On the edge of it was a cracked, black colored gem, a little more of whatever it used to be stuck underneath it.
"Ha!" Hunter let out a loud, single laugh "You don't even know?! That thing is all that's left of the old Royal Butterfly Wand!"
Soluna's eyes widened, she knew all about her ancestor's wand that had been passed from one princess to the next. The wand had been destroyed when the old magic died, from what she had heard her father was the last one to use it. While Soluna was the first princess to not use the wand, she never needed it, it was interesting to see her past mom cast spells with it but it didn't seem to be as strong as the magic she was used to seeing.
"It looks pretty useless right now, completely powerless on its own, but my boss needs it for something so I'm guessing there's still something it can do." Hunter went on, hardly paying attention to the child under his arm.
Studying the wand piece, Soluna felt no magic left inside of it. Still if someone wanted it so badly there had to be more to it "So your boss, what does he do?" Soluna dug for more information.
Hunter opened his mouth to answer, though unfortunately he caught himself before he blurted anything out "Nice try kid, I've already told ya more than you should know." Soluna huffed in response "Well can you at least say what you're gonna do to me?"
Her captor grinned "You're simply a bonus, I'll get paid for my job and I'll ransom you to your parents. I'll bet the king and queen would do anything to keep you safe."
"Yeah, they would. They would also hunt you down and kick your butt to rescue me." This man seemed to underestimate her family, holding the daughter of the two strongest magic wielders hostage was basically a death wish. Hunter seemed to catch onto that once she had said it, the only bit of his face Soluna could see had paled and begun to sweat "I'd like to see them try." He put on his poker face.
"Ladybug Lightning Swarm!"
A voice filled the air as a swarm of magic ladybug's surrounded Hunter and Soluna, trapping them in a hurricane of cute insects. A smug grin crept onto Soluna's face "Told ya."
Hunter aimed his arm out to shoot the spell, except he had held out his flesh arm instead of the mechanical one that was currently carrying a small child "Crap!"
The ladybug's parted, and Star Butterfly approached looking rather peeved "Drop the girl." Her wand aimed directly at Hunter, her eyes sending the message that she was not messing around.
With Hunter distracted by Star, Soluna inched her neck away far enough that it wouldn't touch the blade when she performed her next spell "Firecracker Fizzle Pop!" she surrounded her body with red hot sparkles, leaving her unharmed while burning her captor enough for him to let go of her. Soluna tucked the necklace under her dress before her next move "Bubblegum Bounce!" a pink orb enveloped her body, bouncing high in the air and landing close to Star.
The shield dissipated and Soluna found herself staring straight into the eyes of a bewildered Star "Looks like I've got some explaining to do, huh?" Soluna sheepishly figured. The blonde shook her head, exclaiming in disbelief "You can use magic!? You didn't even need a wand!"
"Star, listen-"Soluna began, pleadingly holding her hands to her chest as she prayed not to screw up "-I can't tell you everything, but I'm from the future and that guy chased me and we accidentally went back in time. I can't tell you about my magic, or anything else about me, you just have to trust me!"
To her surprise, Star kneeled down and brushed the top of her head "Hey, this ain't my first time paradox. You can't say anything that might mess up your time right?" she spoke softly, understanding why her new friend had kept this all a secret. The pink haired child nodded, her lip quivering and her eyes watering while trying to maintain her composure.
The sound of a chainsaw reminded the girls that they still had a bad guy to take down "I don't care how much magic you've got! You're still just a little girl and a teenager, how could you two possibly beat someone like me."
Exchanging a knowing look, Star and Soluna met on the same wavelength, passing a grin to the other as they took fighting stances "Come and find out!" Star taunted back. Hunter charged with his weapon held high, screaming incoherently as he attempted to slice the girls into pieces. Star flipped backwards and released a 'crystal dagger heart attack' into his chest, followed by Soluna scurrying behind the cyborg and creating a large spring that flung Hunter into the air.
With another flick of her wand, Star released a crescent shaped attack that flung through the air. Hunter saw the move and used the chainsaw to break it apart before it could hit him. The chainsaw shifted into cannon mode and began charging up; the younger girl stood in front of Star and created a flurry of rubber duckies that floated in the air. Releasing them like an arrow, the duckies raced towards Hunter and impaired his sight, in an attempt to swat them away one of the rubber ducks became lodged in his cannon "That's not good." The charge he was saving backfired and exploded inside of the arm.
Landing on his feet, Hunter found his arm badly damaged and malfunctioning, it wouldn't even go back into its standard mode. With their enemy back on the ground, the girls each cast their own magic blasts as they approached, Star's came in the form of exploding butterflies while Soluna's were small bunny missiles. Hunter took a few hits before swinging his mechanical leg forward and countering with the flames from his rocket.
The spells collapsed and the girls ducked for cover as the flames grew in size, Star held out her wand and prepared to strike, only for something heavy to collide with her arm and knock the wand several feet away "Not so high and mighty now are ya?" the now one-armed Hunter gloated, increasing the thrusters in his robot leg. He focused the flames between Star and her wand, unable to be reached without getting burned in the process.
"Star!" the blonde changed focus at the sound of her name, watching as Soluna ran in front of her with a glowing magic shield "I need to get my wand." A sudden pull on her wrist prevented Star from getting up and walking away "No you don't! You can use magic without it!"
"Soluna, using magic without a wand takes a LOT of focus. I haven't used it more than two or three times."
"Well you won't get better unless you keep practicing!" Soluna chided her future mother "I'm half your age and look at how much I can do!"
Star had to admit, she was really impressed with this girl. She didn't even know about wandless magic until a few months ago while Soluna was using it like a pro "How'd you get so good?" Star asked with a smile. Soluna gave her one right back "I had someone to teach me."
Rising to her feet, Star held onto Soluna's hands, her eyes shining with determination "Think you could pass on what you've learned?"
The magic shield vanished, causing Hunter to lower his guard and his robo-leg "What are they-"he silently watched as the two girls became surrounded in a faint white glow, their feet lifting off of the ground and their hands held together. Hearts and octogram's sparkled with light and the two held their hands apart, throwing one arm back and the other forward as magic swirled before them.
"RAINBOW NARWHAL BLAST!"
Rainbow colored narwhals sailed through the air and slammed into Hunter; a few of their horns pierced his cybernetic chest plate and gave him a short circuit, knocking him out cold.
Star and Soluna touched the ground and the narwhals disappeared "We did it! We really did it!" Soluna cheered, earning a proud smile from Star "Aww is this the first bad guy you ever beat up? You did great." The blonde's praise made Soluna happier than she could have ever known.
Using a Raspberry Ribbon Lasso spell, Soluna restrained Hunter and loaded him onto a cat shaped cart she'd summoned "He's not going to be out for long, I have to go find that canal we came here in and get him to the authorities." Soluna sighed. A low rumbling sound caught the attention of the Butterfly girls who turned towards the source of the sound, a blue, bearded man riding a wheel pulled by a hamster "Hey guys!" "Father Time!" Star recognized the man.
Father Time's wheel came to a stop in front of the girls, his giant hamster jogged in place to keep the wheel turning "Soluna, this is Father Time. He kinda makes time work." Star introduced the spirit.
Soluna had heard about him before, her parents told her all about spirits, yet this was her first time meeting one in person (except for Alphonse's portrait and a red moon that showed up at parties) "He-hello Father Time…" she shyly waved "I'm-well I come from the future, actually you probably know that with time and all. But I need to find the entrance to that canal I came here from."
"Oh I know all about your deal, I've been looking for you since that metal-man dragged you back in here. I got distracted by this really neat looking rock that was shaped like another rock I had seen earlier and-plot twist-they were the same rock!" Father Time recounted what he had been up to.
"Uh, that's nice…" Star shrugged.
"Anywho, I can send you back to your time in a jiffy. I wouldn't use the boats; the giraffe tends to disappear after a certain point."
"You mean I'm going home?" Soluna asked hopefully, Father Time gave her a nod "Sure thing, just say the word and I'll send ya back."
Although she felt overjoyed at the notion of going home, Soluna couldn't help but be a little sad to say goodbye to Star. This whole week she got to know her mother all over again, they were able to hang out and talk like friends instead of mom and daughter. The two generations of Butterfly's smiled sadly to each other, Star didn't even know when Soluna was from, and on her end she was unsure if she'd ever see her again "So…I guess this is goodbye?" Star moved forward slowly, opening her arms up for a hug.
The little princess ran into Star's arms in a heartbeat, hugging her tight and never wanting to let go "Could you tell Marco I said goodbye?" "Absolutely, but I'll keep the future and magic biz a secret between us." Star winked.
"Thank you Star, for everything."
"Take care in your time ok?"
Then Father Time used his powers to open a time portal right in front of me, I wheeled Hunter in and stepped through a second later. I watched my mom the whole time; I couldn't tell her that we would meet again. I couldn't even tell her we were related. I knew she was about to go through some really rough stuff with my dad and Toffee, but knowing how the story goes, everything works out in the end.
The portal closed and Star's new time traveling disappeared without a trace. The blonde's smile faded once she knew Soluna couldn't see "She was a Butterfly." It wasn't a question, she hadn't said it outright but the marks and magic clued her in.
Hoping off his time wheel, Father Time gave a light slap to the hamster and let it run around freely while he put his hand on Star's shoulder "Yeah, she's descended from you."
Hearing the fact be confirmed, Star couldn't help but let her thoughts start running like the time hamster "Just…what is my future going to look like? Am I going to be a good queen? Will I get better at my magic? Is Marco…" she stopped, scared to complete the sentence.
"Is Marco still going to be in your life?" Father Time finished for her "Those are things you'll have to find out for yourself." The blue man's words failed to comfort the princess. Digging into the pocket of his robe, Father Time pulled out a photograph and held it up for Star to see "But hey, this looks like a happy time to me!"
Star's eyes nearly popped out of her head when she saw the picture, it was her and Marco in swimsuits laughing and holding a beach ball. The word's 'Beach Day' was scribbled underneath "Wha-we never went to the beach?!"
"You will! Consider it a sneak peak of your future!" the time spirit placed the photo into Star's hands, watching as her eyes glimmered with hope. It was a temporary safety net for the girl, but a much needed one.
OXOXOXOX
"-and that brings us to today!" Soluna concluded, sinking into her bean bag while her demon friend eagerly raised her hand "You get three questions Mandy." Now Soluna knew how her parents felt when they told her stories.
"Alright, first what did your parents do when you got back?"
"Well I went and saw my mom right away, she took one look at the pink hair and said 'Welcome home Sally.'" She recalled the knowing grin on her mother's face and the baffled look on her father's "Turns out my mom always knew I was a Butterfly, but it wasn't until dad suggested my name that she figured I was her kid. The moment she saw my marks she was absolutely certain it was me. Dad didn't know about any of this and we had a lot of fun explaining what the heck was going on."
Mandy snickered "Sounds like a blast! Question numero 2, what happened to Hunter the Hunter?"
"Called security and had him arrested on the spot. I don't know for sure but I got a feeling attempting to kidnap the princess earns a lot of jail time."
"Final question, why is your hair still pink? You don't need to hide your identity anymore?" Mandy pointed out. Playing with one of her still pink pigtails, Soluna looked away bashfully "I…really like it. I already asked mom and dad and they said I could keep it pink if I wanted to."
"Whatever you say 'Bubblegum Head'." "Please do not make that my new nickname!"
OXOXOXOX
Somewhere far away from Earthni, a single package is delivered onto a doorstep and taken inside by the owner of the residence. Placing the parcel on a desk, the box is carefully opened to reveal a single robotic arm "Looks like Hunter didn't live up to his name." a piece of paper inside caught his attention. Reading it over he learned of his lackey's arrest and failure to bring him the wand remains, he nearly threw the paper in the garbage before reading the last sentence, the wand wasn't retrieved but he didn't come back empty handed.
Whoever the man was he took the arm out of the box, inspecting the damage it had taken and noticing a few odd materials. Two small patches of hair, one brown and one red, a clip of a black wing, a chip of some kind of horn and a tiny crystal.
"This isn't what I had in mind, but it could serve my plans just as well."
