Estrella
Estrella took her wand, in the form of a paintbrush, and dipped it in the lavender paint. She had started to paint a picture of flowers, the only thing she was good at. Even her tapestry said so.
It said:
She cannot write, she cannot sing
But she can draw, her only thing
Sketching late into the night
But will she ever draw it right?
Estrella had little faith in herself. She liked to draw, and she was wonderful at it. Usually the tapestries were pretty accurate, up until Star's, where what was shown in the tapestry wasn't very accurate. Estrella wasn't good at anything else, but she had a sliver of faith in her drawing abilities.
Estrella's Mother was Festivia the fun, therefore having pretty big shoes to fill. Seriously, Estrella's mother had monster sized feet. Estrella was always worried, because she knew in her heart art would never come in handy being queen. She wondered if any of the other queens had thought that. Sometimes she pictured Great-Grandma Solaria wondering if fighting monsters would be useful, or Grandma Eclipsa wondering about dark magic, or her very own mother about partying. Estrella knew that if her Mother had thought that, she was right. Festivia's partying usually caused more harm than good. One thing she was grateful for was that her Mum had ended all severe conflicts with the monsters for now, and Estrella hoped that none would come up, as she had no clue how to solve them. Estrella sighed, put away her paint and canvas, and opened up the massive book of spells.
"Glossaryck, come out. I have a question for you." The elderly blue man popped out of the book, and...he was holding a half eaten meatball sub in between his toes.
"I won't even ask about the meatball sub. But I have a question."
"Ask away." Glossaryck took a bite of his hoagie, the corn chips crunching as he chewed.
"Were any of my Grandma's...uncertain about being queen? Like their passion would never help them in their destiny at all?"
"Well, of course. Everyone's uncertain sometimes. Queen Solaria never once thought fighting monsters would be helpful, and look at her legacy."
"What about someone I would have met?"
"The only other you would have met is your Mother, and she never confided in me. You could ask her but I doubt she'll be giving you any answers."
"Oh well. For what it's worth, thanks Glossaryck." The book's pages seemed to flip on their own and the blue man was gone.
"Oh well, I suppose that didn't do much good. But I suppose I have something in common with Great-grandma Solaria at least. She was sorta like me." Estrella said to herself as she roamed down the halls of Mewni Castle, fingering the wallpaper as she went. She could hear fireworks exploding outside, which usually went late enough to keep Estrella awake.
"Well asking Glossaryck was worth a shot, even though I barely got an answer. Great-Grandma Solaria died decades before I was born, so did Grandma Eclipsa. Although I heard Rhombulus talking about Eclipsa being crystallized. But Mum told me she's been dead for years. And Rhombulus had just drunk 72 corn shakes just to prove to Hekapoo that there's no such thing as too many corn shakes." Estrella mumbled to herself as she walked down the hall, while she gently ran her fingers over the dark wallpaper. She had a suspicion that Rhombulus spiced up the corn shakes quite a bit. Estrella couldn't imagine drinking 72 corn shakes. Estrella stumbled downstairs to see her Mother walk in, and she left to her room before her Mother could ask why she wasn't at the party. Maybe a half hour later, she could hear the magical high commission talking in the hallway.
"If Festivia rules much longer, Mewni will be in ruins!" Rhombulus said.
"I know." Obnitraxus Prime said.
"The partying is draining the money, and the fireworks keep knocking down buildings."Hekapoo said.
"I know." Obnitraxus Prime said.
"She can't rule too much longer. She'll do something she'll regret if this continues." Glossaryck said.
"I know." Obnitraxus Prime said. Lekmet made goat noises, and that's when Obnitraxus Prime snapped.
"Don't you think I know this? What're we supposed to do about it? Replace her?"
"Well, I guess." Rhombulus said.
"And how are we supposed to do that, idiots?" Hekapoo said.
"First of all, say what you want about them, but I'm not an idiot."
"Whatever helps you sleep at night." Hekapoo said.
"I maintain the multiverse, and I explain the strands of space time. All you do is give and revoke dimensional scissors. Yet I'm the idiot."
"And I fight people who misuse them for a living. Again, whatever helps you sleep at night." Hekapoo said.
"Sure, let's get back on topic. Second of all, Estrella's not old enough to take over. She's only 15. And we can't take over that and do our jobs."
"Well, Rhombulus barely does anything, but if he was in charge things would be worse." Hekapoo said.
"I'm not even going to respond to that. Third of all, how would we even get her off the throne? Technically she has more authority than us. We have more power by far, but she has more authority."
"Ok, so what's the plan?" Glossaryck asked.
"There's no plan, I'm just stating the facts here." Obnitraxus Prime said.
"I'll state the facts! Festivia is a horrible queen who can't even control herself!" Rhombulus said, and Lekmet bleated in objection.
"What? I thought we were stating facts here!" Estrella heard a thump and a howl from Rhombulus, and assumed Hekapoo kicked him 'below the belt' as Hekapoo referred to it.
Right about then things erupted into fighting, happening too rapidly for Estrella to comprehend what was being said. She slipped into a navy blue silk nightgown, and she sat on the window seat in what used to be her Mother's room. She could see an old painting of Festivia with Hekapoo when Festivia was small. Estrella could see Festivia in a blue dress, with plump cheeks with diamond emblems, and she was sitting on Hekapoo's lap. Estrella didn't know why the painting was in her room, as she hadn't painted it.
There was a knock on Estrella's door, and she unlocked the door and swung it open to see Hekapoo.
"Yes?"
"You're going to be queen."
"What? I'm only 15!"
"Eclipsa was queen at 14."
"I'm not like Eclipsa."
"Of course not, she was evil."
"I can't be queen!"
"Would you rather have your Mother in charge?"
"I don't want that either."
"Well you'll keep the economy from collapsing."
"Yeah, I'd only have fireworks on Mewnipendence day. They aren't as special on all the other days. But on Mewnipendence day, the whole sky seems to explode in shimmers and glitter."
"Festivia would ask me if the stars were putting on a show. Then I told her how fireworks work and I let her launch some from the balcony." Hekapoo said.
"Do I have a choice?" The two looked at each other. Estrella had a choice. She knew she did.
"My decision is...I'll sleep on it and make a decision in the morning."
"Ok. Good night." Hekapoo left and Estrella laid on her bed on her stomach, her delicate fingers tracing her cheek marks. Her fingers went over the yellow flowers on her cheeks. Over and over and over as she thought about it. The best of a conclusion she could come to was that she wasn't going to sleep on it, because there was no way she was falling asleep. Eventually she got up, pulled out her wand, and palette. She went back to her painting of flowers. She had done violet flowers all around the edges. She painted a balcony of Mewni castle, and fireworks in the dark sky. Estrella drew her mother and herself when she was small. Estrella stared at her work.
She cannot write, she cannot sing. But she can draw, her only thing.
Sketching late into the night... But will she ever draw it right?
"I'll have to. I'm the future queen of Mewni, whether I like it or not. I'll fix my mother's mistakes." Estrella pulled her sheet over herself, and counted corn kernels until she fell into a dreamless sleep.
The next morning Estrella woke up at the time she pleased, and put on a simple black dress before heading downstairs to breakfast. Like most mornings, there was breakfast for Estrella, as Festivia usually just drank a cup of coffee and got on with her life of the party.
Estrella shoveled down some scrambled eggs and a sausage link with a mug of tea and headed to the high commissions meeting room. She knew they would be there, as they were having a meeting to talk about the productivity of their meetings. Estrella never attended as she wasn't a part of the commission. She walked in to see everyone, even Festivia, sitting around the table.
"Hey Mom." She simply said, and realized her mother looked like she just chugged a carton of spoiled milk. She glared at her daughter and said,
"Apparently the high commission thinks you should be queen."
"I know." There was an awkward silence.
"Well?" Festivia asked.
"What?"
"Do you want to be queen or not?"
"What?"
"If you want to be queen I'm happy to give up the throne."
"Well, I'm not sure."
"You said you would sleep on it." Hekapoo said.
"Ok, fine. I don't want to be queen. My answer is no." Estrella left the room.
3 years later, Estrella stared straight forward at the crowd of Mewman's below. She didn't have a choice now. Festvia had given up the throne, so either Estrella could be queen or things would collapse. Estrella didn't plan on getting married anytime soon, although she guessed she had to, so the bloodline could continue. The thought made her sick.
Estrella walked out onto the stage wearing an elegant black dress. Festivia had tried to get Estrella to wear something else but she hadn't budged. Estrella thought her Mother was the cause of her being queen, so Estrella put herself in charge of the coronation. She knew her mom would turn it into a huge party. While Estrella loved big parties, she didn't like them all the time and she was going to get her coronation done with.
Someone (Estrella didn't know nor care who it was), declared out into the audience,
"Here is Princess Estrella. Soon to be queen." Estrella tried to keep a smile for her idea of making a good impression as queen. The man gently took off Estrella's tiara, which was gold with an orange gem. She picked up her new crown, the queens crown. She looked at it for a moment. She had seen it probably a thousand times before.
But this time was different. This time it would be her crown. It was the first time Estrella really looked at the crown. She noticed the way the edges were smooth and how the hot pink gem was a perfect diamond shape. She noticed for the very first time that she would have to fill not only her Mother's shoes, but the shoes of the 30 queens that reigned before her.
I am Estrella the Drafted, she told herself as she stood up on the stage.
I am going to be queen. I am going to be in charge of a whole kingdom. I have to be strong. I have to be brave. No. I'm going to be strong. I'm going to be brave.
Estrella looked at the crown in her hands. Not the crown, she reminded herself. My crown, she thought. She placed it delicately on top of her head, and curtseyed. Everyone stared at her. Thoughts raced through her head.
Am I supposed to say something? Oh corn, of course I am. Was I supposed to write a speech for this? Is something going to happen if I just walk off the stage?
She decided the best thing to do is ask.
"Am I supposed to say something?" She asked the man, trying to move her mouth as little as possible.
"I mean you can." He whispered back, and Estrella took a deep breath.
"People of Mewni." All the heads in the crowd looked up to her. She knew she would be queen in a minute.
"Well-I-I suppose I'm supposed to be queen now. I'm going to be honest here, I'm not really too sure what that means. I know it means you're in charge. That your people look up to you to make a bunch of big decisions. I'm just going to try my best. I hope it's good enough."
Estrella projected her voice, so even people in the back of the crowd could hear her as clear as Rhombulus's crystals.
Estrella pulled out a guitar. That was how the Queen's were crowned in Mewni. Most of their ceremonies involved music. Estrella hated singing, and was horrible at it in general. Even her tapestry said so.
"Boys they're handsome and strong
But always the first to tell me I'm wrong
Boys try to tame me, I know
They tell me I'm weird and won't let it go
No, I'm fine, I'm lying on the floor again
Cracked door
I always want to let you in
Even after all I'm resilient
Cause a princess doesn't cry (no)
A princess doesn't cry (no-o)
Over monsters in the night
Don't waste our precious time
On boys with pretty eyes
A princess doesn't cry (no)
A princess doesn't cry (no-o)
Burning like a fire
You feel it all the time
But wipe your teary eyes
Cause princesses don't cry
Don't cry, don't cry oh
Don't cry
Don't cry oh
Don't cry, don't cry, don't cry, oh
Cause princesses don't cry
Girls so pretty and poised
And soft to the touch
But God made me rough
Girls, so heavy the crown
They carry it tall
But it's weighing me down
No, I'm fine, I'm lying on the floor again
Cracked door
You're only going to let them in once
And you won't come undone
Cause a princess doesn't cry (no)
A princess doesn't cry (no-o)
Over monsters in the night
Don't waste our precious time
On boys with pretty eyes
A princess doesn't cry (no)
A princess doesn't cry (no-o)
Burning like a fire
You feel it all the time
But wipe your teary eyes
Cause princesses don't cry
Don't cry, don't cry oh
Don't cry
Cause Princesses don't cry."
She knew the song didn't fit well at a coronation, as she would be queen once the last line was sung. Half of it was off-key, but Estrella didn't care, and neither did the people.
Estrella pivoted, and started to walk back into the castle. But before she went in...
"Long live Queen Estrella!" The man yelled, and then the high commission and all the people echoed him.
"Long live Queen Estrella!"