XVI. The Eclipse
Star came in storming through the door, much to the displeasure of Manfred, and ran towards her mom ignoring everyone else, followed by Pacifica not far behind.
"Mom, I need to talk to you," she said, "There is a big problem going on and Hekapoo has gone missing!"
"Star," her mom interjected, but she didn't listen.
"There are random portals opening everywhere and sucking people in!" She continued.
"Star!" her mom interrupted again, but Star continued anyway.
"I saw that Marco was near Mewni, so he could arrive here any minute and Janna could be anywhere!"
"STAR!" Moon yelled to her daughter.
"WHAT?!" She replied, "MOM! THIS IS IMPORTANT!"
"Star. Marco and Janna are here already, as well as everyone but Hekapoo! Turn around!"
Star turned around to see Marco and Janna there, who she had totally ignored while storming into the room. She rushed to hug them.
On the meantime, Pacifica had already reunited with Dipper and Mabel.
Star told her part of the story to her mom, excluding the part in which Pacifica declared her love for Dipper, or that she played fool on her feelings towards Marco.
"… So I got here opening a portal with my Mewberty form."
"OK," said Moon, "but how did you know that Marco was here?"
"Well, I… Uhh… used one of Eclipsa's spells" she giggled nervously.
"Star," she replied annoyed. "I told you not to talk to her!"
"She didn't teach it to me personally," she replied. "I read it on the Spell Book when Toffee stole it…" She lied "Besides, Eclipsa is not evil!" She added.
"How could you have read it if Toffee had the Book?" Moon asked.
Star was getting nervous, as she didn't want to reveal to Marco that she spied on him because of jealousy.
"Not to meddle in," A female voice interrupted, "But I think we have more pressing issues than how Star learned a spell. After all, all knowledge is good knowledge."
Everyone turned towards a wall that was seemingly empty wall to see a woman in pink pajamas standing there happily.
"ECLIPSA!" exclaimed Moon. "How did you get out?"
"There are lots of secret passageways in this castle, sweetheart." Eclipsa cheerfully replied. "You should try to explore the castle more often. I overheard that someone was using my spells so I wanted to see it for myself."
Sorry to interrupt," said Dipper. "But don't we have to prevent the dimensions from ripping apart? I think that what she did can wait."
"Ugh, you're right!" Moon gave in. "Star, I know what I just said, but I need you to show me where Hekapoo is." Eclipsa was smiling. "So, please, use the spell that you used to see that Marco was here."
Star sighed and grabbed her wand.
Just as she was preparing to cast the All-Seeing Eye one more time, a new portal opened in the middle of the room, though this time it didn't suck anyone in, as Ford and Hekapoo had a rough landing from being ejected from the portal.
"Where are we?" Asked Hekapoo.
"You're back in Mewni," Moon replied.
"Oh, I'm glad to not be in a more dangerous place!" She said relieved. "But this is no time for that. Moon, this looks worse than I could've ever thought to the point of having to make a truce with Stanford-" But Moon interrupted.
"I already know that part, Hekapoo." The queen said calmly. "I was looking for you. I need you to tell me everything you've learned about this issue now!"
"Well, from what I could find-" she cut herself off. "Eclipsa?!"
"Hello, dear!" Eclipsa replied.
Moon cleared her throat, as a way to remind her that Eclipsa being there was not a pressing matter.
"Ok, fine," Hekapoo replied. "As I was travelling the dimensions, the connections between them seem to have gone out of whack. These little critters have been making a habit of jumping more often than usual. I believe I have most of them counted for but it's going to take some time to dispose of them."
"How long would it take?" Asked Moon.
"I don't think we have enough" She replied anguished. "This may well be the end of all dimensions!"
Everybody in the room got very nervous about the response.
"We could tackle the queen dimension hopper head on, but I haven't been able to locate it and I don't think I could do it in time with how unstable the portals have been!"
"Then our sole focus will be to get there as fast as possible." Said Moon, trying to appear as collected as she had always been. "How long do you think we have left?"
"I'm not entirely sure…" She said.
"According to my calculations," intervened Ford, "We may count with 24 hours before the fabric of the dimensions rips apart beyond repair."
"Oh, Stanford Pines, the undesirable." Moon replied coldly as Manfred had returned to the room and handed her two different pieces of paper, before retreating again.
"Queen Moon, the one who refuses to listen," he retorted back.
"You should be completely aware that you are not welcomed in this dimension, especially considering that all of this is your fault." She said as he rolled his eyes. "In my hands I hold an official Royal Apology to Stanley Pines for an almost accidental punishment he didn't deserve." She rolled it out, signed it and gave it to Stan.
"HA!" He gladly grabbed the paper. This was the first time that someone in power did something wrong to him and apologized for it. It felt like a personal victory for him.
"With this," Moon continued mildly annoyed. "You are magically bound that you are not going to seek retaliation for being wrongly accused of the crimes committed by Stanford Pines, as well as a small amount of gold in compensation." Though Stan didn't seem to pay too much attention, except for the last part.
"Now I hold another paper," she turned to Ford. "I shall read 'with this magical document, I, Queen Moon Butterfly of Mewni, the Undaunted; issue a Royal Pardon for Stanford Filbrick Pines for the crime of attempted destruction of 618 different dimensions, including Mewni.'"
"So," He replied in disbelief, "you're actually going to pardon me?"
"Yes," she replied, "though I will sign this if, and only if, you help us to stop the destruction of all dimensions. You will still be unwelcomed here, but you will not be prosecuted you if you ever come back to Mewni for whatever reason."
"If this means that we will stop the end of reality as we know it and not getting sent to the void between dimensions after it, I accept those terms." He replied.
"Very well," said Moon, "Are you entirely sure it is only 24 hours we have to put an end to this?"
"At most," he replied. "We could have less time to figure this out, depending on whether the queen dimension hopper is hungry."
"What it is that you need the most to stop this?" The Queen asked, with a tone of urgency.
"Time." He replied dryly. "Time which none of us have."
"I have an idea," intervened Star. "I could stop time so you could take as long as you need to do whatever it is you're going to do!"
She grabbed her wand ready to cast the spell to stop time, but she was quickly stopped by Ford before she could do anything.
"Thanks, but these things are unaffected by the flow of time as we know it." He responded.
"So," said Mabel, "You need time, and I got lost in a place where time flows differently, why don't you go there to have more time to think?"
"That'd be a good idea," Hekapoo replied, "but every time I open a portal the dimensions get even weaker leaving us with less time, and the portals themselves have been collapsing and sending whatever falls into them into a random dimension. It's too risky. Six Fingers and I got lucky that we arrived here."
"Actually," Ford intervened, "It was no luck we ended up here. The fact that all of them were here already brought us here, as this is the point where new stuff will most likely go to if it happens to go through a rift." He started looking at his gadgets one more time. "I'd suggest we move to somewhere more roomie as the next thing coming appears to be the size of a house in about five minutes!"
"You've heard him!" Yelled Moon, "We have all to get somewhere else!"
She commanded everyone out of the room into a clear in the woods next close to the castle. Ford kept looking at his watch pressing buttons, while still being heavily observed by Hekapoo and River. Dipper, Mabel, Stan and Pacifica stayed close behind Ford; Marco and Star kept close to the Star's parents and Janna was wondering around, as well as Eclipsa.
"How exactly it is that you got here, darling?" Eclipsa asked to Star, "I'd like to know how it is that you got in here?"
"Does she really have to come with us?" Asked exasperated Hekapoo before Star could answer.
"No, she doesn't," replied Moon. "However, we have more pressing matters than whether Eclipsa is in her tower or anywhere."
"So, how was it?" She kindly asked Star one more time.
"Well, I was in hurry to come back to mom, so I opened a portal with…" She gasped as she had a realization. "I used my MEWBERTY FORM!" She exclaimed. "Mom! I know how to get to the Neverzone! I can open a portal there!"
"Didn't you hear Hekapoo-" The Queen was cut off by her daughter.
"Yes, I did, unstable portals, whatever," She replied back, "I can make stable portals!" She exclaimed happily. "The portal that I made to bring Pacifica and myself here was completely stable! I forgot because-" She interrupted herself with the sudden sound something tearing apart.
"IT'S COMING!" He exclaimed loudly, "EVERYBODY SPREAD OUT AND TAKE COVER!"
Everyone immediately followed that order without hesitation.
Everything started to darken as a huge rip appeared on the sky, and a huge thing slowly started to fall from the dimensional rift. It seemed to be at first a very large rock, but nobody was going to stay put to find out.
It took a while, but finally a big thunderous thud was heard as what was falling from, whatever it may have been, hit the ground, alongside a small tremor that shook the nearby trees.
Nobody saw what it was that fell was, but they sure heard a middle aged woman yelling.
"HOOTY! WHAT DID YOU DO NOW!?"
WFLWJ LZW GOD DSVQ.