Man, this chapter did not want to be made. Well, that and I finally got my first job, so that has been taking up a lot of my life at the moment. Anyways, enjoy.

Star's life on earth had finally reach a point where she could say she had a set schedule to it. Mind you, she often tried to keep her life as random as possible in order to avoid being dull, but for some reason, she really didn't mind the more predictable pace. Waking up to cake everyone morning was differently a plus, thank the Diaz's for their caring hearts, along with an extra bowl of super sugar seeds she 'borrowed' from Marco's supply, proceeded by a bus ride to school, 7 to 8 hours of stuff she at least attempted to remember, nice people to talk to, then run back home, meet up with her brother, do something crazy or fight something crazy, whichever came first frankly, and then drag her tired body to bed to repeat.

It wasn't like this was everyday of her life, she liked to think her days were a lot more exciting than she made them out to be, but that was about the sum of an average day to her. She used to think that the more chaotic she was able to make her own life, the more enjoyable her life to be. But being in this dimension for so long, it made her realize that there was nothing wrong with life being a little more predictable, there was nothing wrong with knowing what was coming ahead.

Though it probably helped that her life wasn't by any sane person's definition of normal.

The end of the school day had finally come, and the girl couldn't have been happier. She didn't perfect her 'annoyance drowning' skills during class time for nothing, and she was ready to take on the rest of the day, starting with saying goodbye to every student as she walked out of the school. Most of them she didn't know by name, but she still went out of her way to wave goodbye. "Goodbye everybody I barely have time to know! Hopefully someday that wont be the case!"

"Heh, you don't see everyone going out of their way to do something so nice." A trio of teenagers, a year or two older than her bye the looks of it, came up from her. The first was a guy with light blonde hair with headphones around his neck. The second was a dark skinned girl with an afro like hairstyle and huge round earrings. The last was another guy who wore sunglasses even though he was inside. Obviously, that meant he was cooler than most people.

"Yeah, well if someone doesn't do it, than no one will." She shrugs off with a small smile. "Hey, haven't really seen you guys around before, are ya new or something."

"Nah, we're just juniors. The whole social hierarchy here doesn't really give us time to meet new people, for some odd reason." The dark skinned girl answered.

"Huh, now that's just dumb. If you want to talk to somebody, just talk to somebody. What kind of system limits friendly interactions? For example.." Taking the three by surprise, she wrapped her arms around them and somehow lifted all three of the up for 10 seconds. "Hello, my name is Star Butterfly. Can we be friends now?"

While most would've felt her actions were a bit intrusive, the three only offered more friendly smiles in return. "Huh, open minded, defiant, and friendly. I like it." The sunglasses guy smiled. "Look us up sometime. Maybe we can hang later."

"Huh, what a nice group of people." Star thought no more about that encounter, at least until her best friend started starring at her weirdly, as if she discovered something revolutionary. "Why's your face all stretched out like that?"

"Star, Star, you do realize who those guys were, right?" Marco gasped a huge breath of air, with his eye's widening to dinner plate size. "Those, those were the cool kids!"

"Really? They seemed pretty nice, not necessary cool really, more like chill. Although the sunglasses inside a building does raise the scale a little. Besides, I thought you said Alfonzo and Ferguson were the coolest people you know."

"Yeah, the coolest people that I know, personally! No, this is Buck Dewy, Sour Cream, and Jenny Pizza we're talking about here! There like, the coolest kids in school! Hardly anyone hangs around their circle because no one knows how to approach them! Their coolness is too threatening for the rest of us."

"So you're saying everyone in this school is too chicken to talk to three people?"

"Hey, it's not cowardice if the fear is in unison." Marco justified. "Anyways, you down for going to the beach later? Alfonzo and Ferguson got convinced of some sort of snake people conspiracy and I was hoping your brand of crazy would help get rid of their brand of crazy."

"Nope! Sorry, but I promised to meet up Quartz later own, and I got to make sure I'm there before he's arrives. I got something for him and I don't want it to be spoiled early." Marco understood, walking off with only a slight shrug. "I'll probably catch up later tonight, I also promised to teach him the concept of microwave burritos, and I don't want to blow up the microwave again."

It was the quiet moments that allowed the adopted prince to enjoy the grandma room in all of it's glory and wonder. Never mind the fact he carried their name, just the shear history of any Butterfly was enough to make him stop in awe of such a great legacy.

And as his mother sat by his side talking, Quartz hung onto every word, not letting a single sentence fall to the ground. He wrote on what appeared to be a series of index cards as Moon began to wrap up her story. "And that Quartz is how the writings of Celena can still teach us something valuable even to this day."

"So you're saying that just one of her poem's can inspire greatness? But I thought most of her writings were just the thoughts she wrote down because she was too afraid to talk to anyone."

"Well, there's that, but most people can do their greatest works when alone in silence. The thing about Celena most people wouldn't say is how level headed she really ways. She may have been one of Mewni's less active rulers, but there's no doubt that she kept her kingdom peaceful for all her reign." She finished, though she noticed her son attentively writing down what she had said. "What are you doing? You do know there isn't going to be a test later, or at all for that matter."

"That's probably one of the few things Star misses about Mewni." Quartz chuckled, knowing how much Star complained about the constant test taking she had to endure now. "Her friend Marco showed me this thing called trading cards, where pictures and information on famous people and magical creatures are shown on little pieces of paper. Apparently lot's of people collect them."

"And the reason for that is.."

"Oh, I have absolutely no idea. He showed me this thing called pocket monsters or something, but I kind of of fell asleep from all the math he spewed out. Still, I thought it was a cool idea, so I decided to make my own, but on the most amazing people I know. I figured the grandmas would be the best way to start." He explained as he finally finished the card with Celena's information. "Why do only a few of the queens get a fancy title but not the others?"

Moon gave it a good ten seconds before she thought of an answer. "Well, that answer requires a lot of context. You see, the Butterfly line is deeply rooted in Mewni's beginning, going back 35 generations of Butterfly's living in this exact spot. Our founders, due to the combined efforts of the Rose Guard and the first wand wielder, built this great kingdom from practically nothing. 26 Queens came and went with relative peace, each one writing events and history in their own personal log passed down from mother to daughter."

"But, after a, rather unfortunate incident with mishandled dragon training, a fire broke out that destroyed the entire landscape the Mewmans had set for themselves. Buildings, crops, even the royal family history was lost. All hope seemed lost, until Skywynne Butterfly made a solemn vow to her people, pledging to rebuild it to even greater heights within 5 years time."

"Yeah, I think I remember this story." Quartz chimed in. "She used a spell to slow down time so when 5 years passed, it only felt like one hour to everybody else."

"And with such a mighty feat accomplished, she was forever known as Skywynne, Queen of Hours. After that, she started a new book, not just containing our family history, but every accomplishment, every thought, every story they had to tell, even if it was just a recipe for pie, it had to be recorded. And with every new chapter came a new queen who would write in it. Each one, no matter how long they ruled or how little they did, it is necessary to remember everyone that comes and goes. You have Estrella the Drafted, Rhina the Riddled, even my mother had the title Comet the Chef for how legendary her cooking was. Some say it could start a war as well as it could end one."

"Do you think I could have my own title someday?" Quartz asked with innocent eyes. "Like, is there a certain process I have to get through, or maybe an interview.."

"No, nothing like that. Speaking from experience, titles don't come on a daily process. Sometimes, they come when you least expect it, or want it." Moon stayed silent for a moment. She was glad for the moment that her son didn't ask about being the 'undaunted' Queen Moon. "You just have to be prepared to do what you're best at, no matter the situation. I mean, the same could even be applied to the Rose Guard."

"Really? I thought that was her actual name." Quartz puzzled. Then again, maybe calling her THE Rose Guard should've turned the cogs in his head a little. "You mean even she had to earn a cool title too?"

"Well of course! No one's just born into greatness, Quartz, not even the best among us. You have to be willing go out there and grab it for yourself. That is a lesson I know both you and Star can learn."

Quartz nodded as he eagerly wrote all of that down on another index card. On another one, he wrote his own name in big bold letters:

QUARTZ THE

Exactly what he was 'the' of was unknown to him at the moment. "Someday. Someday." Not looking where he was standing, the boy bumps his head on a bright pink cylinder shaped device with a rose insignia the sides. It appeared to be some sort of cannon. "Um, what is this? I always pass by it every time we train here, but I never know what it does."

"Oh, that." Moon felt a bit uneasy once the subject changed. Her voice held disappointment, though weirdly, it was aimed at herself. "It's one of the last remaining items the Rose Guard held before she took her, absence. She called her Light Cannon. Once single blast of magic from this thing and it completely splinters anything in it's path, from barriers to entire fleets."

"Wow, magic laser!" Quartz went starry eyed as he started rubbing the weapon a bit creepily. Moon pondered for a full minute how her son was able to have friends without this sort of behavior creeping them out. "How come we never use it?"

"Believe me, I've tried." Moon breathed heavily. "We've had every member of the commission, both past and present, analyze it from top to bottom. The best anyone can figure is that it has some sort of vocal key for anyone who wishes to use it. No one's been able to guess the pass code. All we know is that it must have been something personal."

"You know, for all the stories and legends we can tell about her, nobody really knew much about the Rose Guard. Like, where did she come from, why did she become a hero, and what was her favorite color?" Quartz shrugged. "Curse my fanboy curiosity. That's going to bother me till the day I die."

Both young royals watched as the rest of the day passed on uneventfully. Marco had begun making his way towards the beach, their parents were now enjoying some 'alone time' away from them, making this the first time in a long while the two had time to spend with each other alone.

Though instead of the usual hyperactive sugar high the two would usually be on by now, both of them felt rather content sitting on the roof of the Diaz house watching as the clear blue skies of earth became a dim but colorful orange-yellow from the sunset. "You know Quartz, spending so much time on earth has taught me quite a few life lessons."

"Like never eat nachos before going off a waterfall? Or knowing exactly how much frosting it takes for a dog to eat your homework?" Quartz gladly named off. "Or never get involved in a teachers love life? Or how you've been able to stay Earth school mostly because the principal's afraid of his money chest getting taken away?

"Very essential life lessons for sure." She nodded in approval. Nice to know her influence on her brother still held strong. "But if we're going to be real right now, just sitting here with you, it just reminds me of how truly beautiful life is, how it doesn't matter how magical one place is, or how much corn gets planted, it's all about enjoy the simple things with the one's you.." By now she expected Quartz to start tearing up at her sappy speech, but she grew extra concerned for him when she didn't even hear a sniffle. "Wait, what are you doing?"

The boy had put on a pair of headphones while holding some sort of circular device that was just slightly bigger than the width of her hand. His head was swooning in every direction. His eyes were close as his head clearly skyrocketed straight pass the clouds and into orbit. He didn't even notice Star waving her hand in front of his face. "Huh, did you say something?"

"Quartz, I was trying to have moment here. You love eating emotional sap talk like its chocolate syrup, so what's suddenly more important to listen to than me, your magical, older, wiser, and cool sister."

"Okay, first we need to establish exactly when we decided to add the 'wiser' part to that..."

"Just now."

"..and 2nd, sorry about that. I didn't mean to ignore you, I just got caught up with this thing the Diaz's gave me the last time I came here." Taking off the headphones, he showed off the device. "It's a cd player. They said I could place magic circles in and I could listen two over a dozen songs on it."

"Really? What's playing?" Opening up the contraption, Star plucked up the little disc in her palm and read the title. "Mr. Universe: Cosmic Collection. Hm, Space theme." She also took a small glance at the little caption that held a quote from the musician. "If every porkchop were perfect, we wouldn't have hotdogs'. Huh, didn't know that's how it worked."

"Like you said, there's always an important life lesson to be had on Earth." Quartz gazed back up at the sky, wishing he could just jump up and stay their forever. Well, technically he could, but he was 50% he couldn't live the rest of his life without touching the ground. Maybe after a little more training. "Just wish I could be here to learn it with you."

Ah, the divide between dimensions, while somewhat of an unjustified concern considering the various ways they could both jump dimensions, was still present. There was seeing someone, and there was living with them. Star lived with the Diaz's now. She lived with her best friend Marco. And she no longer lived with Quartz. There was just a certain comfort with knowing that by the end of the day, you'd still know they were only a walk down the hall away.

"Hey, don't think about it too much bro. I didn't find you as a baby because you were feeling angsty." Grabbing something from behind, she hands her brother a small metallic cylinder covered with both of the siblings cheek emblems. "Since we don't see each other every day now, I'd figured you'd want a way to see A star a little better."

Catching on to her thinking, Quartz instinctively placed both hands on the sides, pulling them in opposite directions, extending it by about foot. It was a brand new telescope. "Star, I, I, thank you!"

"No problem, bro. Now you can look at as many stars as you want to." Quartz immediately started to use it, pointing it in her direction. "Does it work for you?"

"It works amazingly! In fact, I'm starring at the brightest Star I've ever seen." Quartz said, chuckling at his own brand of humor.

"Oh Quartz, you corny sap." Star indulged her brother's cheesiness. Anything that made him smile made her day all the more brighter. "But seriously though, start using the thing. I didn't work hard to beg Marco for the money just so you could look at me."

Rolling his eyes, Quartz put it up to his right eye as he tried to get a closer look at the setting sun. From what he had seen before, there really was no difference between earth and Mewni when it came to the astronomy, but a great sky was still a great sky, which was why Quartz found himself pleasantly surprised when he gazed at the beautiful setting. "Wow Star, I didn't know Earth sunset's were so amazing!"

"You say that about every sunset you see."

"Yeah, but that's because it's my favorite time of the day. Besides, this is the first time I've seen a dimension with a second sunset that gets bigger the closer it gets."

"Yeah, Earth can get pretty magical when you see it's.." Star paused for a minute to think about that. Now, she was still a visitor of this dimension, so it wasn't like she new how everything worked around here, despite saying otherwise to everyone around her, but she was pretty certain if Earth had a second sun, she would've seen it by now.

For a brief second, she just considered going along with it for the sake of her brother's happiness and hope for the best. But the idea of a growing second sun concerned her. If there was even the slightest chance that the 'second sun' was going to cause people, I.E him any kind of him, then she wasn't about to take that chance.

"Give me that." She snatched the telescope and gazed upon the potentially life threatening orb. One could mistake it for the sun from a distance, but Star immediately recognized something amiss. It was a light flaming red, ball that seemed to be getting closer to Earth rather than getting bigger. Upon seeing it removes some sort of metal shell from it's surface, the structure appeared all the more menacing, like it was trying to start the deadliest scaring contest in the universe. "It, looks kind of like a giant Red Eyeball."

"Red Eye?! It's going to infect us all!" Quartz screamed in panic, causing Star to shake her head just a little.

"Ah, I'm pretty sure that's called Yellow Eye Quartz, and something tells me that this things a lot more dangerous, like, at least 3 times as deadly." Star looked at the eyeball with less fear, allowing herself to breathe before she could panic. "Okay, it's not like I haven't blown stuff up before. Heck, this isn't even my first time smashing a meteor."

"But, didn't that meteor land and destroy a house before you had the chance to.."

"Really killing my confidence Quartz, I don't need any more 'encouragement'!" Star said while keeping her teeth from moving, making the prince hold his hands up in apology. "I got this, I definitely have enough spells to smash this thing ten times over!" Waving her arms, magical energy began to pour out as she prepared her first spell. "RAINBOW FIST PUNCH!" The attack of many colors shot out like a rocket, instantly setting it's course on the Red Eye...

pfftt

..only to bounce off it and land in the ocean below it. Star and Quartz stared in disbelief, their mouths so wide open you could place entire watermelons in them. "No worries, the Rainbow Fist is hardly my best work.."

"But didn't you once say how proud of that one you were, considering you're somehow able to turn any rainbow into an arc of destruction?"

"I did say I didn't need more encouragement, right!?" Star defending preparing another attack. "Rainbow BLAST!" She launched again, only for it to do nothing upon contact.

"Hey, I think you cracked it a little." Quartz did his best to be helpful, using the telescope to keep track of the damage, or lack thereof. "Wait, no, that's just a smudge on the lens. Man these things really don't stay clean forever."

"TIME AND PLACE QUARTZ! I'M TRYING TO SAVE YOUR LIFE! RAINBOW AVANLANCHE!" A Tsunami of destructive rainbow liquid swooshed right out of the heirloom, only to be immediately met with disappointment. This time, the blast was to big and way too heavy to even make it halfway towards it, covering entire blocks and houses with the colorful water. No one that was his was sure if they should've called a plumber or an artist. "OH COME ON!"

"Star, at the risk of getting my head torn off, can we please calm down?" Quartz cautiously chimed with his sister now foaming at the mouth by this point. "You know our magic is all jangled up with our feelings and such. If you don't take a moment to think, then this eyeball is going to crush us, along with dozens of innocent, oblivious bystanders!" Star's eyes only seemed to widen with rage. "Please don't hurt me." Catching herself, Star prevented herself from saying something less than savory and held her breath. "Just hold it in for a second and release." Star's face became red, then purple, then a pale blue. "Okay, you're taking this a little too far, just let it out." Star did just that, breathing out a gush of wind strong enough to send Quartz on his back. "Better?"

"Just a little. Just a little." She replied. "Okay." Getting her game face on, she put her left hand on the wand, only to extend some sort of solid pink energy from it, allowing her to hold the wand like some sort of bazooka. "TURBO NUCLEAR BUTTERFLY BLAST!" Star shouted, nearly knocking herself off the roof by doing so. "Did it work this time?"

"Let me see." Quartz gazed into the telescope once more. "Nope, now it's just covered in flaming butterflies. At least it looks nicer?" He said uneasily.

"Great, now when the people get crushed, they'll be able to admire the beauty before they're destroyed!" Star laid down. "For the one time my special brand of fun, chaotic magic is required, I blow it!"

"Hey, don't let this stop you. WE'RE still going to keep trying." Quartz pulled his sister up with a hearty smile. "After all, if every porkchop were perfect, we wouldn't have hotdogs!"

"Is that really how we're suppose to use that?"

"I have no idea, this is the first time I've ever used that metaphor in practice. BUT the point still stands. We're both going to find a way to save Echo Creek, and we're not going to give up until we do!" Quartz went into thinking mode. "Okay, so if your magic isn't destructive enough to smash it, maybe all you need it a little boost." He explains as he forms a bubble around him.

Star nodded in approval until she understood the full context of what he was getting out. "No, no, Quartz, you?" She said fearfully. "Quartz, are you sure you want to do this?"

"Star, I've blown this bubble up hundreds of times before, and I've always come out on top of it. Don't you remember the tornado?" Star smiled a little. "Besides, Mom's always the one telling us how nothing withstand the full force of two Butterflies, though in this case, it's more of a compliment than a reprehension."

"Alright, but if this doesn't work, I reserve the right to say 'I told you so' at any given time I chose to, got it." Quartz nodded. "Alright, just pretend this is another game of volleyball with you as the ball, except the other server is an inanimate ball of fire that'll have no qualm with crushing you.."

"Okay, I know what you meant by 'encouragement', no need to remind me."

"Just trying to drive the point home!" Focusing her magic, she channeled it and formed a giant red paddle ready to smack Quartz's bubble. "PADDLE PADDPLE PING PONG POWER PADDLE!"

In no time at all, Quartz was flying through the air with the grace of a jet fighter. He practically became blinded by the intensity of the Red Eye's glimmer. The surface of it looked more and more metallic the closer he got, almost like it was trying to scan for something, or someone, but he didn't have enough time to dwell on it as he approached. "Butterfly BOMB!" Twilling and spinning faster and faster, he braced for impact, making the bubble as big as he could make it.

About a minute later, Quartz awoke with water filling his lungs, threatening to drown him as he tried to scurry to the surface, actually forgetting which way was due to his increased daze and confusion.

Quartz then found himself thrashing against an outside force, pulling upwards when he was swimming in the opposite direction. Quartz attempted to yell, scream, call for his sister for help, but that was drowned out by gurgles in it's place.

"Whoa, whoa, kid, calm down. I'm the one trying to save your life!" A raspy voice said with clear annoyance. The next thing Quartz knew, his head was above the water's surface, and someone was patting his back hard, most likely to get any lingering water out of his lungs. "Don't try fighting me just because you didn't know how to swim."

"I know how to swim, I just got knocked out." Quartz responded as he lifted his head up just slightly. The Red Eye was still up there, now even closer. "Dang it, that thing's still up their."

"I know right? Throwing yourself at it can only get you so far." Quartz turned around to get a better look at the stranger. She looked about his height, maybe a smidge taller, with long flowing white hair that had a purple tint to it. In fact, the rest of her body was a light purple. On her chest, there seemed to be something slightly above her breast, but Quartz couldn't make it out due to most of it being covered by her clothing. "Wait, don't tell me you're trying to smash this thing. That's a little out of your league for a soft fleshy like you."

"Well yeah, why wouldn't I try to smash it? It's trying to smash everyone else. I just so happen to have my sister's magic with me to help with that." The prince spoke proudly.

"..Right. Well, on behalf of all the people that are about to die, I thank you for your valiant attempt. Now, let's get out of the water before that things touchdowns."

Both begun doggy paddling back to the beach, though Quartz still had a sinking feeling in his mind. "I don't get it. My ball with her wand should've annihilated that thing to pieces. Mom's the that always says our magic's are most destructive when we use them together.."

The purple strange rolled her eyes. "Look kid, I'm pretty sure in whatever imagination land you made for yourself you're like, the most powerful human alive, but out here, this is reality. Whatever you think is going to work is going to work because that thing is made out of something literally out of this world."

"But so am I! I'm not actually hum.."

"I get it, you think you can do anything you set your mind to, but unless you have some sort of laser that can shatter anything in seconds, then I don't think you're going to be much help." She swam further ahead of him, somehow shift shaping her feet into flippers. "This would be so much easier if Rose was around."

"Wait! How are you able to do.." Normally, it would be in the boy's nature to chase after the potential new friend, but the time sensitivity of the situation and something that the stranger had said made him refrain from doing so. Something about a laser just rang in his head.

"A laser that can smash something to bits, huh?" Quartz gasped in realization. "That's it! I got it! I know what to do now.." He tried jumping in the air in joy, only to find himself choking on more sea water. "Okay, probably should celebrate later when I'm actually on dry land. Seriously, how far out did I land in the water?"

Star wasted no time in reaching the beach once she launched her brother in the air. Creating her trusted cloud companion Cloudy, she shredded through the air like no tomorrow. Damn the bugs, the smog, and the rather unpleasant seagulls trying to pick at her cloud, she was going to make sure her brother was safe.

Sure, some would say tossing him towards a fireball at 70 miles per hour is a little counterintuitive to that, but she liked to think that it was her incredible ability to trust the 9 year old with her life.

(Unless the plan failed and he died a horrible death, in which case she would blame her adolescence as the source for her terrible decision making.)

Anyways, it took less than a minute to reach the beach side of town, but it was taking forever to find her brother in the mess. For some strange reason, it looked liked everyone in Eco Creek decided to come down to the beach tonight, thus turning the rather small, quiet town into a chaotic maze. She saw several students from school such as Janna, Starfan, and Brittney, but there were quite a few faces she didn't recognize. A guy going around in some sort of white vane with the word 'Mayor' on it, a man that looked like he had French fries for hair, and a guy in a yellow raincoat that she swore only spoke the word 'meh'.

"Come on Quartz, you the guy that stands out in a crowd, don't try to blend in now." She sighed as it became increasingly difficult, even with her flying above the crowds. Fortunately, he salvation came in the form a red hoody. "Marco!"

Said teen boy took one good look at his friend and ran towards her like a mouse to cheese. "Star, oh thank goodness, you got to take me out of here!" Without waiting for a response, he did a rather impressive backflip in the air, jump on top of few head to gain more height, and landed in a perfect lotus position right next to Star on Cloudy.

"Okay, I now Karate keeps you in shape and all, but really? Are you telling me you learned how to do that in a dojo?"

"Now's not the time to question my agility, now's the time to run before they catch up to us!" He panicked as Alfonzo and Ferguson along with a tubby guy with long yellow locks of hair tried to keep up.

"You can't keep denying my proof Diaz! You were once a believer to you know! You used to be so open minded!" The yellow haired one, Ronaldo, spoke up. "Don't fair for that temptresses trap!"

"Wait, what did he just call me?"

"Never mind, go, go, go!" Marco ordered Cloud, and off they flew over the great blue ocean. "Sorry, it's just he's been trying to drag me back into this dumb club we came up with as kids, and he's never learned to let it go."

"Nah, I totally understand, though I think I'll have some words with him later about that temptress line." Star groaned as the day became brighter and brighter when it should've become darker. The Eyeball was still coming down hard, and Star felt all the more uncomfortable knowing her brother was not by her side.

Although, truth be told, Marco's presence made it a bit easier to stomach. Her thoughts went back to that night of the blood moon. So many emotions were swirling in her head that day, some she didn't even expect to feel, or ever thought she would feel, more particularly towards the boy in the hoodie.

It wasn't like he brought up how he felt that night either, or talked about that night at all, but something in the back of her mind told her that night was more special than she expected it to be. Heck, she would probably go as far as saying it was one of the best, if not, best night of her life. How could 2 minutes of dancing making her think so much? And why wasn't he saying anything about it?

"Star?"

Was she just reading into it a little too much? Marco was her best friend, and also a friend she made rather recently before then. Was it insane to try to define it as something more?

"Star?"

Come on, the last time she tried turning a friendship into a relationship was with Tom, and look where that went. It was still waaaaaaay too soon to jump back into that game. Besides, there were plenty of others that caught her eye, it wouldn't be fair to exclude them so soon. Then again, she yet to have an actual conversation with Oscar.

"STAR!" Marco shook her out of her trance. Good, she was free to ponder this another day. "Your brother's down there. He's been calling us out for the last five minutes." Sure enough, the boy was frantically waving his hands, most likely preventing himself from drowning due to the armor. Star lowered cloudy to pick him up. "I wasn't going to make assumptions, but you two wouldn't happen to know why this is happening and how to stop it?"

"We don't know the why, but we are working on the stopping." Star clarified. "What I don't get is why so many people are at the beach right now, you'd think the impending doom would drive them to the hills."

"They think it's some sort of comet passing by, and everyone wants to take a glance at, and the beach is the perfect spot to do so." Marco groaned. "But ask Ronaldo, and he'd say it's proof of the government surveillance finally revealing itself."

"It doesn't matter what people think. That thing is going to smash this town into corn-bits and there's nothing my magic can do to stop it!" Star shouted worriedly.

"Your right Star, there maybe nothing we can do about it, but we still have something to take care of it." Quartz smiled proudly, only to receive odd looks from both teens. "Right, you weren't there for my epiphany. Sorry. The answer's the Rose Guard."

"The Rose Guard, really?" Star knew all to well about her brother's admiration (more like obsession) with the long gone pink heroine. If Star didn't have her own idol to fawn over, she probably would've been worried about her brother. Then again, the armor, her mother's teachings, and the way he talks in his sleep were probably something she look into soon. "This isn't just you being a fanboy right? There's an actual plan here?"

"Yes! Mom told me about this, this light cannon that the Rose Guard used to blast away anything in her way! If there's anything that can smash that metal rock up there, than it's that!"

"You know, that could actually work!" Star began a lot more hopeful again. Leave it to her brother to shine brightly. "Yes, this is going to do it! We're going to save the day!"

"And if you think we can't, we're always find a way!" Quartz shouted, once again getting funny looks from the teens. "I've been trying to write a new song, and I'm just trying to work in the lyrics so I don't forget about them."

"That's okay Quartz, after all: If every porkchop were perfect, we wouldn't have hotdogs!" She winked, leading to the both of them laughing, leaving Marco the only one out of the loop.

"Okay, are you guys just going to keep talking in inside jokes, because I need to know if it's okay to be confused here."

It didn't take long to figure out there next move. Taking out the dimensional scissors, Star, Quartz, and Marco jumped into Mewni without trouble. The halls of Butterfly Castle were quiet, which meant the trio had no trouble making their way to the training room. As the two royals made their way down the hall, Marco got caught up in admiring the grand décor. "Wow, for a princess, you definitely don't act like you live in a place so fancy."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm a disappointment to the family name, It's not like we haven't established that already.."

"Ah, that's not what I said or meant at all..."

"Come on Marco, catch up with the rest of us in the real world, where we're trying to stop a giant metal eyeball with a mystical laser from a long lost legendary pink heroine." Star rolled her eyes as Quartz lead the way proudly. He had been going here so often now that he could know his way there blindfolded. "Are sure we can just take something from someone so important?"

"Hey, you tried taking the wand just for my 5th birthday.."

"Touché.."

"And besides, Mom's been telling me all about the Rose Guard. If there's anyone that's ready to use it, it's me.."

"That's unless you haven't been officially authorized by the magical high commission to do so." A new voice interrupted, along with the scent of brimstone and mischievousness. Upon entering the room, they were greeted with the pale, fanged face of the fiery member herself, Heckapoo, standing right beside the cannon itself. "Or at least that's what I tell people?"

"Ohooho, Heckapoo, didn't, didn't see you right there in front of something we've never seen or heard of before, how are things?" Star tried to cover up as all three of them stiffen up. "It's been, what, 2, 3 years since I've seen you?"

"Three years, three months, three weeks, and three days, but whose counting?" Heckapoo sighed as she barely moved a muscle. "Yeah, you kids are not going to touch this cannon."

"But we need it to save my town!" Marco ran up to face the demon, despite Quartz's warnings not to do so. "Some big what-its from space is going to flatten echo creek, and unless we take that cannon with us, a lot of people are going to die!" Marco's scowl stayed firm, even as he felt the intense heat from Heckapoo's flame. "So could you stop wasting our time and let us use it?"

The commission woman looked like she serious considered it before slapping the back of Marco's head with a pleasant grin. "Well, I'm sorry kiddo, but as a guardian over all magical usage and users, I'm obligated to make sure everything stays where it needs to be. And something like the Rose Guard's most powerful weapon should stay far away from Earth."

"Really? What about Star's wand? That literally has the power to destroy the universe?" Quartz countered.

"As long as that wand is in the hands of a Butterfly, we see no reason to restrict locations, and IF what your mother's been reporting is true, it's being used in a control environment.."

"As much control as a hurricane.." Marco muttered quietly.

"Okay, fine, but what about all those people about to be smashed? Don't their lives matter?" Star tried to plea.

"Yes, they do matter, as do the lives of every single person that lives in every single dimension." Heckapoo stated plainly. "However, unless tampered with, mess with, touch, torn, burned, by any and all magical means, the commission has been authorized to never interfere with natural occurring events.."

"But, but the Rose Guard, she got involved all the time, she liberated kingdoms, stopped divisions, she was out there all the time helping people, like how we're trying to do right now!" Quartz argued.

"Yeah, and do you see her around now kid? Not everyone can be just be the Rose Guard around here." Heckapoo said with miff in her tone. "I'm sorry, but this is just out of my hands. You can't take the cannon out." On her left and right, two more Heckapoos appeared, cloned from the original source. "Ever."

"Guys, group huddle." Quartz called out, taking his two companions by the shoulders as they form a circle. "Okay, what in the name of the great corn are we going to do now!? That Cannon is our only chance right now!"

"She doesn't seem that tough. Would it really be that hard to give her the slip?" Marco questioned as the three Heckapoos were in an endless match of rock, paper, scissors since they only threw out scissors. "Or at least one of her?"

"Marco, this is Heckapoo, a one woman army that will literally spend the next thousand years standing there just to keep us away." Star clarified. "Mostly because she has nothing better to do right now."

"We got to find something to keep her away, but what?" Quartz pondered. "She hates open portals, but she'll probably take your scissors away for misusing them.."

"There's always dark magic." Star suggested. "But there's no time to learn that.."

"Yeah, because that's what's wrong with that idea." Marco muttered to himself again.

"What else? Being called Miss Poo, monsters, Lion, Modern Rock.."

"Wait, what was that last one?" Marco lit up.

"Modern rock. She likes the punk style, but she can't stand the music for the life of her." Quartz lit up two, although for a completely different reason. "I got it! We'll play my Mr. Universe CD and annoy her away from the cannon!"

"PERFECT!" Star shouted. "Although I got to ask, how do you know what kind of music she likes?"

"I got a life outside of you. Well, at least, now I do."

"Someday I'm not going to be around to keep the focus in check, guys." Marco facepalmed as he took the scissors from Star hand. "Just thought I'd let you know that for the future." Opening a portal back to Earth, he disappeared for a second, and came back out with the giant pink fur ball behind him, chewing on his hoodie. "This is how I know this plan will work, you're too much of a handful for anybody to handle." Lion growled indifferently in response.

"Lion!" Quartz's eyes lit up again. "Of course, probably should've thought of this first!" Cuddling with his furry companion, the prince readied his pet. "Okay Lion, I know how much you don't like being told what to do without a creamy, crummy, subpar frozen treat in my hand, but I promise you that today will be worth over three hundred Lion Lickers!" Directing Lion's attention, the furious feline actually smirked at the sight of his former caretaker. "I need you to play with Heckapoo for as long as you can run! Mess with her hair, open some portals, completely disregard any regard for authority, even more so than you do with me, got it?!"

Without skipping a beat, Lion leaped into the frying pan, wasting no time to spark the fire, quite literally. "Huh, Lion must really like Heckapoo more than we thought." Start tilted her head curiously. "Aww, they're already playing tug-of-war."

"Yeah, if tug-of-war involved prying your hand from a lion's mouth." Marco commented as the screams got louder and louder. "Got to say though, it's nice to not be on the other end of cotton candy's playtime for once. I'm still finding half eaten lizard bodies in my shoes."

"Is that all? I pretty sure he just wants to play fetch with you." Quartz cleared. "That, or he's telling you he thinks of you as his prey.."

"WHAT.."

"But we can't think of that here or now, we got a town to save!" Without another word, despite Marco's constant insistence for fear of his life, the trio walked past the now occupied 8 clones of Heckapoo as the original had fled to her home dimension in hopes of preparing for the worse yet to come.

Without the watch or concern of the fiery commission member, they were finally free to take the cannon for themselves...

screech

screech

screech

screech

..only to find it near impossible to move due to it's weight. Marco pulled from the front while Star and Quartz pushed from the back. The three were already sweating, and they weren't even halfway towards the portal.

"Star, I know I'm the one who says not to take the easy way, and I still stand by that taking the hard route is ultimately more satisfying and fulfilling." Marco fell to the floor after loosing his grip. "But since we're on the clock, the easy route looks pretty swell right now."

"AHA, I knew you'd finally see it my way!" Gratefully, Star didn't waste too much time on her bragging rights, instantly taking out her wand. "FANTASTIC EXIT BLAST!" A bright neon green beam blasted from the wand, directly hitting the weapon. But the pink Cannon stayed still, completely unmoved by the magic. By the time it was done, you couldn't even tell it was blasted by magic. "Huh, guess this thing must be magic proof or something."

"Guess that explains why Heckapoo didn't want to just hand it over." Quartz eyed the portal and then the cannon. "Okay, looks like we'll have to do this the even easier way."

Without taking the time to properly explain, all three of them fell through the air and on the sandy lands of the beach shore, face first. "You know, you could've just told us what you were planning." Marco spat the grains of sand from his mouth.

"Sorry, but times running out and we needed to move fast." Quartz picked himself up, pulling Star with him. "Wait, where's the.."

"Watch out!" Star moved her brother out of the way of the Cannon's landing. It sank a bit deeply in it's place, but it was on the beach, ready to be used. "It's only been an hour and you've already almost died twice." The winds became more and more violent, with debris and sand now flying into the air. The waves of the ocean shook more and more drastically as the eyeball came closer to the earth, illuminating the air with colors of red, pink, orange, and white.

"If we don't use that thing right now, we're all going to be dead!" Marco exclaimed as the winds took his hoodie, along with powerlines, building decorations, and a van that slowly slid into the ocean. "If we're going to use that thing, we have to use it now!"

"Got it!" Star chipperly responded, staring at her brother, who stared right back at her curiously. For a good 30 seconds, the two stayed as still as statues, not moving a muscle, allowing Star enough time to realize how dire the situation now was. "I have no idea how to use this thing."

"WHAT!?"

"Hey, don't look at me, it use to belong to the Rose Guard! Hardly anyone on Mewni knows a thing about her! It's not exactly like she told her life story to everyone, just..." Star realizing what she was about to say, grab Quartz by both arms and shook him wildly. "Quartz, Mom's been telling you everything that the Rose Guard ever told her! Is there anything she said that could help us?"

"No, she said the cannon required some sort of password!" Quartz's eyes widened before shifting to disappointment, slapping himself on the forehead. "Oh corn above all, how could I have forgotten something so important! So stupid!"

"Okay, we don't have time for this!" The eyeball was so close now that the nearby people were staring to get lifted above the ground. Marco frantically flailed every part of his body as she fought to stay grounded. "Isn't there like a spell that can just, I don't know, undo today so we can get everyone out on time."

"No, I don't have to learn a new spell! I, I don't know what to do!" Star freaked, already going through a hundred plans a second. Throw herself at it? Nah, it was to close for that now. Cover the town in pillows! No, she didn't have nearly enough for that. Run away to mewni and take Marco and Quartz with her? Yeah, yeah that sounded like the best option she had.

'Take the two people I care about the most and flee? Sounds pretty promising. Marco could get use to being on Mewni, probably make him my personal chef so that way he can have an excuse to be around me. And Quartz would be safe with his whole family. Yeah, that's what's most important here.' There was no time to save anyone else, not that she knew where everyone else was anyway. Yep, that was a good excuse for her. "Quartz, we got to.."

"Please, you got to work, you belong to the Rose Guard, you're suppose to always save the day!" Quartz pounded on the cannon as the tears built up. "I'm, I'm suppose to save the day! I'm learning everything I can about you! I'm, I'm.." He hugged it like someone was actually there. "I can't fail! I, I can't.."

"Quartz." Star kneeled to her brother's level and hugged him from behind. "It's okay, it's not your fault."

"But I forgot about the password! I failed everyone, I failed you, I failed mom.."

"So what? I fail all the time, and you know what, I'm still going to fail tomorrow, and the next day, and the next, and probably until the day I die, and maybe even a little more after that." Quartz turned around. "But I keep going, and going, and going! I'm never going to stop failing, but that also means I'm never going to stop trying, and neither are you!" She stood and held her brother close. "We're never going to stop trying, because we'll always find a way."

"Right." The tears became more joyous. "If every Porkchop were Perfect, we wouldn't have hotdogs."

Right then and there, the three kids once again paused at another glorious sight. The laser light cannon glowed brightly, even brighter than the eye, as it hummed some sort of pitch. The sided of it, once smooth as an oyster, now popped up, giving the cannon a more flower like design. Star backed away a little, a little unsure of what to make of it.

Marco though was the first to catch up to his senses. "Guys, that thing is starting up and it's pointing in the wrong direction!" Just as he said that, the cannon fell to the floor.

Knowing that now, now was their last chance to fix everything, Quartz ran to the side, and focused all of his strength into lifting it up. Despite the young boy's more than average strength, he clearly struggled to get it into focus, stringing every vein in his body to keep the cannon straight.

"Don't worry bro, we got this!" Star and Marco quickly helped him, lifting from the back end and pointing it up. With the weight now distributed three ways, the cannon was ready to fire, and fire it did.

The laser was a bright and beautiful one, with many streams of light coming out of it. It looked like a rose bud initially, even with little vines with thorns growing from underneath the bud, until it bloomed into the shape of a lady, who looked like she was commanding all the other spears of light to follow her lead. Stars were in the eyes of the younger royal, mouthing 'Rose Guard' as the laser finally made contact with the Red Eye.

For a moment the world looked like it stood still. No wind, no breathing, no movement whatsoever ever. The eye itself looked like it was frozen in place as the laser made it's way through the orb. Cracks we made as it looked as if the eye was going to implode, before exploding it's remains everywhere, spreading bits of metal everywhere. Those who stayed behind to watch the eye were now suddenly fleeing for there lives to avoid being smashed. The same could not be said about the streets and the buildings, as by the time it was down, it looked like a small war had just taken place.

"Quartz you did it!" Star threw her brother in the air as she spun around. "You saved most of Echo Creek!"

"Yeah, sorry about that!" Quartz yelled to the one onlooker who stayed in his place throughout all of it.

"What!?" He said.

"It's a little last minute for my taste but yeah, you did it." Marco congratulated as he fished his hoodie from the now rising water. "How'd you get it to work anyway?"

"Oh, I'm not really sure. All I did was say that one thing from that cover album."

"You mean that thing about pork rinds?"

"Hotdogs." Star corrected. "Huh, I guess the Rose Guard was a fan. Add that to the things you have in common with her." She patted Quartz's head as the water from the shore became higher and closer to them. "So while, we're out here, who cares for a little swim?" With the crisis now over, nobody was in the mood to say now, nor did that want to. Quartz, Star, and Marco dived face first into the water, swimming for the next few hours, hardly giving a care about tomorrow or the day after. For now, they were going to enjoy their victory, no matter what laid ahead of them.

Much later, not far from the beach...

"This couldn't have been a coincidence. It had to be it." A shrill panicked voice from a skinny pale figure said.

"But that's, that's literally impossible. We've literally searched the entire planet, twice!" The purple stranger from before countered. "Besides, the light cannon has been missing for longer then he has.

"Which means he had to be where the light cannon had to be!" The pale figured talked back. "We have our first glimpse of hope in years and you're trying to deny the blatant truth!?"

"I'm note denying anything, I'm just trying to be real before you get your hopes up!"

"Enough!" Another, much taller figure spoke. "He's alive, and he's on Earth."

"Really?" The purple stranger stayed in her skeptical state. "You're vision's been unreliable to us for how long and now we're suppose to believe it?"

"The circumstances of Steven's disappearance have been, special, to say the least. They only thing I'm certain of is that I feel something there, something I haven't felt in a long time, before it disappeared again."

"But that shouldn't happen! You should be aware of anything on earth..

"Exactly. Only on earth. The reason we haven't been able to find Steven is because he hasn't been on Earth."

In another dimension...

"Once again, I really, really have to extend my apologies to you Heckapoo. Quartz has done his best to train him, but you know from experience Lion isn't really the easiest creature to be around." The Queen spoke as she forced the pink beast out of the room. Occasionally, the lion could be scared into obedience.

"Yeah, I know." Heckapoo acted like she wasn't just mauled by a lion for the last two hours. "Speaking of which, your son took the Rose Guards most valuable weapon to earth today."

"What? Was Star with him? Uggh, I'm starting to regret my decision to leave her on earth.."

"Oh trust me, while you're daughter does share the blame, it was all Quartz's idea." Moon stood silent at that idea. "Oh, it wasn't to cause any mischief. Quite the opposite. Some meteor was about to crash on earth and they thought the cannon was the only thing that could stop it. I felt bad about not helping them, so I thought I would open up a large enough portal to get everyone out of the area, but to my surprise, I find out that he was able to use the Rose Guard's cannon perfectly fine."

"Well, I, I did tell him that a password was required. I guess he must've been able to guess it right.." Moon said with a slight sweat.

"Yeah, guess. Just like how he's able to handle the ROSE GUARD'S LION better than any professional trainer, and he'd only met the stink'n beast for less than a day." The implying tone made Moon's stomach want to hurl. "And there's the fact you've insisted on teaching him the ROSE GUARD'S lessons instead of your daughter."

"Well, Quartz has always been the bigger fan of hers than Star. She's more of a Mina Loveberry fangirl.

"I see.." Heckapoo trailed off before beginning to exit. "I'm just saying, you're son has a lot of potential, and I know that you see it." Moon held her breath. "All I'm saying for now is that he has a bright future in the commission, one that could even surpass.."

"Well, let's not get too carried away here, he is just 9 after all." Moon interrupted. "We shouldn't rush anything at that age."

"Would you say those words about your daughter?" Moon was once again silent. "That's what I thought." She left without another word, leaving Moon concerned and worry about both of her children's future.

Next time: Freeze Day