Star vs The Forces of Evil

Earthni Sweet Symphony

Disclaimer: Star vs The Forces of Evil was created by Daron Nefcy and is owned by Disney. I own no part of Star vs.

Episode 10: Me, My Shadow, and I (Part 1)

Episode Summary: Marco must shadow Star for a day to write a report on the state of Earthni. Meanwhile, the mayor's increased paranoia over Earthni's existence reveals a startling new development. Also, Buff Frog's mayoral campaign intensifies.

Original Release Date: April 21, 2022

"Just gotta put the tape in, and...done."

Marco was busy putting together his cam recorder, ensuring he had an ample strap to hold it by while he could hold it up, and that the battery life was sufficient enough to cover what he needed. Today was shaping up to be quite an interesting day. Marco Diaz, full-time college student, was preparing to shadow his best friend, girlfriend, & future wife Star Butterfly as she toured around Echo Creek, Earthni to show off the progress being made on the continued mending of relations between monsters, mewmans, and Earth humans. As it turned out, Marco's school had taken quite the interest in his home town. One of his final assignments for the semester was to write a report about a subject very close & personal to him; having been aware of his past both with Star and with the Mewni conflicts, his professor saw it fit to assign him to talk about the ongoing Earthni integration. Marco, in turn, decided that the best way for him to write the most accurate, in-depth report that he could was for him to shadow the person in his life that was closer to the chaos than anyone else...an idea that said person wasn't entirely thrilled about.

"...Star?" Marco whispered as he knocked on Star's bedroom door. It creaked slightly open, essentially giving him the OK to enter.

"I'm decent." She said back. Not that she would've cared of him coming in if she weren't. With her back turned to him, he witnessed her take part in what has become a critical part of her morning routine: taking her medication for her anxiety & depression. Laced together in a lovely outfit consisting of her blue suspender dress and her pink leather jacket, plus her hair done up in an adorable ponytail that made Marco's heart skip a beat, Star gulped down the pills with a sip of water, then turned to face her love with an uneven expression crossing her face. "Hi honey."

"You ready to go?"

"Yeah, pretty much. Are you sure about this?"

"Well, if my school really wants an accurate report on the state of Earthni, who better to get the inside scoop from than one of the people responsible for making it?"

"I don't get why they care so much, but whatever." Just from the tone of her voice, Marco could easily detect that the vibes were off.

"What's wrong?" He abandoned his demeanor and embraced her in a comforting hug.

"You know what's wrong: what if our outing turns out to be a disaster? You're bound to tell the truth, and if things out there aren't as smooth as we want them to be, you're gonna have to mention that. And what if it ends up undoing all of the forward progress we've made? We both know how tenuous progress can be."

"Star...it's just a college assignment." He had to remind her. "It's not the end of the world."

"Seems like any innocuous little thing could bet he end of the world with out history."

He let out a soft chuckle. "Somehow I don't think that's going to be happening today. Come on." He reached out & grabbed her hand gently, tugging her carefully along while he led her out of her room. On the way towards the stairwell, they passed by Eclipsa's room to find Eclipsa & Globgor going over paperwork while baby Miles was dancing along the floor with baby Meteora in his arms. His giggles could be heard with every step he took. Out of the corner of Star's eye, she noticed the tiny trophy Miles had wanted to give him for "her birthday," and his Star doll sitting on top of it. There was also a sticker of Star's goofy smile smack dab in the middle of the cup. Internally, she coped with a mixture of pride and a dash of shame.

"What an angel." Star swooned over the cuteness of her baby brother. The sound of her voice piqued his interest and caused him to snap his head in her direction. His eyes lit up & his giggles turned to raucous laughter upon noticing his favorite person standing there. His laughter, in turn, distracted Globgor & Eclipsa from their work & prompted them to greet her.

"Hello Star, hello Marco!" Eclipsa joyously yelled as Miles quietly trotted his way to his sister, all while still holding Meteora in his arms.

"We're off to do Marco's school report thingy. You sure you don't need us here today?"

"Do we need to ask Moon that question? You know what she'll say."

Star let out a rather defeated sigh. "And you know how much I hate her telling me to go enjoy myself. Even though I really don't think I'm going to be enjoying myself today."

"Marco, dear, a little bit of advice..." Eclipsa turned to the boy, who took his eyes off Star temporarily to face her. "No matter what information you collect today, do not stray away from the truth. Call what you see as it is...even if it's painful to jot down."

"I'd be happy if I could tell them everything was going great and there aren't any problems, but I doubt that's going to be the case..."

"Meh, it is what it is, Marco. There's only so much we can do." Her eyesight took her towards the ground, where she noticed her adorable brother standing below her, still holding baby Meteora. "Miles, would you like to stay home and keep Meteora company? I think her mommy and daddy are going to be a little busy today." He rapidly nodded his head & laughed. After the debacle at his party - where he unceremoniously thought it was Star's birthday - the family had decided the best course of actions was to let Miles have some time with other members of the family, away from Star, so he wouldn't feel as clingy around her. They loved how much he adored her, but they recognized such clingy behavior wasn't healthy long term. "You love playing with her, don't you?"

"Mimi is silly!" Mimi was Miles's nickname for Meteora. "And she's pretty." He gave a quick peck on her cheek, which resulted in an ear-splitting laugh from Meteora.

"You're such a good boy." A kiss on the boy's forehead before Star & Marco took off for their project for the day.

The first stop the two of them made on their journey today was the skate park, the newly opened one at that. Marco's camera was up and rolling. "Why are we heading to the skate park?" Marco's question spoke for all. But there was a method to Star's madness. This time, at least.

"Well, the primary objective now that Earth and Mewni are one is to have the different species of creatures live together in harmony. Or at least in some sort of peace. One of our objectives is to ingrain the minds of our mewmans and monsters with Earth culture, and also to educate the Earthlings about our kingdoms and traditions...even the ones that didn't work. But it's important to start with baby steps, so..." They panned the shot to the open skate park, showcasing that several of Star's people & monsters were getting a crash course in skateboarding courtesy of Jackie & Chloe. "We're doing smaller stuff, like teaching them how Earthlings skate." From a faraway glance, it appeared as though the Mewni folks were having little trouble holding their on the wooden boards humans used for physical activity. "It's actually pretty fun."

"Especially when you have a good teacher, right?" Marco jibbed, hinting at Jackie's tutelage.

"Well, yeah, having a good instructor can be the difference between nailing a recreational activity and totally flopping it. What's your point?" Marco could tell that Star's face was starting to go red just at the mere mention of Jackie.

"Nothing; just that you're bound to focus more & get better results on what you're trying to accomplish when you have a skilled, hands-on instructor."

Marco was absolutely going to relish in teasing her. Why did he have to say "hands on?" "They don't have to be hands on, Marco. They can be perfectly capable tutoring from the background. Just look!" She pointed him in the direction of the skate park again, noting that Jackie & Chloe weren't physically near the group of students they were teaching. "See? No hands."

"True, you do have a point."

"Of course I do. And it just so happens that these fine people have two of the most skilled skateboarders in Echo Creek to teach them the ropes." In the distance, Marco caught a glimpse of Jackie & Chloe discovering their presence & waving in their direction, eventually breaking from the group & making their way to the two lovebirds. "You got the best young skater in all of France and the best & hottest girl from Echo Creek passing down their amazing knowledge of a beloved American pastime. How much better could it get?"

"Aww, you're such a flatter, Star." Teased Jackie, prompting an embarrassed Star to turn away from the girls & hide her red face. "You ought to join us one day. The more talent they watch, the better they'll learn."

"I'll remember my skates the next time we come."

"Whatcha up to anyways?"

"Marco's doing a college paper on the state of Earthni, so he's shadowing me for the day for research."

"Ah, yes, for "research." Is that what you guys are calling it now?" Jackie was not going to miss an opportunity to have a dig at the expense of her ex-boyfriend and her first girl crush.

"Ha ha, very funny."

"I've been told that."

"We're hosting an impromptu skating contest with our students today." Chloe chimed in, looking squarely at the camera. "You can see how far they're progressed since our skate minicamp started."

"We might even debut some new tricks Chloe & I have been working on. You and Marco could have the best seats in the house." Jackie's declaration came with a wink, showcasing once again that she wasn't afraid to tease the two.

"You enjoy this way too much."

"...Yeah, I probably do." And she topped it all off with a kiss on Star's cheek. "We'll see you in there." Just as quickly as they came by, they retreated back to the skate park, temporarily leaving a silently stunned Star & Marco standing there. By this point Star's face had become as red as a tomato. Jackie knew exactly what she was doing and she was enjoying herself immensely. Internally, Star & Marco were as well.

"...Marco?"

"Yeah?"

"Promise me you'll never delete this footage."

"...Uh...sure." Marco was clearly taken aback momentarily by the request, though eventually it all turned into a nice laugh at their own expense. They followed up the laugh by following the two skaters into the skate park to have themselves a joyful time.

Such time passed quickly and mostly without incident. The worst that was had was a scoring dispute during the final round. Star long yearned for the times where that was the height of the outrage she witnessed. After the skate park, the two dorks opted to head towards the Monster Temple. Ever since the merging & the consolidation of power between the Butterfly family and City Hall, the temple had been used as a refuge for monsters - and recently mewmans - who were in desperate need of housing but couldn't acquire adequate housing for whatever reason. Since the arrangement began, Buff Frog had been the one in charge of handling matters at the temple & reporting back to the Butterfly family. It had also provided a convenient excuse for him to relocate himself & his many children out of their forest home and into something more stable.

However, since his decision to pursue a mayoral campaign for Echo Creek, he had turned over many of his responsibilities to other parties that remained at the Temple. For their part, operations had continued running quite admirably, as if Buff Frog was still the one in charge.

"And where are we going now, Miss Butterfly?" Marco asked, the camera still rolling.

"This is the Monster Temple. We've been using this place to house those that have crossed over from Mewni - you know, the mewmans and the monsters - who can't find a place to call their own. They get nice meals here, warm beds, companionship...it's not much, but it's better than nothing."

"By the way, who's been taking charge of operations since Buff Frog's busy with his campaign?"

Speak of the devil, out from within the Temple popped Tip & Finnly, the two monsters that Manfred had befriended before Mewni's abhorrent racial prejudices towards monsters forced him to give them up. They were the ones now in charge of keeping operations running smoothly. "Hey guys!" Star exclaimed.

"Hi Star!"

"We just wanted to see how things are going here. You know...any problems we should know about?"

"Oh thank goodness you're asking. We could use some help."

"What's the problem?" Marco inquired.

"You guys are good with legal jargon, right?"

Marco and Star took a brief pause upon hearing that question. "What is that supposed to mean?" They took note that Finnly was holding a piece of paper in his claws. He handed it off to Star & Marco, who took the time to scan its contents. The paper was an eviction notice. A demand that all of the monsters & creatures residing within the temple vacate the property within a week. Or at least...in theory, it was. "...Huh, I see."

"How are we going to find everyone a safe place in a week?"

"Well, what was the result of the Solaria hearing?"

"...The what?"

Just the mere confusion over the mixture of those words told Star and Marco all they needed to know. "Okay yeah, don't worry about this letter. It's bull donkey. See, when my family's shadow council to the mayor was formed, we put in all sorts of mechanics in place to ensure that we could help as many mewmans & monsters as we could. One of those provisions was utilizing the Monster Temple as a temporary home. Once it's determined sufficient housing has been located and allocated, a meeting is supposed to be held with the mayor's committee and the shadow council debate on whether we can and should cease using the temple as a temporary home and start reallocating the funds sent here for living to other areas. We've dubbed this the "Solaria hearing," you know, in "honor" of Queen Solaria. The point is to make sure you guys aren't being unfairly kicked out of a place you need to call home once more. But I guess the mayor, in his infinite stupidity or corruption, has decided that that is merely a suggestion."

"Does this mean we're not going to lose our home?"

Marco gritted his teeth in a sign of nerves frying. "Well, we're not sure of that. The mayor's kind of...let's say on a power trip right now."

"For whatever demented reason, he seems to think the whole Cleaving thing was a hoax."

"How would you even fake something like this?" Tip had to loudly asked.

"I dunno. But he seems convinced that it's all fake. Guy seems kinda in his own head these days."

"Which makes him volatile. There's no telling what he could do, especially with Buff Frog's campaign starting to take off."

"What this does mean is that you guys would have a good argument to take to a lawyer if the need comes. It doesn't look like the Mayor jumped through any of the hoops necessary to justify this letter."

"But what if he's, like, one of those guys that doesn't care what the rules are and just ignores them to hurt us and nobody does anything about it because we've accepted that the rich and powerful can do whatever they want?"

Marco ended up playfully rolling his eyes. "Guys, come on, that's, like, apocalyptic stuff you're talking about. That doesn't actually happen to us."

"Really? Because that's not what you told me about the last election." And those eye rolls would blow up in his face. He could not argue with Star there.

"...Point taken."

"But look, don't worry, guys, we're not going to let anything bad happen to you or anyone else living in the Temple. This is a scare tactic, plain and simple. We'll pass the message along to my folks and we'll make sure you guys are protected."

"I guess we should tell Buff Frog also?" Marco inquired. "He's probably going to want to know what's been going on here. He's been pretty occupied lately."

"Well if he wins then it's all worth it." Finnly rationalized. "We can hang tough in the meantime."

"Oh we don't doubt that."

"We'll keep in touch, okay? We're not going to let anything happen to you guys." On that uplifting note, Star & Marco took their leave. It was on towards the next part of Echo Creek. More research was to be done.

In this new world of Earthni, the subject of teaching the youngins - and even some of the oldens - the ways of the past and how they caused so many centuries of tension & resentment was considered a tricky path to walk. There were various achievements that were made during the age of magic that the Butterflies and Star wanted to be proud of. But the increasing stigma that was the racial discrimination & bias against monsters, as well as the conspiracy concocted by the Magic High Commission that had been unveiled, made it obvious that there was no way that they could glorify what they considered their achievements without addressing the various warts the monarch reign had inflicted.

As a result, it was decided that the best way was to educate those that either didn't fully understand everything that had happened with the Cleaving or were still apprehensive about embracing the new world order. Education and instilling knowledge was believed to be the key to squashing out all of the hate. The Butterfly clan alternated days and teachers for this journey, and today it just so happened to be Moon and River's turn to lead the discussion. "And look over here!" Moon gleefully shouted to the group while Star & Marco approached them. "It's our very own little princess herself."

"Oh, I almost forgot about the doting." Star playfully uttered under her breath. Nonetheless, she opened her arms up for a hug from her mother. "I forgot today was lesson day."

"It's vital for us all to understand our history, lest we be doomed to repeat it."

"I taught them that." Marco bragged almost smugly, eliciting a playful eye roll from his girlfriend.

"The last thing we want is for the next generation to carry on the toxic legacy that we and all of our ancestors bestowed upon this world." River added. "We want a better, cleaner, more welcoming world."

"Case in point..." Star began monologuing to Marco's rolling camera. "Some of these fine people were originally a part of the Solarian army that was organized by former Solarian soldier Mina. You know, that whole last ditch effort attack to eradicate the monster population, regardless of the consequences to the people they were supposed to protect?"

This little bit of information from Star seemed to completely confound Marco. "Wait...you mean to tell me that none of these people are suffering any sort of consequences for their actions? Even though it was those very actions that pushed you into thinking you had to destroy the magic and sent you spiraling into a severe depression & stress episode? One that you're just now starting to pull out of?"

"Nah, we didn't say that. Most of these people have what your world calls "community service" on their plates. The mayor agreed to retroactively hold them accountable for the damage they and their "invasion" caused. But we didn't exactly want to throw the book at them when we're trying to turn the page."

"Of course not. You throw something harder. Like a rock or something." Anything that involved the invasion or the extreme stress-related complications Star has been suffering from was a sore spot for Marco. That, unfortunately, included the Solarian invasion.

"Marco. What will throwing rocks at them actually do? Don't we want people to learn from their mistakes & choices?"

"Of course. But that shouldn't mean we just give everyone a free pass for nearly toppling a system that was trying desperately to atone for the errors and failures of its ancestors."

"And like we said, they're not. Most of them are in community service probation, and all of them have to attend these discussions with my folks. Isn't ignorance the number one cause of history repeating itself or something? We don't want to endlessly punish everyone, especially those that have taken these discussions to heart and realized the error of their ways. And by the way, wasn't it you who talked me into believing not all monsters were evil?"

T'was true. Marco was caught in his own web of hypocrisy. "That was before everything hit the fans and nearly took you out of the game for good. It was different."

"No, it's not different. Either you believe people are capable of changing for the better or you don't. Whether they choose to try to be better is entirely up to them. But you can't hold it eternally against them because you're worried about me."

It wasn't like she was wrong. But of course, Marco's stubborn nature combined with his eternal devotion to Star made it difficult for him to compartmentalize those facts. "Well, maybe someone should tell the mayor."

"What is with him?" One of the attendees finally spoke up. It was a fellow mewman, one who had been a part of Mina's solarian insurrection.

"What do you mean? Has he...said or done anything to you recently?" Star had to inquire.

"Every time we've seen him around, he either refuses to make eye contact with us, or he makes it a point to scoff at us. Like our mere existence is inconveniencing him or something."

"Sometimes he'll throw the Mina stuff right at our faces." Another one added.

"What do you mean by that? Was he upset that the insurrection efforts failed?"

"...Actually, no, it was...the opposite. He, like, condemned us all for what happened. He knew all the gruesome details and he wouldn't stop laying into us for it. Like, yeah, we know what we did and we know how royally we screwed up. We don't need some portly short poser lecturing us about it."

The confusion surrounding the entire situation was becoming far more palpable. "Okay, now I'm lost. So the guy thinks the cleaving was a hoax, he wants to get rid of the monsters...but he lays into the people that almost succeeded in that endeavor? What...What are we missing here?" Star spoke for essentially everyone.

"Maybe he doesn't believe in the genocide thing. Maybe he just wants the monsters to, like, go away to a new town or something." Marco proposed. "The solarian army was treacherous because they committed to killing. The mayor just seems to want them gone. Like they're an inconvenience."

"Sometimes it feels like we're all just an inconvenience for that man." Moon added.

"I don't fear that man..." River contributed. "But I'm not particularly fond of him either."

"Buff Frog succeeding in his efforts to usurp him as the next powerful figure in these areas would do wonders for everyone."

"Your faith in me is much appreciated, former queen." Came who else but the lovely booming voice of Buff Frog himself, having walked into the scene with his children and overheard their conversation. In recent weeks, due to a combination of support from the kids and his own growing confidence in himself and his campaign, Buff Frog had seen a surge in popularity with the locals. Earth humans, monsters, and the mewmans had gradually begun to embrace his intentions and his campaign. There was a legitimate sense that actual change could come for all if Buff Frog were to usurp the current mayor. While he wasn't yet in a winning position in the polling, his momentum was in the right direction.

"Speaking of the man of the hour..." To Star, Buff Frog had become a confidant, a reliable shoulder he could lean on. Their once-powerful rivalry, fueled by Ludo's obsession with acquiring the magic wand & exacting revenge on mewmans for their treatment of monsters as well as his own family for exiling him, had turned into a blossoming friendship, and one of Star's most important ones. "You look like you're in a good mood."

"Spirits never higher." He responded with a fierceness not seen in some time.

"We just got back from another rally. Biggest turnout yet!" Katrina exclaimed. "I think we're really starting to find our footing here. It's probably helping that the mayor isn't exactly endearing himself to the people right now."

"Is true? He believes interdimensional accident is hoax?" Buff Frog couldn't help but jump to the obvious question straight away.

"We assume that's the case." Moon hesitated with her answer; the truth was it had been difficult for all of them to gauge the mayor's response to the Cleaving. The best estimation anyone could make was: the mayor was thrown for a loop when The Cleaving occurred. Once the Magic High Commission & Mina had been permanently defeated - and Star had been whisked away by Marco on a well-deserved vacation - the Butterfly family proceeded to try and educate the mayor and his right-hand people on what exactly had transpired, who they were, what was going on, and what they thought could help benefit everyone in the long-term. The mayor was aware of Star's contributions to the Mewni political regime, including her late career contributions that - unbeknownst to anyone at the time - gradually ate away at her sanity. He logically assumed she would step in again and continue said contributions, even after her explosive meltdown that began a downward spiral. The safe assumption was that the mayor had felt a little outraged over the family's refusal to make Star available for political obligations despite Star's possibly misguided desire to jump right back into the fray when her health wasn't optimal. They were working hard to make heads and tails of the new world, why couldn't she? Which completely ignored the fact that she was...in her own way.

"I don't know how someone could even fake something of this magnitude, but I'm not a politician..." Marco remarked.

"I think he's just being a spoiled baby." Star admitted. "He thought I would've been a heavy player the same way I was before. And I wanted to be. But...circumstances wouldn't let me..." And there were no regrets had by anyone for looking out for her. "And now he wants to take it out on us somehow. I'm still not entirely sure what his ultimate goals are. At least Manfred had a plan."

A lightbulb went off in Buff Frog's head. "Oh, thanks for reminder, Butterfly." He turned to the rest of the clan. "I spoke to Manfred this morning."

Which resulted in a collective shock-and-awe response from everyone. "Manfred? Are you suggesting you traversed all the way to his prison cell to speak with him?"

"Why would you do that?" Marco just had to know. "Why would you waste your time with that guy?"

"Because apparently mayor guy think he is valuable time waster."

"...the mayor?"

"His words, not mine..."

[Flashback]

Manfred and Buff Frog were sitting nervously in the prison visiting lot. It was here during their meeting that Manfred had confided in him that the mayor had previously visited him personally. What was the subject of that conversation? By Manfred's own admission, the mayor had decided he had wanted to confront Manfred over his ill-fated attempt to use a magic wand that was still in existence for some reason and reshape the world, either by returning Earthni back to the shapes that Earth & Mewni were in before the Cleaving, or by outright exterminating the monster race.

"What did he want from you?" Buff Frog couldn't help but ask.

"He just started asking me questions about how I got that wand I was using to terrorize everyone." Manfred responded. "He wanted to know how I got it to work, a-and he kept asking me why I didn't just "wave everything back to the way it was," whatever he meant by that. I kept telling him I-I didn't have a plan; all I cared about was revenge a-and avenging the solarian army. I obviously wasn't thinking straight! But he kept pushing me to talk."

"Why he enamored with what came before? What is left to gain from digging up past?"

"I don't know. And quite frankly, I don't wish to find out."

"What do you mean?"

Manfred quickly scanned the surrounding area, ensuring that no guards or inmates were eavesdropping on their conversation. He leaned in to Buff Frog and whispered, "He wants to find a way to undo the Cleaving. Entirely."

"...Undo?" Even if it were possible for the Cleaving to be reversed and for Earth & Mewni to return to their prior states of being, would anyone even want to try to make that happen? "Why? How? What is plan?"

"I don't think he has one. I think he's flailing. This entire ordeal has thrown everyone for a loop. It made me question everything & I bloody snapped. I think...he's looking for answers."

"But we have very few to offer. We are foreign to outcome just as he is. Did he make threats against you?"

"Of course, he said if I didn't help him he would make sure I "never saw my two animal friends again."

"Animal friends? Oh yes, bear monster and spider person."

"Joke is on them, however. They've been saying that over and over to me since I got here, yet they haven't missed a scheduled visit yet. It's all talk."

"We assume. Do not let guard down. I believe there is more to story than we understand at present moment. Too many moving parts. Too many questions. His true intentions are yet to be revealed. Remain vigilant."

"Why are you speaking as if we're still at a war?"

"For all we know, we are in a new one, with a different perpetrator."

It was impossible to decipher whether Manfred was being hyperbolic or deadly seriously. Prison does have a tendency to change a person. Still, it was an assumption Buff Frog could not afford to get wrong. "I don't see cause for alarm...yet. However, if you are convinced there could be deep trouble ahead of us, then perhaps you can lend services."

"How? What're you gonna do? Break me out of here?"

An admittedly amusing question that resulted in a laugh from Buff Frog before he regained his serious composure. "No, of course not. You are still crook. But you can be useful if certain conditions play out, such as if mayor guy shows cranky face around your parts again. You can be mole. Relay information through friends."

It came off as quite the intriguing offer to Manfred, even given his currently predicament. "I see...and what exactly would be in it for me?"

"If you play your part, and if we succeed in sousing out whatever scheme his has in tow - and I win election thing - I will offer full party."

"...Party?"

Of course Buff Frog still wasn't completely up to snuff on legal terms. Fortunately, he had on him at all times a packet of index cards with fast notes to review. This came in handy at this particular moment. "PARDON! Full pardon. Sins would be forgiven."

"...But you just said-"

"I said I would not assist in illegal escape. Did not say I would not stick out for you, if you can help."

And indeed, despite his past transgressions, despite his own self-loathing over his own behavior & misdeeds, Manfred saw this as an opportunity to redeem himself...somehow. Sure, being a mole wasn't exactly a glorious role to have, but it could prove to be incredibly critical for both the outside parties and for Manfred himself. After a silent moment of thought to himself, he stuck his hand out to shake Buff Frog's, signaling his acceptance of the arrangement.

[End Flashback]

Buff Frog had relayed this story to the group before deciding to join Star & Marco as they continued their trek around town, leaving Moon & River with the remainder of the class. "You really offered him a full mulligan on his sentence?" Marco prodded Buff Frog. "You sure that's a smart idea?"

"Deal hinges on information provided through channel. If no information to provide, no deal necessary to honor."

"What kind of information are you looking to get from him anyway?" Star chimed in.

"Mayor guy think he is clever divulging to inmate & making threats to him. Believes he is non-entity. Could be wild card."

"...Am I crazy if I say I don't trust him?" Marco was adamant in his skepticism. "Guy nearly blew the entire universe apart all over a grudge from his younger years."

"Well if you really want to get technical here, it's Toffee's fault his grudge even happened." Star pointed out to him.

"...Come again?"

"Toffee killed my grandmother, which traumatized & twisted Mom's view on monsters to the point where she separated the only two friends Manfred had ever been able to make, which traumatized & twisted him into falling completely in line with the monarch, which resulted in a break in his sanity when he realized the monarch no longer even held that mindset. And all of this happened because Toffee killed my grandmother. See? All Toffee's fault."

"Too bad we can't just slap him with everything and call it a day. Him being dead really blows right now."

"Maybe. But imagine if he were on our side: I can't imagine he'd be a worse "ally" than the guy running the town right now."

"Hey, you try running everything with minimal support from those that were supposed to be there to guide you and getting pushback from every corner of your world."

In their distracted conversation, the group failed to notice that they had somehow arrived at City Hall, right outside the front steps. Additionally, they were passing by what appeared to be one of the mayor's assistants, who was outside on the steps having himself a cigarette break.

"What are you insinuating?" Star curiously poked at the man. "The Butterfly family makes up the official Earthni shadow council. Their job is to work with the officials running the town to ease the transition after the Cleaving."

"Well, to be honest, I never would've known that had you not just told me."

"What? Do they just not show up to contribute anything or even bother to make their presence known?" Marco was, of course, joking in his question. Not that he knew any better at the moment.

"Well I wouldn't quite go that far, but..."

But the group would quickly realize the person they were speaking to was dead serious. It was a revelation that knocked Star off of her guard. For this entire time, Star was under the impression that her folks were stepping into the leader roles and helping guide everyone into a peaceful new world. With her - admittedly forcibly - out of commission for such an extended period of time, she had assumed it was coming with the caveat that they were going to work closely with Echo Creek's officials in smoothing things out. But now this? Have they been loafing on their responsibilities? What made Star eventually embrace her staycation was the idea that they were doing the heavy lifting. Were they reneging on their responsibilities? Were they simply doing their own ideas independently of the mayor? Answers were required.

"...Okay, now I'm confused." She admitted, approaching the guy slowly. His demeanor loosened considerably with each step she took towards him. In her eyes, he saw a soul searching for answers, not an adversary looking for a fight. "My folks were supposed to be heavily involved trying to sort out everything that had happened. They were supposed to guide everything along while we all tried to sort things out. You know, listen to how he ran things before everything happened, understand the Earth people."

"That may have been how it started but it sure as heck didn't stay that way for long."

"How so?"

"It's...a long story." He took a moment to compose himself. He didn't have "conversing with the daughter of the shadow council about their grievances" on his to-do list for the day. "At first everything seemed fine. We all seemed to get along, no major issues, everything moved along. But as the time passed, it felt like...well, it felt like a lot of things. Felt like your peeps were gradually checking out of every meeting - not sure if it was boredom or some kind of grievance with our guy - or when it came to significant policy changes, they weren't really keeping us in the loop with some of their ideas. You remember how that Vegetable Ball-"

"Corn Ball."

"Whatever. You know how that's now a town sport or something? That didn't come from him. He had no say in that. They completely went around him to integrate something from their world into this one without so much as even keeping him in the loop. That's not how the arrangement is supposed to go."

As the guy was explaining his position, Star couldn't help but recall that kerfuffle with Tip & Finnly and that supposed "eviction" letter. "So how does it work, exactly? He and my folks are supposed to keep all in the loop about ideas they may have?"

"It's supposed to be a joint venture. He doesn't do anything without looping them in, and they don't do anything without looping him in. At least tat's how it was supposed to work."

"But my folks started to do things outside of him, and now he's supposedly doing the same thing to them. Like with how he wants to evict all the monsters from the temple."

"No, see, that he really can't do. The whole Veggie Ball-"

"It's Corn Ball, and I'm not going to say it again." Marco sternly interrupted.

"The whole dumb sport thing doesn't actively affect policy or the every day lives of the people. At least not in the ways most other policies they want to enact affect their lives. So legally it's not really worth the hassle to fight that. But the housing situation? That's a whole other nugget, and he would get a whole lot of people - himself included - into trouble if he followed through on that."

"That's a relief, at least. But...that still doesn't answer another question...why does he have such a fixation on me? Like...he knew what had happened to me...didn't he?"

The guy hesitated and looked away from her eyesight for a brief moment. "Actually, nobody was ever completely...succinct on what had actually happened. They cited "mental & physical health decline" but...all attempts on his end to receive clarity were met with resistance."

"So he knows I was on leave. But they didn't tell him why exactly I was on leave?" He shook his head, confirming more suspicions. "...Huh."

"Yeah, it...it hasn't been always pretty." The guy checked his watch and crushed the cigarette in his hand. "I gotta get back to work. Anyways, I'm sorry about the trouble, miss. I'm sure you don't mean any harm. We're just trying to do our jobs." That was the last thing he had any interest in saying to her before returning inside, leaving Star, Marco, and a quiet Buff Frog to their own devices. Star turned to the other two.

"Okay, so...vibe check." She said firmly. "Do you think this guy is credible?"

Marco took a deep breath and composed himself. "I want to just write him off as a cronie for the mayor who's got a grudge, but to be honest...yeah, everything he said about how your folks conduct business...I can totally buy it. No offense, Star, but your folks seem to just think their way is the best way."

"They ran a monarchy for centuries. They didn't have to answer to anybody."

"I know that, and right now it could be biting us all in the butt. I'm not saying they're bad, just that maybe they're taking longer to adjust to the new way things are done than we'd like. Maybe they don't even realize what they're doing?"

"I hope that what it is. Regardless, it looks like I'm going to have to have some tough conversations with them. Anything to stop tensions from getting any worse."

"Do you want us to join you, princess?" Buff Frog asked, not hesitating to step in and be there to support Star. She, of course, was touched by the gesture.

"Thanks. You know what? I could use to the back up this time around. I have to be prepared for things to get ugly. Who knows how deep this rabbit hole goes."

"Hey, since your folks are still busy with things, how's about we just keep trucking around town and see how everything else is coming along? I still could use some more footage for my report."

In the midst of the talk, it had slipped Star's mind that the entire reason they were out and about today was to assist Marco in crafting his college essay. "Yeah, sure. Totally. I could stand to calm my nerves anyway before we go back."

So it was decided: more venturing around town was to be done before they returned to the castle, where they would inevitably have a somewhat uncomfortable talk with Star's family. Their allegiances were still with them, and it was severely unlikely that any conversation would change that. But with this new wrinkle thrown into the mix, was it possible that their distrust of the Echo Creek mayor was misplaced? Or at least slightly exaggerated? Only time would reveal those answers...

To be continued...

End of Episode 10!

Well...a lot has happened since my last update. Firstly, I moved into a new apartment, which took up a crap ton of my time & energy. Secondly, I had to sadly say goodbye to my best doggo friend of 14 years. And in the middle of said move, too. That sucked. Not to mention fatigue, writer's block, & personal life nonsense got in the way of my creative drive. Oh and I also just put out the first half of my Classic PPG retrospective, so that's live if you want to go watch. I can't promise that my update schedule will improve going forward, especially since I'm also STILL iffy on the direction I want this next book to go in, but I'll do my best to continue delivering quality content whenever I can.

As always, don't forget to read & review!