Author's Note: So…I am very sorry that this update is two years late. I hope this chapter and the one that follow can make up for lost time. If you're still following this story, I humbly thank you. Enjoy!

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Crumbling Foundations

Crawling through some very dusty tunnels, the partners in crime made their way to where the most action appeared to be occurring. Stopping behind a rather large painting with a canvas transparent for the couple to see through without being noticed, the two females took in the scene before them. Below, Moon rested on a padded chair with River and Marco flanking her sides. Before the royal couple and teen, the Magical High Commission stood. Both parties stared at each other in a silent war of wills. Wary guards looked between the two, tension filled the air like a heavy, depressing fog. Heckapoo crossed her arms, the scowl on her face deepening.

"What do you think's happening?" Star whispered to the queen beside her.

"This seems like something far more serious than you sneaking around with me. Maybe we should just leave them to it and go look for the wayward headmistress ourselves. If they're all here, this is the perfect opportunity for us to get to her without running into any opposing interference." Eclipsa eyed the grouped, then turned to the blonde teen. "It looks like this is all that's going to happen here. Goodness! These are the people who have been running my kingdom," she muttered with no small hint of disapproval.

"I think you're right. We can't pass this opportunity up. Even if the Magical High Commission do say anything, it's that they can't say anything. Let's go before someone notices," the teen said. The two slunk through the tunnels, once again stealing the dimensional scissors before leaving the castle completely. With hoods covering the two, the Mewman detectives set off to find Ms. Heinous.

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"Look Heckapoo," Marco begin with a glare, "just tell us what we need to know so we can get Star away from Eclipsa."

"All you need to know is that there's nothing you need to know," the flaming female informed.

"Aw, come on Heckapoo! We can't even tell them a little bit?" Rhombulus questioned.

"No! Now, shut up," she ordered in response.

"It's obvious that whatever you are hiding, you've kept hidden for quite some time. If it will help us keep Star safe, we need to know now!" Moon stared the other woman down from her chair. She chose to forgo her medicine for this meeting and the pain was making her far more short-tempered than usual. "We've been sitting here for two hours already and you still refuse to tell us anything noteworthy. All I hear are excuses, and poor ones at that."

"We know what we know and none of it has to do with Star or her safety," Heckapoo said.

"Then why did you tell me that it was for Star's safety that you handle it yourselves?" Moon questioned. "It sounds as though you're lying."

"Heckapoo, we should tell them," Rhombulus urged.

"Rhombulus, shut it. They don't need to know."

"But Star could be in danger if we don't tell them something. I don't want that on my conscious."

"Fine, I'll tell them a little bit," Heckapoo relented with a heavy sigh. "Heinous is related to Eclipsa and is therefore dangerous. The two can't be reunited or Mewni might just be destroyed."

"That's it!" Marco screeched; fists clenched. "We wasted all this time for something as insignificant as that. Star is out there with the 'Queen of Darkness' and you're worried about the two bad guys being related. We are no longer friends!" The teen turned away from the fiery being with a huff.

"Marco's right," River said, "none of this is as important as my little girl."

Moon pinched the bridge of her nose in annoyance, "We could have been searching for her far sooner than two hours." She looked at the two commission members with her best mom-glare before settling on what she wanted to say. "Thank you for wasting my time, you're dismissed." She turned to face River. "Fetch the remaining guards and have them join the search for Star. Marco, can you stay with me and help me with something?"

River gave a quick salute before pecking his wife on the cheek. With a shout, he bounded out of the room. Moon pursed her lips together while Marco flinched at the slamming doors and whooping.

"What can I do for you, Your Majesty?" He gave a short bow, ever the gentleman.

"There has to be more that the Commission isn't telling us about Eclipsa and Heinous. I need you to help me go through the library to see how the two are related."

"Of course, but it doesn't make sense. Heinous is old, but she's not over 200 years old. Everything about this feels off," the teen admitted.

He helped the queen to the large room and fetched books for her to sift through. A large stack of books sat on a nearby table while the two perused through volume after volume. After some time, Moon felt the two should take a break and asked a nearby servant to bring them some fruits to snack on. After the door closed behind the retreating servant, Moon snuck a glance at the young teen sitting across from her.

"Marco, what was Star like while she was on Earth with you?"

"Huh?" Marco jumped at the sudden question. "This isn't some question that's going to get me in trouble with her later, is it?"

"No, of course not. Or, at least I don't think it should." Moon exhaled a little sigh. "I just don't spend much time with her outside of our allotted time. I was just wondering what she was like when she was free from the confines of a royal title."

"Oh…," he scratched the back of his head. "Star was…very adventurous when it came to Earth. She was always trying to learn something new and did her best to make friends with everyone." He gave a soft chuckle. "You know, after you dropped her off, I was really annoyed and unimpressed with her. But she crashed into my life like a fireball –," he flinched at his choice of words. "Sorry."

"Don't worry," Moon chuckled, "please, do continue." Marco gained a far off look in his eyes, his head propped up with his hand.

"I'm sure you know by now that Star used magic while on Earth, it was kinda hard for her not to. Ludo was constantly chasing us, then it was Toffee. It just all got so exciting for us, but then Toffee came and ruined it with his little war. If Star hadn't left after confessing, I would've had time to talk to her about everything before we joined you. I mean, all that time on Earth and I was never bored or angry with her like other people. Sure, we had a few issues here and there when she first moved in, but we got through it together…"

Marco continued to ramble as Moon watched on. She could tell from the way he began to mimic Star during one of their adventures that the two were very close. The teen stood up as he gestured to the way he would take out monsters before pretending to be Star as she blasted their enemies. Star had always been brave and reckless, but the two made a great team. She laughed when Marco told her about Star meeting a toilet for the first time, then gasped when she learned about River's surprise sleep over. Time quietly slipped away from the two as Moon became thoroughly invested in Marco's retelling of life with Star.

"Moon, dear," River shouted as he threw the door open, startling the two within the library. "Do forgive me, my dear, didn't mean to startle you." He raced over to give her yet another kiss on the cheek. "I asked Manfred where you were, and he said the two of you have been in here all day. Why don't you let me carry you down to supper?"

"Supper, already?" Moon glanced out a nearby window and was shocked to see that the sun was, indeed, very low in the sky. "I hadn't even noticed. Marco, why didn't you say you were hungry?"

"Oh…I didn't even realize the time. Guess I kinda got carried away there," he admitted with a blush.

"No worries, let's go down to eat and then we can continue looking for the information we need. I shouldn't have let us get so distracted while Star's out there doing who knows what," the queen said with a sigh.

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While Marco and the queen bonded, Star and Eclipsa found themselves deep in the forest as they followed a rather alarmingly large set of footprints. They had trekked far from the castle and were debating whether they should stop for the night when they heard twigs snap around them. The two shared a look before standing back to back and scanning the bushes. Star raised her wand, ready to attack as the rustling got closer.

"Star!" A voice called out in surprise. Buff Frog jumped out before narrowly dodging a Narwhal Blast. "Sorry, I mean no harm," he cried as he flinched before the pair.

"Ohmygosh, Buff Frog," Star shouted, launching herself at the giant frog. She crushed him in a hug, glad it wasn't Heinous or anyone else dangerous. "What're you doing here? It isn't safe."

"I know. I have moved babies for safe keeping. Please, who is friend?" He asked, gesturing towards Eclipsa.

She smiled, extending her hand. "I'm the former Queen of Mewni, Eclipsa Butterfly."

Buff Frog slowly shook her hand, a slight frown on her face. "Who?" He asked.

"Oh dear, it seems I have been forgotten."

"No, no, no. No offense, Your Majesty," he said with a deep bow and several salutes. "I am Yvgeny Bulgolyubov, but you may call be Buff Frog."

"A pleasure, Buff Frog," Eclipsa acknowledged with a curtsy. "I couldn't help but overhear that you moved your children due to the danger. Have you seen anything?"

"Yes. A giant horned woman has been sucking the life out of creatures everywhere. I moved babies to new dimension. I came to warn Star and say goodbye." He turned to the teen. "It's not safe for them here anymore."

"But Buff Frog, I'm gonna work hard to make Mewni safe for everyone. I just gotta deal with the Magic High Commission and Ms. Heinous before I can focus on anything else," Star informed quickly.

Buff Frog shook his head solemnly.

"Star, he has to do what's best for his children." She turned to Buff Frog. "Once everything is settled, we'll send you a message to come home. I promise we'll fix this," she promised, patting his hand.

"You are mother?"

"…I was," she answered with a small smile. Buff Frog nodded his head in understanding.

"Star Butterfly, we shall meet again. Please, take caution," he urged her.

"I promise," she said with teary eyes. "Go take care of them babies, I wanna see them grow up to be happy little children of Mewni." The two hugged again before Buff Frog disappeared through a newly-made portal. "We have to fix…everything," Star voiced aloud.

"I'm glad to see there's hope in the world after all," Eclipsa admitted aloud, staring at the young teen. "Should we stop here for the night?"

"We could." Star sighed.

"Talk to me sweetheart, that was the sigh of an old lady, not a teenager," Eclipsa carefully prodded. She pulled the teen over to a nearby log to sit.

"It's just…all of this is…I don't know, crazy," Star admitted. "Marco betrays me, my parents and the Commission underestimate me, I might not be a Butterfly, your family is missing, and Mewni is broken." She groaned. "Marco could come and find me if he wanted to, but instead, he choses my parents over me. He didn't want to help me fix Mewni, he just kept saying the same things my parents did."

"Well, they care for you dear. The only difference is, they don't see the world the way we do with compassion for others. Everything is black and white with them. It's the reason why it will take Mewni time to heal from the years of blatant bigotry and inequality. They're not bad people, they just don't know any better."

"I know, but it would be so much easier to get things done if they would just trust me. I mean, I defeated Toffee for corn's sake," Star grumbled.

"That was you?" Eclipsa said with a jolt. "That's not relevant at the moment. What you need to do is focus on one thing at a time. So, what's the most important thing to you right now?"

Star sat in thought for a while. While she pondered on her list of priorities, Eclipsa lit a fire and pitched a tent.

"I wanna see Marco," Star finally admitted.

Before Eclipsa could ask her to elaborate, the teen was already performing the All-Seeing Eye spell. Before them, Marco sat in the dining hall with the royal couple. They were currently laughing, but what hurt the most was how care-free they all looked without her. The trio stopped laughing, stared at one another, then burst out laughing once more. None of them seemed concerned about Mewni or her well-being at all. Star lowered her head in defeat, breaking the spell off.

"Star?"

"My mom hasn't laughed like that since I was a little girl," she mumbled, hugging herself. "I'm doing my best but…it's not enough, is it?"

"Star," Eclipsa said softly, pulling the girl into a hug. "You are so strong, stronger than all three of them. I hope that my daughter grew up to be as headstrong and confident as you. Even if we're not related by blood, you'll always be like a daughter to me."

"Really?" Star looked at her with teary eye.

"Really," Eclipsa admitted with a proud smile.

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Author's Note: Well, I figured I owed all of you a longer chapter, but I couldn't help but add some angst and some much needed hugs for the young monarch. I'll post another chapter sometime tomorrow. Until then, let me know what you thought.