"So, this is what it's like to be bored to death." My father was in the middle of giving me a lecture on his royal duties. I was bored out of my mind. Sometimes they felt the need to share these things with me since I was on Earth, I wished they didn't.

"Star?" asked my mother, jolting me out of my thoughts. "Are those dimensional scissors?"

Well, I was paying attention now. I had stupidly left the dimensional scissors Pony Head gave me on the table behind me. Thinking fast I said "Uhhh, no, no, of course not! Just normal Earth scissors. See?"

I picked up a sheet of paper and started cutting a pattern into it. As I spread the unicorn pattern out to show my parents, a dimensional rift opened behind me. Apparently I wasn't as good at controlling the scissors as I had hoped. I quickly scooted so the portal was behind me.

"Good" said my mother as an arm reached through the portal and started swiping at me. I fought the monster off as discreetly as I could while she continued "Because you are not to leave Earth."

"I would never think of it!" I told them with a nervous laugh. I lifted my leg and as discreetly as possible kicked the hand, trying to get it back through the portal. For a moment they seemed suspicious, but then daddy broke the silence.

"Glad to hear it!" Suddenly his watch beeped and he frowned "I'm sorry your mother and I must cut you short, I have lecture things to do."

"Oh him and his lectures" my mother said as she rolled her eyes and they walked away from the mirror.

"Okay, bye!"

With them gone, I turned to deal with the arm that still hadn't gone away. With a yell, I shoved it into the portal and let it close shut before heaving a sigh of relief. It would have been awful had they noticed.

"Star!" Marco opened the door of my room and the stress from talking to my parents disappeared. "We're about to celebrate my parents' anniversary, c'mon!"

And suddenly it was back. "Oh no, I didn't get them anything!"

"Don't worry about it, my gift can be from both of us."

As sweet of him as that was, I wanted to get them too. "But I wanna get them something just from me cuz your parents are actually cool."

Marco looked stunned as he tried to process what I said. He just repeated the word cool to himself as he closed my door. I didn't see how he could think differently, they were way cooler than my boring parents. After a few moments, Marco was back at my door, his gift in his hands.

"Come on Star, let's give them our gift."

"But I still haven't picked out something for them!"

"It's fine Star, that's why we are sharing mine."

I wasn't happy about this. As sweet as it was for Marco to share his gift with me, I still wanted to get them something on my own. Walking down to the main room, I wracked my brain for something, anything I could give them. When we got downstairs, Marco's parents were waiting for us on the couch. They were cuddled up together, staring into each other's eyes, and humming back and forth. I thought it was cute, Marco's face said he was of a different opinion. Clearing his throat, Marco strode towards his parents to present the gift.

"Oh hello kids" exclaimed Mr. Diaz when they noticed us.

"Happy anniversary you guys!"

Mr. and Mrs. Diaz let out squeals of joy as they took Marco's gift and opened it. Mrs. Diaz pulled out two fanny packs as Marco looked on in anticipation.

"Wow, Marco, more fanny packs."

Typical Marco, he had given them something practical but also useless. Even I could see through the fake enthusiasm Mrs. Diaz was trying to show for the gift.

"Okay, I know you guys are non-believers, but these are way cooler than last years!" Marco pulled up his hoodie to reveal that he too had on a fanny pack. It took all of my self-control not to grab his adorably misguided self, haul him upstairs, and educate him on gift giving as he continued trying to sell the gift.

"They have everything you need. Like a dilemma whistle, non-drowsy antihistamine, and a space blanket made for two!"

Amazingly, it seemed to work. His parents looked at the bags with actual enthusiasm as Mr. Diaz said "Oh yes! You know how much we love to travel and see the sights."

"Oh Marco, you put so much thought into this" said Mrs. Diaz as my heart sank. Now that they actually liked Marco's gift I really had to get them something. Then Mrs. Diaz dug the knife deeper as she continued saying "Gifts are such a great way to show how much you really care about someone. I didn't think it was possible to love you more than I do right now!"

I couldn't stand it anymore, I was about to burst. I had to do something, anything to show my appreciation to them. And then it hit me like a bolt of lightning, the perfect idea. I leapt over Marco and told them "And I'm giving you a trip to Mewni!"

Leaping up from the couch, Mr. and Mrs. Diaz exclaimed in joy "We're going to Mewni!"

"We can use our new fanny packs!" Marco interjected nervously. It wouldn't kill the dork to trust me every now and then, even I can have good ideas sometimes.

Mr. Diaz swept me and his wife up in his arms and we all hopped together as he said "We go now right?"

"Right now?" agreed Mrs. Diaz.

"I want to go right now!"

"Can't we go right now?"

"Of course we can go right now!" I told them, relieved at their excitement. I extracted myself from the hug and turned to Marco and hugged him in joy as I said "Oh yay, they loved it! Now you guys go get ready while I get my scissors!"

Marco followed me up to my room while his parents went to get their bags and as I grabbed my scissors he asked me "Are you sure this is a good idea? Aren't you supposed to stay on Earth?"

"Oh its fine" I told him, "Plus I had to do something for them after I saw how much they liked your gift and this was all I could think of!"

"Alright, alright, let's do this."

We went downstairs to rejoin Mr. and Mrs. Diaz as they waited by the door. I pulled out the scissors and cut open a portal to Mewni. Ushering everyone through, we hopped out in the outskirts of Mewni.

"Welcome to Mewni!"

Mr. and Mrs. Diaz started snapping tons of pictures. I smiled to myself in joy as Mrs. Diaz asked me "Is this where you grew up?"

"No" I said with a chuckle before pointing up towards the royal castle, "I live there."

All of the Diaz family looked up at the castle above the cottages and let out an oooh of appreciation. Chuckling some more, I told them to look higher. Looking up even more, they saw a temple rising above the clouds and let out a noise of surprise. But then I had them look even higher, to the summit of the mountain where the royal castle was and they were floored.

"Let's go there!" said Mrs. Diaz.

"Ah, you don't want to see that lame, cheesy touristy stuff" I told her.


"But the castle doesn't allow tourists" said Ruberiot "also the castle is very nice, why did you tell them that?"

"I wasn't supposed to be on Mewni, remember" said Star.

"Oh right, and its fine now?"

"Oh yeah, now they don't mind as much if I travel a bit, especially if Marco tags along" Star explained.

"Oh, I guess that makes sense, sorry for interrupting."


Instead of taking them to the castle, I decided to show them the areas surrounding the main city. "What you want is the real Mewni experience!"

I gestured to the commoners in front of me where a disgruntled woman was looking after about fifteen children. Though it was more like tolerating than actually supervising. Beside her was potion stand where some grizzled person of indeterminate sex was stirring a bubbling cauldron. As we watched, a child reached up to steal some ingredients and the potion maker grabbed the child. With a startled scream, the child was added to the bubbling mixture. After a few seconds, his head popped up and he giggled as he spun in the stirred concoction.

"Oh, hello little boy" said Mrs. Diaz as she turned to a child crouched next to us. The boy let out a scratchy wail before putting the raw unirat he had been eating in his mouth and scampering away.

"Oh look, an open air market!" I said, steering the family towards a hopefully Earth friendly area.

There were people selling all sorts of Mewman items that couldn't be found on Earth. There were hydra tail apples, shrunken goblin heads, pickled giants toes, and even someone selling random knickknacks from a cloak. Mrs. Diaz got a set of wind chimes made from bones off of him.

As we continued to wander the suburbs, I tried keeping an eye out for things the family would enjoy. What I did not expect to see was my father buying a spear in an alleyway. With a gasp, I ran to Marco for advice, leaping into a goat-pigpen as his parents continued to take pictures.

"Star, what the?"

"My dad's here!"

"Your dad?"

"Yes! I don't know what he's doing here but if he sees me I am dead!"

"Breathe" Marco told me. "Just tell my parents the fanny packs are from both of us and we can go home!"

"But they're actually enjoying my gift! I don't wanna ruin this for them!"

Instead of doing the smart thing and listening to Marco, I pushed on with my tour of Mewni idea. All I had to do was take them somewhere Dad would never show up. Standing from my hiding spot, I looked around for a good location.

"Next I want to show you… Mewni's natural beauty!" I said. In my eagerness to continue the tour, I decided to take them to the Forest of Certain Death.


"That sounds like a wonderful idea princess" Ruberiot said in a mocking voice.

"Oh hush, I was desperate okay?"

"Okay, I hope in the next story you listen to Marco."

With an indignant huff, Star continued the story.


"Forest of certain death?" cried Marco.

"Oh, don't read too much into the name." I was sure that with his karate and my magic, we would be fine. Grabbing him, I ran to catch up with his parents.

"So it's really kind of important to keep moving" I said as we entered the forest, wanting to get out of sight as quickly as possible. If my parents had found me I would have been in so much trouble, maybe even forced to leave Earth. Gesturing around the forest, I pointed out the wildlife of Mewni as Mr. and Mrs. Diaz took pictures. "There's a bleeding willow tree, here's a carnivoral blossom."

"Are you guys seeing any of this?" cried out Marco from behind us suddenly.

"See it? Can't take our eyes off it!" exclaimed Mr. Diaz.

They took off, arm in arm as they chanted "Best anniversary ever!"

Unfortunately they walked right over a path snapper. I ran after them as I shouted "Waitwaitwaitwait!"

They did not wait and walked right over it. Amazingly it did not eat them. I followed after them, gingerly making my way across the plant as I tried to stop them. I left Marco behind, sure he would be fine on his own.

As I ran after Mr. and Mrs. Diaz, I heard Marco yell something from behind us, he sounded excited. I hoped he had found something cool, maybe raise his spirits. I was too busy chasing his parents to turn around and confirm what he was up to.

"Oh wow, these flowers are lovely!" said Mrs. Diaz as we passed a row of burrowed petal grubs.


"Petal grubs?" asked Ruberiot.

"Oh you know, the plant creatures that look kind of like monsters but have that red flower on their heads. They like to hide in the ground so they look like flowers and ambush unsuspecting passersby. I can never remember the actual name" explained Star.

"Oh right, those."


"Wait for me!" I cried out, still chasing the couple as they heedlessly marched onwards.

"Come on my dear! Let me capture your beautyness on this magnificent adventure!" cried Mr. Diaz as they climbed a bleeding willow.

"Wait, come back!" Mr. and Mrs. Diaz were relentless, I slipped as I tried to climb after them and shouted after them "Okay, you can stop being so cool now!"

By the time I caught sight of them again, they were closing in on some kind of purple, fluffy creature with big, pointy teeth. I didn't recognize it but knew it was not safe to get as close to it as they were.

"Okay now, hold still…" said Mr. Diaz.

And then they started snapping pictures. The creature started letting out horrible screeches as it alternated looking at the two people invading its territory. I ran to get closer, losing sight for a second as I climbed a particularly large root. I was just happy they were still alive.

And then my joy crumbled to pieces. I heard a familiar voice off to my side say "These tracks are fresh!"

It was my father! I panicked, thinking he had come following me. I dropped behind the root and said "Pegasus feathers! He's on to me."

"Nothing makes you feel more like a man than going to the bathroom in the woods."

And there he was, my wonderful strategist and partner in crime. I pulled him down next to me so that my father wouldn't notice him as I said "We gotta go! It's not safe here. Look, my dad is right there!"

To help prove my point, my dad finished examining the tracks and pointed saying to his guards "This way."

"Let's just get your parents and go home!"

"I told you this was a bad idea" said Marco.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, okay smarty pants, come on." I ran back to where I had left Mr. and Mrs. Diaz as I said "Okay Mr. and Mrs. Diaz, that concludes the tour, hope you've enjoyed your…"

At that moment, I realized I was talking to an empty rock pedestal. Neither the creature nor Marco's parents were anywhere in the clearing. As Marco and I scouted the clearing for clues, I called out "Mr. and Mrs. Diaz?"

"Where did they go?" asked Marco.

"Look foot prints!" Marco and I looked ahead to where the footprints lead. I heard him gulp as I did the same. The footprints lead straight into the mouth of a cave shaped like a skull, complete with smoking entrance and spooky red lighting. Suffice to say, it was not looking good.

Using my wand for illumination, Marco and I snuck into the cave. Bats scattered as we wandered among the skeletons that littered the floor. Suddenly, Marco cried out "Look, it's their stuff!"

I pointed the light from my wand in the direction he was pointing. Mr. and Mrs. Diaz's clothes were strewn about the rocks, but Marco's parents were nowhere to be seen. Picking up the set of wind chimes Mrs. Diaz had bout earlier, Marco turned to me and said "But where are they?"

While I was trying to come up with an answer, a great gust of wind blew past us and was followed by the sound of raspy breathing. I looked further in and saw some kind of blue thing sitting around the corner. I walked over and shined my light down a hole I saw in the fleshy object.

With a great huff, the air around me was sucked into the hole before being violently expelled, almost like a nose. Looking up, I saw that it was a nose, connected to a terrifyingly large beast. As I stared on, it opened one of its many eyes before rearing up to its full height, easily more than fifty feet. And then, as if that wasn't bad enough, five more heads popped up before the creature let loose a roar.

"Let's get out of here!" screamed Marco.

"No! That thing ate your parents!" I told him, pointing to the creature's belly. From where we stood, Marco and I could see what appeared to be limb stretching against the creature's stomach and hear muffled screams.

The creature snorted as three of its heads whipped towards us. I shoved Marco aside as I screamed "Look out!"

One of the heads snapped me up. As I crouched in the mouth, I saw a barbed tongue swirling around, trying to find my location. Then it shot forward, trying to grab me. I leapt around the beast's mouth dodging the tongue until I heard the beautiful sound of Marco above me.

"Let her go!" he shouted, thrusting his hands through the beast's nostril. I grabbed his hands and let him pull me to safety as the tongue shot towards me in a final attempt.

"Sure, Rainbow, Dolphin, Slap!" I cried as he pulled me out. The spell blasted the beast in the face, sending it hurtling back towards the main body. I fired twice more as two other heads tried to encircle us.

Roaring, all six heads launched at us for a second assault. Marco and I took off running while we tried to think of a plan. Unfortunately for us, we ran into a dead end and could only watch as the beast closed in on us. Firing off a few more blasts of magic as the heads neared us, I knew it was a losing battle. Marco managed to punch one of the heads that I missed, but even with Marco at my side, things were looking grim. We needed a miracle, and soon.

Problem was, that was the moment the creature decided to show off another one of its talents. Rearing back, one of the heads let loose a jet of flame at Marco and I. We scattered to either side, anywhere was better than in the flame. Dodging the beast's legs, Marco whipped a blanked out of his fanny pack and yelled out "Quick, under here!"

I ran to where he was and leapt under the blanket with him just as the creature let loose another blast of fire. It was nice and cozy under there with just the two of us, close together, but not so much that the heat from the inferno outside made it uncomfortable. Crouching next to Marco I said "Wow, what else you have in there?"

"I pretty much used up everything when I was schooling the forest of certain death" he bragged. As cute as his confidence was, I needed something slightly more tangible to help us here. As nice as it was under the blanket, we needed to save his parents. "Well, everything except for this miniature, miniature book of knots."

"So cute" I said when he showed it to me. And then everything fell into place. With a sly grin, I turned to him and said "Did you say knots?"

"Yeah… wh-" He stopped and I knew he had the same idea as I did.

Heads touching, we crouched over the book and started looking for a good knot to use. It didn't take long and within a minute, we had memorized the plan.

Marco and I leapt up, throwing aside the blanket as we waved and shouted for the beast's attention. Cooperatively, three heads swung to chase me and three swung to chase Marco. Running, taunting, and dodging, Marco and I kept baiting the heads. Each time they swung at us, they tangled themselves more and more.

Eventually, the knot tightened and the creature couldn't get us. Rearing up on its hind legs, the beast started to choke. The knot was tied so tightly that it couldn't breathe. When the beast finally flopped over at my feet, I leapt in the air with joy. That was easily my largest monster takedown by that point, and none of it possible without my amazing partner Marco.

And then, from behind me, I heard a crazed battle cry. Turning, I saw my dad. He was dressed in his usual hunting attire, only clothing handmade from the forest plants and he hefted a spear above his head as he bellowed. With a cry of joy, he leapt from the rocky overhang and landed right beside me gut had eyes only for the beast.

Or so I thought. He suddenly cut off his battle cry, turned to me, and said "Star?"

"My parents are still inside that thing!" yelled Marco as he ran over to where we stood.

"I'll get them out right away my boy" said my dad as he leapt to the side of the beast and with only a few, quick strokes from his spear, he cut open the beast. When the wall of flesh opened up, a group of Mewmans emerged, celebrating their unexpected salvation. Marco's parents were still nowhere to be seen.

"They're not here? Quick, to the large intestine before they're fully digested!"

My father and I could only stand by and watch sadly, fearing the worst and unsure of how to tell Marco. As we stood, letting him root around the carcass, we heard the most unexpected sound, laughing and splashing. With shocked faces, we looked deeper into the cavern, Marco sticking his head out the hole to look.

Through the haze at the back, we started to make out some shapes. Running over, we saw that it was Mr. and Mrs. Diaz and they had apparently found a hot spring of some kind.

"There is nothing like a steamy bath after a long day of exploration." Said Mr. Diaz.

"Mom! Dad!"

"You're alive!" I exclaimed with joy.

"Ah, King Butterfly! Care for a dip?" asked Mr. Diaz.

"As inviting as that sounds, I need a minute with my daughter." Grabbing me firmly by the arm, Dad dragged me away from the Diaz family to lecture me. "Star you know you're not to leave Earth! What are you doing here?"

"Okay, okay, but the thing is, it's not exactly my fault, there was an anniversary… it all started with the fanny packs." Then I realized something. "Hey! Aren't you supposed to be giving some boring lecture?"

"Ah, yes, we got a little lost, the directions were, uh, it all started with fanny packs…" I wasn't buying it and my dad could tell. Heaving a sigh of defeat, he told me "There is no lecture. Being king is exhausting! Every once in a while I need to sneak away and fight monsters! It keeps me sane! And it's good for my throne posture."

"So I get my monster fighting from you, cool!"

"I suppose so!"

We laughed for a bit before I addressed the hydra in the room, "Are you gonna tell Mom you saw me?"

"I didn't see you, and you didn't see me, but just this once."

After hugging, Dad bid farewell to me and the Diaz family as he and his royal escorts left the cave.

"It's cool you guys bonded and you got to see that side of your dad." Said Marco as he walked over to me. Then a look of panic came over his face as I heard some whistling from behind me. Marco put his hands over my eyes for a moment and when he took them off, all he said was "I wish I hadn't seen that side of my dad."


"Oh, right. Ruberiot, if my mother ever gets wind of this, you will be thrown in the dungeons for so long, you will forget what the sky looks like am I clear?" threatened Star suddenly.

"Then why tell me?" he cried.

Laughing, Star just looked at him and said "Oops."