It was cold as the sun began to set unseen through the thick clouds in the sky. They threatened to once again add another several inches of snow to the frozen ground later that night. As a man walked his small dog through the once green and lush park, he blew on his ungloved hands to try and warm them up. Mentally begging for the dog to finally do what they had come here to accomplish so that he could return to his slightly warmer house.
It was as his dog finally began circling just the right spot that he was taken down by several adolescent yellow labradors. They began relentlessly licking him all over as he cried out for help. "Where did all of you come from?!"
"Sorry! I'm so sorry!" cried out a young woman's voice. "Let me help you! Sajack! Barko Diaz! Ummm, I forgot your name, but all of you! Get off this guy!"
The swarm of canines ceased their attack of paws and tongues. "I am so sorry, sir," the girl began as the man got back onto his feet and began wiping the drool from his face as best he could.
"Why do you have so many dogs?!" he shouted as he turned to see a teenaged girl with blonde hair flowing down beyond her knees. Unlike himself, she was dressed for the wintery conditions in what he felt were far too many bright colors.
"I don't know," she started, "it seemed like a good idea at the time but now with no magic, they started growing and they're no longer little puppies, they're becoming big dogs, but at least they don't shoot lasers from their eyes anymore, so that's a plus..."
"Wait," he said interrupting her seemingly endless yammer, eyes narrowing as he inspected her, "I know you from somewhere."
"Yeah," she responded nervously as she rounded up the pack of labradors on their individual leashes. "I was all over the news a few months ago. My name is Star..."
"Star Butterfly!" the man shouted, interrupting her once again. "You're the one who...who..." he struggled to find the right word, "teleported us all to this wasteland!"
"Hey!" she retorted, "Mewni is not a wasteland!"
"I moved to Southern California," he continued as he held his arms out at the scene, "to get away from weather like this! DO you see what I'm wearing?!"
Star looked the stranger up and down before coming to a conclusion she hoped would end his shouting. "You look nice," she said with an awkward smile.
"Not the point! I don't have any winter clothes! Every night for a month now I have had to bring Muffin out here in the freezing cold with nothing but a windbreaker on!"
"Oh," Star began as her eyes shifted towards her feet. "I'm sorry about that, we really didn't plan..."
"Shut up," he said in a harsh tone. "C'mon Muffin, let's go home. Maybe we can find out where this girl lives and you can do your business in her yard."
"Do your business?" she asked herself as the man and his dog left in a huff, leaving her to sigh heavily and fall back onto the snow covered ground around her. The labradors surrounded her on all sides and looked down at her form as she stared up at the gray skies overhead.
"Well guys, another good impression made," she said as one of the dogs began licking her face. "Ew, hey! Stop it ya goof!" She smiled briefly before lifting herself to a sitting position. "What do you guys say? Let's head back to the house."
As she got up and dusted the snow from her clothes, flakes of fresh snow began falling from the sky. She looked back up at the gray sky and felt one land on her nose. "Well, I guess we're walking in the snow."
The snow continued to fall as Star guided the herd of unwieldy dogs down Avocado Terrace to the Diaz household. Keeping her head down as she coaxed them up the walkway towards the front door, failing to notice the increased number of cars, in addition to carriages, corralled warnicorns and a couple of winged lions, parked in the driveway and along the street.
She opened the door and the dogs charged into the darkened house, shaking the snow from themselves as they passed her. Star took a cue from them and began shaking the snow from her own hair in a similar matter when the lights flipped on. She looked up through the mess of hair that had formed in front of her face to see a large gathering of humans, Mewmans and even some Monsters in the living room.
"Surprise!" they all shouted in unison, "Happy Birthday, Star!"
"What?!" she exclaimed as she desperately tried to reorder her mussed up hair. "I can't believe this! A party...for me?"
As music started to play in the background, Star made her way through the room giving her greetings to all of the party guests. Her old friends from Echo Creek Academy, many of the monsters she had made friends with over the past year, even some of the other royal heirs of Mewni had come.
As she was exchanging awkward pleasantries with her cousin, Rock Johansen, she saw him in the back corner of the room. Alone as usual and looking deeply uncomfortable in his own skin. "Well, it was nice seeing you Rock, we should do this again," she said.
"Wait, do what again?" he responded to the interruption of what was, admittedly, a long winded story about a video game Star had never heard of before.
"Okay, have a safe trip home!" she continued as she made her way through the other guests towards him. "Well, well, well, well, well, well, well, look who showed up," she stated coyly as he turned around to face her.
"Oh, hey Star," Tom Lucitor began before being engulfed in a tight bear hug by her. "Happy...birth...day..." he managed to wheeze out as he felt his lungs collapsing.
"Tom!" she exclaimed before releasing him, allowing him to breathe once more. "It's so good to see you! Have you seen where Marco is?"
"Wow," Tom responded as he rubbed the back of his neck, "That still stings a little." Star lowered an eyebrow and gave Tom an unamused look at his wisecrack. "I think he's in the kitchen getting the food ready," he quickly replied when Marco entered the room struggling to carry a large silver appliance and placed it on the buffet table.
Star had turned her head to watch the scene. "There he is!" she said, "We'll catch up later Tom, I promise. It is really good to see you."
"Hey, have you seen Janna around?" he asked almost desperately before she could get away.
"Not yet, but you know her, she could totally be here and no one would know!" she said with a lyrical inflection as she skipped away.
Marco heaved the heavy cylindrical object down on the table with a thud before taking a moment to catch his breath. Then, getting down on his hands and knees to plug the device into an electrical socket under the table.
"Hey there, boyfriend," he heard from behind as he plugged the device in and attempted to stand back up. Only to hit his head on the underside of the table with a loud crack.
"Oh corn! Are you okay?" the sweet voice said as he back himself out from under the table and stood up properly. He rubbed the back of his head feeling the oncoming aches and pains.
"I'm fine, Star. Not the worst thing that's happened to me," he replied before planting a kiss on her cheek, "Happy birthday."
"Aww, thanks Marco," she said as she felt her cheeks blush. "Wait, what is this thing?" she asked pointing to the odd appliance in question.
"Oh...you'll see," Marco slyly confirmed as he flipped the switch on its side. Within a moment, a golden stream of thick, gooey liquid began flowing from its top and cascading down into the empty vat below.
"Is that," she said stunned, "is that a nacho cheese fountain?!"
"Why, yes it is. Only the finest for my girlfriend's..." Marco stopped himself when he saw that she had inserted her head below the flowing cheese allowing it to gather in her open mouth. "Star! You can't drink nacho cheese straight from the fountain!"
Star turned her head out of the flow to face him. "Ugh, you sound like my mom."
"Star, you shouldn't drink cheese straight from the fountain!" rang the stern voice of Moon Butterfly as she walked up to them.
"Mom!" Star exclaimed before losing her balance, allowing her head to fall into the vat of melted cheese below it with a splat. "What are you doing here?"
"Well, it seems this is a party celebrating your birth," started Moon as she watched her daughter scrape globs of runny cheese from her face. "And seeing as how I had a part to play in the day in question, I thought we should come."
At that moment, River walked up to Moon's side. "Hello, Pumpkin!"
"Dad!" she said as she threw her arms around him. "I'm so glad you're here!" She released her father before giving Moon a hug as well. "Both of you."
"Well, we don't see much of you anymore these days," Moon said as she and Star released each other from their hug. "In fact, I think we saw you more often when Echo Creek was in an entirely different dimension."
"Yes, quite," River interjected. "I think what your mother is saying is we had hoped to still see you from time to time. Like yesterday, we thought you would come join us for our Stump Day celebration!"
"Yes," continued Moon, "Instead you spent the evening with the Diaz's celebrating...what was it again, dear?"
"Oh, um, Ex-mass I believe."
"Which is all fine and good," Moon went on, "But, we still would like to see you," she finished with a disappointed tone as she stared at her nearly adult daughter.
"I'm sorry, Mom, Dad," Star quietly gave, looking ashamed. "I promise I'll try to make more of an effort to see you."
"Very good!" exclaimed River, "Now, I was told there would be a new type of food I could indulge in tonight. Something called a taco?"
"Oh, yeah," replied Marco, "My mom and dad are in the kitchen getting everything ready for make your own tacos."
"Excellent!" cried a jubilant River. "Moonpie, maybe we should go pay thanks to our hosts for their hospitality?"
"I suppose we should," Moon agreed, "For tonight and for the past three months." She gave Star a look only a mother can manage as she followed River into the next room.
Star watched her parents leave before turning back to Marco. "I'm, uhh, gonna go and mingle. Yeah, say hi to all the people I've been ignoring recently."
Marco gave her a sympathetic look as she walked off slightly crestfallen. He turned back to the table to find Tom helping himself to some of the refreshments that had been laid out.
"Hey," Tom said as he finished chewing a mouth full of food. "How's uh, how's that going?" He swallowed and peered in Star's direction.
"It's going great!" Marco responded at a higher octave than normal which Tom could see past.
"Convincing..." Tom took another bite of food, "You, uh, you want to talk about it?"
"I do," said Marco as he winced and looked down at the floor, "But I need you to stop talking with your mouth full first."
"Star Butterfly!" shouted Buff Frog as he entered the house from the wintery outdoors, "Is so good seeing you! Happy birthday!"
"Buff Frog!" Star shouted back as she gave her former enemy a big hug. "Where are those..." Before she could finish her question, a dozen other amphibious monsters who matched her in size dogpiled on top of her. "Buff Teenagers!" Star exclaimed giddily, "I havent seen you guys in so long!"
"We've been wondering what happened to you," Katrina told her as Buff Frog's family finally released her from their grasp.
"Is true, we hoping the great hero of Mewni come and see cornball games. Can you believe Katrina is captain of best team on all of Mewni now?" boasted a proud Buff Frog.
"That doesn't surprise me one bit!" a gleeful Star responded.
"Hey, little ones, go get something for all of you to eat, I need to ask Star something," a suddenly cryptic Buff Frog requested. As his family made their way towards the buffet, Buff Frog leaned close to Star. "I must ask you about what I is seeing outside. Lots of patrols up and down the streets, seems to be looking for monsters. What are the humans up to?"
"What, I don't know what you mean, I was just outside walking the dogs less than an hour ago and I didn't see anything."
"Mmm," he muttered in response, "Maybe is because you are famous Mewman princess?"
"Buff Frog, no one is going around rounding up monsters, those days are behind us."
"I know things with Mewmans are better, but the humans are not Mewman. Just please keep eye out."
"Hey, the humans don't have any reason to give monsters trouble. They're all great! I can't imagine them giving anyone a hard time just because they're different."
"It you say so, that is not experience so far," he concluded, "I go check on my family, I think I see Anastasia drinking cheese from fountain."
"B-Fly!" came the voice of Ponyhead like the echo of a canon. "I haven't seen in you forever, girl."
"Flying Princess Ponyhead!" squealed Star as the two friends shared a hug.
"No one has seen you in months," continued Pony. "I hope you don't mind, but I've been telling people you're dead."
"What?!" cried Star. "Why would you say such a thing?!"
"Ya know, for attention!" Pony said in a matter-of-fact way. "It gives me cred to have a dead best friend."
"Did Seahorse come with you?"
"B-Fly, you know he's still serving time for kidnapping Eclipsa," she replied. "Yet another thing that gives me cred."
"Cred with who?" Star asked raising an eyebrow at her childhood friend.
"I don't know! Regular folks!" Pony said defensively. "C'mon, all the other royals are over here. Come prove to Jaggs and Spiderbite and 'em you ain't dead."
"Oh, I don't know if I'm up to see…" before Star could finish, Pony began aggressively pushing her in that direction. "Wait! Hey, Pony! Stop!"
"Every time I ask her if everything is okay," Marco explained to Tom who had finally stopped eating, "She always says something like 'Everything's great! Why are you worrying?' And then she usually compliments my appearance or tries to distract me by offering to watch a Mackie Hand movie with me or asking for a karate demonstration..."
"Well, that seems pretty normal," Tom replied reassuringly, "When I was dating her, she did that all the time."
Marco looked sheepishly down at the floor. "Yeah, that's probably because she was venting to me."
Tom growled slightly before regaining his composure. "Right, of course. So I guess, what have you two been doing for the past three months? You both were like on this victory tour after Echo Creek got cleaved but then a week later, it was like you both disappeared."
"Well, one day she woke up and she just didn't want to do anything. And then again the next day, and the next day, and the next."
"For three months?" said Tom with a bit of skepticism.
"Look, at first, I thought it was good. She's done so much the past two years, I thought a nice long break would do her some good." Marco paused before adding, "Frankly, I needed a break too."
"Makes sense."
"But as time has gone on, it's clear there's a bigger problem. I mean, all she's wanted to do for months now is stay home and binge-watch TV shows we like."
"Wait, that's it? All you've been doing is watching TV?"
"First, we watched the entirety of Fiesta de la Noche," Marco said remembering back to when they had finally watched the finale.
Star and Marco were sitting together on the couch in front of the TV. Star's head rested against Marco's shoulder, her arm wrapped around his torso, his arm cradling her head. "I'm so glad they were able to save their favorite dance club from those evil real estate developers!" Star exclaimed while looking up at Marco with a smile. "Hey, what's real estate anyway?"
"And then we watched the entirety of YOUTHS."
Once again, Star and Marco were holding each other on the couch, although Marco was noticeably less happy to be there. "I'm so glad they saved their favorite coffee shop from that evil Seattle-based conglomerate and their scary mermaid mascot!"
Marco rolled his eyes before Star asked, "Hey, what's Seattle anyway?"
"And the big mistake was watching that adventure-fantasy cartoon series."
Star quietly sobbed into Marco's shoulder as he tried to comfort her, stroking the hair at the back of her head. "It's okay, Star," he said with desperation, "It was a happy ending, everything worked out!"
Star lifted her head and looked up at Marco with tears flowing down her cheeks. "Whu...whu...why couldn't they have started dating in season two...hoo...hoo...hoo..." she cried before falling back into his shoulder to continue sobbing.
"Wow," said Tom as he massaged his forehead, "That sounds pretty rough."
"The worst part is that now we've run out of TV shows, she's gotten really into..." Marco gulped before continuing, "True crime podcasts."
"Umm," Tom started with hesitation, "I'm not sure what that is...but I am sure that she needs to get out of this house more."
"I'm open to suggestions."
"Well," said Tom as he formulated an idea, "We could all go to the Lava Lake Beach?"
Marco thought briefly before replying, "Yeah, that would be good. Warm weather in the Underworld, she loves beaches, we could invite her closest friends."
"Yeah, absolutely! You, me, Ponyhead..." Tom trailed off before a cautious suggestion, "Maybe Janna?"
"Gee, I don't know Tom," replied Marco, his eyes squinting, "Are you going to, you know, actually talk to her this time?"
"Oh, um, I'm uh, I'm working on it."
"Really?"
"Don't rush me, I have a process."
"Uh huh, speaking as someone who took way too long to ask someone out, I suggest you ask her out." It was at that moment, Marco saw Jackie Lynn Thomas enter through the front door followed by Janna Ordonia. "Speaking of which," Marco pointed them out to Tom who started choking on the bit of food he had just put in his mouth.
"I'll go ask Jackie is she wants to come to our beach day," Marco continued as he patted Tom's back in an effort to get him to swallow. "You go talk to Janna and invite her."
Tom finally coughed as the food made its way down. "Okay," he managed to wheeze out.
"And, you won't believe this," Star said excitedly to an audience of Ponyhead, Penelope Spiderbite and her boyfriend, Slime. "It was his wife's college roommate's sister's hair dresser's car mechanic the whole time!" she concluded as everyone around her winced a little.
"Wow," replied Penelope in an attempt to be polite, "that sure is something, Star."
"No, it's not! That was nonsense!" interjected Pony, "What even is a podcast?"
"So, Star," continued Penelope ignoring the rude interruption, "What's it like living with your boyfriend? I can't imagine my parents letting me live with Slime."
"Oh, it's uh, it's great!" she said trying to be as convincing as possible. "Yeah, Marco's parents are the best, there's little Mariposa, Marco makes me nachos whenever I want, I've got a nice bedroom..."
"That you share with Marco?" asked the curious Spiderbite princess with raised eyebrows.
"Pen, you can't ask that!" said an embarrassed Slime.
"What? I'm just curious," she said to him with a sly smile.
"No..." Star replied somewhat mortified at where the conversation had veered. "No, we both have our own bedrooms...we do share a bathroom though."
"Oh, wow, that's...romantic," Pony said sarcastically.
"Well, even so," Penelope continued, "I still can't believe your mom is okay with it. I mean, Moon the Undaunted lets her daughter stay with her boyfriend? And it's so grown-up! My parents won't even let Slime be in my room unless the door stays open."
Star was growing more uncomfortable as the discussion progressed. "Yeah, well, they live in a yurt," her voice was starting to get high as a sense of panic set in, "and you know yurts! Not a lot of extra bedrooms in those things." She took a deep breath trying to calm herself, "I've stayed with the Diaz's a lot and they trust them..."
Pony, sensing her friend's discomfort, quickly attempted to change the subject. "Oh, hey, you guys see who Larry Kelpbottom brought to this thing?"
"Hey, Jackie," said Marco as Jackie took her jacket off at the front door.
"Hey there, Marco," she said with a smile as she hung her jacket up, "Where's the birthday girl?"
"She's over there somewhere, talking to some of her Mewni friends," he responded, "Boy, you're lucky to have a real winter jacket, not a lot of people have one around here."
"One of the benefits of being a beach girl who also likes snowboarding."
"I need to ask you something, kind of favor."
"Sure, what's up?" she said, continuing to smile.
"Would you be interested in coming on a beach trip? It's just going to be me, Star, Tom, Ponyhead." he explained before cautiously adding, "You can bring Chloe along?"
"Oh, gee," she said as her smile disappeared, "I, uh, I don't know if she would want to come."
"Yeah, okay," Marco said trying to hide the disappointment from his voice despite him understanding the situation. "Can you still come? I'm kind of desperate to get Star around some people she doesn't share a bathroom with."
"What are you talking about?" she asked as her smile returned, "Look at all these people you invited to her party!"
"Yeah, I actually only invited a few people, wanted this to be a small party, but when word got around Mewni, the RSVPs sort of flowed in."
Jackie laughed. "Yeah, that sounds like something that would happen with Star." Marco couldn't help but laugh as well. "And of course I'll come and I'll try to talk Chloe into coming too. I just can't promise anything."
"Thanks, Jackie," a grateful Marco replied when she pulled him in for a brief hug.
"Wait, a beach trip in the middle of winter?"
"Oh, yeah, the beach is in the Underworld," he explained, "Where it's always a balmy 110 degrees."
"Oh, awesome! Think I can get some surfing in?"
"As long as you don't mind wearing a lava suit," said Marco shrugging his shoulders.
"Oh, I'm so in then. And it would be nice to see some more of Mewni since...I live here now."
Star had broken away from the main throng of the party and found herself in the kitchen where her parents were having a quiet discussion with Marco's. Quiet until they noticed her come in.
"Star!" shouted Rafael and Angie Diaz in unison, "Happy birthday!"
Star cracked a smile as both Diaz parents jogged up and embraced her. "Oh, you guys are the best," she said as she felt the warmth of their group hug. "Hey, where's Mariposa? I haven't seen her since I got back from walking the laser puppies."
"Oh," responded Moon before turning around to reveal Mariposa in her arms, "I have her, I was helping Mrs. Diaz with her feeding before she heads to bed."
"Moon, please call me Angie. I feel that we can drop the formality since you're essentially family now."
"Sí, we are familia," confirmed Rafael.
"Star! Have you tried a taco yet? They're amazing!" River interjected before taking another another chomping bite of one.
"Here, Star," said Rafael as she handed her a plate with several tacos on it, "Made especially for you."
Star took the plate and following her dad's lead, took a large bite from one of the tacos. "Thank you, Mr. Diaz!" she proclaimed with a full mouth.
"Star, don't eat with your...oh, why am I even trying?" Moon asked herself, "Mrs...I mean, Angie, I think it's time for this one," she gestured down to the yawning Mariposa in her arms, "to head off to bed."
"Of course," said Angie as she held out her arms to take Mariposa. Moon hesitated for a moment, looking down at the sleepy one year old in her arms before finally handing her over, somewhat reluctantly. "I'll take her upstairs and put her down. But, I think she wants to give her favorite big sis...playmate birthday wishes."
Moon couldn't help watching as Star gave the child a kiss on her forehead to which she excitedly burbled before giving another big yawn and closing her eyes. "Good night Mariposa, we can play tomorrow."
"In the meantime, River and I," Moon said, placing a hand on her husband's shoulder as he finished consuming yet another taco, "Should head back into the other room. Someone needs to keep an eye on those young men and women."
"Quite right, Moonpie. Did you see who the Kelpbottom boy came with?"
"I saw, River, get a move on," she quieted him as they made their way out of the kitchen.
"And I must refill the refreshments table," Rafael grabbed a tray full of various taco toppings and followed Star's parents out of the room, leaving Star alone with the plate of tacos still in her hands. She fell back against the wall and allowed gravity to slide her down to a sitting position on the floor before she began almost viciously consuming another taco.
"My my, stress eating at a party being thrown in your honor?" Star looked up to find the source of the voice to be Eclipsa who now stood above her. "You and I may be related after all."
Janna had immediately made her way to the buffet table upon arrival and was stacking a single taco high with ingredients. Once she had sufficiently constructed what she felt was the perfect taco for herself, she held it up to her mouth to take the first bite only to be interrupted from behind.
"Hey there...Janna," a nervous Tom asked.
"Ugh, what do you want?" she replied, annoyed, before taking a bite.
"I was wondering," Tom managed to say, "Well, Marco and I were wondering, if you would like to come on a beach trip with us?"
"In the middle of winter?" Janna asked as she leaned back against the table and took another bite of taco.
"Well, yeah, I mean we're going to a beach in the Underworld. So it will be warm, actually it will be hot, really hot."
"It's always really hot when you're around," she teased with a smirk causing Tom to blush hard. "Man, that was too easy."
Tom coughed before asking, "Well, would you?"
Janna took a final bite of taco and savored it for a moment while Tom waited for her reply. "Do I have to spend any one on one time with you?"
Tom was taken back. "Well, I guess, would that be the worst thing?"
"I don't know, you're the Prince of the Underworld. Shouldn't you know all about the worst things?"
"Are you comparing having a conversation with me to medieval torture?" Tom squinted as he asked. "Anyway, Marco just wants to do something to get Star out of the house, and hanging with her friends again. I'm just helping my best friend."
"And his girlfriend," Janna added while she wiped her mouth with a napkin. "Your ex if memory serves right."
"Yeah..." Tom trailed off.
Janna sighed, "I'm just messing with you, dude. Of course I'm there if it's for Star. Can you just not be weird though?"
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"I think you know what it means, Horns," she said cooly while she reached into her pocket and pulled a piece of paper out. "Also, I have a new list for you."
"Again?" Tom took the list and examined it. "You know, you can find most of this information on the internet now. There's no reason for me to go through my grandpa's library."
"Nah, going on the internet is how the government ends up tracking you."
Tom sighed before closing his eyes and holding the bridge of his nose. "I'm the Prince of the Underworld. I just saw the Queen of Mewni walk into the kitchen and there's like half a dozen other royal heirs in this room. I think the government knows about you..." Tom had opened his eyes to find that Janna had disappeared, seemingly into thin air.
Looking around his immediate vicinity for any sign of her, he muttered to himself, "I've got to learn how she does that."
"I really don't want to hear your pitch again, Eclipsa," said Star before taking one final bite of taco.
"I'm not here to pitch you," Eclipsa replied holding her hands up in surrender, "I'm here because Marco was kind enough to invite me."
Star swallowed before getting up on her feet leaving the the now empty plate behind on the floor. "Good! Because I'm focusing on being a normal teenager, with a normal life, doing normal things!" Her voice became higher and higher as she went on.
"Oh?" replied the Queen, "And how is that going, sweetie?"
"Fine!" The sound of a coyote howling outside could be heard as Star's voice had reached a dangerous octave. She looked down any her feet and then back up to Eclipsa as she thought about what she was saying. "Actually, not fine."
"I see," said Eclipsa as she looked upon her with sympathy. "Tell me what's been happening."
"I, uhh," Star began, "I don't know how to be a normal teenager." She paused for a moment before continuing, "I don't really know...how to be me honestly."
"Well, that is a problem."
"I used to be the magical princess for another dimension. Now? I'm not magic, not a princess and I'm not even sure what dimension I'm in anymore!"
"That makes two of us," offered Eclipsa.
"And everyone in Echo Creek seems to hate me," she continued as she awkwardly rubbed her elbow with her other hand. ""While I was walking the laser puppies, well, laser dogs I guess except they don't have lasers anymore, I met this guy who was just so angry at me."
"Why does that matter?" asked Eclipsa slightly shocked, "So many hated you when you gave me the throne, it didn't seem to bother you so much then."
"First, it did bother me," she retorted, "Like a lot. Don't believe me? Ask Marco about it. Second, at least I knew what I did was the right thing to do. This time, I'm not sure."
"All right, and what does Marco say about all this?"
"I haven't...talked to him about it."
"I'm sorry," a now fully shocked Eclipsa stammered, "You haven't shared this with him?"
"How can I?!" Star spoke far too loud and worried someone in the other room would hear, she softened her voice. "After everything we've been through. Everything I put him through?"
"Hmm, is it possible that it's actually difficult to be a normal teenager when you have such an extraordinary boyfriend?" Star pondered the Queen's words for a moment before she added, "He really does love you. Loves you more than any sixteen year old boy has any right too."
It was at that moment they heard Marco's voice from the other room. "Star! Where are you?! We have something to give you!"
Eclipsa smiled at Star before giving her one final thought. "Also, while you may no longer be a princess, he's still a knight." She winked before heading into the living room, Star following behind her.
"There she is!" Marco exclaimed to the room with a smile as Star entered the room behind Eclipsa. Everyone had gathered around with Marco, his parents and her parents at the front with an oddly shaped object hidden under a white sheet. "Star, we all got together and got you something for your birthday we think you'll like," Marco continued trying to hide the glee in his voice.
"Although, you probably won't be able to use it for a few months," said Angie, "But we all wanted you to be able to get around a little easier when the weather improves."
Marco pulled the sheet from the object to reveal a bicycle with a shining yellow frame. Rainbow colored streamers adorned the handle bars and the rear wheel featured a tire guard with a shooting star motif painted on it.
"Ahhhhhhh!" screeched Star as she tried to catch her breath. "Is that a bike for me?!"
"It sure is," said Marco before everyone in the room cheered out in unison.
"Happy birthday, Star!"
It was at that moment there was a loud knock at the door.
"Were we expecting more people?" asked Angie towards Rafael and Marco.
"No, my sweet," replied Rafael, "I thought everyone had already arrived."
Marco looked around, scanning the guests in attendance and confirmed. "Yeah, everyone is here except Janna. I think she's in my room reading my journal though. Hopefully she doesn't find the real one."
"Open up!" came a stern voice through the door, "Echo Creek Police!"
"Police?" responded Moon, "As in the authorities?"
"Get behind me, Moonpie, I'll defend you!" proclaimed a brazen River.
"Nonsense, this must be a misunderstanding," Angie said as she made her way to the front door among the now quietly muttering party guests. She opened the door to find two police officers dressed in modern body armor and fully armed. "Hello? May we help you?"
One of the officers replied, "Ma'am, we've received some complaints about activities at this residence. Am I to understand you are harboring non-Echo Creek residents here this evening? You understand per city ordinance, a curfew is in effect that prevents non-residents, or aliens, from being within city limits during non-daylight hours?"
"What?!" came Angie's indignant response, "Since when?!"
"Signed by the City Manager last night," the other officer replied, "Along with a whole host of other laws concerning aliens. I spent my day evicting mermaids from the river."
"At least you didn't have spider duty," the first officer quipped. "Pursuant to the ordinance, we will have to take any aliens present in for processing."
"I beg your pardon?!" interjected Eclipsa as she pushed her way to the front of the group. "For what reason would you arrest these people?!"
"Man, we've got to stop coming to Star's parties," said a nervous Slime under his breath to other teenaged monsters in attendance.
"We are just executing the law, ma'am," the second officer assured Eclipsa.
"Excuse me, but it's 'Your Majesty' to the likes of you," came Eclipsa's indignant response. "You may not realize, but I am the Queen of Mewni. I would suggest you allow everyone here to return to their respective homes unimpeded," she paused briefly before concluding, "Unless you wish to cause a serious diplomatic incident."
The two officers looked at one another and began whispering consultations between themselves.
"Do you think she's the real deal? I didn't even know they had a Queen."
"She must be a Queen, she's got an accent."
"That doesn't mean she's a Queen, you dope. And if she is, what's she doing at some kid's birthday party?"
"Don't you remember? This is the house from about two years ago. The exchange student? Who crushed a squad car and froze a helicopter in place in the sky? The one with the ridiculously long hair over there?" The first officer pointed out Star in the middle of the room, causing everyone else to look in her direction as well.
Star grimaced at once again, being the center off attention for mistakes she had made in the past. At that moment, she noticed Buff Frog in the opposite corner of room surrounded by his children. He gave her a knowing look as he nodded towards the police at the door.
"All right, you're Majesty," the second officer said somewhat sarcastically, "We won't process anyone, but all aliens present, including yourself, must leave city limits immediately."
"And we'll be following you all in the squad car to insure your departure," added the first.
"Very well," said an annoyed but deflated Eclipsa, "But rest assured, I will be speaking with this City Manager first thing in the morning."
"Well, I suppose that's our cue to leave as well," said Moon to her daughter. "Happy birthday again, Star. I hope the next time we see you will be sooner than this time."
"Happy birthday, pumpkin," concurred River as they both gave Star hugs.
"Thanks, Mom. Thanks, Dad. I'll...I'll be around more."
As the other guests began to file out of the house under the eye of the authorities, they said their last wishes to Star, to which she responded with sheepish thanks and awkward apologies.
"Hey, girl, all the best parties end with the police breaking it up!" reassured Ponyhead as she drifted by and towards the door.
"Thanks Pony, I'll see you again soon," replied Star, somehow even more embarrassed than before.
Later that night, Star sat on her new bike in the middle of the living room as Marco and his parents cleared the mess left by the party.
"I love my new bike," she said as she leaned down on the handlebars and admired it. "I can't wait to take this thing out on the highway."
"Really?" asked Marco in a surprised tone, "I'm glad to hear that, we can have a lot of fun riding around when the weather improves."
"Yeah, me on Cloudy Two here and you on your dragon cycle."
Marco laughed a little, "Yeah, that seems pretty reasonable." He finished clearing the final bits of garbage before bagging it and tying it shut. His mom took the bag from him before she and his dad took the last of the refuse into the kitchen, leaving the two teens alone.
"So...did you enjoy your party?" Marco hoped for a positive response, for any indication that his girlfriend, his best friend, was happy.
"I did, it was nice to see everyone," Star said before pausing and adding, "It was a little overwhelming if I'm honest."
"Yeah, sorry about that," replied Marco as he looked at his feet and then back up to her. "I only invited a few people, your parents, Eclipsa, Tom and Ponyhead, and you can probably guess who told the rest of Mewni about it." He was relieved to see a smile form on her face. His parents, who had reentered the room behind him were also relieved to see it.
"We're turning in for the night," said Rafael, placing a hand on his wife's shoulder.
"You two don't make too much noise," Angie added, "And Star, you may not want to sit on your new bike like that. You're bending the kickstand all out of whack."
Star, in an attempt to get off her new prize possession as quickly as possible, fell over and landed on the ground with the bike falling on top of her. "Ow! I'm okay!" Marco attempted to help her up but could not help but giggle at the comedic display. His parents also couldn't help chuckling a little.
"You'll get the hang of it again," he said as he picked the bike up off of her and helped her to her feet.
"What? I meant to do that," she said as she reestablished her balance. "Thank you guys for the party, it was really wonderful. And the food was amazing."
"Well, I can only take the credit for the food," replied Rafael as he and Angie made their way up the stairs.
"Everything else was all Marco," Angie added, "Good night you two, and happy birthday again, Star."
The two teens found themselves fully alone together for the first time that night. They stared at one another for what seemed like minutes, but was only seconds. Finally Star wrapped her arms around Marco and hugged him tightly.
"Thanks, Marco," she said softly, "I love you."
"I love you too, Star," he said back, "Can...can I ask you something though? Are you...are you doing okay?"
Star kept hugging him and the time dilation Marco was experiencing seemed to grow. She finally released him, pushed back and stared at him with her hands firmly gripping him at his sides.
"No, I'm not."