A couple weeks went by since school started again. Things seemed normal.

Classes were going, sports teams were practicing inside where it was warm, and snow was letting up little by little.

But back at the palace, the horses decided to have some fun in the snow before it was all melted away.

"You're going down, girly!" Wrecker shouted, throwing another snowball at Estrella, who ducked.

"Missed me!"

"Oof!" groaned Maybelle. "Crosshair... prepare to meet your match!"

The Batchers, as well as Qui-Gon and his children were in a big snowball fight with the horses. It was a battle of the genders in this one.

Kara quickly build a protective wall of snow and made a bunch of snowballs with the unicorns' and Padme's help.

"Alright, Carousella." said Caroline. "on my count, fire!"

Indira ducked as she was nearly hit with a snowball.

"You can throw a ball at a mountain, but it will never fall." Indira said, before kicking some snowballs at Tech and Carmine.

"Face the music, cous!" Carousella taunted, practically burying Remix in snowballs.

"They're too powerful!" Remix said. "We may have to retreat!"

It was fifteen to ten, which should have been considered unfair, but the girls were pretty confident they could beat the guys.

Sapphire was the only pony not throwing snowballs because... someone had to keep an eye on the babies.

By now, Lee Ali was back to attending school after attending her grandmother's funeral. She was still grieving over the loss, but Lamenta and her family gave their condolences and told the Hartems that if they needed anything at all, they were willing to help.

Lee Ali's birthday was coming up, and Lamenta wanted to surprise her friend with something special. Over the last couple weeks, Lamenta let Lee Ali share all her favorite memories of her grandma with her. One of her favorites was the time she took Naya and Lee Ali camping.

"Daddy had a lot of trouble starting the campfire." Lee Ali said, starting to laugh. "And then his marshmallow caught fire. Luckily, Grandma thought to bring a fire extinguisher. She knew more about surviving in the woods than all of us. You should've seen when my Grandma chased off that flock of mosquitoes. Naya thought she'd never be able to climb a tree, and those bugs scared her into climbing to the top!"

"Wow," said Lamenta. "Your family has definitely got an interesting way of making things exciting."

"Yeah. That's why I joined the Little Star Scouts. So I could practice more of what my grandma taught me." Lee Ali said. "My family planned to go camping again in the summer. But now I don't know if we can anymore. It wouldn't be the same without Grandma."

"I think she'd be disappointed if you guys didn't go." Lamenta said. "You said so yourself, she taught you a lot about surviving in the woods, and she would want you to continue to learn and grow. It's what every parent and grandparent wants for their kids."

Lee Ali also told Lamenta how her grandmother used to tell her all kinds of great stories whenever she had a video call at night. And when they went to her house for the holidays when Lee Ali was much smaller, she taught her and Naya how to give each other makeovers.

"Grandma could do everything." Lee Ali said. "Daddy always said when he was a kid, she was the fun parent."

"I wouldn't have expected that." Lamenta said. "Most kids I've met who had both parents at least for some of their life usually said their dads were the fun parents and their moms the boss."

"That's pretty common. It's pretty much the opposite in most of my family."

Lamenta knew a great place to have a great birthday surprise for Lee Ali waiting.

On Wednesday, the day of Lee Ali's birthday, she found an invitation on her desk to a sleepover at the Naboo palace that weekend. And there was no way she would say no to a slumber party.

But she wasn't the only one to get an invite.

Lamenta handed out some invites to a few friends from her and Lee Ali's ballet class, Gabby invited Rosella and Pedro, a few Jedi younglings, and they also invited their newest friend Goldie.

"A sleepover? I've never been to one before." said Goldie. "What's it like?"

"It's lots of fun." Gabby said. "We had one for my mom's bachelorette party a few years ago. We played games, sang karaoke, and had a big pillow fight too."

"Wow."

"You'll love it. Trust me."

"I'll have to ask my parents."

"A sleepover at the palace?" said Mariposa, looking at the invitation. "Of course, you can go, Goldie. It's a great opportunity to practice your social skills, as well as get an inside look at the palace. Mariverde is after the royal family's crown jewels, which we must prevent her from getting her hands on. Figure out where they are kept, and report back to me."

"And what if the guards or someone in the royal family catches me?" Goldie asked.

"Don't worry. I thought of that."

Mariposa took out a locket which she opened, but not before telling Goldie to hold her nose first. Inside was a little green crystal.

"This is amnesia salt. If you're caught, all you have to do is open this locket and get them to get a whiff of it. One sniff, and they'll forget everything that happened in the last few seconds. But this is only enough to help you three times. Use it wisely."

"Okay, Mommy."

"Are you sure it's wise using our daughter for this?" Garret asked his wife.

Mariposa knew from the beginning that having Goldie be a spy was very risky, but she did not enter into this decision lightly. She reminded her husband of what was at stake if they didn't gain the royal family's trust soon.

"Our daughter is helping to potentially save countless lives." Mariposa said. "We've been in hiding for too long, as have any other Doresho Gypsies out there. Goldie also now has a chance to find new friends. In doing so, she will help save an entire race, and we are helping the royal family as their home is still being restored."

Goldie got to packing her bag for the trip. She picked up her caterpillar plushie and felt nervous.

"You know, Pilly. I know Mommy says it might be too scary for any other kids to hear, but if they knew what happened between the doresho gypsies and the sorcerers all those years ago, maybe they'd understand why this is so important."

Finally, the night of the big sleepover came along.

Lee Ali walked into the palace and was happily greeted by Lamenta.

"So, where do I set my sleeping bag?" Lee Ali asked.

"You'll see." Lamenta said.

Lamenta brought Lee Ali to the palace ballroom.

"Lee Ali, brace yourself." Lamenta said.

Lee Ali wasn't sure what to think at first, but then, she was happily surprised when she saw a group of kids, some of whom she knew, some she'd never seen before. All of them were setting up sleeping bags in a series of tents they were setting up.

"Happy late birthday, Lee Ali." said Lamenta.

With a little help from her friends, Lamenta managed to turn the palace ballroom into a beautiful campsite. Anakin, Gabby, and Lamenta grew lots of bushes, trees, and flowers to make the place look like a forest, there were little jars filled with fireflies to light up the room, and there were even little tents set up for the kids to place their sleeping bags.

"You did all this for me?" Lee Ali said.

"I remember you said how much you loved camping with your grandma." Lamenta said. "I know it's not the same thing because it's technically indoors and with a lot of other kids, but I thought it would be fun if we did it together."

Lee Ali hugged Lamenta and thanked her for going to all this trouble to make her happy.

Of course, the kids did have some adult supervision in the form of the Bad Batch.

Gabby and Lamenta introduced Lee Ali to some of the friends she hadn't met yet, and they got started with some fun activities.

Lee Ali told Lamenta about how her grandmother taught her and Naya how to make all kinds of great crafts using things they found outdoors. Crowns of leaves and flowers, making little dragonflies out of maple leaves and sticks, pressing flowers into bookmarks, pinecone roses, acorn necklaces, necklaces out of seeds, handmade nature brushes and paints, even dreamcatchers.

"Grandma said when she was a little girl, she went on a retreat that took her on a journey of how some native tribes lived a simpler life and made the most of what nature gave them." She explained. "Butterflies were her favorite thing to see.

"My abuela loved butterflies too." said Rosella. "She used to call us her little mariposas."

"Mariposa means butterfly." said Goldie.

"Right!"

"Oh! I can't get this thing to stay together!" Wrecker whined, joining in on the crafting.

He was trying to make a necklace with acorns and seeds, but was having trouble stringing them together.

"Here, Wrecker. I'll show you how." Gabby said, having more nimble fingers than Wrecker.

Tech and Hunter lit up Mila's invention of the indoor firepit. Mila invented it with a glass table and some lanterns to make it work like a regular outdoor campfire.

"You're sure this thing is safe?" Echo asked, skeptical.

Let's just say, the other Madrigals weren't as good at being quiet about Mila's past invention disasters as her boyfriend was.

"I assisted Mila in testing this device." Tech said. "Calibrated every potential risk and thoroughly tested every bit of this before getting it approved by King Qui-Gon and Princess Padme for use tonight."

Once the fire was safely set up, the kids began roasting marshmallows for s'mores. And the kids began to tell stories they knew.

Rosella and Pedro told a story about The Angry Ghost of Abuelo Pedro, which was actually the story of when Mila haunted the Encanto back when they didn't know what her gift was. Gabby told everyone the story of how her father discovered his powers on Zygerria and freed the Togruta colonists, defeating the evil queen. A girl from Lamenta and Lee Ali's ballet class told a scary story about a dancer in a haunted theater. Goldie was next. She didn't know any stories of her own... but she did bring something from home.

Out from her bag, Goldie pulled out an old leather book with a gold butterfly portrait on the cover.

"What's that?" asked Diamond.

"Just a book my mom wrote some stories in." Goldie said. She flipped through the pages and found the story she was looking for. "Ahem. This is the story of the Butterfly and the Lie."

Once upon a very long time ago...

There was a young girl named Marisola. But she was no ordinary girl. She had magical powers of her own. Powers that made her talk to butterflies, and gave her wings of her own. With her butterflies, she could help other people fly, she could make flowers grow, and make the butterflies do all kinds of tricks too.

Marisola wasn't alone either. Her home was in Butterfly Meadow, the most beautiful land in all of Enchantra. More flowers grew there than anywhere else, and butterflies fluttered about. And in the meadow was also a village full of people with butterfly wings and wonderful magical powers.

One day, as if by chance, Marisola was flying through the woods, when she got caught in a snare!

Marisola was terrified and tried to escape as she heard a rustle in the bushes. But it wasn't a bear or a monster. It was actually a very handsome prince named Griffith, who'd been searching for bears in the woods, but he caught a butterfly instead.

The prince was so sorry he'd caught Marisol in the snare, but then his eyes met hers, and they fell in love.

Prince Griffith came back to the forest almost every day, and he and Marisol danced and fell in love over time. And Prince Griffith made a decision that would change his and Marisol's lives forever.

But when Prince Griffith told his family of his decision, they were less than pleased.

"You cannot marry this... freak!" said the king. "She is a gypsy, unlike the rest of us. She is not fit to be a princess, much less future queen."

"Your Majesty, I love Griffith." said Marisol.

And it was true. Marisol loved Griffith so much, but Griffith's parents didn't care. They told him he needed to marry a human princess. One that didn't have butterfly parts.

("But that doesn't make sense." said Diamond. "Fairies have wings too, and they can marry human wizards."

"Times were different before." Goldie explained. "My mommy says a lot of stuff had to happen before Enchanteds were allowed to have inter-species relationships. Can I get back to the story now?"

"Sorry."

"Anyway...")

Griffith tried to reason with his father, but the king had Marisol thrown out of the castle and banished forever.

Marisol was so sad that the king didn't like her. But she was even more sad that she and Griffith couldn't be together. But then, Griffith came to her. He told Marisol that if he couldn't be with her in his kingdom, then he would be with her in her village.

And for a while, Griffith and Marisol were happy. They got married and soon were about to have a baby, but then... something terrible happened.

One day, straight out of the blue, an army came into the village in Butterfly Meadow and ransacked the people's homes and captured the villagers. Griffith ran back to his castle to confront his father on the matter, and it turned out something awful had happened.

Someone robbed all the banks in the village, stole everyone's jewels, and destroyed many buildings too. All witnesses to the crimes said they saw someone with butterfly wings committing the crimes. And all the stolen goods were found in the forest heading towards Butterfly Meadow. But, Marisol knew none of her people would do anything like that. But, no one believed them.

Everyone started to call the Butterfly Gypsies monsters, thieves, and decided that they had to be destroyed before they could manipulate the innocent little butterflies into doing their bidding.

The army burned the village and captured many of the villagers to be executed, but some were able to escape. But Marisol was not one of them. She was lost, and so was her baby. And to make things worse, Griffith went back to his kingdom to marry a princess his parents chose for him. But their kingdom wasn't the only one to betray these people.

Many kingdoms all across the world were told lies about the people of Butterfly Meadow. No matter where the escaped villagers went, people attacked them, ran away from them, or tried to capture them. They had no place to call home, and the entire race went into hiding until slowly, they began to disappear.

This made one of the escaped villagers so angry.

Marisol's big sister, a very powerful spell creator, sought revenge against the kingdoms who wrongfully banished them into hiding and took her sister and unborn niece or nephew. So, she created a spell that changed her powers forever. She decided if the kingdoms were only going to see her kind as monsters, she would give them monsters to fear. And she gathered as many escapees as she could find and changed their power too.

With this new power, they could enslave anyone they wanted and make them do everything they said no matter what. And over time, people did get scared of them, and had a lot things taken from them. But these new dark forces wanted one thing more than anything else. Revenge on the kingdom that started it all.

They had their home taken from them, they were going to do the same thing to the royal family that destroyed everything they loved. They tried many times to take over many kingdoms, but were always defeated. They couldn't defeat the guardians of the kingdoms, but they could run and hide.

Years went by, and the same thing happened with their descendants. But not all the descendants continued to seek revenge.

Among the descendants was one woman who had a new perspective on the world. While she was raised to believe that all those non Butterfly Enchanteds and ordinas were bad, she found that theory to be wrong when she spent time among the people, eventually coming to meet the man who would change her life forever. Unlike Marisol and Griffith, this couple got to have a happier ending.

They got married and eventually had a baby, but because people still didn't see the mother's kind in a good light, they had no choice but to hide her heritage and that of their child until things could change for the better.

The other kids couldn't believe that story Goldie had just told them.

"That's so sad, what happened to Marisol." said Gabby, crying at that part.

"Your mom really wrote that?" said Echo.

"Is she a professional writer?" Carousella asked.

"No. It's just a hobby of hers." Goldie said.

And by the time Goldie finished her story, it was time for the kids to hit the hay, which also meant it was about time for Goldie to begin the next part of her mission.

Once everyone was asleep, Goldie carefully crawled out of her sleeping bag and began tiptoeing across the palace.

It was a big palace. How was she gonna find the crown jewels in this place?

"If I had crown jewels, where would I hide them?" Goldie asked herself.

Goldie decided to start with the bedrooms. She started in Gabby's room. She didn't find any tiaras or crown jewels, strangely. Just a bunch of hair bows, headbands, and a floppy hat she usually wore to garden parties. And all of the stuff in her jewelry box didn't feel magical other than being lovely to look at.

She checked Lamenta's room next. No sign of any crown jewels. Now that meant she had to go into the adopted twins' rooms. That was gonna be tricky. Hopefully the twins were deep sleepers.

Goldie opened the door as quietly as possible and snuck into Boba's room, but stubbed her toe on something on the floor.

As much as Boba had grown in the last few years, he still hadn't quite gotten to keeping his floor completely clear all the time.

Goldie looked on Boba's shelf and, in his closet, as quietly as possible. No crown jewels. But Boba stirred and turned in his bed, making Goldie hide down low in front of the front of the bed. Luckily, Boba didn't wake up. Goldie carefully peered around and caught a glimpse of something around Boba's wrist. His jappor snippet bracelet.

Goldie recognized it from the images her mother showed in her crystal ball. At least she knew what she was looking for exactly. Crowns and necklaces or bracelets. At least she knew where one artifact was now. She hadn't yet seen Gabby or Lamenta's necklaces, as they'd been hidden underneath their shirts or a scarf.

Then, Goldie snuck into Omega's room, and she found Omega's necklace wrapped around her plush Little Star's neck. That left three more bedrooms for Goldie to check. The grownups' rooms.

She started with Carmine's room, but she crawled very quietly as she approached the closet to check. Suddenly, she heard a yawn coming from Carmine. Goldie quickly hid herself in the closet as Carmine got out of bed and left the room, probably to get water or go to the bathroom. Goldie sighed with relief, and saw nothing in the closet but clothes and shoes. Quickly, but quietly, Goldie snuck out of the closet, hoping to get out of the room before she was caught. But, when she walked out of the room, she bumped right into Carmine as he was about to enter the room.

"Where did you come from, little one?" Carmine asked.

"Uh... looking for the bathroom?" Goldie lied.

"Oh, it's just down the hall to the left. I can take you-"

"No thanks. I can go. Thank you."

Goldie left the room and sighed with relief as Carmine went back to bed. She still had to check in Anakin and Qui-Gon's rooms.

But, Anakin was not going to be an easy one to avoid waking up. Despite having been in some epic battles, the man was often a light sleeper, especially after he started recovering from the nightmares Sidious manipulated into his head. Still, Goldie checked and was extra careful not to wake Anakin or Padme. No sign of crown jewels in this room. Same went for Kara's room.

That only left one room to check.

Qui-Gon and Shmi were cuddled up together, peacefully sleeping. Qui-Gon was snoring, but his bride slept through it.

Goldie was extra quiet so she wouldn't wake the king or his future queen... when she accidentally breathed in some dust when she looked in the closet.

The girl tried to hold in her sneeze as she rushed out of the room, but ended up releasing a loud sneeze as she exited the room, which woke Qui-Gon right up!

"Bless you!" Qui-Gon gasped, startled out of what had been a good dream.

But his exclamation also woke Shmi.

"Qui, Honey. What's going on?" Shmi said.

Qui-Gon could swear he sensed something present, but when he looked around, no one was there.

"Sorry to wake you, Dear." Qui-Gon said. "I must've imagined it."

Qui-Gon yawned and laid back down to get back to sleep.

Goldie breathed heavily as she snuck back to her sleeping bag and hid under the blankets to text her mother.

Goldie: I couldn't find any crown jewels other than Omega and Boba's bracelet and necklace. They must be very well hidden

Goldie waited for a response from her mother.

Mariposa: If they are as well hidden as you say, then that it good. But, we will have to make sure just to be safe. For now, get some rest.

Meanwhile, Mariverde felt relieved after a short trip among society. She'd seen all kinds of simple things that could create negative emotions for her to feed off of, and she had a much bigger idea to create new victims for her mariclavas.

Mariverde recalled a place called M.A.R.E.D. (Maximum Armed Rogue Enchanteds Detention). The MARED Center was the most secure prison in Enchantra, where many of the most dangerous criminals were kept.

"The royal family might have been able to defeat one escaped criminal." said Mariverde. "But let's see how they do with a couple hundred escapees on the loose."

Mariverde walked over to a jar she kept for a while. In that jar was the very last moth of her sister Gray Morpha. If there was one thing to know about dark magic, it was that it stayed alive as long as it was not met by its weakness, light magic. And because this one escaped the royal family, Mariverde was able to find it first.

"Time to put you to good use, my precious moth."

Mariverde opened the jar and held the gray moth in her hand, placing the other over it. She concentrated hard.

"By the power of moth, darkness and hatred arise, confound this moth to do as I, the power within, do make it mine!"

As Mariverde held the moth in her hands, she changed it so Lady Morpha's power would still work in this moth, but this time it would be under Mariverde's control. And what she made it do next was not anything good.

As it was late that night, the head guard was at his post, when a moth suddenly fluttered into the room. The guard grabbed a cup and tried to capture the moth, but was unsuccessful as it landed between his eyes.

"Congratulations, my slave," said Mariverde. "You have the honor of committing a great task to aid your master."

Mariverde, with the guard under her control, ordered him to take out his wand and keys, and unlock all the cells, releasing all the prisoners out into the free world.

Many creatures of darkness, criminals captured long ago and not so long ago were free, and they were all too happy to make a run for the door as the alarms were set off. Most of their powers were too weak to cause a lot of damage right now, but they had just enough strength to escape the guards. And with these criminals on the loose, there was no telling what danger everyone would be in soon.