Author's Note: Hi everyone! I just wanted to say a quick thank you for reading, and give a shout out to user Astraya who left a comment on the last chapter :D won't let me respond to it (when are they going to fix that?! come on guys (ﾉಥ益ಥ)ﾉ) so I'm acknowledging that lovely comment here 3 THANK YOU! YOU ROCK!



"Ludo."

Marco snapped his body into attack stance, heart pounding and muscles taut as he readied himself for the fight. He had only fought one of Star's enemies alone before- well, that was more of a verbal assault on his part than anything else. But this wasn't Toffee. This was Ludo, and he had a reasonable amount of faith that he would be able to hold his own against the Avarian. As his arm sliced upward to deliver the first strike, Ludo fell into a submissive, grovelling position on the floor.

"Stop, stop!" the villain yelled, "I am not here to fight you!"

" Yeah, right. Give me one good reason not to roundhouse kick you out of Star's room!"

Ludo glared up at him, something mischievous gleaming in his eyes.

"Because," he suggested, his tone amicable, "The enemy of my enemy is my friend."

Marco's body relaxed slightly, arms falling to his sides. His eyebrows knit together in confusion. Ludo's wand was noticeably absent; a detail Marco did not miss. Not being immediately armed for the fight put the villain at a disadvantage. Marco would have ample amount of time to punch first if he had come here to fight. But had he really arrived in peace? And what was he talking about?

Ludo slowly rose from the floor, making a show of presenting his empty, upturned palms- his gross, crusty palms. Marco winced.

"I'm just gathering a little intell is all. Really, Marco, I'm trying to help you out."

"Help me out? You and I are NOT friends, bird brain."

"Oh, come on. Now that you have a tragic backstory, we can at least bond over that, can't we?"

"Tragic what now?"

Ludo held his arms behind his back as he paced in circles. He shook his head from side to side as he spoke, pitying the boy.

"A loyal knight and trusted friend, tirelessly protecting his princess without fail...all the while, unbeknownst to him, he was being queued up as another pawn."

Marco's mind was racing. He had no idea what Ludo was talking about, or why he was here in the first place. Part of him suspected that this was all part of some crazy ruse to catch him off guard before a surprise attack- which, frankly, would have succeeded right about now. He was distracted and dumbfounded by the whole thing.

"And then," Ludo continued. "That boy, that once future king of Mewni , is usurped by a prince consort hooligan- who appeared suspiciously out of nowhere, might I add."

"Future king of Mewni?! What?! No, Star and I...I was never...we aren't," Marco stammered before silencing his embarrassed fit. "Wait a second. What do you mean by 'prince consort hooligan?'"

Ludo drew in a sharp gasp, staring at him with wide, shocked eyes. When he spoke, his voice was seeping with sympathy. Stranger still, Marco thought it might have sounded just the slightest bit genuine. He didn't think Ludo even knew the meaning of 'compassion,' much less how to practice it.

"She hasn't even told you? Oh my, my. She's more heartless than I thought…. surely , I told myself, he knows what's going on...the karate boy is her number one confidant, her closest friend, her most trusted companion! But...to have done all this behind your back.."

His chest was tight. It felt like his lungs were going to burst, like a balloon being stretched farther and farther past its natural capacity.. What did Ludo know about Star that he himself didn't? He didn't want to know. And yet, he did want to know. He did, he didn't. Back and forth, his emotions wavered, simultaneously wanting to hear the truth- however painful it may be- and plug his ears with his fingers and drown it all out, like a child might.

"I don't know what you're talking about," he gulped hard. "For all I know, you're making up all this 'prince consort' nonsense!

"See for yourself," Ludo gestured to the vanity on the wall. "Even now, the evidence surrounds you."

The room was spinning now, walls stretching and growing far above his head. This couldn't be true. No. No! He didn't want to see it. His feet felt like lead as he forced them to drag across the floor.

And there, sure enough, where there had once been an arrangement of pictures of he and Star plastered to the mirror, was the evidence in question. The photobooth style photos told the incriminating tale. The image of an unfamiliar boy posing with Star surrounded him, no matter where he looked. Every photo, she had a wide smile plastered to her face, gleefully posing with the mysterious stranger.

He was stunned. He had been replaced.

"I know this is hard for you to process, Marco. I would be shocked too, if I were in your position. But together, I assure you, we can send this coward princeling back to whatever hole he crawled out of-"

"Who is this guy?"

He'd never seen him before, not once in his life. His hair was dark, save for one colorful streak. His eyes were concealed behind a thick pair of sunglasses, which made Marco's thoughts whirr in a hurried frenzy. Who wears sunglasses inside? What did he have to hide?

Was he trying to conceal some otherworldly aspect about himself? There were so many dimensions that, really, this dude could be from anywhere in the whole darn galaxy. And Star always did have a thing for the bad boys, for total monsters- not even she would deny her obvious rebellious temperament.

"Why has Star been sneaking around with him? What do you know?"

"I had a run in with these two just a while ago, at the entrance of some terrifying Earth establishment. We battled to my eventual defeat before the boy informed me that he is the Crown Prince of Mewni- and the princess didn't dispute it. He's got a wand too, by the way. Horrible situation for you and me both, really."

Marco blanched. So she was getting married now?!

She'd finally done it. She'd realized what a loser he was, how worthless he was and how much better she deserved. All his worst fears were coming true. He pulled at the collar of his hoodie, sweat threatening to drip down his neck as he suddenly felt a sweltering heat overcome him. The dark shadow of all his deep insecurities were rearing their ugly heads now, with his heart being squeezed tight within their cruel, cold, slimy grasps. His doubts were roaring a slew of cuts and jibes in the back of his mind.

This was going to happen eventually. It's all your fault. Why did you have to go and ruin the only genuine, true friendship you've ever had? You mess everything up.

This was just too much to handle. The guilt of letting his best friend grow distant wouldn't be remedied until he apologized and set things right, but now, he feared, things would never go back to the way they were. Star was moving on without him. He was being left behind, and it was all his fault.

She had shot across his sky- shining brilliantly for a moment, illuminating his lonesome world before eventually fading back into the darkness of the night. That shooting star was now traveling onward to places he could never follow.

"I...think I should give you some time to process this."

Ludo dug through the pocket of his tattered, mangy capelet before retrieving a little business card. He offered it to the boy.

"If you learn anything new, contact me. And remember- we're allies now! I can help you."

And just as quickly as he had appeared, Ludo sliced through the air with his scissors and departed, leaving Marco to drown in the deafening silence with his own disparaging thoughts.

/ / /

Star's heart pounded furiously within her chest as she ran, just a hair's length away from the clutches of the beast.

This was not a good situation to be in. She looked left and right, searching for anything that could possibly be of use. Towering above her, giant candy canes stood like pine trees, but offered no respite from the monster hot on her heels. Her rapid movements were more like bouncing and floating than running; slipping on the powdery terrain underfoot was a looming threat.

"We REALLY shouldn't have gone exploring for yetis," Comet shouted, being pursued himself from a few feet away.

Think, Star, think!

Neither of them could use magic from this height on the mountain. A blast of any force carried the risk of an nearly guaranteed avalanche.

From behind her, the yeti let out an ear-shattering roar, revealing a gnarly mouth of razor-sharp teeth. Yikes!

Star gave a fast glance to her companion; Comet was barely evading the monster clawing at his back, his coat tattered in the aftermath of the beast's mighty swipes. As they exited the most heavily-forested part of the mountain, the incline took a sharp turn for the worst.

She heaved, nearly out of breath. This couldn't keep up for much longer. At this rate, she'd be better off to just fire off a blast and brave the avalanche, or try to fight the beast fist-to-claw, or tuck and roll….

Tuck and roll! That was it!

"Comet!" She shouted. "Brace yourself!"

She ducked a strike from the behind and harnessed all her energy into her legs, pushing off against the ground as hard as she could, plunging her body to the right. Taking a daring dive, she aimed directly for Comet's legs, tangling herself in them and knocking him down. The force of the impact was hard and fast, and the two were sent sliding down the steep mountainside faster than their feet could have ever taken them, screaming all the while.

The distance created had given them some breathing room, but as the incline evened out and they began to slow to a stop, Star knew it was time to take cover.

She quickly spotted exactly what she had been looking for; a small cave opening was sunken into the mountainside in the not-so-far off distance. Perfect! She flung her sore body up, pulling the boy to his feet with her. He need not question where they were headed; great minds think alike, and the same idea had been whizzing through his mind just moments earlier. Clutching the ripped, frayed remains of his coat, he pressed on.

"Wait," he exclaimed, stopping Star in her tracks.

He ripped his coat off his back, tying it along his waist. As he ripped his sweater from his body, the bitter cold air nipped at his exposed skin, seeping through it and chilling his bones. Star watched him with her mouth agape.

"Woah there, buddy, now is NOT the time for indecent exposure! Well, really, it's never the time for- HEY!"

He pulled her taut against him, slipping his arms around her waist and locking them tight.

Come on, Comet. You can do this!

The tiny, buzzing bug wings protruding from his back beat faster and faster, barely lifting them off the ground before propelling them forward. It seemed as though the small flight took every last bit of strength the boy could muster. Looking up at his face, Star watched as beads of sweat rolled down his clammy forehead, his teeth clenching his lips hard enough to draw blood. His cheeks glowed red with strained effort, eyes scrunched tight in concentration. With great exertion, they hovered toward the cave.

Star tumbled to the ground with a thud the moment they were within the stony shelter. Comet hung his head beneath his shoulders as he huffed and panted for air.

He was covering our tracks , she realized.

The cave surrounding them was dark and relatively small. It concealed them completely from the world outside, and with a little patience and careful quietness, Star imagined they would safe from the yetis for good. She sparked a tiny, controlled campfire with her wand.

The light of the fire illuminated a very exhausted Mewnian prince, arms and legs sprawled out against the stony floor.

"Impressive work back there," she complimented, conjuring him up a simple hoodie to shield him from the cold.

"Y-yeah….that's...the longest...airtime...I've ever…managed…" he said between gasps.

They sat in the wintry silence, the occasional teensy crackle from the fire filling the air. Star removed her mittens and warmed her hands by the flames. Beside her, the collapsed Comet rested, chest rising and falling with every breath.

When he eventually rose from the ground, he leaned his back to rest against the cave's wall, running his fingers through his sweaty locks of hair.

"This reminds me of something."

Star considered summoning a marshmallow or two and making s'mores before deciding against it; magical food always tended to taste like it came out of a dumpster. She'd learned that the hard way- a shudder ran down her spine as she remembered her magically enhanced brownies.

"The first time Marcia ever saw snow," he mused. "I was there."

"She'd never seen the snow?" Star asked.

"Nope. When she told me, we were just sitting around watching cheesy Christmas movies, and I fell off the couch. It really surprised me, you know?"

"Yeah," Star smiled. "Considering it snows everywhere on Mewni during the winter, that's weird to think about."

"I planned this big dumb weekend trip as soon as she told me that. Took her to the Frost Dimension, gave her the whole winter experience and everything. We built igloos...threw snowballs…we even made a snowman!"

He grinned, eyes staring into the fire as he recalled the fond memory.

"Then I, erm, enhanced the snowman with magic and accidentally created a snowy nightmare. The dude was so irritating, and he wouldn't stop following us around and asking us if we were married. Marcia just laughed and laughed. She told me it was just like one of the Earth carols she grew up singing."

His eyes pooled with a wistful sadness now, wrinkling at the corners.

Star glanced at him, carefully noting the melancholy in his smile. She stayed silent, urging him to continue.

"You know, when she saw the snow falling down? She teared up. I thought it was so weird, like, she was actually going to cry over some frozen water. But...that's what was amazing about it to me. I'm from this royal magical bloodline. I can summon tap-dancing sentient spiders, and warnicorn herds, and tsunamis made of syrup, and it never phases me. That's just normal in my world."

"But Marcia," he continued, "She stared at that snowflake like it was absolute magic. To her, it was magic. The world through Marcia's eyes...that's more magical than anything I've ever experienced."

He stared up at the ceiling of rock, focusing hard, seemingly searching for some kind of meaning in its crevices. Something about him was so vulnerable now that Star was nervous about how to proceed. She thought of his behavior today, how clingy he had been all through school, of how eager he had been to go on an adventure, and it all made sense. He was so lonely .

"You miss her," she placed a gentle hand on his shoulder.

He turned to face her, expression solemn.

"Yeah. Yeah, I do."

He'd kept running from it; running from his problems, running from his feelings. He was on vacation, he had told Star; a vacation from his problems while he was in her timeline. But he wasn't, really. He'd carried that baggage with him, a constant, weighty reminder of what awaited him back home.

"I think...I think it's high time we got you home, buddy."

"But, Star- I don't mean to make you feel like I'm not having a good time! I swear, hanging out with you has been the most fun I've had in, gosh, forever-"

"I understand it completely. I know that you've had a great time, because I have, too! But I also know that it might be time for us to face our problems head on, instead of just ignoring them."

He nodded in agreement. He rubbed his cold palms together, basking in the bonfire's blaze.

"Still...I can't help but wonder why I'm here."

"Woah, what? Huh? You're not having an existential crisis now, are you?"

"No, I mean, like, why am I HERE? In your timeline? This can't just be some big coincidence, can it?"

"You don't think ending up in my timeline was an accident? But, why? Or how?"

"See," he explained, "I don't know, but I've been thinking about it ever since I arrived. The night of the festival, our mutual wish, and the meteor shower...and now the weird shenanigans at the Royal Garden, all at the same time? Do you think there's any way it's all connected?"

"Well, weirder things have happened," Star shrugged. "But you do have a point. If it's bothering you...why don't we go and investigate it later? I'm honestly pretty curious about it myself."

Her face was awash with warm orange hues, the playful light of the fire dancing in her eyes. She started formulating a plan of exploration, determined not to send her friend back home before their questions were answered. Truthfully, she wasn't entirely convinced that it wasn't just a big cosmic accident that had plunged him into her world, but if it was important to her friend, then it was important to her. If nothing else, she could visit her family's treasured garden and pay respects to the ancestors before her. It seemed like a responsible, 'princessly' thing to do, and maybe it would give her some wiggle room with her mother later on. Showing moments of maturity now and then gave her insurance for whatever childish mischief she would get into next.

"An investigation...sounds like a plan! Oh, but didn't your version of mom say that the Magic High Commission was working 'round the clock to-"

"Comet," Star said, voice deadpan. "You and I both know Mom just had to say that for formality's sake. The second Rhombulus gets hungry, they're not going to get any crap done."

"So, all we gotta do is wait for one of them to get a hankering for hot wings, and we'll take our opening!" Comet said.

And it was settled. They'd return home, recuperate for a while, and sneak into the Royal Garden of Empyrean Enchantments. If they had to, they'd figure out a way to distract the Magic High Commission, but Star had a feeling that wouldn't be too difficult.

And with them out of the way, what could possibly go wrong?