In which a race comes to an end, Lavabo tells a story, and Marco glimpses the beginning of a musical career

Chapter Text

“Because you want it, prince.”

That had been all the reason Higgs had given him. All the reason she had needed to prolong their absurd contest well past the point of her own decisive victory. It made no sense that she continued to mess with him, when she had nothing to gain from it. So, of course, she did. Because not making sense and screwing with him were just what Higgs was best at!

Marco ran behind her, struggling to keep up with the much more athletic mewman.

This day had put the Earth boy through the freaking grinder, and apparently it wasn’t done doing so. It was not enough that Marco had learned some vague lesson about respecting yourself or overcoming discrimination. It also wasn’t enough to learn to admit defeat, or to respect stronger adversaries. Not at all! Instead, the lesson of the day seemed to be as follows: reality is a bitch, people are awful, and if you want something, even something as inconsequential as a silly palm tree costume, then you had to fight for it, you had to earn it.

Well, he was going to do just that! He was going to grab the palm tree outfit before she did, he was going to give it to his bestie, and he was going to seem thoughtful and considerate while doing it!

He pulled out his dimensional scissors again, and tried to open a portal to get ahead of Higgs. Before he could go through it, Higgs simply sprinted towards where the exit vortex was forming and, with a swift motion, hit the swirling orange flames with her shiny new sword. The portal trembled briefly, and then it fizzled out entirely.

“Fun fact about vorpal swords, prince,” Higgs gloated. “They are pretty handy against magic. I haven’t gotten to test it against anything solid yet, though. Wonder if I should try it out on that costume you want so much?”

Marco groaned. This was getting ridiculous! She seemed now a lot less like a fierce rival and more like an attention-starved puppy. She obviously had no use for silly costumes, but the girl just wasn’t quite done screwing with him for the day.

As she stopped to brag some more, Marco took the opportunity to almost catch up to her the old fashioned way. It didn’t seem the other squire minded, though. Right. She probably didn’t just want to beat him to the costume, but keep him close enough to irritate him at every step of the way!

The worst part was, at first, Marco had thought he’d made a friend. Before meeting Nicholas and Timore, Higgs was the first person his age that Marco had met in Mewni. He had been hesitant to trust her at first, when he found out she was squiring under someone like Sir Stabby. He should have trusted that instinct, but, back then, the differences in their demeanors had seemed like night and day. While the older knight was rude, narcissistic, and demanding, Higgs was welcoming, patient, and had a great sense of humor.

Of course, all of that had been a facade. A beautiful mask Higgs wore to lure Marco into a false sense of security, so that she could embarrass him in front of everyone when his guard was down. When she tripped him into the mud, Marco was confused at first, hurt even. Higgs subsequent rant about how Marco being among their ranks was only due to his friendship with the princess, and that his position as squire was undeserved, didn’t help things. It had been an uphill battle for Marco to make a few friends among his fellow squires after that, and only thanks to Lady Jaya’s push had he been able to get himself to do even that much.

And now, Higgs was aiming to mess up his friendship with Star as well. The other squire didn’t know this, of course, but Marco was sure she would literally explode with glee if she did.

Eventually, they both reached the display feature marked in the advertisement poster, which happened to be the bubbling caldera of a tiny volcano. Because, of course it was. In the middle of it, in a high stone pillar, reachable only by a long narrow stone bridge over a lava-filled chasm, was the palm tree costume. Apparently, Quest Buy’s store layout was the work of a bored Saturday morning cartoon villain.

Marco had no time to hesitate, as Higgs was already running through the perilous bridge, seemingly unafraid of the quite lethal fall. He followed close behind her. By a sort of unspoken agreement, they both chose not to attack or obstruct one another over the narrow pass. It was just not worth risking a painful fiery death, not when a single short misstep could take either of them right over the unprotected edge.

Once Higgs had made it past the first third of the bridge, with Marco only a few steps behind, the ground underneath them began shaking. Both squires slowed down, as they tried to keep their balance. Marco wondered, not for the first time, if this was worth it, even for Star’s gift. Sure, he had missed their adventures, and the dangers Star often dragged him into, but this was a bit too much for a palm tree costume...

That’s when the masks showed up.

Floating out from inside the lava on both sides of the bridge, eyes glowing an eerie burning red, fire dancing in their mouths, six Tiki masks came up to surround them. The one closest to Marco lazily opened its wooden mouth wide, as if yawning, and a ball of flames came out flying from it towards the squire. He barely managed to dodge it by stepping back in the last second.

Following that first attack, one after the other, the masks yawned, spewing fireballs towards the narrow bridge. As soon as the last was done, the first was ready to fire again. They harassed both squires with an endless rotating barrage.

Tiki masks? Really? Atop a fake island volcano? To get a palm tree? So, it was a themed death trap? God, he hated Quest Buy so much!

Much more slowly, Higgs and Marco made their way through the bridge, avoiding or blocking the fireball projectiles from all six masks. Marco managed to use dimensional portals to send a few of those towards the lava below, whereas Higgs’ magical sword seemed to be able to deflect the fireballs as one would a baseball. Every time one impacted the vorpal sword, it glowed bright blue in response, and the offending meteor would be sent flying back in the exact direction it came from, with close to its original momentum, but reversed.

Marco had to admire the other squire’s skill and determination, even if what she was determined to do was mostly to mess with him. Once again, he wondered what was that drove her to such competitiveness, before remembering that he himself had every reason to want to beat her this time. Not just for his own sake, but for the sake of patching things up with Star.

“Still following behind, prince?” the girl teased as she deflected another fireball. “I don’t know why you bother. You know all you are going to get is a chance to see me cut up your stupid costume up close, right?”

As they made it to the final fourth of the bridge, the Tiki masks begun falling down into the caldera again. Higgs was still in front, but Marco broke into a sprint after her. She responded by picking up the pace herself, despite the sword acting as a considerable weight already.

For the second time that day, he just wasn’t quick enough. Marco sighed as he saw Higgs leap forward into the costume’s tiny platform. She turned back to grin at him once more, holding onto the neck of the palm tree disguise with one hand, lifting her sword slowly with the other, as if to extract the most possible torment out of him, and then, Marco’s eyes opened wide.

Behind the unaware redhead, a seventh Tiki mask had risen from the lava. This one was many times larger than the other six, and taller than the mewman it now loomed behind. It opened its mouth wide…

“Higgs! Watch out!” Marco yelled.

She turned around, but it was too late, a huge fiery meteor was headed towards her and the costume she held up now.

Higgs jumped out of the way, ditching the costume in the process. But the platform was far too narrow for that. Both Higgs and the palm tree outfit fell out, on opposite sides of the bridge, towards their respective volcanic dooms.

Marco raced forward, suddenly unconcerned about his own safety. He pulled out the dimensional scissors and threw himself off the narrow bridge and into the lava. He just hoped the added speed of his jump would allow him to get ahead of his target, to win the race against Higgs, just this once.

His wish was answered, and he found himself passing her on their way down towards their death. A few meters away, he could see the palm tree falling as well. But still, he didn’t have time.

Marco cut one more portal, in front of him. He turned around, grabbed Higgs left hand, and pulled her towards him with all his strength.

They both fell through the portal and hit, not magma, but the surface of the water canal that was the floor of Aisle 13.9. Thankfully, it was deep enough to slow down their fall, as the momentum carried them down all the way to the sand-covered linoleum bottom.

Marco kept pulling Higgs by the arm as he swam up towards the surface and then towards the entrance of the aisle. Higgs was much heavier than Marco had anticipated. He soon realized the reason: her other hand, completely submerged in the water, was still holding onto the vorpal sword. Geez, what a stubborn girl!

He had managed to open the portal under both of them as they fell, and thus, to bring them back all the way here, to where a gently smiling Lavabo and a shocked Sir Stabby waited, still atop their wooden cart-horses.

Higgs choked as she tried to breathe, having swallowed some of the water in the surprise and confusion. By the time they reached the edge of the stream-slash-aisle, she seemed pretty much fine to drag herself out on her own. Still, she looked at Marco like he had grown an extra head (which, since that had actually happened before, made Marco reflexibly pat his thankfully naysaya-free neck).

“Um…” she struggled to form words. “You… you grabbed me, instead of the thing you wanted... Why?"

"Are you kidding?” Marco protested, offended. “No matter how much of a pain in the butt you are, I am not going to let anyone die over a freaking palm tree costume!"

Both of their knights lifted an eyebrow at ‘palm tree costume.’

“What in blazes happened to you out there, Higgs? Wait, nevermind. It doesn’t matter,” Sir Stabby said, disregarding his initial concern at record speed. “A fine job on obtaining that magnificent sword. Took you long enough, though. In fact, we’re running out of time, and you must bring this cart to the checkout immediately!”

“Uh… yes, sir!” Higgs replied, with a resolute nod.

Despite still showing signs of disorientation, it took mere seconds for the experienced squire to dust off her uniform, hand Stabby his new weapon, and leave Aisle 13.9, all without paying Marco and Lavabo any further mind.

Marco sighed. He would have appreciated a ‘thank you’ from the girl whose life he had just saved. Well, it didn’t really matter in the long run, he supposed. Frankly, expecting gratitude from Higgs was like expecting the burning lava to be comfortably cool. It was just not going to happen.

Sir Lavabo remained seated on the wooden horse, looking mildly puzzled, yet composed. “Well, Marco Diaz, although this may be a first for the night, I do believe following Sir Stabby’s example is the best course of action. If we do not purchase these items soon, they will return to their original prices once the sale is over. I fear the Wash budget is not as it once was, so we will only be able to afford most of them for the next ten minutes or so.”

“Um, ok. Yeah. Right. Let’s get going.” Marco replied, shelving his thoughts on what had just happened for a later time.

Lavabo was right, the clock was ticking and, of course, Quest Buy promotions worked on the same schedule as Cinderella’s fairy godmother: everything back to full price by midnight. Well, time to get these items to the checkout, before they turned into pumpkins. He grabbed the cart and followed the half dozen signs leading them to one of Quest Buy’s many checkout sections.

Still sore from the day’s exercise (and upset at the fact that he failed to retrieve Star’s palm tree outfit), Marco wasn’t very enthusiastic during the trek out, and his slow pace, despite the deadline, reflected that. It didn’t help that Lavabo was unusually quiet the entire time. He must have been disappointed in the squire, yet didn’t know how to express that disappointment in words. Perhaps Lavabo should approach Stabby for some pointers on that, the boy thought.

“Sir Lavabo, um, sir?” Marco asked awkwardly.

“Yes, Marco Diaz?” the old knight responded.

“I’ve been meaning to ask. This was obviously your first Squire Blowout as a knight but... how was it when you were a squire?” It must have been thirty to forty years ago, at least. Who knows how different Quest Buy, or, hell, Mewni was back then.

“Ah, an excellent question. While it was a long time ago, I remember it clear as day,” Lavabo said nostalgically. “I only ever attended three total blowouts, since I became a knight shortly after the last one. The second and third blowouts were intense, but manageable. My first blowout was, by far, the most instructive.”

Marco and Lavabo reached the checkout line right then. To their dismay, they found a single register open, maned by an elderly sloth. One which looked to be, if anything, more lethargic than was even common among Quest Buy’s employees. It was currently busy attending Sir Scarsguard, while Meredith herself looked impatiently at the nonagenarian duo exchange pleasantries, one asking the other to repeat himself constantly, and the other calmly beginning its slow stuttering long-winded explanation anew.

Sighing, Marco looked around, quickly spotting the rest of the squires and knights feverishly pushing items through the automated self-checkout kiosks instead. He quickly turned his cart in that direction, picking the machine furthest away from anyone else in the group, Higgs and Stabby in particular.

“Sorry about that. What happened on that first blowout?” Marco pressed the old knight for more, right as he began fumbling with the unintuitive machine.

Lavabo smiled. “Like you, Marco Diaz, my first blowout had occured not long after I was appointed a squire of the Wash. I was thirteen at the time. My knight and mentor, Sir Hanger, stressed the monumental importance of the items we’d need to perform our duties, so he trained me in preparation for the entire week leading up to the blowout.”

Huh, must of been nice to be even moderately prepared for the blowout, Marco thought, a little bitterly.

“Sir Hanger had given me the layout of Quest Buy, and forced me to memorize every single aisle, as well as the route we’d be taking that night, since I was expected to do the race blindfolded.”

“What!? Are you serious!?” Marco looked up from the kiosk, startled. And he thought Stabby was bad!

Lavabo nodded. “It was the most grueling and difficult week I had experienced as a squire, despite me being as fresh to the Wash as a newborn lamb, but I would not have expected anything less from my own father.”

Marco blinked. “Sir Hanger was your dad?”

“Aye, and what a father he was! He possessed all the great qualities you’d expect from both a knight and parent. Strong, yet gentle. Stoic, yet compassionate. He maintained the Order of the Wash for seventy straight years while raising five children. I could only hope to live up to his legacy.”

“The Wash back then sounded less like a chivalric order and more like a family business,” Marco noted, as he tried rotating a bag of Merlin’s and Melvin’s twelve different ways until the barcode scanner finally picked it up.

“You would not be wrong for assuming so, Marco Diaz,” Lavabo said. “I was the youngest of my siblings, and all of them had already been working in the Wash as squires themselves. When my oldest sister found out I was to do the Squire Blowout race blindfolded, she was confused. No such stipulation had ever fallen on them when they partook in the same test. I thought about it, and came to the conclusion that my father had the highest expectations for me as a squire, and I resolved I would not let him down.”

“Were you able to do it?” Marco asked nervously, forgetting for a moment about the unscanned items.

“While I finished the race in time, I was not able to complete both the Wash and knightly gear lists. I believe I only attained half of what we needed. This, unfortunately, resulted in a turbulent year for the Wash.”

So, 50% overall, Marco thought. Looking back at his own two lists, and at the items he was now bagging, he probably ranged from 60% to 70% of what they needed, and had gotten the vast majority of the Wash items. Perhaps he didn’t do as badly as he’d assumed. It was still shocking to learn that Lavabo of all people didn’t do well his first Blowout, especially with the extra training and his borderline unhealthy dedication to the Wash, which he apparently held since he was a teenager.

“What happened?” he cautiously asked, as he once again pressed back to cancel a mislabeled selection in the shoddy Quest Buy machine.

“I didn’t see it myself, due to the blindfold, but apparently a fellow squire did not approve of my participation in the race, so they threw a halberd under my feet, which took us off course. Our cart crashed into a shelf of cauldrons. Not even my father, with his meticulous planning and routing, could have anticipated this event.”

“Wow, so even back then people didn’t appreciate those working for the Wash!” That annoyed Marco to no end! Like, what did it take to get some respect around here!?

“I understand your frustration, Marco Diaz. But that simply is not true,” Lavabo said.

Marco blinked. “Huh?”

“When we crashed into that shelf, the blindfold I was wearing had become undone. Now, imagine living your whole life in Mewni, and then opening your eyes for the first time in a place such as Quest Buy. The fluorescent lights, the towering structures, the bizarre technology, and the many otherworldly beings who resembled monsters. How would you react?”

Marco didn’t even have to think that hard about it. The memory of his and Star’s first adventure in Quest Buy was still fresh in his mind. While Earth had shopping malls, those weren’t nearly as large, strange, dangerous, or intimidating as Quest Buy was. He could only imagine that shock being amplified for someone who was only used to a medieval kingdom like Mewni.

Lavabo clenched his fist. “I was frozen with fear, and began hyperventilating, unable to stand back from the ground. My father could not calm me, and the other squires began laughing. I felt a strange mix of terror, embarrassment, and shame, and I didn’t know what to do about it.”

Despite this incident happening a long time ago, and the fact that the older man had, of course, moved on from it, Marco still couldn’t help but feel sorry for Younger Lavabo. He had deserved better than that.

“At that moment, when all seemed hopeless, a squire dressed head to toe in silver armor made their way towards me. I half-expected to be rightfully attacked for my dishonorable disruption of the race, but instead, they kneeled down and lifted up their helmet’s visor, revealing a young woman’s soft face. She said this to me:

“Hey, Eyebrows, they sell socks here. Are you really gonna let a place that sells socks bother you this much? Now get off your ass and stop embarrassing yourself. If you could make it this far with that silly blindfold on, imagine what you’re capable of without it.”

Those words must have left an impression on Lavabo, since, literally decades later, he was able to quote them, word for word, right down to what had probably been the original intonation. In fact, Marco felt there was something strangely familiar about that tone. But, right now, he couldn’t quite place his finger on it. Besides, well... “Socks?” he asked, confused.

“Yes, socks, of course!” Lavabo exclaimed. “It was so clear, and yet I didn’t see it until it was pointed out to me: Quest Buy did, indeed, sell socks. And how could a place that understood the need for warm and comfortable socks be a place of terror? How indeed, when socks are surely one of the foremost signs of civilization!”

“Socks?” repeated Marco, now ever more perplexed.

“Alas, it might not seem so to you yet. However, I have been cleaning and folding clothing my entire life, so, of course, that means I have been around socks for just as long,” Lavabo said. “You see, Marco Diaz, it is my belief that socks are what separates civilization from barbarism. All creatures possess an instinctive desire to survive. If you are hungry, you eat. If you are cold, you start a fire. But doing the bare minimum will only get you so far in this world. When the first mewman settlers arrived on Mewni, they faced a harsh winter. Their usual methods of survival were insufficient. The ground was so cold that the barefoot hunters could not fetch food for their families. They tried setting their feet on fire to counteract this, but that came with its own problems...”

“So… they invented socks?” Marco tried to follow the older man’s line of reasoning.

“That’s correct!” Lavabo said, beaming with pride at his squire’s astuteness. “One man or woman among those settlers was ambitious enough, bold enough, brilliant enough, to try something never done before, and it ended up saving all mewmans. The creation of socks was the first of many brave steps Mewmankind took to conquer nature and surpass the Monsters who sought their destruction.”

“All because of socks?” Marco asked, trying to make sure he fully understood the argument.

“Indeed. After that squire’s wise words, I remembered that tale, which was first told to me by my father,” the knight added. “I began thinking, ‘Can a place that understands the importance of socks really be all that bad?’ As I looked around, I noticed the strange creatures, who I originally feared, were also wearing socks. That was our common ground, and the mark of a learned and proper folk. They were not here to devour me. They were simple people making purchases at a store.”

Marco was less than convinced about that particular test of character, but he didn’t really want to interrupt his enthusiastic mentor.

“Quest Buy represented a place where civilized people from all walks of life came to make their lives in other dimensions easier, brought together by the pursuit of comfort. A pursuit that, for mewmans, at least, had begun with the humble sock,” declared Sir Lavabo. “That realization, combined with her other words of encouragement, were enough to break me out of my fear-induced paralysis. Unfortunately, it was somewhat late for me to accomplish all that my father had expected of me. Still, be as it may, I was able to at least finish the race.”

“I… uh…” Marco was at a loss. He was fairly certain that Sir Lavabo was stretching that female squire’s words further that even a pair of spandex socks would go. Marco wasn’t sure if he should question it, though. After all, did it really matter in the end? One way or another, no matter how indirectly, that girl's words helped Lavabo fight through what must have been his lowest point as a squire.

“I had experienced a great failure that day, Marco Diaz. However, despite my father’s disappointment and the ridicule I faced from the other children, my role as a squire did not end there. In fact, the mistakes I made helped me learn valuable lessons about keeping calm in the face of strange environments or chaotic circumstances, and about finding common ground where there seems to be none. It was much better that I learned those things in Quest Buy, rather than on a battlefield, where those same mistakes would have cost my life. I do not know what lessons you’ve learned today, with your own mistakes, but they will help you in the future, I promise you that.”

Marco looked down. He wanted to tell Lavabo what he had learned today, but he couldn’t for the life of him figure out what that was. He thought long and hard about the question, as he finished ringing the last few items and began scrolling through a twenty-screens long list of payment methods, looking for Mewnian golden coins and rubies (or, failing that, some way to pay with 650 US dollars...).

Had he actually learned anything? Marco spent the whole day trying to prove himself to Higgs and the others, which blew up in his face. Yet, at the same time, squires like Nick and Timore respected and even helped him out when he needed it. But what could he take from that? That he should seek the approval of his peers? Or that he shouldn’t? That it was better to stand up to bullies? Or to avoid them?

“I’m sorry, Sir Lavabo, but I don’t exactly feel enlightened after all this,” Marco said, truthfully. “I didn’t just fail to get all the knight gear, I let my emotions get the better of me. While that vorpal sword would have been a big help to the Wash, I wasn’t even thinking about that. I just wanted it to finally beat Higgs at her stupid game for once. I tried to be the honorable one, but, in the end, I was just as bad as her.”

“There you have it,” Lavabo said. “That is your lesson. I couldn’t have said it better myself.”

Marco took a second to try and process that. “What?” He let the large gold coin he was in the process of feeding to the machine fall clattering to the floor.

“You have the self-reflection to see where you went wrong. You were blinded by Higgs’ provocations, and now that you have fully acknowledged that, the blindfold you were wearing can now come off. Congratulations!” Lavabo began clapping.

“Uh… thank you?” Marco felt like he had been tricked. Tricked in a good way, at least.

That still didn’t really answer all his questions, he thought, as he picked back up the coin. That summary didn’t tell him when to fight, or when to retreat. He had tried both, regarding Higgs, and failed each time. But, he now realized, the lesson wasn’t about what he chose to do, but in how he had made that choice. In both cases, he had let his emotions take the decision for him, first to cower and then to match hostility with rage, rather than thread a calmer, more honorable, and smarter middle path.

“You are very welcome, Marco Diaz. And do not forget, while Higgs may antagonize you now, there will come a time where she will need to acknowledge you as an ally. But, until her own blindfold comes off, just be thankful that such a capable squire is working under our flag. If you ask me, the future of the Butterfly Kingdom has never looked brighter!”

Marco felt his face heat up a little. “Heh, yeah, hopefully.” Feeling more confident in himself, the squire finished his struggle with the checkout machine with minutes to spare.

The user interface was terrible, of course, and the scanner itself had barely worked. But, in that regard, at least, Quest Buy truly wasn’t any more fearsome than the more familiar Earth equivalents. Marco turned around, to see the mewman squires and knights still struggling with their respective kiosks. He hoped they would all figure them out in time, even Higgs, but didn’t try to head back to help any of them. It was a part of their own test tonight, after all, Marco thought with a sly smile.

As the machine printed Marco’s receipt, Lavabo finally stepped off the wooden horse and began stretching his arms and legs. “Ah, it feels like it’s been forever since I last walked.”

Marco chuckled. “Did they really expect you to sit on that thing the entire time without taking any breaks?” It looked beyond uncomfortable.

“When you look at it a certain way, the Blowout in and of itself is a break for a knight. While we indeed use the opportunity to analyze a squire’s strengths and weaknesses, let it be known that all the accomplishments we basked in today were your own, Marco Diaz.”

“Heh, well, I hope you enjoyed being able to sit all day for once. You obviously deserved it.”

Lavabo smiled. “Now, if you excuse me, I must use the restroom. Once I return, we will join the others before they leave with Manfred.”

“Alright, I’ll wait here and guard our stuff,” the boy offered.

As Lavabo began walking away from the cart, Marco could still hear the knight talking to himself.

“Now then, where would I be able to find the men’s room? Quest Buy has so many different types of bathrooms since I was last here. What an exciting time to be alive!”

Heh. For being so old-fashioned and, well, old in general, Lavabo was a really chill guy. If you had dumped a bunch of grumpy old men from Earth onto Quest Buy, they’d probably file a complaint for the variety of bathrooms before the death traps and safety hazards would concern them.

“Hey, Marco!” shouted an excited voice behind him. The human turned around to see Nicholas pushing his cart towards him.

Lady Jaya walked calmly besides her squire. She was now off of the cart’s wooden horse, which probably indicated that the other boy, too, was fully done with the Squire Blowout.

Marco couldn’t help but notice that, unlike his own, the mewman squire’s cart looked pretty much full of top notch knightly gear: gem-encrusted battleaxes, shimmering silver chain mails, an ornate yew longbow, and some less easily described items that hadn’t even been on the list Lavabo had given him. It looked like the other boy had done much better in this challenge that Marco had. Honestly, in this particular instance, the human was glad that was the case!

“Timore says hi, too, by the way,” added Nicholas, before Marco could even stammer a greeting of his own. “We were just talking about you, back at the checkout. She is sorry she couldn’t come say goodbye in person, but, well, Sir Thorncloak was in a bit of a hurry to get back to Mewni, so he denied her request to stay back five more minutes. Anyways, just wanted to say: no matter what, you were really cool back there!”

“Uh. I was?” Marco asked, surprised.

“Of course! I mean, you fought a dragon! And dived through an underwater cave like it was nothing! And, well, you actually used my self-screwing screws!” the inventor squire muttered excitedly. “Besides, you stood up to Higgs! You should have seen her expression when you came from behind and forced her off course when racing towards the water! She was furious. I thought she was going to kill you when she had to pull her bow to catch up!”

Well, when you put it that way…

“Squire, I suggest you do not praise another’s mistakes,” remarked Lady Jaya sternly. “Not if you truly care for them. It does them no favors.”

Nicholas turned around, looking hurt. He seemed to consider arguing with the severe female knight, but quickly decided against it. Instead, he averted his gaze downward. “Sorry, ma’am. I just thought...”

“Never value flashy tactics and foolhardy heroics over a solid strategy,” she rebuked him. “Understood?”

“Yes, ma’am,” the boy repeated, as if by rote.

“Actually, Nicholas...” Marco stepped in. The older knight gave him a measured look. “... Lady Jaya is absolutely right. I mean, man, take a look at the stuff in your cart!”

Nicholas did, then looked at Marco’s purchases. “Well, that’s not really fair, though, is it? You had Higgs breathing down your neck the entire race, and you were having to deal with all this weird stuff she kept throwing at you, and you had to come up with all sorts of cool solutions to…”

“Yes. And, meanwhile, you were just quietly buying stuff. Right?” Marco asked. “I don’t think I saw you do a single crazy or heroic thing tonight... other than helping me in the beginning, I mean,” he backpedaled slightly. “You were mostly just collecting your knight’s gear. Correct?”

“Well, yeah…” Nicholas said, sounding ashamed at not having done anything impressive tonight.

Meanwhile, Jaya’s dour face had curved into a small conspiratorial smile towards Marco.

“And that’s exactly what made you the better squire tonight, Nick! Isn’t it, Lady Jaya?” Marco pointed out. “I bet that, other than the vorpal sword, you got your knight better gear than Higgs did for Sir Stabby, too. All because you were not letting yourself be dragged into pointless fights. You kept to the background and that was a better strategy for getting ahead in this kind of race.”

“As you said, squire,” Jaya confirmed Marco’s words, to her own squire’s shock. “Glad to see there is hope for you yet. It certainly sounds like Sir Lavabo has already briefed you on some of what you did wrong tonight.” She paused once more, eyeing Marco up and down. “Would you be interested in my own assessment as well?”

Marco actually had to ponder the question for a few seconds. Whatever the old woman’s feedback was going to be about, he was certain it would be brutal. Well, better to hear it now, than to find it out from experience later, he supposed. “Yes, please, ma’am.”

“You were reckless, undisciplined, and prideful. Strategically, you had already attracted the attention of a potential enemy, so you could not have blended in the background and gain the advantage from being unnoticed. You could, however, have faked defeat early on, and surprised your enemies when they no longer expected the challenge. Instead, you made it a point to rise up to their provocations. You could have used misdirection to force them to employ resources poorly. Instead, you let your foe maneuver you into challenging them in the areas they were the strongest. Tactically, you squandered too many opportunities for me to even list! For example: you could have doubled back the moment the girl went into the submerged tunnel, and simply grabbed the contents of her cart and added them to your own.”

Marco blinked, shocked at the suggestion. That was devious! And dishonorable! And wouldn’t Sir Stabby have stopped him from doing that? Wait, no, he couldn’t have! Knights were only allowed to observe the race, which meant he actually could have…

“You might find that option distasteful. I would, as well, in those same circumstances. There is a value in having lines you won’t cross. But, remember, to be unable to even think of a course of action is not nobility, but idiocy,” Lady Jaya explained. “A more honorable tactic would have been to do much the same, but grabbing the items from the shelves instead of another squire’s cart. Either way, getting the vorpal sword was a time consuming enough process that you could have gotten almost all of what you are currently still missing while she was otherwise distracted. Most items were still available, despite a few conspicuous cases of enemy sabotage.”

‘Most items’, including, say, Star’s palm tree costume, Marco thought, bitterly.

“So, in summary: you failed to think. You acted on impulse and confronted your rival on their terms, instead of seeking to create your own. You mistook your own emotional need for recognition with the campaign’s objectives and, in the end, achieved neither.” Jaya took a deep breath. “But, at least those are your own mistakes. So, I am glad you are not repeating your knight’s particular follies.”

She smiled at Marco. “On that note, I made a mistake as well. When I advised you to earn the respect of your fellow squires, I fear I calibrated my remedy on someone else’s ailment...”

“Uh, so, everything in moderation?” Marco tried once more to summarize the lesson of the day, poorly.

Jaya laughed. “A good enough starting point, for someone so young.” She glanced back at her squire. “Nicholas, we do need to go now. Is there anything else you want to discuss with your fellow squire?”

“Ah, well, just that, um, do you think I could get another chance to try out that… ‘phone’, was it?” He shuffled nervously. “Not necessarily now, but… well… you know.”

“Sure!” Marco beamed. “Come down to the Wash any time, and I’ll show you a few other games and stuff.”

The boy’s face lit up at that. Jaya scoffed.

“Well, I suppose there might be a day or two this month you could be spared training, squire, if you are able to pick up a slightly brisker pace from now on.”

Two days a month!? Wow. When he arrived at the Wash, Marco had thought Lavabo was a hardass. It turned out he might be among the least strict knights around, if Lady Jaya or Sir Stabby were anything to go by.

“Yes, ma’am!” replied Nicholas simply, seemingly content with his knight’s generosity in the matter.

“Oh, by the way,” the older knight added, “when you see Eyebrows, please give him these. Tell him they are from me, and to not set his feet on fire.”

She threw a small package at the human boy, and marched away. Nicholas rushed behind her, trying to keep up with the knight’s swift pace.

Marco stood there, stunned, holding the freshly bought pair of green and grey argyle socks.

Eyebrows.

That was what Jaya had called Lavabo back in her tent, before the race had even started. Marco had been dealing with a problem after another since then, so he’d forgotten that particular nickname. But, now, it all finally came together. He felt like an idiot for not having made the connection before. Jaya was...

Marco’s train of thought was interrupted by a tapping on his shoulder.

He turned around and saw, oh god, Meredith of all people! She had parked her cart behind them, with Sir Scarsguard taking a nap on top of the wooden horse. What concerned Marco the most, though, was the creepy smile she was giving him.

“We made a pretty good team back there, dontcha think?” the girl started, constantly looking up and down at Marco.

“Um… are you talking about the dragons? I guess we sort of worked together on solving that dilemma.” Though Marco was hard pressed to think of anything the girl actually contributed during that chase, he didn’t want to contradict her and come off as rude. Lest she started singing her woes…

“Exactly! I remember it like it was a few hours ago! You were there, petrified with fear, as the dragons had just devoured your friend and mentor, Sir Lavabo, right before your eyes!”

“He went to the bathroom a few minutes ago,” Marco said, trying to gently correct the girl’s tall tale. And, if memory served him well, he had certainly been less petrified with fear than she had!

Meredith didn’t seem interestested in acknowledging Marco’s correction, however, as she continued to prattle on. “Then, right before I was about to rescue you, the rage boiling inside your stomach exploded, awakening a brutal side of the Prince of Earth that even he didn’t want to admit existed within him. In your newfound thirst for revenge, you grabbed several axes off the Aisle 14.2 end cap, and began slaughtering the horrid beasts. I came to assist you, but there wasn’t much dragon left by the time I got there, just raw piles of meat on the floor. That beautiful cyan hoodie you were wearing was now drenched top to bottom in crimson dragon blood!”

“Ugh. I wouldn’t be caught dead wearing cyan, Meredith.” Cyan was not a color that complemented Marco’s complexion. Like, at all.

Wait, why was he even humoring the girl? It was clear she was just messing with him. There’s no way this was her actual recollection of those events. Right?

“Um, duh! Of course you weren’t actually wearing a blue hoodie, but we need a cool backstory for our band, so I thought changing some of the details of how we met would make things more interesting and thematic!” Meredith proclaimed. “You see, the blue hoodie represented your innocence, but, after being covered in the blood of your enemies, it shows you have now experienced the horrors of war, and have fully embraced it!”

“‘Our’ band?” Marco said, ignoring all the other stuff she said. He had the feeling that he would be doing that quite a lot when talking to Meredith.

“Yes, Marco. I, Medea Deianeira, have decided that, out of all these posers, you show the most promise. So I’ve decided to make you my first band-mate. You are permitted to feel honored now.”

“I don’t even play an instrument!” Not that he’d want anything do with this girl’s ‘band’, in any case.

Then Marco noticed something heading towards his face. Thankfully his Karate reflexes were fast enough to catch the object Meredith threw at him before it poked one of his eyes out. After giving Meredith a pissed off look, he took a closer look at the item. It looked like a flute with some ancient engravings on it.

“This is the music-making-thingy you’ll be playing. It’s an enchanted flute that can summon flesh-eating snakes. When performing live, we’ll ideally be on a high enough platform that they can’t reach us. Pretty cool, right? Can’t believe it was as cheap as it was!”

Crap. This girl had ‘bad news’ written all over her. Marco wasn’t sure if she was again just exaggerating reality to match her fantasies, or if snake summoning flutes were really a thing Quest Buy sold. He wouldn’t have bet against either, really… Lavabo needed to get back here fast...

“Meredith! What the hell is all this crap!?” came a disbelieving cry from behind the two of them.

It was Higgs. She had somehow managed to sneak by Meredith’s cart without her or Marco noticing. Sir Scarsguard was still fast asleep, of course, even after the redheaded squire’s slight outburst. While Marco wasn’t exactly happy to see Higgs, he’d appreciate anyone short of maybe Toffee interrupting that conversation he and Meredith were having.

“What are you talking about?” the goth girl asked, giving her a look of genuine confusion.

“Literally everything in your cart is some sort of instrument. Is this what you spent Sir Scarsguard’s budget on? There’s not a single piece of equipment or gear in here.” Higgs lifted up a pure white saxophone from the cart, which, upon contact, turned her hands transparent, causing the hunk of brass to fall right through her grasp.

The sax hit the ground with a loud metallic ‘clang!’, so it’s effect apparently did not extend to inanimate surfaces. It also seemed to be temporary, since Higgs’ hands became solid again immediately after the instrument passed through them.

The redhead regarded the other squire with a rather pissed off expression. “And what’s worse: these are all cursed instruments!”

Marco walked over to Meredith’s cart to see for himself, and, yeah, Higgs was not exaggerating. The cart was filled to the top with many instruments, not a few of which caused a strange unsettling sensation on the back of his head that grew worse the more he looked at them. He wasn’t even sure if breathing the air around this stuff was safe. It made sense that Quest Buy would discount these items for some idiot (Meredith, for example) to take off their hands.

The human glanced up at the sleeping Sir Scarsguard and understood why Higgs was so appalled. Meredith had taken advantage of the Blowout to go on a shopping spree to satisfy her own dumb hobby. Plus, it wasn’t likely that her knight would become aware of it due to his, uh, current state. There was nothing practical in this cart for Scarsguard to use. Not even the cans of dragon repellent he saw her grab a few hours ago were there anymore. Did she ditch them just to make more room for this crap? The more Marco thought about it, the more angry at Meredith he became. She wasn’t taking her squireship seriously at all!

Meredith placed her foot on top of the white saxophone. “Of course they are all cursed! My band won’t be a group of pansies! We’ll be playing the instruments that society is too afraid of using, to express the dark hungers of our souls across the multiverse! I’ve already secured Marco’s pair of dimensional scissors. So, once I gain more members, our musical conquest can begin!” The girl started laughing maniacally, like an eight year old when they grabbed the toy the other kids wanted.

Ah. So that’s why Meredith wanted Marco to join her band! She wasn’t interested in him at all. She just wanted his scissors to start her fantasy interdimensional tour!

Meredith fell face-first on the floor. The leg she had been resting on the saxophone had turned transparent, exactly like Higgs’ hands had before. Right after that, her foot passed right through the instrument, making her lose her balance and trip forward. She rolled across the floor in exaggerated agony. “Argh! Toppled by my own Ghost Sax! How poetic!”

“I think the word you are looking for is ‘predictable’. Besides, if you are about to go and write a song about it,” Higgs began. “I suggest you do so elsewhere, Meredith. Unless what you are asking is for me to knock some sense into you.” She made a fist with her left hand, glaring at the would-be musician right through the top of her own knuckles.

The goth girl made a pouting face at Higgs. “But… I need to talk to Marco! We have to come up with a name for our band!”

“Well, he didn’t seem very interested in your band to begin with. Plus, I need to talk to Marco first. So… get lost?”

Wait. Higgs wanted to talk to him? Now Marco wasn’t sure which girl he wanted to stay. Ideally both of them would just leave him alone but, well, when had the squire ever been that lucky?

Meredith glared at the other two squires before shrugging. “Hmph. Fine. Even I know better than to get on your bad side, Higgs.” She quickly picked up the cursed sax from the floor and hurled it onto her cart before it could make her body ghost-like again. The shaking of the cart almost caused Scarsguard to wake up from his nap. Almost.

As she headed towards Quest Buy’s exit with her cart and knight, Meredith turned back to see Marco and Higgs one last time. She grinned.

“Just remember, Higgs, that boy is mine, and I’m not sharing him with you anymore after this.”

Higgs pulled out a boomerang (made out of what seemed like two steel blades fused together) and threw it at the dark-haired squire. Meredith narrowly dodged it, made a defeated squeaking sound, and hightailed it out of there.

“Oh, trust me, you can have him!” Higgs shouted angrily at her.

Alright, these girls were too much for him. Marco began walking towards his cart. Maybe he could find out where the men’s room was and meet Lavabo halfway?

“And where do you think you’re going?” Higgs asked. “I said I need to talk to you.”

Marco looked around the large complex, pretending that he didn’t know Higgs was talking to him. He pointed at himself. “You mean me?”

“Yes, you. ‘Marco’ isn’t exactly a mewman name. Who else in this dimension would I be talking to?”

“Oh, so I guess my name isn’t Prince anymore.” Marco smirked.

Higgs rolled her eyes. “Ugh. I knew you weren’t going to make this easy for me. But this still has to be said, so, let me just say it.” The squire closed her eyes in preparation.

“If you’re trying to thank me for rescuing you back there, don’t bother.”

“What!?” The girl opened her eyes, confused.

“Look Higgs, I don’t want you to feel like you have to do this, especially if you still hate my guts, and are just putting on another show for me. I didn’t grab you to win you over. I grabbed you because we’re fellow squires, and saving each other’s asses is to be expected from us. There’s nothing more to it than that.”

Higgs looked slightly surprised. “I… I knew that already. I didn’t come here to thank you.”

The squire formerly known as ‘Prince’ lifted an eyebrow. “Oh. I see. You’re worried that I’m gonna hold this over your head? Or that I’m gonna tell the other squires I totally saved your life? That would be a major blow to your reputation, right? Don’t worry, your secret’s safe with me. What happens in Quest Buy stays in Quest Buy.”

“Will you shut the hell up and just let me say what I was going to say!? You presumptuous asshole!” Higgs shouted.

Marco turned a little red. “Uh, sure. Sorry about that.”

Higgs took a deep breath. “I wanted to apologize for messing with you this entire night. I realize I went too far in a lot of places, and you really didn’t quite deserve that. Especially the stuff with that palm tree outfit. I guess I let things get a bit out of hand. I’m... sorry.”

Marco wanted to scoff at her apology, but for some reason... he didn’t. There was such a genuine tone to her voice, even more so than how she had acted back at the southern cornfields. Marco was pretty sure she wasn’t faking it this time. She was being serious.

“Yeah, uh, heh,” Shit! What should he say right now!? “Well… I-I wasn’t exactly a perfect angel during this race either,” Marco stuttered.

“True enough. I supposed that makes us even,” Higgs nodded. “And you’re right, I still don’t like you that much, but that’s my problem. At the very least, you deserve to be here more than, say, someone like Meredith. Plus, I think you held yourself pretty well out there during the race, despite the constant sabotage.”

This was so weird. It was like Higgs was implying that Marco had the potential to become a knight...

“So… regardless of what we think of each other, let's just put that aside from now on, and try to work well together when we inevitably have to, for the kingdom’s sake.” Higgs said. “Are you okay with that?”

Okay? Marco was more than okay with those terms! I mean, yeah, the girl did just admit to still hating his guts, but, speaking honestly, Marco couldn’t stand her in return! This way, they would at least reach some sort of compromise, and that was good enough!

“Yeah, that would work for me,” Marco said, extending his hand to Higgs. “Truce?”

She grabbed his hand and shook it. “Truce.”

In the end, it seemed tonight hadn’t turned out as bad as Marco had thought. He hadn’t gotten all the knightly equipment, let alone Star’s costume, but he had made at least two friends, and, apparently, not actually made an enemy. He would take it one small victory at a time, he supposed.

After letting go of each other’s hands, Higgs looked a little embarrassed. “So um, I actually meant to give this to you before apologizing, but better late than never. Just give me a minute.” She headed inside one the aisles, and soon returned with a familiar item. Well, ‘item’ might not have been the best term to describe him…

“Artax Ed!” Marco said, beaming at the tiny horse Higgs held in her arms.

“Yeah, I figured you might need him, and since I initially stole him from you, it’s only fair that I return him,” Higgs said.

Marco looked down at the foal and considered Higgs’ words. Did they really need him? What was a horse going to do in the Wash anyway? Would he even be happy in a cramped place like that? And if he didn’t stay in the Wash, what would be the difference between him and all the other horses in the castle stables?

After all, the war horse was not part of the Wash list, but the knight's gear list. It was more or less a standard list of equipment for a normal knight, but Lavabo, and his specific duties, were far from normal.

Perhaps he could bargain a bit with Higgs...

“I appreciate the thought, Higgs, but, uh, it looks like he’s already attached to you,” Marco said.

Higgs raised an eyebrow at him. “What?”

“I mean, look at how comfortable he looks in your arms. He practically views you as his mother,” Marco improvised.

“The magic of carrots,” she said, deadpan. “I could loan you some, if you’re really that concerned about it.”

“Well, what if Stabby found out about you giving him to me? I imagine he didn’t approve of this? Won’t you get in trouble?”

“Oh, don’t worry. I got him a heaping pile of new toys. He’ll be distracted long enough to completely forget this little guy even existed,” Higgs said. “And the fact that he’s a living creature has no bearing on Stabby’s attention.”

“Alright, but,” Marco said. “What if instead of Artax, I take something else from your cart? Something more useful to the Wash. We can consider it a trade.”

“I see. What exactly would you want?” Higgs asked. Her tone was one of suspicion, although Marco thought it also held a note of curiosity about what the boy was going to say.

Well, ‘here goes nothing’, he thought. “How about the Vorpal Sword?”

“What!?” the redheaded squire said, sounding beyond offended. “There is no way in this dimension or the next that I’d give you that sword! A weapon of that caliber would be wasted in that dingy washroom.”

“Higgs, you’re forgetting that, because of you and your goons, my knight and I are now left with subpar equipment, which is going to make the rest of this year quite difficult for us. Don’t you think you kind of owe it to me? Plus, I saved your life for crying out loud!”

“What would you even use it for? Slaying wrinkles? Vanquishing stains?” she protested.

Oh, right! Higgs, like most everyone else, didn’t know about the true nature of the Wash. For all Marco knew, it might be the most dangerous place in the kingdom. But, to the rest of Mewni, it was nothing more than ‘a dingy washroom’. Arguing otherwise would require a long explanation. One which was, also, unlikely to be believed under present circumstances. Instead, Marco offered an alternate rebuttal.

“I mean, what can we use a horse for?”

“That’s not the point!” Higgs argued back, outraged. “You grabbed him in the first place. I was just trying to be nice and give him back to you. I earned that sword fair and square!”

Marco rolled his eyes. “Fine, whatever. Forget I asked. I’ll gladly take Artax Ed back from you.”

“Fine! Take him!” She nearly threw the tiny creature at Marco. “But if Sir Stabby ever does ask, I am now just going to tell him it was stolen. So it’s up to you to make sure he doesn’t see you with it. Also, next time you want to make a ‘trade,’ I suggest you offer something of equal value, instead of trying to screw over the other person entirely.”

Marco was now holding Artax in his arms. “What do I even have that you’d trade the sword for?”

“Your dimensional scissors?” Higgs suggested without hesitation.

“Ha! Yeah right! There’s no way I’d give those away! Not even for a Vorpal Sword!” Marco retorted.

“And that, Prince, is exactly why I still don’t like you. You’re one of those people that thinks, because he did the bare minimum, that he should be showered with gifts and praise. You helped the king defend the kingdom from rats? Great, so did the rest of us! Yet you were the only one who had the audacity to think you deserved to be knight just for trying!” Her face, a moment before a picture of fuming fury, turned suddenly into a mocking smirk. “You think Song Day and me tripping you over made you a joke around here? You were a joke ever since Lady Whosit first told us of your audience with the Queen and King. Except, well, the joke was on us, apparently, because somehow you managed to whine your way into becoming a squire!”

Higgs took a step forward then, getting directly on Marco’s face. She was back at ‘fuming fury’. She held an accusing finger right in front of his nose.

“Or, remember how you were acting cool just a second ago, saying that saving my life was just part of the job? ‘Saving each other’s asses is to be expected’? No need for thanks? Then, the moment it’s convenient for you to do so, you try to use that fact for leverage, for corndamned blackmail! You put it forth as one of your many half-assed reasons why I should give you the shit I earned, for free.”

The angry redhead took a step back then, turned around, and began pacing between her cart and the boy, as she kept going with her rant.

“You know? I can see now why our royal fuckup of a princess crushed so hard on you. Your standards for people are so fucking low that, hanging around you, even she must’ve felt constantly validated. Doing her damn job for once was probably enough for you to be proud of her. Never mind the fact that she and the Queen had left us for dead for a whole week!” she yelled, punching a nearby shelf with the side of her fist. “That business with losing the Book of Spells? Meh, water under the bridge. It all worked out in the end, right? No one that matters got hurt, so why should they face consequences for their reckless actions?”

Marco was dumbfounded. He had never thought of it that way. Not that he agreed with Higgs’ assessment, specially not when it came to Star! But, well, if the other squire truly felt like that, then it spoke volumes that she was willing to give him back his horse, and declare a truce, before. He briefly considered trying to defend himself this time around, but, given how angry the girl seemed right now, it would probably only make things worse...

Higgs took a stabilizing breath. “Look, the truce stands. I am still willing to work with you, Prince, but that doesn’t mean I have to like you. Just... do your job, and I’ll do mine.”

She turned around and, without so much as a goodbye, left Marco standing there, holding Artax Ed, wishing that he had remembered a certain adage about not looking at a gift horse in the mouth.

----

As soon as the princess entered her room, she plopped down on her bed immediately.

“Ugh! Finally! Home, sweet home!” Star said to herself, wiping the sweat from her forehead.

She felt sore from all the stuff she had done that day. Restoring a kingdom to its former glory took a lot of energy out of her, and, to make matters worse, her home just so happened to be big enough that it made even the process of retreating to her own room yet another daunting task. Whose idea had it been to build a castle with quite so many stairs!?

Sigh. Star missed having dimensional scissors so much. It made getting from place to place super easy. Although, in a sense, it may have made traveling too easy. Easy enough to take a toll on her stamina. After having used them as her primary means of long distance transportation for a full year, it was hard to adjust to, once again, living life without them.

It was so weird. Despite accomplishing so much as a princess these last few months, physically speaking, Star felt like she had regressed a little. Her life went by at a much slower pace and, now that the Monster attacks had stopped entirely, she no longer felt like the strong ‘Warrior Princess’ she had proclaimed herself to be a year ago. In fact, she was now constantly tired, and, often times, she somehow woke up even sorer and more exhausted than she had gone to sleep.

Working alongside her mother, Star now experienced a different side of royalty, one that valued social skills, diplomacy, and a disciplined mastery of magic, over raw strength. She wondered how her mom managed to stay in shape through it all. Where would you even find the time to exercise with such a packed schedule?

Star looked over and noticed Glossaryck, sleeping soundly by the corner like a cozy dog. He hadn’t left that spot since this morning. The blond girl envied him a little. Still, and despite it being so late already, she wanted to do at least one fun thing for herself before closing off the day.

Maybe a quick run through the Forest of Certain Death was just the thing she needed? The venomous death-moths were always fun to try and outrun. And, even if that didn’t work out, the adrenaline rush of combing the ground for a purification leaf would definitely be enough for an adequate workout.

The girl jumped up from her bed, and then heard the sound of a portal opening.

“Marco?”

By the time Star turned around, all she saw was Marco’s letter for the night. Geez! He was always so fast with those scissors. He could at least keep the vortex open long enough to say ‘hi’ once in a while!

The princess picked up the envelope and opened it. She took out the small sheet containing Marco’s letter.

Hey Star. I’m really sorry about your Aunt Syrma. I won’t pretend I knew her or anything, but from what Lavabo told me, she didn’t seem like the type to hold grudges. It’s a hard truth, but it’s impossible to be there for every single person in your life, especially when they’re in a demanding position like yours. Your attention’s been on your people who’ve been hurt the most by Toffee’s attack, and I think Syrma understood that, and was even proud of you for it. Also, I’m sorry, but I wasn’t able to get you the palm tree outfit today. The Squire Blowout was a hectic ordeal, and I just couldn’t get to it in time. Turns out I’m still a far way off from being a pro at this stuff. I’ll try to make it up to you somehow. Besides that, I made some new friends, got a horse, and apparently joined a band, so it wasn’t too too bad. Alright. Time for bed. Gotta wake up early tomorrow. See ya. Marco, Prince of the Wash

Star turned the paper around, but to her surprise, that was all there was to tonight’s letter.

The letter was super short, the handwriting was poor, the grammar was somewhat sloppy, and there were hardly any tangents, which were usually a Marco-staple.

Instead of being disappointed, however, the princess smiled.

She could tell Marco was exhausted from the Squire Blowout and, knowing him, felt super crummy about not getting the palm tree outfit for her. Despite that, he still went out of his way to write her a letter before passing out.

They were both in new environments. Star was in the period of growing into her royal responsibilities, and Marco was dealing with the unrelenting life of a squire. Yet they were both trying their best!

It sucked that they hadn’t been able to see each other in a while, but Star was happy they could support each other with these letters. First thing tomorrow, Star was gonna write the most motivational letter she could muster!

More determined than ever, the princess stormed out of her room, planning to do a quick run before tackling tomorrow.