Everything that Princess Star Butterfly of Mewni knew was gone.

Her Magic Instruction Book, her most important resource, aside from the Algebra textbook Marco let her borrow every time she forgot hers at school, was gone. All two thousand pages, some written in Ancient Mewnian and others in English, with spells millennia old, gone. Ludo, the infamous kappa scoundrel who had ruthlessly pursued the princess and her magical possessions since the day she received them, had stolen it as he fled the lonesome graveyard from whence he had ascended on that cold, barren February night.

Her personal magical assistant, Glossaryck, who had tended to every magic wand bearer since the wand came to be, was also gone. He, too, had been purloined from the young princess' grasp by Ludo, one of the most perfidious monsters to have ever walked the face of the multiverse.

Even Star's best friend, Marco Diaz, the Earth boy she loved more than anyone else, had gone on that night too. His heart had been swooned by Jackie Lynn Thomas, the girl who Marco had a crush on since the first day of Kindergarten. Star painfully watched as Marco, the most handsome guy in the whole multiverse, descended the steps inside the Diaz home wearing a grey suit to greet his beloved before they left for the school winter dance together. Up until that moment she had not realized how much she loved Marco, how much she wanted to be with him until the end of time, how much she wanted to be more than just friends. Later, after she tried and failed to get a hold of him fifty-seven times on his cell phone (not knowing he had simply left his phone behind on a park bench by mistake) she used the All-Seeing Eye Spell to spy on the two amorous teenagers as they thundered down the sloping streets of Echo Creek on Jackie's personalized skateboard, holding each other tightly and giggling in glee while the wind flew through their hair. She wasn't just a jealous friend observing things from the sidelines; she wanted Marco to be hers. Certainly, all Marco would care about now would be his Jackie, right? And not his best friend? Wasn't that how it worked in the real world? Love supersedes friendship?

It was now one o'clock in the morning, two long hours after Marco walked Star, Janna, and Jackie home after Ludo had made off with Star's priceless magical belongings. Star was still sitting on her queen-sized bed inside of her room, holding a soft, bright pink pillow to her face and chest. The pink pillowcase was damp with tears, shed from the princess' beautiful blue eyes, now swollen and scarlet. She felt herself dissolving like snow in the expanse of the room, her emotions overtaking her as she tried desperately to silence her lamented whimpers of heartbreak.

"I-I screwed up everything..." sighed Star as her eyes filled up with tears again. "Ludo now has Glossaryck and my book, and I screwed up Marco's perfect date with Jackie. And then, I-I almost got us killed when my spell turned evil... everyone has got to hate me right now. I ruined everything, a-all because of some stupid dance I cheated myself out of!"

Star closed her eyes shut and squeezed her pillow tighter, feeling the familiar sensation of warm and acidic tears flowing down her cheeks. Her posh pink hearts had been replaced by icons of dark storm clouds, with rain and lighting bursting forth from them. She tried to pretend in the moment that she was grasping Marco in her arms, that she was holding him close, but nothing was lessening her deep sorrow. Everything seemed bleak as ever. That was, until Star heard two soft knocks on the door. She immediately knew there was only one person who would be up this early in the morning. And it wasn't Marco's parents, Jackie, or even Janna. It was none other than...

"Marco?" asked Star solemnly.

"Yeah. It's me, Star." affirmed Marco softly.

"W-What do you want?" wondered the interdimensional princess, trying to sound as positive as possible, although a shaky and upsetting timbre made itself present in her voice.

"Star, I wanna talk to you about something. Is it okay if I come in?"

"Sure."

Star quickly dabbed her face dry using the other side of her pillow. She then threw it on the ground next to her bed, hoping Marco wouldn't discover it. Moments later, the door opened. Marco walked in as quietly as a teenage boy could and turned on the lights before closing the door behind him softly. As Star's eyes adjusted to the soft, incandescent yellow light in the room she noticed that Marco was wearing a grey t-shirt and black sweatpants. Karate classes and lifting in Physical Ed at school was doing him wonders, now she could see the definition of his chest muscles through his shirt. She felt herself shiver a little inside as he made his way closer towards her. As he moved towards her bed, she scootched over towards the left side of her bed and dangled her legs over the edge. Star had not changed out of her seafoam green dress, striped leggings, and purple rhinoceros boots yet, but even with her boots on, her feet could barely touch the floor.

"Marco. You wanted to talk to me about something?" asked Star.

"Yeah." said Marco as he approached the bed further and stood directly in front of his best friend. "Star, you look really sad. Is it because of what happened last night?"

"Y-Yeah," muttered Star as her eyes began tearing up again. "I still can't believe I lost Glossaryck. And my book..."

"I can't either, Star." said Marco. "It's almost unbelievable to think that Glossaryck is being forced to work for Ludo, and that he has your book, too. And to think that—"

Out of the blue, Star leaned in towards Marco and locked her arms around him in a death grip. Star placed her head behind Marco's left shoulder and sunk her face into it, letting her tears flow. These tears were different from the ones Star had shed before. They were tears of absolute hurt and sadness, far different from the tears of regret and shame she had shed just a few minutes earlier.

"S-Star?" asked Marco, now very concerned. "What's wrong?"

Star slowly raised her head and turned to face Marco. "Last night, I lost someone very important to me, besides Glossaryck."

"Who's that?" asked Marco tranquilly.

"You..." whimpered Star as even more tears cascaded down her face. "Now that you and Jackie are dating, you're gonna be spending all your time with her... You'll never have any time to hang out with me anymore! We won't be able to go dimension hopping on the weekends, or have Friendship Thursday anymore, or do any of the things we used to do anymore!"

It was at that moment that Marco Diaz knew that his best friend, Star Butterfly, was feeling the worst she had ever felt in her entire life. As difficult as it was to keep a smile on his face while Star howled, he somehow managed to keep a positive expression on his face. He then lifted his hands up from his sides and gently wiped the tears from Star's delicate and sensitive azure eyes.

"Star, I'd never ditch you." assured Marco. "Even though Jackie and I are dating now, we don't live in the same house. We can't just hang out whenever we want either. And she's surely not a magical princess from another dimension. You have a magic wand and we can go to other dimensions whenever we want. I mean, she's cool and all, but you're freaking awesome. I wouldn't want to be best friends with anyone else."

Star sniffled and wiped her eyes again. "R-Really?"

"Of course, Star." affirmed Marco. "And it really hurts me to see you like this. I know that you care about Glossaryck, and your Instruction Book, and your friends, and me, a lot. It might be a while before we can rescue them from Ludo though... so if you're feeling down, just tell me. I'm willing to help you out however I can."

"Well..." reasoned Star, "It's been a pretty lonely vigil sitting here in my room... alone. And it's really hard for me to cope with. I can't really sleep, either. I don't suppose you could... spend the night with me? Pretty please?"

"Sure, Star." said Marco with a smile. "Anything to make you feel better."

The thunderstorm symbols on Star's cheeks transformed into shining suns. "Thanks, Marco."

Star hopped off of her bed and pulled back the soft comforter and the sheets. She then reached down towards the floor and grabbed her rhinoceros boots and began to pull them off slowly, leaving her purple and orange striped leggings bare. She then took off her red devil horns headband and stepped towards her bed and shuffled under the covers. When she got to the other side of the bed she stopped and beckoned for Marco to join her.

"Uh, Star?" asked Marco. "Don't you want to change into your nightgown? Sleeping in your dress might not be too—"

"Even if it gets wrinkled, I can always get them out with my wand's magic." said Star. "Even if this dress isn't the most comfortable thing to sleep in, I'm sure I'll be able to. And besides, it's really late, and I wanna get some slumberness."

"Don't you mean some sleep?" asked Marco.

"Same thing." giggled Star. "That's what we call sleep on Mewni."

Marco turned off the lights and climbed into Star's bed, making sure to scootch up next to her before pulling the warm covers back down over them. She immediately rested her head on the same downy pillow Marco's head was on. She then wrapped her arms around his broad shoulders and pulled him closer to her. Marco simply looked at her and chuckled before running his fingers through her golden blonde locks. Star blushed in response, making them both laugh harder. Although Marco could now feel her dress pushing against his lower stomach, he didn't mind it. All that mattered was that they were there together in Star's warm bed together. As Star closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep, she knew that Marco would be there for her. Even in the most desperate of times when she lost almost everything to Ludo, she had not really lost Marco. Her best friend, love interest, and the best guy she ever knew.

A/N: I chose to name this fic after the nuclear war film of the same name because in both works, the main character lost almost everything that they knew and held dear. It was truly a very sad experience watching that mid-season finale. I went from feeling sorta happy to sad and dreary. I'm really looking forward to seeing what will happen when episodes resume airing in 2017. As always, don't forget to favorite and review this story. Until next time, this is Nr36, out.