(A/N: Hello, readers! Welcome to "Nebula in the Arena", my latest fanfiction and the first entry in my new three-part Star vs. the Forces of Evil fanfiction series. This story is a reimagining of Season 3b, featuring events that will hopefully leave you intrigued and anticipating what's to come. I appreciate any kind of feedback you may have, and hope you enjoy!)

Season 3, Episode 15a: Nobodies

Star Butterfly bolted her way out of the Bureaucracy of Magic, her mother trailing close behind. The clomping of boots and the sound of heavy breathing filled the hallway, eerily resonating off of the walls. Every corner they rounded and stairwell they hastily plopped down provided Star just a little bit more of a lead in the race to the ground floor lobby.

"Star! Come back here this instant!" exclaimed Moon between labored breaths.

Star forged on, disregarding any of her mother's words. Anxiety and fear rapidly surged through her veins, her heart racing as the unsettling revelations of Eclipsa's trial replayed over and over inside her head. As she darted in front of Sean's unoccupied desk, she knew her opportunity to escape was presenting itself. She pulled out a pair of Dimensional Scissors from her purse, holding them several inches away from her.

Moon reached out towards her daughter in vain. "Wait! Don't go, Star!"

While still racing forwards, the Mewnian princess sliced open a portal, dashing into it and out of sight. Moon dove towards the open portal, hoping she'd just be able to slip through and continue following Star. Just inches away from the portal's entrance, it snapped shut and disappeared. Moon came down onto the hard and filthy linoleum floor on her stomach, sliding for several feet before coming to a stop.

"Bother," muttered Moon to herself. She stood back up, gently sweeping the dirt off of her dress with her gloved hands.

Now more determined than ever to catch up with her daughter, Moon took out her own pair of Dimensional Scissors. Almost instinctively, she opened a portal to Butterfly Castle and stepped inside. Upon exiting through the other side, Moon found herself standing underneath the castle's rear portico. She took note of her position, hoping she'd soon be able to find Star.

"I hope she didn't run too far off," thought Moon. A palpable sensation of unease arose in her as she turned around, looking to see if Star was anywhere nearby.

As she gazed towards the nearby castle courtyard, she found what she was looking for. Star was seated at a wooden picnic table several yards away, facing away from the castle. Her elbows were propped up on top of the table, her head resting on the palms of her hands. Not wanting to startle her, Moon softly walked towards her. As she passed by a fancy marble fountain in the courtyard's center, she carefully got Star's attention.

"Star, I can tell you're upset about what happened to Eclipsa," said Moon in a calm voice. "You seemed rather frightened about it earlier. Would you be be up to talking about it now?"

Star slowly turned around to face her mother. Looking her in the eyes, she nodded in approval.

"Sure."

Moon sat down on the bench opposite Star. After pausing for a few moments to collect her thoughts, she continued her line of thinking.

"To put it lightly, that trial was sure… interesting."

"The truth's out now, at least," said Star. "Turns out, Eclipsa didn't do anything wrong, after all. She just fell in love."

Moon, however, felt there was more to it than romantic attachment. "I'm afraid there's much more to Eclipsa's story than that. It seems that she didn't exactly bring to mind the consequences of leaving her kingdom behind in her pursuit of affection."

"But Mom, can't you see? Eclipsa's name was smeared for centuries, all because she fell in love with a Monster. The MHC froze her and broke her family apart. Now do you understand how she feels?"

"Admittedly, she did have a child out of wedlock."

"So?" retorted Star, looking progressively more irritated by the second. "Queen Solaria did too! How could you ever punish someone for just falling in love? You just fell in love with Dad one day!"

"As intense as my love was for your father, and still is today, I never fled from my responsibilities just so I could spend more time with him. Eclipsa, on the other hand, left her kingdom behind in the dust. She had greater responsibilities to fulfill, and she decided instead to do what made her happy. She didn't consider what would happen to anyone else, except for her."

The Mewnian princess's unyielding attitude only intensified. "What difference does it make? The MHC still lied to us. Festivia should never have been made queen, it just wasn't fair!"

"Life isn't fair, dear. I think you'll come to understand that one day."

"It doesn't have to be! Think about it, Mom. If we just turned back the clock and made things they way they should have been, we could make it like none of this ever happened. We could set things right for once."

A dash of suspicion filled Moon's eyes. "What exactly are you suggesting we should do, Star?"

"Face it, Mom. We're not real Butterflies, and we never will be. We're fakes. Nobodies. But Eclipsa is, and so is her daughter, Meteora. Meteora is the kingdom's true heir, not us. All we'd have to do is find her, and—and let her have the throne she rightfully deserves!"

"Star, don't even start about Meteora," protested Moon. "We don't know if she's even alive anymore."

"You know Miss Heinous, right?"

"That hag who runs St. Olga's? What does she have anything to do with Meteora?"

"Mom, Miss Heinous is Meteora."

Moon's face lit up in surprise. "Wait, what?! You have to be joking."

"I'm not kidding, I saw it myself. Back during the Monster Bash, me and the others ended up in this weird, ancient nursery in the basement of the Monster Temple. Miss Heinous was there, then Mina showed up, and that's when we found out about Heinous' true identity!"

"That sounds preposterous."

Star raised her wand up in the air, aiming at the tall limestone barrier surrounding the courtyard.

"Terrific Tantalizing Telecine!"

A tremendous beam of light shot out of the wand, shining brightly onto the side of the courtyard wall. A zoomed-in image of the wall came into focus.

"I'm not making any of this up," explained Star. "Look."

The Mewnian princess turned the wand's center star counter-clockwise a couple times with her left hand before pushing it inwards. A video recording from the Monster Bash played as soon as she lifted her hand away.

"But… how is this possible?" asked Gemini, a bewildered expression on his face.

"Oh, it's possible, all right!" called out Mina Loveberry. She stood before the others defiantly. "I knew you'd be back here one day, Meteora!"

Gemini marched towards Mina, arms akimbo. His mouth puckered, forming a displeased frown.

"I beg your pardon! This is Miss Heinous, the honorable headmistress of St. Olga's School for Wayward Princesses!"

"No… Meteora," admitted Heinous. "That is my name. At least, it was my name a long, long time ago."

A pair of club symbols formed on her cheeks, glowing brilliantly.

"I can't believe it," sputtered Moon. "Meteora's still alive, after more than three hundred years."

Star placed her wand on the table and pressed the center inward again, deactivating the spell. "See? Now all we have to do is figure out where she is, and let her take the throne!"

"Star, giving the throne to Meteora would almost certainly spell disaster. She's dangerous, and we have no idea what her true intentions might be."

"If everyone on Mewni found out what the MHC did to Eclipsa and Meteora, just imagine what they'd think! No one is gonna let an injustice like that slip by! They'd want the right thing to be done!"

Moon disagreed. "What the public would think about it is a whole other story entirely. They're probably even more averse towards Monsters than the MHC. Their views haven't ever changed, nor will they ever."

"It's the least we could do, Mom! Look at all the evil our family's done in the name of fighting the Monsters. I'm tired of fighting all the time. All I've done since I turned fourteen is fight. I fought Ludo, I fought Toffee, and now I'm fighting you, the MHC, our past, and everyone else!"

Tears welled up inside of Star's normally bright eyes. She paused for a moment, wiping her eyes with her arm before letting out a long sigh.

"I… I just wish there was peace for once, Mom."

Moon sighed. "Star, one day you'll come to understand that the past is all behind us. There's nothing we can do about that now. We need to recognize we made mistakes and move on from that. Soon, you'll understand that Mewni's problems aren't going to be solved by you being distraught over things that are set in stone. I think you still need to have some time to calm down about the trial."

"But Mom—"

"I'll let you know when dinner's ready."

Moon stood up from the bench and turned in the direction of the castle, making her way back inside.

"Wait! Mom! Come back!"

Confusion and sadness washed over Star again as her mother left her in courtyard, disappearing from view as she went into the castle via the portico. Another lengthy sigh exited Star's lips and a frown spread across her face. Reaching into her yellow, star-shaped purse, she pulled out Glossaryck and placed him on top of the table.

"Glossaryck, I know your mind's kinda out of whack right now, but you gotta listen to me. The MHC is nothing but a bunch of liars. I want to do what's best for the kingdom, even if it means giving up the throne to fix the past. What do you think? Am I right for thinking about letting Meteora take my mom's place?"

The mythical being thought pensively for several seconds before issuing a reply.

"Globgor!"

"Ugh!" yelled Star, frustration flowing through her. "You're not helping!"

The young princess took her wand in her hands again and pointed it at Glossaryck.

"Double Dreamy Paradise Blast!"

A pink beam of magic filled with vanilla ice cream cones and fluffy clouds surrounded Glossaryck. Almost instantaneously, his eyes shut closed and he drifted off into a deep sleep. Star placed him back inside her purse gently, along with her wand.

"Well, that went about as well as I expected," grumbled Star, a jaded tone filling her voice.

From the distance, a voice called out to the Mewnian princess.

"Hey, Star!"

It was none other than her best friend, Marco. Ornate iron plate armor covered his long, slender legs, and a large cuirass embossed with Butterfly dynasty symbols was secured over his chest.

"Hey, Marco. I take it you're back from training again?"

The teenage boy's face lit up in excitement. "Yep! I just got back from sword practice with Higgs and the others. It was really fun!"

"Yeah, I bet it was." Star tried putting on a brave face, but her smile faded almost instantly.

"Hey, is everything all right? What happened? Did Eclipsa's trial go okay?"

"If I'm being honest, Marco… a lot of stuff happened at that trial. And after all that was said, I don't think the kingdom will ever be the same again."

"What do you mean, Star?" asked Marco.

Star recalled everything that happened during Eclipsa's trial to Marco, complete with the truth about her family's ancestry, the MHC's past wrongs, Sean's obnoxiously loud court reporting debut, and, of course, Rhombulus's begrudging admission of his strong crush on Queen Moon.

"So, uh… I guess that means you're not related to Eclipsa, after all."

Star's face became even more downtrodden. "It means I'm a fake Butterfly, Marco. It means I'm destined to inherit the throne because of a string of lies. I have to do something about it."

"What were you thinking about doing to fix it?"

"Right now… I'm thinking I want Meteora to take my mom's place and become queen."

"Wait, what?" exclaimed Marco, his voice two octaves higher than usual. "Don't you remember what she tried to do to me at the Monster Bash? She almost sucked all of my life force out!"

"I know it sounds crazy, but hear me out. Remember how much calmer she looked, after she accepted who she really was?"

"Yeah…?"

"Being cooped up in Princess Jail under a false name for three hundred years would make anyone go insane, Marco. It's obvious that Meteora's had a really tough life. I think that if we gave her what's rightfully hers, we could make it up to her."

The Mewnian princess was met by a look of concern from her friend. "You really think that would be the right decision? You've been destined to be the next queen for your whole life, Star. You're just gonna throw it all away?"

"If Mewni's gonna change, it's gotta change from the inside," said Star. "The Monster Bash was a failure. Mewmans and Monsters still aren't united. Nothing's gonna be any different unless we do something huge."

"Don't you think you could try something else? Maybe something less extreme than playing chess with who's queen and all?"

Star sighed. "Marco, I don't deserve to be queen. I'm a nobody. Meteora isn't. I hope someday I'll figure out what I want to be, but being Queen of Mewni wouldn't be doing what's right for everyone."

"Not to try to change your mind, but have you talked to anyone else about this idea?"

"Just Mom and Glossaryck. Obviously, neither were very enthusiastic about my idea."

"I'm not sure if this would help, but I'm visiting my parents on Friday. They're not experts on royalty or anything, but maybe if you came with me, they'd be able to help sort things out. And I get it if you're busy because you and Tom are going on a date again, or if—"

"Actually, I'd really like to go. I haven't seen your parents in a while, and I kinda need to apologize for up and leaving like I did at the End of the School Year party."

Marco placed his hand on Star's shoulder, comforting her. "You're always welcome to come back and visit. Not even a lizard lawyer's plans could change that."

"Aww…" cooed Star, her eyes sparkling in the sunlight. "Marco, your parents are so good to me."

"No problem, Star. I know there's a lot on your mind right now, but would you be up to helping me practice my sword skills for a bit? Higgs knocked me on my butt for hours today."

"Sure thing, Marco. I think it might help me feel a bit better, too."

The two teenagers walked back into Butterfly Castle together, hoping a little combat practice would help them decompress after the sobering news from Eclipsa's trial. They made their way up the stairs to Star's room, hoping that within the days to come, the answer to the problem of Meteora would soon be at hand.