3 days later

Star sighed tiredly, her blue eyes staring into the creases of the canopy above her bed. Another sleepless night, another dawn soon to rise. The Royal duty was taking a toll on her, since Eclipsa didn't want the throne, so she had trouble sleeping.

Of course that wasn't the only thing troubling her, but she convinced herself repeatedly that it was. She would blame anything for her lack of sleep as long she didn't think of the flames. Oh Mewni, those flames horrified her to the core. The more she thought about it, the more she knew; she did that. But she doesn't know fire magic! And she had never seen Tom or anyone produce red fire! What could all of this mean?

"Good morning, acting queen! Ready to start the day, fresh and rested?" The cheery voice of her morning maid echoed through the big room she now sleeps in. Despite usually being pleasant, right now the servant's voice annoyed Star to no end.

"Yeah, yeah. I'll be there in a minute." Star crawled out of bed, and slowly made her way to the bathroom connected to her room. The bathroom is tiled with a combination of beige, white, and cream tiles, with white soft carpets in front of the bath tub, sink, and toilet. The bath tub is a mix between a shower cabin and a true cabin, a glass pane with a glass door surrounding the edges of the tub. Double sinks and mirrors were on the other side of the bathroom, soft towels stacked on the left of them, and a hanger with bath robes on it. A bathroom made for 2, used by a lonely soul.

After Star made herself presentable, she came back to the room, her servant about to make the same statement:
"Do you wish to wear your royal dress toda-"
"No. No dress, I'm not a queen, and when mom comes back, I'll talk about a dress with her." She replied the same boring reply. Day in, day out. Always the same.

"Right, my acting queen." The servant bowed, as she usually does.
"My acting queen, your squire..."
"My squire?" Star raised an eyebrow. Marco was usually never noticed by her people, because he usually kept quiet and followed her around, so he just blended in with the servants.

The girl suddenly giggled and and hid her face behind the dress she held in her hands.
"He made breakfast!"
"Ok?" 'What is wrong with this servant? Marco cooks breakfasts all the time!' Is what Star thought as she watched the older woman act like she's 12 years old.

"But my acting queen, you have to see it!" She squealed in a pitch few can produce, and ran off excitedly. Star rubbed her eyes again, exhausted by just listening to that servant talk like that. She got up slowly, and walked the long way to the dining room.

7 minutes later

"Good morning Star!" Marco greeted Star with a big smile, while Star just yawned in return.
"Hey, Marco." She said slowly as she sat down on her chair, resisting the urge to lean her head on the table and close her eyes.

"Look! Star, they finally let me make breakfast, and a lot of it! Just for today, I made up this omelette- Star?" Marco noticed that through his rambling, Star's eyes would flutter shut at times. Then, he noticed her pale skin and poorly combed hair. And finally, the deep purple bags underneath her eyes.
"Star? Did you sleep? At all?" Marco sat next to her, worried as she looked at him tiredly.

"Huh, oh, yeah. Just a little bit. Maybe a minute or two..."
"Star..."
"Ok, maybe not for a little bit."
"And how big is that bit?" He raised his eyebrow as he asked her with a parent-like tone.
"Three days..."
"What?! STAR!" He stood up abruptly from the chair next to her.
"I know, Marco! I just couldn't get everything off my mind, there is so much to deal with, I don't have time for sleep!" Star whailed as she gripped her head in misery. She doesn't want to do this, she simply isn't ready to do this. She is too young! She wants to go to the Bounce Lounge, hang out with Ponyhead, sit through the whole day while munching on nachos, not this.

"Hey, Star. It's gonna be ok."
"You are not a Queen, Marco! How would you know?!"
"But maybe I can be."
"Whaaaaat?" Star straightened up, eyes wide at his suggestion. Marco chuckled and replied:
"Relax, Star. I'm not gonna become acting acting Queen Turdina, I'll just take a part of your issues and deal with them myself! What do you say?"
"Are you sure you know what you're doing?"
"Pssh, I've seen you do it a hundred times! Piece of cake!" Marco waved his hand dismissively at Star's worries, as if he just has to take the trash out.

"Marco, promise me you won't screw anything up." Star gave in to his request as she rubbed her temples, not energized enough to argue.
"Squire's honour, my Queen!" He crossed his heart with his finger and raised it up, like a boy scout would. Star just chuckled slightly and said:
"Ok, ok, Diaz. What did you make for breakfast?"

"Oh, oh! I made this new recepy! It's an omelette, shaped like a nacho, filled with nacho toppings! Try it, try it, try it!" Marco chanted excitedly as he handed her a plate of steaming hot nacho omelette."
"I call it, the nachonette!" He bowed his head dramatically as if he had just named the greatest art piece ever made. Star smiled, then giggled, then burst into outright laughter as she heard the name.
"W-what kind of name is that? Pfffft Marco, you suck at naming things!" Star wiped a tear away as something about the name woke up a laughter long gone.

Marco frowned a little, before speaking in a mock posh tone:
"Oh, my apologies, my wonderful Queen. Maybe the flavour will be better!" He lifted the heaping plate, and slammed it right into her face. Star gasped in shock, before smirking and speaking in an equally posh tone:
"Oh my, how rude of me! I forgot to share!" She fake gasped as she took a fistfull of the meal and hit his face with a splosh.

"You must taste the filling! It's creamy and delightful!"
"Oh, but the crust is so crunchy! Try a little, my faithful squire!"
"Only if you'll try the cheese, my lady!"
"Here, have some chilli!"
"And milk to wash it down!"

The two now lied in a small pile of omelette goop, wide smiles on their messy faces.
"Marco, you goof."
"Star, you misfit."

Star chuckled lightly and looked at him.
"Don't mess it up, Marco Ubaldo Diaz."
"I promise I won't, Star Butterfly."

12 hours later

"I'm sorry, what is the issue?" Marco repeated for what felt like a millionth time today, his patience running thin.

"This bastard stole me pig-goat!" The villager with a red beard and a beer belly yelled at Marco.
"Ye? Well this fat son of a pig-goat stole me corn!" A tall, lanky old villager shouted in reply.
"Ya lanky bastard! Yer never share that corn, it just grows in your garden lookin' pretty while we starve!"
"You have plenty of pig-goats to go 'round the town, but you're hoggin' them all to yaself! We starve too ya know!"

"Ok, enough! Tall lanky villager, how many pig-goats do you need to feed your family."
"Ten, Royal squire."
"Ya lying bastard!"
"Ok, ten is a bit much. How about we meet in the middle, and say six? Is that ok with you both?" Marco asked with a sigh.

The villagers thought for a moment, and grumbled to themselves, before the tall one replied:
"Fine, 6 should be enough."
While the fat one replied:
"Ye, that seems alright with me, but I still need me corn!"

Marco rubbed his eyes and grumbled:
"Name your quote."
"40 pounds, sire."
"Ya fat swine! I don't produce that much corn!" The tall one yelled in protest, his bony face reddening while the fat one just grinned a nasty grin.
"No can do, Redbeard. You can have 25 pounds, 10 from him and 15 from the castle. Deal?"
"Deal." Both grumbled as they walked away.

Marco groaned a loud groan and slid out of Star's throne, just at the moment that Star walked in.
"Well, that was the last of them for today! You did a good job there, squire!" Star winked as she strolled to him casually.

Marco just replied in a long groan, his hood falling over his face.
"Had a rough time, huh?" Star said as she placed her hands on her hips.
"Yeeeaaah." Marco replied as he looked at the newly renovated ceiling.

"Now Marco, why would you want to look at that old thing? I can show you something better!"

He was suddenly pulled up and away from the throne, his feet barely regaining ballance as Star ran fast out of the throne room, pulling him in tow. Marco focused on her swaying golden locks as she dragged him through darkened halls brightened only by a few old, dim candles. Up the stairs, down the stairs, left and right. Marco was pretty sure they ran through the whole castle, before he finally saw an old wooden door in front of them. However, Star didn't slow down. She busted the door down with a swift kick of her legs, and they were outside.

She let his arm go for a moment, and Marco gasped loudly at the scenery in front of them. Hills upon hills covered with a thick forest of pine trees streched as far as the eye can see, the moonlight making them glimmer. A big river is flowing in between them, looking like a big, majestic winding snake, with scales glimmering in the pale moonlight.

"Come on Marco, let's move!" Star grabbed his arm again, and as they ran towards the forest, down the hill the castle was on, Marco looked up, and saw something incredible.

Stars, a huge number of stars, galaxies, colours of purple and navy blue! All that in a beautiful mashed up symphony decorated the night sky, the most beautiful sight to behold on Mewni.

"Marco, watch out!" Marco snapped out of his daze and barely missed a huge pine tree that appeared out of nowhere. They entered the forest, the sudden change of scenery shocking Marco. The forest was pitch black, apart from a few small rays of light shining through the thick canopy.

Now, he was focused on not tripping on roots and keeping up with Star. So much so, that he didn't notice her stopping after a few minutes, and would have surely kept running if Star didn't catch him by the hoodie.

"We're...here..." Star said in between pants, gripping her shirt to catch a breath. Marco was out of breath too, but not just from the run. In front of them, was the most beautiful lake Marco had ever seen. Its surface was as smooth as glass, reflecting the beautiful sky above.

Star lied down at the edge of the lake and looked up at the stars. Not long has passed, until Marco did the same. They stared at the sky for a while, before Star said:
"Thanks, Marco."
"For what?" Marco asked, not taking his eyes off of the sight.
"Look, I've been really stressed lately with all this queen and Eclipsa stuff, and I didn't relax at all until today. I feel better now, thanks to you." She smiled a little, before chuckling:
"Who knows? If I ever fail as a queen, you can be the king of Mewni! You did my job better than me!"

This time, Marco turned to her, and looked at her.
"Star, I want you to know..."
"Hmm?"
Star turned her head to look at him.
"I will always be by your side. Even when you choose your king, I will always be your loyal squire." He finished quietly as he looked back up at the sky.

Star smiled softly and looked back up.
"Thank you. You know, with you by my side, we can create a whole new Mewni! A whole new kingdom, a better one, like no Butterfly has before! We will create new traditions, make new peace and progress!" Star smiled brightly and looked at him excitedly.

Marco smiled just as bright and took her hand in his.
"Yeah! We will make it better, squire's honour!"

Ocean Fury