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This story begins as you know it, Star and Marco destroying magic, them falling in love, however, this story is not about them... this story is about Eclipsa and her daughter, you know Meteora, but Eclipsa's other daughter, Anastasia, is the daughter born after the golden age of queens. Four years after magic was destroyed, magical things started happening, and before we knew it, magic was back, and it was different. Eclipsa, Moon, and Star rushed to each other immediately, finding their way to each other to see their cheek marks. They decided that since magic was back, to govern Mewni as a council and queens, the throne could be passed down to the next generation of butterflies one day. Soon after Eclipsa and Globgor were expecting a child, it was the coldest winter night of the year, and it was long, but by morning, a princess was born. They named her Anastasia, and how Eclipsa adored her, she adored all her family, but seeing this child was something else, it was a sign of new beginnings and hopeful times to come, that having magic back might not be so bad. Anastasia has fluffy pink hair and stars just like the ones you would see in the sky on her cheeks, but what shocked everyone was her horns; she was born with them they were not big not yet but for an infant with already grown horns, made them wonder how big they would get when she was older. Eclipsa as Anastasia grew older, kept her close, never letting her out of her sight, and overseeing her education thoroughly. Anastasia, on the other hand, while the only comfort she knew was her mother, she longed to play with other children and run around and play, and most of the time felt like her older sister Meteora was a free spirit. While Eclipse tried to keep Meteora tied down like Anastasia, Meteora was different, no matter what Eclipse did, Meteora would always be running off with Mariposa or getting herself into some other kind of trouble. When Anastasia was 6 years old, Star and Marco finally had their daughter Cressida.

Another part of magic coming back was the most puzzling. the wand. How did it come back?, when did it come back?, but shortly after the queens were united, Star woke up one day to find the wand on her bedside just like she let it and along with the wand glossaryk the book on the other hand was no where to be found after careful consideration the queens decided to lend the wand to Eclipsa and once meteora was deemed old enough she would begin learning magic with the wand and that day came far sooner than you know it. On her 18th birthday, a ceremony will be held where she will inherit the wand from Queen Eclipsa,

The preparations were finally underway for the ceremony, Eclipsa was going over the decoration planning with Star and Moon, checking the table arrangements and flowers. Every bit had to be perfect, it was the first big event since Star and Marcos' wedding. Globgor, river, and Raphael decided to stay out of the way and go bog beast hunting for the morning.

Anastasia slumped against the door to her room, she took a hand to rub across her face *sigh* a long day of studying and standing by Eclipsa while they decided the preparations for the ball, Anastasia sighed again and looked down at the crumpled paper in her hand it was a bright blue poster that read "monster bash at the temple ruins" "RAVE bring your friends" she was just walking out in the street when she saw the poster on a wall, the poster caught her eye and she swiped it without anyone looking she wanted to ask her mother to go but never thought the right time was the right time. She knew how her mother could be, Eclipsa would never let her go. She had never been to a party before or had many friends for that matter, she had other children to talk to, children of servants, they were the only other children in the castle, and they all left as soon as they came. Anastasia loved her mother, she just wished she had some independence. and wished she could have one day all to herself, no studying or sitting in on boring meetings, a day to be messy and reckless and just be herself. she knew that day would never come if she sat around in this castle.

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Meteora, on the other hand, leaned against a buffet table with an apple in her hand, chewing it silently while she watched from the side as her mother, Moon, Star, and sister gossiped over which tablecloth suited best. She was supposed to be putting in an input, but could honestly care less about this ceremony to begin with. She threw the apple on the floor and walked toward her rooms, desperate to escape all this. As she got to the door, she spied her window slightly open, letting the breeze in, that's weird, she could have sworn she closed it this morning. as she was about to close the door, something pooped up from behind "BOO! did I scare you M?" asked a sweet voice.

"One problem, Mari: You left the window open. Ridiculous mistake," Meteora chuckled. "What are you even doing here, anyway? Butterfly Castle is kind of far from here."

"I know I just had to see you, you know, with all this birthday, ceremony stuff going on," said Mariposa, her long brown hair swept to the side, with her one mole just below her left eye. Her magenta cape covering her zip up jacket, pants, and sneakers. Entirely different from Meteora's attire, an off-white dress that ended right above her knees, the hem of it lined with emerald green clovers the top of the dress was all black with the neck of it going all the way up her throat and the sleeves cut off right at her shoulders. a perfect dress for a princess despite Meteora's boots she wore often climbing trees with mariposa and her purple hair in a high ponytail above her ears her poofy bang popping out of course.

The two girls chuckled. Meteora broke the silence first, "I missed you, Mari, it's been so long since I've been able to visit Earth, and you know the ball, so I haven't seen Star or Marco in so long."

"Hey, don't worry. M, we're together now." Mariposa grabbed the Meteora's hands and pressed their foreheads together. "So, should we get into some trouble?"

"Not this time, Mari. My mother would freak out, more than usual. If I left before the ceremony, I'll save you a seat in the front row, okay?"

"fineee, well I guess this means I'll bounce," Mariposa sighed, and climbed back out the window she came through. She turned last minute to smile sweetly at Meteora and wave goodbye before scaling down the castle's wall.

Meteora glanced back out the window before leaving her room and shutting the window. Her birthday was something she used to always look forward to, a time to spend time with her family, but lately things were not like they used to be, and this birthday was going to be filled with anything but hopeful memories. To Meteora, the coronation meant she had to finally step up, for it was a symbol of the kingdom, of a new era that she must finally step up as a princess of Mewni. However, while monsters being accepted as citizens of Mewni has been going on for a while now, some mewmans are still opposed to the idea of monsters ruling Mewni, and Meteora's monster features certainly didn't help.

....it was going to be a long week

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The wand ceremony was now 3 days away and the castle was buzzing with excitement, monsters and mewman's alike flooding the castle excited to see the coronation of their princess. Eclipsa was straightening he curtains of the window overlooking the city. 18 years ago, when magic came back, it wasn't safe for Globgor and Eclipsa to continue living in the monster temple, so they left the castle to dedicate it to the monsters living around it. Butterfly Castle was rebuilt with help from the people and while Moon, Star, River, and Marco resided there, Eclipsa and Globgor decided to build themselves a castle not far from the Monster Temple. The castle became a village where monsters and mewman's were both accepted and lived in harmony.

Eclipsa held a family portrait in her hand, a picture of her and Globgor together, a four-year-old Meteora on Globgor's lap and baby Anastasia in eclipsa's arm. She ran a hand over the picture, so much has changed in the past 300 years, and for the past 20 years, it seems like they've finally, after all that time, been happy. She didn't want that happiness to go away, but her daughters were growing up faster every day and Meteora was so stubborn she worried one day that stubbornness might get Meteora in trouble and it seemed the closer she tried to keep Meteora the farther she went from her grasp and the more Meteora was distant the more Eclipsa was worried she would lose her daughter for good. She hoped that after the coronation, the Meteora would learn the importance of the wand and magic.

Eclipsa's other daughter, Anastasia, on the other hand, from the minute she was born, she worried that she would lose another daughter, so she kept her close and would protect her no matter what. She was younger and Eclipsa, whenever she looked at Ana, could only see what she held in her arms, see the tiny thing, 14 years ago, she would never let what happened to her and the Meteora happen to Anastasia in the before, before magic was destroyed...

Eclipsa walked into the foyer of the castle, where preparations for the coronation were being held. She spotted Moon and Star speaking to a servant.

"How are things coming along?" she asked sweetly to the two of them.

"Eclipsa! Things are going nicely, King and Queen Spider, just sent their letter that they will be coming, along with the eight pony heads and the Johansens," Moon replied, her light blue hair in a long braid down her back and her simple light blue dress that matched her hair.

"Where's Meteora? shouldn't she be here?" asked Star, holding a vase of flowers in her hand, while so much older Star never lost her bubbly spirit, still her blonde hair running down her back and her classic red horns atop her head, except now she wore blue pants and a pink shirt if only casual because Marco weren't here.

"I'm not sure" replied Eclipsa, "I think she's run off again, probably getting herself into more mischief, as you know I could never get her down here to participate in coronation preparations. and with the ball nearly 3 days away, I don't know what we're going to do if she doesn't start showing up" *sigh*

"Have faith, Eclipsa, I'm sure it's just nerves, this is a big deal, Meteora has never experienced magic first-hand, well, since you know... she was very young," assured Moon.

Eclipsa sighed "I hope so,"

"Mother!" Anastasia smiled and came running down the stairs into her mother's arms

"Oh! Well, good morning, my darling," said Eclipsa

Anastasia was wearing her normal dress and white button-down top with the collar and the droopy bow around her neck, the rest of the dress was black and her pink hair separated into two pigtails. Her horns had indeed grown significantly from when she was born, they were black with streaks of red and brown, they were tall and slightly curved, and almost a whole foot above her head, she managed to keep them out of the way, while getting dressed was a huge hassle.

"How are the preparations coming?" Anastasia asked

"They're coming along just fine, it's your sister I'm worrying about. She's hardly shown up for any of the preparations and rehearsals for the coronation. I only hope she'll be on time for the actual thing," Eclipsa sighed...

"hm," Anastasia replied, still staring, blankly, at her mother, with both her hands behind her back clutching the poster of the rave at the monster temple, she thought it was worth a try to ask her mother, but decided now might not be the best time.

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"So how are you feeling about all this?" asked Mariposa. They were sitting on the roof of the Diaz house. They had stolen Marco's dimensional scissors to hang out on earth, and after a long day at the beach and eating at Britta's tacos, the sun was setting, and Meteora and Mariposa sat on the roof watching the sunset.

"I... don't know" meteors responded to, her arms holding her knees close to her chest.

"Meteora" mariposa looked at Meteora intently, putting her hand over Meteora's "what is it that you want, your family aside, tell me"

Meteora sighed. There was something she was keeping from Mariposa, something that was holding her back about the wand. She sighed again before looking at Mariposa in the eyes.

"It's not like I'm opposed to being a princess, I
don't know how to explain it, but it feels like something is missing, a part of myself that's missing and I can't accept the weight of the wand unless I figure out what it is" Meteora confessed still holding mariposa's gaze, she felt as if there was a part of herself that was missing and longing to be discovered and once she found that missing piece she could finally be the princess her family need what her kingdom needed.

Mariposa looked right back at Meteora, "What do you think it is?" she asked.

"I don't know," Meteora replied, "but I've been having these dreams every night, the same dream, I'm in a body that feels like mine,but.. but different, and I'm taller, much taller, and I feel powerful and strong, and in the dream, I see a bright glowing green light and what's weird is I see my family, all except my father, my sister and you. and the scariest part is the family I do see they look at me as if I'm something to be feared" she looked away tearing her hand away from Mariposa's she had never told these dreams to anyone else before only to Mariposa could she admit something like this she told Mari everything about how these dreams have been happening for almost a month now ever since her mother told her that on her 18th birthday she would be inheriting the wand. She even told Mariposa about this distant voice in her head, and it only grew louder the closer she got to the wand. The voice felt like her own but was entirely different. That was why she was so hesitant about the ceremony, scared that what she saw could come true and afraid about what the voice meant. Meteora would never dare tell her mother, afraid of what this might mean.

That's the night when Meteora used the dimensional scissors to come back to the Mewni dimension. The sun had already set, and it was late at night. Meteora shut her open window that she used to sneak out and slipped into her bed. However, she couldn't stop tossing and turning with dreams of her family's lives in her hands, and in the dream she saw herself, and what she saw was a cold-blooded monster. and once Meteora had fallen fast asleep, a green glowing light had filled the room

the next morning, when Meteora was about to leave her rooms, she noticed her window open, which was weird because she could've sworn she closed it last night, but what she didn't see was right outside the window, the claw marks digging into the castle walls.

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"We have to post more guards around the castle!"

"Are you crazy?! You saw what happened to all those villages and the destruction that thing made! We can't afford to put more lives at risk!"

"More people will die if we don't station guards! We can at least try to defend ourselves until that monster emerges from the darkness!"

"And what if it doesn't!? then what are we just supposed to sit back while it destroys the entire kingdom?" Omnitraxis and Hekapoo argued over a circular table in the butterfly castle. Lately, villagers have reported that people have gone missing, houses and trees have been destroyed, and all their wells have dried up. Moon, Star, and Eclipsa went out to see if these reports were true, only to find that the destruction was worse than they thought. Star ordered that night to have a guard to defend the store, but all the guards were either found dead or missing as well. But the men and monsters in those villages continued to become more frightened, scared that their houses would be next, scared that they would find their homes turned, families missing. Omnitraxis rubble and they argued that it would be better to post more guards to ensure the safety of the villagers, while Hekapoo thought it better to stop placing soldiers in villages and the villages to order them instead to turn their lights off, bar their windows, and lock their doors. Their arguing went on for hours until Star finally spoke up.

"Enough! We will not be putting any more lives at risk, myself. My husband, Marco, along with a group of mewni's greatest warriors, will set out tonight to capture this creature and end this." Star spoke with a stern voice, making eye contact with everyone in the room. The magic high commission, moon, river, Marco, eclipsa and globgor.

"Uhhhh, remember the last time we trusted mewnis greatest warriors? All of mewni nearly got destroyed!" Rhombulous finally spoke up, referring to the battle with the reborn Solarian warriors over 18 years ago.

Star rolled her eyes; however, Rhombulous was somewhat right: those warriors were also the greatest friends in all of mewni. "Anyone else that wants to join our ... hunting party is welcome; we leave at nightfall." With that, Star spun on an annoyed heel. "cmon, Marco." Marco followed behind her. Star and Marco stormed out of the room, leaving the high commission, moon, eclipsa, and globgor. Since the meeting seemed to have been concluded, Moon sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose, and she and River walked out. eclipsa and Globgro left afterward and on the walk back to their castle...

"I think we should join the hunting party," Eclipsa said. Who knows what could be out there? Those villagers are our subjects, too. What if we face something you and I have? We have more experience than any of them, so we could know what's going on."

"I agree," Globgor responded, his thick accent coating his words, "but what will we tell the girls?"

"You heard Star, the party leaves at sundown. The girls will never find out," Eclipsa responded. The rest of the walk back to the castle was silent.

Later that night

the skies of mewni were dark, not just from the veil of night, but with a suffocating stillness. the kingdom was in a quiet hush the citizens of mewni off to sleep.

the castle gates creaked open, and the star, now dressed in battle armor of sorts and a flowing blue cape, stood ready with Marco at her side, his red hoodie traded with a black tunic and pants at his belt were his dimensional scissors and sword snapped across his back. behind them stood their carefully chosen hunting party: Tom glowing faintly with hellfire or by suit in makeshift armor, and two of the men's royal guards who were the remaining survivors from the monster attacks both couldn't get a good look at the monster in the night but wanted to find it where it took their comrades

eclipsa and globgor approached from the shadows of the courtyard.

"You're late," said Star, her tone flat but not surprised.

"we're here to help!" Eclipsa replied.

"same goes for me," a new voice piped up. it was Hekapoo now in leather armor that shimmered with flames. She folded her arms, one leg kicked back casually. "figured I do not win an argument, but I can try to win a fight,"

omnitraxus, surprisingly, had not come.

'he's staying behind to protect the palace," Hekapoo added, almost as if reading their thoughts. "he said 'someone has to make sure there's a mewni left to come back to.'"

with the last of the party assembled, star raised her hand, a glowing light illuminating from it "we stick together. whatever this thing is we can take it on together but it snot going to take another village. not tonight."

Eclipsa gave Glob got a subtle nod, and he returned it with a gentle smile only she saw. they would be back before the wand ceremony began in less than 24 hirs from now, and Meteora and Anastasia would never know. even though it was unlikely they were to find whatever beats they were looking for.

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Meteora woke up groggy and suddenly. She groaned and stiffly stretched out of bed. She suddenly jolted awake as she scratched the back of her neck. Her fingers felt something, and she pulled them away. It looked like dirt. Meteora looked back at her bed and saw dirt all over there, too. When she looked over in the mirror, her hair was a goofy mess, and there was dirt all over her face, and her pajamas were covered in it and slightly torn. There were tree branches and leaves stuck in her hair, making her look like a literal bird nest. Weirdly, though, her window was slightly ajar. She didn't know what was happening, so she quickly washed the dirt off her face and changed clothes. The princess pulled the branches and leaves out of her hair and tied them in her usual ponytail. She glanced at the clock; it was almost noon. She took a deep breath and stepped into the hallway.

You could hear Meteora hurriedly or furiously? Walking down the hallway, she took a left toward the grand hall, where most preparations were happening for the night. But before she entered the giant doors, someone stopped her It was Anastasia, though she was younger, she was merely a few inches shorter than Meteora. Meteora looked at her, confused It wasn't common for her sister to stop her on a Saturday morning or, she supposed, afternoon.

"What do you want?" said Meteroa, frustrated she tried to walk around Anastasia, but her sister stopped her there too.

"I need your help," said Anastasia with a serious face, though it quickly melted away and was replaced with doe eyes. "Please?"

Meteora glanced down at her sister, in her hands was a crumpled-up poster; she couldn't make out any of the words on it, though the poster was hand-drawn. At the moment, Meteora didn't know why she decided to be a good sister at that moment, but if these were her last hours to have fun. She put the puzzle pieces together in her head, and a smirk made its way onto Meteora's face.

"You wanna go to a party?" Meteora said wickedly that she was surprised that her meek sister even dared to snag the poster in the first place. Usually, Meteora was the Rebellious daughter, yes, she had snuck out of the castle a few times to run away with Mariposa or go to some random party at the bog. If their mother ever caught Meteora sneaking out, now, that would be one thing, but her seeing her precious Anastasia run out, now, would be another.

*sigh* "Yes... But only for a few minutes, to see what it's like." Anastasia broke eye contact with Meteroa and stared at the floor. "I've never been to one, thought it'd be fun to, you know, hang out with other teenagers... I don't have a lot of friends, okay?"

"Yeah, we all know you don't have any friends." Meteora snatched the poster from her sister's hands and read the scribbled handwriting on it. "This party is tonight? Right before my... birthday party, we could go before the ceremony starts and sneak back in before anyone notices, Mom and Dad would never know... Let's do it!"

"Wait? You'll help me sneak out? on your birthday?" Anastasia looked back up at her older sister; she wasn't expecting Meteora to say yes, especially not on such a big day like this, not to mention if Eclipsa ever caught her she'd be in huge trouble, she'd never snuck out before.

"Don't think I'm doing this for you." Meteora jabbed a figure in Anastasia's direction. "I'm doing this because it's my last chance to do something since I'm going to be inheriting all this power, you know? Mom expects all of this from me, but I... you know what I don't have to tell you this. Meet in front of my room at sundown."

"Eeughh Yeah, totally, I'll be there. Speaking of Mom and Dad, do you know where they are? I haven't seen them all day..." Anastasia replied,

"I have no idea; they'll probably be back tonight. Wherever they are." With that, Meteora stepped to the side of Anastasia, brushing past her, and made her way to the grand hall, leaving Anastasia standing in the middle of the hallway. Anastasia, while she looked wide-eyed and expressionless on the outside once her sister left, couldn't help the excitement and giddiness.

The entire day seemed to go by slowly, but Anastasia was excited about being caught by the castle staff or, worse, her worry far outweighed her excitement, though she was still determined to follow through with the plan of going to the party for a short while then returning before Meteora's 18th birthday party began. Though she was still worried that Eclipsa and Globgor hadn't returned to wherever they were, Anastasia put her worries aside; they were going to return by tonight, weren't they?

By the time the sun was setting, Anastasia was already pacing outside Meteora's room dressed in a black cape. What if she changed her mind? What if they were late and didn't make it back in time? Or, worst of all, what if they got caught? The door swung open suddenly, and Meteora popped outside the hall. This part of the castle was dark, lit only by a few candles. They would have to sneak out of the back of the castle to not being caught by the castle staff setting up for the party and ceremony.

"Ready to go?" asked Meteora, raising an eyebrow

"Yes!" replied Anastasia, her worries suddenly fading away and replaced with excitement.

"follow me"

Anastasia followed Meteora down the path of twisting halls she had never seen or been down before. Through the halls, she could hear the commotion of the preparations for the ceremony coming along. It was almost as if they were in the walls. After a few minutes of walking through the castle, they reached a set of double doors. Meteora slipped through. Outside, as Anastasia found, it seemed like they were in the castle, and the village, just outside, she could see rows of houses and sidewalks. Meteora continued walking down the streets until they reached the end of the forest. She kept walking toward the bog until they heard the giant sound of electric Music and flashing lights. The light got brighter and the music louder as they continued toward the party, and they soon saw Mewmans and the monsters dancing and drinking to the music. They stopped right at the edge of the crowd. Anastasia's eyes were wide. She had never seen anything this ... exhilarating before,her heart and body told her to join them on the dance floor, but she stayed put. She looked to the side at Meteora, who had tossed her cloak and had a hand on her hip.

"We return in an hour. These people know me, but if they see you, they'll get nervous that Mom will come and crash their party. So try to lay low, ok?" Meteora tugged on the hood of Anastasia's cloak, covering her eyes, and ripped holes into where her horns poked through.

"ok..." replied Anastasia, lifting her hood slightly to see, and with that, she saw Meteora, not sparing a second glance at her, as she joined the rest of the party. Well, this was sure to be fun.

The party was nothing like she'd ever seen before, more people all in one place than Anastasia had seen in her entire life, bright dazzling lights, loud music like she'd never heard before. It was as if she was in a dark room her entire life, and someone finally turned on the light. She must've stood on the edge of the party for at least 10 minutes before building up the courage to walk onto the dance floor. The second she stepped foot into the crowd, she was pushing her way through crowds of people and ducking under limbs, and before she knew it, a drink was shoved into her hands. She took one sip, gagged, and dumped the contents of the drink behind her back and discarded the cup. However, after she felt a Hand on her shoulder, and froze.

"Hey, want to dance?" a Mewman boy who looked to be too many years older than her and chugging away at a drink asked her.

"Erm, no thanks."

"Suit yourself," the boy scoffed at her and went to talk to another girl.

Anastasia had seen enough. she pushed her way through dozens of bodies hoping one of them was Meteora. How long had they been here it had to have been half an hour at least. the air was suddenly grew hard to breath and her vision fading in and out. She needed air. then suddenly a loud crack came through the forest loud enough to get the whole parties attention.

The music had faded away in the background, a bright purple light came from the forest. Anastasia stood on her tiptoes to get a good look at what everyone was staring at.

Queen Eclipsa had stepped out of the forest looking worn and tattered as if she had just been in a fight a gash and an open wound on her face, and it was safe to say from the look on Eclipsa's face that she was... furious.

The crowd dispersed around her, leaving a straight path for Anastasia to her mother.

"oh shit"

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The crowd at the party was dwindling drastically, leaving only Anastasia and Eclipsa staring at each other. The party-goers were mumbling how their party was ruined and muttering, "good, even your majesties." Eclipsa took slow steps toward her daughter, Anastasia, standing there, tense with beads of sweat rolling down her forehead. Anastasia tried getting words out of her mouth, but only stutters and half-words came out.

"Ana? What are you doing here? Where's Meteora?" Her mother's voice seemed less furious and disappointed and more worried and frightened. "The wand ceremony will begin in an hour. Everyone has been looking for her; she is in huge trouble, and so are you! Don't think you're off the hook."

There it was. The worry in her mother's voice had faded, but the gash on her face was still bleeding, and she had a tear-streaked face. "Mama, I-I'm so s-sorry -"

"Anastasia, what were you thinking? What has gotten into you? I'd expect something like this from Meteora, certainly not you.. It doesn't matter. Where is Meteora, anyway?"

Meteora's POV

Shit. I thought I was dancing with some of the party goers when the music stopped and that bright purple flash appeared, and before I knew it, my sister and mother were staring right at each other while the crowd dispersed around them. I contemplated making a run for it before my mother saw me, but she likely already knew I was here. Not only would I be in huge trouble for sneaking out, especially on today, but my mother would never forgive me for taking her precious Anastasia to a big party. ughhhhh I down the rest of my drink in one gulp and separated from the crowd and walked over to face the wrath of my mother.

Only to discover how awful she looked, my mother had looked like she had just gotten into a fight, a bruise was forming under her eye, and she had a cut on her cheek, looked tired and ragged, and her face was stained with tears. I was used to my mother always seeming put together and regal, like the queen she is. I walked over ready for a long lecture from my mother, but before I knew, she had sunk into my arms, holding me tightly in an embrace. This was NOT what I was expecting.

My mother let go but still clung to my arms. Thanks to my monster-mewman genetics, I was also a little bit taller than my mother. "What were you thinking? Meteora! Sneaking out right before the wand ceremony? I wonder what sort of place this even is? It reeks." My mother scrunched her nose, here came the lecture now." I'm just glad you two are safe, you know I shouldn't be surprised, but how could you bring your baby sister to a place like this?.... for a moment I saw your face in that beast" mother mumbled that last part.

"Mom, what are you talking about? What beast? I-"

"It was my idea to sneak out, I'm so sorry, Mom." It seems my sister has finally found her voice, even if it truly was Anastasia's idea, I still would have taken the blame.

"What are you doing? "I whispered, yelled

"Mama, we're so sorry, but please don't get mad at Meteora. I was the one who convinced her to go to this party tonight, I'm the one who saw the poster in the streets, and I took it." Anastasia confessed.

Mother sighed, "Is that so?"

"Yes, Mom, but please don't get mad at Anastasia either. I didn't think anything was going to happen, and I didn't know something about this party made me feel free, and I want to be like you, you know a the queen of darkness," I explained.

My mother sighed again. I was never the queen of darkness, Meteora. I was a ... rebellious teen, just like you, but never mind that. It's been a long night, and we all must be ready for the ceremony very soon."

The walk back to the castle was quiet and we could hear the crickets as we walked., We entered the castle from behind, and when Anastasia had gone up to her room to get dressed, I caught up to my mother. What did she mean by beast?

"Pssst, Mom, what happened tonight? Where's Dad?"

Mother stopped in her tracks to face me. "It's none of your concern, my darling, the MHC and I have been... investigating a beast terrorizing our villages."

This was definitely not what I was expecting. "Well, did you find it? Did you guys kill it?"

"Worse," my mother's eyes looked horrified, but she shooed me to my room. How could she keep a secret like this from me? How could I not have known about this?

I hurried up to my room, my dress for the ceremony lay out waiting for me... I had so many unanswered questions, but none of it matters right now because I have a ceremony to get to and more than that, a birthday party, my last night as a child. I don't regret spending the night at the party; however, the look on my mother's face before she saw me was a face of utter horror. But my mother is strong, eclipsa is strong, and whatever it is, I'm sure she'll handle it.

With that, I washed my face, put myself together, threw my dress on, and finally, I put a regal face on, a mask, the final thing I put on was a crown, knowing a matching wand was waiting for me.

Anastasia POV:

I'm not the heir to mewni, I will never inherit a wand.... but my sister will

Chapter Text

The grand hall was flooded with monsters and mewmans alike, gossiping and chatting, waiting for their princess to show herself. At the head of the hall was a podium, a wand hovering above it, the butterfly family wand still in eclipsa's form. At the head stood Eclipsa in a gorgeous gown, with Globgor and a fidgeting Anastasia by her side. On her other side stood Star Butterfly and Moon. Behind them stood River, Marco, and Star's daughter. Once the clock struck ten, Meteoroa would head this way.

Meteora POV

I can't breathe

The clock is seconds away before I'm supposed to enter the grand hall and accept my fate as the heir of the wand and of mewni... is it too late to run away? my dress swivels underneath me as i pace back in forth inront of the door, its extravagant really a beutiful purple, lavender really, lace everwhere and long sleves a picture perfect monster princess, even my tail has been adorned with a bow, silly right?

No. I can't, it's too late now. Two guards open the doors as I'm faced with dozens, hundreds of eyes fixed on me. I keep my head high. Whatever I've felt about this in the coming months doesn't matter now; my face is blank, my head held high. As I walk down the aisle, trying not to look at any faces, trying not to read what they think of me, but there's one face I can't help but make eye contact with, Mariposa, she sits in the front row, beaming at me. She gives me a thumbs up before I face my mother.

Mother gives me a faint smile as she peers down from the podium. "Meteora butterfly," she announces, "today you will inherit our family's most treasured and prized heirloom."

Star walks over to grab the wand form its podium, it transforms into her wand and she moves to stadn beside my mother, star is smiling at me then speaks, "meteroa, this one has shaped all of mewni, it is where all the past queens have leaned their magic and now we proudly pass it down to you" i nod slowly, star hands the wand to my mother it then transforms into her umbrella wand,

eclipsa clears her throat, holding the wand out in front of her, in front of me, "Meteroa, do accept the responsibilities that come along with this wand."

"I do."

"And are you prepared to take on the magical burdens that come along with it and swear to use it for the good of mewni?"

"I do."

"Then I present to you the butterfly family wand," she extends the wand out for me to take. I reach out with both hands, and power thrummings move slowly to as my fingertipwards it. I grasp the wand, and white light blinds me. For a second, I feel nothing, I see nothing, except that I can feel the bright white light when it fades, I can still feel it humming inside of me. I blink a few times and look down to see the wand has transformed into a long staff wiht swirling purple and yellow a gen on the end and at the top a mirror i see my refelction inside it but then it chnges to a foggy gray below the mirror are wings perhaps those of a bird its beautiful intricate details and kore htna i imagined my wnad would ever look like. I then look around ot see I'm not the only one that felt that wave of power. I take a deep breath and turn around to face the audience of people. I push my shoulders back and stand up tall, lifting my chin higher, the perfect picture of a regal princess. I bow my head to everyone, and then the crowd erupts in clapping, and the royal family then exits the grand hall as I lead them all out, everyone still clapping, and I can see Mariposa clapping the hardest and beaming bright.

I can't believe I did it, I finally did, after months of preparations and worrying, it's all over just like that, the royal family had exited the grand hall while the guests moved on to the after-party of the celebrations, it was technically still a birthday party. It all felt so surreal, me, the owner of the greatest family heirloom this realm has ever seen, so much power waits beneath my fingertips. I look around at the crowd in the ballroom, many people gossiping and chatting, probably whispering about how I will do as the heir to the mewni throne. I try to enjoy the festivities. Different couriers and lords and ladies have come to bid their congratulations to me. I say thank you and nod along with whatever conversation they've dragged me into; however, it's all gone by in a blur, and I can't stop thinking about the big party.... never mind that I can't think about anything when a thumping louder every second. I've been having weird dreams and waking strangely these past months, as well as a constant headache; however, it has nev in my head ebater been this bad before. I look down at the wand in my hand, then back up at the ballroom, room my family is chatting to Star and Marco, my sister Ana still clinging to my mother (you'd think a girl would come out of her shell after that damn party) no one seems ot be looking at me for once tonight so i take this moemnt of peace to slip away into the quiet halls of the castle the beating in my heads thrums louder every step, i needed to air.

She escapes the clatter and chatter of the party and flees down the hall, her skirts dramatically swishing behind her as she desperately escapes the party

"Meteora!" a voice calls from behind her. "Where are you going? The parties are still going"

It was Mariposa Diaz; she looks beautiful, Meteora thought. "Mari, you should go back and enjoy the festivities.... I'm not feeling well, just need to lie down for a bit," replied Meteora, beads of sweat clinging to her brow.

"Is everything ok, Meteora? You did great out there, by the way," said Mariposa

She hesitated before replying, "Everything's fine, Mari. I appreciate you being here. You look beautiful, I couldn't have done it without you, you deserve to enjoy the party."

Mariposa looks skeptical, but she nods anyway. Mariposa went up on her toes to give Meteroa a peck on the cheek, but Meteroa still had to lean down a bit. With that, Mariposa gave Meteora one last concerned look before turning the hall back to the party.

Meteora continued to hurriedly walk down the halls of the castle. She had no idea where she was going, of course, but the beating in her head had grown unbearable quickly, and when it stopped for a split second, a voice flooded inside her mind.

Chapter Text

*"meteora... meteora, come"*

The princess stumbled down the hallway, clutching her head. A sophisticated, commanding voice beat in her head. She didn't know where she was going, so she flew open the doors of the closest balcony. She almost threw herself over the railing if she hadn't clutched her claws over the railing.

claws...not nails...

Meteoras' breathing grew heavy, and his eyes grew dilated. The hands on the railing gripped tightly, so that the stone crumbled, and her claws burrowed deeper.

Do you feel it? The power humming in your fingers? It's yours, all yours... but you can't handle it alone, can you? No... You need me. You always have," the voice in her head cooned

"Who are you!" meteroa half screamed out loud. "What's happening! get out of my head...!"

*"Don't fret, child... this will soon not matter...I am you, well, you can call me Heinous little butterfly, you received everything I was supposed to have."*

"I-I don't want this...I don't want any of this," she said, seemingly to herself

"Oh, oh, I know.." heinous crooned "and I'm here to take that pain away, all you have to do is let me..."

Meteora's claws stretched further and grew sharper. Her muscles tensed and grew, her pupils dilated, and she could feel her body becoming violently stronger, and her tail whipped nervously back and forth. Her emerald eyes became brighter.

"My dear, we are the same with two different fates; but your power is now mine..."

meteoras' breathing grew shallow, the sleeves of her dress ripped as the muscles grew, she was no longer in control of her mind as it seemed she had simply given in to heinous's manipulating thoughts. Meteora dropped the wand, and it clanged to the balcony floor as Meteora fled from the castle and leaped from its wall, her claws leaving jagged marks on the stone.

What a way to end a birthday.

(the ballroom)

Anastasia clung to her mother in the ballroom. They stayed near the main thrones, and Anastasia stood there obediently while her mother gossiped and talked vibrantly with the other guests, wishing the family congratulations, however, not actually to the birthday girl herself, for she was nowhere to be found. It wasn't unusual for Meteora to sneak away from cotillians and debunatntes; however, she might have known better not to run away from her celebratory party, but alas, it seems Meteora still has old habits to break. As for Anastasia, she also sticks to her routine of staying close to Eclipsa, watching the dancers, and gossiping with royal courtiers. Her mother doesn't seem to mind; it seems they both seem to find comfort and familiarity in each other, though, eclipsa used to encourage Anastasia to mingle and chat with the other young noble sadn guests of balls, she soon gave up when she learned her young daughter was simply too shy and perhaps simply will never be ready to be in the spotlight.

The queens are now talking with Star while Marco is watching their young daughter, Anastasia has heard many stories about Star and her valiant adventures, and though she has known the bubbly woman her whole life, they have never grown to be close. Her sister, Meteora, on the other hand, has notably idolized and, of course, has formed a close bond with Mariposa.

Anastasia has always been the quiet princess, the silent sister; they don't ignore her, she's just never been comfortable in the spotlight. The young princess is aware of that, but there's a part of her something that this young girl that wishes for such things as her freedom and the whole family, who have fought countless monsters and various villains at least from all the stories she's heard lately. Eclipsa keeps her youngest daughter under a watchful eye, always concerned for her safety, always keeping her in sight and out of trouble, never allowed to run off and get itno trouble with her sister or get dirty or go to parties, which is why the bog party was important to Anastasia is was her first taste at freedom and socialization, even if was a short but chaotic one it opened her eyes to something she never experienced before wild untamed freedom and one she has only gotten a drop of even if it was overhelming at first to see. Anastasia thinks about this all while she stands by Eclipsa's side. Perhaps soon she will build up the courage to actually participate in the conversations for once or seek out her own that could be months or years from now. Instead of acting on all of these thoughts, she will stand quietly to the side, as she has done all of this time, and will probably continue to do.

Soon enough, the nobles and other royalty dispersed. Then, the various townspeople, the commission, the star, and Marco's family, the remaining butterfly family within the castle, as well as their retinue, would move to their quarter. At the same time, the party would be cleaned up and gone without a trace, as if it had never happened in the first place. However, there is still no sign of Meteora at this hour. Globgor and Eclipsa worry, assuming she had retired for the night or was with Mariposa, which wouldn't be possible as they saw Mariposa leave with Marco.

Eclipsa and Globgor stay behind in the parlor, Anastasia leaving to retire to her room. The minute she leaves the room, she breathes out a long sigh; no doubt, her parents are already half asleep after who knows how many glasses of wine. She walks along the long hallway, dragging her hand along the wall across the wallpaper and across the portraits. Perhaps she'll go to her room, perhaps she'll get some fresh air... speaking of, Anastasia walks by an open door, she keeps her hand on the frame of the door and stares out the balcony, the wind whipping at her face and blowing her hair. She walks a bit closer to get a good look at the sight.

a crumbled railing, and when Anastasia takes. A few steps closer, she can see the claw marks digging into the side of the castle. The strangest thing was when she looked to her side to see meteoras wand lying on the ground the wand. She runs her eyes in the palms of her hands, thinking it must be a dream, it has to be because no such thing can crumble stone and make claw marks, and her sister would dare not just carelessly leave the family heirloom on a balcony. Anastasia contemplates reaching out toward the wand, and her hand is inches away from it before she reaches out. After all, it's not her place, and the wand isn't hers; she should just leave it be. Anastasia slowly backs out of the balcony, an unsure look crosses her face, but when she leaves the balcony, she shuts the doors.

Maybe she should have alerted her parents. Maybe she should have grabbed the wand, or at very least, she could have left the door open. Anastasia is now speed walking back to her perch. If she pretends she never saw anything, no one will know. Her parents will find it by the time Meteora comes back in the morning to retrieve the wand... or maybe Anastasia should have grabbed the wand and taken it, the thought of all that power in her hand almost- she stops the thought as soon as her mind, as it crosses h she must remind herself she will never inherit the wand, or gain power. When she reaches her room and is staring at the stars on her ceiling from her bed, she must think that her mother and father will find whatever beast did that to the castle's balcony, and they will deal with and anastias will have no part in it like she always has. because it is not her place to interfere.