Chapter 23: Mewnipendence Day

Summary: The second most celebrated Mewni day ... and it changes everything up.

"Once more, Star Butterfly does random things." Ludo grumbled.

"... Why do you have cameras in her shower?" Toffee, the new guy, asked hesitantly.

"I like being thorough, though that's the camera I usually turn off." He was evil, but he wasn't the kind of evil that stalked a girl while she was nude. Then he'd be a complete scumbag worthy of nothing but death. "Right now it's just her getting giddy for 'Mewnipendence Day'." He heard a crack, turning to see Toffee breaking a small section of the wall with anger in his eyes. "Ease up, we've gotten used to it by now."

"We shouldn't have to…so much of this land was ours…and suddenly all it takes is one reckless idiot with a glowing stick for all of that to vanish." Toffee growled.

"But once we have the wand it'll be all over. We'll be the one in charge!" Ludo laughed. "Now we just need a plan to grab it …" He paused, trying to think of something. 

"Why don't we send in Toffee?" Buff Frog added in. "Never see him fight. Usually just hiding in the shadows and stuff." That was true, and that was usually reserved for Ludo, because he was the boss.

"I'm much more of a planner, and the latest one I have is completely idiot proof."

"You hear that boys!" He shouted to his minions. "It's idiot proof! Finally, something you can't screw up!" 

"Since Star Butterfly is so gung ho about celebrating, we'll take advantage of the festivities and easily slip though undetected." Toffee brought out what looked like a flail, before pressing a button on the side, opening it up, revealing a portal. "Instead of wasting all our strength, we'll send one or two of our own while they're reenacting the battle, and use this to deliver the wand to us while the princess is distracted." He put his hand through it, and another portal popped up in front of Ludo. "Hand delivery at its finest."

"An in and out deal." Ludo smirked. "You're a very simple man Toffee."

"I just prefer not to overcomplicate things." He said. "If you want something, take the direct route to it."

"It's that kind of thinking that'll be valuable when the universe is finally mine!" Ludo took the portal stick and handed it to Buff Frog. "You're the most simple minion I have, in and out, leave no trace." There was a reason why the frog man was his main source for surveillance.

"I shall not let you down Ludo." The minion glanced at Toffee. "I will prove my worth to you." He'd better, because he was starting to become dead weight compared to Toffee.

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Jana was rarely one to hang out in a big group, but so far it seemed like an all hands on deck situation. The entire class was there, along with their teacher Skullnick, and the ENTIRETY of the Crystal Gems, even Pearl and the elusive Sapphire. Star was jumping off the walls in joy, Quartz looked out a window in anguish, and Kelly and her eyeball hair stood in confusion. "As someone who's from Woolandia and not Mewni … I'm gonna need a rundown for what's going on."

"Right, when I skimmed through the history book, I realized quite a few of you might be slightly ignorant of the importance of today." Star, for once in a more traditional princess outfit, smiled and held a book in her hands. "Mewnipendence Day! The second best holiday Mewni has to offer!"

"What's the first?" Marco asked.

"Stump day, where we honor the stump." … She was also as confused as everyone else, so that was a relief. "Mewnipendence Day is the day we celebrate the creation of the land and our kingdom."

"A.K.A. A holiday where we celebrate how we overthrew a native people and kicked them out of their homes at best or killed them at worst." Quartz grumbled. "At least humans don't have a holiday as messed up as that, right?"

"Okay, if that's your stance on things, then never watch a documentary on American settlement." She was personally impartial, mainly due to lack of caring about it when magic was a thing.

"Sure, Quartz gets a little sour around this time of year, but now I get to show the greatness with my friends!" She shouted. "We can reenact the whole thing together, knights vs monsters!"

"I only came here because your invitation said there would be food." Ms. Skullnick grumbled, always in that ever bitter mood she had even before she turned into a troll.

"The only good part about it is dinner, where I can at least try to forget how many people died when they didn't have to." Quartz spoke.

"If you're so mad then why don't you just be a monster?" Jana spoke. "You have exploding bubbles, give them an edge."

The boy blinked, as Star laughed. "Come on, who would want to be a monster?" Practically being dared to do it at that point, Quartz, Amethyst, Furguson, and herself raised their hands. "Okay, I walked into that one. But come on Quartz, you like it when you get to be the Rose Guard."

"The Rose Guard has a part?" Pearl asked, with the faintest of blushes. "I would … like to play that … if it's alright with Quartz."

"Go ahead, new dimension, new friends, might as well mix things up a bit." The kid actually looked excited to be a part of it since the moment they arrived.

"So, sibling versus sibling I see." Star spoke. "We've never really been on opposite sides of something this big … you sure a knight role like you want to be won't suffice?"

"Star…this is what I want to do this year." Quartz put his foot down. "If you actually read through the book, you'd see why I'm acting like this."

"Fine then … I'll take Marco then as my right hand." She pointed to the boy next to her.

"Okay, I will, but I'd like to take a peak at that book too."

"Whatever." She carelessly tossed the book his way. "The only thing you need to know is that the noble Mewmans, seeking nothing but Life, Liberty, and Corn, valiantly battled the vicious monsters to resteal the land that they stole centuries before from the monsters." …Did she even hear what she was saying?

"Can I be a human?" Miss Skullnick asked.

"No, you're a monster, that's why I invited you."

"You turned me into a troll."

"I tried to cure you, but nobody here trusts me to do magic on people." She paused. "Jana, want to be a test subject?"

"Yes please!" Politics made it a bit messy, but today was shaping up to be pretty good in her opinion.

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Marco looked at the book, and at the armor. "So you guys have swords this big, and the monsters didn't have metal, so they used wooden weapons." He watched Star mess around with the 'reenactment tools' in question. 

"Yep, that's how it is in the book!" Star called out, giving the Mewman side giant sized armor and weapons they couldn't even properly lift. "Oh wait, Mewmans also had Warnicorns, so we got to give you that." She summoned giant unicorns for them to ride on.

He walked with Star, standing next to her and Pearl who … wore a costume far too accurate, according to a shivering Quartz. "Hey Star, I've been going over the book."

"It's perfect, right?" She smiled at him.

"Well it's just … it seems a little one sided." He pointed to the various pages where it looked like Mewmans were completely tramping the other side.

"Don't tell me you're on the monster side too." She groaned.

"No it's just … they seemed to not be able to fight back at all." He spoke. "One sided, like, the monsters couldn't even do anything about it."

"Oh please, monsters are freakishly strong naturally, it's far from being unfair." Star shrugged her shoulders with an eye roll. "So unless someone who was there comes up to me right now and says otherwise, we're going by the book."

"Oh, I was there, Star." Pearl spoke up. "At times during the battle against the monsters, it was so easy to get through their forces, I actually laughed at how ill equipped they really were." She looked out the window. "I almost felt as bad as Rose did … she didn't know which side to pick at times. There were a few moments she assisted the monsters that were suffering beyond what they deserved …"

"..Suffering?" Star pondered at that word.

"Even you know Solaria took the monster hate of Mewmans too far." The girl nodded. "So when she went into an enemy camp to slaughter them in their sleep, including the civilians who didn't even care about good conditions they could steal from the castle and just wanted families, they got ambushed … Rose left her and walked away."

"What?" Both her and Quartz paused at that bit of information, each for different reasons.

"She … let someone die?" Quartz asked hesitantly.

"... Rose said every action came at a cost … and every choice was almost impossible …" She hugged herself tighter. "... But she said you would be the one thing that could never go wrong … I'm sorry I wasn't there for you …" A tear came down.

"I…I'm sorry, I need some time alone." Quartz ran off, ignoring Star trying to call him back.

"...Pearl…" Star looked at the pale gem. "Solaria's rule was a bad time…but it wasn't the only bad time…wasn't it?" The silence alone was very telling, and suddenly Marco felt like he dug up an awkward and depressing well of emotions there was no running from … he was an AMAZING therapist.

"Rose didn't like giving up on people." Sapphire came up from behind, scaring all those that weren't used to her sudden and quick entrances. "Time and time again, she would come back to Mewni, because she believed in their ability to do good above all else. It's why she also chose to stay on Earth out of all the places in the universe."

Star stayed silent, simply looking over the book very thoroughly. Marco decided to leave well enough alone after that, a lot of progress has been made.

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So Rose Guard, Rose Quartz, his MOM, killed someone. Well not kill, let them die was more like it! What the actual HECK!? He grew knowing she was a fighter, and a good one at that, but she always ended the fights quickly without anyone getting too hurt. Most of the stories he loved growing up were the ones where she defended the Mewmans or helped with the crops.

Was it propaganda? Just like how 'monsters are unredeemable' and stuff like that? What else had been a lie!? Was good evil, was evil good!? Was he a gem or a human, a Mewman, a boy or girl!!? That night during the blood moon still confused on the technicalities. "Hey, St..Quartz." He turned, looking at Ruby, in some raggy clothing, indicating she was on the monster side. "You look frazzled."

"You can say that…after all, I just found out mom…Rose Quartz, Guard, whatever her name was, is perfectly fine letting people die." Wait, if mom was a part of the Crystal Gems, then did that mean THEY were fine letting people die too?! Was this why the mirror told him not to trust them?!

"Yeah …" Ruby looked awkward. "It can be … tough, with…decisions like that."

"Why did yo-"

"It's not the same with me." She spoke. "A … fusion of mine can see the future. I could see all preventable deaths and causable ones … it got tricky after a while, but at some point we had to accept not everyone could be saved."

"But…shouldn't we at least try…" Quartz got on his knees. "I know there's some people that aren't good, but if the chance exists to help someone with something, shouldn't we do it no matter what?"

"That does make you a good person, Quartz, but not everyone is going to care that you are." Was it hopeless then? If not everyone could be saved, then why bother putting in all that effort? "... Rose tried though." The gem smiled. "She always tried harder than anyone else. I'm not saying everyone deserves it but … if she didn't try I wouldn't be here today."

"Come on guys!" Amethyst shouted. "I'm ready for a pounding!" The purple girl shifted to her purple puma form, but decked with horns and some barbarian-esqu clothing, picked up one of the knights and threw them into some trees.

"..Guess it wouldn't be fair to say that it's only the Mewmans that like fighting." Quartz admitted. "So you ready?"

"I'm always ready for a fight!" Ruby shouted, putting on a gauntlet and running at them, setting a few kids on fire.

"... We are definitely over prepared for this." Quartz realized. It was a reenactment, so their side had to lose no matter what, but it looked like things would be a little more than just even between the two sides. In fact, that guy in the buff frog suit, Furguson he believed the name was, looked like he was trying to reach for Star's wand while she was distracted. "Gotta say, Furguson can really climb."

"Thanks, I work out." … He slowly turned his head to the boy in question.

"Wait…if you're here…then…who's…" He pointed to the guy climbing on the tower. Why would someone that looks like Buff Frog try to steal the wand…. "That's the actual Buff Frog!" Quartz didn't have time to express his full panic as one of the knight's giant warnicorns flipped him off the tower, making him land in the middle of the fray, where giant metal balls covered in spikes were falling on everyone ACCIDENTLY!

"I really don't know how to feel right now!" Quartz shouted out loud, throwing out his hexagons randomly at anyone trying to get close to him or Buff Frog. On one hand, he was clearly trying to steal the wand, but on the other, some people were taking the reenactment a little too seriously! "What are you doing here?! Where's everyone else…!?" He was an enemy, but Buff Frog wasn't exactly the toughest guy they ever fought, and Quartz wasn't in the mood to see a monster get completely trashed today of all days.

"I don't know, little butterfly prince! The portal didn't work, I don't know what's going on now!" So he was stuck here!? They needed to move him to the forest, maybe later they could-

"Never fear, I shall take him out!" He watched as Pearl descended on them with a spear menacingly, only for a gummy wall to stand between them. "What is the star's name?" He looked up, seeing his sister staring at her wand in silence.

"Star.." He was right between her and Buff Frog. The look in her eye told him that she knew it was a real monster.

"...The fighting is getting unfair. Let's just go eat now." Star lowered her wand, which gave Buff Frog the chance to escape into the woods.

"Hey, it's not that unfair!" Furgoson tapped Ruby's shoulder, pointing to the kids on fire. "...Fire makes humans stronger, right?" The boy shook his head. "I'll just … grab some water." Probably for the best.

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Star watched everyone eat, Skullnick specifically devouring her plate. "Oh yeah, this was definitely worth it." The only one who could match her teacher's appetite was Amethyst, who actually took a bite out of her section of the table. "I don't know how, but Mewmans sure do know how to cook their corn."

"I prefer it extra crispy either way." Ruby even got in on the action, putting her cob on fire till it was dark and black.

"I prefer it as a treat." And Sapphire froze hers over, treating it as an ice pop as she licked it.

"I still hate this." Pearl muttered. "We don't need to eat, it just gunks up our insides and runs though our bodies so unnaturally." She shivered.

"I know, that's what makes it fun." Amethyst rolled her eyes and swallowed Pearl's plate whole.

"I was wondering how the whole food thing works with the rest of you." Jana commented. "Since I saw Amethyst drink fifty gallons of motor oil through a straw once." She smirked. "Do you ever just use the restroom for fun?"

"Sometimes." Amethyst shrugged. "Sometimes it's in the ocean, you know, like a fish."

"Amethyst, seriously, TMI!" Marco spat out his food.

"You're the ones that swim in it, that's all on you!" The gem accused with a laugh.

Star smiled, walking to the window and opening it for a breather. To her left, in the trash, she noticed something. It was that frog man-Buff Frog, if what her brother said was correct, sitting all alone, crying his eyes out. She didn't get his whole deal, just the random tidbits she allowed herself to remember from her brother's occasional ranting.

Yeah, this guy has tried to steal from her, many, many, many times before, but it wasn't like he was anyone dangerous, especially since she could kick his butt ten ways to Sunday even on her worst day. "Hey." She stared at him as he stared at her, sliding food out the window, before closing it. Sighing, she turned around, only to see Quartz's smirking face.

"You care!" Quartz smile was the biggest it had been in a while.

"I care about you. And maybe not everything about Mewnipendence day is great….in fact a lot of it kinda sucks the more I think about it." She sighed, looking at the book of Mewni history, before tossing it aside. "If he's not trying to hurt us, there's no need to hurt him."

"You're trying, Star." Quartz squeezed her in a very lovely tight hug she never got tired of. "That's all I wanted, for you to try."

"… Can we go back to eating now? I just gave the dude my dinner."

"Right, yeah." Maybe this was … a nice first step.