‘Making gains,’ Finn thought, ‘What does he...' The trio stared at Prismo “What do you mean, ‘Making Gains?’” Luna asked the projection on the wall.
The Wishmaster pressed a button on a nearby remote, turning the wall-screen on, showing static. “I mean, he’s been conquering worlds,” He said, “Worlds, very similar to Ooo,” he said, “We don’t have much time until he conquers the one he’s dealing with right now,” His arm stretched again and pressed another button. The screen switched; the skies of the world that was before them were grey. Finn looked at the horizon on the screen, the forests were on fire.
“Is there anything we can do to help them?” Phoebe asked, “There has to something!” She and Luna looked with pleading eyes at the Wishmaster, his singular eye closed.
“There’s nothing we can do, the world is already lost,” Finn said to the girls, “It’s how the… it’s what Ooo looked like when it was in its death throes.” He sat on the ground and looked at the screen. A human or at least something that looked like a human girl, wearing a green dress and obviously younger than him ran across it. The camera... or whatever was watching the fight trained from the landscape to her.
She had something in her right hand, it was a circular object with a handle, which was being held, a star, half-broken, was crested onto it. ‘A wand?’ The human boy thought, ‘So she’s magical.’ Another form, this time a boy, who looked around the same age was running, now alongside her.
“Who are they?” Phoebe asked, “If they’re going to die, then they should at least be remembered.”
Luna’s response was hasty, “You’ve already resigned them to death?” She asked, “There must be some way to help, a message, anything!”
“My powers can’t be effective in a world affected by the Lich, let alone on a person at that range,” Prismo explained, “All we can do is… well, make sure their sacrifice isn’t in vain.”
Phoebe sat down next to Finn, turning to face Prismo as she rested her hand on Finn’s shoulder, “Do they have a chance of victory? Of… stopping the Lich?”
Prismo frowned, “No, the… powers that were on that world have been shattered, and their… relics have been… well…” Prismo trailed off. The silence dragged on for nearly a minute.
“Well, what?” Luna asked.
“It’s complicated…”
Finn listened idly on as he watched. One of the Lich’s minions, a large worm, broke out of the ground and grabbed hold of the human boy and began to get dragged down. ‘...’ The girl was holding onto the boy’s hand, her feet dragging in the dirt to hold onto him. ‘...’ The girl let go of him with her right hand and grabbed the wand, which had since fallen to the ground. She reached for it… it was too far away. ‘She’s just like me…’
“Star! You have to let go!” Marco screamed at the Mewman princess, “Star!” She looked into his eyes, those pleading brown and pleading eyes. ‘There needs to be away!’ She thought, she looked left and right, there were only trees swaying in the wind.
A large boom startled her, making her jump, nearly making her let go of Marco’s red hoodie sleeve. She wrapped it around her hand again, then gripped his hand. “Marco, just try and dig your way out of there.”
He nodded, but as he moved she could see pain begin to climb to his face, “St-Star… it’s not good,” With his shaky left hand, he reached into his pocket, “You need to let go.”
“Shut… up… MARCO!” She screamed back, tears welled up in her eyes as she reached as far as she could, grabbing at her wand, just out of reach. “I’ve lost everyone, I… I can’t lose you too.” The beast clenched its jaws around Marco’s torso, followed by a scream of pain from the human. Out of his pocket, he pulled out a swiss army knife, he flipped out the blade.
“Marco, Please Don’t!”
“I can’t let them get you too,” He responded. With a shaky hand, he stabbed at his hoodie’s sleeve. Penetrating the soft, but much-dirtied fabric. He threw his head back as he cut, mumbling. When the hole was big enough, he let go of the knife, but it stayed in his arm.
“M-Marco, please, w-we c-can still win!” she fought through the tears in her eyes, 'We have to.'
A large flash
She reached for her wand once more, her arm straining to hold her best friend’s failing arm, “Come on!” Rain lightly began to coat the two. The beast began squirming, dragging Marco in its jaws, forcing Star further from her wand.
“STAR! Let GO! S-AHHHHH!”
The creature tried to close its jaws again. She looked back at the grey worm. ‘What even are you!’ She looked back to her wand again, just barely out of reach. She gulped down a lump in her throat, ‘I’m sorry, Marco.’ She let go of his hand and jumped for her wand. She turned around to the beast that was holding Marco.
“Knarwal BLAST!” She screamed, a beam emitted from the followed by the named creature shooting out at the other creature. But it was gone. And so was Marco.
She climbed next to a nearby tree, her arms going around her knees, “I’m sorry, I’m s-sorry, *hic* P-please… be alright...”
She closed her eyes. The only things to keep her company being the constant pitter-patter of the falling rain and her shivering. ‘I’m sorry Marco, don’t worry, though, I’ll find you.’
*Kkkkkkkkrrrrraaaacccccck BOOOOOOM!*”
A bright light flashed through her eyelids and Star woke up from her dreamless sleep. She was still clenching her wand in her right hand. She closed her eyes again, but it was no use, the rain constantly pelting her despite the cover of the trees was too much for her to go back to sleep’s dark embrace.’
The thunder, lightning, and rain had shown up in earnest. She idly looked up at the darkening sky, she, however, continued to breathe heavily, tears continued to fall alongside amid the total downpour of rain. She finally looked down at the hole where Marco was taken down. She stood up on wobbly legs, unlike the times she’s faced down Toffe or some other villain, this was different. Somehow she knew that. She took a step forward.
She fell to her knees, the tears that were welling up in her eyes. She looked to the sky for an answer, but only found gray and dark death. The sound of thunder in the distance took her out of her trance. ‘Who’s left to fight alongside now?’ She thought to herself. She got up and began to walk northwest again. ‘What’s even up there? Marco…’ She stopped walking, her mind going blank at his name, ‘He… he...said that he read something in that old book,’ She looked in front of her, the sound of rain filling her ears.
She breathed in and out. ‘I need to do this… for them.’ she looked behind her, a large even darker, a blacker cloud was following them. She shut her eyes, ‘Just me now…’ she thought, ‘But I can still do this, I need to.’ She turned and faced the mountain before her, ‘I just need to find this weapon Marco was talking about, then I need to save him… again.’
She started walking forward, the mountain looking ever daunting as she approached it. She eventually left the confines of the forest, from crunching leaves beneath her feet to light snow. ‘At least he told me to wear clothes for the cold,’ She thought, ‘But they’re all wet now…’ She shivered and fulled her jacket’s damp hood over her head. She looked down at her feet, but her eyes never made it to her shivering feet, they stopped at her right hand. Part of Marco’s red hoodie was still attached to it her forearm. She rested her left hand on top of it.
She breathed in and then out, she looked back. “I need to move.” She took a step, then another. She pulled out her wand, “Cloudy, now.” Her wand glowed and a pink cloud with wings appeared, she pointed to the mountain. The aminate cloud nodded, then moved down for Star to get on.
Almost once she had gotten on, she had fallen onto her back. Rain still hit her head and clothes, preventing sleep, but she, at last, could relax. She closed her eyes; she could feel the softness of the cloud on her back, she felt something tickle her eyes. When she opened them she saw the sun breaking through the clouds and mist. She saw the rays of light glistening off the tip of the mountain and the snow atop it. She stood up, she saw the sun’s rays on the fresh rain, which had stopped. She smiled, ‘I can do this.’
Her face hardened as the light of the sun began to get covered up by more smog. She didn’t break eye contact with the sun until its attempt to shine on the world had been quashed. She turned back to the mountain, she was close now. “Go up, to the peak.” The pink and winged cloud obeyed her command, and she began to feel the wind rushing past her as she climbed in altitude. The hood to her heavy coat was swept off her head and her golden hair with accompanying headband was exposed to the ever colder air.
Her eyes scanned as best as they could, ‘Temple… temple… temple…’ She thought to herself as she scanned back and forth. She breathed in the cool snowy air. “There!” She pointed at a stone pillar protruding from the ground. “Stope over there!”
The cloud obeyed, and as soon as Star had jumped off of the magical entity, it poofed out of existence. The Princess of Mewni continued forward, not looking back. She already knew what she would see. She began to trudge through the deep snow, some of the white fluff undoubtedly getting into her boots from not being adequate enough for the deep snow.
Her hands traveled along the side of the broken stone wall of the temple, she pulled the hood back over her hair and headband. As she walked and breathed, she saw her breathe in the cold and wet air. She took step after agonizing step, her feet getting ever colder due to her short boots. She took another step.
*Creeeaaaaakkk*
She looked down at her feet. “Huh?”
The next thing she knew she was on cold stone ground, looking at a hole in the ceiling, she shook her head to stop it from spinning. She took out her wand and touched it, earning a light to light up the cavern. ‘This looks just like that book!’ She sprang up; the princess began to walk around, ‘Alright, I need to find a… tree? I think,’ She closed her eyes to concentrate. ‘There were three… jewels… I think…’ She opened her eyes and raised her wand.
She smiled, “There you… are?”
“What do you mean that you took them?” Luna asked, “Are you saying that you just willingly let them die!?”
“NO!” Prismo said, raising his arms above his head, “It’s just... when a world passes a certain threshold… I need to take the elements and… dispose of them.”
Luna deadpanned, “You just resigned that young girl to STARS KNOWS WHAT!”
“I am well aware of the consequences, but it's my responsibility!” Prismo said, “So you need to worry more about yourself, and I’ll worry about my job!”
Luna opened her mouth to retort but was cut off by Phoebe, “Give it a break, Princess, I’m sure I would’ve done the same thing given the circumstances.”
“And if you’ve been here as long as him, doing his job as long as him” Finn added, “You’d probably too.” Finn turned away from the wall and faced Prismo, “You never answered who they were.”
Prismo sighed, he closed his eye, “you know, even if you are my friend, Finn, I shouldn’t tell you this, it’s breaking major universal laws,” He looked at Luna, then back to the human sitting down and looking at him, “But, seeing the current situation… I don’t think anyone higher than me really cares.”
He looked at the screen, the girl was looking around the empty pedestals, “She is Star Butterfly, a Mewman, but basically a human, and she is the current heir to the crown of Mewni. The boy you saw earlier is Marco Diaz, a human who’s been helping Star throughout her many adventures,” Prismo paused, “Sound familiar?”
“Just like me and Jake,” Finn said.
“Right.” Prismo said, “The Lich was always a cosmic-level threat, I thought after you beat him the second time that would be the end of it, but I can’t see the future, can I?”
“No one blames you Prismo,” Phoebe said, “But can you get to the point here,” She finished with a hardened face.
“The Lich is a cosmic-level threat because it is the incarnation of the Green Catalyst comet,” Prismo said, “Only something with equal or greater power could beat the Lich.”
“And the Elements of Harmony is this power?” Luna asked, “If you can send us back, we can eas-”
“They aren’t, actually.”
A collective, “What!?” from the three of the heroes.
“The Lich,” Prismo said, “Can only be defeated by its polar opposite, another Catalyst comet.”
Phoebe groaned, “I am not going back to Ooo.” Her lips began to quiver, “There’s just… too much death there.”
“You won’t have to, he’s sitting right next to you.”
“They’re not HERE!” Star dropped, she put her hands to her head. “No, th-they need to be here, the-they have to be here.” She began to shake. The natural light began to drain, leaving only her wand light. She looked to the hole in the ground that let her in here. It was covered in blackness. She hid behind one of the pedestals.
She disregarded her heavy and wet coat, revealing her aqua, sundress. She heard her heavy breathing echoing throughout the cavern. If she was trying to stay hidden, then she was doing a terrible job of it. ‘I should be running,’ She thought to herself, ‘I should leave…’
A green light flashed, temporarily illuminating the cavern. Her eyes went wide, ‘N-no,’ She thought. She’s only seen that one other place, ‘The Castle…’ she thought, ‘Not again...’
“Come out… little… princess…” A raspy voice said, “I… hehe know you’re there…” Star looked at the being that had brought her world to ruin. A large skeletal monstrosity with two green eyes and two horns, one was broken. She readied her wand.
“Come out…” It began walking around, “You don’t want me to repeat myself…”
Star jumped out from behind the pedestal, her wand drawn, she made sure not to look it directly in its eyes. “Stop right there!” She demanded from the monster. The monster didn’t respond, instead, it took a step toward the princess. “I said STOP!” She took a step back, it took another forward.
“You will submit,” It said.
“Never!”
It smiled a maniacal smile. It’s grin stretched on. It looked back, a rumbling in the Earth caused Star to stumble. A green flame burst through the ground, forms began to take shape inside it. Star readied a spell to shoot at the flames.
“Knarwa-”
“Star?” She heard Marco’s voice say. The flames subsided and gave way to her friends and family. Marco, Tom, Janna, her Mom and Dad, Eclipsa… everyone she had ever met. Everyone, she had thought was dead or worse. Her arm began to feel heavy and her grip on her wand began to falter.
“You will stop your fight,” The creature demanded, “Or I will kill them all now.”
Her arm dropped.
“What do you say?”
She dropped to her knees, she looked up with tears in her eyes. She again looked at her friends, they all had green in their unmoving eyes. Aside from Marco, they all had black splotches on their bodies or faces. She looked back down at her wand. She threw it at the feet of the Skeleton.
“Good...good…” It said in its raspy voice, “You were so much easier than the last world…”
Those words stung her.
“Now… stay very still.”
Finn bottled his anger, unlike one certain pony Princess, which Phoebe was trying to stop from destroying the time box. “Luna, fighting won’t stop anything, what’s done is done,” Phoebe said, “It’s too late for-”
Luna turned to the flame person, “You should be angrier than me right now,” she pointed her hoof to Prismo on the wall, “He withheld information that led to the end of not only your Kingdom but also your world.”
“It doesn’t matter anymore,” Phoebe said, “We just need to get back to your world and help it prepare.”
“He’s the “so-called” wish-master,” Luna said, “Can’t he just poof us there?” She said in a condescending tone.
“Actually I can, the Lich’s presence on your world was destroyed,” He stated matter-of-factly, “But do you want that to be your wis-”
“Just teleport us there Prismo,” Finn interrupted.
Prismo stared at Finn, wide-eyed. Finn stared back, looking up at him. “Okay, I’ll teleport you, but I can’t guarantee when you’ll actually get back,” Luna sighed.
“How long would we’ve been gone?”
“Well taking in the time you were on Ooo, and the fact I can negate the year-long teleportation layover,” He put his hand to his chin, “Maybe just before the two-month mark.”
“Great!” Phoebe said, trying to hurry this along before another fight breaks out. “Then let’s go.” Prismo nodded. Beams consumed both Phoebe and Luna, teleporting them away. Finn, however, hasn’t been teleported.
“I… never said sorry…. About Jake and… well,” Prismo said, “I’m sorry.”
Finn sat down and sighed, “Yeah, it’s fine, everything was a little… screwed from the day the Lich got out.” He looked at the now static wall-screen. ‘I hope she fared better than me against the Lich,’ He looked back at Prismo.
“Goodbye Finn, if you need me-”
“I know. Letter.”
Prismo smiled, “I’m surprised she didn’t wish that the Lich never existed,” he said, “you tell her earlier?”
“Yeah, I did,” Finn replied.
“See ya then.”
“You to Prismo.”
Pink beams consumed and carried Finn up into space.
Prismo sighed, “I can’t believe you’ve lost it that bad, Finn…” He turned around and a desk manifested out of the ground. A piece of paper manifested ontop of it alongside a pen. He looked at a list of worlds under threat, ‘Let’s see, after Equestria and Mewni… its…’ He began to write, ‘To the Heros of...’