Fanfic / Royal Secrets

Royal Secrets

Saying Hello.

Author: Blackwolfwrites

Type of Fan Work: Alternate Re-telling

First Published: June 19th, 2019

Synopsis: Life for Star Butterfly has become a mess after Meteora nearly destroyed Mewni. Tensions between monsters and Mewmans are rising to an all-time high as new forces are poised to tear Mewni apart. On top of that, she must unravel the secrets her family and magic hold while keeping her own...

Pairings: Star/Marco, Princess Spiderbite/Slime, Janna/Tom

An alternate re-telling of the fourth season of Star vs the Forces of Evil. Due to a misunderstanding, Star thinks that Tom broke up with her so she could be with Marco after the battle against Meteora. Having spent the whole year slowly realizing they have crushes on each other, that incident in the phone booth and almost dying, the two teens proceed to give into their feelings and “quested”.

A month later, when Star and Marco (now a couple) are still looking for Moon, they discover that not only did Tom not mean to break up with Star, but Star herself is pregnant with Marco's child.

But Marco chooses to stay by Star and with the support of their friends and family on earth they work through the judgment they face on Mewni as well as having to deal with finding the amnesic Moon, a jealous Tom and Eclipsa’s changing policies regarding monsters.

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• Alternate Universe Fic: Besides the obvious canon divergence of Star having Marco's baby, the author also changed other details to make it differ even more from the canon show. Blackwolf draws a lot of inspiration from his signverse stories, such as the portrayals of Dave and Globgor.
• Adaptational Badass:
  • Marco's use of magic gains further exploration here.
  • Subtle example with Higgs. Whereas in canon she just graduated to knight at the same time with Marco, here she is already a knight and teacher of the Knight School by the time of The Knight Shift chapters.
  • After spending some time with Tom, Janna begins to learn how to use demon magic. She then shows off the results of her training by using it to save Marco's life during knight training.
  • Here Globgor was actually the one who taught Eclipsa dark magic. Soon after escaping he creates an illusion so no one knows he escaped and casts the all-seeing eye spell to spy on Moon. During Coronation he summons a monster army from the depths of the underworld that allows him to actually fight against the Solarian warriors (unlike in cannon where he fell to one).
  • Using Vega's powers combined with hers, Star is powerful enough to block the darkest spell and would have destroyed Mina had the stress not caused her to go into labor early.
• Adaptation Deviation: A very minor example: Mariposa is born earlier here than in canon. Here, Mariposa is born two weeks before the chapter based on "Lake House Fever", while in canon she was born sometime between "The Knight Shift" and "Doop-Doop".
  • Unlike in canon, where Rhombulus frees Globgor from his Crystal Prison upon Moons orders, here Eclipsa gives Globgor a special stone when she visits him in his mind which allows him to free himself. Word of God is that the reason he didn’t use the crystal pulverizing spell is because the author forgot about it Toffee was also said to be alive during Eclipsa’s time.
  • Also, in canon, Moon didnt have her Solarian warriors attack until after Eclipsa's coronation having instead opted to get Eclipsa re-imprisoned first by framing her for releasing Globgor, here she instead has her warriors attack on her coronation.
  • In Coronation, its revealed that Moon still has her dark magic marks, indicating that they didnt wash off in the realm of magic in this universe. This is also when she and Mina start their attack and Moon never has Rhombulus free Globgor instead.
• Adaptational Expansion: The story focuses on the impacts of Eclipsa's reign more than the series did. Such as having other kingdoms integrate the evacuated Mewmans, Moon citing that her camp is running on rations, the other kingdoms, mainly the Lucitors, complaining about Eclipsa's policies, and the presence of at least one other Mewman-monster family composed of Sherry Apothecary and her monster husband Bengy.
• Adaptational Jerkass: Played straight with Tom in the first half of the story. And how! When the story starts, Tom still believes he and Star are still dating. And when he becomes suspicious of Marco and Star's relationship, first he does whatever he can to be around them. Then after forcing Star to admit the truth, tries to play her time with Marco off as a mistake and tries to talk her into claiming him as the father, to her disgust. He later attempts to split Marco and Star up by talking them into severing the Blood Moon Bond, only for that to fail. Eventually subverted and then averted entirely, as Tom's friendship with Janna lets him finally move on from Star.
• Adaptational Nice Guy: Lightly invoked with Higgs. While she still looks down on Marco and spends much of her time belittling him, she does develop a grudging respect for his skill and determination as a warrior. When Marco chooses to drop his knight training for Star's sake, she even admits that he would have made a good knight. This is very different from canon where she hazes Marco when he tries to quit, only for her to hypocritically do the same thing soon after, and downgrades his accomplishments.
  • Unlike Canon where he has no characterization aside from being a stuck-up steward who easily turned on Star, here Manfred genuinely cares about her and even sacrificed himself to save her. Though him siding with Moon against Eclipsa and discrimination against monsters is unchanged. Also averted as this version of him was in on the plan to yadda-yadda Eclipsa.
• Adaptational Personality Change: Here Moon, after recovering her memories, has a very antiquated view of the world. She scolds Star for choosing to be with Marco out of love since he's a human and a commoner rather than Tom since he's a prince aside from also being angry that Star got herself pregnant so young. The author explains that Moon hasn't fully recovered all her memories yet and she's experiencing a lot of selective memory affecting her judgment, because of this she doesn't remember that she actually prefers Marco over Tom nor does she remember all the character development that Star underwent the last three seasons and still thinks she's just as childish and irresponsible as in season 1.
• Adaptation Relationship Overhaul: Janna and Tom, without a doubt. While they were merely acquaintances in the show, at best, in here it's Janna who drags Tom out of his depression over losing Star. The two start spending more time together, and by the end of the baby shower for Star's daughter, they're basically dating.
  • Also, in canon it had been hinted that Marco had relations with both Hekapoo and Brunzetta in the Neverzone, here he specifically states that Star was his first.
    • To a lesser extent, Star and Brunzetta. In canon Star was attracted to Brunzetta, here when they meet they are just acquaintances, probably because Star is pregnant with Marco’s child when they meet.
• Adaptational Heroism / Adaptational Villainy: Hero for Marco, Villian for the Neverzonians. In the canon fourth season, Marco unknowingly stole el Choppo and the Neverzonians it back to get rid of a fire demon which had been terrorizing them for centuries. Here, Marco was trained by a Neverzonian king back when they were warriors and took his sword after his death at the hands of a fire demon to avenge him. Centuries later, after replacing their flesh with dark magic and becoming wraiths, the new king decided to take the sword back to complete a ceremony to wipe out the fire demons as revenge. This was probably done so that Marco wouldn't have to spend decades helping them fix their kingdom rather than stay with his family.
  • Lightly invoked with Globgor: Unlike in canon where he refused Eclipsa's offer to escape his prison here he chooses to break out and casts an illusion so that even Eclipsa doesn’t know he’s free. Also he’s still very bitter and distrustful of Mewmans (except Eclipsa) and at one point debates whether or not to kill Star when she’s asleep.
  • Somewhat played with the Magic High Commission. In the show they were actively trying to dethrone Eclipsa. In this continuity they simply chose to abandon Mewni and retreat to their own realms (sans Hekapoo who still is friendly enough with Star and Marco be be invited to their babyshower).
  • The latter trope, for Dave Lucitor. When he learns that Star is pregnant with Marco's child, his first reaction is to try to talk her into staying with Tom and claim him as the father while threatening to tell everyone about her relationship with Marco. When that fails, he makes good on his threat and exposes it to everyone in Mewni. It's also heavily implied that he told Tom about how to break the Blood Moon Bond in order to split Star and Marco up. His next attempt involves tricking Star into touching a magical document that would force her to marry Tom. Needless to say, this guys a piece of work.
  • His jerkassery extends to his son, too. When Tom hesitates to the magic contract, Dave basically orders him to do so for the future of the Lucitor Kingdom. He's only caring about this to obtain more power for his family.
• Arranged Marriage: Apparently, after Tom and Star first met at the Silver Bell Ball, Moon and Dave talked about setting the two teens up for a Butterfly-Lucitor alliance. While this obviously didn't go through, a lot of royals still think that Star should do it.
• Calling the Old Man Out: Star does not hesitate to call her parents (especially Moon) out on never properly being there for her when she was growing up, going as far as denouncing them as her family, claiming she doesn't need them in her life.
• Bigotry Exception: Globgor hates and distrusts all Mewmans except for Eclipsa.
• Deal with the Devil: Despite being warned by a vision of her dead mother not to listen to Mina, Moon ends up joining forces with her after learning about her unborn granddaughter out of a misguided belief that she knows what's best for her daughter and granddaughter. The Devil part comes not just from the fact that Mina's not someone you can trust, but being heavily implied that Mina's one of the ones who tried to Yada-Yada Star.
• Didn't Think This Through: Tom left Star for a few months to get over her kiss with Marco. Not only did he communicate poorly, telling Marco to take care of Star before leaving without contacting her in any way, he left his girlfriend alone with a guy he knew she used to have feelings for before they reunited, who he now knew had feelings for her. Not the best way to keep his relationship alive.
• Disappeared Dad: Happily averted with Marco. When Marco learns that Star is pregnant, the first thing he makes clear Is that he's going to stay with Star and raise their daughter. Later somewhat zigzagged when Marco attempts to become an official knight so he can be with Star in public, only to be averted when he realizes this would keep him from being able to raise his daughter.
  • Moon's father was this as well, with Moon calling him a "low-life scoundrel" who left her mother once she became pregnant.
• Family of Choice: After meeting Marco's parents on Earth for the first time since she returned to Mewni, Star admits to herself that Mr. and Mrs. Diaz did more to raise into the person she is than her birth parents. Their joy and understanding that they're going to be grandparents cements this idea. Mrs. Diaz even goes so far as to ask Star to call her "Mom".
• Fourth-Date Marriage: After technically only being in real a relationship for a few months, Star and Marco, very cutely, ask each other to marry them at the same exact time. This is mostly due to the fact that Star is pregnant and they're starting a family together anyways. For their engagement they both knit each other the capes that their canon counterparts wore at the end of "The Knight Shift".
• Government Conspiracy: Sort of. Early on, it becomes apparent that there is a group working in the shadows in order to depose Eclipsa. Their plans have also come to include targeting Star, as well, who they see as a major obstacle to what they have in store. When they try and feed Eclipsa Yada-Yada Berries like in the show, they also target Star as well. In addition, they are the ones who learn about the Starco blood moon bond and try to break it, and then perform another assassination attempt on Star at her daughter's baby shower.
  • It's later revealed that these two were Dave and Mina, with Moon joining after Star reveals her pregnancy wanting to make Mewni safe for her family, not knowing about them purposely targeting Star (claiming it was a mix up).
  • It's later shown that many of the Mewman refugees surrounding the ruins of Castle Butterfly are also in on the conspiracy. With many volunteering to become Solarian warriors or otherwise fight as knights.
  • The pigeons and Kelpbottoms also side with Moon and Dave against Eclipsa.
• Heroic Sacrifice: At the coronation, Manfred pushes Star out of the way and takes a fatal blow that was meant for her.
• Honorary Uncle: Tom deems himself this to Vega after she is born, giving her many weapons as gifts to defend herself on earth.
• Heel–Face Turn: Tom eventually gets over his feelings for Star and starts a budding relationship with Janna.
• Idiot Ball: Moon Butterfly, without a doubt. As soon as she learns that Star's pregnant, what does she do? Team up with the fanatical Mina in an effort to make Mewni safe for her daughter and grandchild.
  • Her decision is made even dumber when one realizes that Star and Marco could simply choose to raise their daughter amidst the safety of Earth with Marco's family. That thought never crossed Moon's mind even once.
  • There’s also the fact that Mina and Dave attempted to assassinate Star. Justified since they claimed that they only meant to yadda-yadda Eclipsa and her getting the berry laced oatmeal too was a mistake.
    • But then during the coronation which Manfred takes a fatal blow aiming at Star and Mina shrugs that he "got in her way" doesn't seem to tell Moon that Mina intended to kill Star, breaking their deal.
  • River Butterfly. It's discovered that he had been burning all the letters Star had been sending her parents because he thought they were fuel for the stove. Really, River?
• I Gave My Word: Moon promised to help Mina if she swore not to hurt Star on her family, a promise that Mina has attempted to go back on many times.
• Loop Hole Abuse: Moon agreed to make the solarian warriors if Mina promised to not hurt Star and her family, Mina then swore as a servant to Butterfly castle. However, the current butterflies that she are serving arent REAL butterflies and the current true members they are actively fighting against, this is probably her justification for still wanting to kill Star and threatening Marco.
• Never My Fault: Zigzagged with Tom. While it's never flat out stated that he thinks like this, it's implied that Tom refuses to admit that he lost Star because of his failure to properly communicate what he meant after the fight with Meteora.
• Not Quite the Right Thing: Moon ignores her ghostly mother’s warnings and sides with Dave and Mina to take back Mewni thinking it will make it safe for her granddaughter. The more she learns about Globgor, the impact Eclipsa's actions have on the population and her continuous absences to royal compromises, the more Star starts to question about giving the crown to Eclipsa.
• "Not So Different" Remark: As pointed out by Star in Coronation, Eclipsa is favoring monsters and making things bad for Mewmans like how Moon wants to favor Mewmans while making things bad for monsters.
• One-Night-Stand Pregnancy: Star and Marco both get a lot of backlash from the Mewman royals because of her becoming pregnant at fifteen with her human squire. A lot of people assume that it was a one night stand gone wrong or Marco got her drunk first and that Star only keeps him around since she's "damaged goods".
• Oh, Crap!: When Star, in her butterfly form and combining her still unborn childs magic with her own, repells the darkest spell everyone is shocked. Even Mina, the solarian warrior (whose metamorphosis process not only turned her into The Juggernaut but also took away her fear) is so intimidated that she drops her hostages and starts trembling.
• Papa Wolf: Despite his daughter not being born yet, Marco's reaction to an attempt on Star's life is to become violently protective of them. While searching for the assassin, Marco outright threatens to gut someone if they won't give him the information he wants.
  • When River finds out about Star's pregnancy, he becomes furious at Marco for "defiling" her with his "grimy, human, boy-parts". However, the author states that once River gets the initial anger out of his system he'll become much more supportive of the pregnancy.
• Parental Abandonment: Played with. When Moon and River go off on their own after coming back from Pie Island, it makes Star feel like they're just leaving her behind when she needs them the most. Later it's revealed that, growing up, Moon put being Queen over being a mom to Star, leading to their cold relationship with each other.
• Poor Communication Kills: The whole plot gets kickstarted because Tom failed to tell Star that they were still dating after the fight with Meteora. After defeating Meteora, Tom abruptly leaves Marco and Star together with Tom telling Marco to "take care of her". Given that Tom had previously learned that Marco kissed Star, then still saved his life from Meteora, and given his and Stars already turbulent relationship, both teens logically assume that Tom had broken up with Star acknowledging that she likes Marco so they could be together. And the fact that he hadn't tried to contact her in weeks didn't help.
  • However, Tom had actually just though that Star should unwind with her friend and had spent the next few weeks trying to get over his anger of them kissing. Had he been more clear, especially after realizing that the two have chemistry, he might have salvaged their relationship for a bit longer like in the show, or at least ensured that there wouldn't be as much drama later.
• Power Incontinence: During her pregnancy, Star's magic starts to wilder according to her mood. And since pregnancy involves mood swings....
  • During Coronation, She is able to repel the darkest spell by combining her power, the power of the blood moon and her daughter.
• She Is Not My Girlfriend: Tom denies that he and Janna are "lovebirds", but no one really buys it.
• Shout-Out: Before settling on the Name Vega, Some of the names that Marco suggests to name their daughter include Quasar same name as that other magical princess that occurs in "Ludo vs the Forces of Evil" and Venus from Mewni Queens. Star dislikes both names because the first one sounds like something Tom would come up with, the other because its the name of a horny goddess and a planet of noxious gas.
• Sickeningly Sweethearts: Star and Marco, very much.
• Spared By Adaptation: Higgs is alive as Marco never sends her to the Neverzone.
• Taking You with Me: When it looks like Eclipsa is about to destroy everyone with her darkest spell, Mina immediately takes Janna and Marco as hostages determined to take SOMEONE with her.
• Teen Pregnancy: The whole premise of the story is about Star and Marco hooking up and she gets pregnant with Marco's child. Thankfully, they both have plenty of people who are willing to support them and their new family, and neither thinks about walking away from this.
• Universally Beloved Leader:
  • Among the monster community, including the monster-mewman families and more tolerant mewmans who live farther from the castle, Star is still well liked among them, with some like Buff Frog preferring her being the Queen of Mewni rather than Moon or Eclipsa.
  • Averted among most of the Mewmans, (mainly the ones who lived closest to the castle) plenty of them resent Star for giving the crown to Eclipsa and are scandalized by Star's Teen Pregnancy.
• Villainous BSoD: After realizing he's lost Star for good, Tom spends the next several weeks or months as a recluse in his room, moping over losing Star.
• Villainous Breakdown: After the Severing Stone fails to break the Blood Moon Bond between Star and Marco, Tom goes nuts with rage and starts destroying everything around him. Which then leads to his Villainous BSoD.
• Violently Protective Girlfriend: Both the straight and male version of this come into play for Star and Marco. In the case of Marco, there's the above Papa Wolf example. And during the quest for the severing stone, Marco gives Tom the mother of all death glares when he tries to get too close to Star.
  • Star later does this to Kelly at her daughter's baby shower. When Kelly tries to confess to Marco, she walks up to her smiling, but giving deadly vibes that say it all: stay away from my man!
• What Does She See in Him?: A lot of the (snobbish and bigoted) royals in Mewni cannot fathom why the princess would "disgrace" herself by sleeping and getting pregnant from a human commoner/squire. Many assume that it was a one night stand gone wrong or that Marco drugged her first and she only keeps him around because no prince would want her now. Apparently not knowing about Tom. Others assume that Star just has a soft spot for misfits.
• Would Hurt a Child: Dave and Mina try to have Star assassinated (several times) because of her pregnancy, so they are not only trying to murder a teenage girl but her unborn baby too. See Taking You with Me for another one of Mina's examples.
• You're Not My Mother: When Star finally reveals to her parents that she's pregnant with Marco's child, Moon takes it very poorly and does not hide her disappointment in Star. In response, Star straight up tells her that she doesn't need her mom because she has so many more people who care about her and helped raise her, essentially disowning Moon as her mom.