Star vs the Forces of Evil: The Ballad of Earth-Mewni

Episode 22: Up River's Creek (Part 2)

The trial of River Butterfly vs Echo Creek was but a couple of days away. Tensions were elevated everywhere. Nobody knew exactly what to expect. Until things got underway, people could only speculate. Unfortunately, that was what Star Butterfly found herself doing despite being on the clock; today she was working at the Echo Creek pet shelter, and she, along with her co-worker/boss, Hilda, were in the middle of washing a Doberman.

"Almost done you rascal." Star said to the dog in a sing-song voice. If you asked her, her time spent at the orphanage playing with the babies was more fulfilling. But her time spent caring for & playing with the animals at the shelter was just as fun. "You sure like to get dirty, don't you?" When they finally finished, they dried off the dog, opened up all the cages, and allowed them all to go out into the play area to run around & be free. "Spending time with these beautiful animals always calms my nerves. Same with the babies at the orphanage."

"How're you holding up?" Hilda asked her. Star had to contemplate her answer for a moment.

"...not well. The trial is tomorrow. There's a lot at stake."

"Yup. Never a good time to see the hammer of justice come down on someone you know, moreso if it's not deserved." Poor, sweet Hilda. She was hopelessly out of touch with Star's true nature or her origin, but she was determined to be as supportive as possible anyway.

"Well we're not letting it end without a fight, that's for dang sure."

"That's the spirit! Fight the power! Dethrone the king! Legalize everything!" And now she was just rambling, which she figured out once she caught a glimpse of Star's tilted head & raised eyebrow. "...Am I rambling again?"

"Just a little." They shared a good laugh over the rambling. "So...do you have any advice?"

"Advice?"

"About the trial. You know...any tips or...or strategies that I...we should-"

Hilda patted her shoulder. "Okay, I'm gonna level with you: this country tries to sell all of us on the idea of "justice." You know, things like "the truth will set you free," "everyone has the same rights," "the justice system is infallible." But it's not that simple, and not all of that malarkey is true."

"What do you mean?"

"You dig deep enough into the archives of life, you'll find so many heartbreaking stories of people who were wrongfully convicted of crimes they weren't remotely involved in."

"That's awful."

"Damn right, and in some cases it takes literally decades for them to be rightfully vindicated in the eyes of the law. Hell, many of them never get vindicated."

Star gasped. Her world was getting rocked right now; she heard faint tales of the Earthly justice system from Marco, but hearing them now from Hilda as well was making it sink in rather harshly. "B-But accidents happen, don't they? I-It's not true that every single case of false prosecution is a result of corruption, greed, & power grabbing, is it?"

Hilda shrugged. "I can't say every case is like that, but...wouldn't you agree that even one is too many?"

Star couldn't help but nod along. It wasn't the same format or even the same stakes, but she knew all too well the dangers of a "rigged trial." Her mind immediately went to Eclipsa's trial, the day that her entire life was flipped upside-down. From the onset, everything was set up to work against Eclipsa. The Magic High Commission had all but made up their minds at the forefront, barely taking the proceedings seriously. Meanwhile, Star was hellbent on throwing it in their faces when the truth came out, and Moon was adamant she would get to the bottom of the potential conspiracy over Eclipsa's missing daughter. While the trial did properly showcase Eclipsa's...questionable behavior, it also properly brought to light the misdeeds the MHC had committed, misdeeds that drastically & permanently changed the course of the kingdom. These events wouldn't have happened if Star wasn't so determined to uncover the truth no matter what the cost.