Chapter Text
Adora woke with a start. Well, ‘woke’ was a relative term. As, when she came to, she was sitting up straight, fully dressed, and found that she couldn’t actually remember falling asleep in the first place. A small groan coming from her right made her turn her head sharply to see Catra, sporting a confused look as she scanned her surroundings. Next to her girlfriend were Scorpia, Lonnie, Kyle and Rogelio. Sitting just behind them was Hordak, Entrapta and Wrong Hordak, who they’d recently taken to calling ‘Dak’.
“What… just happened?”
Glimmer’s voice cut through Adora’s thoughts, stern and final and undoubtedly the voice of a queen . She had taken a break from ruling when the Best Friends Squad began their journey to restoring magic to the known universe, but it had been a year since Horde Prime was defeated, and so they had entrusted that task with the Star Siblings, who checked in with them regularly with updates, and Glimmer had taken over from her father to rule once more.
“I’m not sure,” Adora and Bow both said, and looked at each other, grinning, before returning to the conundrum at hand. She looked past her best friends to see the rest of the princesses to the left of them, some also sitting behind them much like Entrapta and the two Hordaks. Sea Hawk joined Mermista, Spinnerella and Netossa on the back row, and the rest of the princesses were sitting in front of them. Adora tuned her head to see Castaspella and Micah sitting directly behind her.
“I’m not sure, I’m not-” Kyle’s small shushes cut off Imp, who Adora could now see was sitting in his lap. Rogelio turned to help quieten him down.
“Well I , for one, am not just going to sit here and- oh this chair is really soft,” said Double Trouble, who had seemingly appeared out of nowhere, and startled nearly everyone in the room. They sat at the end of the row, to her right. She made note of that, as she still didn’t fully trust them.
“ You have indeed grown, Adora, ” a voice resounded through the dark room, which had no distinctive features other than the chairs and sofas they all sat on.
Catra groaned again.
“Of course this has something to do with princesses , and She-Ra , when does it not?”
Adora elbowed her. “Who are you?” she asked, into the darkness.
“Yeah, and why can’t we see you?” Frosta yelled, standing up. She was knocked back down.
“Hey!” King Micah shouted indignantly, in Frosta’s defence, “just because we can’t see you doesn’t mean we can’t take you down!” He tried to cast a spell, but the magic couldn’t materialise.
Perfuma couldn’t sense any growth. She told them as such. “It’s like we’re not on Etheria anymore,” she claimed.
Scorpia chuckled nervously. “Don’t worry, Fuma, I’ll bet that we can get out of this, easy! If I can just…” she trailed off, trying to use her powers.
“Huh?”
The other princesses tried too, but to no avail. Nobody had any weapons, and even Catra couldn’t extend her claws. Finally, Adora tried to summon her sword. Nothing.
“Ugh, not this again,” she complained, but Catra grabbed her hand.
“It’s not you,” she said reassuringly, “It’s this place, it’s blocking all your powers.”
“ Only so that you all will listen ,” said the voice, interrupting their struggle, “ I am about to show you something, a series, entitled ‘ She-Ra and the Princesses of Power ’. You, all of you, have come so far. It is time to reminisce, look back on all you’ve gone through, so that you may move forwards.”
“What if we refuse?” Adora tested, earning a look from Glimmer.
“ You won’t .” And then suddenly the voice had an owner.
“Mara?”
“ Yes, Adora. It is important that you all watch this, as it will improve your relationships with each other and your sense of self .” Mara said.
Adora relaxed back into the sofa she was sharing with Catra, Glimmer and Bow.
“Okay.”
“What? Just like that, we’re gonna trust the weird disembodied voice?” Mermista asked. Sea Hawk wrapped one arm around her and whispered something in her ear
“Ugh, okay, fine.”
The scene immediately opened onto Adora, in the Fright Zone. She seemed to be punching something.
“Oh dear god, we’re going this far back,” Adora said, covering her eyes. Catra snickered at her obvious embarrassment.
“Hey, princess. You looking at me?” she said, before hitting the picture of a princess.
Every princess in the room laughed at “Horde Adora”, except for the girl in question, who groaned.
“Wow, Adora, I’m flattered,” joked Glimmer, leaning into Bow, who also chuckled. She simply shook her head in response.
A woman’s voice sounded, and the scene changed. Adora lined up next to other Horde members.
“Anyone seen Catra?” she whispered.
“Hey that’s us!” Kyle exclaimed to Lonnie and Rogelio, who both nodded fondly and scooched closer to the boy, surrounding him.
Lonnie, on screen, mumbled something and shook her head. She scoffed.
“Not again.”
“How rude,” Catra complained, “You have no faith in me.”
“You never showed up on time, I’m surprised I even asked about you,” Adora shot back, but there was no malice there, they both knew it.
A Horde commander talked them through the simulation, before turning to Adora: “Where's Catra?”
“She will be here. I promise.”
“See! I’m covering for you!” Adora defended herself, and her girlfriend smiled.
“Yeah, you are.”
The scene changed again, and the cadets were fighting in the simulation. Kyle, Rogelio and Lonnie eventually got hit, and Adora fell through the ground. As she hung by her weapon, Catra appeared above her.
“Hey, Adora. How's it hanging?”
“Catra. Did you really show up late and let us do all the hard parts? That is low, even for you.”
“Aw. You know nothing's too low for me,” she paused to laugh, “Now come on, you look stupid hanging down there.”
“Okay, but you guys were so cute before all the She-Ra stuff,” Bow said.
“I know! Why do you think I was so mad!” Catra said.
Bow nodded at her, remarking that it definitely made more sense now.
Then, they were in the locker rooms.
“You should've seen your face. You were like, ‘Aah, no! Betrayal.’”
“Is that… foreshadowing?” Lonnie said with a smirk.
“Oh, shut up,” Catra snapped. Lonnie looked startled, and Catra looked at her before looking back down.
“Sorry.”
“Don’t worry about it.”
Adora and Catra continued to laugh and joke on screen, as they wound down from the fight.
This took the other princesses aback. They’d always assumed Adora was completely unhappy in the Horde. It had never occurred to them that parts of it weren’t so bad. We’re actually… nice.
“Did you ever miss it?” Perfuma asked her.
“Not the Horde itself, but… this, yes.” Catra smiled softly at her.
“Adora.”
“Oh, not her again,” Adora sighed.
“For once, I agree with you, good riddance,” Catra quipped back, and all of the Horde kids nodded along uncomfortably. They had never had much of a relationship with Shadow Weaver like Adora and Catra, but she was an unnerving woman all the same.
Shadow Weaver continued to praise Adora, before turning on Catra when she retaliated.
“Silence. Do not be flippant with me, cadet.” she threatened, shadows encircling the poor girl.
Adora held Catra tighter. She didn’t seem to mind.
“Sorry Shadow Weaver,” Catra said, eyes trained on the ground.
“Adora, walk with me.”
“She really was horrible ,” Glimmer said, shocked.
“Yes she was, Sparkles,” Catra replied, letting out a bitter bark of laughter that made Adora stare at her with worry in her eyes.
Shadow Weaver told Adora about her promotion, and her first mission.
“Thaymor? You mean we're finally seeing active duty?” Adora said, overjoyed.
“ You are seeing active duty,” Shadow Weaver corrected.
“Thaymor,” Glimmer repeated, and the Best Friends Squad shared sad glances.
Shadow Weaver went on to say that her team wasn’t ready, that Catra wasn’t ready.
“Hey! We were so ready!” Lonnie protested, only for Rogelio to place a hand on her shoulder.
“I saw talent in you the moment I found you as an orphan child and took you in. Is this not what you've wanted since you were old enough to want anything?”
“Here comes the manipulation!” Catra said cheerfully, and Adora snorted. She figured a long time ago that it was better to joke about their trauma than let it control them.
Suddenly, Angella came on screen.
“Mom,” Glimmer whispered sadly. Bow squeezed her tighter.
The mother and daughter continued to argue, until-
“That's enough! You're grounded!” yelled Angella.
Glimmer scoffed in response. “Mom!”
Everyone let out a small chuckle, and Adora couldn’t help but notice people’s reactions to seeing Angella versus Shadow Weaver. Both Adora’s parental figures, both dead. One, decidedly, better than the other.
After another flurry of arguments, the focus was on Adora and Catra once more. Catra, upon seeing Adora, greets her by taking her new Force Captain badge.
“No way. You've been promoted?”
“Well, kind of. I mean, yeah, I guess. Heh. But it's not a big deal.”
“Always underplaying things, just accept that you’re awesome!”
Adora just snuggled further into Catra’s warmth in response.
“Adora, I need to blow something up.”
“Aww! You’re so cute!” Bow said, and Catra rolled her eyes. She had given up trying to stop him from calling her cute long ago.
Adora explains that she’s the only one who was elected to go, and Catra lashes out.
“I guess it sure must be easy being a people pleaser like you.”
“I am not a pe-- Catra, wait.”
“Promise we don’t let Shadow Weaver, or anyone else, mess up our relationship again?” Adora asked tentatively.
“Promise.”
“Look, I'm sorry…” Adora started.
“See that’s called an apology Catra, note how I’ve been doing it from the start?”
Catra pushed her off the sofa, much to Glimmer and Bow’s amusement. They refocused their attention back onto the screen.
“I wonder what's even outside the Fright Zone anyway.”
“Why don't we go find out?”
“Please don’t tell me you did what I think you did.” Kyle sounded panicked.
Catra laughed in response.
“I take it all back, you’re officially awesome! I can't believe you actually stole a skiff!” Catra yelled.
“Borrowed. Please don't make me regret this.”
Soon, things dissolved into chaos, and they were arguing over who got to drive.
“You guys really haven’t changed,” Scorpia laughed, nudging Catra with a wink.
Soon, they had reached the Whispering Woods.
“Let's go in.” Catra smirked.
“Wait, what?”
Everyone laughed at Adora’s reaction, even the girl in question this time, climbing back onto the sofa in between Catra and Glimmer.
Before they knew it, they were crashing and Adora had found a sword.
“Woah, that’s-“ Glimmer stopped, glancing at Adora.
“Yeah, it is,” she said in agreement to her half-sentence.
“Balance must be restored. Etheria must seek a hero.” There was the sound of a baby crying, and then-
“Adora, Adora.”
“ Adora!”
“I genuinely thought you’d gone insane. I didn’t realise you were gonna have to fulfill a magical destiny as a ridiculous-looking princess!” Catra exclaimed, earning a few small laughs.
And, they were arguing again.
“Ther- There was a sword. It was right here. I tried to touch it, but it got really bright.”
“Are you brain damaged?” Catra asked her, sincerely, and grabbed her face.
“Well that probably wouldn’t help if I actually was!”
“I was panicking, give me a break.”
The scene changed to Glimmer, who was writing an angry letter to her mother.
This earned a laugh from Micah.
Then, an arrow soared past her head and Bow was yelling for her.
“Come down here.”
“I can't, I'm grounded.”
“What?”
“I'm grounded.”
“...What?”
Adora and Catra both laughed at this, Adora snorting slightly. Bow smiled sheepishly.
Glimmer teleported Bow into her room, and went on to complain about her mom.
The girl looked down onto her lap, feeling guilty. Bow took her hand and squeezed it, and she met his eyes and smiled.
“Anyway, your mom might have a point. Only reason you got out of there is because of your teleportation powers, and, let's face it, they don't always work that well.”
“Looking for support here, Bow!”
“It was a valid point!”
“I know, Bow, it just wasn’t very helpful,” she laughed.
Bow went on to mention a reading of First Ones tech in the Whispering Woods. Then Angella knocked on Glimmer’s door, asking if anyone was there with her. Of course, she denied it, growing more frustrated with the Queen. Bow stood waiting, looking only slightly uncomfortable. A door slammed, and Glimmer teleported outside with Bow.
“I'm in.”
“You literally found me and the sword because of your spite .”
“No need to review things, Adora!” said Glimmer, ears turning red.
There’s a scene change, and now Adora’s asleep, dreaming of the voice. She wakes up with a start, and sees Catra sleeping at the foot of her bed. Smiling, she starts to creep away.
“Hey, where are you going?”
“Can’t get anything past you, can I?” Adora asked fondly.
“Back to the woods. There's something I need to figure out.”
Catra tries to stop her, asking again if she’s brain damaged.
“For the last time, no!”
“How was I supposed to know you were having weird princess dreams?”
Adora hurries off, leaving Catra shouting after her.
“That’s the last time we see each other as friends for a while,” Adora realised.
“Yeah.”
“Wow,” Glimmer said, noticing the sad looks on their faces.
“Come on! Come on!”
“Uh! Please tell me we're not lost!”
Perfuma giggled, and even Mermista smiled at the scene in front of them. It was no wonder the two started dating, they seemed to just bounce off each other.
“What are you doing out here, Adora? Catra's right, this is crazy. There's no sword, you just got hit on the head a little too hard. You should just go back home and forget about all of this.”
“Oh dear,” Perfuma said, understanding what was about to happen.
“What? What’s wrong?” Entrapta turned her head to ask.
“I believe this is the build-up to their meeting,” Hordak answered.
“It sure is,” Glimmer said with her head in her hands.
“Bow, just let me lead the way, okay?”
“The light came from the edge of the forest.”
They continued to talk amongst themselves, until they looked in front of them. Straight at Adora.
“Horde soldier!”
Adora laughed at their panicked yell, and Glimmer nudged her slightly.
“Hey, we were scrambling, what did you expect?”
“Get off. Stand down. I don't wanna hurt you,” Adora said.
“Well I was telling the truth, wasn’t I?”
“You were a Horde soldier, how were we supposed to know?” Glimmer defended herself.
Then, the screen flashed. “Hello, Adora,” a voice said.
“Who are you? What's going on?” she shouted in response.
“Ugh, I did not want to hear her voice again,” Adora grumbled into Catra’s chest. She nodded sympathetically. Adora had told her everything she had done, and was honestly glad she had been shut off.
“My name is Light Hope. I have been waiting a long time for you, but I could not reach you until you forged your connection with the sword.”
“You sent the sword?”
“Not exactly, you sent me .”
“The sword is meant for you. Etheria has need of you, Adora. Will you answer its call? Will you fight for the honor of Grayskull?” Light Hope asked, monotone. Adora’s confusion came across.
“What are you talking about? What-- What is-- What's Grayskull? You're not making any sense! I don't understand!”
“You will.”
“Wait!”
“And there is the start of a recurring theme: asking her questions that she dodges and putting me in dangerous situations.”
“That sucks,” Mermista said.
“Hey! She's awake.”
“Oh no,” groaned Bow, embarrassed.
“Quiet, Horde spy, I ask the questions. How did you make it this far into the Whispering Woods?” Glimmer demanded, trying to take charge of the situation.
“Wow, you are bad at being intimidating, Sparkles,” Catra cackled.
“It’s not exactly my strong suit,” Glimmer conceded.
“The Whispering Woods is under the Rebellion's protection. You were lucky to make it as far as you did. Come on, Bow. Let's get this spy back to Bright Moon where she can be interrogated properly,” she said, before whispering to Bow, “This is perfect! Not only do we First Ones tech for the rebellion, we've also captured a Horde spy. My mom's gonna be so impressed!”
“‘Captured’ is a strong word, I could’ve totally gotten out of it!” Adora insisted.
“Sure, Adora,” Bow teased.
Suddenly, they’re somewhere else in the Whispering Woods, and Glimmer is arguing with Bow. He gives up, and tries to talk to Adora.
“Not much for talking, huh?”
“I prefer not to swap pleasantries with my captors,” she replied coldly.
“Oh yeah? How’d that work out for you?” Bow joked. Adora smiled and reached past Glimmer to flick his arm. The girl in between them just laughed.
“You know she's a princess, right? How can you follow her? Princesses are a dangerous threat to everyone on Etheria.”
“Is that what Hordak told you?”
“I am… remorseful of my actions towards you cadets. I planted that idea in your head, and that is unforgivable,” Hordak said with his head bowed.
“We forgave you a while ago, dude. What you did was obviously wrong, but you’re learning from it and everything else you’ve done. We aren’t holding your past against you anymore, you’re doing everything you can to make up for it,” Lonnie said with a smile, and the other ex-Horde cadets nodded or hummed in agreement. Hordak smiled.
Then, they came across a village. Destroyed.
“What happened to this place?” Adora asked, face full of shock.
“Don't play dumb with me. I bet you were part of the raiding party that did this.”
“I’m sorry,” Glimmer whispered.
“Don’t be, like you said, how were you supposed to know. Anyway, you deserved to be upset with the Horde.” Adora comforted the shorter girl. They turned back to the screen, where they were yelling at each other.
“I'm not a destroyer. Hordak says we're doing what's best for Etheria. We're trying to make things better. More orderly,” Adora said, trying to defend herself.
“This is what's best for Etheria?” Glimmer shouted. “Ever since the Horde got here, they've been poisoning our land, burning our cities, destroying everything in their path. And you're a part of it! How's that for orderly?”
“This is when I started questioning everything.”
“You know, I was upset with you but… I would probably have started questioning things too, honestly,” Lonnie admitted. Kyle nodded.
“Yeah, we just thought that you were a traitor, not that you had a legitimate reason for leaving,” he added.
“Your army is called the Evil Horde.”
“Who calls us that?” Adora demanded. Bow just stared at her.
“...Everybody!”
People laughed at that, grateful for Bow’s attitude to distract them from the thing they were witnessing. Adora and Glimmer always seemed like such good friends. They had no idea they were once like this.
“The Horde rescued me when I was a baby and gave me a home. They're my family. You-- you don't know them like I do.”
“Maybe you don't know them like you think you do.”
“Woah, that’s deep,” remarked Double Trouble, mockingly.
Then they heard a growl, and a giant bug creature veered around the corner and rushed towards them.
“Watch out!” yelled Bow.
Adora made a break for the sword amongst all the chaos, picking it up while still in her ties. “Hey, bug brain! Come on, Magic Sword. Oh, where's a blinding flash of light when you need one?” she screamed, and the screen flashed once more.
“Ooo, this is the first time I transformed into She-Ra!” Adora exclaimed.
“Adora. Adora. Adora.” A baby’s crying. “Will you fight for the honor of Grayskull?”
“For the honor of Grayskull!”
The screen cut to black, leaving the group at a loss.
“Should we… continue?” Sea Hawk asked.
“ That is up to you ,” Mara said, “ I have shown you a glimpse of this story, which ends when Horde Prime is defeated. Watching the rest wouill be invaluable, but in the end, it is your decision to make .”
“What do you think?” Adora said, turning to Catra, desperately. Catra took her girlfriend’s hand and gave it a comforting squeeze.
“What do you want to do, Adora? Whatever you choose, we'll be right behind you.”
“Best Friends Squad,” Bow added.
“Always,” finished Glimmer.
Adora’s gaze flicked between the two of them, and then to her old teammates, the two Hordak’s, the princesses, Sea Hawk, Double Trouble, Castaspella, Micah. It finally landed on Catra.
“I’m up for a stroll down memory lane,” she decided.
The next episode began to play.