"So you don't have any clue of what happened up there afterwards, do you?"
"For the hundredth time, no. Only wild guesses," she answers.
A few days after magic ground zero, there was still questions that needed answers, and the hours spent to ask her did not suffice.
Surprisingly enough, she carried out the plan more or less as expected once at Horde Prime's. Dumb as he was, Lord Perfect swallowed the whole blabber about the Heart of Etheria and so on, and he was hyped into trying it when the whole thing went loose.
"All I remember is a cranky clone with a green mush all over his face running to the fake sword and screaming. The sword was programmed to be activated when someone grabs the handle, so it should have been very quick, but they are fighting and I stand here confused and everybody around us is too paralysed to do something. The man who attacked then looks at me, and I recognised him. He then leaves Horde Prime for a second, and reaches for the sword… and the next thing I see is your face looking at me with the most adorable smile I have ever seen."
"It was Hordak. The man," I reply, "It was Hordak. He saw through his brainwashing and went crazy."
"Your theory. We may never know."
The last days after the events had been very confusing. Scans of the surrounding space by Entrapta revealed that Horde Prime had indeed disappeared, but as Despondos was another dimension we had no longer access to, it was impossible to know if they were in the pocket dimension or somewhere else entirely. The crystals had fallen back on Etheria, and there seem to be no response from them since. Everyone was set at the methods of sorcerers when it came to magic, and the only one who had a knack at it was Queen Glim-Glim, who reluctantly paid an apologise to me after she saw I was indeed an expert strategist.
Horde Prime had left quite a mess on Etheria, and there were a lot to be rebuilt from the bombings. Former soldiers from the Fright Zone had proven efficient in the use of technologies from the Horde to help repairing, but some of them went rogue and were still lurking in small groups in low-populated areas such as the Crimson waste or the Poles, causing all the more damage that they were heavily armed.
Scorpia has had only recently managed to assert a stable leadership on the whole region, and her crowning is due tomorrow, but I am still worried.
"What if they find a way to come back? We are far from ready to face them a second time! And without magic, to top it all!"
"It will be fiiiiiiine" Adora answers, tired of my questions. "Stop being so scared, it does not suit you. And since when to you care about magic so much?"
"Since it pulled you from the Portal and saved you?" I reply.
She looks at me with a ludicrous smile, and kisses me on the cheek.
"Magic did not pull me out of the Portal. You did. I still don't understand how you did it, the lot of you, but you did."
She looks cute when she is so tired she becomes a little dumb. It is my turn to kiss her, but on the mouth.
"Let's sleep now. Tomorrow we need all our energy, your Highness" she whispers teasingly at me.
"-I'm not… Hey! I'm not a princess!"
"I know. Stop yelling it, you will wake up all of Spinifer."
We indeed stay in the newly reconquered city of Spinifer, in the Scorpion's desert, now the capital of the reformed kingdom held by Scorpia and basis from all pacifying expeditions to the Fright Zone. In theory, she is supposed to rule over the entire ex-Horde's territory, but in fact, the only places that we stabilised unti now are the region of Spinifer, the Brightmoon border and the central headquarters. Most of the remote regions are still full of rogue soldiers, and Beast Island is out of the question right now. I know it perfectly since Adora and I are on the first line of the fight.
But I need to go to sleep, because tomorrow's is the Coronation and I would not miss that for the world.
"Don't you think this is too much?"
My best friend has called me on dress support, and who am I to refuse? And for sure her sense of fashion has improved since the last time I had to do that. Princess Prom. It sounds like an eternity happened between then and now.
She looks stunning. A queen for sure, if I was to believe in such thing as royalty. All red with a hint of black at the details, the royal gown seems cut to make her broad figure look impressive and powerful. She holds the traditional Scorpion Sceptre in her right pincer and has brushed back her longer blond mane.
"You are a queen" I retort. "Nothing is too much."
I wear my usual suit, that has been adjusted to my new flatter chest. I have cut the sleeve to let my iron arm out.
I fought too hard, I deserve to be proud of what I am.
"By the way," as Scorpia changes the subject, "You've cut your hair again, didn't you?"
"Maybe" I answer, quite abashed, "Why?"
"Nothing. It looks good."
She smiles and adds nothing, it feels awkward. I turn away from her as I finish to get ready myself. I struggle to attach my black bowtie. I want do do things right this time.
"I can't knot this correctly" I say after the fifth of sixth attempt. "I am going to ask Adora otherwise I might just get angry"
I leave her and go back to the room I share with my own princess. She is gorgeous herself, all in white, like an angel. Her dress is cut above the knee and has no sleeves to reveal her muscles and her strength, underlined by arm and leg adjusted gold force bracelets. To top it all, golden ribbons have been tied in her usual ponytail and when she moves, they underline the movement of her magnificent blond hair.
"Ado-Ra, honorary ruler of the united kingdoms, protector of Etheria, princess of all unclaimed lands…"
"Oh please, shut up!" she answers with a smile while finishing her make-up, sitting at her improvised vanity desk.
"… would you do me the favour of tying this nightmare of a bowtie?"
She laughs. I bend a little to kiss her on the corner of the lips while she does so.
"Of course I will." she replies while fidgeting with the small piece of black straightened cloth. It is a matter of seconds before her fairy fingers did a miracle and fixed my outfit. "Done."
She has been so happy in the last few days. I do not want to bother her with my uncertainties, but now that everything else had become so much easier, I was preoccupied by some things I could not put my finger on.
"Is there something you want to tell me?" she says after I stayed right where she knotted me without apparent reason.
"I am afraid not to blend in," I answer brutally. "I am no princess."
"I know, you insist on that to the point it becomes a little annoying" she replies, "But I love you the way you are, and I am sure the others will too once we settle the steam down a little."
It is her turn to kiss me on the cheek. I see in the mirror that it has left a small print of her pink-painted lips. I raise my hand to wipe it off, but decided to keep it, as war paint.
"Everything will be fine" she ends.
I hope so, because I may feel more nervous than Scorpia herself about this coronation.
Her Majesty of Sparkles opens the ceremony, and I prepare to fight all my strength not to yawn. I see Entrapta behind them smiling peacefully, and after a few words I see my favourite scientist starts dozing. She is wearing her usual outfit, because I guess she forgot why she was here.
Someone else than the queen clearly wrote the speech, because after a few minutes, Glim-Glim sighs, fiddles through her sheets and decides to drop them to cut directly to the matter at hands.
"… In other words, we are gathered here to celebrate the access of a rightful princess to her long-stolen throne. No one maybe has shown more qualities to be queen than her. Let me introduces you: Queen Scorpia of Spiniferia!"
The crowd cheers so loud I need to fold my sensitive cat's ears. Much to my surprise, it is made of a very diverse mix: the princesses are mingled with some former Horde soldiers, civilian war refugees, some thugs from the Crimson Waste who converted into Spinifer's guards.
But yet I guess it is only that the coronation reflects who the queen is.
She salutes the crowd in her wholesome way, and I genuinely feel happy for her. She deserves so much of it.
"Thank you" she simply says. "There has never been a crown to Spinifer, because the monarchs of the Scorpio's kingdom thought that the love of their subjects was a crown enough to justify their rule. And I think it is time people get in charge because they are loved and not because they are feared."
She pauses a little, as there is another round of rough cheers. My, she is indeed good at this!
"Now as you might know, tradition is that on the day of their coronation, the kings and queens of Scorpio's kingdom make their first three decisions, and they shall not be subject to questioning. And I know that because…" she slightly hesitates, "my own father made his decisions to give our land to Hordak with the same rule".
Silence drops and I hear a few people gasp in the audience.
"And my only vow" she continues, "is to undo this shameful legacy with my own three."
Tension rises. What will be the queen's three blessed wishes?
"On the day of his own coronation," she starts, "my father declared to yield his kingdom to the Horde led my Lord Hordak. For my coronation, I declare that the Horde has brought war and death to our lands, and I ask for everyone of you to keep fighting to restore peace.
By this decision, my father has cut ties with all the other princesses of Etheria, and I have grown up alone, thinking I would never fit in. To conjure this deed, I wish to announce that Scorpio's kingdom has signed a permanent union with the kingdom of Dryl, which is now part of our union."
"This is brilliant!" Entrapta screams.
"Wait" I say, "Shouldn't you be already aware of this? I mean it is your…"
"A bunch of revolutionaries took power recently!" she answers, "and they formed a government elected by the entire population of Dryl! They said they would not bother me and left me the CryptoCaste for experiments, but it is far funnier to observe them! They are the best social experiment I have ever seen!"
"… Never mind."
I hear Adora laugh heartily behind me, and it fills my heart with warmth until it draws me a tear.
"And my last decision..." she sighs "My father's choice has put me under the orders of a tyrant my whole life until I was set free. I was belittled by it and lead to believe that I was not strong enough to be a princess, not worth it, until I met someone who told me I deserved to be part of them as much as anyone else. For the royalty I never had the chance to be, I want to use my power as a queen to raise this person to it, because they deserve it."
And, much to my surprise, she looks at me.
"Catra, would you please come to me and bend down for the ceremony?"
I swear on the moons I have never felt so shocked. Trembling and stuttering, I still do as she says and kneel. I can feel everyone's eyes on me, and wish they are far enough not to see how much I am blushing. I know what she will do, and I do not want to be a princess, never.
I am wearing a suit, Scorpia! I guessed the message was clear!
It seems she would know it, however, and this idea makes me trust that she knows what she is doing. She raises her sceptre and touches both my shoulders one after the other.
I close my eyes.
"On the shadow of the moons and the First Ones' spirit, I name thee Lord of the Unconquered Regions, to pacify and rule every part of my kingdom that you will see fit, with Princess Adora or by yourself alone."
This I can work with. More fight... Oh, I love it.
It is the last part I was not ready for. I quickly glance at Adora, and guess what? She blinks at me, as Scorpia utters her final words:
"Now rise, Prince Catra, and leave with my eternal blessing."