Start listening to "Climb together" by Audiomachine when the "SLAM!" occurs! And keep reading as you listen!

CHAPTER XIII: BATTLE FOR BRIGHT MOON – PART I

The princesses listened closely as Micah recalled the old memory. It had been fifteen years since that night, and not one day had passed without the old king wishing he and Angella had listened to what Katrina warned them about.

"When I joined Angella in our bedroom, I found her distraught. She told me about her 'meeting' with Katrina, the magicat's queen, and that she didn't know what to do… I didn't know either… I guess that everyone hoped Hordak would truly turn out to be what he claimed he was… nothing more than a visitor, with marvelous things to show us. But deep down I knew there was something wrong with him, and just like Katrina, I began to hope that nobody would get hurt before we'd find out the truth… but someone… did get hurt…" Micah's gaze shifted downwards.

"Dad?" Glimmer stepped closer to the old king, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"A year later you were born, my beautiful baby girl…" Micah smiled sadly as he softly cradled his daughter's cheek. "That was the happiest day of my life, and for a single moment, I believed that everything would have turned out just fine."

A silence fell over the room as Micah stopped talking. Glimmer slightly gasped as she saw a tear streaming down his cheek.

"Dad… what happened?"

"The day after you were born we received the news that… Katrina's village had been burned down to the ground by the Horde…"

"Oh no…" Scorpia covered her mouth as her eyes widened in horror.

"Some of them must have escaped right? They can't be all… all…" Adora muttered in disbelief.

"When we went to the village to search for survivors… we only found a mountain of burnt corpses… not even a single magicat was ever seen again after that night."

"Why didn't our parents tell us about them before?" Perfuma asked timidly.

"Katrina had warned us… but we didn't listen… that night Hordak waged war against Etheria and managed to destroy one of our most powerful allies… if we had been there… if only we had listened to her… but we didn't. She died because of our blindness."

"Uhh… let me get this straight… you never told any of us about this because you were ashamed of yourselves?!" Mermista yelled in disbelief.

"We never wanted to look back… we all promised to fight together against the Horde and never commit the same mistake again… I know it was selfish of us…" Micah's head hung low in shame.

"It can't be…" Adora whispered, her eyes widening in horror.

She had served them. She had admired them. She had loved them. She would have given her life for the Horde in the past. She would have given her life for the people who were actually destroying Etheria. That thought had kept her awake for countless nights. But now? Now she knew that she would have given her life for the ones who killed Catra's people, who destroyed her best friend's home, who took away her future.

"Adora? Are you alright?" Bow asked, a worried expression adorning his face.

"I helped them… I wanted nothing more than to impress them… the same people that destroyed Catra's life. I-if I knew I would have never… a-and if she knew m-maybe she wouldn't have stayed… I… I…" Adora blabbered, clearly panicking.

"Adora! It's alright! You couldn't have known!" Bow exclaimed, grasping the blonde's shoulders, trying to calm her down.

"But I… I…"

"Adora." Glimmer suddenly spoke up, marching up to Adora in a shy yet still determined way.

The young queen let her gaze linger on the floor for a few moments before stepping forwards. She gently grabbed Adora's hand and finally raised her gaze. Determined eyes met desperate ones.

"Stop blaming yourself for things you didn't do. It's not your fault that the Horde killed Catra's family, they chose to do so, and it's not your fault that she decided to side with them, she chose to do so, not you. Please…"

Adora looked at their conjoined hands with bewilderment before giving the young queen a shaky smile.

"Thanks guys…"

The princesses were there, Bow was there, and even after everything that happened between them, Glimmer was there too. They were there for Adora, and when Micah called her name, she expected him to tell her the same things, to reassure her, to support her. To be there for her too

But he didn't…

"Adora… what did you say the magicat's name was?" Suddenly, Micah's voice had grown grave, deep and menacing.

"Micah… I-" Adora began to talk but was suddenly cut off.

"Catra."

The voice came from the entrance of the war room and as everyone inside turned around, the red figure slowly made its way towards the old king. Adora's gaze fell upon Micah's face. Sadness and regret were gone, instead, the blonde could only see puzzlement, anger and… such an incredibly profound hatred in Micah's eyes. She had never seen it in her entire life.

"I must say, I'm surprised she's here. When I saw you carrying her-" Shadow Weaver began to talk but trailed off as Adora stepped in front of her, teeth bared.

"What did you tell King Micah?!" The blonde barked.

"Only the truth…" The red witch answered after an instant of hesitation, Adora's outburst had indeed caught her off guard.

"What truth?" Glimmer asked, her tone slightly shaking.

"She's the one that killed your mother princess, don't you think your father deserved to know it?"

"O-oh… oh no…" Scorpia muttered as she covered her mouth.

Adora's face became completely pale. Micah wasn't supposed to find out. Not that soon. Not with everything that was already happening. The blonde quickly turned around only to find the old king standing right in front of her.

"Did you know Adora? Did you know it was her even when you brought her inside my home? Inside Angella's home?" Micah asked, his voice a mixture of disappointment and disbelief.

Adora could only stare at the old king without uttering a single word.

"So you knew…"

"Micah… I-" Adora began to speak, hopelessly trying to justify herself.

"I don't want to listen to your excuses… where… is… she?" Micah demanded.

The blonde hesitated for a few seconds, her gaze shifting downwards, uncertainty written all over her face… then… she raised her eyes to meet Micah's. Every doubt she could have had was gone, instead, the old king could only see determination in Adora's eyes.

She wasn't going to tell him, and even though he would have found Catra anyway, she would have never let him hurt her.

"Why? Why would you defend her?" Micah asked, his voice starting to break.

Glimmer suddenly stepped forwards, catching his father's hand.

"Dad, you don't understand! She sav-"

SLAM!

The young queen began to speak, but the sound of the war room's door slamming open interrupted her.

"My Queen!" A guard shouted, quickly reaching the group.

"What is it?"

"Five ships are approaching Bright Moon!"

Not now…

There were already too many things going on…

"Adora… do you think…" Glimmer turned towards the blonde with a worried expression.

"It's Prime." Adora stated coldly.

"Wha-? He's already here?!" Scorpia exclaimed.

"Uhh… how are we supposed to fight him? I can barely use my powers, scorpion princess here used everything she had on the ship and so did Perfuma, Frosta can barely keep her eyes open," Mermista groaned before turning towards Glimmer, "and I doubt that you're up to do any magic either, are you?"

"I… I don't think I'll be able to fight so soon." The young queen mumbled with a defeated tone.

"Then… how are we going to…" Perfuma wondered out loud after a few moments of silence.

The princesses were tired, confused, and Horde Prime's troops had taken them by surprise. They didn't have time to prepare, to recharge their powers or come up with a plan.

"Together."

"What?" The group turned towards the voice's source.

"Saving Glimmer seemed impossible right? But we did it anyway… why?" Adora asked.

Everyone remained silent for a few instants.

"Because we did it together." Entrapta spoke with such marvel in her voice that it took everyone by surprise. "It makes zero sense really, the odds were against us, the chances of us actually succeeding were so low, but we did it anyway. It's… it's not the first time that this happens. It seems that…" The scientist princess stopped and let out a brief, puzzled laugh, "It seems that when we're together we can even challenge the rules of probability."

"Entrapta is right! Whenever we fought together, we always managed to succeed!" Perfuma chimed in.

"We may not have our powers but that doesn't mean that we can't kick some clones' butts!" Frosta raised her fists in the air.

"Come on! The Horde never managed to defeat us! And when the dust settles, there will be songs about our great victory! Obviously, I'll be the one singing them." Sea Hawk yelled enthusiastically.

"We can do this." Adora looked at everyone in the room, her gaze lingering on Glimmer, "Together…"

"Together." The young queen smiled weakly.

The group turned towards King Micah. He had remained silent the whole time.

Then… after a long sigh…

Micah spoke.

"We… we'll deal with this attack… then… I'll do what I have to." Micah muttered. Casting aside Catra's fate, if only for the moment, seemed to have taken all of his will power.

Scorpia gave Adora a terrified look, but the blonde simply shook her head. She wasn't going to let it happen. But why? Why would she even risk crossing Micah to defend someone who hurt her and everyone she cared for so much? Was it because finally, Adora had managed to catch a glimpse of the old Catra? Was it because by saving Glimmer, the cat girl had showed that there wasn't only darkness, and hatred inside her heart? Of course, that is what Adora would have liked to believe, but the truth was different.

Even if Catra hadn't risked her life saving Glimmer, even if she would have ended up by accident at Bright Moon… Adora could have never let her die. Some would have called her 'weak' because of it. Sparing an enemy because of a past long gone. But Adora wasn't sure she would have agreed, she didn't know if hers was actually weakness… or strength… and the past she shared with Catra? That may have been gone… but not forgotten… never.

The group quickly followed the guards outside the castle. The sight they were met with was actually terrifying. Five gargantuan ships were slowly approaching Bright Moon. They were obviously smaller than Horde Prime's station, but still, they were bigger than anything the princesses had ever seen. Mara's ship was the size of an ant in comparison.

The five, large, black ships came to a halt as they towered above the castle. A loud screeching noise resonated through the air as their gigantic cannons began to shift, their target clear. Bright Moon castle would have never stood a chance against that kind of fire power.

"You need to get to your ship and disable those cannons… I'll… I'll summon a shield to protect the castle." Micah explained as he began to trace lines in the air.

"You know you can't create a shield strong enough to protect the whole palace, even if I helped you." Shadow Weaver said as she reached the old king's side. "Even if we wanted to defend only ourselves, one of our shields wouldn't last a minute against those cannons."

"Then what are we supposed to do?!" Glimmer questioned the red witch.

"We have to escape, run away and re organize ourselves."

Everyone turned towards Shadow Weaver in astonishment.

"B-but we can't leave! They'll destroy everything! Maybe even the Moon stone!" Bow protested.

"Horde Prime won't risk that." Glimmer murmured in a disgusted tone of voice.

"What?" Adora asked.

"Catra told him about the Heart of Etheria… he doesn't know much about it, but I doubt he'll risk destroying one of its pieces."

"Then… why are his ships targeting Bright Moon?" Perfuma wondered, clearly confused by the tyrant's doing.

"I think he wants to give us a taste of his power, he wants us to know he could completely erase us and our home in an instant. He wants us to surrender, to give him what he wants." Glimmer theorized.

"Whatever is the case, we can't stay here, it's too dangerous to take the risk, we need to flee-" Shadow Weaver chimed in, trying to make her point, but suddenly, a voice spoke from above them.

"That won't be necessary."

"Aunt Casta!" Glimmer exclaimed as the sorceress glided towards the small group.

"And I'm not alone!" Castaspella shouted excitedly.

Everyone gasped as the clouds above them cleared and countless other wizards and sorceresses appeared from above the castle, descending gracefully towards them like hundreds of falling stars.

The cavalry had arrived.

CASTA COMING IN LIKE "IM MARY POPPINS Y'ALL!"