Adora

Adora...

Adora...?

"Adora!" Someone was lightly slapping her on the cheek. She opened her eyes and groaned. The back of her head was throbbing.

"Ah! You're awake!" The Doctor knelt in front of her, grinning.

"What happened?"

He held out his arms. His wrists were bound together with vines. "We've been taken prisoner!"

"Quiet, Raggedy Man!" Glimmer pushed the Doctor aside. "We'll be asking the questions, not you!"

"Well then, if you have questions, fire away! I always cooperate with the authorities. Unless you're the Torture First, Ask Questions Later Type. "

"Who are you?" the archer asked.

"Well, the Horde soldier is Adora—

"Force Captain Adora," Adora corrected him.

"—and I'm the Doctor."

"Okay, Doctor, what are you doing in the Whispering Woods."

"Me? I'm a tourist. I was just walking around, taking in the sights, as tourists do, when I found this sword and thought 'Oooh, shiny! That'll be worth a look-see.'"

"You're not with the Horde?"

"Nope. I'm not the club-joining sort. I'd never want to be a part of any organization that wants me as a member, to paraphrase my old friend Karl Marx."

The archer cocked an eyebrow. "But you were just going to let Miss Ponytail here walk away with a piece of First Ones tech?"

The Doctor thought for a moment before shrugging. "Yep, pretty much."

Glimmer groaned and pinched the bridge of her nose. This was supposed to be a simple find and retrieve mission. "Ok, in that case, you're both coming with us back to Brightmoon."

"Brightmoon! Sounds lovely! Much better name than the Fright Zone."

Bow notched an arrow in his bow and tried his best to look menacing. "Don't try any funny business, Doctor."

The Doctor nodded. "Of course not! I'm never funny! Not on purpose, that is. Unless it is on purpose—

Glimmer groaned, "I'm already so sick of you."

"Are you positive we're going the right way, Glimmer?"

"I know what I'm doing, Bow."

They had been walking for well over an hour. If Brightmoon was as close as Glimmer had claimed, they'd have reached the city gates by now. As it was, they seemed to be moving deeper into the Whispering Woods.

Brilliant name, the Doctor thought, secretly testing the strength of his bindings. So many brilliants names. Brightmoon, Etheria, The Fright Zone, The Whispering Woods. So dramaaatic.

"So, your name's Bow?" Adora asked.

"That's what my dads named me," The boy formerly-known-as-Robin Hood replied.

"And you're an archer?" Adora asked.

"A pretty good one, as far as I can see."

"Where are you going with this?"

The Doctor shrugged. "Well the name just seems spot-on-the-nose, doesn't it?"

Adora chuckled. "Yeah, were your parents expecting you to be an archer when you grew up?"

"Or did you just become an archer to be clever?" The Doctor added.

Adora put her hand on her chin and did a poor imitation of Bow, 'Hmmm, what do I want to be when I grow up? Maybe an archer? Bow and arrow? The name's in the description, might as well!'"

Bow stopped dead in his tracks. "I...I don't know." Bow turned to Glimmer, eyes wide in panic. "Glimmer, am I a joke?"

"You two, shut it!" Glimmer turned and snapped. "Stop giving Bow an existential crisis. And you're one to talk, Doctor. "

The Doctor and Adora had to lean against one another, they were laughing so hard. When the laughter died down Adora remembered herself and pushed the Doctor away and picked up the pace.

The Doctor ignored the gesture and caught back up. "So, Force Captain Adora," the Doctor said, catching up with her. "You've made a name for yourself."

"I'm sorry, but how do you two know each other?" Bow asked.

"He crash-landed in the Fright Zone in his stupid spaceship."

"You have a spaceship?" Bow asked.

The Doctor nodded. "And a time machine."

The Doctor had never seen anyone literally go starry-eyed. "Can I see it?"

"I'm afraid not. It's currently...well, I don't know where it went. Or when."

"Pshh, how do you lose a whole spaceship?" Glimmer asked.

"It happens. She has a mind of her own. Sometimes she just buggers off. She had a reason for doing it, probably. I'm sure she'll turn up. Are you sure that scanner of yours is working right? I've never been to Brightmoon, but I don't think we're heading in the right direction."

"I know where we're going." Glimmer growled, right before she started smacking the tablet. "Work, darn you."

"I think he's right," Bow said, pausing to take in their surroundings. "I've spent most of my life in these woods and I don't recognize this part at all. I've heard stories about weird stuff out here."

"What, like giant snakes?" The Doctor asked.

Adora laughed. "Maybe there's quicksand, or fire-breathing dragons."

"Or insurance salesmen!"

"Oh! The Humanity!"

Glimmer turned around, eyes shooting sparks. "I've had about enough of you two."

"Then let us go," The Doctor replied. "Then we'll be out of your hair."

Glimmer stopped shaking, shut her eyes and took a deep breath. "Ok, how about we take a break for a second. I'm going to go walk into the bushes over there and scream for a few minutes. Bow, keep an eye on them."

"Are you sure you two aren't friends?" Bow asked as they watched Glimmer stomp away into the undergrowth.

"Do friends abandon you for five years only to show up out of nowhere and get you captured by the rebellion?" Adora asked.

Bow frowned. "Well, my friends have never done that, but maybe I'm the odd one out, here."

"Speaking of friends, you know she's a princess, right? How can you follow her? The Princesses are criminals and a threat to everyone on Etheria."

"Is that what the Horde told you?" Bow asked.

Adora frowned. "I thought that was common knowledge. They're violent instigators who can't control their powers."

"I'd like to ask Glimmer about her powers at some point," The Doctor noted. "Also, Adora, that's harsh. I've known many princesses in my time, and only a few tried to kill me or conquer the universe."

They paused at the sound of crying. "Huh, I guess Glitter really did have to let off steam," Adora said.

Bow ran off into the bush, Adora and the Doctor jogging after him. They found Glimmer in a clearing, standing among a pile of ruins. She was on her knees, shifting through the rubble. "What is this place?" Adora asked, looking around. "An old Rebellion encampment?"

The Doctor knelt down and picked something off of the ground. "No," he said, handing the item to Adora. It was a child's rattle. "A village."

"So what happened to it?"

"Don't play dumb!" Glimmer tore the rattle from Adora's hand and threw it back into the rubble. "I bet you were with the raiding party!"

"I don't have any idea what you're talking about! The Horde didn't do this!"

Glimmer grabbed Adora by the bindings and dragged her over to a pile of scrap metal. "Oh yeah, then how do you explain this?" She held up a piece of metal that Adora recognized as the chestplate of a Horde Sphere Drone. "You're a heartless destroyer." She threw the plate down and stormed off into the bushes.

Adora turned back to Bow. "I am not heartless! Or a destroyer! Hordak says we're doing what's best for Etheria."

The Doctor rocked a broken crib back and forth. "I wouldn't call this an improvement," He said quietly. He looked around. How many people had once lived here? Twenty? A hundred? What happened to them? Where were they now? Were they still alive? They were questions that demanded answers.

"Did you really not know any of this?" Bow asked.

"I..the Horde would never do anything like this."

"Your army is called The Evil Horde."

"Who calls us that?"

"...EVERYONE!"

Adora shook her head. "The Horde rescued me when I was a baby. They're my family. You...you don't know them like I do."

"Why did you want to run away with me?" the Doctor asked. "All those years ago, you were so eager to escape the Horde. What happened?"

"You never came back. In hindsight I'm pretty glad you did—" They were interrupted by Glimmer. She had cried out again. "Oh, great, what has she found this time?" Adora asked.

Glimmer burst out of the bushes, panic on her face. She teleported over to Bow. "We have to run, right now!"

"Run from what?" Adora asked.

The Doctor nudged her to get her attention. "That." He replied, pointing with his bound hands.

A massiver beetle crashed through the trees, uprooting whole trunks and throwing them aside like tinkertoys. The four took off like track stars.

They didn't make it far. Glimmer caught a blow from one of the beetle's legs. She went flying, the sword falling from her grip and landing on the ground. Another swing caught the Doctor. Bow fired a few arrows at the beetle. These arrows exploded on impact, spreading a fast-drying web over the creature's mouth. The creature chewed through the webbing like it was candy floss.

Adora spotted the sword. Now was her chance. She could pick it up and run, take it back to the Fright Zone and be held as a hero. It was so simple.

Yet why did the idea make her feel sick?

She used the sword to cut herself free from her bindings and picked it up. It was surprisingly light in her hands. It began to glow again. Adora. Will you do what is right? Will you fight for the honor of Grayskull?

Adora turned back to the fight. The beetle was right on top of the Doctor, who was struggling to keep its jaws from snapping shut on his head. Glimmer and Bow were helping, but it was a losing battle. She knew what she had to do. "Yes," she raised the sword over her head. "For the Honor of Grayskull!"

A flash of light burst from the sword, consuming Adora in its glow. Glimmer, Bow and the Doctor stopped what they were doing to look. So did the beetle. When the light faded, Adora was gone. In her place was an Amazon in white, her long blonde hair shimmering, her eyes shining as bright as a supernova.

"Ohhhh, " The Doctor said, "That is brilliant."