She-Ra and The Princesses of Power, developed by Noelle Stevenson, is the property of DreamWorks and Mattel. I just like playing with their toys.

Space Log: Day... thirty-seven, or is it thirty-eight? Anyway, hi, Future Adora. Bow and Entrapta have been bugging me to start this thing since we launched our mission to return magic to the universe, so...

Everything is fine.

[-]

Sounds and images came crashing one after the other, halls of light, a twinkling starscape, a hooded purple shadow, and a cackling shrieking skull.

Adora bolted out of bed, drawing the dagger hidden under her pillow, eyes darting about the dim cabin.

"Hey, Adora," came a hushed whisper, soft-furred hands squeezing her shoulders as Catra's blue and yellow eyes glittered in the dark. "You okay?"

Melog poked a head over the bed's footboard, mewling with concern, mane glowing faintly.

"Yeah... I..." Adora panted, collapsing back on her pillow. "Just bad dreams."

Catra nuzzled under Adora's arm, resting a head on her girlfriend's shoulder. "You sure everything's alright?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine" Adora murmured, pressing her lips to Catra's forehead as she drifted off. "I just need a good night's-"

"EVERYBODY!" Entrapta squealed over the ship's comm. "COME TO THE BRIDGE NOW!"

[-]

"If it's those space pirates again, tell them to come back in the morning," yawned Glimmer, trudging onto the bridge with Bow in tow.

"Why is it so bright?" Catra squinted, Melog hissing in agreement.

"Hey, everybody!" Entrapta swung around in the command chair. "I didn't wake you, did I?!"

"Entrapta, have you been up all night?" Bow asked, still bleary-eyed.

"Of course not, silly! There's no night in space!" Entrapta grinned wide, left eye twitching slightly. "Only the eternal unblinking void!"

"Uh, Entrapta?" Adora prompted.

Oh, Right!" Entrapta 'walked' across the bridge on thick braids of prehensile hair, tapping the communication console. "I was experimenting with boosting the range of Darla's subspace transceiver when I picked up something! At first, I thought it was just a random spike in the cosmic background radiation until I tried running it through Darla's decryption algorithms and got... this!"

A series of holo-glyphs flickered into existence, degraded but still unmistakable.

"That... that's First One writing!" Adora spoke.

"Can you read it?" Glimmer asked.

"Just one word..." Adora squinted. "Grayskull?"

"Grayskull?" Bow perked up. "As in Mara's old rebel squad?"

"Can you trace it?" Adora asked eagerly.

"I triangulated the signal to a Type Three star system on the far side of this sector! At max FTL, we can be there in..." Entrapta counted off a few dozen follicles. "Three days, five hours and forty-three minutes! Give or take a second."

"Then set course," ordered Adora.

[-]

Three days and five hours later found Adora was sitting in the ship's galley, gazing into a bowl of rehydrated protein slaw.

"You okay?" Catra asked, taking a swig of something that vaguely resembled milk from a carton.

"Hmm, yeah sure, Why'd you ask?"

"Because you've been staring at that sludge for like an hour already."

"I have?"

"Uuugh! C'mon, Adora, you know I'm not good at talking about..."

"Feelings?"

"Right, that junk. So maybe meet me halfway here?"

"Sorry, I was just thinking about the First Ones. How they colonized Etheria, tried to weaponize its magic to conquer the galaxy."

"Fun people," snorted Catra, pouring out a saucer for Melog.

"They couldn't have been all bad, right?" Adora looked up, eyes pleading. "I mean... Mara was a First One and I..."

"Who cares? Happened like a thousand years ago."

"Come on, Catra. Don't you ever wonder about your people, where you come from?"

Catra looked away. "I try not to."

"Adora, Catra," spoke Bow spoke over the comm. "We're here."

[-]

The planet hung in the ship's window. Half the world was a multicolored mosaic of shimmering green seas, fleecy white clouds and dark continents. The other half was shrouded in inky night, broken only by the scattered orange glow of smoldering volcanoes. The duality was reflected by twin moons, shining bright and darkly barren. Adora stood transfixed, weirdly haunted by the sight.

"Fascinating, isn't it?!" Entrapta squeed, popping up behind her. "The planet appears to be tidally locked!"

"Meaning?" Glimmer asked.

"Its orbit and rotation are perfectly in sync, the same side always faces its host star!"

"What?" Catra asked.

Entrapta sighed. "One side of... the planet... is... always light... and the other... is always... dark!"

"Is that unusual?" Bow asked.

"No idea!" Entrapta giggled.

"What about the First One signal?" Adora interjected.

"I haven't been able to localize it due to atmospheric interference! But I have managed to identify several areas of urbanization!" Entrapta brought up a holo-map. "The largest is here, on the light hemisphere's southern continent!"

"Good as place as any to start!" Glimmer suddenly pulled Bow, Adora, Catra and Melog into a group hug. "Entrapta, keep the engines warm!"

"WAIT, GLIM-" Bow cried as they vanished in a pink flash.

[-]

"How was I supposed there was a slurry pit there?" Glimmer cried as she the others marched down an old cobbled road. "What is slurry anyway?"

"You don't want to know," answered Bow.

Catra shuddered. "At least you were wearing shoes!"

Fields of dark farmland stretched as far as the eye could see. The scarlet sun hung frozen in the pale green sky as the twin moons began slowly creeping over distant hills.

"This place is a lot different from Etheria," said Glimmer.

"Hotter too," panted Catra.

Up ahead, Adora was already cresting the next hill. "Guys, come look at this!"

A towering plateau rose from the horizon, atop which sprawled the largest city Adora had ever seen. It was crowned by a domed edifice of red stone that could only be a temple or palace. Strange raptor-like aircraft darted to and from the gleaming metropolis.

Bow whistled low. "That's... pretty high up there."

"No prob," said Glimmer. "Everybody grab-"

"Wait!" Catra cried. "We have no idea what kind of primitive barbarians we're dealing with here!"

"Well if there's one thing you know, it's primitive barbarism," teased Glimmer.

"I'm serious," said Catra. "Maybe we should keep the whole magic princesses from outer space thing to ourselves for now?"

Melog chirped in agreement, shifting into invisibility.

"Catra's right." Adora nodded. "Shouldn't be too hard."

[-]

"Purpose of visit?" droned the guard attending the city's falcon-shaped gates, clad in green and bronze armor.

"Visiting relatives!" Adora blurted. "We're from... up North!"

The guard cocked an eyebrow. "You came by the south road?"

"Yes! Exactly!" Sweat streaked down Adora's brow. "We were visiting relatives in the South and now we're heading back up North, where we are from!"

Catra buried her face in her palms.

The guard sighed low. "Just sign the logbook."

"No problem!" Adora exhaled, scribbling her name in the dusty tome.

"Everything seems to be in order," said the guard, stepping aside. "Welcome to Eternos City."

The four stepped through the city gates and into a swarming market. Merchants from at least a dozen different species hawked their wares as shoppers milled from stall to stall, all under the watchful eyes of the city's guards.

"Luminiecent fungus, fresh from the caves of Spelea!" cried a bat-winged merchant. "Decorative and delicious!"

"Let me handle this," whispered Bow, stepping forward with his cheeriest smile. "Excuse me, friend, we're new here and are looking to learn more about your fine city?"

"What do I look like, sonny, the tourism board?" The merchant's wings flared. "Either buy a glowy mushroom or scram!"

Bow slunk back to his friends crestfallen. "Well, they were spectacularly unhelpful."

"What about this?" Adora pointed out a worm-eaten sign. "The Dragon's Breath Inn?"

"ADORA!" Glimmer cried, yanking her friend out of the way as a bipedal crab with an eyepatch came hurling through the inn's door.

"Oooh," Catra purred. "This place looks fun!"

[-]

The tavern was loud, hot and sweaty but mostly loud. Laughing carousing patrons of all shapes, sizes and species crowded the four Etherians as they eeked out a seat.

"What can I get you folks?" asked a scantily clad waiter, balancing three separate trays in his hands.

"Four tankards of your finest grog," answered Catra. "Oh and a meat platter!"

"Coming up," said the waiter as he moved off.

"Uh, Catra," said Bow. "How are we supposed to pay for all that?"

"No prob," Catra shrugged. "We just beat up the biggest guy here then they give us everything we want."

"That's not how taverns work!" Bow protested.

"Chh, maybe not the ones you go to," retorted Catra as the waiter returned with their order.

The room went dark, save for a single beam of light reflecting upon a small stage.

"Friends and gentlefolk," thundered a voice as purple mists swirled about the chamber. "The Dragon's Breath Inn is proud to present for your delectation and delight, the Master of Mysticism, the Sultan of Sorcery..."

The mists parted to reveal a diminutive figure floating above the stage, clad in crimson robes. His face was shadowed by a thick pink scarf and a pointed wizard hat, save for a pair of yellow button eyes.

"Orko the Great!" squeaked the impish magician theatrically, to some applause.

"Aww," cooed Bow. "What an adorable... whatever he is!"

'Orko the Great' attempted to pull a rabbit from his sleave, only to end up with something that had far too many eyes and fangs to really qualify.

"EEEP!" Orko squeaked, stuffing the abomination back where it came. "Maybe I should try something else? Oh, I know!"

Another puff of smoke and the stage was replaced by a gilded puppet theater. A blue hand puppet wielding a tiny foil sword popped from behind the curtain followed by another in green wearing a miniature fishbowl over its head.

"This is the story of Randor, mighty warrior-king of Eternos and Marlena, daring explorer from another world, and the love they shared!" Orko intoned. "And from this love were born a pair of bouncing baby twins! But the shadow of evil would soon fall upon the happiness of the Royal Family..."

A third puppet loomed over the first two, dark purple with a yellow circle of cardboard for a face, a crude skull penciled in black. Adora tensed, fingers pale as they clenched the table.

"A shadow in the mask of Death stole away one of the newborn twins, never to be seen again!"

The whole tavern went quiet, the raucous crowd suddenly somber.

Catra placed a hand on Adora's. "You okay?"

"Sure, why wouldn't I be?"

"Because you're crying."

"I am no-" Adora touched her face, finding warm tears flowing down her cheeks.

"Booo!"

Adora spun in the direction of the heckler, a slender boy about her own age with an unruly mop of sandy blonde hair and magenta vest. "Come on, Orko! Nobody wants to hear that depressing crud!"

"Hey, show some respect!" Adora rose to her feet. "The King and Queen lost a baby!"

The boy shot Adora a look of practiced disinterest. "What's it to you, Ponytail?"

"Why you miserable little-" Adora stormed forward, knocking over her chair.

"Adora, what's gotten into you?" Bow whispered, holding her back. "I'm so sorry. We don't want any tr-"

"Yeah! Go, Adora!" Catra whooped. "Rip his face off!"

"Catra!" Glimmer chided.

"What? I'm being a supportive girlfriend."

"Not helping," hissed Bow through gritted teeth. "Now why don't we all just take a deep breath and-"

"BAR FIGHT!" roared a goggled bird-woman, smashing a rickety chair over the finned head of a nearby fish-man. In an instant, the entire tavern was a flurry of flying fists and furnishings.

"Coming through!" yelled the blonde boy as he made his escape, knocking Adora to the floor.

"HEY!" Adora grabbed the boy's boot, sending him faceplanting into the floorboards.

"Now I got-" Adora was cut off by the tell-tale crackle of stun-weapons. Above her stood three armed guards with staffs leveled.

Their leader was a statuesque young woman in white and gold armor, barely older than Adora. She had light-brown skin and flame-red hair. Her voice was cold as steel. "Let. Him. Go."

Adora quietly complied, releasing the boy.

"Round them all up," the guardswoman commanded before turning on Adora. "And you are under arrest for crimes against the Throne."

"What crimes against the Throne?" Adora snorted

"Assaulting the Crown Prince for one," answered the guardswoman.

"Crown Prince!?" Adora blurted.

"No need to be so formal," said the boy, dusting himself off. "You can call me Adam."

[-]

"Hey, watch it!" Adora protested as a guard forced her palm against a black glass panel.

"Genetic scan complete," a digitized voice spoke. "Have a nice day."

Adora was promptly herded into a cramped cell before a force-field sealed her in.

"Hey, Adora, that you?" Catra whispered from the next cell, stroking a lethargic Melog.

"Yeah, what about Bow and Glimmer?"

"We're here too," answered Bow from a cell further down.

"And now that the guards are gone..." Glimmer smirked slyly. "I'll just teleport... us out... of..."

A long silent moment passed before Catra spoke up. "Uh, Sparkles, we're still here?"

"I know!" Glimmer snapped. "I just need to... ugh... grrr... Okay, I might have a problem."

Adora reached out, closed her eyes, and focused. "I... I can't summon my sword!?"

"Magic dampeners built into every cell," spoke an older man in green and bronze high-tech armor as he marched by, a blue helmet tucked under his arm. He had deep dark brown skin and a slightly greying mustache. "My own design."

"Really?" Bow asked. "How do you compensate for thaumaturgic feedback?"

"Kerium based circuity inlaid in the cells' the super-structure," beamed the armored man proudly. "Responds to any spike in ambient magic-"

"With a proportional counter-current!" Bow exclaimed. "That's genius!"

"Well, thank you, son," chuckled the armored man. "But you're not flattering your way out of this cell."

"Lt. Andra to Man-At-Arms," spoke a static-tinged voice.

The armored man answered his wrist-com. "Man-At-Arms here."

"Sorry to bother you, sir, but we're having some trouble with the Wind Raider. Could you swing by the hanger bay?"

"On my way," replied Man-At-Arms, replacing his helmet as he strode off.

"Great," scoffed Catra. "We're in a prison run by nerds."

"Ah, Duncan's alright, bit stiff though," said a young blue-skinned woman from the cell on the far side of Adora's. "So, what you kids in for?"

"Assaulting the Crown Prince," sighed Adora. "But he started it!"

"HA!" barked the blue woman. "If wanting to take a swing at Adam was a crime, they'd have to lock half of Eternia down here."

"Looks like they already have," said Catra, chin-pointing to the overcrowded cells that stretched in every direction.

"Yeah.." the blue woman sighed. "Good King Randy went pretty heavy on the old Law n' Order after his other kid vanished, even dissolved the Council of Elders."

"Wait, back up," said Adora. "You know about 'Eternia'?"

The blue woman cocked her head. "Kid, what planet do ya think ya're on?"

[-]

"OW!" Adam yelped, rubbing the back of his head. "What was that for, Teela?"

"For sneaking off and nearly getting yourself killed," snapped the flame-haired guardswoman. "What were you thinking? No, scratch that. Were you thinking anything at all?"

Adam rolled his eyes. "Sorry, 'Mom'."

"Your mom never had to drag you out of a tavern brawl," retorted Teela, marching Adam down the hall. "How did you get out of the palace this time, the laundry chute?"

Adam smirked. "Trade secret."

"Can you please take this seriously? Thanks to your little stunt, we've been summoned to appear before the King! The King, Adam!"

"So what?" Adam shrugged. "He's just gonna give me the same speech he always does."

"He's the King, Adam, and your father! Don't you care what he thinks of you?"

Adam looked away. "I try not to."

They halted before a set of towering gold doors, flanked by two guards. At a nod from Teela, one of them flicked a switch on the inside of their shield. As the immense doors swung inwards, Adam trudged over the threshold like a condemned man.

On the far side of the great hall rose a dais crowned by twin purple thrones. Upon the first, sat a broad-chested man with a grey-brown beard and ice-blue eyes. His flowing locks were bound by a gold circlet.

At his side, sat a regal woman with skin only a shade darker than Adam's own, clad in a verdant green gown. She let out a deep sigh, knowing full well what was coming.

"Your Majesties." Teela bowed low. "As the Prince's bodyguard, I take full responsibility for the incident at the Dragon's Breath."

"Is that so? Well, I'm glad someone does," intoned the King, casting a cold eye on his son. "Thank you, Lt. Teela. You are dismissed."

"Of course, your Majesty." Teela rose and turned to leave, mouthing silently to Adam as she passed. Good luck.

[-]

Duncan, Man-At-Arms and Captain of the Royal Guard, sat hunched over a macro-imager as he laid new micro-circuity for the Wind Raider's nav computer. It was slow, painstaking work, requiring a steady hand, patience and total concentration.

"Hey, Man-At-Arms! Whatcha doing!?" Orko yelled excitedly, popping up behind Duncan.

"Orko," spoke Duncan, careful to keep his voice level. "What did I say about barging into my workshop unannounced?"

"Umm... 'Don't?"

"Then don't," retorted Duncan, turning back to the micro-circuity.

Gosh, I'm sorry, Man-At-Arms," said Orko sheepishly. "It's just I'm working on a new act and I need about five hundred liters of thermo-gel!"

Duncan arched an eyebrow. "Absolutely not."

"Ah, go on, Dad... Might lighten the mood around here."

"Teela?" Duncan turned to find his daughter standing in the workshop's archway. "I thought you were still on duty?"

"The king dismissed me," answered Teela, giving her father a quick peck on the cheek. "Wanted to read Adam in private, I guess."

Duncan sighed heavily. "I don't envy the lad."

"He brings it on himself," said Teela. "If he could just take anything seriously for once!"

"Don't be so quick to judge," chided Duncan. "A father's shadow can weigh heavy on a child."

"Never bothered me."

"Oh no," chuckled Duncan. "Following your old man into the Guard wasn't my idea. I always hoped you'd take up a safer profession, like taming spidrasaurs."

"Hmm, spidrasaur taming," Orko mused. "Maybe I can work that into my act?"

"Orko, could you please-" Duncan was cut-off by an alert from his computer terminal. "Hmm, that's odd."

"Something wrong?" Teela asked.

"That girl you brought in from the Dragon's Breath," answered Duncan, pouring over the incoming data. "Computer found a partial match for her gene-scan but... No, that can't be right."

"Father?"

Duncan practically leaped out of his seat, scooping up his helmet. "I need to speak with the King and Queen!"

[-]

"The Crown Prince! My own son!" Randor roared. "Brawling in a tavern with some... some vagrant!"

"In my defense," interjected Adam. "She started it."

"Oh, did you hear that, Marlena?" Randor threw up his hands in exasperation. "She started it! Well, that changes everything! Why don't we just toss the two of you in a cell so you can finish it!? The guards can place bets!"

"Randor," warned the Queen cooly. "This isn't helping."

"Well, what will help?!" Randor exclaimed, turning his back on his son. "I have tried to be patient, Adam. I have tried to be understanding, but this is the last straw. The people cannot respect a King who does not respect himself!"

"You're one to talk," muttered Adam.

Randor turned, eyes narrowed. "And what is that supposed to mean?"

"Oh, get real! Half the Kingdom thinks you're a petty tyrant and the other half thinks you couldn't run a circus without Uncle-"

"That's enough, both of you!" Marlena snapped, silencing father and son.

"Ahem."

All three royals turned to the entrance, where Man-At-Arms stood at attention.

"Duncan?" Randor sighed. "Now isn't a good time, old friend."

"I realize that, your Majesty, but there's something you need to know," Man-At-Arms spoke gravely. "About the girl from the Dragon's Breath."

[-]

"Ow... ow..." Adora droned, poking the humming force-field. "Ow."

"Could you please stop doing that?" Catra asked, head resting on a sprawled Melog.

"Oh, I'm sorry," drawled Adora. "Am I distracting you from staring at the ceiling?"

"Could you two please not, right now?" Glimmer sighed. "We need to figure a way out of this."

"Hey, your boyfriend's the genius, Sparkles!" Catra shot back.

"Come on, Squad," pleaded Bow. "I know this looks bad, but all we have to do is sit tight and wait for Entrapta to realize we're overdue and come rescue us."

"Entrapta!? Are you serious!?" Catra laughed bitterly. "Scorpia found her passed out in her lab once 'cuz she'd forgotten to eat for three days. We got a better chance of your stupid mustache pirate saving us."

The flame-haired guardswoman marched past, flanked by two more armored guards. They stopped directly in front of Adora's cell, as the force-field lowered.

"Come with us," said the guardswoman, hand on the telescoping cobra-staff slung at her belt. "Please."

[-]

Adora was ushered through an engraved wooden door, her escort standing back at a respectful distance. She glanced over her shoulder suspiciously. "Not coming?"

"You'll want to be alone for this," answered the guardswoman before the door slammed shut.

Adora immediately hurled herself at the door, trying to ram her way through the stubbornly immovable portal.

"Damn it," she swore, rubbing her shoulder as she summoned her energy sword. "For the honor of-"

"Wait!"

On the far side of the room, an older couple stood nervously by the window; a man with grey-brown beard and a woman in a verdant green gown.

Adora spun on her heels, raising her sword. "Who are you!? What do you want with me!?"

"By the Ancients, Marlena," said the man breathlessly, leaning on the woman's shoulder as though his feet might melt from under him. "She looks just like..."

"I know, Randor," the woman answered, squeezing his hand.

"Marlena? As in Queen Marlena?" Adora asked.

"Yes..." The woman smiled awkwardly. "Are... are you Adora?"

"I'm not answering any questions until you let me out of this-" Adora stepped back, bumping into an elegantly carved crib. "Nursery?"

Adora's eye was drawn to a shimmering holo-mural painted across the ceiling, depicting Eternia as seen from one of its twin moons. A shooting star briefly darted across the simulated starscape. "I... I've been here before?"

"Randor and I built this nursery for you and your brother," Marlena spoke, stepping cautiously forward. "Before..."

Adora's sword faded out of existence as her arms felt limp, staring at the Queen as though seeing her for the very first time. Tears welled at the corners of her eyes, voice trembling as the next word caught in her throat. "Mom?"

[-]

"Mom?" echoed the image in the smokey green waters of the scrying pool. Above it, lurked a figure shrouded in a hooded purple cloak. His hand clutched a gnarled staff topped by the skull of a horned alien beast.

"How touching," he cackled darkly. "Nothing like a family reunion to warm the old bones."

To be Continued...