Earth

Her mother. Her MOTHER. Standing there, gaping at her through the car window, her expression shifting quickly from surprise to that face Glimmer knew all too well: outwardly neutral but barely hiding a scowl. A face that prioritized how the situation would look to an outsider over even her own emotions.

"Mom?" she asked stupidly. Even though the photos had prepared her for the differences, it was still something else to see it in person, this woman that was so clearly her mother but also not, like she'd been written in a different typeface. Her mother always had this otherworldly sheen that set her apart, even from other magical beings, but this one was dulled the same way everything in this world was. Though, as Angella pulled herself up to her full height, her hand tightening around the paper cup in her hand, it was almost like the wings were there, looming and adding to her intimidating presence even if you couldn't see them.

"Well. This is certainly unexpected." The accent was same, that clipped way of speaking she'd picked up in another century… or, at least, that was what it was from in her world. She couldn't even imagine where it came from here. If this universe didn't have magic, did that mean her mother was mortal like everyone else?

"Oh, um… yeah. Hi." Glimmer fumbled with the seat restraint buckle, wishing she could just teleport out of this whole car situation. Shit, how did anyone here ever get used to all these buttons and latches? "One second."

"And why am I not surprised to see she dragged you into this?" Angella crossed her arms over her chest and glowered at Bow.

Bow, apparently still reeling from her accidental revelation a second ago, swallowed and looked everywhere but at Angella. "Uh, hello, Mrs. Moon. Ma'am."

"My daughter's enabler." Angella shook her head. "And to think, there was a time when I thought you might be a good influence on her."

Bow started to reply, but Glimmer didn't give him a chance. What the hell? Her mother loved Bow! Hearing her talk to him in that cold tone cleared her surprise at seeing her mother again and ignited a much more familiar emotion: anger.

"Hey!" Glimmer threw open the car door, fury rushing through her veins as she stepped out. "You leave Bow out of this! It's me you're mad at!"

What had she expected? To find her mother and everything to be cuddles and hugs? She'd realized on the drive that not losing her mother in this world meant they'd had more time to develop problems between them. But fuck if she was going to let Angella be mean to Bow, who'd been nothing but sweet and helpful this entire time.

"I'm afraid you've wasted a trip. As I said in my message, I am unavailable today. Back-to-back meetings all afternoon regarding the viability of the new investment." Her mother tucked a smooth line of hair behind her ear, looking like she was halfway between exploding and busting into tears. She brushed non-existing dust off the breast of her sleek lavender suit jacket. "I have given you ample opportunity to meet with me and discuss this matter, which you ignored, so you'll forgive me if I am unwilling to drop everything to accommodate your sudden whim for reconciliation. This will have to wait for another day."

Angella turned and headed for the glass doors of the building. What she said was probably fair. Glimmer still didn't really know what had happened between them in this world. Considering what a mess her life was here, she could well imagine that she'd been completely awful and her mother had given it back as hard. But she didn't have another day, and she hadn't come all this way for them to part in anger all over again.

"No." It was a single word, but her mother froze with her hand on the knob. Her Bow joked that she had a Queen voice that was utterly terrifying and she suspected she was using it now. She pulled herself to her full height and squared her shoulders as if she was facing a challenge in the war room back home. "I'm sorry, but I don't have another day. You will see me now."

Her mother turned and cocked her head slightly as if she was seeing Glimmer for the first time. They faced off for a moment and Glimmer was afraid she'd gone too far when something shifted in the set of Angella's shoulders and she gave a small nod. "Fine. But this better be quick. HP's team will be here within the hour."

Glimmer hesitated, her hand on the door of the transport. She glanced over at Bow. He looked away quickly. She was certain he'd been staring at her moment ago, but now he wouldn't even meet her eyes. Not surprising considered how badly she'd fucked things up before.

"Bow, I…" What was she even going to say to him? How could she even begin to fix the mess of all THAT? At the door, her mother exhaled, impatient. She was wasting time. "I have to do this."

Then she closed the car and followed her mother. As Angella swept through the lobby, Glimmer held the door for a moment, watching as Bow sunk forward, resting his forehead on the steering wheel. Then she let the door close behind her, with no idea if he'd even still be there when she came back out.

Her mother's building seemed too boxy to be a castle, but there was something familiar about the smooth curves and open archways. They stopped at a large desk, surrounded by a kind of half wall, above which was a mural of a pair of wings encircling a polished oval a lot like the moonstone. The words underneath read, "Bright-Moon Holdings." Glimmer was trying to wrap her mind around how her mother could have chosen an image like this in a world where neither her wings nor the moonstone existed when she realized who the person behind the desk was.

"Gen— Juliet?"

The older woman gave her that tight but genuine smile she knew well. "Ms. Moon! It's been too long."

"Yeah." A million images flashed through her head of their shared history. Tense meetings in the war room and devastating reports of lost troops, first as a princess watching her mother, then as queen herself. Finding Juliet's helmet at the trashed rebellion campsite and not knowing if she was even alive or chipped or what. Watching her dance with Aunt Casta during her and Bow's wedding, probably the first time she'd ever seen the woman laugh. The general's retirement party on the beach where she officially passed the torch to Catra, the whole alliance there to see her off. She couldn't even imagine how those moments translated here. "How are you?"

Juliet smirked. Her hair was shorter here, and she was rocking a salt and pepper crop. "Can't complain. You?"

"Everything is wonderful!" she said, thinking of her life back home, before she realized she wasn't that Glimmer right now. She glanced at her mother, who was back to a thinly disguised scowl. "Uh, I mean, good. Mostly. I guess?"

"Glad to hear it." Juliet rose from her seat to set a badge printed with the word "Visitor" on the half wall—If only she knew how true that was!—and Glimmer noticed for the first time the small blaster on her hip. "Lookin' good."

"Thanks!" she answered automatically, distracted by her mother's small snort as Angella spun away from the desk and started down the long hallway to the right. Glimmer grabbed the badge and followed, calling back a quick, "It was nice to see you!"

Glimmer missed Juliet's reply in her haste to catch up. She was just in time to catch the ornately carved wooden door that opened into what appeared to be an extensive suite. She was still getting her bearings, the feeling of being adrift in a world she knew nothing about even stronger now that she didn't even have Bow as a guide, when she was suddenly enveloped in a crushing multi-colored hug.

"Babygirl! You didn't tell me you were coming down!"

"D-dad?" She pulled away, and it took her a full minute to recognize her father, not only because his hair from beard to head was more trimmed and neat than he ever kept it at home. Her Micah preferred a regal robe or sorcerer tunic, even in semi-retirement. This one's shirt buttoned down the front and was covered in a pattern of beetles in offensively bright colors, ending in a pair of white pants cropped at his knees. On his head sat a front brimmed hat decorated with the image of a fish with the words, "Pick a cod, any cod" underneath. Even for the unfamiliar fashions of this world, it seemed like a lot. "WHAT are you wearing?"

"Ha!" Micah whipped off his dark lensed glasses and winked at her. "I'm incognito!"

"Oh?" Glimmer glanced towards her mother for some kind of help but Angella was pretending to ignore her, her eyes on the large vertical screen that stood on her desk. "So you're going… undercover? Like on some kind of mission?"

"You got it! A mission to make some MAGIC!" Micah bellowed the last word and Angella giggled without looking over. Her father was moving strangely, every gesture exaggerated, and it was incredibly distracting. "You're watching tonight, right? Prime time! ABC, I think, but check the listings. Going to make the Liberty Bell… DISAPPEAR!" He held up his open palms, and she realized the visitor's badge she'd been holding was gone. Her father grinned as she checked the floor, trying to see if she dropped it. "OK, babygirl, think. Where is it? Not in the sleeves, obviously, too short."

Was it a trick, like the kind Bow did with his cards? It had to be. She hadn't felt any magic.

"I don't know," she admitted finally, and her father looked disappointed as he slid the badge out from under his hat.

"Come on! You're normally so good at this!" He pointed the badge at her and she blinked at it, bewildered. "Bah! I don't care what your mother says, I'll make a sorceress of you yet! Magic is in your blood! We'll do a double act!"

Angella snorted. "Over my dead body."

Micah leaned over conspiratorially, making a big show of hiding his mouth from Angella with his hand, only to whisper plenty loud enough for her to hear anyway. "She's no fun."

When he stepped away, Glimmer realized he'd pinned the badge to her dress. "How…"

"Distraction, distraction, distraction. How many times do I have to tell you? It's about the FLOURISH!" Micah said triumphantly in that exaggerated voice before continuing in a normal tone. "Oo, did you bring Bow? I have a new card trick I want to show him."

"He is still in the car." Angella rose from the desk and stepped to Micah's side. "But shouldn't you be on your way? You don't want to disappoint your millions of fans."

"Jealous, Angie? You know I only have eyes for you."

Angella shrieked as Micah dipped her and gave her a kiss. Glimmer watched with a feeling like the ground had just disappeared out from under her. Outside of the portal, which hadn't even been real, she'd never seen her parents interact with each other before. Her mother wrapped her arms around her father's back, laughing as he waggled his eyebrows and nuzzled into her neck.

Is this what they'd been like back home? They were so happy! Happier than she'd ever seen either of them alone. It hurt like a knife to the chest.

"Unhand me at once, you ridiculous man!" Angella shoved him off, but she was flushed and giddy.

"As you wish, my queen." Micah bowed, taking off his horrible hat and using it to add a grand hand gesture.

Angella rolled her eyes but linked her fingers with his as he rose. Micah put his hat back on and gave his wife a charged look. Glimmer turned away, biting the inside of her lip, trying to keep herself from crying.

Her dad wrapped an arm around each of them, pulling them all together for a squeeze. "I love it when the family's all together like this. Happens so rarely these days." He released them and took Glimmer's hand, twirling her until the bottom of her dress flounced out. "Look at our girl, Angie! She's turned into such an extraordinary young lady."

"Thanks, dad." Glimmer smiled at him, flushing at the compliment. Micah back home was always free with them, too. Angella said nothing, only hummed non-noncommittally.

"And I love your hair! Makes you look so regal and glittery! Like a royal alicorn!" He fuzzed the shaved sides playfully, and she wondered what everyone here was going to think when they got their real Glimmer back and her hair wasn't like this. "My sparkly little princess, all grown-up!"

Glimmer nodded, blinking furiously, trying not to fall completely apart during what was a perfectly normal moment for everyone else in the room.

"The haircut is flattering. As is the dress." Angella had closed up again, all the chill back in her voice. "I'm glad to see you dressed suitably for a change."

Before anyone could say anything more, Micah pulled one of those tiny tracker pads apparently everyone here had out of his pocket. "OK, ladies, I gotta run. I love YOU!" He kissed Angella. "And YOU!" He gave Glimmer a peck on the cheek and then an extra squeeze. "Don't be a stranger, kiddo!"

Glimmer wished she could promise him that, but she had no control over what the other her would do once they switched back. "Bye, dad!"

Her father paused in the doorway and gave them both a pointed look. "And girls… play nice with I'm gone!"

"Have a safe flight, love," Angella called after him before adding softly, "Come back to me."

Her father winked. "I always do, don't I?"

Micah closed the door behind him and Glimmer stared at the wood for a long moment, trying to swallow down the lump of grief and longing in her chest that was threatening to swallow her whole. Angella shifted behind her and she took a steadying breath, turning back towards where her mother had sat back down in her desk chair, still unwilling to meet her eyes.

There were rooms in Frosta's castle that were warmer than the atmosphere in here. It was like her father had taken all the warmth with him when he left. Was this was what it had always been like for her in this world, flashes of normalcy while her father was home and then this icy tension every time he left?

"You have about twenty minutes of my time. I suggest you begin using it." Her mother was scanning papers on her desk, as if this conversation were barely worth her full attention, but Glimmer knew her too well to be fooled by it. The tremor in her hand belied the fact that Angella was as on edge as she was.

Glimmer debated for several moments before finally sitting in the small chair in front of her mother's desk. The chair was uncomfortable, but she couldn't relax anyway, her body too anxious and awaiting a fight. She'd expected to fall into her mother's arms, apologize for everything and be forgiven. Tears and hugs and love. What she hadn't expected was this messy mass of emotions in her middle, ripping her apart. Or that even after all this time and distance, her mother could still make her so furiously angry.

"I should be grateful, I suppose, that you are finally ready to be serious about your future. I always knew you'd see reason eventually. Though we could have avoided all these months of unpleasantness if you'd come to your senses earlier and taken me up on my offer instead of dragging poor Bow down with you."

Of course. Of course, she'd go directly for whatever would give her the biggest guilt trip. Glimmer didn't even really know what Bow's role in this was yet, but she would not take the bait. "Bow can make his own choices. And I'm not here to take you up on any offer."

Her mother looked surprised by that but recovered quickly, diving back into that infuriating, superior tone. "Is it the money, then? Because I thought I made it quite clear that until you—"

"Holy shit, mom, I didn't come here about money either." A few years ago, she would have exploded at her already. As it was, it was taking all her years of maturity and growth not to shout like an angry teenager. Glimmer slowly unclenched her fingers from around the arms of the chair and slowed her breathing until she felt back under control. "I came to talk."

"Very well. Then talk." Angella sipped her coffee and went back to her screen as if she didn't care much either way.

Glimmer opened her mouth but then hesitated, realizing with horror that everything she wanted most to talk to her mother about was something she couldn't possibly talk about here. Her mother's sacrifice in the portal, becoming queen, learning magic from Shadow Weaver, Prime's invasion, her imprisonment and the whole ensuing war and rebuilding. She couldn't even talk about normal things, like how far she'd come in learning sorcery or how she could teleport anywhere on the planet these days without ever needing to recharge, let alone extraordinary things like the fact that her and Bow were married and thinking about having kids.

And it wasn't like she could pretend to be the other Glimmer either. She still knew basically nothing about this world, certainly not enough to bluff her own mother. They'd fought here too, but that rift was clearly far too deep to mend in twenty minutes, even if she fully understood what it was about, which she didn't.

But she was here now and might never get another chance, so she had to at least try.

"Mom." She took a deep breath, trying to remember all the things she'd thought during those long nights when she couldn't sleep, wishing she had one last chance to talk to her mother and set things right. Ironic that now that the moment was here, she didn't know what to say. "I'm sorry. Let's start there. Sorry for all the fights and the horrible things I said and for not listening to you about the—" She stopped, realizing she'd nearly mentioned the mission to rescue Adora from the Fright Zone that had been the reason for their last fight. "Anyway, I understand better now what it's like to be… well, what it's like. And I know it sucks to be the one who stays behind to worry about everyone else, but…" Shit, she couldn't talk about that either, could she? "Anyway, I miss you but I'm not sorry that I fought for what was right because, no matter how infuriating you were about it, I only survived in that fight against… I mean, you taught me what bravery was by… when you sacr… fuck, I don't know how to do this!"

She grabbed a tissue from the box on the desk; the tears flowing freely now. This was all wrong. This Glimmer and her mother hadn't fought about war and alien warlords. They'd fought about something to do with money and jobs and some guy called—

"Hold on! Who did you say you were meeting with today?" She'd been so distracted with her dad and everything that she'd only been half listening, but she could have sworn she'd heard Angella say… "HP! That guy who was an ass to her— me? What the fuck, mom? You're still doing business with him? After everything he did to me?"

What had Bow said about HP? Something about -isms she hadn't really understood, how he'd treated her poorly. Even if he wasn't the creature from her world with those same initials, if her best friend who got along with everyone thought he was a jerk, that was condemnation enough for her that this guy was bad news.

Angella tensed, still unwilling to meet her eyes. "Now, Glimmer, I understand your former boss provided an easy scapegoat for your impulsive and, frankly, destructive behavior—"

"Excuse me?" It didn't matter which version of her they were talking about, she would not sit here while her mother accused her of lying. If she was home, she'd be crackling with power right now, glowing pink at the edges. As it was, all she could do was dig her fingers into the fake wood of the chair and glare at her mother, vibrating with indignation, all the complicated emotions she'd been wrestling with focused into simple, uncomplicated rage. "You really believe some guy over your own daughter?"

"I am only expressing… All those things you insisted he said, surely, he didn't really…" Angella turned ashen. Had she really not known? "What did you expect me to think? You cut me off and he was more than willing to discuss the matter! When you refused to testify against him, naturally I assumed it was because your version of events was exaggerated, that he hadn't really behaved quite as poorly as you—"

"This is the problem! This has always been the problem!" Glimmer got to her feet so fast she knocked the chair over. "Why can't you trust me? Trust me to enough to believe me! Have a little fucking faith that I know what I want, that I know what's best for me, that I am capable of deciding what to do with my own life!"

"How I am supposed to know what you're capable of? You never talk to me!" Her mother rose to her feet too, the mask of calm gone completely, her voice rising. "How do you expect me to trust you when you're nothing but impulsive, rash, and foolish? You refuse to be careful or use even a bit of sense! You drag your friends along with your pig-headed schemes, to their own downfall—"

"At least Bow trusts me, even when he thinks I'm crazy! And he'll call me out on my bullshit, but he'd never accuse me of lying, especially not about something like this!" She held herself as if her crown was still on her head, all the might of Bright Moon behind her. "You'd think my own mother could at least do that much."

"Well— I—" Her mother sputtered. "If this is supposed to be an attempt to fix things between us, you're doing a poor job of it!"

"Good. Then I'm doing her a favor. I only figured out who I really was because I didn't have you in my way. We're both better off without you in our life." With that, she spun on her heel.

Now she'd really done it. Broken everything even worse than it was before. Gotten a second chance with her mother only to use it to start a new fight. Somehow said even more horrible last words than she had the first time. Angella was shouting something after her, something about getting back here this minute young lady, but she ignored her, pushing through the doors out of her mother's office. Even now, she knew she could still turn back and try to fix it, but she was too angry at her mother and herself to do anything more but get the fuck out of here.

She stormed down the hallway towards the exit, pushing through the sea of eerily similar men in white suits milling around the lobby, until she heard a voice that made her blood run cold.

"Ah, Glimmer. What an unexpected delight."

It was him. Horde Prime. Fewer eyes but still just as smarmy, his pale blond hair twisted into braids and pulled into a tight ponytail. He loomed over her, pure bulk and wide shoulders, leering down at her cleavage, which she had NOT put on display for him, that was for sure. She knew in an instant why the other her hadn't taken him on. That Glimmer was probably just as terrified of him as she was.

"My my. To what do I owe this unexpected pleasure?" Prime leaned closer and brushed the back of his finger against her cheek and she froze, remembering how this man had kept her caged like an animal, never knowing which day would be her last, playing twisted games of psychological torture with her and then doing even worse to her planet and the people she loved. For a moment, all she could do was stand there consumed by fear. Then her rage resurfaced and she did what she'd wanted to do all those long days on his ship.

She smacked him away. "Get your fucking hands off me."

He smirked, as if her protest was amusing. He had some smooth reply ready, but before he could make it, she hauled back and punched him, hard enough that he wobbled backwards and fell, hitting the polished floor of the lobby with a satisfying crack.

Her hand fucking HURT and she was dimly aware of people shouting, one of which sounded like her mother, but she ignored them. Tossing her visitor's badge back onto Juliet's desk, she shoved past the crowd of white suited lackeys collecting around HP's prone figure and pushed her way out the exit into the bright afternoon sun.

Where the car was empty.