A/N: Hey folks, here with another post!
Yeah I know, pretty short, I get it, sue me (PLEASE DONT!). But, part of it was due to the fact i posted the other one today (thus making this my second post today ^^ I did it again, huzzah!), and i'm unsure if anyone got a notification about it because the fic itself didn't state it was posted today since i posted the last one within 24 hours of the first one, and the update thing didn't say anything either X/.
Besides that, I've also reached the halfway point of the episode...man that's depressing... guess I overshot it with the last chapter with too many words :/? Oh well. Either way for those who didn't get the info, yes, this makes this a nice 2-post-in-1-day ordeal, so hopefully everyone enjoys that ^^!
With that said, enjoy!
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"Excuse me?" The young princess maintained a dignified manner despite the slight shift if annoyance in her tone.
"C-Catra!" Glimmer yelped.
She couldn't believe it. She just could not believe it! After the harrowing day of training they had, they thought everything would be in order. Following a glorious invite from Princess Frosta herself, the royalties of Bright Moon, specifically Glimmer and Catra, found themselves honored with the grand proposal to attend the Princess Prom. It was a sacred tradition held once every decade, allowing princesses to visit from all over the world into one spot.
At first, they thought it would be glorious! After all, who wouldn't be excited to attend an event held every ten years? On top of that, one to socialize and meet princesses from around the world, meeting people they never could before and possibly foraging new alliances that could benefit everyone. And that's exactly the mindset Glimmer and Bow were aiming for, hoping to make a lasting impression not just to one of the largest kingdoms around, but to all the kingdoms of Etheria.
There was, however, one unfortunate problem that shattered that excitement, and it went by the name of Catra.
Now, there wasn't anything technically wrong with the girl. She planned to attend with the others and put on her best behavior as much as possible. The setback was, she was planning on putting on her best behavior as much as possible. Catra's mannerisms and behavior left much to be desired for a party like this. Depending on her behavior and manners, it wouldn't just boil down to how Princess Frosta saw her, it would determine how the rest of the world saw her.
So, with one last option remaining, Glimmer enlisted Mermista's help as they trained Catra in the art of Good Manners. Needless to say, the results were mixed. She had a great desire to help better herself, if only because Glimmer threatened her with her mother, for the party, yet with every basic they came down to she somehow made a chore out of teaching her. It was like taking to parrot trying to get it to talk for the first time.
Tedious, uneventful, and very time consuming.
After a few hours and minor fires that might've occurred, the two deemed her finally ready for the Ball, having it in good faith that she was prepared to deal with any scenario that occurred there. Which is why it became extremely troubling when, upon meeting the girl for the first time ever, Catra had to say three certain words that caused the room to go silent.
"Did she just call me a brat?"
"Wha- Noooo!" Glimmer insisted anxiously, waving her hands repeatedly as she teleported in front of Catra to block her path to the young one. "S-She didn't say brat, she said- she said eh... Who is that? Hehehe..."
"No I didn't." Catra's irreverent tone continued to shock the crowd as Glimmer's throat grew a lump. "I said she's a b-mmmh!"
"Hahaha, she has this wicked sense of humor," Glimmer chuckled nervously, slapping a hand over Catra's mouth, "she thinks she's some sort of comedian. It really is sad but it's usually easier to humor her sometimes you know? Hah hah..." At this, the young princess continued to narrow her eyes as the beads of sweat dripped down Glimmer's forehead. With little other choice, the princess teleported from her spot, reappearing on her knees three feet away from the princess holding her hands together pleadingly.
"Princess Frosta, I am so sorry for her. Please, give her one chance and I swear she will be on her best behavior!" She begged. Shifting her eyes from the begging princess to the one who had a severe lack of manners.
This was supposed to be She-Ra? The She-Ra? Woman with the strength of a hundred men, the symbolic hope for the Rebellion, the girl that could beat back the Horde on her own? She was nothing more than a common street thug by Frosta's appearance, feeling more insulted that she had the nerve to come in here to insult her than the insult itself.
With a restrained sigh, Frosta nodded. "Very well. I will forgive you both for this one transgression. You are both welcome in the Kingdom of Snows under the ancient rule of hospitality. Leave conflict at the door. And please enjoy the ball."
Words could not describe how relieved Glimmer was as she said this, hearing the murmuring dying down behind them to a few simple starers. "Oh, thank you so much, Princess Frosta. I swear you'll never have another problem with her."
"Would you stop that?!" Catra grumbled as she pulled Glimmer up to her feet. "What do you think you're doing embarrassing yourself? You shouldn't have to apologize to this pipsqueak!"
"Mmmh." With as much tolerance as she had, she pointed her right finger towards the girl. "And keep a better leash on your pet."
"A pet?!" Catra's ears and tail shot wildly at the statement. Struggling, Glimmer attempted to keep the distance between the two as Catra attempted to lunge at her, flailing her arms in her direction as Glimmer pushed back. This earned a mouthful from the crowd again as they all watched this display, questioning the sanity and sincerity of what was supposed to be the honorable She-Ra. "I'll show you a pet you little-! Ghhhhhh!" Having no fear of the dangerous individual, the guards took a step forward, ready to protect their princess if the situation called for it.
"On second thought, I want an apology. From her." Frosta decided, still maintaining a dignified expression and not one that belonged to an angered individual.
The usual kind of expression one had after meeting Catra.
"What? Apologize? Me?!"
"As she bows." Casually, the princess waved her hands as the guards took another step in front of her. "Until then don't plan on approaching me again."
"Y-Yes, your highness! Again, thank you so much!" Glimmer sputtered out as she teleported the two of them to the bottom of the stairs. Waiting for the area to die down of its murmurs, she let out a groan before giving a stern look at the proclaimed She-Ra herself. "What the heck was that?! What's wrong with you?"
"Wrong with me?" Catra exhaled an undignified breath. "Why don't you ask little pipsqueak up there what her problem is!"
"Catra- Ugggh!" Pinching the bridge between her eyes she tried to contemplate. What was she supposed to do now? In under a minute she made possibly the worst entrance in Etherian history in front of hundreds of different people of royalty. Nobody here was going to forget what she displayed and on the unlikely chance they ever did, nobody would forget a face like Catra's anytime soon. "Would you mind telling me what brought all that up?"
"What brought what up? I was pointing out the obvious. I mean look at her," she shot a look up the stares even though she couldn't see the princess in question, "she has every characteristic of a brat!"
"Since when did you have a problem with kids? I've seen you with kids before Catra, I thought you were good with them!"
"Yeah, kids! Squirts, shrimps, kids!" She clarified. "You know, easy kids, like six-year-olds! The kind where you have to pull a funny face and they top crying, not the ones that are stuck between being a selfish brat and a teenager!"
"Dare I ask what your version of a selfish brat is?" She knew she wasn't going to enjoy the answer.
"Well, you know, brats! Punks who are full of themselves, think they know better than everyone else, and make it their life's work to demean you!" She exclaimed crossing her arms. "Man, I hate them!"
"...Gee, she almost sounds like this other person I know that's mean, degrading, and obnoxious..." Glimmer commented sarcastically.
"Really? Who?" There was no way for Glimmer to tell if she was being serious right now or playing an incredibly painful joke at the moment. All she could do was put on a solemn face, hoping that one day Catra might've gotten the picture, or stared in a mirror.
Seeing the situation unraveling itself for the worse, Glimmer took a deep breath through her nostrils as she breathed out her mouth, calming the irritation she was growing. "Ok, new rule: stop calling her a brat. You're going to give everyone else the wrong impression!" She muttered sternly, keeping the conversation as close to themselves as much as possible. "And at some point, you're going to have to apologize to her whether you like it or not."
"Tch, as if!" Catra scoffed as she turned away from her.
Great.
Catra was irritated, had no idea how to pick up on sarcasm or look in a mirror, and officially hated the princess they needed to get along with for no reason other than the fact she was an older child, whereas Frosta found herself irritate with Glimmer's friend, She-Ra herself, who was also making a horrible impression in front of hundreds of other guests. She really didn't know for the first time which scenario was worse, and that scared her a little.
All she knew at that moment was that they needed a new plan. She needed to find a way to either get Catra to apologize to the princess, or to get Frosta to forgive Catra's irritating behavior enough so Glimmer could talk to her about a possible alliance. Both options sounded like an impossible feat to pull off, and she knew this day couldn't end before one of those situations were resolved!
*sniff-sniff*
"Hey, is that Entrapta?" Catra wondered as she lead the way towards a large pillar. Sure enough, as she thought, the two were greeted by the perky purple-haired Princess of Dryl.
This was actually a welcoming change of pace for the Princess of Bright Moon. Maybe if they found some familiar faces to socialize with it would give Catra enough time to cool off and hopefully open the possibility of apologizing to Princess Frosta. At the very least it would give Glimmer a chance to come up with a new strategy.
Spotting the two familiar faces under her, the scientist grinned as she playfully slid down the extremely large pillar, twirling around it as she slid down using her extended hair. "Catra! Glimmer!" She greeted, chipper as always. She was dressed in her casual scientist outfit like she had on before, wearing her purple goggles over her head that she flipped up and a pocket filled with consumable around her waist.
"Hey ge- I mean, Entrapta." Catra corrected herself as she remembered the obnoxious lessons she went through hours ago. "What are you doing here? Trying out some doomsday weapon or something?"
"What? Of course not, don't be silly! My last three ended in failure, so now I'm observing a Social Experiment!"
"Social... Experiment?" Catra repeated to Glimmer, the princess shrugging back uncertain. Putting the pair of goggles over her head again, the scientist squirmed with anticipation as she gazed around the room.
"Different groups are thrown together and forced to mingle." There was an exceedingly excited anticipation growing in her voice, the princess flexing her fingers on the pillar with enthusiasm. "Hierarchies form and break. It's the perfect place to observe behavior! And they have tiny foooood!" Her mouth watered at the mention as she lifted her curls over her pockets, displaying the magnificent treats she discovered during her observations. "Where's Bow? I wanna show him my new recorder."
"He's... coming later." Glimmer looked away in a gruff.
"Oh? Why didn't he come with you? Aren't you friends?"
Even though it was unintended from Entrapta, the notion of what she said caused Glimmer to lower her gaze. "Why would you think we're not-
"There he is!" Entrapta announced, waving to him and the date he brought with. "Hey! Bow!"
There, descending the staircase at the entrance of the Ball, were the last two people she was happy to see at this moment. There, was her good friend Princess Perfuma. Princess of Plumeria and owner of the Hearts Blossom, their runestone that empowered the kingdom. And walking arm-in-arm with her was Bow, her best friend, and the person she was supposed to be going to the prom with in the first place!
Watching the two of them walking down the stairs together gave her an unnecessary stir of emotions and irritation that riled up in her heart, part of which she couldn't control. Of course she was angry he went with someone else. Why wouldn't she be angry after he left her like that without any prior notice before yesterday? Anyone would be if they found out their best friend, the very one you did everything together with, suddenly decided to be with someone else at the very last minute behind a party.
It was then that she noticed the other detail that made her heart sink. Not the fact they were together without her, nor the part where they looked so happily at one another while doing it. It was the fact they were wearing matching outfits that clashed perfectly with one another, with Bow wearing a short White Tux, and Perfuma, wearing an elegant pink transparent dress and another shorter dress underneath it.
"They're matching." Glimmer stated in disbelief, walking ahead of Catra as she squeezed her fists. "That's our best friend thing!"
"Feelings seem to be getting hurt." Entrapta whispered into her tape recorder, kneeling to Glimmer's side
"Ok, I'm back. I bought myself a few minutes by getting Sea Hawk to talk about his first ship again, so I got a good ten minutes to help." Mermista greeted as she approached the two. "What'd I miss?"
The girl was completely ignored as Glimmer continued to stare at the two. The way they smiled to each other, they way they appeared to be talking, the way they doing something she couldn't believe. "T-They're laughing? They're making up their own inside jokes? What?" Catra nearly jumped as Glimmer snapped at the word, crossing her arms angrily. "Is Perfuma his new best friend now?!"
"...Not gonna get into whatever's happening there."
"People are walking around in circles." Entrapta whispered, squatting as she shuffled over between Catra and Mermista.
"Hey, is there any chance one of you could hide me from-"
"Sheee's a beauty, can't you seeee~!" The merrily voice belonging to the one and only Captain Sea Hawk sang out, filling Mermista's face with a red blush as she covered her eyes in embarrassment. There was nothing worse in the world than having your plus one singing through the crowd about the love of their lives.
"She's attending this with meee~"
"She's my Princess of the Seeea~"
"Mermistaaaaa~!" With this debatably beautiful sonnet brought to an end, he finally opened his eyes again as he stood behind the princess, only now spotting the familiar faces of his former comrades. "Ah, if it isn't my crew!"
There was too much gold to be had here as Catra smirked at her. Of all the people in all the lands, her plus one just happened to be the legendary Sea Hawk, proud owner of his brand new ship he hopefully didn't set on fire yet, and claimer of the sirens of the sea wherever he went.
And now he was Mermista's plus one.
"So, Sea Hawk's your Plus One, huh?" Catra sneered. This day finally turned around for her. "I have to say, I'm so jealous of you." She snickered.
"N-No! He was going to be my ride before Glimmer asked me to come over yesterday." Mermista stated, blushing almost twice as hard than before. "He was just going to be my ride, okay? JUST. A. Ride."
"Of course, Mermista darling, of course." Sea Hawk played off before leaning over to Catra. "I am her plus one." He whispered. This was too proud of an opportunity for her to pass up.
"Hey, Sea Hawk, I have a wonderful idea! Why don't you take Mermista and tell her about all your glorious adventures from start to finish?" Catra suggested, putting on the best look of interest that she possibly could. "I'm sure everyone would love to hear your stories for hours and hours.
"You wouldn't-" Mermista seethed with anger as she realized what Catra was doing.
"Why that's a great idea!" Sea Hawk declared, grabbing Mermista by the shoulders as he began dragging her away. "Come along, my dear! It all started when I was but a wee lad..." As the two faded into the crowd, Mermista shot the deadliest look possible back to Catra as the magicat herself smirked proudly, taunting her as she waved her hand back to her nice and slowly.
Maybe next time you won't get so trigger happy with a spray bottle! She yelled to herself.
"This is the best Social Experiment I've ever been to!"
"Would you get out of here already!" Catra growled as she pulled Entrapta's hair, dragging the girl away Wiping her hands clear of any of the girl's hair, she made her way over to the princess again, standing at her side as the princess stared at the ground. "Hey, Pi- Ngh... Glimmer. You okay?" What was she upset about now? Was she still upset with the meeting with Frosta? Or did it have to do with-
"Hey Catra, Glimmer." Bow greeted with a wave as he approached with Perfuma. "Like the outfit you found Catra, it's nice."
"Hmph," Catra grinned as she flaunted, staring at her gloves, "glad someone around here- Ngh!"
"Hahahaha, that's so funny, Catra!" Glimmer forcibly laughed as she threw an arm around Catra's neck, pulling her in tightly. "What a funny inside joke the two of us came up with!" There was a strain in her force that told Catra how irritated Glimmer was, just not what it was about.
Under normal circumstances, she would've gladly pulled herself out of it through whatever means necessary. Whether kicking, biting, or clawing someone's face off, she was about to let a party stop her from maintaining her dignity.
Unfortunately, Rule #36 was one of the first things drilled into her head: No violence!
"The She-Ra, Glimmer!" Perfuma greeted happily. "It's great to see you."
"Hah, Perfuma was just telling me about a winged horse that ate all the apples in Plumeria and then flew away." The joke itself was practical given the circumstances. What made it so funny for him was the fact the three of them were fully aware of a certain winged horse and the only one she could be describing. After all, it was the method of transportation Catra used to directly enter the Queen's throne room before. "Sound familiar?"
"Sure, whatever." Glimmer mumbled looking away. "Isn't this fun? Catra and I are having such a great time here together. Right Catra?"
"Are you kidding me? You just finished yelling at me about the- Urkkkk!" Catra coughed as the arm around her neck tightened briefly. "I mean yeah... we're having a blast..."
"Uh...okay?" Bow looked between the two as he wondered about the strange behavior they were displaying. "Anyway, we're gonna go say hi to people. You guys wanna come?"
"No, no, you guys go on ahead, Catra was just about to tell me this hilarious story I never heard of! Ha ha...haaa..."
"Um...okay then, we'll just uh... See you later." With that, the two waved again as they took their leave, preparing to mingle with the other guests. Never has Catra been so thankful to see someone leave as she felt the oxygen returning to her lungs again, gasping for breath as Glimmer finally let her go.
"Ufffff-! Huff... Huff..." This party was becoming more and more tedious with each passing minute she was here, and she hasn't even socialized with anyone yet! "Ok, seriously Glimmer, how do you expect me to... Glimmer?" The princess had disappeared from her spot, most likely teleporting, no doubt. Searching around the room, she found Glimmer through the crowd again as she was right across the Ball Room, grabbing herself some punch.
Shrugging, she made her way over to her, leaning back against the table with her hands in her pockets. "Party's not going as planned, eh Princess?" She grinned, looking at the boring people that crowded the room.
"Mhhm." Glimmer hummed quietly as she took a sip of the punch.
"Heh, can you believe that stupid horse flew all the way to Plumeria just for some apples?" She commented, turning around to get herself some punch too. "I mean geez, how dense does a horse have to be? It can fly now, and it chose that crummy place to do some apple picking?"
"It's hilarious." Glimmer muttered staring into her cup.
Looking to the princess herself, Catra couldn't help but droop her ears. What the heck was she so upset about? Was it the fact Bow was with another girl, a friend of hers like she was to him, that upset her? Was it the fact almost everyone else was too occupied to socialize with her? Mermista stuck listening to Sea Hawk's rambling tales at the Kelp Bar, Bow and Perfuma socializing with the other guests, and Entrapta doing who knew what as she observed the various conversations throughout the room. Did that upset her? Or maybe it was the fact one obnoxious brat had yet to be apologized to?
Now that she thought about it, why was it bothering herself in the first place? This is exactly what Glimmer wanted, what she kept ranting about, what she trained Catra for for the last who cares how many hours! And she was doing a good job of it so far, more or less. She wasn't picking fights with anyone, she wasn't being impolite to anyone else, save for a certain Princess who would not be named, and given how much they had to practice for she would think this was the best she could expect.
And why was it bothering Catra so much?! She didn't like Glimmer and Bow, she didn't have much care for the two of them, so why did it... make her chest feel weird, about it? Why was she feeling a little depressed about seeing Glimmer so glum like that? Wasn't the Princess Prom thing everything she wanted? Or was she just being greedy cause nothing was going her way? Because of one bad introduction to Princess Frosta.
Speaking of which, that's exactly who she saw on the other side of the room. The apparent brat, the current bane of her existence, Princess Frosta, escorted by her two guards as she made her way to the refreshments. Taking a look back and forth between her and the depressed Glimmer, Catra rolled her eyes back as she groaned like her life depended on it.
"Ugggh! Twist a knife in my gut why don't you..." She grumbled, making her way over to the one she deemed bratty. Glimmer barely paid attention to her words as she continued drinking her punch.
At the time, the princess of the Ball observed the refreshments with poignant curiosity. Everything was neat and tidy, most of the guests seemed to be enjoying themselves, and everyone, at least those that mattered anyway, seemed to be enjoying themselves. All save for one particular pair she met.
"Hey, shri- I mean...mmhhhh..." She didn't give a single glance to the girl in question as she stood a good ten feet from her to the right. "Revered Hostess." She already prayed for someone to put her out of her misery, the words leaving a wretched taste in her mouth. With all the power she had, she forced herself to bend forward, giving as respectful of a bow as she could under the circumstances. "I wanted to tell you I'm very sorry for how I acted." She hoped she didn't have to make eye contact to the cross-armed brat. "I was being... unacceptable."
"Yes, you were." She stated bluntly. Catra had to squeeze her fists behind her back to contain the anger.
Okay, just let it slide, Catra... She told herself.
"But as you're only an honorary princess, you can't be expected to know better." There was a single twitch in Catra's eyes at that remark, subsequently filling with unbridled fury and releasing it all at the same time.
"Gee... you're so right..." She grunted through her teeth. Shaking her head of the anger, remembering she's supposed to ignore it, she continued the conversation. "I would appreciate it if you gave Glimmer a chance to talk to you again... your highness... " She nearly gagged just from saying it.
"Hmm... I don't know." She replied casually, savoring one of the fruit slices to Catra's annoyance. "Personally I had more respect for you than I did her."
"You did?" That might've been the first bit of surprise she's gotten all day out of the girl.
"Yes. At least you had enough decency to maintain your ideals, regardless of how rude they were, and that I respect. What I don't respect are people who grovel and plead in front of me." She gazed back at Catra with a look of irritation, squeezing her hand into a small fist. "To be seen in public while someone grovels and begs at your feet? I can not begin to tell you how humiliating that feels."
"...Well, I'm sure it was hard for her to do so-"
"Who's talking about her? I was talking about me!" She restated. "I mean do you have any idea how embarrassing that is? To be throwing a massive Ball for the Princess Prom only for some whiney princess to be crying at your feet? I can not begin to tell you how that feels." As she said this, one of the guards brought over a tray of horderves, awaiting her inspection. "The Snow Peas and the cookies are touching. Do it right!"
Ok. She could put up with the put downs here and there. She could put up with this being one of the whiniest brats in her entire history. She could put up with the terrible manners, the very one she herself spent the last seven hours trying to perfect to better herself, from this atrocious brat. And she could deal with the fact that she might've been the absolutely worst princess Catra had encountered at this point that made Catra want to rip her own hair out.
BUT!
Out of all the things here, she was NOT going to put up with her putting down Glimmer while she was already feeling down! That girl's worked harder than anyone Catra's seen in the Rebellion, who cares of how little she's seen from other people. She kept maintaining a optimistic attitude, she kept trying to do what's right and only insulted people who probably deserved it, and she's one of the strongest princesses she's known, emotionally and/or physically! She even took on Shadow Weaver of all people and lived to tell about it! She deserved respect for that!
And this little brat was acting like she knew better than everyone? How did the servants put up with her? How did the guards stand by her side so willingly to defend her? Why did nobody else around this stupid Ball, Princess Prom, or whatever you wanted to call it, not call her out on this?!
Growling, Catra extended the claws in her right right, having lost all the patience she could possibly have with this child. "All right, listen here you little bra-!'
*Sheem*
"Geh!" Catra stopped immediately as she felt several spear tips surrounding her neck, seeing as four guards surrounded her without hesitation. Waving her hands, the two guards in front of Catra backed away as the princess approached, while the two behind her grabbed her by each shoulder, forcing her down on one knee as a third one forced her head down as Princess Frosta approached her, not so much as an ounce of fear in her eyes.
"I suggest if you wish to continue being a guest at this party that you get that attitude of yours checked out." She scolded. "You tell your friend back there that the Kingdom of Snows will continue to retain it's neutrality from all other kingdoms, and we will remain safe and secure as we always have for thousands of years." With a yank, she grabbed hold of Catra's hair as she lifted her head, forcing Catra to look directly into her eyes.
She meant business.
"That's two strikes against you so far. If you continue to be an interruption for this party, if you threaten any of my guests, or hurt anybody around here, I'll have you thrown out of my castle immediately. Got it!" Releasing her grip from her hair, she nodded to the three guards who stood behind Catra, nodding return as they released their girl on the girl.
Catra ended up falling back as she rubbed her shoulders, feeling a soreness from the aggressive hold they had on her. "Otherwise, please, continue to enjoy the party." WIthout so much as a wave she turned around as she walked back to her throne.
Catra swore, if she closed her eyes right now and never met the girl before, that this girl was the spawn of Shadow Weaver...
...
...
"-then a winged horse came into Plumeria, ate all the apples, and then flew away." Bow said, finishing his story as the group of people laughed around him.
From above, this is where Glimmer found herself staring, sitting on a cushioned bench for the last few minutes. She couldn't stop thinking about Bow being with her other new friend. It wasn't so much jealousy for the girl as it felt like an act of betrayal.
Bow's been her friend since their earliest childhood years, as far back as Glimmer could remember. She remembered back when they went to their first Princess Prom, how he showed her around the woods back then when they were kids, how he was the brave one who killed a nasty looking spider she found in her bedroom with a rolled up magazine. They did everything together!
So to find him here with someone else, someone she considered a friend yet not enough to be comfortable for her best friend to be hanging out with, it was just plain weird.
"UUUUUUGGGGHHHHH!" That momentous groan of exhaustion and irritation only belonged to the one person she knew, seeing Catra collapse onto the cushioned seat with a tired look in her eyes.
"Where were you?" Glimmer asked a little worried.
She didn't care about the rules or the guidelines anymore at this point. She slouched as far back in the couch as she possible could. "Trying to apologize and make up with Princess Frosta."
"No, seriously, where were you?" She awaited for a response to this serious question, and when nothing came, she blinked in surprise. "You... really went to apologize to her?"
"Yeeeees..." She moaned, rubbing her aching head. There was only so much of a good nature she could force out of herself before she grew a headache. "You were bumming me out so I thought I'd go and get the stupid apology over with. I might've botched it with her though... sorry..."
"Mmh..." Wow... she can't believe she actually did it, or at least tried to at that. Catra, the hardest person to get along with, the one who barely had a sense of decency when it came to new people, actually tried her hardest to make amends with someone she despised. All just to make Glimmer a little happier, and after the annoying training session they spent all morning to work on. "No... I'm sorry." She apologized back, catching Catra by surprise. "I shouldn't have pushed you through all that stuff this morning just for a stupid Ball... To turn you into something you're not."
"Eh, forget about it." Catra replied, closing her eyes as she tried to relax.
"Why do you keep saying that?"
"Saying what?"
"You know, "forget about it", "just drop it", you keep bringing it up whenever something has you down."
"Well, yeah, I say it like I mean it. Just forget about it and move on with your life. It's basically how I got through most of my life." That was... rather depressing to hear from her. To just forget about all your problems and move on? Never looking back reflecting on how you came to this situation in the first place? Ignoring all the good moments you had with it for the sake of moving on? Nobody should have a life like that!
And yet... she envied her. "I wish I could live like that." She sighed, continuing to stare over the couch.
Noticing her state of distress, and a little annoyed by it, Catra took the opportunity to turn around herself, looking over the ledge to see what she was staring at. "What's wrong, Pinky?" It was then that she picked up on the sound of laughter, seeing Bow holding his side as he laughed with the other guests. "What? You jelly or something?" She teased.
"No, I'm not jealous or anything. Bow can hang out with whoever he wants to! It's just...Ugh..." Letting out a groan herself, she leaned over the couch as she planted her face on the top cushion, dangling her arms over the side. "I never had that many friends, okay? It's always just been me and Bow. But now, what if he likes his new friends better than me? What if everyone does?" Catra could not believe what she was witnessing just now.
Right in front of her, with a groan and complain, Glimmer began to cry into couch, burying her face into her arms as she did.
This? This was the Princess of Bright Moon? The one she agreed to fight alongside long ago in order to claim her very own kingdom? The person who beat Shadow Weaver awhile back, the one who had a sparkling attitude and personality that she tried to defend not five minutes ago?
"Geez, you're selfish!" Catra hissed. Hiccuping a bit to try to calm the flow of tears, Glimmer rubbed her eyes a little as she looked back.
"What?"
She didn't care if it made a scene all the way up here, she didn't care if it was drilled in her head not to do this sort of thing in public. There was no way she was going to put up with a whiny child like her crying her eyes out almost immediately after she tried to cheer her up the first time!
"You can't have one friend in your life and suddenly it's the end of the world for you?" She pulled on her own ears at the annoyance she felt. "Do you know how many people wish they were you right now? Almost everyone wishes they were you, I wish I was you! Getting to live in a big fancy castle like that, having butlers and servants who preform whatever request you have on a time? Parents that actually care about you around the clock? I'd kill for that kind of life!"
"Catra..." She didn't know what to say. For the second time now, Catra was actually trying to legitimately cheer her up, or at the very least prove a valid point to Glimmer... she thinks.
"You don't have that many friends? Yeah right! How much you wanna bet there's thousands of people out there right now who like you just because you're a stupid princess? That was given to you on the day you were born! I had to fight literally tooth and claw every day of my life just to keep people from picking on me, and you wanna know what? I can count the number of people that do like me on one tail!" As if to emphasize that point, she stuck her tail right in front of Glimmer, sticking it up proudly in front of her. "And do you want to know who that friend is? Her name is-"
"Adora!" Glimmer gasped as she looked over the side.
"Exactly!" Finally this girl was starting to get the idea! She could only put up with so much whining from the spoiled brat before she lost her patience, gave up, and walked her way home, no matter how far away it was. She needed to get the idea that her life was absolutely nothing to complain about! And until she did she would rant until Glimmer's ears fell off or Catra's mouth did first! "So don't go telling me you're jealous because you have one less friend in the world! If you wanted to trade lives with me, I'd more than welcome it! Where I grew up, it was just me and-"
"Adora!"
"Yeah, I know! She was always the one defending me when I was young, she was the one who was the closest to having it all. Friends, someone as close to family as her, skill, and she was the only person who didn't treat me like dirt or like my life had no meaning! Honestly, I probably wouldn't be alive if it wasn't for-"
"Adora!" Glimmer repeated looking back to her this time.
"Ok, I get it! You can stop saying it now..." She grumbled.
"What? No! Ughhhh, look!" Taking Catra's chin, she directed it over the ledge in the same direction that Glimmer was facing, and gasped.
Walking through the doors, taking in the view of the entire room in one sweep, all with that same ridiculous smile she knew her to have, was her only friend in the world, Adora. The same gifted friend she was jealous of beyond all reason, the one she just got done ranting about for the last minute.
There, she stood. Elegantly, beautifully, and proudly, as she arrived as the Plus One to the invitee, Princess Scorpia. The two were dressed appropriately for the party, almost too much in fact.
With Scorpia, the princess went all out in the theme of dark. She had a pitch black dress on that hung over one shoulder, with a slit on her right leg to reveal her slender figure. It helped bring out the color of the dark red carapaces that made up her claws and her tail, the colors already complimenting the blue majestic scenery that surrounded them. As a final piece to add to her color, she wore a beautiful belt, adorned with very small red crystals on all sides of her.
Adora herself was dressed appropriately, yet simple, all at the same time. She wore a long simple red dress, one that stretched all the way down to her heels, and a single orange sash that wrapped around her waist. She let her hair hang flowingly, stretching it down to her shoulders as it draped in front of her left shoulder. Simple, elegant, pristine, and pure.
And in her hands was the one troubling factor in all of this. There she held a simple box, wrapped over with a piece of green wrapping paper covered over around it, and a dazzling blue ribbon tied neatly over a bow on top of it
Thus, here they were. Princess Scorpia, and her friend and fellow Force Captain, Adora.
The Horde had officially crashed the party...
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A/N: I know I might've forced the catra x glimmer moment a bit too much, but as always, never assume i end things off there. It'll be brought up next chapter (or following depending on how long next chapter is :o) as well. I never leave things unfinished, only forgotten ^^...wait a minute...
Anyway! Hope you all enjoyed this nice little 2-post-in-1-day episode! Leave a like, fave, follow, and review if you enjoyed and hope to see you soon!