Cat-Ra

by Monokub

"If" is such a powerful word. What if the reasonings for our duo were different? What if the personalities of our two favorite females were altered ever-so slightly? And most of all, what if Catra became She-Ra? Currently Season: 4

109. S3 Ep5: A Parting Wish Part 1 Part 2

A/N: Final Word Count: 17.5K Pre-A/N's! Hot dang! Another long-sized chapter made by yours truly ^^ Not much to say about this one except I truly welcome everyone to enjoy the flashback endeavors that are soon to follow as well as everything else! This'll kick off more of our flashbacks down the middle as we see what some of the fellow fans have come up with ^^! For those who have sent over messages of their various scenes, they have all been credited accordingly before the start of each one. This is as fun for me as it is for the rest of you as we get to see the various shenanigans Catra has gone through "growing up" with her new family. It almost makes you ignore the fact that... well... if i said it i'd be too heartbroken to continue X...

Well with that said, enjoy!

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...

...

*Creeeak*

"Eh-Hem." Adora took a deep breath as she cleared her throat, trying to regain her regular composure before stepping inside of Hordak's Inner Sanctum. "L-Lord Hordak?" She called out, feeling a strange twinge of tension as she walked through the doors.

Examining the room from top to bottom, the stairs well polished and the throne was unoccupied, save for the natural sleeping imp that was resting curled up on the chair. It was a bit of a cute sight for the blonde Force Captain and Commander, but sightseeing would have to wait. She had a job to do as a respectable member of the Horde.

"Lord Hordak?" She called out again, reaching his personal lab as she followed the sounds of metal being welded and wires being crossed as usual.

Sure enough, standing at the center of his lab stood the proud leader of the Horde, the one Adora always respected and felt proud to work for every day of her career. To know someone as peaceful, someone as understanding, as the leader he is today. It was the one thing Adora always had to look forward to, and nothing she regretted.

"Um, ehem..." Adora took another deep breath as she entered the lab by a few feet, giving him his usual salute before bowing respectfully as always. "G-Good morning, Lord H-Hordak." She greeted with confusion. For some reason her heart was racing at the thought of interacting with the leader of the Horde in any regard, and not because of excitement or honor. It was something fearful to her.

"Force Captain." Hordak stood at attention as he set his tools aside of his station. The sound of his sudden stillness made Adora's heart tremble, a single bead of sweat dripping from her forehead. "You're an hour late."

"F-Forgiveness, Lord Hordak." Adora apologized, standing again as she placed her hands behind her back professionally. "I-I was just side-tracked by everyone who had questions for me and-"

"Save it." He interrupted as he raised a hand. "You needn't explain yourself to me."`

Adora's eyes trembled a bit as she saw the leader of the Horde approaching a lever, a device familiar to her on a handful of forgotten occasions. "W-What are you doing?"

"I think you know exactly what I'm doing, Adora. Don't play coy with me." He spoke with a dreadful tone as his hands clasped around the tip of the lever.

All at once, Adora only knew fear and dread for a full second.

...

-the air was being sucked out of the girl's lungs as she struggled to breathe, Adora gasping for air as she grabbed at her throat. The field around her was being affected-

"-you proved me wrong, Adora." Tears formed in the corners of her eyes as he grabbed her by the throat-

"-one thing I hate worse than failures, its soldiers, with LIMITED! LOYALTY-!"

...

"NO, STOP!" Adora yelled for dear life as she raised a hand towards the lever, too little, too late.

*crank!*

Hordak just stared at the girl as he tried to examine every detail of her bizarre outburst from the tone of her voice to her facial expression. "What's wrong?" He asked in a calmer tone.

Adora blinked as she stood frozen, hand still outstretched as she took in her surroundings.

Why did she suddenly scream like that? Like she was fearful for something about to happen with her life? All around her, things appeared to be as normal as they should be with not a spot out of place. There wasn't some strange force field around her, she could feel herself breathing normal, and there was less an an angered expression and more of a curious look on the leader's face for once for the short lifetime that Adora's known him.

*creeeak*

Wait, scratch that. Something did happen around here, and was continuing to happen. From the ceiling above Adora watched as a large mechanical storage unit descended. It was shaped like a large capsule, one naturally made out of pure metal, with a large screen-like covering to the front of it where she could see a cloud of cold steam pouring from it. Around it were dozens upon dozens of colored wiring, each fashioned and circulating electricity from the surrounding room.

Okay, so it wasn't... whatever Adora felt afraid of earlier. It wasn't anything near whatever her mind had conjured up previously. Did that give her any less reason to be scared of it, though? It came in a shape that almost resembled a casket with rounded edges and corners all around it. Maybe it was some sort of torture device meant to stuff a fully grown human inside to do who-knew-what to them. Or maybe she was just overthinking things for some reason that didn't need an explanation.

Whatever the case, it drew Adora's attention enough that she didn't notice Lord Hordak's presence until he was right behind her. "Marvelous, isn't it?" He asked, standing behind her with his hands behind his back. "It's coming closer along to completion with each passing day." Adora noticed a simple smile on the leader's face as he gazed at the device. "Soon you'll be ready for it."

"Ready for it?" Adora questioned as the leader walked ahead, examining the large black capsule as he brushed the tip of his fingers against it. "Ready for what?"

"What do you think, Adora?" Hordak grinned(?) back. "Your gift." Reaching to the side of the large capsule, Adora watched as Hordak pulled a small switch, slowly revealing the contents of the mysterious capsule.

*fffffffft*

Adora shielded her eyes with her arm as the capsule let off a loud rush of steam as the capsule opened itself. From the front screens that slowly peeled away into the capsule's interior one piece at a time, Adora bore witness to the wondrous invention and gift that Hordak had supposedly made for her. Whatever it was must've been hot if the trails of steam rushing out were any indication. With the last clouds of steam evaporating from the capsule's interior, Adora's eyes widened as she bore witness to its contents.

Within the center of the casket lied a particular suit, one meant to be crafted and flexible like any human's skin. Covering from her ankles up to her neck, the metallic suit gave an impression of power and wonder to anyone who would behold it.

Silver pauldrons lined along the shoulder that stretched past by the tip of her shoulders by several inches, layered several times atop of each other. The metallic surface of the gauntlets it came with were enhanced to increase one's strength tenfold, allowing any regular person to do the impossible. Within the center of the suit lied a tabard that went past her waist, with the familiar symbol of the Horde Insignia centered within the banner.

It was a familiar sight to Adora, despite just seeing it for the first time. Along with the parts that were familiar to her, she also noticed some distinct differences from it compared to... whatever else she was thinking of. For starters, it definitely had a distinct difference in color, sporting a bit of a dark red tint to the edges along the suit while giving off a brighter red throughout the rest. Along with it, housed two retractable curved blades along the sides of the arm, ones that could be swiftly drawn out and pulled into again at a moment's notice.

It was a set of armor that was made to be all but intimidating. It deeply housed a great power within the suit for any who would wear it, so that all would know the might of the Horde if one dared to make enemies of them.

And it was perfect for Adora's size.

"Th... That's for me?" Adora stuttered, staring in amazement at the genuine article. "You made me a-"

"Exosuit." Adora almost jumped from fright, a fright that would've been well-earned if the situation had differed from its predecessors. Turning her head back up with a curious fascination, Adora saw an actual smile of pride on Hordak's face as he patted her shoulder. "It will be yours one day."

"Y-You... Made something... for me?" Adora's heart paced rapidly at the very thought. He made something just for me... It was unheard of, to say the least. Never in a million years did Adora think she would be bequeathed with a gift from Hordak himself, nor that he would look upon her with a sense of pride for all she's done. "I-I can't accept this, My Lord." Adora felt too honored by such a thought as she shook her head. "It's too generous."

"You've earned it, Adora." He assured. Walking over to the casket-shaped capsule, he threw the same switch in reverse as Adora watched the capsule close once more. "It would have been yours regardless if the time had come. But your respectable efforts to serve the Horde have impressed me."

"I-I earned it...?" Adora smiled a little. This was almost like a dream come true to her, except it wasn't a dream! It was reality! The Force Captain blushed a little as she squeezed her hands behind her back, shifting her eyes away with a small smile. "Y-You're too kind, My Lord. B-But I haven't really done anything to earn this respect, really."

"Come now, Force Captain, don't be so modest." Hordak said as he pulled the same lever that descended the mysterious capsule. As expected, Adora watched for a bit as the same capsule returned to the pitch black that was the ceiling above before returning her attention to her Lord, watching the fearless leader returning to his technology. "I must admit I had my doubts at first, but you've proven me wrong about you."

"S-Sir, please..." Okay, now it was going from gratitude to embarrassing over how much praise he was giving her. She's never felt anything like this...

Actually, that would be a lie. Of course she knows how sincere and respectful he's been of her work. After all, she's worked at his side everyday, checking in with daily check-ups over her reports for the Horde, her contributions. Even minuscule things like shipment reports and alliance dealings come to him through her everyday.

The more praise he offered her, the more it made her question her own memories. Why couldn't she recall these daily memories until the very moment came up? It was like she was filling in the gaps of the memory as soon as she needed them to appear, somewhere from the back of her mind. Or maybe she was just overthinking all of this?

Yeah, that had to be it. This was how her life was nearly every day in the Horde since working at his side, working as his assistant, his partner. Everyday she continued to impress him and everyday she earned more of his respect through her hard work, her dedication, her-

...

"-Your methods were merely amusing at first, Force Captain, but they've begun to hinder our efforts. I can not have a Force Captain who can not continue to exceed my expectations," she jumped again as he suddenly grabbed her right arm, exposing the little secret she was trying to keep hidden behind her, "or ones that are already falling apart-"

...

-work ethic. Not many people could be as respectful as... as... What was that?

Shaking her head of the brief flash, Adora turned her attention to a certain curiosity forming at the foreground of her mind. "By the way, what did you mean when you said, "it would be mine when the time comes", Lord Hordak?" Hordak stopped at this as he stood in silence. For a moment, Adora fretted she had said something insincere, something that would've made all of this for nothing.

Giving another few seconds of silence, Hordak lifted his head to the side, eyeing Adora through the corner of his right eye. "I believe we've discussed this before, Adora." Hordak said softly as he typed into his console to his left. With another click, Adora approached Hordak's side as a large monitor came down in front of them, displaying a large outline of the Master of the Horde, as well as numerous dark marks over the outline's body. "My defect has continued worsen over the years. My exosuits aren't keeping up with the rest of my body like they used to."

"Aren't keeping..." Her eyes went a little hollow at the mention, fearing the worst of what he meant. "How... How long do you have?" She had to be dreaming this, right? No, not dreaming because that would imply she was happy to hear about this. Nightmare-ing? Maybe that was it. And at the same time, what kind of twisted nightmare was this?! She finally- She had Hordak's respect as she always did, and now she had to be... reminded... of all of this?

Despite the seemingly cruel circumstances, the supposedly-dying leader patted her shoulder, looking at her with confidence. "Nothing you need to worry about anytime soon. The suit I made for you was just a precaution if the inevitable happened sooner than later. I always prepare a contingency in the event of an incident."

That didn't surprise Adora in the slightest. With a leader as glorious and kindhearted as Hordak, it was only natural that he would prepare a backup plan in the event of a loss, something to carry on his will in his fight to Unite Etheria against the princesses. It almost made her wonder if the other Hordak had... the other Hordak... other...

Why did she feel like saying there was another Hordak for a moment?

"Besides, what I'm really trusting you with after I'm gone is this." Typing away at his console with a single hand, Adora watched as the images on the monitors switched again.

Here, they were displaying something vaguely familiar to the Force Captain, something that nearly struck a bullet through her heart at the shock of it. Within the center she saw a swirling pixelated vortex, one pulsating with electricity spiraling forth to all the reaches of the screen. Around the pulsating vortex were several pieces of machinery, almost like a gateway that acted as a door on behalf of the device.

Somehow, Adora already knew what this device was from the moment she laid eyes on it.

"The portal..."

...

"-how do we know it's the portal or the-"

-using her hair to type away madly at the screen. "At most, I've found it'll only slow down the degradation of the-"

"-link with the sword is still unstable. But the result will still be the same and everything will still be-"

...

Hordak gazed upon the blond girl with relative surprised at the mention. "Wh-... Why yes, it is." He grew an expression of wonder as he gazed to the Force Captain. "How did you know this?"

"I..." The blond lowered her head to the side as she looked away. "I don't know... Lucky guess?" She surmised. How did she know about something like this? It was a portal, one of Hordak's latest technological advances... and this was the first time she's seen it in her life.

As opposed to any sort of suspicion or grief he could've thrown at the girl, he instead gave her another smile of pride as he gazed back at the monitor. "Hmph. You're more insightful than I gave you credit for." He complimented once again, earning another grateful smile from the Force Captain with a soft look. "This portal will be the means to achieve our victory. Once it's activated, it will summon the forth the full might of the Horde, wiping out the Rebellion once and for all."

The leader grimaced as he lowered his head again in personal disgust. "Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find a suitable power source, something strong enough to hold it open for more than ten seconds. Despite the technology you've uncovered, I've yet to find a method to harness its power into a functional machine with which to summon my army. At the present rate of progress, I'll never be able to see it to completion before my time is up."

"And... I won't be capable of making it myself, will I?" Adora sighed with regret. She wanted to prove herself more and more to him by the minute, to show Lord Hordak what she was truly capable of. She could fight, she could think things through, she had the drive to unite Plumeria and The Kingdom of Snows with the Horde. But no matter how resourceful she could be, she lacked the immense brainpower to even think about where to begin constructing a portal such as this.

"Unfortunately, you are correct in that matter." He regretted to inform. "The physics of it alone would take years to even comprehend, let alone create." While the circumstances of it might've seemed bitter at first, Adora was still surprised to find Hordak placing a hand on her shoulder, smiling at her with pride. "But I am confident, if anyone can find a way, it will be you, Adora."

"..." Adora didn't know what to say.

She felt like crying from sheer happiness at that moment, a feeling she wanted to capture forever, and an experience she felt like she would never relive. This was one of the greatest moments of Adora's life. Plain and simple.

To work everyday giving her all for the Horde, to work side by side with the leader himself, one who continued to show his pride and respect for Adora's abilities like this. It was heartwarming to experience, and even more to bare. This was a day that Adora never wanted to forget, never wanted to picture her life without.

He trusted her to take over the Horde in the event that something unfortunate happened to him. He wanted her to continue his research and development into this portal technology, to somehow call forth and find a way to summon the rest of Lord Hordak's army from who knows where. With it, it would ensure their victory against the Rebellion, and help to unite the rest of Etheria under a single banner.

If she wasn't sure it would ruin the moment, she was just about ready to hug from from the sheer beauty of the feeling welling up in her chest right now.

"If you've nothing else to report for today, then you may take your leave for the time being. I'll be running more tests for the portal this afternoon." He instructed, returning to the equipment he was working on as Adora gave him a respectful salute.

"Yes, Lord Hordak." His faithful and trusted assistant nodded as she took her leave, approaching the door. It was as she nearly took her first step away from the lab that he almost forgot something. "Oh, and Adora?" He called back, catching the girl's attention as she grabbed the side of the entryway. "Well done with your work with The Kingdom of Snows." He smiled, earning a just as bright grin from Adora. "I look forward to the next kingdom you bring under our side."

"And don't forget Plumeria." Adora eagerly reminded, wanting to make sure Lord Hordak knew all of her contributions within the last few days.

"... What's Plumeria?"

"It's..." Adora blinked to herself. "It's uh... Um... some thing I heard of this..." Huh... come to think of it, what was Plumeria? It sounded familiar, and she said it for certain as if she just knew it. So why couldn't she recall what this "Plumeria" was? "I'll... I'll look into it personally, My Lord." With another bow, Adora took her leave of her master as she made her way out of the sanctum. She would have to figure out this strange Plumeria at some point after her appointment with the Locker Room that Scorpia wanted to see.

Staring off to where the girl left for a bit, Hordak gave a small shrug before returning to his duties. While Adora had her weird quirks to her, she was nothing less than useful to him and the Horde, and his confidence in her ability was unquestionable.

...And yet, he had to wonder... How did she know about the portal he'd been working on? Perhaps it was a thought for another time, he decided, as he returned to his work. With so much to do, there was only so many matters that he could be bothered with, and people he could put up with that would waste his time, save for Adora.

And all throughout the spectacle that had been bore witness, neither of the two were aware of the mysterious absence of a certain blue imp upon the throne, or the lonesome shadow that continued to follow Adora's path...

...

...

"Mmmh..." Catra mellowed to herself in delight as she continued to dine at the table with her family. With her mom and dad at the head, and her sister, Glimmer, to the left of her, things couldn't get any better than how they were now.

Looking back on it, it had been a rather crazy morning for her. To think, for one moment, that she actually forgot all about her family and her daily life because of some stupid dream or nightmare. She didn't know what to say to herself, how to describe how bad a dream could be where it made her forget the very people that loved her unconditionally like this. It was baffling, and downright stupid, to her.

For some reason the very moment she woke up she felt like everything was off. The room she was in, the sister she now had, the supposed father she thought was never around. How could she have forgotten all this great and wonderful stuff at her side like this? She couldn't, or at least shouldn't! They loved her like a daughter, even if they were unrelated by blood.

Everyday they raised her since finding her at Beast Island, they treated her as one of their own. She grew up together with Glimmer, enjoyed various antics around the castle growing up, and had a bunch of laughs and tears all throughout their lives. It almost made her feel a little guilty that she could forget such a thing like that, an obvious, simple, thing.

Yet, the part that still bothered her was the unknown question. Why did it bother her to begin with? Why did she feel like everything was out of the ordinary? Did she just wake up on the wrong side of the bed? Considering her delightful sister surprised her with a water balloon this morning, it wouldn't have surprised her.

Sure, she still had some apparent misgivings here and there, but overall, she loved this life, and she loved the people at her side. And the more she came to accept the world around her the easier it was to forget those troubling thoughts, the very things that kept her from appreciating her everyday life.

Like now for instance. She was actually enjoying herself as she still wore her matching PJs that Glimmer was wearing, eating a delicious buffet of breakfast that consisted of near anything she could ask for. Sausage, bacon, eggs, yogurt. pancakes, juice, grapes, and the list went on. Angella- she means her mother was also still dressed for bed as everyone appeared to be taking it easy for the morning.

The only one who did seem dressed up for the day was their father, King Micah, and it wasn't as big a surprise. Even if he wasn't born of royalty, he took his job and professionalism rather seriously.

And by seriously, that meant about twice the maturity of Catra and Glimmer together, which really wasn't saying a lot.

"Pssst." Catra's ears twitched as she heard the strange noise. "Pst, hey, sis!" Glimmer whispered to her from the left. She eyed her parents with a grin as she directed Catra's eyes to them where she noticed they were both eating with their eyes closed.

Confused about the strange attention she brought up, Catra's eyes were directed to Glimmer's hands as she saw a spoon in her left hand and a single grape in her right. Before she could question the cogwheels spinning in Glimmer's head, he cheeky princess opened fire, flinging the grape squarely at her father's throat.

"Urk-! Ough-!" Micah coughed, rubbing his throat as the grape was struck straight in his larynx.

"Sis, I can't believe you!" Glimmer accused teasingly. "How could you throw a grape at our wonderful and smart-looking father like that?"

"Wai- What?!" Catra yelped, in complete disbelief that she'd have on pulled over on her like this. "That wasn't me! That was-"

"Oh, here you go again," Glimmer sighed, innocently rolling her eyes, "trying to blame the younger sibling for something you CLEARLY did." She sniffed dramatically. "It's almost cruel how you can blame your sister for everything, isn't it, mom?"

"Mhhm, I suppose so." Angella appeared to agree. What Catra at first took with disbelief soon turned to curiosity as she noticed her mother smirking with one eye open, holding a cup of coffee in front of her face. "Especially since Catra didn't appear to have any grapes to begin with this morning."

"Huh?" Glimmer blinked as she examined her plate and Catra's right next to her. Out of all her cunning and clever planning, there was one oversight that Glimmer apparently fell victim to; her inability to check and see if Catra took any grapes herself for breakfast. "O-Oh... I guess she just swiped it from my plate when I wasn't looking."

"You mean like how you immediately accused her of throwing the food instead of her accusing you when she threw it?" Micah pointed out with a raised brow.

"Busted." Catra smirked, stabbing at a piece of sausage with her own claw.

"Eh heh... sorry, dad." Glimmer apologized, rubbing the back of her head.

"Hmph. Well it was a simple grape, sweetie," Micah spoke in understanding, "so it's quite alright. I only hope that you remember this lesson to-" Micah froze as his eyes widened with shock. "Girls, look out! A Horde Spy!"

"Huh?" Both daughters turned to their backsides to see the expectant spy behind them. All they were met with was confusion at the very wall that stood fifteen feet behind them without a spy in sight.

*tack*

"Ah-!" And Glimmer immediately regretted it as she pulled at the back of her hair. The moment she so much as considered questioning her father at the missing spy, she felt her hair being pelted with a very greasy piece of sausage, one that appeared to be caught in the small tangle of hair she had.

"Whoops, my mistake." Micah apologized, taking his cup of coffee. "It was just the wall."

"Mmmmh..." Glimmer grumbled a little as she finally untangled the greasy slice of sausage from her hair.

Seeing the poor and defenseless younger sister that was hers being assaulted by their ruthless father, Catra took it upon herself to load up her own canon, or spoon in this case, as she gathered a large helping of yogurt within her spoon. She was already grinning ear to ear with a smirk as she pulled the spoon back.

"Returning fire!" Catra yelled before launching the missle at the target.

"Ah-!"

*sheem*

*splat*

"Uh-oh..." Catra mumbled as her ears lowered.

When was the best time to call it quits with this food fight? Was it when Glimmer struck her father in the throat with a single grape and tried to blame it on Catra? Was it when her father got revenge by flinging back a piece of sausage into her hair, greasing it up and getting it stuck in her hair for a bit? Perhaps it was when Catra returned fire to avenge her fallen sister by throwing a large glob of her orange yogurt at her father's face?

Or perhaps it was when Micah instinctively summoned a protective barrier to his rune using his magic, and inadvertently splattered the contents of the yogurt on the right side of Angella's face. Everyone stared at the surprised and slightly miffed mother who wanted no part in this foodfight as she glanced between her children and her nervous husband, the latter of which slowly dissolved the magical shield as he held his hands in the air.

Giving another glance at the flinger of said yogurt, Catra slowly drooped her ears lower as she chuckled nervously with a smile. "Eh heh... heh... oops?" She didn't know what to expect of her mother as she gently wiped her face clean with a napkin. Was she going to yell at her? Going to ground her? Or would she blame the person who put up the shield to defend himself from a harmless piece of produce in the first place?

"Now, Catra, I believe I've taught you countless times to set a better example as the older sibling." Angella reminded as she closed her eyes. "It's improper to set a bad example for the younger one, no matter how close your ages are."

"Mhhm, you're mother's right, sweetheart." Micah nodded in full agreement as he crossed his arms. "You must always be setting the better example for your sister."

"Mmmmh..." Catra moaned with a small pout, lowering her eyes with her ears. Typical. Someone else starts the fight and she ends up being the one getting in trouble for-

"Oh, Micah! You got a bit of it on your face, too!" Angella stated with a look of surprise.

"Really?" He wandered his hand around his face, trying to find any trace of the supposed yogurt covering his face. "Where? I don't feel any-"

*flap*

*splat!*

In a rather shocking turn of events, to Catra that is, the entire conversation took a complete 180* on her and the direction she thought it would follow. Instead of continuing to harbor blame for her daughter for setting a bad example, the queen used her husband's lowered guard to her own advantage. With his hand still to his face, he was powerless to conjure up another shield as Angella spread her right wing across the table, flinging the entire plate's contents squarely into his face.

"Right there, darling. Can't you see it?" Angella chuckled as she covered her mouth.

"Pffft ahahaahahaha!" The two siblings couldn't help but burst into laughter at the sight of their father's plate-covered face, especially after it slowly slid off and fell against the table again. By now, their father was covered in several small splatters of eggs, had a slice of bacon dangling over his right ear, and had a large mound of a pancake plastered over his forehead.

As opposed to getting mad, as Catra first expected, he instead partook in the bouts of laughter following the room, taking in the small spectacle of the food fight they just had with stride.

How could Catra have forgotten her parents playfulness towards her and her sister? Sure, they had plenty of times when they were stern about something, usually when it involved the girls' health and lives they put at risk, but whenever it came to something simple to cleanup or easy to pass off, they were always enjoyable enough to join in on the fun.

As well as the trouble.

...

...

(A/N: The following has been provided by Star Saber)

A five-year-old Catra and four-year-old Glimmer stood before their parents. The King and his hands on his hips and the Queen had her arms crossed, both frowning.

"We told you both there was to be no snacking before dinner." Angella said, her voice holding the authority of both a Queen and a mother. "No more than ten minutes later, we receive word from the kitchen staff that an entire tray of fresh jelly tarts had gone missing."

"So we thought to ourselves," the king placed a hand under his chin like he was thinking, "who loves jelly tarts?"

"Everyone." Glimmer pointed out.

Angella raised an eyebrow, "But not everyone loves them so much that theyd steal them from the kitchen."

"Why do you think it was us?" Catra asked indignantly, almost insulted by the accusation.

"You both still have jelly on your faces."Micah said bluntly.

Catra and Glimmer both indeed had bits of jelly around their mouths. The two sisters looked at each other and saw the undeniable evidence against them "oh"

"hmm," The king knelt down and looked at their hands. "Well we didnt catch you red handed, "there was no jelly on their hands. "But we did catch you red faced." he laughed at his own joke as girls groaned. He then took out a handkerchief and and began to wipe the jelly off their faces.

"Do you two have anything to say for your selves?" Angella asked them.

"We... were framed?" Catra offered, but the Queens expression made it clear she wasn't buying it.

"We're sorry." Glimmer apologized lowering her head. "The jelly tarts just smelled really good."

"Yeah, they really did." Catra never forgot the first time she smelled jelly tarts, she knew right away that she had to have one. She wished she had known to let it cool down first, but it was worth it. It was like she could still smell them. "Wait," she paused as she picked up that very scent. it was coming from ... the king?

"I know it seems unfair but snacks will ruin your appetite." Micah said as he wiped away the last of the jelly on the girls faces and was about to put the handkerchief away. "No matter how tasty they-" his words of wisdom her cut off as Catra pulled on his shirt, causing several jelly tarts to fall out and onto the floor. "...are."

Catra "I knew i smelled them!"

The king blinked and looked up at his wife, who was frowning at him even more than she had been their daughters. "It seems the girls are not the only ones who need to explain themselves."

"Angie i can see that your not happy, but if you give me a chance i can explain everything in a calm civilized manner." Micah said calmly before clearing his throat. "You see, the three of us have to... Run Away!" Within the blink of an eye, the king scooped up Catra and Glimmer in his arms and took off running down the hallway as quickly as his legs could carry him.

The Queen stood there a for few moments in surprised as she processed what had just happened. Her husband was guilty of snacking before dinner just like her daughters were, and now the culprit was makng a run for it.

"Micah!" Angella yelled as she spread her wings and flew off down the halls after them.

Further down the hall the king ran continued to run with his daughters in his arms who were starting to giggle at the situation. Their father was now in even more trouble then they were.

"Mommy sounds mad at you." Glimmer observed.

"I know." Micah sighed, knowing full well what was coming after his wife caught up to him. "But they were really good jelly tarts."

"They sure are." Catra took a bite of one.

Micah blinked, "where did you get that?" He looked to see Glimmer eating one to."

"We saved a couple before you and mommy found us." Glimmer explained.

"I see." The kind said, somewhat impressed by the girls sneakiness. "Would you happen to have a spare for a Daddy on the run?"

Glimmer smiled and held up a jelly tart before stuffing it in the kings mouth. he mumbled a "thank you" to which Glimmer simply nodded. "Your welcome."

...

...

"Is it ready?" Catra asked, peering around the corner of the hallway with a grin.

"You bet."Glimmer replied, peering past her sister's shoulder. "I took all the necessary precautions. You sure this is gonna work?"

"Hey, who's the older sibling here?"

"Who's the one who got their tail stuck in a toilet when they were younger?"

"That was one time!"

"And it's still hilarious! Hahahaha!" The younger sibling couldn't help as she busted a gut a little, laughing at the memory of a certain seven-year-old older sibling who got their tail stuck in the toilet after flushing it. She didn't remember all the specifics, just the fact it took their sister half an hour to get it out again with her parent's help.

"Listen you, I-!" Catra paused as her ears twitched. "Huh! Someone's coming, shush!" Pulling Glimmer back a little, Catra and Glimmer just had the end of their faces peering down the hallway as they watched the door slowly open. It felt nice for Catra to see her sister share her tastes in pranking, which she knew she always did.

Following a lighthearted breakfast and a bit of goofing around, the two siblings got themselves cleaned up for the day, a minor irritation Catra would never get used to due to the water, as they went about their business. With a majority of the day to themselves to spend and a small schedule to keep up with in the afternoon, they couldn't find a better way to spend the rest of the morning other than to partake in their favorite past time.

Pulling pranks on the guards and seeing the looks on their faces.

Getting dressed for the day, Catra was a little surprised by her options of clothing, which wasn't to say she necessarily minded it. With a thin pinkish long-sleeved shirt and a a pair of white full-length jeans, the magicat was ready for anything today, whether it be a day of fun, or an unexpected surprise attack from the Horde. To top it off, she also found she has custom made red shoes specifically made for her. With socks sewn into the inner lining of the shoes, they were made to allow Catra to wear and remove them with ease without getting the claws of her toes caught or tangled up in the strings of her socks.

With Breakfast, cleanup, and clothing done for the day, the two quickly made their way around the castle gathering the necessary preparations and equipment they'd need to begin their day of fun. When everything was planned and prepared, the two just needed to wait for the first of many guards to walk through the doorway to begin their glorious masterpiece.

As Catra's ears picked up, the two watched the slightly-opened door beginning to open further by a good foot as one of the fellow guards made her way through. Before opening it completely, the guard did a quick checkup on the door they passed through, inspecting their surroundings to see if anything or anyone left a nasty little surprise around for their amusement.

Like a pair of princesses who had a habit of pulling pranks on a monthly basis.

As expected, high above the door frame the guard spotted an inconspicuous bucket just lying around and sitting at the top of the door, waiting for anyone foolish or gullible enough to open the door completely. "Really, girls?" The guard sounded unfazed and unsurprised by the certain affair that was in order. "The old "Water bucket over the door" trick? You'd really have to do better than that." He didn't know where the girls were at this moment, only that, wherever they were, Catra could hear them. With a simple sigh, without opening the door completely, the guard casually slid herself between the doorway as she-

*twang*

-set off the real trap from below.

"Hmm?" The guard mumbled as she looked down, noticing the fragile tripwire she had just snapped. The very instant that the guard's attention was preoccupied with the floor, the real trap had already been making its way through the halls.

Following the string to a series of interconnected wires, the guard noticed as they all fed along the floors, up the walls, and to the very ceiling above her. When you were dealing with one princess that could climb atop the walls and over the ceilings with razor-sharp claws and a princess that could teleport wherever she needed to or desired, preforming such feats like this were nothing out of the ordinary. What was out of the ordinary for the guard was the sight that caused her eyes to widen, letting out a groan as the contents fell above her.

All along the ceiling, connected to various strings that attached to the edges of each one, were a handful of numerous buckets, at least a dozen, that began tilting the very moment the guard set off the trap. By the time she looked up to see the buckets for herself, it was already too late.

One after the other, the numerous buckets began pouring their contents from the ceiling, dousing the guard in an array of liquids and substances that one could find anywhere lying around a house. Honey, water, syrup, juice, milk, buttons, glitter, feathers, strings, anything you could find in the average household. The guard was helplessly soaked and covered in these various contents as she shielded her arms, feeling the items and condiments being poured all over her person.

To make matters worse, for her, the resulting waterfall of non-essentials ended up teetering the poor guard as she took a few steps back, closing the door right behind her int he process and pushing the bucket clear off its hinges as it fell atop the helpless guard. With all the contents that had poured over the guard, it was almost refreshing to find herself now doused in pure, clean water, which helped to wash away the filthy substances that clung to her skin.

Unfortunately, that mattered very little to the guard who had a house's worth of stuff poured over them, tripping them up to walk backwards behind them, being doused again with a deluge of water, and ended up finding a metal bucket stuck over their head now, blinding them in the process.

"Ahhh! Get it off me!" The guard yelped, trying to pry the tight bucket off over her head.

"Bahahahahahahahaha!" Glimmer and Catra bellowed with laughter over their perilous endeavor, holding their sides and their knees as they did. This prank went off without a hitch and then some. Initially, they just expected the guard to fall under the real trap they had set up ahead of the doorway, a trap that she successfully fell into hook-line-and-sinker.

What they didn't expect was for the guard to be flailing backwards as a result and getting the water poured all over themselves in the process. As if it wasn't enough to end with, the fact the very bucket itself fell atop and stuck to their head now was the piece of resistance that surly gave the two siblings something to laugh about. No matter how prepared a guard or family member was within the castle, the girls were almost always one step ahead of them.

"T-That went better than I thought!" Catra yelled, still bellowing with laughter.

"Hahahaha! Di-Did-Did you see the look on her face," Glimmer screamed, wiping a tear against her eyes, "when she saw the-... Uh oh." Noticing the lack of extreme laughter coming from their little sister, Catra quickly looked back, becoming intoxicated with the same look of worry that befell Glimmer's expression.

With all that had gone on with the guard and everything she fell for, the guard was clearly in a state of panic. So much so that, as she continued to try and pry the bucket from her head, she started walking ahead of herself to help loosen the hold it had over her. With one foot after the other, the poor guard was completely unaware of the direction she was going in, or the decorative vase that stood over a tall pedestal right in front of her.

"N-No, no, don't-!"

*crash*

It was too late. By the time the guard could even hear them, they had bumped into the pedestal ahead of them, shaking the large pole with enough force to shake the vase loose from it's standing, and causing it to crash into the ground.

It was only then that the two remembered- it was a very expensive vase.

"...Hey Glimmer? Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Like, how we should probably teleport and get out of here before mom or dad find out?"

"Are you two thinking what I'm thinking?" Both girl's froze with fear as they slowly turned around, meeting the stern gaze of a cross-armed mother looking down upon the two.

Gulping a little, Glimmer tried to give her mother an innocent smile as she hid behind Catra. "T-That you love us so much that you wouldn't even consider grounding us in the first place?"

"Well, you got half of that right." Her mother acknowledged raising a brow. "Would you like to guess which?"

"... The part where you're not going to ground us?" Catra guessed with a nervous smile.

All it took was for her mother to point them to their room for the girls to get the gist of it. With a heavy groan, Glimmer teleported the two to their awaiting bedrooms where they would be occupied for the next two hours. The Queen sighed after they left as she dropped her expression, making her way over to a nearby closet to fetch a replica of the exact same face. It was rather fortunate she kept cheap imitations of the real vase down in the treasury or else there really would've been a lot of grounding to raise around here.

She admired the fact that the two siblings got along so well, as did Catra, but she at least wished that the two would spend their time on more recreational activities that didn't require them to prank everyone around the castle every couple of months. While she did appreciate the fact they were pranking others less and less often, she still wished the two would set a better example for themselves and others given their status as princesses.

... Then again, she did have to admit the prank was rather fun to watch.

As for the siblings themselves, they surrendered to their rooms as they both got into their respective beds, waiting around for the two-hour grounding to finally come to an end. Like many people know, the two shared in a lot of things together, from hobbies to personal tastes of food, quirky antics, and their share of the blame when they pulled such a heinous prank on someone who didn't deserve it.

To their mother's eyes anyway.

It also meant that they got to share many events with one another growing up in their lives together, from the he good, silly, and rambunctious, to the annoying, boring, and sometimes horrifying events.

...

...

(A/N: The following has been provided by Petie Doon)

"NOO!" The seven-year-old Catra screamed as she flailed around, trying to grab at anything she could in the Brightmoon hallways.

"We Won't DO It!" Glimmer cried beside her like any six-year-old who was about to face such a cruel fate.

"You Can't Make US!" "We Have Our Rights!"

"Oh come now!" King Micah of Brightmoon sighed. His two little princesses, now ages seven to eight, continued to struggle. Down the hallways of Brightmoon Castle, Micah was levitating a large magical bubble over his left hand. Inside the bubble, Catra and Glimmer scrambled and floated, trying to escape their current position. But no matter how hard they tried, their efforts are futile.

"It's not the worst thing in the world," Micah argued back at his daughters. "It's certainly not as worst taking a bath," He put on a small smirk as he looked up at his feline daughter. Catra only glared back down at him.

"You wanna bet!" Catra retorted.

"Okay. That's it!" Micah closed his fist, popping the magic bubble. His two daughters feel to the floor with a big clunk. As both got up, Micah pointed a stern figure down at them.

"Now listen here" He commanded. "Both of you are going to stop acting like babies-" Catra stuck her tongue out at him "-And behave yourselves today or else."

He looked sternly down at pair of them, crossing his arms. Catra and Glimmer groaned immaturely. They submitted to defeat.

"Alright fine," Glimmer sighed.

"But does it have to be-" Catra continued, but before she could finish. A yell from down the hallway made her ears sag.

"Where are my little animals?" From around the corner, Castaspella came walking down, eyeing both children a glowing smile. "There you two are!" Castaspella exclaimed.

Catra and Glimmer sighed. "Hi Auntie Casta."

Castaspella walked over and pinching both of their cheeks fiercely. "Look how big both of you have gotten!" She exclaimed with stars in her eyes. Castaspella absent-mindedly poked Glimmer's belly. "In fact, Glimmer, have you considered that diet plan I sent you?"

"AUNTIE!" Glimmer shouted, blushing furiously.

Catra bursted out laughing as Castaspella held a hand to her mouth, chuckling.

"Oh I'm such a tease." Castaspella chuckled. She turned to Catra. "Oh my dear" She stuck a hand through Catra's mane. "When was the last time to got a haircut?"

Catra's laughter abruptly stopped as her eye's widened. Before Catra could respond, Castaspella was pulling her down the hallway.

"Don't worry" Castaspella assured her. "I know a good barber spell we can try. I'll have you looking fabulous in a jiffy."

"What?!" Catra finally exclaimed. "I mean-uh-no I'm fine really-" but her words feel on deaf ears.

Castaspella continue to smile a glowing grin as she also grab Glimmer's arm "And, Glimmer, I have a few new sweaters you can try on as well."

Glimmer gulped. "Uhhhh, that's fine. I'm actually-"

"No need to thank me." Castaspella beamed "I know what a wonderful aunt I am already."

"Wait! No! NOOO!" Unable to stop their aunt as she dragged them off down the hallways, the two sisters let out yells of despair, leaving an uneasy Micah alone in the hallway.

"Hmmm," Micah thought aloud. "Maybe a bath wouldn't have been so bad…"

...

...

"Haaaaaaaaah!" With a roar, Catra slashed the sandbags with her broadsword one after another. With the bags swinging left and right around the girl, where even a single touch meant she would lose the training session, the magicat kept on guard, swerving and jumping out of the way of the next two incoming bags before slicing the one approaching behind her in half.

As a princess, she was expected to do more than set a proper example, more than take over the duties of her sister if something tragic or unexpected happened to her. She was also expected to be a righteous fighter and a soldier, one that would meet her fellow allies out on the battlefield like any proper and respectful leader should be. It didn't matter how royal they were in blood or law. A true leader knew when to step at the side of their fellow soldiers, even if just to inspire them.

It was also a lot of fun. When she wasn't pulling pranks with her sister, exploring the woods, or just hanging around her, the two sibling spent their time in the training hall, using various punching bags and dummies as test targets to work on their skills. With a severe lack of magic at her disposal, Catra had to rely on her physical prowess and her agility to get the job done. It was actually preferable to her in comparison to using magic since she didn't have to worry about running out of it or needing a recharge anytime soon, even though she still wished she had some sort of power.

With her powers as mighty as only her strength, the magicat practiced weekly, if not daily, within the training halls to hone her abilities. From sword fighting, exercising, knife throwing, the magicat practiced it all. She wanted to make sure that she was capable of fighting on her own as a princess, even without her magic. To show everybody that she shouldn't be underestimated just because she lacked a certain quality the rest of her family had.

Speaking of family, the very same shot forth a magical blast of pure energy right behind the cat girl, blasting away an approaching sandbag just before it could get the drop on Catra. Looking back at it herself, the older sibling gave the young one a nod of approval, the youngest doing the very same, before both girls resumed their training.

With Glimmer's magic and power, being capable of closing the distance between enemies and allies in an instant, mixed with Catra's agility, reflex, and raw strength, the two were an inseparable pair on the field. Missions and tasks they needed to fight for the Rebellion were cakewalk to the likes of them as they always had each other's back, refusing to let anything else happen to their fellow sister.

It also proved rather useful whenever one of their shenanigans got the better of them. Whether it was from training or from Catra's boredom from time to time, the two were always getting into mischief around the castle, which was tolerable to an extent. What was intolerable were the numerous times that Catra felt the need to take her fighting skills, physical prowess, and overall curiosity somewhere it got the better of her.

Even when it was dangerous.

...

...

(A/N: The following has been provided by a new fan on the Cat-Ra bandwagon- 444teme444 )

"Mom, is so gonna kill us this time" Glimmer moaned., rubbing the side of her mouth.

"Relax, she's not going to find out" Catra replied. "We can cover it up"

"You can cover up a black eye. I'm the one missing a tooth!"

Glimmer pointed a finger to mouth as she pulled open her right cheek with her other hand, revealing that one of her back teeth was now missing for all the world to see. Catra grimaced slightly at the sight of her sister's bloody gum, not enjoying the sight of it one of bit. And she imaged their mother would enjoy it far, far less if she found about it, on top of the fact that Catra was now sporting a fresh black eye, that was already starting to swell.

But that was nothing compared to what their mother would say if she found the two 11-year-olds had snuck out of the castle to visit the local, popular tavern down at Seaworthy. The same one that pirates that liked to visit.

It all seemed like such a good idea in the beginning. At least that what's Catra had told herself when she had decided to sneak out of the castle and take a trip down to Seawothy. Catra had planned on going alone, but she was soon followed by her sister, who had effortlessly teleported down to the grounds the moment Catra had already finished her arduous climb down the castle walls to avoid detection from the guards, much to the magicat's chagrin.

Nevertheless the two sister made their way toward Seaworthy, but before arriving, Catra had the two of them dress in simple, commoner attire as to not draw attention to themselves and so that their mother would have been less likely to hear about two princesses causing mischief.

Arriving in Seaworthy, they entered the tavern. Or rather than snuck into the tavern after having initially been denied entrance due to their age. While it did seem to be a pretty cool and interesting place, Glimmer only wanted to stay for no more than ten minutes as to not get themselves into any trouble. But it seemed like Catra had interpreted that as a personal challenge. Within that time limit, Catra managed to get an altercation with some of the more unsavory tavern patrons. Particularly a very large, and very menacing looking tentacle haired woman named Octavia, who did not take kindly to Catra's comments regarding her appearance. And it wasn't long before a fight broke between the two to them.

The fight started well in Catra's favour when she delivered a swift sucker punch to start off. Unfortunately, that was about the only hit she got in against her much larger and more terrifying opponent. Not to mention the fact, Octavia was joined by the rest of crewmates, who ganged up Catra, with no intent on showing her any mercy. It was at that point that Glimmer jumped into the fray to save her sister, the two of them fighting side by side against the larger group. The combined enthusiasm of all the combatants, plus one knocked over drink soon lead to the entre tavern erupting into an all-out brawl.

It was a spectacular at the girls did not even come close to winning and were lucky enough to slink away during the confusion, each now carrying their personal wounds from the fight. And now they had to trek back to Bright Moon castle, without their mother from finding out what happened.

"Then that's the perfect excuse for to keep your mouth closed and let me do the talking" Catra continued, waving her hand, beckoning Glimmer to close her mouth again. "Beside that was just a baby tooth". Catra threw Glimmer a second glance, feeling a little more unsure of that assessment. "Right?

Based on the angry glare Glimmer was now giving her in return, odds were coming in very strong that it may not in fact have been baby tooth she had lost.

"Look, I didn't ask you to follow me down there, ok" Catra said, feeling frustrated as she tried to comb her hair over the left side of her face in an effort to cover up the black eye, which was equally beginning to irritate her with the pain. "I could have handled it by myself"

"Oh, sure you did" Glimmer said, unconvinced as she remembered exactly how the encounter in the tavern went in thorough detail so that she could point every instance where it was Catra's fault. "I really liked the part where they had you hanging up by your ankles and you offered a bribe if they let you go"

"That's was all part of my strategy to let them guard down" Catra snapped indignantly. "And that would have worked if you hadn't swooped in and kicked the octopus lady in the face"

Glimmer groaned heavily. "Why did you keep insisting on going down there to pick fights with people. It's like you wanted it to happen."

"I just wanted a little excitement" Catra muttered, finally getting her hair into a position that seemed to cover up her eye. "Half the time it feels like I might die of boredom in that castle"

"Well some people have different ideas of recreational activities other than nose breaking and bone crushing"

"Oh, well if fighting is so below little Ms. Pinky Perfect Princess" Catra said, in a mocking sweet voice. "Maybe you should have just let me get beat up instead."

"Well, maybe I should have!" Glimmer shot back, crossing her arms and turning away from her sister. "Then maybe you'd finally learn a lesson. And if we get caught this, you can take all the blame"

"Oh, you wish we'd get caught. See, we're already back" Catra said as they were now less than ten feet away from the castle entrance. "Now we just to get back our room and pretend to be sick for a couple days, and by then this will all blow other. So long as we don't run into-".

"Girls, there you are!

Both Catra and Glimmer stopped in their tracks, looking wildly in every direction in panic as they heard the distinct sound of their mother approaching. The two princesses looked up as they felt a large shadow pass over them.

"Where have you two been?" Angella asked as she landed in front of the two girls. "Why are you dressed like that?

Glimmer gave her mother a nervous look as she already felt her composure beginning waver under the Queen's questioning gaze. She briefly tried to open her mouth to offer an explanation, before Catra immediately slapped her hand over her sisters' mouth, simultaneously preventing her from speaking and showing off her missing tooth in the process.

"We were out…picking flowers!" Catra said with a huge smile, plastered over her face. "Harmless flower picking that does not involve anything dangerous whatsoever. Me and Glimmer thought maybe we go and get our loving, generous and very forgiving mother a lovely bouquet. And we didn't want to get out good clothes dirty, so changed into some old clothes"

"I see…" Angella said slowly, taking in that entire story. She took a long look over each of her daughters in turn, noticing a distinct lack of any plant life on their persons.

"So where are the flowers then?" she asked.

"Ugh, I know right!" Catra said, quickly adopting a convincing tone of disgust and disappointment. "You wouldn't believe how terrible looking all flowers are days? I mean, hello how hard it is to grow some leaves? We should write a letter to Plumeria, tell them to stop hogging all the good flowers for themselves, am I right?"

Glimmer lightly smacked her hand to her forehead. No punishment her mother would think of could be worse than this.

"Anyway, me and Glimmer are both so tired" Catra said, pulling Glimmer along by the arm as they walked around their mother, who had yet to take her eyes off her two daughters. "So we might just head back to our room for a while. And we already ate, so can probably skip dinner this evening, so bye!"

Both Catra and Glimmer turned on their heels and quickened their pace as they were just about to enter the castle, but Angella was not about to let them go that easily.

"Catra" she called, making the two of them stop dead in their tracks. Sharing a nervous look, Catra and Glimmer slowly turned to face their mother who now over them. "Before you go, I have one more question."

"Yes?" Catra asked, with a nervous smile, her ears dropping.

"What have you done with your hair?"

"Oh this?" Catra laughed. "Oh, this is nothing, I'm trying out a new look. What do you think?

"Hmm." Angella touch her chin as she began to contemplate Catra new appearance. She had to admit it, she didn't look half bad. But the Queen was now officially done with this game. In a single motion, Angella unfurled her wings, sending out a small gust of wind that was strong enough to part Catra's hair from her face, revealing the bruised skin around her hidden eye. Catra instinctively threw her hands up to cover it, but the ruse was already exposed.

Angella crossed her arms and glowered down at the magicat with a piercing gaze, wanting nothing short of a full explanation before she could decide on her daughter's punishment

"What happened to your eye, young lady?" she asked, not sounding the least bit amused

Catra sighed. No backing out of it now. Might as well go down clean. "I was-"

"It's my fault" Glimmer said, stepping in between her mother and her sister. "I wanted to go to Seaworthy for some fun, but I ended up getting a fight. Catra then had to come and save me"

Angella gave Glimmer a hard stare as she listened. She then glanced over in Catra's direction. "Is that true, Catra?"

Catra glanced back and forth between her mother and sister, the latter giving her an apologetic smile, making it clear she was more than willing to take the fall for her this. Too bad Catra was not going to give Glimmer than satisfaction.

"No, it's my fault" she admitted. "It was my idea go down there and I'm the one who picked the fight. Glimmer only wanted to come to keep me out of trouble. And I didn't listen to her"

"That's not entirely true either" Glimmer said, with an embarrassed blush. Catra looked to Glimmer with surprise and confusion. "I was sorta hoping that we would get into a little bit of trouble. A big castle gets boring sometimes. And I kinda like the excitement". Glimmer then gave another smile in her sister's direction, showing that she understood her feelings better than she was letting on and not wanting to admit they had more in common they what Catra thought.

Catra smiled back at her sister, grateful for her words and that she would stick up for like that. Of course, that show of sentiment was clearly not enough to temper their mother's anger.

"Well, whatever your idea of excitement is, it has gotten you both grounded" she said. "Again. And if nothing else, I hope you both have learned an important from this experience

Both girls answered together.

"Always tell the truth?"

"Take on the weak looking guys first?"

"No, and definitely no" Angella replied turning her head to Glimmer and the Catra as she answered. "You two need to learn that you are sisters."

Both Catra and Glimmer glanced to each other, not sure if that was supposed to be some kind of rhetorical question

"Well, duh, mom" Catra said.

"What I mean is that no matter what happens, you two will always be sisters" the Queen continued, kneeling down to look her daughters at eye level, placing her hand on each of their shoulders. "That means no matter what kind of trouble you find yourselves in, the two of will be in it together. You always will have each other to rely on. I don't condone you sneaking out or picking fights or lying to me, but I'm always proud to see the two of you stand by one another, no matter the situation. Now, do you promise always to take care of each other?"

"Yes, Mom" the two princesses answered earnestly, smiling

Angella smiled back her girls with pride, feeling immensely pleased by their response. "Good. I'm just happy neither of you were seriously injured. Your eye should heal in no time Catra and that should be just enough time for how long you two will stay grounded and-" Angella abruptly paused in what she was saying when she noticed something about Glimmer. Narrowing her eyes, the Queen in lean, taking a closer look at her daughter's face. "Glimmer, are you missing a tooth?"

Glimmer and Catra froze up, realizing they were now officially dead.

"Uh, bye!" Glimmer smiled one last time at her mother, before quickly grabbing Catra's elbow and teleporting the both of them out of sight and hopefully somewhere far enough away from their mothers wrath as she screamed after them.

"GIRLS!"

...

...

Lounging around on the cushioned reclining purple chair beneath her, legs propped up on the footrest and arms thrown behind her head, Catra sighed deeply to herself with a content smile as she rested her eyes peacefully.

"This is the life."

Her life was perfect. Beyond perfect. Everything around her with her family and her life was too perfect for some and just right for her. She couldn't figure out why, but, for whatever reason, she's never felt as relaxed as she did today, never felt all of her tension leave her body at a slow and easy rate that she could adjust to. Within these walls, with this family always at her side, she wasn't just content with her belongings, she wasn't just basking in the glow of it.

She was happy.

She actually felt a sense of happiness around here that she couldn't recall.

How could she not when she finally had everything she could ever want around here? Fine meals where food and options were given to her at every course, an entire castle with servants and guards at her every side when she needed them, a sister that took part in the many hilarious pranks they pulled off against the guards at each side, and a family... A family she knew that loved her unconditionally.

They loved her with all their heart, they raised her since the day they took her in. They loved her no more or less than their own flesh and blood. And they smiled to her at nearly every convenience. She finally had a group of people that she could wholeheartedly say she loved, people she knew that loved her in return. They were always there for her whenever she needed them growing up, always there for the good and bad times throughout her lives, even if some of those bad times were caused by them in turn.

And usually whenever Aunt Casta was involved.

Still, she was satisfied with everything, satisfied with anything. She didn't have to worry about her problems she didn't have, save for the Horde, she didn't have to do much of anything she didn't want to that didn't require studying, tutors, schools, etc. She had an entire lifetime of happy memories to deal with that overcame the bad. And an entire future to look forward to for the rest of her life.

*swiff*

"Hmm?" Catra blinked as she leaned up. For a second there, she thought her ears picked up on something moving past her. Then again, the day itself has had its own share of weirdness going around when she thought about it.

At least several times she could've sworn a guard was missing from a post or that a member of the staff had disappeared from the castle. Whenever she asked anyone else about it, they passed if off like it was nothing, unable to recollect anything the girl was mentioning.

While it did give her some pause and hesitation, it wasn't anything that overly concerned her. Given the day she's had since waking up this morning, she could easily pass it off as her mind playing tricks on her. She still had yet to figure out what was going on around here with her life, or how she could wake up this morning from a horrible nightmare she couldn't recall, one horrible enough for her to forget everything for a second.

Glancing around the room, not noticing anyone or anything out of the ordinary, Catra gave it a small shrug before returning to her peaceful rest. Whenever she focused on the issues plaguing her mind for so long it made it all the more harder for her to relax. Here, in this lifestyle, with this family, she had everything she wanted, everything she needed. Why should she bother to think of something else that she couldn't even remember in the first place? Why would she even want to think of a different lifestyle than this?

To her, it was better to let herself get lost in the moment than to think about reality.

Or the shadow that caught her attention from above.

"Hello, Mara, dearie."

"Ahh!" Catra yelped, springing to her feet as she fell out of the chair. Just when she was getting used to everything, right as she thought things couldn't get any better... they didn't. Instead, they got more confusing as Catra was accosted by the sight of an elderly frail woman half her size appearing right above her chair's head. "How did you get in here?" It wasn't so much the fact that she appeared that frightened Catra so much. What really frightened her was how subtle she was about it as Catra never caught a whiff of her scent or heard her approaching.

"Ah, good, you're awake." The elderly woman said as she hopped off the chair. Without hesitation or reserve, the woman casually took Catra's hand as she lead her on her way. "There's no time to lose. We must act quickly before-"

"Act quickly? Before what?" Catra asked as she yanked her hand away. "What are you talking about? What do you even want?"

The old woman blinked at the girl in curiosity as several white butterflies flew around her. "What? Did you already forget Madame Razz, dearie?" The woman asked with a smile.

"Madame..." The moment she uttered her first word, the image flashed in her mind.

...

-as she shuffled around the room to collect some belongings. "Madame Razz always has the solution to your problems."

"Mara? Uhh my name's Catra, lady-"

"- The faster we get those berries the sooner Madame Razz can make your favorite stew-"

"-We used to come here all the time to look at stars." Razz awed in wonder. "Do you remember the stars, Mara?-"

...

"Madam Ra..." Catra shook her head as she squeezed it, taking a few steps back from the old crone.

"Yes, yes, good. You do remember Madame Razz." The woman smiled, glad that everything wasn't for naught.

"W-What? No, I..." Catra couldn't remember. She couldn't force herself to remember. She was too afraid of it for some reason. "I don't know you."

"Sure you do, Mara, dearie. You just need to remember-"

"No, I mean I don't remember you!" Catra stated, growing a small look of disdain for the elderly woman. "I never met you before. I don't even know what you want-!"

*clonk*

"Ow!" Catra yelped as she rubbed her newly-bonked head. Apparently the old woman's staff was a lot sturdier than she thought.

"Of course you remember Madame Razz, kitty. You're just choosing not to remember."

"No I'm not! I really can't remember you!" She insisted as she took another step back. Why did this woman insist on knowing her? Why did Catra herself insist on not remembering her? She felt something shaking at her core whenever she stared at this woman, something telling her to forget about her troubles again as she took another step back. "What do you even want with me, anyway? I'm warning you, I have guards right outside my room-"

*clonk*

"Ow! Stop that!"

"You shouldn't be wasting time, kitty. You still have a job to do, remember?" Madame Razz said as she squeezed the staff in her palms. "If you don't act soon, the whole world may be in jeopardy."

"I'm not wasting time! I seriously don't know you! I don't know anything about Mara, I don't even know who She-Ra is!"

"... Madame Razz never said She-Ra, dearie." Razz said with another smile.

Catra paused.

Why did she just say that? Why did she just say She-Ra? She knew plenty about She-Ra from the stories and the legends passed down from the world. She knew that she was a valiant warrior-

"She was still a full-fledged She-Ra... She had all these mixed emotions and she still managed to turn into She-Ra... SO WHY CAN'T I!?" In a huff, the magicat-

-who stood for justice and honor above all else. She was a selfless individual who gladly-

"You heard me right, Pinky. I want a Kingdom." Catra declared proudly. It had been a rather harsh day for the cat girl, and after what happened through the last half hour, she didn't care-

-stood for all that was good and just with the world. Catra knew she wasn't anything like that. She was-

"-Your reasoning and personality were against the sword's own judgement. It found you lacking in honor, sincerity, and purity, all of which individually would have given you the power to transform, regardless of the inhibitor placed upon the sword."

-selfish and self-serving in how she... She was a princess who was always sincere and polite to... She wanted to have her own kingdom to... She was supposed to inherit this if...

"Ngggh!" Catra grumbled squeezing her head again. What was going on around here? Why was her mind hurting her so much whenever she thought about something this woman was saying? With every word from this woman's mouth, the more flashes that came to Catra's mind, ones that made her head feel numb. The only thing worse with than the experience was the pain it brought her, the pain in her heart that became distorted with each event that she couldn't seem to recall. "W-What are you doing to me?!"

"I am not doing anything to you, Mara." The woman tried to assure as she gently rubbed her arm. "Madame Razz is simply trying to get you to remember-"

"No!" She yelled, slapping the hand away. "There is nothing to remember, okay? There's nothing wrong with this!" Catra was so confused by herself, now more than ever. Why was she starting to hate this woman? Sure, she randomly appeared out of nowhere and nearly scared Catra half to death, but this was something else.

She was blaming this woman for some reason, she hated these weird flashes the woman was giving her. They brought a strange pain with them, a pain that the current princess was unable to bare, refused to. She didn't know these memories of her or whoever they belonged to. She knew who she was! She was Princess Catra, daughter of King Micah and Queen Angella, and the older sister of Princess Glimmer!

Whoever this woman was, whatever she was trying to do to her, it was terrible. Awful. "I was founded and raised by my mom and dad. You got that? I've trained every day of my life to be as strong as Glimmer is with her magic, I have a whole kingdom I have to be responsible for! This is the stuff I remember, not whatever phony thing you're trying to tell me!"

"Mara, don't be that way." Razz said as her brows lowered a bit in sadness, stepping away. "If you lose yourself in this new reality, you'll forget everything that truly matters. This is not how She-Ra should be-"

"I'm NOT She-Ra, I'm Catra! Got it?" Catra's eyes started to water from the anger welling up in her. "Why are you trying to insist I'm someone I've never met before? All it's doing is hurting me by giving me a bigger headache than I need!"

"Madame Razz is just trying to keep you from suffering more pain later on. If you don't listen to her, terrible things will start to happen to the ones you care about."

"I don't have to do anything you tell me, all right?" Catra started to seethe with anger, narrowing her brows at the sight of the woman. "This is my life right now. This has always been my life."

"But Mara-"

"Guards!" Catra shouted, looking at the door. "Guards! Get in here!"

Madame Razz frowned at the sight of this as she shook her head in disapproval. No matter how hard she tried, Catra couldn't remember who she was. She refused to. She would rather live out this fantasy world of hers and believe it exists instead of facing the reality around her, the one she wasn't aware of that was slowly falling apart. "You are not a very good She-Ra, kitty."

"I told you, I'm not-!" Before Catra could voice her complaint again, the senile old woman had vanished from the room. Not three seconds after the initial call did Catra's door burst open with four- with three guards at the ready, willing and able to defend their princess's life.

"Princess!" The head of the trio yelled as they rushed to her side. "Is everything alright?"

Catra continued to scan the room around for her, questioning where she could've gone. For such an old-looking grandma she sure moved fast. Either that or she somehow had the same ability to teleport, too, like Glimmer.

Scowling a little to herself, Catra crossed her arms as she looked back. "Some... weirdo broke into my room while I was resting. Go check the outside for something, I think she came in through the window."

"Right away, Your Highness!" The guard saluted as the three of them left the room in a mad rush, following the princess's orders. Waiting until the three guards left, Catra's expression slightly lowered as her ears drooped, wrapping her own tail around her waist for personal comfort.

She didn't know who the old woman was. She was sure of it. This whole thing about being some She-Ra or anything like that was complete nonsense. Seriously, how could anyone expect her of all people to be someone like She-Ra? ...Not that there was anything remotely wrong with her, of course.

She was strong, she was kind, she was... decent. She could recall countless times she fought off Horde soldiers with her sister on their missions, the times they spent together practicing away with their skills put to the test. She could remember all the pranks they used to pull and still did, and the schemes they came up with when they wanted to get a treat from somewhere.

She also remembered her two loving parents, the people that were always there for her no matter what. They raised her and disciplined her wen the time called for it, but no matter what they loved her to no end. They would put their very lives on the line to save her if they needed to from whatever troubling manner she got herself into, alone or with her sister. That's just how much they loved her.

And Catra refused to let any of that go away. This WAS her reality, she was sure of it. One way or another, she was determined to see her reality continue around her like it always has. She was a princess. She was a warrior. She was Catra and nobody else.

This is the life she's lived since she was born. And she wasn't about to let anyone else convince her of that.

Not even herself...

...

...

"Hello? Scorpia?" Adora called out as she entered the darkened locker room. Peering into it from left to right, she made her way through the doorway curiously as she tried to figure out where and what her friend, Scorpia, wanted to talk about. She was a little curious as to what it was she wanted to talk about in private, and why she wanted to discuss it in the locker room of all places. With how public it was and how often people could be walking in and out of the facility, they might as well have had the conversation within the hallway for all that matters-

*click*

"Surpiiiise!" With he flash of the lights nearly blinding for a second, Adora let out a silent gasp as she saw the room. From both sides of the room from the surrounding lockers to the connecting doorway right in front of her, the room was filled with nearly two dozen Horde soldiers and guards all cheering for and applauding her for reasons she couldn't understand. Nor did she seem to care as she smiled.

And at the center of it all at the head of this small little surprise for her, she saw them. Scorpia in the middle holding a large tray, and the "always cool, always collected", jacket-wearing Kyle with his sunglasses to her right. Atop the tray within Scorpia's had were at least two dozen ration bars, all lined up and organized to resemble something close to a cake.

It even had a small picture of Adora's face in the center for her consideration.

"You guuuuys..." Adora smiled as she approached the group. "What is all this?"

"What do you think, you goof?" Scorpia chuckled, approaching with the tray with Kyle at her side. "It's a celebration!"

"A celebration for what?"

"Heh, good one, 'Dora." Kyle chuckled in his usual suwavey manner. "Like you don't know? It's to celebrate the kingdoms you convinced to join the Horde."

"Really?" Adora brushed a bang of hair out of her face as she held her elbows. "You guys didn't have to do that. I mean, it's just the Kingdom of Snows right now. We still have a long way to go."

"Just the Kingdom of Snows?" Scorpia grinned, turning her head to the rest of the group. "You see what I mean? She's too modest for her own good!"

"Hahahahah!" Adora looked on with confusion as several of the two dozen soldiers laughed around her, leaving the girl perplexed as she turned back to Scorpia.

"Adora, we're talking about all of the places you've recruited, not just the kingdom you recruited three days ago." She stated, catching Adora by more surprise.

"A... All the places I recruited?" Adora questioned. "Like what?"

"What do you think?" One of the Horde soldiers chuckled as he pat her on the back. "Turnwall, Leafless, you name it. We have nearly half of Etheria united under the Horde!"

"And with all the kingdoms and regions you've been recruiting, there's plenty of resources going around everywhere!" Another one of the soldiers mentioned, a girl with raven black hair in a ponytail. "We're actually able to get more food around the lunchroom for a change! Did you know they had this thing called "Pizza"? It's incredible!"

"And we would've gotten candles or something to make the cake more decorative, but Rogelio's running late." Scorpia apologized scratching her head. "He was supposed to be bringing them."

"Yeah, knowing him he's out flying again." Kyle shrugged nonchalant as people began to chat with one another.

Adora stared at everyone applauding and cheering at her in wonder. All these people, all these friends she had at her back. It felt new to her. She couldn't recall the last time she had this many friends. The most she could recall were the likes of Scorpia, Kyle, Rogelio, and... wait a minute.

"Hey, where's Lonnie?" All at once, the room went silent at Adora's question as all eyes turned to her. "What?"

"Um... Adora? No one's seen Lonnie in years." Scorpia revealed, turning to the other curious heads that were murmuring amongst themselves. "We're not even sure if she's even alive."

"Huh? But that's impossible, she was just-"

"And us." Adora shot her head back in shock to realize it was Lonnie saying it, looking as determined as-

The Force Captain realized she was staring off into space by the time she came back to reality, seeing her scorpion friend clicking her claws in front of her to snap her out of it. "Hey, hello? Adora? You there?"

"Huh?" Adora shook her head of the recent thought that occupied her mind. "O-Oh, yeah, sorry. I was just... taken away with all of this." She commented. It wouldn't have been a complete lie to be honest.

All these people still around her, all these friends, it was incredibly heartwarming. She felt like she hadn't felt this sensation in so long, like it was missing from her life for a long while. She felt a sense of satisfaction and contentment with all that had surrounded her. The way everyone cheered for her, the way her alliances were doing so well with the Horde, and the fact that everyone was benefiting from it in the end.

She felt joy. Complete, utter, joy, as Scorpia brought the ration bar cake to her. Given the amount of bars, she could easily tell it was made by everyone pitching in one of their own. They gave it to her knowing someone like her deserved it, someone who always put the Horde first before themselves. She was the one constantly helping people left and right, even when times were tough.

There was no one more deserving of a reward, of a symbol of their respect, than Adora. They knew that with someone like Adora at their side constantly, she was going to do great things for the Horde, greater than she already has.

She was the Hero the Horde needed.

"Well, since Rogelio is running late, just pretend the candles are on it and make a wish, Adora." Scorpia suggested, holding the cake before her. Adora gave one last look around the rest of the room, seeing the dozen or so faces without a helmet over their face smiling to her and the rest of them either cheering or nodding in approval, and looked back.

Why wish for anything? I have everything I need... She thought to herself before taking a great big breath. "Huuuuuuuuff-!"

*Whoosh!*

"Wh-Whoa!"

*splat*

With all eyes focused on the blonde preparing to blow out the illusionary candles, everyone was caught off guard and surprised by the tall lizard who zoomed his way into the locker room, eager to join the party with the rest of the soldiers and cadets as intended. With the dragon-like wings on his back, it was a simple job to skim through the Fright Zone's hallways from outside and reach the locker room in a single minute before making his appearance known.

And by making it known, it meant causing a short amount of chaos as it was enough to scare Scorpia enough to toss the tray partly in the air before crashing into the ground in the process. Everywhere, anywhere, little chunks and blotches of the ration bar cake burst upon impact, scattering the chunks of bars all across the locker room, leaving not a trace, or a face, of someone getting caught in the small explosion.

It took the winged-lizard a moment to realize all the attention had shifted to him as he folded his wings, patting the dust off his arms and sleeves professionally before gazing around the room.

"Agh, Rogelio!" Kyle grumbled to the green-scaled lizard as he wiped off his shades. With a decent amount of leftover bars in his hand from the explosion, Kyle eagerly threw a large glob of it to the fellow soldier in vengeance. What he didn't count on was Rogelio being swift enough to dodge out of the way in time, resulting in the projectile launching and being thrown at another red-haired teenager who didn't take the attack as well as Kyle hoped he would.

Without a second thought, the entire room erupted into a bout of laughter and mayhem as people were scraping pieces of their ration bars off of themselves before flinging it around the room, roaring and cheering at the fun they were having which was, once again, thanks to Adora's handiwork. Rogelio might've caused the splatter itself, but none of this would've happened in the first place if it wasn't to celebrate Adora.

"Heheheheh!" Adora laughed playfully as she shielded her eyes from one of the launching projectiles. With a great amount of reflex and dexterity, the Force Captain quickly ducked out of the way of another glob of the food being thrown at her, pulling her hair back enough so it wouldn't get struck.

This was the greatest day of her life. Plain and simple. She couldn't wait to see what the future had in store for her as she...

Adora froze as she looked to the floor. Along the remains of the splattered pieces of cake, Adora saw something within the mound that was written out all too finely for her, and far too much to call it a simple coincidence. Upon the surface of the splattered cake, she saw the one word that made her tremble:

REMEMBER

What was she supposed to remember? Why did no one else react to this bizarre message written out on the cake's surface? It was too much of a coincidence to-

"Adora." Everyone went silent and the room went pale as a familiar voice rang throughout the locker room. Turning back Adora saw the familiar figure known as Shadow Weaver approaching from the shadows, her narrow white eyes giving no hint into how she was feeling. "Get off the floor. You are the Force Captain who united half of Etheria under the Horde. You should be more professional.

Slowly getting up from the floor, wiping away the smudges of the ration bar from her face, Adora gave a quick look back to the cake in front of her. It was back to being the same old smudged cake it was before, even with Adora's facial image over it. Did she just imagine the whole thing up?

"S-Sorry, Shadow Weaver." Adora apologized as she stood with respect.

Shadow Weaver gazed around the room, inspecting the many faces of soldiers and guards alike that looked away from her with unease. It wasn't too surprising given the numerous smudges crossing their arms and faces. If someone like Hordak saw this sort of thing within his own Horde, he'd have over half the room imprisoned on the spot, the fortunate few Force Captains and officers only getting a slap on the wrist, if they were lucky.

"Just look at this mess." She said, peering at each of their faces. "Who's responsible for this?"

"It was my-"

"It was my fault, Shadow Weaver." Scorpia stood ahead of her friend as she cut her off. The girl had half her face covered in the grey ration bars as she rubbed her left arm guiltily. "I wanted to throw a small celebration for Adora, and... things just kind of got out of control from there." Adora was a little worried as she saw Shadow Weaver raising a hand to her friend.

What was she going to do? Slap her, smack her, unleash her magic on her? Even a stern talking to would've been too far, in Adora's opinion. All Scorpia wanted to do was to reward the friend she was grateful for, it's not her fault that things spiraled out of control from there.

It wasn't until she saw Shadow Weaver placing a gentle hand on the Force Captain's shoulder that Adora mentally sighed, seeing the simple look in Shadow Weaver's eyes. "You always were supportive of her, weren't you?" Shadow Weaver wouldn't harbor any sort of hatred for someone like Scorpia. Why would she when she was someone who treated Adora with the dignity and respect she deserved? Most importantly, she never got in Adora's way of progress, which was just how Shadow Weaver liked it.

Giving a small smile to the peaceful witch, Shadow Weaver turned her attention back back to her faithful Force Captain. "Adora, come with me." She instructed peacefully, earning a small nod from the Force Captain as she took off ahead into the halls. "As for the rest of you," Shadow Weaver briefly paused, giving them all a small wave as she casually followed Adora's footsteps, "enjoy yourselves."

There was nothing short of pandemonium as Shadow Weaver left through the closing doors. While the star of the celebration was gone, there was still plenty of fun to be had around here with all the mounds of ration bars left behind. From one corner of the room to the other, one could find a grey blob of mush being thrown across the air in a never-ending war that went on to claim thousands of lives...

Or thousands of mushed crumbs across people's faces.

*SPLAT!*

...

"I will admit, I had my fair share of doubts about your methods, my dear." Shadow Weaver commented as she walked by Adora's side, hair ever blowing like the bottom tips of her robe. "But you've gone to prove me wrong. You've proven yourself to be every bit of the leader that I knew you were capable of being, and have gone on to earn Hordak's favor. Even I have never managed such an incredible feat."

"T-Thank you, Shadow Weaver." Adora smiled back with pride.

"Adora, please, I told you it's fine when we're by ourselves." Shadow Weaver smiled to her from behind the mask as she pat her head. "You may call me mother." She assured as Adora stopped in her tracks.

"O-Okay... Mom." Adora was overwhelmed with joy from the announcement as her face flushed a little, quickly hurrying up to her "mother" as she came along a wide window stretching across the hall. It peered off into the horizon of the Fright Zone, showing all of its technological advancements and wonders to all who would gaze upon the nightmarish landscape.

"Look at it, Adora." Her mother gestured to the entirety of the scenery. "This is who you are. A proud, noble, and courageous member of the Horde. A Force Captain who will do well to lead the Horde to victory, and unite all of Etheria together." Touching Adora's shoulders, her daughter beamed happily at her with a warm smile. "And I have never been more proud of you."

"R... Really?" Adora teared up a little at the statement, something Shadow Weaver showed zero disgust with.

"Yes, my dear. I am." And with that, Shadow Weaver embraced her in loving hug, one Adora couldn't resist as she threw her arms around her, too, as she closed her eyes.

Everything was perfect.

Everything was glorious.

All around her, life was exactly the way it should be. Everyone was happy. Everyone was smiling. Everything was as it was several minutes ago, the way it should be!

She would go on to prove herself to the Horde, to Hordak, to her mother, like she always dreamed of. Together, they would wipe out the evil princesses of Etheria and secure an everlasting peace with the rest of the world. Together, they would unite in power, pave way towards peaceful relationships with neighboring regions, and, eventually, everyone would be at peace with one another.

It wasn't going to be easy, of course, not with the Rebellion in the way of things. But she was prepared for the challenge. As long as she held true to her convictions, proved stalwart in her desire for a peaceful world, she could do it. She would have friends and allies at her back, she would have leaders joining the Horde one after the other, and they would work together to drive off the evil forces of this world once and for all!

Most of all, Adora would finally feel peace. She would live the rest of her life knowing it was her. Her and her friends, that made this peace possible. Who threw down their lives to ensure a world where one knew no need for want, where everyone was happy.

Including her.

This was the happiest day of her life.

"You have no idea what you mean to-"

"... Mean to what, mother?" Adora squeaked a little as she asked. "... Mom?" Adora gazed in disbelief as she opened her eyes again.

She was gone. Shadow Weaver had disappeared. Vanished. Like she never existed. "M-Mom?" She looked in every direction of herself from the both ends of the hallway to the window itself before looking down at her own two hands. "What just...?"

*ZKKKKKKKT*

"Huh?" It went as quickly as it came as Adora caught sight of it. A sudden white flash blanketing all across the outside world. Was that in her head, too? Was she just picturing everything right now? Wait, no that was impossible, everyone saw Shadow Weaver with her earlier! "Where did-"

"Adooooraaaaaaa~" A familiar voice echoed through the world around Adora. "Adoooooooraaaaaaaa~" It sang again.

"Hello? Who's there?" Adora asked looking around. The voice sounded so familiar, so mysterious, so very much like... her own. But that couldn't be the case, she knew better than that! That would imply that she was crazy- or wait. Maybe she was crazy? She just hugged her mom a second ago and she disappeared before her very arms. There's no way she could-

There she was. The originator of her voice. Her. Herself. Or the other her, in this case. It was Adora. Another Adora! She was leaning against the end of the far hallway, smirking with a raised brow as she crossed her arms to her.

Adora rubbed her eyes to make sure she wasn't hallucinating, and when she saw her one more time, she did it again. There's no way she could believe what she was witnessing here, no possible way. She had to be dreaming right now. It's the only thing that would make sense, right? She hugs her mother, she disappears, a white flash goes across the Fright Zone for a moment, and then she sees herself standing across the hall from her current self with a curious smirk.

She had to be seeing things. She knows she was seeing things. In fact, just to prove it, she was going to ask it a simple question.

"Who are you?" And now it wasn't going to respond because it was a figment of her imagination.

"Better hurry, Adora." Okay, so it did respond. But it didn't answer her question, so that's gotta count for something, right? "You're not gonna want to stick around for much longer."

"Stick around for what?"

*ZKKKKKKKKKKKT!*

"Ah-!" Adora let out a small frightful scream as she looked outside again. Following another bright flash, the entire ground beneath her feet shook violently as it gave off a crackling hollowed sound. It lasted for several seconds much longer, but that wasn't the part that concerned her.

What concerned her was that her, the other her, was aware of it and predicted it would happen again. Turning back towards the hallway, she saw the other self casually turning the corner of the hallway as it went about their business.

"Hey, wait!" Adora shouted as she ran after them.

She didn't know why. A part of her didn't want to know why. For whatever reason, her heart was fearful of what she witnessed. Something inside of her told her mind that she knew what was happening around here, happening to her perfect world. She just didn't know what was actually doing the telling to her!

What happened to her mother just now? What was with the massive, freakish, flash that engulfed the Fright Zone a moment ago? More importantly, why were these things seemingly affecting her and nobody else? Nobody else seemed bothered about it, they didn't seem to care in the moment... unless it was only noticeable to her to begin with?!

Whatever was going on, it didn't matter. She knew she had to get to the bottom of whatever this was. She couldn't understand what was happening to her and to her perfect world, and she had no answers for her questions herself.

But something warned her that if she didn't discover the truth soon, there wouldn't be a world to look forward to...

...

...

...

A/N: Annnnd another chapter completed! And a near 18k like the last one too, that's a new record :P Granted, it takes an additional day getting these near-20ks done, but i think its fine if the reading is still enjoyable ^^... it is enjoyable right? *crosses fingers*

Anyway, for those of you wondering how you can get your own works in this episode, simply make a few scenes taking place at some point of Catra's life between 1-year-old to present-day-Catra. They can consist of anything (appropriate of course) that could possibly take place between catra's life growing up. Make sure they're written as actual scenes in the fanfic like the examples above. I will not unfortunately be taking RPs written as, well, RPs (like scripted for example) but if you have several ideas you want to go with and want to share them with me, you can send those over for me to review personally and see which one I'd recommend being rewritten as a scene.

But again, you just need to write out a scene yourself. Now just because it gets written doesnt guarantee it'll be posted. There might be up to 5 chapters this episode, and as such, I only plan on adding in about 3 flashbacks per chapter. Save for my first one, I will not likely be adding my own flashbacks (aside from the ones in the story mind you) within the story. Which means i currently have 9 spots left open for people, but i'll only be taking the top picks for each one (I mean i wouldn't mind posting them all but you get the idea).

I would also like to remind people that THIS IS THE ONLY EPISODE FANS WILL BE ABLE TO ADD TO. It's to commemorate the 100th chapter I reached and my way to give the fans a means to add onto the story too, so unless something convenient comes up in a future chapter, this'll be the only time for people to add their own spice of fun into the story, so for those interested, send over those ideas asap before the episode ends.

HOOFTAH, that was a lot to cover X_X. Huff. Well then, with that said, hope you all enjoyed! Leave a like, fave, follow, and review if you enjoyed and hope to see you soon!