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

110. S3 Ep5: A Parting Wish Part 1 Part 3

A/N: Final Word Count: Near-20k Pre-A/N's.

Dear GOOOOOOOOD this is turning into one of my longest episodes ever X_X! I don't just mean in terms of size or scale or anything, i don't even think i'll reach 6 chps this episode, maybe not even 5 depending on how the next part goes.

No, this is turning into my longest episode because there's SO MUCH to cover over these chapters i swear to god! This started at about 8.1k as of when I woke up this morning. It somehow stretched up to a glorious 20K (technically 19,830 but close enough) without even trying. Before you ask- yes, i felt it was necessary to convey everything. When you get a large reality-warping universe like this you really can't let anything skim off the top or come up just short, now can you?

Now granted, these are still with those scene flashbacks the fans are making so its perfectly understandable really- heck i think I got about 3k's worth of words from Petie's alone XP I'm just saying with those added to this, this is turning into a freaking massive episode X_X...

Enjoy!

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...

...

"You sure you don't wanna talk about it, sis?" Glimmer asked as the two sat along the edge of the bridge connecting to the Moonstone's pillar.

"I said I'm fine." Catra mumbled, keeping her knees curled up as she hugged herself. There was only so much she could deal with in one afternoon, much less with what the rest of her day had to offer her.

Everything was going fine until now. After waking up from some sort of horrendous nightmare she still couldn't remember, things were fine for awhile. She had a great breakfast that resulted in a food fight with her family, she got to pull a few pranks with her younger sister, Glimmer, before their mom caught on and grounded them for the rest of the morning, and she got to train with her sister at her side as they worked off the rest of their energy for the day.

All throughout it, she got to remember all the good times she had with her sister and family, too. From their first bar fight that Catra was TOTALLY going to win if her little sister wasn't around to protect to their memorable Jelly Tart heist, one that ended with their own father taking the rap for everything for setting a bad example for his and Angella's four and five-year-old daughters. Even the less memorable moments of their lives were still fun to reminisce about as she recalled one of their many fun outings with their aunt Castaspella.

Truly, it was Catra's version of paradise for her change as she had everything she wanted. A place she could call home where she belonged, a family that loved her, and an environment that didn't traumatize her for... whatever reason she thought it would.

So, naturally, something had to come in to ruin it that took the form of a certain old hag half her size by the name of Madame Razz. While she had a familiarity about her, Catra couldn't recognize the old bat. She kept going on and on to Catra about how they had to fix something with the sword, about how this whole reality wasn't real, and how it was her responsibility to fix everything.

Needless to say, the cat was more than aggravated by the news. She truly couldn't remember anything that the bat was talking about, and those few flashes of someone's memory she did have brought her nothing but pain. She didn't know what life she was referring to or who this lady was, and she didn't want to! She was happy here, she was actually content and happy with her life! She had a family, a nice home, everything she could've wanted! With little choice in the matter, she eventually resorted to summoning the guards, forcing the old hag to disappear from her sight.

Yet, even with all that had transpired, Catra couldn't get it out of her head. What was the lady talking about? What wasn't real about this place? She's had memories of this place since her earliest years could recall, she remembers growing up in Bright Moon to this very day. So why... why did nothing sit right with her since meeting her? Why did her head start to hurt like it did this morning, when all the conflicting memories started to push themselves into her mind?

Whatever her deal was, Catra didn't want a part of it. She didn't want to be a part of anything the woman was telling her, part of any of the lies she had to say. She knew who she was, she knew where she was meant to be, and she intended for things to stay that way.

No matter what.

"And you don't know who it was?" Glimmer continued to ask. It wasn't everyday, or any, that Bright Moon had an intruder like this. As exciting as it was, it was also just as concerning on where the intruder came from, much less where they

"If I did, I would've been chasing after them myself." Catra snarled, taking a small rock from the bridge as she tossed it into the ravine.

"Well mom said they'll find her in time and she'll add extra patrols for our room for a bit, if it makes you feel any better."

"I don't care about whether or not they can find her, it's just..."

"Just what?"

"I... I don't know, it's just..." Catra lowered her ears as she turned her head away, scratching her left hand against the ground. "Hey, Gli-I mean... sis?"

"Yeah?" Glimmer stared at her sister in curiosity as she slowly turned her head to her without raising her eyes.

"If... If you had a chance to... to change the world back, would you do it?" She timidly asked.

"What do you mean?" She watched as Catra rose to her feet, walking away slowly down the bridge as Glimmer followed her.

"Well, for example, like... Say this world wasn't what it appeared to be, and it actually ended up being different from your own."

"Okay?"

"Now, say, for instance, this world was a lot better than your own world. Would you..." Scratching at her head did nothing to make the fuzziness dull from her senses. "Would you... I don't know... Go back to the way it once was? Where there were a whole bunch of problems with it?"

"Oh! Um..." The younger Princess of Bright Moon contemplated at this, stroking her chin and elbow in thought. "Gee, that's a tough question. The way I see it, it wouldn't make a difference between living in this world or the other one. I mean, all worlds have their own sorts of problems, right? We have the Horde to deal with, and, for all we know, the other one might have terrifying monsters roaming around entire kingdoms."

"E-Exactly!" Catra didn't know why it made her tail wag slightly with a brighter demeanor, but she wanted to accept it for herself. "So there wouldn't really be any point in going back-"

"However," Glimmer continued as she turned around, "if the world you were living in now was only better by your own standards, and it was forcefully made without anyone else's choice in mind, then I just couldn't accept it."

"But why not?" Catra needed to ask as she turned Glimmer around by her shoulder. "If everything was better in a new world where you were happy, then why change it?"

"Because it wouldn't be right. Just because your life turned out for the better doesn't mean it did so for everyone else. For all you know, someone who might've been a great success in life might've turned into a failure of a man who lives in a gutter somewhere. It wouldn't be right to change their already-happy lives to make your own happy. Get what I'm saying?"

"Mmmh..." Sadly, Catra did grasp on what she was trying to tell her as she looked over the bridge.

She could have this perfect lifestyle of hers to no end and be satisfied with it. If this was a dreamworld, she could live out her fantasies and joys every day of her life without a care, basking in everything she enjoyed through this new life. It also meant that someone somewhere else could be suffering in her place because of it.

For example, there was no telling how many lives could've been affected by the numerous people King Micah and Queen Angella during their time raising someone extra like Catra or Glimmer in a new reality. They might have ordered the last in stock of something someone else needed. Without it, a whole trail of events could have occurred where that same person was traveling to a new town to find their desired items, been mugged by bandits or eaten by wildlife, and left behind several children and a wife in what was now a broken family.

Sure, it was an extreme example, but the idea was all the same. It was like the whole Butterfly Effect by this point; for every great thing that was happening to Catra right now, somebody else could be suffering the exact opposite of it somewhere else. And if somebody forced her to live out a terrible life compared to her current and obvious reality, then she would want nothing more than to change it back to the way it was.

"But what if your life was much worse in a real reality?" Catra continued to argue. "Like, what if-"

...

"I don't get it, what's everyone so worked up about?"

"My dad died a long time ago fighting in the war." Glimmer muttered back.

"...Oh..."

...

"-what if dad was dead in your real reality?" Glimmer became silent as she stared at her sister in a bit of shock. Catra didn't need her to have cat ears like hers to tilt just to know how she was feeling from that question. The reaction was all over her face.

"Uh, okay, wow..." Glimmer mumbled uneasily as she rubbed the back of her neck. "That was sort of dark."

"Agh, I know, I know, I'm sorry." Catra grumbled, rubbing her eyes soothingly for a bit. "I don't know where that came from, it just popped into my head for some reason." Of all the examples she could've provided, she couldn't figure it out. Why did she feel the need to compare it to something as dreadful as that? She loved her father as much as Glimmer did, so to say anything out of the ordinary like that out of the blue was rather surprising.

"Are you sure everything's alright, Catra? You've been acting really strange since that intruder showed up."

"Yeah, I know. Everything's fine. It's just... Just that old hag, she-"

"If you lose yourself in this new reality, you'll forget everything that truly matters.

"... I don't know, just forget it." Catra decided as she sat against the ledge again.

"Um... okay." The younger sister still felt a little uneasy as she sat by Catra's side again. She's never seen a moment like this where Catra was acting so strange around her, which was saying a lot for someone with animalistic qualities to her. She had her typical hate for water, she liked eating fish more often than not, and it was still normal compared to this behavior.

As for Catra herself, she continued to process the stupid things the old hag had to say to her earlier. So much about it didn't make any sense to her. LIke, if this wasn't a real reality, then how come nobody else noticed anything out of the ordinary or brought this up? Was the old hag truly as senile as she appeared?

Then again, she couldn't get over the flashes in her mind that slowly came to her, the thoughts of events that have never occurred based on her memory. They came slowly to her one after the other, like a migraine that tried to resurface whenever possible. Every time they came to her, her head started to hurt and her heart started to ache. It was only when she tried to, when she desired to, ignore them that they finally left her in peace.

But why was she getting these flashes in the first place? Did that Madame Razz-whoever actually do something to her when she wasn't aware of it? Did Catra fall asleep for a few minutes long enough for the woman to drug her with some sort of odorless powder without Catra ever knowing? And, out of everybody, why did she come straight to Catra herself? Why not someone else more capable of fixing things like her mother and father, the King and Queen? If anybody had the authority to fix something as large as reality changing in itself, then it would be them.

The old lady must've been full of herself, as far as Catra was concerned. The memories she had of this place were pleasant, priceless, and joyful to her. She refused to believe what any old lady had to say about her or the world without some sort of proof. "Terrible things would happen"? "Trying to spare her from suffering greater pain later"? These were the words of a lunatic as far as Catra was concerned.

She was a Princess of Bright Moon, like her sister. She had her own responsibilities to deal with involving the Horde and everything they were doing. It was like Glimmer said, if this was a dreamworld, then why were the Horde still around? Obviously the woman was lying to her. She had to be.

Catra needed to hope that she was.

*ting*

"Huh?" Catra's attention shifted to the small arrow that suddenly shot up from below her, sticking into the floor of the bridge a few feet away from her.

"Oh, he's back!" Glimmer said with a smile as she saw the arrow.

"He?" Catra's question didn't come without explanation as no sooner did Glimmer stand up, a familiar archer was pulled up to the very top of the bridge by the very cable that was reeling him up.

With grace and finesse, the very archer jumped over the ledge of the bridge, doing a single flip forward before landing squarely on his right foot and left knee, the traditional way that any amazing archer would make their presence known. "Hey, guys." Bow greeted as he turned around. That's when Catra saw it.

Over the rim of his upper lift, with tiny little specks strewn across his face, was the hundred of tiny hairs that barely grew over Bow's upper lip, still leaving much of the skin exposed. Naturally, she replied in the most appropriate way she could think of as she got a good look at it.

"Pfffffffft! Tchahahahaahaha!" Catra bursted with laughter as she held her sides, pointing at Bow's face as her eyes snapped shut. "Oh my gosh, pfffffft-! What is on your face?!"

"Um... a mustache?" Bow replied with a small blush, feeling along the tips of hair growing over his face. "I've been growing it out for awhile."

"That's barely a peach-fuzz! Hahahaha!" She couldn't help it. The laughter had picked up so much that she ended up falling backwards as she continued to roll against the floor, holding her sides as her sister and friend looked at her in confusion.

"What's with her? It's not like the first time you guys have seen me like this?" Bow asked, blinking in confusion at the near-choking girl who continued to laugh.

"Don't mind her," Glimmer suggested as she rolled her eyes, "she's been acting weird all day since this morning." Waiting for her sister's laughter to die down, or the cat herself, Glimmer finally helped her sister up by the arm as she faced the archer. "Catra, you do remember Bow, right? That hasn't affected your memory or anything, I hope."

"B-Bow?" Catra let out another chuckle before grinning to the very archer. "Oh yeah, I remember him..."

...

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

It was peaceful day in the Kingdom of Bright Moon. The ten-year-old Glimmer was in her room, sitting by the window reading a note with a smile on her face. Suddenly the doors burst open as a near-eleven-year-old Catra walked in. "Hey Glimmer!"

"GAH!" Glimmer nearly jumped out of her seat, before she recovered and put her hands behind her back. "Catra! What have I told you about knocking?"

"Oh please." Catra put her hands behind her head. "You teleport into rooms all the time without knocking. How is that any different?"

Glimmer sighed. "What do you want?"

"I'm bored." Catra walked around. "Theres nothing going on today. No training, no," it was then she noticed Glimmers hands were behind her back. "What are you hiding?"

"Nothing!" Glimmer said quickly, too quickly as it only confirmed she was hiding something.

"Very believable." Catra rolled her eyes. "Seriously what is it?"

"I told you I'm not hiding anything." Glimmer repeated.

Catra grinned as she slowly moved in. "Sis, we can do this the easy way or the fun way."

Glimmer and Catra stared at one another for a moment, then the magicat jumped at her but Glimmer teleported to the other side of the room. "Catra stop it!" Catra jumped at her again but she teleported away again. "I'm not hiding anything!" The process repeated a few more times before Catra grabbed a cushion and threw it. Glimmer reappeared and the cushion hit her in the head catching her by surprise.

This moment of distraction was all Catra needed to dash in and grab the paper out of her hands. "Hey!"

Catra jumped up onto Glimmers bed and read the note. Intrigued by what it secrets it held that her sister tried so hard to keep hidden. "Hey Glimmer, I had a lot of fun today. We should hang out again soon, Bow." Catra blinked at the anti climactic words before looking down at Glimmer. "Whose Bow?"

Glimmer teleported up onto the bed. "Hes a friend of mine." But Catra jumped off it and back down to the floor. "Hes a new recruit that just joined the rebellion. Hes a great archer that makes his own trick arrows."

"Trick arrow?" Catra raised an eyebrow. "Sounds lame."

Glimmer teleported next to her and swiped the paper out of her hand. "There not lame. Theyre really impressive." She had seen some of them in action and they were the exact opposite of lame. "Hes made fire arrows, net arrows, electrical arrows, explosive arrows."

"Explosive arrows?" That caught Catras attention. "That's definitely not lame. I gotta get some of those."

"Yeah, I don't think your ready for explosive arrows." Glimmer said.

"Oh come on whats the worst that could happen?" Catra asked.

Glimmer looked at her before bluntly saying. "Something will blow up."

Catra rolled her eyes whatever. "That still doesn't explain why your acting so weird?"

"I am not acting weird." Glimmer defended.

"When why were you keeping your new friend a secret?" Catra inquired.

Glimmer put her hands on her hips. "Maybe I wanted you to stay away from his explosive arrows. For all our sakes."

Catra narrowed her eyes but then smirked. "Do you like him?"

"What? No!" Glimmer blushed a bit. "Hes just a friend!"

Catra leaned in as her smirk grew. "Then why are you blushing?"

"I'm not blushing!" Glimmer snapped as her hands sparkled with magic. "Now get out of my room!"

"Seesh, over react much?" Catra raised an eyebrow, then her eyes winded "You do like him."

"I do not!" Glimmers face grew redder.

"I was kidding, but you do!" Catra pointed at her. "You totally like him." She laughed. "Glimmer and Bow sitting in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g."

"AAAAHHHHHH!" Glimmer threw magic at her sister who jumped out of the way and ran out the door.

But the older princess wouldn't let something like a magical attack stop her. "Glimmers got a boyfriend! Glimmers got a boyfriend!" Catra sand as she ran down the hallway while Glimmer gave chase and continued to throw magic blasts at her.

The King and Queen were taking advantage of the peace and quite and were currently sitting at a table enjoying some tea.

"I love these moments of peace." Angellasaid contently. "They don't come by too often."

"Well we are fighting war Angie." Micah reminded her. "It tends yo take up most of your time.

"That, and we have children." Angella sipped her tea.

Suddenly the peace and quite was broken by the sound of yelling and something breaking. They looked at an doorway to see Glimmer chasing after catra who was laughing loudly.

"Your aim needs work sister." Catra called back as she dodged another blast. "Maybe we should call a certain archer friend of yours?"

"THAT'S IT!" Glimmer began blasting wildly as she chased after her sister.

"Speak of the daughters, and they shall appear." Micah said in amusement.

"Girls Stop!" Angella got up but her husband grabbed her hand.

"Hold it Angie." Micah sat her back down. "This is perfectly normal for siblings."

"I highly doubt this is normal behavior." Angella said.

"That's because you don't have siblings." Micah pointed out. "Trust me I grew up with a sister, this is all part of the process."

Angella raised an eyebrow, "you threw magic bolts at Casta growing up?"

"Only when she started it." Micah stated, then added, "which was every time."

They heard something breaking in the next room. Angella looked at Micah. "Like I said, its all part of the process." He said calmly.

Then they heard the girls talking.

"Oh no!" Glimmer gasped. "Dads book case!"

"Quick head for the whispering woods!" Catra said.

Angella sipped her tea. "What part of the process are we at now?" You tell she was smirking on the inside.

The king sighed. "Like it often did when Casta and I were children, it leads to grounding." With that he ran out of the room. "Girls! What happeed to my bookcase?"

The Queen sat there and enjoyed her tea in amusement at the situation. "Wait," something occurred to her. "Whats this about an archer?"

...

"Of all the things you could've remembered..." Glimmer sighed, wishing for some of Catra's mixed up memories to be forgotten like that day.

"So, what? You here to take my little sissy on a date again?" Catra cooed in a teasing tone, poking at Glimmer's blushing face with a grin as her sister squeezed her eyes and teeth tightly, trying to simmer the small anger her sister was growing.

"N-No, nothing like that!" Bow blushed shaking his hands in front of her. "I'm just here to help with today's mission."

"The mission?" Finally, a piece of evidence that would prove to Catra that this world wasn't as perfect as it appeared to be! This would set her mind straight and ease her conscious. "What mission?"

"Did you forget that, too?" Glimmer asked with a heightened brow. "We're going to liberate Thaymor from the Horde."

...

...

"Wait!" Adora yelled out again as she followed the mysterious figure. Well, perhaps she wasn't mysterious in the sense that Adora didn't know her, quite the opposite. She was mysterious in the sense that she was her. Another Adora, another person who looked just like her as she ran down the halls. Strangely, this wasn't the most mysterious part of her day.

At first, everything seemed to be going well. She had a decent and professional relationship with everyone around her, including her adoptive mother, Shadow Weaver, and the leader of the Horde, Lord Hordak himself. During her meetings with each of them individually, she was overwhelmed with the respect and honor they treated her with, praising her many accomplishments and their numerous feats preformed in the Horde's name.

Which was how it always was for her, if memory came to serve.

She even had the respect of her fellow soldiers and officers, including her friends like Scorpia, Kyle, and Rogelio, as they threw her a small surprise party within the locker room. They all respected her, they cherished everything she had done for them, and wanted to celebrate her as much as the leaders did. Over two dozen people had arrived to partake in the short-lived party with a single Ration Bar cake at the center, and the ensuing food fight that was caused after the cake splattered against the ground in every direction. Truly, Adora didn't think her life could get any better than that... and it didn't.

Following a brief hug with her mother figure, everything came to a grinding halt as mystery and confusion consumed the air around her. No sooner did Adora accept her mother's loving hug did she find the very woman missing, the woman who was in her arms not two seconds earlier. On top of that, getting a brief look outside, she saw a bizarre flash of white that engulfed the Fright Zone, one that was followed with another a minute after, and filled with a thunderous shake to it.

Perhaps the day was getting weirder before all of that, like how she appeared to know things that had yet to be revealed to her, such as when Lord Hordak showed her the schematics to a portal machine, which he had never done before. Or maybe the way she could've sworn the words REMEMBER were written into the smushed ration cake for a few seconds before returning to the way it was before? An event that nobody else seemed to have noticed.

But by far, the strangest part of her day was when she saw herself down the hall, following her mother's disappearance. There was something strange about the girl and familiar somehow, and not because she was physically identical to her in every way. There was something about her, about the way Adora was chasing after someone who looked just like her, how she kept trying to talk to the doppelganger, that was eerily memorable.

Whoever the copy was, she appeared to know something that Adora didn't, something about this world and what was starting to happen to it. She wanted Adora to follow her to who knew where, as far as Adora presumed, as she lead her throughout the halls of the citadel they were in, all the while soldiers and guards alike saluted her, as if they were completely oblivious to the exact double they saw running ahead of her.

During this time, Adora noticed that fewer and fewer people were running around than there used to be. Where, at first, dozens of guards filled between every two hallways, there were now less than a puddle of them hanging around. Were they just off on a mission or off doing work somewhere else? Adora couldn't say. All she knew was that people were starting to disappear, perhaps forcefully and mysteriously just like her mother did minutes ago.

"Come back!" Adora pleaded, wanting this strange figure to answer the questions plaguing her mind. The copy of her smirked back to the Force Captain as she continued to run ahead, eventally passing through a door along the center of the hallway. For a moment, Adora had thought she finally had the girl, knowing the room only lead into a barrack of bunk beds where the cadets usually slept, and the fact there was only one door to the entire room. It wasn't until she finally appeared at the doorway, peering into the room, that she realized how wrong she was.

There was no copy of her in sight. There wasn't anybody in sight in front of her. All she saw were dozens of bunk beds against each side of the room, some of them with covers messily tossed around them while others were nice and flattened like a proper soldier's would be. All Adora cared about for now was finding the mysterious double as she walked into the room, keeping an open eye out for anything that looked suspicious.

"I'm not going to hurt you or yell at you." Adora stated as she glanced around the room. "I just wanna talk. I wanna know what's happening around here." As she happened upon the fifth row of bunk beds to her left, Adora finally found her target as she noticed a strange bulge sticking up from the bed itself, one that took the obvious shape of a human sitting up on the bed. "Look, do you know anything about this place? Because something weird is going-" Adora cut herself off as she pulled back the sheets.

There was nobody there. "-on." This didn't make any sense. She tried looking under the bed she was at and the beds up and down the room just in case, and still she found nothing. "What is going on here?" Adora muttered to herself as she sat on the bed.

*crinkle*

"Hm?" The Force Captain's attention was shifted to the seat under her as she heard the strange sound, finding what appeared to be a requisition form sticking out from under her. "What's this?" Examining the strange parcel, Adora didn't notice anything out of the ordinary about it until she turned it around, nearly gasping at what she saw. "This is... "

...

All the tension, all the anger that welled up inside of her, slowly drifted away like the wind as the shadows fully dispersed. Glancing up the page to the dimwitted cat, she had to ask herself. Why did she make this drawing of them? A drawing of the past? It shouldn't have meant anything to them, or at least not Catra, and, knowing her as she did, she wouldn't have been surprised if it was just a ploy to let her guard down.

And yet, that couldn't be the case. She was in no frame of mind to trick any of them, had no idea of what was going on or why she was even here. Here, she was nothing more than a simple-minded child who was goofing off back and forth around them. She couldn't be trying to trick them like this, unless everything was an act, including the last time she was infected by the virus. And she knew Catra too well to know she would never put on a ridiculous display, even for her own benefit.

This... was a part of her. A part that was somehow still in her. And it made Adora's core shake a little.

...

"Ahh!" Adora screamed as the images came rushing into her mind forcefully. The shock of the flow of memories caused her to hyperventilate a little as she fell off the bed, landing on her hands and knees. "What was..." Slowly lifting herself from the ground, Adora examined the surrounding room again with complexity, feeling like everything was suddenly foreign to her. "This... This isn't right... right..."

"Ngh..." Catra mumbled in her sleep as she tossed in the corner of Adora's bed-

These were just a few of the words a sniffling Adora could use to describe her present situation as she sat curled up on the bunk bed she used to share with a dear friend-

"What... What is all this?" Something was wrong. Very wrong. All around her everything started to feel more confusing to her as these weird flashes came back into her mind, these scenes of a time forgotten rushing to her brain against her will. "This... This was my old room with... With..."

"Hey, where are you going?" She heard Adora whisper to her as the door opened again.

"Wha- Nowhere! Just go back to sleep." Catra whispered quickly as she tried to move on.

"... Catra..." What? What was going on around here?

Why did she just think this was a room she shared with Catra? Why was everything becoming stranger to her by the day? It didn't make any sense! She just found a picture in her room she could barely recall. So what? That didn't mean anything. For all she knew someone else could've drawn it. And the room here? She used to sleep in them every day with a whole bunch of other children growing up until she became a Force Captain. And even then, it was Scorpia she slept with every night, sometimes on the bunk above her, sometimes in the same bed when one of the two couldn't sleep.

Did she just get the image in her mind because of her strange, unknown, nightmare this morning that caused her to shout Princess Catra's name? That had to be the case. How else could she explain the strange phenomenon that was infiltrating her mind. It was a simple bunk room with a simple picture and nothing more. Look, even the walls of the establishment were the same as when she was a ki-

"Huh?" Adora froze as she stared off to the wall, slowly raising a hand towards it to see if it was real or not. Upon the wall, Adora found a drawing of both, Adora's and Catra's faces, drawn along the wall in a simple manner. It was... It was just like the drawing on her paper, the drawing that Adora just found on... on her own bed...

Adora decided, stretching her arms out of the blankets as she gently plucked the pink crayon from her friend's hand. She watched as her friend gave another cheeky grin as she began drawing a picture of herself, her head specifically. Eyeing the pink crayon in her own hand for a moment, Adora followed through as she did the same, drawing her own head to the best of her ability.

"C-Catra's... been here..." The Force Captain backed away from the doodled wall as she was left in distraught. Something was officially wrong here. Nothing was as it was supposed to be around here.

Princess Catra, the very one she just remembered about, wasn't supposed to be a princess! She was supposed to be a soldier of the Horde, and apparently an acquaintance of Adora in some way. Adora herself wasn't a first-in-command like the others told her, she was a second-in-command that took orders as well as addressed them to her fellow peers. And her mother... she couldn't really recall if anything was different about her, or Lord Hordak himself, for that matter.

Not all the bits and pieces had returned to her thus far.

Still, it mattered little compared to the majority of everything else that was toying with her mind. With every recollection she acquired in this room, another bright flash engulfed her vision for a split second, almost as if she was flashing between a world of everything and a world of nothingness. A nothingness that called out to her as it attempted to break through the reality.

*Ka-Rumble*

"What was that?" Adora mumbled to herself as she felt the strong vibrations again. Gazing around the room, the Force Captain's bangs of hair slowly drifted in front of her vision before she finally saw it.

At the very center of the room, three feet away from where the commander currently stood, the ground erupted. With an immeasurable quake following suit, the entire room lit up as the air and ground in front of her burst open, as if someone had smashed a window with a hammer.

Light poured in helplessly through the seams and the cracks that were escalating rapidly around them, the intensity of the quakes becoming more and more violent with each passing second. Seeing the small cracks spreading around the room for herself, the Force Captain's eyes widened in horror as she saw things beginning to disappear, things that were coming into contact with the white cracks in the air, such as the pillows and sheets spread around her.

Everything was falling apart as Adora screamed, running madly for the metal door as the mystical whiteness spread across the room. She couldn't let it touch her, she couldn't let herself disappear along with the rest of this place. Reaching for the small switch on the side of the doorway, she pressed against it hastily, waiting for the doorways to open.

*tap*

"What?" Panic ensnared the young blonde as she pressed the button again. "No..." Nothing was happening. She kept trying to press the button again and again, only to hear the sound of a simple click followed by the grunt of the door that refused to open up. "No, no, no!" Adora tried tugging on the metallic door herself to pry it loose, looking back at the gaping whiteness as she did.

"Hello? Hey! Can anyone hear me?!" Adora shouted through the doorway, seeing the white void that was eating away at the room. "Someone? Anyone! Open up, please!" The fear and dread creeping up on her didn't tarnish the realization that came to her. With all the things disappearing from her side of the door, she could figure out that the white void must've cut off the wiring and circuity that opened these doors, at least from her side of the door.

The white void was ten feet away. Ten feet became nine, nine to eight, a foot closer with every passing second. What was going to happen to her if she touched the white void? Was this all just a trick of the mind? Was it only inanimate objects that were sucked away with the void? With everything disappearing around her, including the people she noticed missing, she didn't want to take a chance to find out.

*creeak*

"Whoooa-!" Letting out a sudden yelp, the fortunate captain found herself falling back and out of the room right as she pressed against it. Slightly disoriented from the fall to the back of her head, Adora blinked away at her somewhat hazy vision until she could make out a familiar face staring back at her. "Scorpia?"

"Hey. Are you alright, Adora?" Scorpia asked as she reached a claw out to her young friend.

Given all that's happened in the last minute, Adora quickly jumped back to her feet as she kept her eyes pierced on the scorpion in front of her. "Scorpia, we have to move. Now!"

"What? Why?"

"Why do you think why?" Adora knew she had to be kidding her as she gestured her hand towards the door. "We need to get away from-!" It was gone. All of it was gone. The doorway, the door, everything. The wall was melded over like a door had never stood here to begin with. "But... But it was just here... T-T-The doorway was just... You pulled me from a doorway, remember?"

"A door?" Scorpia questioned, taking a quick look at the wall and back. "Adora, you were just falling over when I found you."

"No, no, I wasn't! It was just here, the doorway was right in front of us!" She pressed her hands against the metallic surface as if trying to find some hidden switch, some indication, that a door stood here in the first place.

"Adora, there's never been a door here. It's just a wall, unless you're saying there's a secret passage here I don't know about." Scorpia mused, rubbing her chin with the side of her claw. "Is there a secret passageway?"

"No, of course not! It's..." Okay, so trying to push the wall in front of her friend who just found her spazzing out in the middle of the hallway wasn't going to help. All it did was leave her with an irritable reason to rub her palms against her eyes as the stagnant air became heavy with confusion. "Okay, Scorpia, have you noticed anything weird going on around here? Like people disappearing or white flashes popping up out of nowhere?"

"Um... no?" Scorpia replied in a questionable manner as she raised a brow. "Is this a trick question or something?"

"Of course not! Just... Just give me a yes or no! I need to know I'm not the only one seeing things here."

"Seeing things like what?"

"LIKE A WHITE FLASH ENGULFING A ROOM!" She grumbled, trying to keep herself from wasting time with any pointless bickering or banter.

"A white flash in a...! Oh!" Scorpia lit up with a small smile as she realized it. "Yeah, actually, there was a light flash in the locker room shortly after you left!"

"There was?" Finally, she was getting somewhere with her!

"Yeah! One of Kyle's fangirls took a picture of him like several times in different poses. She even took a hilarious one just after Rogelio splattered a handful of cake over his face." She explained, digging through her pockets and pulling out several small pictures as Adora's expression and arms dropped. "You wanna see?"

"Uggghhhh!" Pacing around the hall back and forth, Adora groaned to herself as she tried a different approach, preferably one that didn't make her look insane. She had no way of convincing her that some other white flash was going on around here, she didn't know how to explain everything that happened to her, and she didn't have any proof of what was going on!

"... Wait a minute!" Stopping in place, Adora suddenly dug through her coat as she pulled out the familiar object she just gathered from the other room. "Ah-ha! Here! Look at this!" She demanded, shoving the paper into Scorpia's hand. "What do you see?"

"Uhhh," Scorpia mumbled as she eyed the strange piece of paper she handed her, "a requisition form?"

"What? No, I'm talking about the-" Adora didn't get the chance to prove her point as she took the paper back.

It was gone. The drawing of her and Catra's faces that were drawn upon the paper had upped and vanished out of thin air. All that lied between her hands were the simple details and requests of the requisition form she had before, nothing out of the ordinary.

"Oh, come on!" She groaned heavily as she briefly pressed the paper against her forehead. "It was just here! This had to be what the other me was trying to show me!"

"Other you?" Scorpia started to become a little uneasy as she watched Adora's seemingly-self destruction.

"After Shadow Weaver took me to the halls, she gave me a hug one second, and the next second after that she suddenly disappeared. Not long after that, there was a white flash outside, then I saw another me down the hallway, and then another flash, and then I followed myself to the room that disappeared where I found a picture of me and Catra on it, including a wall with the very same drawing!" Clearly, this explanation would prove to Scorpia that she wasn't insane!

"Okay, that does it." With a firm tone, the Force Captain found herself being dragged by the wrist from the claws of another Force Captain as she was pulled across the hall. "I knew you weren't well, and now you're just being crazy."

"What do you think you're doing?" Adora asked as she tried to pry Scorpia's surprisingly massive grip from her wrist.

"What do you think I'm doing? I'm getting you back into bed, you're going to sleep peacefully until you're better, and we're going to pretend this whole crazy-talk never happened before Hordak thinks you've gone insane and has you committed."

"What? No!" Adora struggled to pry herself away from the girl further as Scorpia struggled to maintain her grip. "Let go of me, I'm not crazy."

"Adora, don't make me sting you..." Scorpia threatened with a raised tail. "As my BFSC, I can't let you roam around talking crazy and risk you getting hauled off to some nuthouse."

"But I'm not crazy!"

"Yes you are! I mean, just listen to yourself! Another you running around? Someone named "Shadow Weaver" disappearing right in front of you? Pretending that you had a drawing of you and Catra in a room you've never been to? Why would you even have a drawing of her in the first place? You hate her!"

Adora slowly realized something she had yet to realize herself. "Wait, how did you know that?"

"Because I-!" Like Adora, Scorpia ame to a sudden stop as she stood in place, letting Adora finally slip out of her grip. "Because... B-Because you..."

That was when it finally struck the first-in-command as she saw the look of wonder crossing Scorpia's face. She wouldn't get enough evidence to support her crazy theories or whacky detailings, but she could still prove it through her own memories. "You remember something, don't you?"

"I..." What was going on here? Was Adora's insanity contagious? All at once, it felt like her brain was fighting with her heart that was fighting with her brain that was fighting back against her heart in a never-ending struggle for dominance as something forced its way into the cortex of her mind. "Wait, this..." Scorpia looked in all directions, including her own claws in disbelief, and to the hopeful Force Captain in front of her. "Adora? What's... What's going on here?"

"You finally remember!" At long last, Adora sighed with relief, glad to have someone else at her side throughout this strange insanity she was going through.

"Remember? Remember..." Scorpia examined the hallway with a growing concern, acting as if the world was just dropping in front of her for the first time.

...

"You enjoying yourself there?" A voice spoke up from behind her. Looking back, she snapped out of her thoughts as she smiled back to the other Force Captain, one specifically assigned to assist her by Shadow-Weaver.

"Oh, hey Scorpia-"

...

Scorpia was caught by surprise as Adora embraced her in a tight hug, burying the side of her face against into her chest. "Thank you."

"For what?"

"For showing me that not all princesses are evil-!"

...

"But it's true..." Adora sniffled a little.

"No it's not." Scorpia tried to assure in a positive attitude. "I'm sure there's a good reason for everything she did, you'll see. And hey, whatever you decide, I'll be right behind ya, okay-?"

...

Finally coming back to reality, Scorpia silently stared as she released her grip from Adora's arm. "Adora? Wh-What's going on here? What happened to everything?"

"I don't know, okay? I'm still trying to think." Adora informed her, trying to remain calm for the both of them. "How much can you remember?"

"Just bits and pieces. My memories all jumbled. What about you?"

"I-I don't know!" Adora scrambled her fingers against her head as she was trying to focus. "The closest thing I can remember was... was..." Adora gasped.

...

"If we tried to open a portal right now, the results could be disastrous! It's going to collapse and take us all with it. Catra was right-!"

...

"...The portal..." Adora muttered to her friend. "It was the portal that Entrapta was working on... with Hordak..." As the realization came to her, so, too, did the reality of her position.

Hordak didn't care about Adora in the real world, not like this one was shown to have. He treated someone with respect based on how useful they were to him, how intelligent they were and how constructive they could be. While someone like Entrapta had limitless potential at her disposal to be useful to him, others like Adora only grew to sicken him further.

"Entrapta?" Just mentioning the name alone seemed to trigger more of Scorpia's memories, some more recently than Adora's own. "Wait, wasn't Entrapta the one you... you..."

*BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZT*

Entrapta cried out in pain as thousands upon thousands of volts coursed through her body within seconds.

-she saw in Entrapta's eyes was a look of remorse, a feeling that slowly entered Adora herself as she realized what she had done, before she finally collapsed to the ground, unconscious-

-Adora was at a loss as she stared at the baton in her hands. Scorpia was at a loss as her mouth gaped open.

"You... You shocked-"

"I shocked Entrapta..." Adora's pupils shrank as she stared at her own trembling hands. Pools of sweat started to drip from her forehead as the corners of her eyes started to tear up. "I... I tased her... Attacked her... S-She was my friend... Why did I attack her?!" She yelled to know as she dropped to her knees.

"Hey, hey, slow down, it's alright." Scorpia tried to comfort as she rubbed her shoulders. "You were just scared, I'm sure you didn't mean to-"

"We need to go." Adora stated firmly, somehow getting back to her feet in a second despite the display she put on. "Now."

"Go?" Scorpia wasn't bothered as much by her friend's recovery so much as she was by the spontaneous announcement. "Go where?"

"We need to go to Hordak's sanctum. He's working on the very portal that started all of this. I think-"

*zzzzzzzt*

"-something bad will happen if he completes that portal!"

"..."

"..."

Okay, this day just went from weird to confusing to bizarre to downright insane. Not two seconds after Adora announced they needed to get to Hordak's Sanctum did they reappear in an entirely different location. It was one of the connecting hallways that lead straight to the leader's lair, the exact location Adora was still planning to head for before it happened.

Checking around, the two came across their convenient surroundings with confusion and worry. "How did we get here?!"

...

...

*swish*

The three friends took their positions along the fauna as they gazed at the fortified defenses surrounding Thaymor.

Being assigned to a mission such as this was a bit of a surprise to the princess known as Catra, the very same who wanted to liberate Thaymor more than anyone for reasons she couldn't explain herself. To hear that the very day she had woken up to such a bizarre steam of events was also the same day they'd be assigned to a dangerous mission didn't sit too well with the cat girl, much less her parents, for Catra herself stated she was more than willing to do the mission, like she had to for some unexplained mystery.

Reaching the town wasn't as hard as the reports had initially let on. They expected heavier resistance, patrols all around, and at least a few traps within the surrounding wilderness. So imagine their surprise when they managed to easily navigate up to the city with barely any guards or droids to greet them, enemies they could dispatch and knock out silently before the alarms were rung. It gave way to a small bit of hope they had for the rest of Thaymor, which proved to be a fool's hopefulness in the end.

All around the great city, the Horde had already fortified its defense on every front. Massive fifteen-foot metallic walls over the already-placed walls of the cities, two guards and two droids at every checkpoint, and at least three watchtowers that were built within chokeholds of the city, each overlooking each other and could alert the rest of the city if an invasion had occurred.

It would prove to be one of the most dangerous missions Catra could recall as she remembered the mission statistics.

Step 1: Take down the three towers silently and simultaneously. Even if the action caught the attention of the nearby patrols, with the towers out of commission, they could keep the alarms from being sounded throughout the entire city, giving them the advantage of surprise.

Step 2: Clear a route from the three tours all the way to one of the exits of the city. Doing so would clear a pathway for both, the civilians still hiding away within the city, and make a clear path for Rebellion soldiers to infiltrate the city at full force.

Step 3: The Final Step. From there, they could invade and divide the city from two separate fronts, using the watchtowers' base as a focal point to spread out from. With the city divided and soldiers flooding into the city from one clear pathway, the city would be swarmed with Rebellion soldiers and retaken before the Horde knew what hit them, effectively liberating the city from the Horde's clutches.

However, that still required them to actually pull off the infiltration into the city towards the city's watchtowers. As long as they stood tall, infiltrating the city successfully would prove impossible for any of the Rebellion's forces. It would only take one alarm from any of the towers going off to not only warn everyone of the Rebellion's invasion, but also call back to HQ for reinforcements.

Basically, one alarm going off meant total failure on their part, and future attempts to liberate the great city would prove harder if not more impossible once the Horde re-fortified their defenses. It was a one-shot chance they had to save everyone.

"Are you guys ready?" Catra muttered quietly to the other two as she peered around the wall. Sure enough, she could already see a dozen soldiers walking along the patrols followed by the occasional droid crossing their path every four soldiers.

"Do you guys remember the plan?" Glimmer whispered back as she peered in from the wall across from her, Bow preparing his arrow at the ready.

"Spread out, infiltrate the city, and take out the towers simultaneously." The peach-fuzz mustached archer stated, peering up and down the wall in case of passing patrols. "I'm not so worried about the guards and security on the way there, but what are the chances we'll be able to take the towers at the exact same time? We'll be too spread out to signal each other and we can't use any radios to avoid being detected."

"We're just gonna have to take a chance." Glimmer replied, leaning away from the wall's edge. "We can't risk them spotting us if we all stick together, and we can't hit the towers individually or the other two will be alerted."

"Why don't you just take Bow to one of the towers and teleport to the next when you reach it?" Catra suggested, keeping her voice down.

"Because they'll see the pink flash going off and know its me! All the guards will be right next to the alarms, so we have to hit them at the exact same time or we lose everything!" Catra gritted her teeth upon hearing this as she peered back into the village.

Thaymor was one of the larger cities under the Rebellion's control, and a personal favorite to Catra because... it just was. When she thought about all those people being locked inside their homes or placed into personal prisons against their wills, it sickened her. Thaymor was possibly the last place that needed any sort of extreme measures, no matter how big it was.

It was a peaceful village, a decent one. The worst the Horde would have to worry about was them partying too much, if that. There were barely any guards throughout the city to begin with, the people here lived peaceful lives away from the Horde, and even if they did support the Rebellion, it didn't mean they wanted anymore trouble from one side or the other. They wouldn't even mind a passing Horde patrol as long as they kept their business peaceful around here.

Obviously, their opinions over the war were definitely changed with the recent Horde invasion not four months ago, and they were going to make sure they supported the Rebellion to this day, provided they lasted long enough to do so.

It was no wonder that Angella was hesitant to send her daughters off on a dangerous mission like this. Between losing one if not both her daughters, she was vehemently against it! It was only when the two convinced her of their subtleness and their skills, not to mention the fact that only a small strike force could infiltrate the town on foot, that she finally relented, provided they immediately retreat if things turned south, which her daughters sweared to.

After crossing their fingers behind their backs, of course. They weren't about to let a peaceful place like Thaymore remain in Horde captivity for much longer if they had anything to do about it.

"So, are you guys ready them?"

Ready!" Bow and Glimmer whispered back to her. It all came down to this.

Taking a deep breath, Catra let out a sigh as she prepared herself for the inevitable. "All right, we'll go on three. 1..."

...

...

"I don't know." Adora shushed as she looked around the corner of the machine in front of her, spotting the two personal guards to Hordak's lair. "I think the more we're remembering the more reality is distorting around us. Just go with it, okay? We can't afford to waste time." Keeping her head lowered, Adora examined around the machine they were behind, spying on the capable armed guards at the door.

Peering ahead of her friend, clouds of uncertainty dawned over the large scorpion girl by her side as she frowned. "Oh, man, this is bad!" She squealed. "What happens if we get caught? We are so fired!"

"Shhh! I know, okay? Just let me think of something!" Adora requested, keeping her gaze on the guards ahead of her. "We need to get past them without raising suspicion."

"Well think of something fast!" Scorpia nibbled on the tip of her claws as she checked their surroundings, making sure no one was headed in their directions. "We need to get past them, find the portal thing, stop Hordak, and-!" Scorpia came to a sudden stop as she blinked to the Force Captain ahead of her.

"What?" It was so weird seeing the girl suddenly going from so panicked and overreacting to dead silent out of nowhere.

"... Wait, aren't you Hordak's first-in-command?"

"..." Adora facepalmed. "For the love of..." Rolling her eyes at her own stupidity, Adora casually stepped out from behind the metallic covering with Scorpia at her back as she approached the armed guards.

"Halt!" The right guard demanded as he drew his electrical spear and shield. "Who goes... Oh, it's just you, commander." The guards stood at attention as they gave her a salute with Adora doing the same. "Can we help you with something?"

"I need to speak with Lord Hordak immediately. It's urgent." Adora stated, standing in respect as she placed her hands behind her back.

The two guards gave a look to one another before the left one replied. "We're sorry, commander, but Lord Hordak isn't taking any visitors at this time. He's in the middle of something."

"Y-Yes, I know that but-"

"And why is she here?" The same guard asked pointing the spear to Scorpia. "You know only commanders are allowed to visit without requiring an appointment at this time unless it's an emergency."

"But it is an emergency! The whole universe is falling apart around us and we need to stop Hordak from finishing his portal right away!"

"..." The two guards stared at each other in silence for a moment before Adora pinched the bridge between her eyes.

"Might've been a little too honest there, Scorpia."

No sooner did she say that did the two guards steady their spears at her. "Alright you, let's take this somewhere else to talk about-"

*ZZZZZZZZZZZZZT*

"Huh?" Like the trip that brought them here, both, Scorpia and Adora were briefly engulfed in a flash, faster than the blink of an eye, before seeing the scenery changed around them.

In front of them lied the two unconscious guards, the very ones that had drawn their weapons to the scorpion girl moments ago, or perhaps minutes if time jumped around them again. Searching for the possible explanation behind their sudden fall, Scorpia's let out a small startled yelp as she saw her stinger raised at the ready, one that was recently used and tested by two very likely guards just doing their job.

"It's official. I'm dead!" Oh, this was definitely the end of her! Scorpia knew that as she stared at the unconscious guards, pulling at her own hair in fear. Goodbye Adora, goodbye Horde, goodbye reasons for her existence!

"Scorpia, relax." Her friend tried to calm down as she opened the doorway ahead of them. The two gingerly stepped over the sleeping uglies below them as they entered the unholy sanctum. "Once we tell Hordak about everything that's happening, we can... We can..." It only took ten feet into the sanctum for Adora's heart to skip a beat.

It was gone. The lab was gone. Everything that made Hordak the technological genius that he is was officially vacated from the inner sanctum. "No, no, this can't be!" Fearing the worse, the Force Captain attempted to feel along the wall, praying to herself that this was some illusion to keep prying eyes outside of Hordak's space or that this was just some secret wall that came down during Hordak's work time.

"I-It was here! I know the machine was... the lab was..." Already, the new reality was trying to erase her old memories as Adora struggled to retain the old ones. She knew that the lab was here this morning, she was positive she saw something resembling Hordak's portal technology in here!

Or was that the other reality? She couldn't tell anymore, the interfering memories kept beating against her head when she tried to force the real memories to stick around. "There has to be a switch, or maybe he went into a different lab, or-"

"Adora?" Scorpia interrupted emotionlessly. Turning back, she saw her friend staring ahead of her as she looked upwards a little bit. Following her gaze, Adora saw the very thing that made Scorpia's tail quiver.

Hordak's throne was gone.

...

...

"2... 3!"

*ZZZZZZZZZZT*

With a sudden burst of speed, the magicat quickly climbed the wall as she rolled ahead of the other two, keeping herself low to the ground as she reached for her sword, ready to keep on the move or to keep the guards off of her as soon as she was noticed.

"What are you doing?" Glimmer's voice of curiousness came as a small surprise to the cat girl as she turned to her. Strangely, her sister and friend had forgone any sense or rationality to keep themselves hidden as they stood at the entrance of the village out in the open. On top of that, they were both carrying large boxes of provisions within their arms, not seeming the least bit ready or prepared to take on any Horde invasion.

Looking back into the village, Catra finally understood why.

Everything was normal again. Or was it Normal the whole time? She couldn't say. All around her she saw the busy folks of Thaymor minding their own business as they walked along, going about their daily lives without a care in the world and a smile on their faces. It was almost as if they had completely forgotten the Horde invasion that kept this town under Horde rule for a long period of time.

"Afternoon, Princess." Some of the villagers greeted her as they passed by. Like the looks on their faces, none of them seemed the least bit concerned or aware of the fact that the village was under hold control a second ago.

"Okay, this is just getting weird." Catra commented, looking around herself as Bow and Glimmer came to her side.

"What's so weird about it?" Bow asked, looking around the village that was the same as when they arrived. "Everything seems fine to me."

"That's just it, it shouldn't be fine!" Catra retorted, looking back at the entrance they just came through. Instead of anything resembling a Horde fortification, or so much as a wall, there was now a cart stacked with dozens of boxes on top of it, being lead by two horses that were waiting patiently for their riders. "W-We were just about to liberate Thaymor a second ago. Now everything's better."

"Liberate?" Glimmer raised her brow with confusion. "Catra, we were just doing a requisition run for the village. We weren't going to liberate anything around here. Everything's fine."

"I know everything's fine, but that's the problem. It was just filled with Horde soldiers when we got here." The two companions eyed each other at Catra's strange behavior as they continued to watch her ramble on. "Don't you remember? The whole mission we had? The watchtowers we were supposed to take down? Why do you think we came in carrying weapons?"

"Unless you were planning to beat someone over the head with that crate, I don't see a weapon, sis."

"What are you talking about?! I meant with my-!" Turning her head down, Catra could finally see what she was referring to. Instead of any sort of weapon, one that could slice Horde droids in half, she was carrying a large yellow crate, about thirty pounds, in her arms. Strangely, it wasn't until Glimmer pointed it out that she could feel the weight of the object in her arms. "My... crate... I'm holding a crate. Why am I holding a crate right now?"

Glimmer looked beside herself as her brows lowered with worry. She had never seen her sister act so weird before, much less in the exact same day. Just an hour ago they were discussing how they were going to distribute the rations and supplies among Thaymor at the castle, something their mother happily agreed to, and now Catra was acting like that whole conversation was non-existent. "You're not just trying to get out of working again, are you, Catra?" Personally, she'd prefer that as a liable explanation over the strangeness of her own sister.

"Of course not! I'm being serious you guys, we were... We were supposed to..." The more she tried to think of what happened within Thaymor a minute ago, the harder it was becoming to recall it. Why was she so convinced that the village was under Horde control until now? Looking around the peaceful place, she was positive this was how it was the moment they got here. "Supposed to... uh... What was I talking about just now?"

"That the Thaymor was under Horde control?" Bow answered.

"Y-Yeah, that, the, uh, Horde was just..." Why was it becoming so hard to remember what she knew about a minute ago? She had a waterfall of memories pouring into her mind one second and the very next it was all sucked down the drain and out her ears like it never happened. Or did she just think that it never happened? "They were just... um... Why was I saying that?"

The two companions worry started to change into knowing concern over their friend and family member as they gazed around the village. The last thing they wanted to do was for Catra to have another unexplained panic attack like she had just this morning. It would be uncouth if Catra freaked out again and uppercut someone in the jaw again like she did her father earlier.

"Mmmh... Maybe you should take a walk, sis?" Glimmer suggested. As if reading her mind, the brown-haired archer casually accepted the crate from Catra's arms, carrying both the heavy crates in both arms with a slight tremble. "I think the heat is starting to get to you. We can take care of the unloading ourselves, it'll just take a few minutes."

"A... A walk... right..." Her ears flattened against the side of her head as she started to rub her eyes, graciously accepting the offer as she started to walk away. Maybe it was all in her mind or the heat was getting to her? She had never felt so certain before about an uncertainty that she wasn't sure she ever had, and man was it making things even more confusing!

She came here to this village to... drop off supplies...? Was the Horde involved at all in their mission? Was there-

...

"-But with the help of Netossa and Spinnerella, our forces have manged to re-capture Thaymor. Again." With the announcement, Spinnerella and Netossa fistbumped each other in congratulations for themselves.

...

Oh, right. Maybe she was just getting it confused when that happened before? Yeah, it made sense in that way. She was probably getting confused with a mission from her past in this reality, when they discussed their plans with-

...

"-I know a different reason you're happy about it, Catwa~" Just from the sound of her voice, Catra instantly began to blush as an irritated vein appeared on her forehead, knowing who Glimmer was trying to mimic. "I'm sure a certain someone will be happy-"

...

Wait.

There was someone around here that she knew? Someone that would be happy to know about Thaymor being liberated from the Horde? Or was she just imagining things again? It was getting harder to grasp the reality around her with these weird visions she's been shuffling through her mind. So many things conflicted with each other, so many details that didn't make any sense.

Knowing the more she tried to contemplate to herself and make sense of it all, Catra finally gave in as she cleared her mind of any and all thoughts, focusing on the gentle breeze in the air as she walked throughout the village.

As long as everything was fine around here, that's all that mattered. Right? Thinking of unnecessary "what-ifs" would just keep her from enjoying her life here or anywhere, and the last thing she wanted to do was to make herself look any stranger to the folks who knew her as Princess Catra. Given enough time, and a few minutes to herself, she was positive these ridiculous thoughts would float away from her mind, and she would have a good laugh about it by tomorrow.

... She hoped...

...

...

"W-Where's Hordak's throne?" Adora asked as her eyes were pinpointed on the exact location of the missing throne. It felt so strange to see the top of the stairs up there without anything at its top, save for an empty space of something that once was. "It was right there! You can't expect me to believe that Hordak doesn't have a throne even if I can't remember it."

"... Hey, Adora?" Scorpia questioned with a slight gulp. "If someone or something disappears, you don't suppose that..." The current Force Captain was too frightened to continue with the possibility.

"... That everything that was affected by them... disappears to?" This was beyond the realm of bad and not even near the border of insanity.

From their understanding, Hordak had been erased from existence, most likely as Shadow Weaver had been earlier. With it, everything that was touched by his hand or created for his likeness had ceased to be too. And it was at that moment, Adora came to realize another fact that was crashing down like a meteor on top of a ton of bricks over her mind.

"T-Then that means-!"

*Ka-Rumble*

"What was that!?" Scorpia screeched as the room started to shake violently.

"No..." It was with a whimper that Adora realized what was coming to them. Or, more accurately, what was already here.

Like the crashing through a metallic wall, Scorpia and Adora gasped at the sight of the air in front of them. A literal crack had formed in the middle of the air which burst open with a glorious wave of light, one that continued to shake the foundation of the inner sanctum with tremendous force. It was taking all of their willpower just to keep themselves from collapsing on the spot their legs shook so violently. Pieces of metal, nuts and bolts, rained down around them as the white void started to grow.

"We need to get out of here, now!" Adora shouted, bolting for the door with Scorpia rushing at her side.

Everywhere they looked they could see the cracks of the reality around them starting to fall apart, the small intricate lines of existence slowly becoming unraveled. Worry took over both their minds as they saw the cracks getting ahead of them, panicking over the possibility that the void was right under their feet with every step. Neither of them were brave enough to turn their heads around, keeping their focus on their own survival as they just passed through the doorway.

For one moment, they saw the room filled with the glorious white light as it continued to approach them. And in the very next, it, the entire room, and the doorway itself, had ceased to be, as if they had never existed in the first place.

"WHAT WAS THAT!?" Scorpia panted as she pressed against her knees.

"I don't know, the Universe trying to swallow us? How should I know?!" Adora yelled back, the spike of fear still piercing her heart like a knife. She couldn't allow herself to be filled with this horrifying sense of fear, not when they were still far away from safety.

"I don't get it. Why are we still here if Hordak doesn't exist anymore?"

"Like I said, I don't know!" The blonde pulled at her hair madly as she tried to make sense of everything. "Maybe it takes longer to affect everything when someone with such a big influence over everyone's lives disappears. It's just a guess, I don't know anything more about this portal stuff than you do."

"Then how are we gonna stop it? The portals gone, and so is Hordak! The only one who does know anything else about it is Entrapta, and I-"

"-We can't remember where she's from..." Oh, great. THANKS universe! On top of everything from their memories that they had to take, they also had to take the memories of Entrapta's own home. Or maybe that was the sense of fear clouding their minds right now? Bottom line, it didn't matter. "We're not going to remember anything at this rate and we'll lose any chance we have to stop this."

"Then what are we going to do? Somebody else has to know about this stuff!"

"I-I don't know!" Adora yelled squeezing her head. "There's too much going on, and we don't even know if somebody who did know it still exists... unless..." That's when her mind turned to a thought, a thought of a certain someone who might be responsible for all of this.

...

"It'll be EVERYONE'S problem if he uses that machine!" Catra shouted, her anger starting to get the best of her. "Light Hope and Mara both said that something extremely bad will happen if he opens that portal!"

...

"Catra... I think Catra might know something about this." Adora announced, much to Scorpia's surprise.

"You mean Princess Catra?" She wanted to clarify, seeing how all her memories had yet to catch up to her.

"Ye- I mean no, not exactly. She's not a princess, or at least not in whatever reality we're from." Adora tried to explain as she siphoned through her missing memories. "I don't know what she is, okay? All I know was that she seemed to know something about this portal stuff before all this happened. We need to hurry up and find her befo-"

*KA-RUMBLE*

As if the world itself was trying to keep her away from revealing all that was around her, the world beneath their feet shoot violently again with even greater force than before. "No-" Was all Adora managed to let out before it happened again.

From the space behind them, in a greater force than before, a massive white void erupted out of the air, the planes of reality actually breaking into little shards like glass around them before disappearing into the void. Adora was so disturbed by the sight of it all that she didn't even realize how frozen she was until a familiar pair of claws clamped around her shoulder.

"Come on!" Scorpia yelled, running away from the expanding voids as the two raced down the hallway.

The world was actually coming to an end around them. The universe itself was in jeopardy of ceasing to be as the two ran down the halls for their lives. As she glanced back at the approaching white abyss, one that seemed to be slower yet expanding all the same, a worry crossed Adora's mind.

When all of her memories returned to her, when everything finally made sense to her in the end, would she figure out a way to save everyone?

Or would she even want to remember once all of her memories came back?

...

...

*Neeeeeeeigh!*

Catra sighed as she leaned on the wooden fence post surrounding the small thirty-foot pasture, watching a strangely familiar white horse galloping in place as it examined its surroundings with joy.

The small break she took from everything did appear to dull the growing headache, but it didn't do anything to toss away the nerves still filling her mind.

It didn't bother her so much that she was having these weird feelings in her mind so much as the mystery of why she was having them in the first place. Was she still suffering from what weird old hag from earlier? Did whatever she was rambling about really affect her in such a way? Or did some part of her actually feel like there was some truth to be told? She didn't know if there was or if she wanted to know if there was.

With how great everything was around here, why would she want to change it in the first place?

*swish*

"Hey, sis. We're done." Glimmer announced with a common smile as she teleported to her side. Noticing the strange look she was giving, she turned her vision towards the same horse she was looking at, smiling at the reminiscing. "Oh, you were watching the horses, huh?"

"Yeah, it felt relaxing, I guess." Catra replied with a small shrug as Bow finally arrived at their side. "It just felt nice to watch them roam back and forth, you know?"

"Yeah, I get the feeling." Bow replied, smiling as watched the horse approaching another. "They have the simple life, don't they? They get to wander around back and forth without a care in the world, completely unaware of what's going on with the rest of the world, huh?"

"Yeah... Unaware..." The cat's eyes turned away from the two for a bit as she thought about what he said. With how great this world was, if it was all just a fake world, then did that mean there were still horrible things happening somewhere else around Etheria? Something she didn't know about?

"I'm a little surprised you came out here, really." Glimmer commented as she leaned an arm over the fence, observing the majestic animals. "You never really did take too kindly to horses growing up."

"Eh, I guess I just got used to it after awhile..."

...

...

(A/N: The following adorable flashback has been brought to you by Petie Doon from instagram)

On a bright, sunny, day, behind the bright, shinny walls of the Brightmoon castle, on one of the bright, grassy fields, the bright, happy family of Brightmoon was situated. Well at least most of them were bright..

Queen Angella sat eagerly in the vacant bleachers, watching in earnest as her husband and two daughters of ages seven and eight stepped onto the field. All three members of the family wore the royal equestrian apparel: helmets, tights, and long boots. Micah walked both girls up to two magnificent specimens: four legs, an incredibly long face, and a mohawk-like mane for hair. "Alright girls." Micah reached the two creatures and turned to his daughters, a smiling stretching across his face. "Today is the day of your first horseback riding lessons."

"Ehhhhhhh!" Glimmer squealed in delight. She had always found time to visit the stables of Brightmoon Castle. Now, she was all too ready to actually start riding around on a horse.

Micah smiled at his daughter's enthusiasm. "Now being able to ride a horse takes much time and practice." He gently grabbed on one of the horse's reins. "We'll just be going over some of the basics today. Glimmer?" Being guided by her father, Glimmer put her foot into the horse's saddle, and with a small hop, gently got on the horse's back, holding back more squeals.

Micah smiled at the accomplishment and the restraint his daughter was displaying. He let go of her hand, and stood along side her. "Now, just gently tap the horse with your heels and let it trot-" Glimmer quickly tapped her heels to the horse's back side, and with a light whinny, the horse got to trotting.

Glimmer's horse trotted elegantly around the field three times, starting with a small trot, then slowly going into a brisk pace. Micah and Angella marveled at the way Glimmer sat with ease on the horses back, smiling in utter content. Micah crossed his arms and smiled. He could just picture is his head; A day like today, when both princess led a charge to the Horde on back of noble steads. Swords clanging. Hooves stomping.

"Yes," thought Micah. Today was the gonna be a fantastic day…that is until he turned back to his other daughter.

Micah's upbeat outlook on the coming hours faltered at the sight of Catra. While Glimmer was all a delight at the prosper of riding a noble steed, Catra was frozen in place, eyes wide, staring horrified at the second horse standing a few feet away.

Fear and panic filled the young magicat's mind at the sight of the strange creature her family called a horse.

Yes. she has seen pretty strange stuff in her life living in Etheria, but these horses seemed to be the strangest creatures Catra had ever laid eyes on.

"Catra?" walking over to her, Micah put a worried hand over her shoulder. "Are you alright?"

"I-I-Uhhhhh-"

Micah assured her as he pated her shoulder. "Here, look." He gently reached up to the horse's muzzle and affectionately stroked its mane. "All you have to do is show that you mean no harm." He steps back and gestures over to Catra. "Why not try and give it a pet."

"I-I don't! I just…" starring to back away "Y-You know, don't want to catch fleas or something!" Catra answered.

"Brightmoon's horses don't have fleas, Catra. We have he best horse groomers in all of Etheria. These horses are squeaky clean."

"…..O-kay, then how about I don't want to give it my fleas." She smiled worriedly. Her excuses were starting to become too obvious.

"Catra?" Micah said, "You don't have to do this today. Riding lessons can start at any age, if you'd prefer."

Catra, still frozen to the spot, lowered her ears. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw how Glimmer seemed at home on her trotting stallion. She gulped back her saliva and clamped her jaw.

"N-no thanks." she blurted out. "I-I can do this."

With trembling legs, she slowly walked up to her horse and raised her hand.

*Neeeeiiiiigh!*

"Ahhhh-!" Faster than they could blink, Catra instantly disappeared from the spot, leaving a large trail of dust in her wake, and reappeared behind her mother's back in the bleachers.

Angella laid a gentle hand over her scared daughter's mane. She looked back down at her even more worried husband.

Even though now she was shaking in fear, both parents knew that Catra would remain out however long it took to get on that horse. Ever since she was a child, Catra would get unreasonably stubborn when it came to accomplishing something. She was the oldest princess of Castle Brightmoon after all. She wouldn't be defeated by a quadruped. When she committed to accomplishing a goal, Catra committed with all her nerves, or at least however many she had left after the horse spooked her.

The two parents mentality sighed at the long hours to come.

No matter what, this day was gonna be a long day.

...

After a few minutes, Micah was able to take Catra and place her gently on the other horse. Catra, keeping her lips tight, stood straight and rigid on the horse's saddle.

"Now remember Sweetheart," Micah said. "Just calmly take the reins and tap your heels to the horse."

With trembling claws, Catra leaned froward and grabbed the horse's reins. With the reins in hand, the horse rose its head to better a position. Catra's face squirmed. She quickly scooted to the back of the saddle, holding her breath.

"No no, don't worry." Micah tried to explain. "It's just getting in a ready position."

"MmHm" Catra tried to smile. Suddenly, the horse shook its head, ruffling some dirt out of his mane. Catra squeaked, scooting farther down the back side of the horse. Too far in fact. Before she could stop, her body slipped off the back end of the horse and collapsed down to the hard grass.

"…..Ow…"

The horse ruffled its tail.

...

After another few minutes, Micah was able to get Catra back on the horse.

Using both his hands, Micah formed a magic beam, creating a semi-transparent horse with glowing blue eyes out of thin air. Micah jumped onto the magic horse's back and smiled over to his daughter.

"Something to get you into the act is sometimes a good ole 'Hiyah!'"

Micah playfully slapped the rear end of his horse and trotted off, smiling an energetic grin. He turned back to his daughter.

"Now you try!"

With a gulp, Catra raised her clawed hands and slapped the back end of her horse. "Hiyah" she squeaked.

Sadly, in the fear of it all, the magicat forgot that she was, well, a cat. Her clawed hands starched the back end of the horse more forcefully than intended.

*Neeeeiiiiigh!*

The horse whinnied in pain, rising up to his hinged legs and kicking out. In the terror of the moment, Catra loosened her grip on the reins, and was hurdled off the horse's back, crashing into a pile of hay a few feet away.

Catra grumbled as she brushed the hay out of her hair. "What next?"

...

"Ahhhhhhhhh!"

Before Micah could even try, he gazed in despair as Catra ran around the field, her horse right on her heels.

Apparently, it had now gotten a taste for the magicat's mane. Its teeth bared, it tried to chomp down on the strands whenever it got close.

Glimmer, now off her horse, looked in equal despair as Catra ran around the field. Once her and her hungry horse got close enough, Glimmer held out a hand to the horse's rear. In a puff of pink sparkles, she and the rouge horse vanished. A second puff later, Glimmer reappeared.

"It's okay." Glimmer stated. "It's back in the staples."

"ErgH!" Catra ripped off her helmet, threw it to the ground, and stormed back to the castle in a rage.

Her three family members sighed as they watch her stomp away. As a princess, one was suppose to display special prowesses. A way to inspire people all throughout Brightmoon. King Micah was a wizard. Glimmer had teleportation powers. Angella was a literal immortal goddess. Catra was…well, Catra, who sadly put more pressure on herself when it came to...everything.

Suddenly a small smile crept over Angella's face. Maybe there was one other option.

...

Late that night, Catra was grumbling under the covers of her bed. Even when it came to sleeping, Glimmer was able to pick it up better. Silently furious, she punched her pillow a few times. It still remained puffed and disjointed.

"Event the pillows hate me." Her angsty mind thought.

After an abysmal day trying to ride a dumb horse, Catra was trying to get at least one dumb thing right. Only one problem—scratch that, many problems were making her blood boil more and more. She couldn't get to dumb sleep, on her dumb bed, trying to close her dumb eyes. Every time she tried closing them and emptying her head, her eyes would just snap back open, with nothing but the memory of her embarrassing performance today.

The magicat groaned as loud as she dared with her talented sister still asleep up above. She tossed and turned in her pajamas, but even her elegant princess bed couldn't satisfy her rising anger. She final huffed, thinking of one other option...Food.

Silently, Catra pulled the covers off herself and slinked over to the bedroom door. A princess was allowed to do a lot of things when it came down to it, and stuffing her emotions down with the best pastries the kingdom had too offer was one of those privileges.

With the sole purpose of raiding however many sweets were stored in the royal kitchen, Catra quietly open her bedroom door and stepped out into the deserted hallways. At least, she thought they were deserted.

*crunch*

Picking up the noise with her sensitive ears, Catra froze on the spot and turned. In her rush to get down to the kitchen, the magicat princess failed to notice her mother standing right doorway to the doorway, still in her clothes, her back slightly leaning on the hallway wall, eating a fresh apple.

The mighty mother smirked down at the caught daughter, as if she had read her mind and knew exactly where she was going.

"I told your father to put a lock spell over the royal kitchen's doors tonight." Angella took another bit out of her apple. "I wouldn't attempt it if I were you."

Catra opened her mouth too retort, but before she could, Angella held up a hand.

"Get a change of clothes on and follow me." She quietly stated as she stood up and walked over to her daughter.

"…..Now, please." She still smiled

Catra begrudgingly rolled her eyes and returned back to her room to change into some clothes.

"What ever it is," Catra thought. "It couldn't get worse."

...

It got worse.

A smiling Angella stood next to her groggy eyed daughter in the center of the grand Brightmoon horse stale. Almost a hundred horses were lined up in their own stables, either sleeping, drink water, or just standing around.

Angella smiled brightly at the scene while Catra just groaned up at her.

"Whyyyy" Catra moaned.

"Shush" Angella chuckled "Follow me, please."

She elegantly walked down the hay streaked stable while Catra followed with low spirits.

At the very end of the stable, Angella walked over to a tall golden brown horse. Catra noticed how shabby this one looked compared to the rest, yet the stabled it was in looked brand new.

"Catra," Angella looking down at her daughter "I want to introduce you too Bright Wing." She gestured to the golden horse in question.

"This darling is a new addition to the Brightmoon stables. The guards found him abandoned at recent village decimated by the Horde. I was hoping you could watch over him for a minute while I run a small errand."

Catra crosses her arms. "And why couldn't one of the guards do this?

Angella stared sternly down at the magicat. "Because I said so!" She almost commanded.

Catra winced.

"Wonderful" Angella smiled as if Catra's wince meant a "yes."

Angella rested a shoulder on Catra. "Part of training a horse is about building trust with them. Micah might be good at riding them, but what he knows in skill, he lacks in pacing. It's important not to rush this part."

"Are you some kind of horse expert-"

"When Micah and I were young." Angella interrupted "We use to train stallions for the royal guard." She smiled at the memory. "I'd fancy that I was a pretty useful on the back of a noble stead."

"Please!" Catra roller her eyes. "You have wings!"

Angella gazed down at her daughter so sternly, that Catra mentally zipped her lips. Angella continued on.

"Your horse has to get used to your touch, you can use a variety of techniques to help facilitate this."

Angella pushed Catra closer and closer to Bright Wing. As the cat's fur began to perk, Angella rubbed the girls shoulders. She knew she wouldn't let anything bad happen to her daughter tonight.

"First, stand right next to your horse's head, facing the same direction as he is." Angella positioned Catra right in front of Bright Wing's head. To the magicat's fright, the horse made eye contact with her.

"Slowly bend down your head down, and the horse will follow suit." Catra did just so. After a nail biting second, the Catra's eyes perked in surprise as horse bent his head down as well. "Wow" Catra thought. Angella smiled.

"Now, slowly stroke the horse's muzzle and-"

"What?!" Catra blurted out. This new task almost made her loose concentration with Bright Wing. Angella pated her shoulders in reassurance.

"Don't worry. don't worry. It's a simple enough exercise. It's the best way to soothe an anxious horse and get him used to your touch. See." Angella raised a hand and stroked its muzzle, up and down. The Bright Wing horse calmly tilting its head at the gesture.

Catra shivered, but her mother was making the task look so easy. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad. Except…

"I can't." Catra's ear lowered. "My claws.."

"It's all in the palm." Angella took Catra's hand and gently placed it over the horse's muzzle. Slowly, she moved Catra's hand down the horse's muzzle. Up and Down. Up and Down. "Gentle strokes." Angella took her hand away, letting Catra continue to stroke the horse on her own. "See?"

"I guess" Catra winced. "But I don't know if I can-"

"Perfect. Just keep him company for a bit. I'll be back before you know it!"

Before Catra could say anything else, Angella spread her wings as flew out of the crowded stable.

"Hey! HEY!" Catra tried to call, but to no luck. Now it was just her, and the horses.

Moodily, she looked back at the golden stead she was currently soothing. There they were, just starting at each other. Maybe for minutes, maybe for an hour. After sometime had passed, Catra's hand started getting tired.

"Sooooooo" Catra tried to say. "New here huh?"

Bright Wing the horse just stared back at her.

"Big new place. A lotta hay. That's what you guys eat right?"

Though her sister was more than eager to hang out her and pet the "horseies," Catra rather would have stayed as far away from this place as possible.

"I guess it's quite a lucky break." She continued. "All this nice space. Great area. Good...people." Catra hesitated for a moment. "...I bet you almost wonder what your even doing here for a moment...How could one guy get such a lucky life...You'd almost do anything-prove yourself in anyway!" Catra's ears sagged. "Because if you didn't...you might not get to stay..."

A long silence. Catra looked back up at the horse.

"Your a pretty good listener." She smirked. "Keep it up and I just might come-"

"Baaaack!"

Catra turned to see her mother flying gracefully back into the stable, something slung over one of her shoulders. She landed next to Catra with a wide smile on her face. Catra blushed and final took her hand away.

"Well-uh-it's about time you got back." Catra huffed.

"I know. I know. But I needed to make sure all the straps were secure." Angella took the object off her shoulder and held it out to Catra. She was carrying a large, sturdy horse saddle.

"Oh really?" Catra moaned. She was fine with talking to these things. Riding them was still another matter.

"Trust me." Angella held out her hand to Catra. Catra stares for a minute, then slowly took Angella's hand.

...

"I think I'm gonna throw up!" Catra moaned, holding onto Bright Wing's rein's for dear life.

"Oh hush now." Angella retorted. "Your fine."

A combination of the sparkling castle lights and the glowing moons of Etheria lite up the night sky as the two royals and Brightmoon were trotting along the vacant, grassy, field.

Angella had brought Catra and Bright Wing out of the stables for one more try. Fortunately for Catra, the queen decided to also get on the horse behind he, holding her daughter's shoulders assuradely.

"Just keep a good grip on the reins and you'll be fine." She told her daughter.

"O-kay" Catra gulped. She had to admit, the ordeal was a little better. Given that she spent a little time with Bright Wing already, her fur felt more at ease being on him. Given the helpful fact that her mom was carefully sitting behind her for assistance, Catra did feel a bit more safe than she would have perviously. In fact…it was actually quit nice.

Though they weren't really going that fast, the low breeze through Catra's mane was a little pleasant. Before she had half of her hair tucked into the helmet, but now here whole body felt the movement of the stead as she rode.

As hurling as it still felt, the magicat did have to admit it was pretty nice on the back of Bright Wing.

Over the next few laps, a small grin came onto Catra's face, her eyes lighting up.

She tightened her claws around the reins and lowered her head a bit. The light trot slowly increased to a brisk pace. Angella marveled as she saw her daughter's grin widen.

"Quite fun, eh?" Angella chuckled.

"Haha!" Catra laughed. Who could have known that riding a horse could be this exhilarating. She couldn't turn her eyes away.

This gave Angella the chance to silently unfold her wings and fly off of the horse. She rose up and flew over to the vacant bleachers, as her excited daughter didn't even seem to notice.

As Catra and Bright Wing continued to circle around and around the field, Angella softly smiled. She knew too well her daughter, and she knew that no matter what she would always put pressure on herself to be better, stronger, in order to live up to her status as a princess of Brightmoon. So for now, as Angella sat back, she decided to enjoy the scene of her daughter having a moment of peace.

...

...

See? Another memory she had. One that came right when she needed it. So how could she continue to think that this world wasn't real? When she had fond memories of her family as a whole, when she had memories she... didn't want to lose in the first place?

"Hehehehe!" Catra's ears shot straight up at the sound of a familiar laughter, shooting her head back immediately with unknowing excitement.

"Is that...!" Catra nearly gasped.

Off in the distance down a pathway, holding a genuine piece of cotton candy, walked a little girl with pink hair, a blue tunic, and sandals. She was somebody that Catra could never forget, the first person she could recall ever showing her a sense of decency just after meeting her. There was only one person in the world that Catra could never forget.

"Kim!" Catra yelled with glee as she rushed over. At the sight of their friend and princess bolting, the two companions looked at each other with confusion before giving chase after the eager cat. Upon hearing the name, the curious four-year-old turned around, looking up with her big beautiful eyes as her mouth gaped open a little with surprise. "How ya doing, squirt?" Catra asked with a small smile, squatting a little bit.

The one known as Kim just tilted her head a little in confusion before looking a little frightened, hiding her face a little behind the cotton candy as she stared. "Hey, what's wrong? Don't you remember me squirt?" Catra asked a little concerned as her ears lowered a little.

"Catra, do you know her?" Glimmer asked. While she was more than glad to see her sister's spirits lifted up again, she was also confused by the sudden randomness of it, especially to someone she's never met before.

"What? Did you already forget her? It's Kim, remember?" Catra smiled back for a second.

Not wanting to sour the surprising mood on Catra's expression, Glimmer shot Bow a small look of confusion, one telling him to play along with it for now. With a smile, she squatted down closer to the ground as she smiled to the young girl. "Hi, Kimmy. I'm Princess Glimmer, and this is our friend, Bow."

"Hi Kim..." Bow waved nervously with a smile, feeling more unsure of himself than he used to.

Even with their inclusion, Kim just looked all the more nervously at the three complete strangers as she frowned a little, her lip trembling as she squeaked. "Mmmhmm..."

"Catra, are you sure you know her?" Glimmer whispered over, growing worried over the frightened look in Kim's eyes.

"What are you talking about? Of course I do!" Catra insisted, offering a hand to the girl. "We played those party games and-"

"Ehhhhhh! Loloooooo!" Kim cried out as she burst into tears. It actually frightened Catra a little by how scared Kim seemed to be of her, but that didn't amount to the true despair of sadness that was filling her heart right now.

Kim didn't seem to recognize her, at all.

"What?" Catra muttered, standing a little higher. "Kim, it's... it's me. Don't you recognize-"

"Hey, freakshow!" Where Kim's laughter and voice filled the feline princess with hope and excitement, the sound of the other familiar voice filled her with disgust, anger, and shock. "What do you think you're doing to my-!" As Catra turned around, both, hers and the one who was yelling, was met with immediate shock, but for different reasons.

Standing there as she just arrived on the scene, the young teen brunette stared at the three of them with complete surprise, and a small bit of shock. Wearing beige leather pants, a green tunic with a white undershirt, and still sporting the same rugged haircut that she always did, there could be no doubt about who Catra was looking at right now.

"O-Oh!" The teen let out a small gasp as she rushed over to Kim's side, picking her up. "I am so sorry, princess, I didn't know it was you," she paused as she eyed the pink-haired one standing next to Catra, "either of you. I thought someone was picking on her or something. I turned away for two minutes and she walked off, and-"

"LONNIE!?" Catra stammered as she dropped her arms in front of her.

...

The only one who did have her ire right now was Lonnie, the girl she gave a silent hiss at as she continued to smirk back at her. Lonnie was the second worst person in her life. She picked on her, pranked her, and did so many cruel things to her for a five-year-old, and she was being rewarded for it!

...

She raised herself to her feet so all Catra could see was Lonnie's night time shirt. "As for why we're doing this?" Although she couldn't see it, Lonnie grinned. "Because Shadow Weaver said we could-"

...

"You're always miles behind, freak!" Lonnie sneered as she looked over a young Catra dangling over a pit.

...

"Oh, y-you know my name?" Lonnie asked curiously, offering the girl a small smile. "Well, I'm flattered. But really, I'm sorry about the whole-"

*tug*

"Ah!"

"Catra!" Glimmer and Bow cried out as they grabbed each of her arms. Before the brunette could finish her sentence, she was taken by surprise and by Catra's clawed fingers as she grabbed her by the scruff of the shirt. Lonnie watched the princess with complete fear as she kept her hold on the younger girl in her arms, trying to keep her safe.

"What are you doing here, Lonnie!?" Catra yelled angrily, glaring into her eyes.

"What are you talking about? I live here." Lonnie tried to remain calm as she gazed nervously into the girl's eyes.

"Catra, let her go!" Glimmer grumbled as she and Bow finally removed her hold over the girl. "You're making a scene."

"Do you think I care?!" Catra shot back. It was almost surprising to Glimmer to see how angry her sister was over someone they had never met before. "Don't you remember her? She's from the Horde!" Of the several members who were surprised by this revelation out of the group, the only one who looked more shocked than surprised was Lonnie herself, the young teen sweating a little at the announcement as Kim whimpered back.

"W-Wha'd?" She lisped sheepishly, still keeping half her face buried into Lonnie's shoulder.

"Catra, what are you talking about? She's just a normal villager by the looks of it." Glimmer commented as she examined the girl from head to toe.

"Yeah, I think I've seen her a couple times in the past too." Bow added, recalling the few dozen times he's visited Thaymor in his life.

"Don't let anything she says or does fool you." Catra hissed, still baring her teeth at the past buly. "She's a member of the-"

"H-Hey, I know!" Lonnie quickly interrupted with a nervous smile. "Hey, Kimmy? Why don't you go say hi to the nice princess over there? Your big sis will sort things out with the scary-looking one, okay?" Lonnie offered as she somewhat forcefully shoved the young girl into Glimmer's arms. With everyone's attention turned towards the sight of the young girl being shoved away, nobody was prepared as the girl quickly grabbed Catra's hands before rushing away from the scene, ducking behind a building with the princess still behind her.

"Mmmmh..." Leaving a sad, adorable, and frightened Kim behind as she shuddered, still scared of the two strangers she was just left with.

"H-Hey, it's okay, Kimmy." Glimmer tried to cheer up with a smile. "M-My sister might look scary but she's really nice. She's just going to talk to her." Glimmer assured as she lead the girl to see the horses and ponies a few feet away.

I hope...

...

*thud*

"Ow!" Lonnie yelped as Catra pushed her against the wall.

"What are you doing here, Lonnie?!" Catra demanded to know as she growled. She could handle hearing the girl's voice, she could handle seeing her in person. But there was NO WAY she was going to let someone as vicious and cruel as Lonnie, her past tormentor, around the likes of someone like Kim and get away with it! "Why aren't you with the Horde?"

Grumbling a little to herself as she gave a short glare to the princess, Lonnie did her best to drop her anxiety and her irritation as she let out a small sigh. "Look, I don't know how you found out, but that was a long time ago, okay? I'm not with the Horde anymore."

"Are you kidding me? You tormented me for years and you-"

"I've never even met you!" Lonnie yelled back as she interrupted. Taking a deep breath, Lonnie explained herself.

"Look, around the time I was seven, I was getting fed up with the Horde, all right? The works, the duties, everyone fighting amongst each other constantly, I was getting tired of it all. So one day I just decided to get up and left in the middle of the night. I hopped a skiff that was getting sent out on patrol and when the coast was clear, I jumped the skiff and ran as fast as I could."

"To go where?"

"Anywhere, honestly." Lonnie replied as she leaned against the wall, crossing her arms. "Trust me, you don't know what it was like growing up in the Horde. I kept trying to play it cool around the other kids and all, but without any way to show anyone how tough I was, I didn't get any respect. The kids started to pick on me and the adults ignored it saying it would "make me tougher" or some junk. Bottom line, I escaped from the Fright Zone, and I'm never going back." Right as Catra was about to argue, her mouth hung open with silence as she slowly closed it again.

Maybe this really was a different reality than she was thinking about? One where Lonnie wasn't a cruel manipulative sociopath, psychopath, whatever-path existed in Catra's vocabulary. If that was the case, then was that old hag speaking the truth about everything?

Then why would she want to change anything in the end? Given enough time, she could easily just adapt to this world again and forget her memories about Lonnie altogether. It sounded like a better win in Catra's opinion.

Again, if this really was a different reality, which she refused to believe in.

"So you just hopped onto the nearest skiff you could find and let it take you wherever it was going?" Catra questioned as she crossed her own arms. "Seems kinda..." Catra blushed a little as she turned her head away at the irony. "Reckless..."

"Yeah, I know, but I was just sick of the Horde, so anywhere it took me would've been better." Lonnie rolled her eyes at her own stupidity. "Even if some places were more preferable than the Whispering Woods. I got lost for almost an entire day around here until Rachel found m-"

"Wait, who's Rachel?"

"Rachel? Kim's mom? I've been living with her ever since." Lonnie explained. Catra mentally shrugged to herself as she thought back, realizing she never bothered or cared to get the name of Kim's mother. "Anyway, like I was saying, eventually Kim's mother found me in the woods starving and covered in dirt, so she offered me a place to stay. I didn't really trust anyone at first so I didn't tell them anything about me, and by the time I saw what the world was really like out here, I was too nervous to tell anyone I was from the Horde. I didn't know how they'd react."

"And she just let you stay, just like that?"

"For the most part. I did a few chores around the place but that was just my way of paying them back, I didn't need to do it." Lonnie said as she lowered her head with a small smile. "She treated me really nice, and I decided to stick around after they offered when I told her and her husband I had nowhere else to go. And after another few years, Kim was born, so I've kind of been like a big sister to her. She really grows on you once you get to know her."

"Yeah, tell me about it..." Catra muttered to herself with a small smile.

"Huh?"

Lifting her eyes up, Catra quickly shook her head at the confusing response she gave her. "N-Never mind."

"So... can I stay? Please?" Lonnie asked in an almost-begful tone. "I swear, Your Majesty, I'm not up to anything, and I really don't want to leave unless I really have to."

"Mmmh..." Despite the possibility that this could have been an alternate reality and the fact that she hated Lonnie's guts, she really couldn't bring herself to hate this particular version of her. She had no recollection of what her past with Catra was like, or anything she had to do with how much she tormented the girl. And as much as she didn't like the idea of someone like her anywhere near someone as innocent as Kim, she also knew if someone like Lonnie was around her, she'd be that much safer.

Besides, the fact she treated Catra with any respect felt like a bonus win in her book, and she was going to enjoy that side of it big time. "Well, as your Majestic and gracious Princess, I believe I can keep this discretion between us, for now."

"Oooh~!"

*tug*

"Thank you!"

...She was hugging her. Lonnie. Was hugging. Catra. This was the most bizarre and uncomfortable feeling in Catra's life that her former bully would be hugging her so dearly and sweetly, so much to the point that their cheeks were nearly pressed together. All Catra could do was blush and squeeze her claws together to refrain from yelping in pure terror and freakishness.

"U-Um... n-n-no problem..." She meeped. Wasting no time at all, the brunette quickly ran from the alleyway, leaving Catra to sigh to herself as she followed behind her.

...

*pat*

*pat*

"See? It's a friendly horse, isn't it?" Glimmer commented with a smile, holding onto Kim as the eager girl gently petted the horse's forehead.

"It feels so fluffy at da top!" The four-year-old lisped, giggling a little as the horse brushed it's snout up to her cheek, giving a small ticklish whiff of the girl.

"Yeah, and they're useful, too." Bow added, petting a finger under it's chin. "When you train enough, you can ride these friendly little guys anywhere you-"

*nip*

"Ouch!" Bow yelped, tearing up as he sucked on his recently-nipped finger. It actually didn't hurt as much as he let on, he was just goofing around for the little girl's amusement, which worked like a charm.

"Heheheh!" She giggled, along with Glimmer who watched the charade. Turning her head around, Kim smiled back as she hopped out of Glimmer's arms, rushing up to the familiar person approaching them. "Sissy Lolo!" She squealed as Lonnie picked her up with a smile.

"Hey, squirt. You ready to go home?" Lonnie asked with a smile.

As the two continued to chat, Glimmer smiled over as she saw her own sister approaching her, a slight smile over her mouth which was a huge improvement over the disdain she showed earlier. "Hey, Catra. So did you clear everything up?"

"Yeah, yeah," Catra waved off uncaring, "it was my mistake. I thought she just looked like someone I knew, that's all." Giving a small smile back to the young four-year-old, the young girl eagerly waved to Catra with her small hands as Lonnie gave her a small nod in appreciation before making their way back into the village. "She's fine."

"Well that's a relief." Glimmer sighed. "You just looked so angry when you saw her. I actually thought she was from the Horde for a minute there.

"Yeah, but it's fine."

*ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZT*

"She isn't who I said she was, and she'll take great care of Kim."

"Who's Kim?"

"The girl she was with, remember?"

"What girl?" Bow raised a brow in confusion at the sudden mention.

"What do you mean what girl? I'm talking about the one who just le-" Catra lost her breath as she turned around, almost losing the pupils in her eyes as they glazed over at the sight behind her. They were gone. Both of them. No Lonne, no Kim, nobody. There was just the dozen or so villagers within her view going about their day without a care in the world. "Wh-Where did they go?"

"Where did who go?"

"The girls, the ones that were just here!" Catra yelled a little in frustration. She couldn't catch a single scent from either of them, or pick up on the sound of Lonnie's footsteps.

"Girls?" Glimmer asked looking to Bow, the archer shooting back with a small shrug in reply. "Catra, it's just been us for the last few minutes."

"Wha- No it wasn't! We were just talking to them a minute ago! Lonnie. Kim. Ring any bells?"

"Are... you okay, sis? I think the heat's starting to get to you." Catra tensed up as she heard Glimmer repeat the exact same thing the last time she swore something was one way instead of the other way around.

"This isn't funny, stop goofing around!" Catra yelled, grabbing Glimmer's shoulders.

"C-Catra, you're starting to scare me." Her eyes told her all, the fear spreading across Glimmer's face. She was telling the truth. She couldn't recall anything about this so-called "Lonnie" or "Kim", even if it was to save her own life. Realizing this for herself, Catra looked back in horror, her ears drooping at the reality of the situation.

They were erased from existence. Lonnie and Kim. And nobody appeared any wiser for the experience. It wasn't just the fact they disappeared at all that bothered Catra so deeply, it was the fact that nobody could recall any such thing about there being a Lonnie or Kim in the first place. To the rest of the Universe, any such individuals had ceased to exist, had yet to exist, and never would exist.

It was at that moment that Catra finally realized the truth.

Something was incredibly wrong with this world...

...

...

...

A/N: Hooftah, another large chapter completed! Sorry for the delay folks, between the outbreak and school its been kinda tiring around here lately, feel myself dozing off more than half the time. Mix that with the fact i'm actually going into this episode with a completely blank mind since its off the top of my head, and you got a winner XP... or a loser... idk which... I hope its a win...

Anyway! We're cutting down to the wire! We either got 1 or 2 chapters left, the amount im not sure of given how big these are turning out XP If there is 5, "shockingly" i don't think i'll have anything bigger than 9k (much less 8 possibly) since we're nearing down the last few episodes, and on top of that, the tragic revelation that we all know is coming to come up soon with an adora twist to it X*[ Keep your tissue boxes nearby folks just in case.

Also, the next chapter is likely going to be the last chapter to add custom-made flashbacks to it, so if you want to send your flashbacks for this episode, do it now before we reach the final chp of this episode!

With that said, hope you all enjoyed! Leave a like, fave, follow, and review, and keep yourselves prepared cause we might hit the finale of this 2-Parter episode next chapter!