"So, I'm a princess? An actual princess?" Swift Wind nodded. Adora's face was blank. Nothing made sense and yet everything made sense. Four years had passed, Catra hated her, the princesses liked her, she had gone to Beast Island and survived…being a princess was not the craziest thing she had been told. Micah then chimed in:
"Yes, you have a sword that you hold over your head, and then you yell-" Swift Wind interrupted, shouting:
"For the honor of Grayskull!" Micah frowned at him before continuing:
"Um, yes…and then you transform into She-Ra, the legendary warrior princess." Adora began sweating. This was all becoming too real. She wheezed:
"Okay…I'm a princess…I fight against the Horde…I fought against Catra…the girl I love now runs the Horde…" Adora took a deep breath to stop herself from hyperventilating. After a moment, she continued:
"I have one question. Well, several really. First of all, how do I know any of what you say is true? Where is my sword? How does its magic work? And why did I turn against the Horde? What happened to make me leave Catra? And where is Catra? Bow said she ran away – do you know why? Have you found her yet? And can you please untie me?!" Before either Micah or Swift Wind could respond, a loud bang echoed through the palace. It sounded like it came from far off in the distance. Swift Wind immediately headed to the window while Micah turned to Adora, muttering:
"I don't know, Adora. I don't know the answers to any of your questions. I'm sorry." With that, Glimmer suddenly teleported into the room, yelling:
"Dad! You need to come with me right away! Swift Wind, stay with Adora!" Before Micah could protest, he had been grabbed by Glimmer and teleported away. Swift Wind raised his eyebrow and said:
"Well, that can't be good." Adora scoffed and muttered:
"Guess I'm untying myself then." After a few minutes of awkward grabbing and pulling, Adora had managed to free herself from her bed. She got up and stretched, loving how the tension in her muscles was finally relieved. She then headed over to her desk and began looking through it.
Adora found battle plans, battle orders, invitations to various balls and parties, and an old crumpled note that read "Hi Adora" in Catra's writing. Adora raised her eyebrow. She did not remember Catra giving her this. After a moment staring at it, she pocketed the note and headed to the window.
The view was stunning. She was definitely in Bright Moon. The Whispering Woods stretched out for miles, and she could just make out the Fright Zone in the distance. At least it was still there. Adora then made a decision. She turned to Swift Wind, who had been unusually silent and still this entire time:
"Hey! Do you know where my sword is?" Swift Wind nodded.
"It's in the throne room. Glimmer's keeping it for you until you're ready to use it again." Adora smirked.
"Oh, I'm ready. Can you fly me there?" Swift Wind looked unsure as he spluttered:
"Um, uh, I'm not sure that's a good idea…shouldn't we wait for Glimmer…" Adora interrupted him by slamming her hand on the window sill and yelling:
"Hey! You're She-Ra's steed, right? That's what you said! Not Glimmer's! Mine! You do as I say! Take me to the throne room!" Adora had also found a Force Captain badge in her desk. She had pocketed that too.
As Catra walked through the Whispering Woods, once again with no clear destination in mind, Madame Razz's words plagued her. She was a princess, her mother had abandoned her to keep her safe, and she might one day marry Adora and have a kid? No, the whole thing was too insane – the lady was completely crazy! But why had she seemed so confident, and how did she know Catra so well? Her thoughts were interrupted by voices and footsteps nearby. Catra ducked and hid behind a bush. Using her heightened senses, she figured out there were two people approaching. She was then able to make out their voices:
"…according to my calculations, she has to be in this area. I've triangulated the location of her badge – we must be getting close!"
"I don't know…we've been looking for hours! Also, if we did find her, would she really want to come back with us? She sent you to Beast Island and I…I left her." Catra gasped. Entrapta and Scorpia. Of course it would be them. She listened as Scorpia stopped walking and sat down. She could hear Entrapta stop walking and start to fidget nervously with her tracker pad. She could never stay still – something Catra understood. Scorpia then spoke:
"Hey…should we even go back? I mean, the princesses are super nice and everything but…I don't know, don't you feel like a bit of a fraud? Like, even though you're welcome you're not meant to be there? I mean, we're bad people, Entrapta. We did bad things to the princesses. They shouldn't just let us wander around free, right?" There was an awkward silence in which Catra lowered her eyes to the ground.
Catra understood why Scorpia might feel like that, but she knew they were not bad people. Entrapta was a geek who was crazy about robots. She put her passion over her loyalties. Not great, but hardly evil. As for Scorpia, she was the most nauseatingly nice person Catra knew. She was even worse than Adora. There was no way she was a bad person. Catra, on the other hand, was awful. As Catra reminisced about every terrible thing she had made them do for her, Entrapta suddenly coughed and muttered:
"I'm not good with people. I am good at tech. Tech makes sense. People do not. The princesses saved me after I made technology that hurt them. Catra betrayed me after I stopped Hordak from hurting her. And Hordak let me get sent to Beast Island after I helped him build the portal." She took a deep breath before continuing:
"But then Catra saved Adora's life after spending years trying to hurt her. She stood up for you and thanked you after she treated you badly. And she listened to me, instead of ignoring me like last time. I still don't understand Catra, but I think she deserves a second chance. If the princesses can give us one, won't they give her one too?" Scorpia chuckled and Catra heard her stand up:
"You're right! The princesses are crazy and really nice for no reason! We should take full advantage of their insanity and bring Catra back with us as soon as we find her!" Catra rolled her eyes. Suddenly, a loud bang was heard echoing through the forest. It came from far away, but Catra's heightened senses could feel its vibrations through the air. What was happening? Scorpia yelped at the loud noise:
"What was that?" Catra then heard Entrapta run towards where she was hiding, yelling:
"Fascinating! That's the sound of someone breaking the sound barrier! Maybe it's another First One's spaceship!" Scorpia could then be heard running after Entrapta, yelling:
"Spaceship? You mean like that old airship that belonged to my family? The one She-Ra wrecked-" It was then that Scorpia tripped over something and literally fell on Catra. Catra hissed and pushed her off her. She then jumped up and ran away, bumping straight into Entrapta as she did so. Both she and Entrapta fell to the ground rubbing their heads and, for a moment, everyone just groaned in pain. Then Entrapta squealed:
"Yay! We found Catra! This mission is officially a success!"
Swift Wind flew Adora through the window of the throne room, startling the two guards there. They immediately left their posts and pointed their spears at Adora. Adora hopped off her steed and announced:
"Hey, there's no need for that! I'm just here for what's mine. My sword – where is it?" The guards looked at each other uncertainly before a third voice answered her question:
"It's behind you, Adora." Adora recognized that voice immediately – Shadow Weaver. She turned around, saw the sword in a glass case by the wall, and headed over to it. The guards then ran forward, yelling:
"No! Stop! Don't touch it!" They were then zapped by familiar red electricity, and collapsed to the ground, revealing the prisoner they had been guarding. Shadow Weaver was handcuffed and standing tall in a corner of the room.
Swift Wind gasped in horror. Adora glared at her former mentor, pulled the sword out of its container, raised it above her head, and spoke the words Micah had told her to say. Within seconds, she was taller, stronger, and dressed in a frilly white outfit. She also had a tiara and long flowing golden hair. It felt strange yet familiar. Her body seemed to be used to this transformation, while her mind was not. Maintaining her show of strength, Adora stepped forward, pointing her sword at Shadow Weaver, and saying:
"Okay, Shadow Weaver, what is going on? Why are you here? How were you captured?" Shadow Weaver's eyes widened and she gasped:
"So it's true – you really have forgotten everything!" Adora growled and began waving her sword threateningly:
"Answer me! Don't think I've forgiven you for paralyzing Catra! She did not deserve that! In fact, she deserves none of the punishments you give her!" Shadow Weaver gave a low chuckle which made Adora visibly grimace:
"Oh Adora, how noble of you to defend her after everything she has done to you." Swift Wind then stepped forward, getting Adora's attention:
"Adora, we shouldn't stay here. Shadow Weaver's evil." Adora nodded:
"I know, Swifty. Let's go." As she moved to get on Swift Wind's back, several more loud bangs were heard in the distance. Adora looked out the window, still not seeing anything. Shadow Weaver then spoke:
"It's Horde Prime. He's found us." Adora turned back to face Shadow Weaver.
"Who's Horde Prime?" Shadow Weaver narrowed her eyes as she spoke:
"It's always been Hordak's intention to get him to come here. He managed to get a message through to him not long ago, and now he's finally arrived. He'll destroy everything, Adora. You need to stop him." Adora narrowed her eyes to match Shadow Weaver's.
"Since when do you not want the Horde to win?" Shadow Weaver snarled:
"Since they betrayed me. A lot has happened in the last four years, Adora, but one thing has stayed the same – you. You're still every bit the leader and fighter I trained you to be. These princesses look up to you. They'll do whatever you say. Use that power. Activate the Heart of Etheria and defeat the Horde once and for all!" Swift Wind gasped and yelled:
"Don't listen to her, Adora!" Adora shushed him before asking:
"What's the Heart of Etheria?"
"Wildcat!" Scorpia cried happily as she got up and ran over to Catra. Before Catra could respond, Scorpia had scooped her up in one of her trademark bear hugs.
"I'm so glad you're okay! We were so worried!" Catra growled and broke free from her grip.
"Yes, I'm here – I'm okay. Now we've established that, how about you head back to Brightmoon where you're being treated like the princesses you are?" Catra then began to walk away. Entrapta called after her:
"But, don't you want to be treated like a princess too?" Catra groaned in frustration and turned back around.
"Has it ever occurred to either of you that the only reason they're being nice to you is because they're using you? Entrapta, how long did it take for the princesses to start asking you for help when you got back from Beast Island? And Scorpia, any chance you were going with Glimmer to activate that weapon she was talking about? I mean, you weren't with the other princesses and you're clearly not a prisoner-" Catra stopped herself when she noticed Scorpia's downcast expression. She had last seen it in a corridor in the Fright Zone. After a moment of tense silence, she continued:
"What I meant was, neither of you are bad people. But you have done bad things. As soon as the princesses have fixed Adora, and the Horde has been officially defeated, I don't think they'll wait to throw you both in a cell." Scorpia and Entrapta exchanged looks before Scorpia quietly asked:
"Okay then. If we don't go back, what should we do instead?" Catra stared at them in disbelief. Did they seriously want her to lead them – again? She had betrayed them both. Entrapta was right – people made no sense. After a moment thinking about it, Catra spoke to no one in particular:
"I don't know. I've nowhere to go." She then turned to her friends and said:
"Go to Dryl, Entrapta. It's your kingdom – it doesn't belong to the Horde anymore. And Scorpia, the Fright Zone belongs to you. Go and find whatever's left of the Horde. Take them and go back there – fix the place up. Make it what it used to be." Both Scorpia and Entrapta stared incredulously at Catra. After another moment of awkward silence, she turned away once more. Scorpia then yelled:
"No, Catra, wait-" She was interrupted by several more loud bangs in the distance. Catra's ears perked up and she stopped moving. She pinpointed where the noise had come from and, pointing in its direction, she turned to Entrapta and asked:
"Entrapta, what's over there?" Entrapta responded confidently:
"The Fright Zone." Catra raised her eyebrow and smirked:
"Maybe Hordak finally woke up." Entrapta then spoke with barely concealed excitement:
"It's not Hordak. That's the sound of lots of things breaking the sound barrier – meteorites, space ships, who knows? We have to go and see! Come on, Catra! It's no fun going on scientific missions without you!" Catra gasped and finally brought up the elephant in the room:
"So we're ignoring the fact that I betrayed you and sent you to Beast Island? That I was so mean to Scorpia that she literally ran away?" Much to her surprise, Scorpia gave her a beaming smile and said:
"Did you not hear us earlier? We meant what we said – you deserve a second chance, just like us! Please, Catra?" Catra felt tears welling up once again. She held them in and simply nodded. Entrapta then said:
"Great! Now that's settled, let's go to the Fright Zone!"
"So, all that's needed for this weapon to be activated is Scorpia connecting to the Black Garnet? That seems simple enough." Adora had never actually met Scorpia, but she had seen her from a distance and knew she was easy to manipulate. Getting her to co-operate would not be difficult. Swift Wind interrupted her thoughts:
"Adora, no! On Beast Island we learned that once all the princesses are connected to their runestones, all the magic at the Heart of Etheria will channel through you! You will not be able to do anything about it! The magic will destroy you and Etheria!" Shadow Weaver laughed and said:
"Really? Who are you going to believe, Adora? A talking horse or me?" Adora narrowed her eyes even more before growling:
"Neither. I only trust Catra and I'm going to find her. Come on, Swifty! We'll see what she has to say about all this!" Shadow Weaver groaned and shook her handcuffs angrily:
"Oh, don't you get it, Adora? Catra is leading the Horde! She betrayed me and you! She's the one who sent the signal out to Horde Prime in the first place!" That stopped Adora in her tracks. She thought hard. Catra had said she had beaten Shadow Weaver, and she had worn the diamond of Force Commander… Shadow Weaver was right. What was Adora thinking? Catra would not help her take down the Horde. A stray tear rolled down her cheek. Adora wiped it away before anyone saw. She then turned back to face Shadow Weaver. She made another decision.
"If I free you, can you take me to Scorpia?" Shadow Weaver smiled under her mask.
"Of course."
Catra's eyes widened as the Super Pal Trio exited the Whispering Woods after barely ten minutes of walking. Had she really been so close to the Fright Zone this whole time? Catra could now see it across the wasteland that separated it from the forest, and, as she scanned the horizon, she could make out about a dozen large objects floating above it. Entrapta began jumping up and down happily:
"I was right! They're spaceships! Aliens have come to visit Etheria! Imagine all the things we could learn from them!" Catra's eyes narrowed. How did they get here? Who even knew Etheria existed outside of this planet? As Entrapta ran up to a skiff that just happened to be lying abandoned nearby, presumably from the Second Battle of Brightmoon, Catra put two and two together. The portal. Horde Prime. He was here. This was not good. As Scorpia fired up the skiff's engine, Catra ran over and hopped on board. She said:
"Hey, we shouldn't do this! I know those aliens – they're not nice! We should stick to my original plan!" Before anyone could protest, two people materialized behind her. Catra turned to see Shadow Weaver leaning weakly against a tree and She-Ra standing next to her. She seemed surprised by her surroundings, and even more surprised to see Catra.
Catra blinked. She did not know what to do. Normally she would jump out and tackle She-Ra, giving the others time to get away, but she was unsure whether Adora was back to normal - and she had never seen her going anywhere with Shadow Weaver before. She-Ra then interrupted her thoughts:
"Scorpia! You need to come with me so we can activate the Heart of Etheria!" Scorpia's eyes lit up:
"Oh yeah! That's what Glimmer wanted me to do before you came back from Beast Island!" Catra looked at her quizzically.
"Is this the ancient superweapon the Rebellion has? They need you to activate it?" Adora cleared her throat before saying:
"Yes. Please, Catra, don't try to stop us." Catra raised her eyebrow before replying mockingly:
"I wasn't going to. If you want to take down Horde Prime, be my guest. Isn't that your job? Saving Etheria?" Adora's eyes went wide. Catra was not going to fight? But she led the Horde! Shadow Weaver was right – she was not to be trusted.
Before Adora could say anything, however, one of the large floating objects began to fly closer to them. It was not long before it was directly above them. Entrapta squealed with delight while everyone else just stared incredulously at the gigantic white spaceship above them. Then, without warning, a green light surrounded all of them, and they found themselves teleported onto the ship, facing a menacing figure on a throne. He looked like Hordak, but had a different outfit, four eyes and dreadlocks. He grinned:
"Ah, so many guests! Welcome!" She-Ra growled and charged at the Hordak wannabe. He remained completely unfazed and simply snapped his fingers. When he did, the floor opened up and She-Ra fell right through it. Catra yelled:
"Adora!" The figure chuckled and the floor closed back up. He then said:
"You must be Catra. My little brother had much to say about you." Catra glared at him and asked:
"Who are you?" Even though she knew the answer, it was even worse to hear him say it:
"Why, I'm Horde Prime! You called and I answered." He then stood up and approached, raising his eyebrow at the other three people behind Catra. He asked them:
"And who might you be?" Scorpia stuttered:
"S-Scorpia. Princess Scorpia. A-and this is Princess Entrapta. We're…um…princesses." Catra had been frantically waving at her to stop talking. It had taken a while to get the message across. A moan of pain was then heard as Shadow Weaver finally stood up. She then slowly made her way over to Horde Prime, and knelt at his feet. She said:
"My lord, I wish to pledge my allegiance to you. Please, let me stay by your side as you return this planet to its former glory." Horde Prime raised his eyebrow before grinning even more:
"But of course. All are welcome in Horde Prime's light."