Glimmer's footsteps echoed through the empty hallways. Bright Moon felt gutted, abandoned. Rationally, she knew that was because it was the middle of the night and everyone was sleeping. At least everyone who hadn't… she clenched her hands at her side.

She wasn't going to think about them. Not the fight. Not the wrenching in her gut as she'd watched the ship rise up and away and realized they'd really done it. They'd abandoned her after they'd promised, they'd SWORE she wouldn't have to do this alone that they'd—

She hesitated at the door, her hand shaking. She steadied her breathing, grateful she'd dismissed the guards and no one else was seeing what a mess she was right now. It was harder here. At the Crystal Castle, there had been things to hit, a plan. Hope and the righteous need to show them that they were wrong for not trusting her, for thinking they knew better about magic when she was the one who'd been born with it.

And now she alone knew what to do. How to finally FINALLY defeat the Horde. All those years of watching the Horde destroy her family, her world. She'd surrendered her entire life to this war and now she could end it for everyone. Free the magic, bring everyone peace.

Never again would a little girl cry because her parent was lost in battle. No more desperate kids fighting for their homes because the previous generation had given up and left them with the mess. A beautiful future where they could all just BE instead of fighting for their lives all the time. It was finally within reach.

She would save them. Save everyone. And then her friends would see that they were wrong and they'd… they could all…

She pushed open the door before she could lose her nerve. She stepped into the spare— to the prison. Her head held high. A Queen. The one who was going to save Etheria.

"Double Trouble, I have a proposition for—" She stopped, frozen halfway across the room, her eyes fixed on the figure standing before her.

"Heeey, Glimmer!"

"Bow?" Her voice sounded so small in the big room.

He'd come back? She exhaled, tension rolling off her. Of course, he'd come back! This was Bow, her best friend, the only friend that mattered. She should have known Adora wouldn't have really been able to take him away, not with everything there was between them. She was so relieved a small sob burst out of her and she started to move towards him, ready to collapse into his arms when he laughed and the sound was all wrong.

"Ooo. Well, there's an interesting reaction!" It was Bow's voice but there was no mistaking the inflection. Double Trouble twisted Bow's mouth up into an arrogant smirk and Glimmer stepped backward involuntarily even though the shapeshifter was still behind the magic barrier.

Of course. What an idiot she was. She balled her fists, digging her nails into her palms. Bow hadn't come back. He really had left her, chosen Adora and Entrapta and even centuries dead Mara, over her. She slammed the heels of her hands into her eyes, scrubbing away traitorous tears.

Usually, it didn't bother her when Double Trouble was Bow. They'd been almost everyone, Aunt Casta, Adora, General Juliet, even Catra, whoever they thought would get a rise out of her. She was grateful they only had murals of her parents to go on or they'd probably turn into her mother too. She wasn't sure she could handle her mother sneering at her from the other side of the energy field after everything.

But their version of Bow was too smug, too— even knowing it was fake, she flushed at the memory of THAT interview— flirty. Missing that softness when the real Bow looked at her like Double Trouble was too edgy to even understand someone like Bow. No matter what they said as him, no matter how cruel, it was easy enough to remember that it wasn't real. The real Bow would never ever turn on her.

At least, she'd thought he wouldn't.

"Take. Off. His. Face." She was shaking but she tried to keep her voice even. "I have a deal for you."

"So touchy!" They crossed their arms across Bow's chest, a pose that looked enough like something the real thing would do that it hurt to look at. "Oh, honey! Don't tell me you managed to drive Mr. Sunshine away too! I thought even you couldn't mess that up. TRAGIC! I was rooting for you two, I truly was."

Heat crept into her cheeks as they laughed. She hated that they KNEW. That she was so pathetically obvious that even they had figured it out. The one thing she'd swore no one would EVER know.

"I don't know what you're talking about." She set her jaw and straightened her shoulders. "No more games. You're working for me now. Whatever the Horde is paying you, I'll double it."

They'd turned back into themselves then. Taken the deal and betrayed Catra for rebellion gold. Paved the way for Glimmer to make the greatest mistake of her life.

But that's not what happened this time.

"Are you sure you don't want me to lie to you, your majesty?" Somehow the barrier was gone and Bow— no it wasn't Bow, she had to keep reminding herself— moved towards her. He lifted his hand and brushed her cheek gently with his fingers. His touch was warm, calloused, and familiar. "Since there is no chance now of the real thing."

She reached up to touch his face, unable to stop herself. For so long she'd wanted— She forced herself to pull away. "No. No, this isn't real."

"No," Bow said almost sadly and she gasped because for once the shapeshifter had gotten that warmth in his eyes exactly right. Then his face shifted and it was cold and angry, that same way he'd looked at her that last time… maybe the last time she'd ever see him. "It isn't real. Everything is broken now. And it's all your fault."

Something happened then. It felt like the Heart of Etheria all over again, that terrible violation of having her power ripped out of her and being helpless to stop it. Everything glowed too bright, too hot, too much. Her knees dipped underneath her.

Bow reached out to steady her. She grabbed his arm but it disintegrated under her fingers. Sparks traveled up his arm from where she'd touched him. It was her own magic but she couldn't control it, couldn't stop it. She could only watch as he burned away like paper, the whole time looking at her with that face, that cold face full of so much fury and all of it directed at her. And then he was gone, bits of him floating of into the air and disappearing.

She reached helplessly into the spot where he'd just been as the magic kept spreading. It ate its way across the floor and up the walls, its hunger insatiable. When it had nearly reached her, she burst out of the room and tore down the hallways calling for her friends, her guards, anyone, going from room to room, the fire at her heels, but there was no one to help her. She'd driven them all away.

She dove out of the building as the castle dissolved into pink-tinged ashes all around her. But there was nothing solid out here either and she fell, screaming, into open space. Stars, vast and dark, crushed at her from all sides. She gasped, desperately, but there was no air. The darkness had filled her and pushed everything else out. She had done this to herself.

And now she would fall forever, alone, with no one to catch her.

She woke, gasping. The piercing white light of the room was a stark contrast to the endless nothing. She blinked, willing her eyes to adjust.

Where— Dread settled in the pit of her stomach as she remembered. She forced herself upright, cursing herself for falling asleep. For getting herself worked up about a dream when she was already living a nightmare.

How long had she been asleep? For that matter, how long had it been since she'd left Etheria? She had no idea. Time was meaningless here.

She made her way to the force field at the edge of her cell, translucent now. For the first time since she'd been here that were no clones outside her door. She may not get another chance.

"Come on. Please work." She concentrated, trying to summon enough magic to teleport past the barrier but she could barely summon a spark. She tried banging on the electronic wall with her fists but it didn't do any more good than it had the last hundred times she'd tried. "Hey! Is anyone there?"

She heard something. A ghost of a sound. "Someone, answer me!"

Nothing. Glimmer was breathing heavily, her heart racing. Something was out there, watching her. Or was there? There was another soft sound but she wasn't sure anymore if it was real or a product of the nightmare and her own terrified brain.

"Hello?" She waited, holding her breath but there was nothing. No sound but the quiet hum of the ship and her own blood rushing in her ears. It must have been her imagination. There was no one there.

She was completely alone.