The stupid thing was, Glimmer had been trying to stay out of trouble for a change!

Mostly.

OK, so maybe she was supposed to be giving Telzy and her stupid friends another chance, but everything with those kids was just sneering and snickering and mock pity and she had to get out of there. Not because she was sad about it —because who cared what those losers thought!— but because if she stayed she'd have to teach those bigger kids some manners with her fists and she'd already gotten in enough trouble this week for accidentally-on-purpose spilling a teapot out the window on Stinky's head when she was supposed to be learning about the fall of the Hymenopter-whateverian Empire to Horde control in the Second Decade AH. (Which stood for After Horde, it wasn't like she hadn't still been listening, sheesh!)

And she wasn't trying to go into the woods, either! She'd just needed a place to cry— to, uh, think in peace— before she had to face her mom's disappointment look when she realized she'd failed yet again to make any friends. But that just reminded her she DID have a perfectly good a friend and she could hang out with him right now if the woods would just cough him back up!

Give me back Bow, you stupid forest! She kicked a tree. It hurt. And she still didn't have her friend back.

Bow would understand. He'd understand everything and do whatever she wanted, and they'd have all kinds of adventures. In the absence of the real thing, the version of Bow in her head had risen to near mythical proportions, the perfect friend who would solve all the problems in her life.

Her mom kept saying all this meaningless grown-up babble about how the Whispering Woods worked in mysterious ways, but she didn't have time for mysterious ways! There was apparently only one kid on the entire planet who could stand hanging out with her and she needed him back, darn it! Her entire childhood was at stake over here! She grabbed a dead branch and whacked on the nearest trunk.

Where! (whack) Is! (whack) My! (whack) Friend?

Voices. She dropped her stick and ducked out of sight because her mom would FLIP if she knew she was this close to the woods. From her hiding spot between the trees, she saw a handful of rebellion members and an old sorcerer moving along the tree line. They were discussing some mission, the big lady with the horns worrying about deactivating some machine when their intel was over a year old.

Whoa. Were they going out on an honest to goodness mission to free a town from the Horde? Well, that was way more interesting than anything else going on around here! What was she supposed to do, just let them walk away without at least checking it out?

She was only going to watch them a little, just to see what they were up to, but it turned out really easy to follow them. Too easy. The soldiers followed the edge of the forest and Glimmer trailed just behind them from inside the woods, hidden by the trees. What was weird, though, was, even with all the sticks and leaves underfoot, she barely made a sound.

Did this mean some of this mysterious ways junk was finally benefiting her? About time! Especially since Stinky was with them. She looked the same as any other guard in uniform, but the smokey smell from that spice weed she wasn't supposed to always be chewing on duty anyway was burning Glimmer's nose even from all the way over here. Meanest grown-up in the entire castle, easy! The guard seemed to have it out for her in particular, even before the tea incident. Always following her around, looking for a chance to get her in trouble over nothing. Just because she stole a couple of weapons from her locker once! It's not like the rebellion didn't have plenty! Her mom wouldn't give her anything even a little deadly! How else could she build up a proper armory unless—

Wait. Where'd they go? She'd taken her eyes off them for a minute and now the small party was gone. They hadn't been that far ahead of her, but she scanned the edge of the woods and the soldiers she'd been spying on were gone, as if they'd vanished into thin air. Which they might have, she supposed, if they had a sorcerer with them.

Shoot. Well, there goes that. She trudged back the way she'd come, kicking at stray roots. Guess there was nothing else to do but head back to the—She shrieked as the ground gave way underneath her, sending her sliding downward.

Her backside jolted as she hit the ground. Fortunately, dirt soft enough that she hadn't seemed to hurt anything. It took a minute to catch her breath and get over her shock, but then she looked around the narrow passageway, the walls glowing blue and mysterious. Like the crystals in the old caverns under the castle had had babies with a bunch of mushrooms. And maybe it should have scared her (because that hill she'd slipped down was really steep and she was way too short to pull herself back up), but she couldn't be because she knew these tunnels!

Her mom had told her all about them years ago, how her dad and the other sorcerers had crafted them for the rebellion by twisting the magic of the woods to their own purposes, so they could travel quickly and in secret. It was actually how her parents had met, her mom overseeing the project and her dad showing off his magic tricks to impress her (at least that was how her mom told it).

The tunnels used to run all over the woods, connecting to the catacombs under the castle until the woods got sick of being told what to do and shook off the magic that bound it. Tunnels collapsed, entrances appeared and disappeared at random, and routes rearranged themselves, trapping soldiers and making navigation impossible. Finally, Queen Angella had decreed the tunnels unsafe. They were abandoned, growing more wild and unpredictable over the years as the woods reclaimed them. Except apparently they were still in use because she could hear the voices of the rebellion party she'd been following before echoing down the farthest corridor. Maybe having the old sorcerer with them helped them navigate it?

A voice in her head that sounded a bit like her mother told her she shouldn't follow, that the tunnels were wild and unpredictable. Unfortunately, a much louder voice drowned that one out by screaming about how cool this was! Glimmer had so little of her father to remember him by and now here was this thing he'd built himself, with his own magic. Paths he'd walked with his own two feet and now she was following literally in his footsteps. She trailed her hand along the walls as she darted ahead, trying to feel him, hoping she'd be able to recognize her father's magic signature under the wild power of the woods.

"Hey! What are you doing here?"

Shoot! She'd gotten so caught up in the idea of the tunnels and the memory of her dad, she'd forgotten completely about the rebellion members she'd been following. Stinky lunged for her and she dove out of the way, sprinting back the way she'd come. If they caught her, if her mom found out she'd come down here, she'd ground her for the rest of eternity!

The adults were shouting, but she couldn't hear them over the sound of her own heart racing and Stinky's armor jangling only a few steps behind her. As Glimmer ran, she waved her arms wildly so the walls would light, but even so could only see a few feet ahead of her. Shouldn't she have reached the way out by now? It hadn't taken this long on the way there.

Then the path split three ways, and she stopped, panicked, no idea which way to choose. Her mom was right. This place was dangerous and weird and probably haunted and she never should have come down here. Rough hands clamped down on her shoulder, and she screamed.

"If you were my kid, I'd have whipped you in line by now, you little monster." Stinky smelled even worse up close, the sharp smell of the spice making Glimmer's eyes water.

"Let me go! You're hurting me!" The guard had her by the back of her dress, the material was digging into her throat, choking her. She dug her fingers into the neck of her romper, trying to pry it away from her skin so she could breathe, but it was too tight. She kicked uselessly at the air. "I'll tell my mom."

Stinky laughed, lifting her closer to her face. "Oh, no, kid. I'll be the one telling your mom. Probably adding a couple of extra details, so she'll keep your glittery little ass out of my hair for the next decade or two. Though, with how much trouble you've caused me lately, I really ought to leave you down here."

"You… I'll…" Glimmer gasped, feeling dizzy from the lack of air. "Put me down!"

"Maybe I will. Drop you right here and let the ghosties get you. What do you think about that? You know what they say about this place. Haunted. Angry magic mixed with ancient power, the souls of those lost down here still walking, seeking revenge!"

She was just making it up. Trying to scare her. At least Glimmer was pretty sure she was. Though she never had liked ghost stories. And it was just creepy enough down here that should could almost believe. She gasped as she saw something spectral floating towards them.

It was her imagination. It had to be. Except it was lighting the tunnel's glow as it went, a ragged white cloth hovering in the center of the air, bobbing and lurching towards them, the torn cloth it trailed taking on an otherworldly hue in the pale light. As it got closer, she could just make out a faceless head glinting blue in the light. She wanted to scream but could only manage a strangled sound. The guard spun, following her gaze.

"It's… it's…" The guard's grip went slack just a little, but Glimmer didn't hesitate. No ghost was scarier than her mom! She spun around and used the first weapon available, digging her teeth into the guard's arm hard enough she tasted blood, flinging her foot upward to knock her helmet off-kilter. Stinky yowled and dropped her just as the ghost reached them. Glimmer hit the ground hard and would have been crushed as the guard flung herself backwards to get out of the way of the ghost if someone hadn't grabbed her from behind and pulled into one of the side tunnels.

Glimmer spun, ready to face this new threat, but paused, her fist half an inch from his face, when she realized who it was.

"Bow?" she whispered, barely believing what she was seeing. But it was him. A little older, a little taller, more hair, but those same warm eyes. She was about to say something else, but he shushed her, tugging her next to him against the wall.

Don't move, he mouthed. She wanted to ask him why and what was he even doing here and where had he been all this time and how had he found her but, then the lights in the section of the tunnel they were in extinguished, plunging the into darkness and she understood. He'd pulled them far enough into the tunnel that as long as they didn't move, the walls wouldn't glow and the darkness would hide them.

She tried to keep her breathing steady, but this was a different dark than she was used to. No crystals, no moonlight, nothing but crushing darkness all around. She pressed herself closer to Bow, trying to fight the urge to flee before it swallowed her up.

Bow squeezed her fingers, and she realized he hadn't let go of her hand. Usually, the only person who held her hand was her mom when she was trying to drag her somewhere. She'd never had anyone hold her hand just because before. It was kind of nice. And somehow it made the crushing dark a little more bearable.

"Alright, that's it! I don't know what the hell that was, but I'm done with these freaky old tunnels. Come on, kid!" They couldn't see her from here, but it sounded like Stinky had pulled herself up off the ground. Glimmer's heart nearly beat out of her chest, trying to fight the instinct that told her to run or fight. She kept reminding herself that as long as they didn't move, they were invisible.

"Now where did that brat go?" In the other tunnel, the blue light got paler, as if Stinky had moved farther down the corridor. An eternity passed as they listened to footsteps, the echo of the tunnel making it impossible to tell if the guard was getting closer or farther away. Eventually, the other tunnel darkened to and the only sound was their own soft breathing.

"I think she's gone," Bow said at last. He waited another moment and then pushed off the wall, the hallway revealing him fully at last as the walls glowed brightly again.

"It's you!" Glimmer threw her arms around him, squeezing him as tight as she could just to make sure he was real. "The woods gave you back!"

"The woods? Glimmer, I don't understand." He was squeezing back just as hard, even though he was clearly freaking out. "What are you even doing down here?"

"Don't you see?" She was practically bouncing out of her boots with excitement, bursting out of the smaller tunnel where they'd been hiding back into the main one to jump with pure glee. "The tunnels move around. Nobody can navigate them because the woods just does whatever it wants. And so if you're randomly here and I'm randomly here… it's because the woods is trying to tell us we're supposed to be together!"

"Uh…" He looked nervous about that. "That doesn't make sense. Why would a magic forest care about a couple of kids?"

"I don't know! Maybe because we're supposed to help save the planet or something. Maybe I become some badass warrior with an enormous sword and really cool boots and I'm like, boom, throwing tanks and saving the universe and you're like... my buddy who comes up with good ideas! And we needed to find each other because, uh... I don't know, I'm not a magic forest." She wasn't entirely sure this made sense, but she was so thrilled to have him back she was too giddy to think properly. "Think about it! Why else would the woods have brought me exactly to where you were and then there was that ghost—"

"Oh. That was actually me. It's this... thing I made." Bow picked something up off the floor of the cave and it took her a moment to realize it wasn't a ghost but a torn cloth hanging down from a small metallic ball, what must have been some kind of propeller at the top all twisted and broken. "It doesn't work how it's supposed to and I can't figure out how to aim it but figured it would be enough to cause a distraction."

She took it from his outstretched hand, admiring the tiny parts, trying to imagine how they would have looked before they got all banged up. "You MADE this? By yourself?"

"Uh, yeah? It's not much but—"

"Bow! That is so cool! That's like the coolest thing I've ever seen!" She handed the thing back to him and he looked from it to her in surprise. "You didn't tell me you were some kind of tech genius!"

"I'm not really... I just... uh... thanks." He blushed and busied himself with stowing the tiny device into his backpack. Why was he so shy about this? Did no one ever tell him how cool his stuff was before? She was just going to ask him when there was a loud boom and what sounded like shouting coming from the right. She spun, fists ready, and was surprised to see a rectangle of what could only be sunlight only a few feet down the next corridor.

"Hey, look! It's the way out!" She grabbed his hand and tugged him towards it.

"OK, that was definitely not there before…" Bow's voice was worried, but he let her tug him along anyway. "But I guess if we can get back into my workshop, we can find a grown-up who can—"

Before she could even ask what workshop he was talking about, there was another boom and the sound of distant shouting coming from the opening up ahead. She let go of his hand and tore towards it, scrambling up the old wooden ladder built into the side of the tunnel and emerging through an old wooden door embedded in… a mossy old log?

"Oh, no! No no no!" The complete distress in Bow's voice made her spin around to see him emerge from the door. He stepped out onto the log, the rotted wood shifting under his weight like it wasn't also holding up a solid wood door with thick metal hinges. "Now where are we?"

"It doesn't matter, don't you see?" Glimmer pointed ahead where there was clearly some kind of battle going on, the air alight with Horde laser blasts, the sound of weapons clashing and people shouting through the thick smoke that surrounded everything. As they watched, something flew up through the tree line and exploded into lights.

"That's the rebellion distress signal." They both said at once and she was dying to ask how the heck he knew that, but there wasn't time. Those were her people down there, signaling Bright Moon for help, and what was she if not help from Bright Moon? She clenched her fists at her side and started towards the sounds of the melee.

"GlimMER!" Bow hissed, his hand resting against the edge of the door like he was afraid it would move if he stopped touching it. "Are you out of your mind? Why are you running TOWARDS the danger?"

She could explain. How this was her duty as the princess of Bright Moon. Her duty to the rebellion, to her father's legacy, to the whole dang planet that entrusted her to wield the power of the moonstone someday. But she shouldn't have to. The Bow that lived in her head wouldn't need an explanation. He would trust that it was the right thing to do, would trust HER.

"Are you coming or not?"

Bow inhaled, looking from the door to her, tears pooling in the corner of his eyes. "If we walk away, this door… We've got no way out of here. No way back home unless we just wander through the woods, which are full of princesses and magic and Horde soldiers and weird creatures, and I've done that already! It's scary, and I thought I was going to die and…" He gulped a sob and leaned back against the log.

"I already told you. This is on purpose, Bow! The woods wanted me AND you here. We're in this, whatever it turns out to be, together. So nothing that bad can happen as long as we don't get separated!" She watched him, trying unsuccessfully to wipe away his tears with the sleeve of his shirt. There was a heart on it, just like last time. Did that mean something to him, to his family? She didn't know. Didn't know where he came from or why he was here or who he was at all, really. That this whole idea of "her Bow", this best friend she'd built up in her head for months, was based on a single meeting. Really, the boy before her was a stranger, someone she barely knew. One who apparently didn't trust her anymore than her mom did. She steeled herself and heard her head high, like a proper princess should. "But if you don't want to come, then fine. You can stay here. I'm going."

He said nothing as she turned and started walking towards the sounds of fighting. All that time wishing she'd find him again, and for what? Why had the woods even bothered to throw them together again just for it to end like this? She blinked furiously, her eyes stinging. There wasn't time to get upset about this. She had a village to save.

It was only when the village came into sight that doubt sneaked in. Whatever element of surprise the rebellion had gained by using the tunnels was gone now, their forces in disarray. Small as the rebellion forces were, they still would have outnumbered the Horde forces two to one if they weren't aided by an army of soldiers no taller than her, antennae sticking up through their mining helmets as they flung rocks with slingshots and charged with pickaxes. These had to be the villagers, pouring steadily out from the underground to help the Horde.

But that didn't make any sense. Shouldn't the villagers WANT to be freed?

She ducked low, watching from between the leaves of a thick fern, not wanting to be spotted. She had to do something. But what could she do? Another rebellion member fell to a Horde blaster, their form too still as they hit the ground, and cold terror filled her lungs. She was just a kid, no magic or anything. What was she possibly going to do? Then she felt a warm hand close into hers.

"OK," Bow said, crouching beside her, his voice shaking, but his brow set. "What's the plan?"

Now THAT was her Bow! She bubbled out a sound halfway between a sob and a laugh and then shook it off. There was work to do! "I was going to just run in there, start bashing heads."

Bow gave her a look so full of disapproval she actually laughed. The situation was still completely hopeless, but it felt so much less bleak now that it was the two of them. "How about we come up with something a little better than that?"

Think, Glimmer. "OK, well, we're unarmed. And kids. And the rebellion is outnumbered. At this rate, everyone will be dead before reinforcements can even get here from Bright Moon. We need to even the odds a little. If only the villagers weren't fighting us when we're trying to save them!"

Now that she thought about it, there was something kind of familiar about those miners. A half remembered lesson fluttered just at the edge of her memory. Something about a shortage of metal imports to Bright Moon after the Second Decade fall of… something?

"Hold on!" Bow tensed beside her. "I know that woman! From the market!"

Glimmer followed his gaze to where the woman with the horns was covered in bug people, at least a dozen of them trying to drag her down, while she desperately tried to get towards some pulsing mass of wires and tech drilled into the ground in the middle of the village. Almost like… some kind of machine. Hadn't someone said something about a machine before?

"This isn't right!" Bow said with a fierceness that surprised her. "The rebellion is trying to help people and all the Horde does is hurt! Every thing they taught us about both sides… they're so deep in their heads about it they aren't thinking!"

Who was he talking about? She wanted to ask, but her brain caught on something he'd just said. Something about thinking?

"Wait! I remember now!" A dozen little things suddenly clicked into place. Glimmer tripped over her words in her haste to get them out. "The people! They're the Hymenopter-whatevers—"

"Hymenopterians?"

"Yeah, sure, them. The bug people. They have like a… a thingie. Where they can share thoughts with each other?"

"A hive mind. I think I learned about this too. They communicate through vibrations in the ground." Bow gasped. "At least, they did until the Horde—"

"The machine." Glimmer finished, inordinately pleased how easily they could follow each other's train of thought. They were turning out to be a pretty good team already! "The lady with the horns, she said it was messing with the resonance, messing with their thinking—"

"Which enables the Horde to control them. Like brainwashing." Bow had his hand on his chin, his tongue halfway out of his mouth, studying the machine like he was taking it apart in his brain. "So we disable the machine, we free the villagers, they help the rebellion, we turn the tide of this entire battle."

"OK, how about this?" She asked, leaning against his arm. The Horde had called in bots and one of the rebellion archers had climbed atop a small house, sending arrows flying into the swarm to almost no effect. "We grab some of those mining helmets, sneak in. We're smal enough, nobody will realize we're not one of the Hypnotoadians—

"Hymenopterians."

"Whatever. The bug guys. We sneak over to the mind control machine."

"And then what?"

"I don't know. We SMASH it!"

Bow shook his head, his hand on his forehead. "That won't work. Even if we could find something big enough to smash it but still small enough that the two of us could actually lift it, it would still take too long and make way too much noise. We need a better plan!"

"Well, hurry then, plan guy! The rebellion doesn't have much time!"

"I'm trying!" Bow was chewing at his fingers nails, watching as the archer put one, two, three arrows into a bot, barely slowing it down. He shook his head, talking to himself under his breath. "Easier to aim for sure, but you can't stop a machine like that with a pointy stick. It's too bad they couldn't rig something... enough electric pulse on impact, it could short the whole thing out like a giant— wait a minute." He stopped and pulled his backpack around, pulling out a small remote with a tiny red button in the middle.

"What is it? What is that thing?"

Bow looked at her with a slightly maniacal grin and she knew with absolute certainty this was the beginning of a beautiful friendship. "I have an idea."

Author's Note

when I tell you The ENTIRE delay of finishing this fic has been this one chapter that has PLAGUED ME for MONTHS, i am so glad it's finally done, aaah! (I know the pacing is off and there are typos but I do not CARE, I'm just so glad it's done!) Two chapters left and I WILL complete this fic before autumn is over, as promised!

Just a note that I no longer post new fics to FFnet so you're missing lots of new fics by me (as well as the entire rest of this series) if you haven't checked out my AO3 profile (same username as here)