Entrapta sat on her bed, fiddling with electrician's tools and a random circuit board, when the low voice of her mobile lab's announcement system spoke once again.
"Bright Moon Castle, now twenty yards ahead," it said.
Entrapta stopped what she was doing. She closed her eyes, put down the circuit board and tools, took a deep breath, and sighed.
"Guess it's now or never."
She walked to her dresser, dug in a drawer, and grabbed an old, frayed book, titled Regal and Royal: A Guide to Being A Perfect Princess.
She'd found it in the library archives of Castle Dryl one day. She'd almost thrown it out the moment she'd unearthed it, for the same reason she had urges to throw it out right now: she never was much for the image on the cover. It was a young woman, with her head held high, wearing a very ornate dress and a tiara that looked heavy.
Everything about her was just... so clean. Not the good kind of clean, where you smelled nice and maybe, for once, looked like you hadn't been wrestling with the laws of physics and chemistry all night. The other kind of clean. Restrained, clean. Flavorless clean.
Boring clean.
But... well, if this was what it took to help free Etheria, enough that she could plumb every single iota of the depths of the knowledge it contained (oh, and, uh, people being liberated from awful things like political imprisonment and literal slavery were wonderful, too, sure) then she'd go ahead and do it.
So many people of the world would never know the sacrifices Princess Entrapta was about to make for them right now.
As her mobile lab hovered its way across Bright Moon Castle's moat bridge, Entrapta practiced her entrance one last time, in front of the mirror.
Head, held high. Posture, rigid and straight. Eye level with everyone. No sudden movements involving hair. Or hands. Or any undignified movements of any kind, really. Practice flowing your wrists. Curtsying, always. Walk with one foot in front of the other—
Her vehicle stopped. Entrapta went to a window and looked outside. She was out of road. A golden yellow column towered before her.
Entrapta stared at it, confused. She hadn't been told about this when invited. Was it some kind of puzzle? Maybe a trick door? Wouldn't be a bad security measure. Maybe she'd build one for her castle.
As she was in the middle of figuring out the most diplomatic way to knock down the tower—and perhaps allow its collapse to create some makeshift steps to the entrance above—she heard a hum, and her surroundings glowed with a bright, crystalline, lavender hue.
And then everything slowly rose off of the ground. Entrapta found herself being lifted, through no effort of her own, or even of the vast scientific resources located in her lab.
This was magic.
Entrapta sighed. One day she would get used to magic. Today, though, she would just have to fake it.
All right, Entrapta, she psyched herself up as her mobile-lab-slash-second-home floated upwards. No, Princess Entrapta! Remember your title.
The levitating stopped, and she found herself with one more bridge to cross, this one, as golden as the column. She gave the command for her vehicle to do so, while continuing to remind herself of every platitude she could think of.
You are a princess. You are proud. You are regal.
The bridge was crossed, and the doors of the castle opened before her. Trumpets sounded from areas Entrapta couldn't locate. Entrapta stepped out of her mobile lab.
You are dignified. You are...
"Now introducing, Princess Entrapta of the kingdom of Dryl!" a cheery female voice proclaimed, from the same parts unknown as the trumpets.
The wall in front of her slid away, and a glistening hallway greeted Entrapta—a hallway which encouraged her to crane her neck to try and find its end, with zero success.
Lost, Entrapta finally concluded. I am very, very lost.
The next thing Entrapta saw was a girl in sparkling regal attire, walking through that hallway towards her. As she came closer, walking with a practiced, measured air, Entrapta could see that she wore a full-length blue and lavender dress which shimmered in the light.
There it was. That uncomfortable image. Right down to the tiara which, she had to admit, looked better on this mystery girl that it ever would have on her.
Entrapta's insincts screamed for her to step back, to keep her distance. She would have listened to them, except that this mystery girl was looking more and more familiar the closer she approached.
Finally, the girl spoke.
"Princess Entrapta! I'm so happy you were able to make it," she said with a curtsy. "Welcome to Bright Moon."
Entrapta blinked.
Oh.
Duh. Now she knew who this was. The distinctive pink hair style, the adorably diminutive stature... Entrapta rubbed her eyes. She couldn't help it. "Glimmer?" she said, staring.
"Yep, it's me—" Glimmer said, before morphing into a confused stare of her own. "Wait, what do you mean, 'Glimmer'?" she asked, gesturing with jazz hands.
"Sorry," Entrapta said. "It's just that, we've only met once before, so I didn't recognize you all dressed up. You look really nice, though."
Glimmer's smile returned, with a blush to boot. Whew. Crisis averted. Entrapta, you smooth smoother-over, you.
"Thanks. And, yeah," Glimmer said, putting a hand behind her head. "Usually my mom handles these diplomatic visits, and I'm trying to do the whole 'good impression' thing. Is it working?"
"You've definitely got the 'impression' part down," Entrapta said, before remembering her manners and clearing her throat. "What I mean to say is, I'm honored to enter the abode of such a gracious hostess."
"And we're glad to have you here." Glimmer held out her hands and stepped forward, then stopped. "Wait, just checking: are you a hugger?"
Entrapta blinked. "A what?"
"You know. Someone who's okay with hugging people."
"I mean, hugging is a thing I know how to do and have done before, but—oh!" Entrapta was stopped short by Glimmer's embrace. Which wasn't so bad, really. A little tingly. She chalked it up to Glimmer's usually literally sparkling personality. More study was needed. Of Glimmer's sparkles, that was. And sooner than later.
"No worries," Glimmer said. "That's how we greet people here in Bright Moon: with a smile, and a gesture that says, 'you are welcome, and you are accepted'."
"Oooooh. Good to know." On reflex, Entrapta almost reached for her tape recorder before remembering: no sudden, weird movements. She sighed in defeat, wondering if it were possible to sneak out and grab a mini-notebook, when another person rounded the hallway towards her.
Another person she immediately very much recognized, from his adorably scruffy hair to that daring midriff that even Entrapta wasn't brave enough to try, to his confident, welcoming stride.
Speaking of impressions.
"Princess Entrapta," Bow said upon catching up to her, "I'm so glad you could grace our kingdom with your intellectual presence."
Both Glimmer and Bow had unique looks to them, but Bow's ensemble overall was sort of impossible to forget, really.
Still, Entrapta now realized in hindsight that those differences had been easier to miss when fighting for one's life against renegade tech. Now, in much better light and more easygoing circumstances... well, the ensemble was striking. His eyes were deep and caring. His smile was striking. And his hand, which he'd been holding out for some time now, was not striking or caring in fact it wasn't moving really right this was one of those diplomatic greeting things that she was totally failing at now right on cue.
Entrapta snapped herself back to reality and shook his hand—with her real hand, this time. "Hi, Bow. Nice to see you again."
"Likewise." He chuckled. "I hope your enjoy your visit! If it helps, Bright Moon doesn't have much First Ones tech to its name, so I can assure you that nothing here will rise up and try to kill us," he added with a wink.
"Ha! Well, that's boring," Entrapta said, feeling light and happy all of a sudden. "Not that I don't like us being alive. It comes in handy sometimes."
Bow laughed outright—and Entrapta squealed on the inside. And almost the outside, too, but manners. Super important. Speaking of which, if she wasn't able to use her recorder to take note of important customs, then she was just going to have to learn them via good old-fashioned habit! She stepped in front of Bow. "So, hey: are you a hugger?"
Bow wasted no time growing his smile, and giving an enthusiastic nod. "I sure am! There's nothing I like better!"
"Done!" Without skipping a beat, Entrapta grabbed Bow with her ponytails, pulling him in and squeezing him against herself. Closer, warmer, happier—
"Entrapta..." she heard Bow's voice just then, very faint, and very strained. "Crushing... me..."
She looked at Bow's adorable head, and saw it turning a weird color. Strange. Her machines loved it when she—oh, right!
"Whoa, sorry about that," Entrapta said, letting go and watching him fall to the floor. "I keep forgetting: human bone, way less durable than what I'm used to interacting with," she said, half wishing that a hole would open up under her and swallow her back into the castle moat. Sadly, no such event transpired.
"No, no, it's okay," Bow said, picking himself up with a nervous chuckle and several deep breaths. "Don't worry, hugs take a lot to get the hang of. For now, though, if you'll follow us, we'll show you around the place."
With a long, silent sigh, Entrapta followed Bow and Glimmer, glad that what was most likely the easiest of the hard parts was finally over.