Episode 2, Chapter 1:

Light Hope's Challenge

As the newly-transformed Despara stood before the giant ro-bug, our three youngsters from Brightmoon stared ahead in shock and awe.

"...you're seeing this too, right?" asked Glimmer.

"Yup...definitely seeing an 8-foot-tall blonde warrior in white and a red cape standing before a giant robot..." replied Bow.

"Oh, good...at least I'm not hallucinating..." acknowledged Glimmer.

As the light surrounding Despara dimmed somewhat, she finally looked down and took notice of her newly-transformed state. "AAAAAAAAH!" she shrieked as she dropped the sword. What in the name of the Fright Zone just happened?!

She staggered back and fell to the ground; the energy and the strength from before left her...and she was Despara again.

POP! Glimmer teleported to the dropped sword in a shower of sparkles; Despara lunged, and they both grabbed it at the same time.

"What did you just do to me?" Despara snapped.

"What do you mean, what did I do to you?" Glimmer shot back.

"I didn't know being a princess was contagious!" Despara yelled.

Bow ran in between them and put one hand on the sword. "Alright, okay, everyone calm down!" he said. He turned to Despara. "You wanna tell us how you did that?" he asked.

"I didn't do anything!" Despara protested. "All I did was pick up the sword, and then…whoosh! I'm in a tiara and a dress!"

"I don't care how she did it," Glimmer said. "We just have to make sure she NEVER DOES IT AGAIN!"

"EVERYONE! KNOCK IT OFF!" thundered Orko, at the top of his lungs, making everyone stop. "Don't you guys get it? This girl is supposed to wield the sword! She is She-Ra! All that glowing and stuff—that was her unlocking her powers for the first time!"

"But she's a Horde soldier!" Glimmer exclaimed. "Why would a Horde soldier be destined to save the planet?"

"Destiny works in mysterious ways. Plus..." Orko continued, as he and Despara looked at one another, "Maybe since she's seen just what the Horde is capable of...that might change things?"

Despara looked down, in deep thought. Everything she seemed to know about the Horde was becoming undone.

FLASHBACK: 13 years ago

A small blonde girl (around the age group of Bow and Glimmer) was in a fighting stance. Her hair was tied up in a ponytail braid, she had piercing blue eyes, and she wore a silver training uniform; she leapt at Hordak, who blocked her punch, but was taken by surprise when she did a sweep-kick that knocked him off his feet.

"I got'chu, papa!" the little girl declared as she climbed atop Hordak's chest and stood triumphantly. "I claim this land in the name of the Horde Empire!"

Hordak chuckled at this. "Very good, Despara!" he beamed. "You're getting tougher every day! And that sweep-kick? I NEVER saw that coming!"

Despara giggled as she hopped off of Hordak. "One day, I'm gonna lib'rate the world for you, papa!" she declared. "And then we're gonna go into space and lib'rate other planets, an' make sure the whole universe knows about the Horde!"

Hordak couldn't help but smile. "Well, my little one, remember this: when you grow up, you can be whatever you want to be," he told her. "Warrior or medic...conqueror or hero...no matter what path you choose to follow, I will always be proud of you."

The carnage left behind by the people she thought were heroes... But what about Catra and the others whom she befriended? Didn't they deserve to know about this?

"Guys? I don't wanna interrupt, but—" Bow began, before he was cut off by an ear-splitting SKREEEEEEOOOOOOOK! Angered once more, the giant robot bug stomped toward them.

"We have to go!" Glimmer shouted. And so off they ran through the forest, chased by the bug. They crashed through the underbrush and finally stumbled down a slope that deposited them into a wide clearing. For now, at least, they had lost the monster.

Despara brushed leaves off her uniform and looked around. There were symbols carved into the forest floor, leading to the huge door of an ancient building.

"What is this place?" she asked. The symbols on the door looked strangely familiar. Suddenly, the creature tore down the slope toward them.

"No idea!" Bow said as he pointed to the door. "But in there's gotta be better than out here!"

They tried to open the door, but it wouldn't budge.

"Everyone, grab on. I can get us in there!" Glimmer instructed.

"Glimmer, are you sure this will work?" Bow asked. "You've never teleported three people before!"

"Do you have a better idea?" Glimmer asked.

Bow didn't, but Despara sure did. "This writing on the door looks like some kind of password," she said.

"You can read that?" Bow asked quickly. The robot was getting dangerously close.

Despara nodded. "You can't?"

"What's it say?" Bow asked.

Impossibly, the symbols' meaning popped into Despara's head. "Eternia."

The ground beneath them rumbled. The door shuddered and then dissolved, revealing a dark passage behind it.

Despara sprinted inside, and Bow, Orko and Glimmer followed. The door appeared again, slamming in the giant bug's face...then there was silence.

All four of them collapsed to the ground, breathing hard. In the darkness, Despara's mind was reeling. Had she ever seen writing like that before? How could she read it?

"I suppose we owe you a thank you from earlier," Orko informed her. "You had the chance to take off and leave us to our fate—but instead, you stayed to defend us."

Bow nodded. "Yeah, what Orko said: thank you so much," he agreed. "What you did means a lot."

Glimmer gave a nod. "Yeah...thanks," she replied with a bit of reluctance.

Despara gave a small nod as she looked around. "This place—for some reason it feels so...familiar..." she murmured.

Orko rubbed his chin. "You could read the symbols on the door...this place seems very important."

"Yeah, I guess so." Despara replied.

"Those symbols were in First Ones language," remarked Glimmer. "How the hell did you read it?"

Despara shrugged. "Beats me."

"Perhaps there's a connection of some kind between you and the First Ones?" Bow suggested. "I mean, if that sword makes you She-Ra, then there's gotta be a connection."

"So how do we get out of here?" asked Glimmer.

Everyone looked around the dark room. There had to be a way out... right?

Glimmer created a sparkle orb that added some dim light to the darkness. "Well...here's something to light the way, at least," she responded. "We need to find another way out of here and get her back to Bright Moon as soon as possible. My mother will know what to do with her."

Despara looked noticeably pale. Sure, she was having doubts about the Horde, but she was still terrified of princesses.

"Glimmer; are you sure about that?" asked Bow. "She just saved us. That's basically her defecting from the Horde."

"We don't know that," Glimmer responded. "For all we know, this could just be temporary until we get out of here."

Orko put a hand on Glimmer's shoulder. "Try and have some faith, sweetie," he insisted.

Glimmer sighed quietly. "...dammit. OK, I'll try, but no promises," she responded as she moved onward.

Despara glanced off at Glimmer. "...what's with her?" she inquired.

"I apologize for Glimmer's behavior," Orko sighed. "She really wants to prove herself, and she's very determined to help put an end to the Horde's plans."

"Glimmer's mom means well, but she's pretty strict," explained Bow. "Tough love and all that. Both are dedicated to stopping the Horde for very personal reasons."

"...if you don't mind me asking, what exactly happened?" Despara asked.

Orko lowered his voice to a whisper. "Well...the Horde was responsible for the disappearance of Glimmer's father," he informed her.

This was nothing short of a surprise to Despara.

Bow nodded in agreement. "Look...we understand if you're not quite ready to believe us yet," he explained. "But at least be willing to hear us out and consider that maybe the Horde might not be what you think."

Despara simply nodded. She'd listen—even if what she heard was painful.

They caught up to Glimmer. She was holding up the sword and muttering to herself, standing in front of a stone with more carvings on it.

She's trying to see if it will work for her, Despara realized. But somehow—I can feel it…the sword will only respond to me.

"Look at those carvings," Glimmer said when the others approached. "I think this might be a First Ones ruin."

"What's a First One?" Despara finally asked.

Glimmer raised her eyebrows. "You've never heard of the First Ones?"

Despara shrugged.

"The First Ones are the original settlers of Etheria," Bow explained. "They disappeared a thousand years ago, but they left behind a lot of old ruins and technology. Like this place."

"So what happened to them?" Despara asked.

"No one knows," Bow replied. "They just…disappeared. The Horde didn't tell you about them?"

Despara frowned. "Seems like there's a lot the Horde didn't tell me."

"That's an understatement..." Glimmer muttered.

As Glimmer's light illuminated the area, Despara's eye was drawn to a huge figure in the middle of the room—a statue of the warrior woman with flowing hair, holding a sword just like one she had found.

"Oh, hey! That's you!" Bow said, pointing to the statue.

"What?" Despara asked. "That doesn't look anything like me."

"No, I mean the other you," Bow corrected. "The tall one in the cape."

Despara reached out and touched the inscription on the base of the statue. "That was…me?"

"You can read that inscription, right?" Orko asked. "What does it say?"

Despara looked at the inscription. "It says…She-Ra." As she spoke, the inscription blazed with light.

The light spread from the inscription through the base of the statue, then spread out across the floor of the chamber and up the walls. A ghostly image of a woman in a long gown began to appear in front of them. It flickered weakly.

"What is that thing?" Despara whispered.

"Greetings, administrator," the figure said in a robotic voice. "What is your query?"

Despara spoke up, a little uneasy. "Um...who are you, giant flickering woman in the middle of the room?" she asked.

"What is your query?" the figure repeated.

Bow spoke up. "Uh, hi. What is this place?"

The hologram didn't respond. Despara considered speaking up, but her thoughts were still reeling with everything she had learned. Princesses might not be evil. First Ones disappeared a thousand years ago. Somehow I turn into a princess named She-Ra?

Bow tried talking to the hologram again. "How do we get out of here?"

The hologram flickered. "What is your query?"

Bow sighed. "Yup—she's broken," he remarked.

"She's old," commented Glimmer. "I'm surprised any of this stuff still works at all."

The hologram flickered again. "Administrator not detected," it said.

Uh-oh, Despara thought. This can't be good…

And it wasn't. The bright lights filling the chamber suddenly changed, becoming an eerie reddish-purple. Creeeeeeeeak...! The sound came from somewhere deep in the ground. The whole room began to shake.

"Lockdown initiated," the hologram said.

"No! Don't do that!" Bow yelled.

The room around them began to change. The panels of the walls shifted and slid. The ground beneath their feet began to lower. Panicked, Despara glanced at the door they had come through. Now a panel of the wall covered it. There was no way out!

"Despara, you gotta get it to stop!" Bow cried.

"What makes you think I can?!" Despara asked.

"Query not recognized," the hologram repeated.

"There's got to be a password or something!" Bow said as the walls around them continued to move, groaning loudly. "You can read their writing!"

A sudden jolt of the floor tested their balance. A spray of sparks flew from one of the wall panels, along with a sickening groan of gears.

"Stop it!" Despara yelled. "Uh…Eternia! Eternia!" But the password she used before didn't work. Desperate, she turned to Glimmer. "Give me the sword!" she demanded.

"What? No!" Glimmer held the sword closer to her.

"We need the tall lady in the cape!" Despara said. "I don't know how, but she's the key to this place. So maybe she can get us out!"

Glimmer glanced at Despara, then the sword with a look of apprehension. "You're a Horde soldier! I'm not giving you the sword!" she said.

"Are we SERIOUSLY doing this NOW?!" asked Orko.

Crash! A wall panel fell just feet away from them. The hologram flickered and disappeared. Despara shouted out every possible password she could think of.

"Uh, Eternia! Cape! She-Ra!"

A grinding sound came from above, and a portion of the ceiling groaned and started to plummet toward them. The four of them huddled in fear, bracing for the impact.

"Hold on!" Glimmer yelled.

"Glimmer, no!" Orko warned.

Glimmer, Bow, Orko and Despara exploded in a sparkling pink light and vanished just as a chunk of the ceiling fell. They appeared outside—high above the Whispering Woods!

Despara and Bow screamed as they plummeted to the ground, though Orko seemed to float with them.

"Glimmer!" Bow yelled.

Despara glanced over and saw that Glimmer's eyes were closed.

"Shoot! That last jump must've used up her energy!" Orko exclaimed. "Looks like it's up to me to get us out of this...Orko from the Magic Lands, give to me a helping hand; I fear my friends cannot fly, so please ensure that they don't die!"

Magic sparked from Orko's hands and surrounded Despara, Bow and Glimmer! Their descent towards the ground seemed to slowly slow down, as if their weights had gone from that of bags of concrete to three feathers gracefully floating towards the ground.

"I did it! Everyone grab into each other!" called Orko. "We'll float down the rest of the way!"

Bow and Despara grabbed Glimmer's arms.

And soon, all four of them were back on the ground.

Suddenly, there came a groan from nearby. Upon hearing it, Orko immediately flew over to Glimmer, and found that she was starting to regain consciousness.

I hope she's okay, Despara thought, and then a moment later, What's happening to me? I'm worried about a princess?!

Finally, Glimmer's eyes fluttered open. "Glimmer!" Orko cried.

"Did the teleporting work?" Glimmer asked, her voice weak.

"Yeah, it worked. Barely. Are you all right?" Bow asked.

"I'm fine," Glimmer replied. She tried to sit up, but then she winced in pain. "Ugh. I think I used too much power getting us out of there."

"I don't know who could've predicted that," Orko commented. "Me. About an hour ago."

Despara smiled to herself. Their teasing reminded her of her friendship with Catra.

But Glimmer wasn't amused. "Orko!"

"Sorry! I'm just glad you're okay," he said. "No more teleporting for a while, okay? You could really hurt yourself."

"I'm fine, okay?" Glimmer said. "Let's just get back to Bright Moon so I can recharge already."

Then she noticed Despara. "Why are you still here? You could've escaped at any time."

Despara hesitated. She didn't owe this princess an answer. It wasn't like she was chatting with Catra, sharing her feelings with a friend. And yet, something told Despara that Glimmer was actually interested. That she cared.

"I just—I want to figure out what's happening to me," Despara said. "And if I go back to the Fright Zone, I'll never know." She looked away from them. "I never knew where I came from—who my family was. Shadow Weaver says it doesn't matter who I was before—that I was nothing before Hordak took me in. There's always been a part of me that I just don't know anything about. And all of this—it feels familiar, somehow. I don't know how else to explain it." Despara stopped. Had she ever shared something that important with someone other than Catra? It felt weird, but also maybe…good?

Orko, Glimmer and Bow glanced at one another. They were shocked and a bit inspired by Despara's words to them.

Even Glimmer began to see a spark of hope within Despara. That was very surprising to her—hope within a Horde Soldier. Someone who, just this morning, she would've thought was nothing but pure evil.

"Glimmer's mom knows more about First Ones tech than anyone," Bow spoke up. "She'll know what's going on with you and the sword for sure. So if you want your questions answered, stick with us?"

He held out a hand to shake; Despara looked at it curiously.

Before she could shake it, Glimmer stepped out in front. "Let's go," she said. "There should be a village a few miles from here. They'll be able to give us a ride back to Bright Moon. We've wasted too much time already."

Orko sighed as Glimmer went on her way. "Give her time—she'll adapt," he urged as he flew behind her.

Bow walked further on, and Despara followed behind.

Despara was left to stew with her thoughts. This whole situation was very confusing and interesting to her. She wasn't sure what to think of it all.

She could go back to the Horde...become a force captain, like she'd always wanted...convince Shadow Weaver to let Catra be on her team. But after all she'd found out, did she really want to return to the Horde?

She looked ahead at Glimmer. On the other hand, she could go with a princess, the enemy of the Horde, and try to find out what the sword meant. Who this She-Ra was...and her place in it all.

Determined to find out what it meant, she continued on her way.