In the cool morning of a Meyan autumn, Light Spinner awoke with a sharp movement against her bed-covers. She tried to recollect her strange dream as her hand went protectively to the roundness of her belly, frowning. My face was cold. I wasn't exactly...happy. I wore much more clothing. And...
I was telling someone...someone I don't know...that I'm proud of her.
She bit her lip; now was not the time for such silly worries. Her husband rolled over in bed, nuzzling her neck sleepily with his face as his hands glided over her stomach. A baby girl. Pearl. That's what we decided to call her.
"Nightmares?" Nell murmured. Light Spinner lowered her eyes; his skills in Spectacancy had probably picked up on her increased heartbeat. She nodded silently, the nightmare troubling her for a reason she couldn't quite explain. She barely even remembered it, except the ending. A blinding flash of light. Pain. Grief.
"It's nothing," she murmured, rising slowly. She gazed down at her midsection. How did this happen? she found herself wondering. Of course, three other children slept in the room next to theirs in Bright Moon Palace, so it wasn't hard to guess. But her memory of everything before today was foggy. Hazy.
Nell burrowed beneath the covers, yawning. "Wow...you, a morning person. I didn't think I'd see the day." His tawny face betrayed a grin. "Does this mean I get breakfast-in-bed?"
Light Spinner glared at her husband. "Hilarious." Pearl kicked at her, an odd sensation. Shouldn't I have felt this before? she wondered, pulling on a night-robe.
Pull it together. You're just disturbed from your nightmare – that's all.
"Mama!" a voice called, and Lyra barged into their bedroom without warning. "Did'ja hear? Bright Moon's got a prisoner!"
Absurd. They don't even have a prison. Lyra tugged on her arm. "C'mon! Come and see!"
Light Spinner frowned. So strange. We're in a time of peace. It must be mere child's drabble. But I do wish to talk to Micah. "Very well." She yawned. "I need to dress in more suitable clothes, dear. Why don't you wake Dad up while I do that?"
"I'm already awake," Nell muttered as their daughter jumped on top of him, coaxing a surprised shout. Laughter burst from his throat as he tickled the little girl, and she gasped and screamed with delight. A smile graced her own face as she walked into the bathroom, showered, and dressed.
Light Spinner stood in front of the mirror, donning the veil characteristic of her people. Her wavy black hair tumbled down her chest and back, and pale, unblemished skin framed her green eyes. I'm so beautiful. A strange realization she'd only had now – she had had this face and body her entire life. But it felt...foreign, somehow.
Everything is perfect, she reminded herself. I'll go and talk to Micah – surely there isn't something as grave as a prisoner in the palace.
Nothing will go wrong.
She entered the throne room smoothly, bowing to King Micah and Queen Angella. She was so proud of him – her apprentice, now thirty-six years old and with a teenage daughter.
I'm thirty-two, she thought with another frown. He's older than me, yet he was my apprentice. How odd. Though she tried, she couldn't recollect any memories of having trained him. She knew this only because he was standing there, as if it were a fact she took on faith.
Snap out of it, Light Spinner. She cleared her throat. "I heard from Lyra you took in a prisoner," she said jokingly. "Any other news?"
Angella wrung her hands nervously, and Micah bit his lip. Light Spinner frowned. "Wait. There's actually a prisoner?"
Micah sighed. "Her name is Adora. She tried to accost Glimmer, and claimed she knew her. We were about to allow her into the throne room for interrogation when you arrived."
Light Spinner nodded. "I will stay for the interrogation, if you believe she's harmless." Micah merely shrugged in reply.
Angella addressed General Juliet. "Bring in the prisoner." The doors opened, and the girl walked in.
Light Spinner studied the human, bound by magical ropes that could not be untied without Micah's command. The girl – more accurately, a young woman – wore a red uniform over a simple white shirt, with gray leggings and boots. Her blonde hair was tied in a ponytail, and she wore no makeup around her blue-gray eyes. Light Spinner tilted her head. I know her.
This is silly. You've never met her.
A shock passed through Light Spinner. She was in my dream, too. But I can't remember how.
Adora's eyes widened. "King Micah? You're here?" She squinted. "Wow...you look different than your mural." General Juliet forced her to her knees, and Light Spinner smiled a bit at the jab despite herself. We always did tease him about that, Angella and I.
Micah cast a spell on her. "This is a truth spell. You will be compelled to answer honestly. Now tell us...who are you, and why did you break into Bright Moon?"
Light Spinner studied Adora. Her face was contorted with stress, worry, pressure. Micah was no overbearing king, either – something else troubled the human girl.
Adora spoke after a moment. "Wow...this is going to be a lot to explain – and it'll sound a little weird – but I swear, it's all true." She swallowed and cleared her throat. "Reality is collapsing in on itself because of the portal that Hordak and Catra set off – they're from the Horde, except you don't remember the Horde, because the Fright Zone disappeared, just now. It was pretty crazy."
Micah passed Angella a look, then to Light Spinner, as Adora continued to babble. "It got erased by the portal, but I promise it used to exist, and we were fighting them with the Princess Alliance! And I had a sword that could turn me into an eight-foot-tall warrior lady with really great hair named She-Ra, but the Horde used the sword to set off the portal. And I need Glimmer and Bow to help stop it and save Etheria." She dropped her head, panting under the power of the truth spell.
Light Spinner glanced at Micah, who floundered for words. Then she spoke. "Are you mad? Etheria has been at peace for hundreds of years."
Adora's eyes widened at Light Spinner's appearance – her soft pink robes, her opal skin, her long black hair. She tilted her head. "Shadow Weaver?"
A tremor passed through Light Spinner's chest. "Excuse me?"
Adora's eyes were locked on her baby bump, and she frowned. "You don't remember, either," she murmured.
Remember what? "Alura, do you know her?" Micah asked.
"I swear by the moons," Light Spinner said, her eyebrows knitting together, "I've never seen this girl in my life."
"Yes, you have!" Adora said, waving her bound hands around. "You –"
"Enough!" Angella interrupted. "Who are you? How do you know my daughter and the Royal Apprentice Historian?"
"He's...a historian here?" Adora asked, tilting her head. She's absolutely insane, Light Spinner thought. I've never seen her before...
She was taken back to the dream. I'm so proud of you both.
She bit her tongue as Adora spoke again. "That doesn't matter. We're best friends!"
Micah's dark eyes regarded her sternly. "I've never seen you before."
Adora spoke. "Well, that's because normally, you're...dead."
A gasp tore from Light Spinner's mouth, and a shot of pain ratcheted through her chest. Sorrow she couldn't explain. Micah was right in front of her, so grown-up and regal, so kingly.
He can't be dead. Yet he was. A memory flashed through her mind, of her on the floor, doubled over in ugly, insane grief as she sobbed and screamed to an empty room. As anger and horrible misery bubbled up like boiling tar, blinding her with pain and rendering her unable to think.
General Juliet's sword flashed near Adora's throat. "Are you threatening the king?" she accused.
Angella placed her arms around her husband protectively. "How dare you say such a thing!" she shouted.
Light Spinner stepped forward. Why are we all so on edge about her? "Forgive the girl," she said, her voice shaking. "She's only saying whatever the truth spell found in her mind."
"I'm sorry, but none of this is right!" Adora exclaimed. "You must have noticed it. Think – what did you do yesterday? There's a reason you can't remember. This world is not real!"
Angella's voice trembled, and she turned away. "I have heard quite enough."
Micah caught her hand. "Angella, it's alright." But is it? Light Spinner thought. She's never been this worked up before. But then, this situation is insane.
Adora struggled against the guards. "I need to talk to Bow and Glimmer!" she cried. "They're the strongest people I know. I need their help to stop reality from falling apart!"
Angella pinched the bridge of her nose in exhaustion, and Micah frowned. "Guards, escort this woman to our holding cell."
Holding cell? Even he's going off the rails.
The guards exchanged confused glances, and he sighed. "The spare room."
They nodded, dragging a protesting Adora away. Micah turned to Angella and spoke. "Don't listen to her. She's lying."
"But the truth spell –"
"I must have done it wrong," he said with a frown. "There's no way anything she said could be true – it's just not possible."
Angella was turned toward the wall, thinking. Light Spinner lowered her eyes. So strange. I wonder...my dream.
What does it mean?
She gasped, and blinding light flashed through her head again. The baby kicked at her nervously. "If you'll excuse me," she said softly to them, "I will retire now."
Micah nodded, and as Light Spinner left the room, she thought she heard Angella begin to cry. But why, if Adora was a madman, spouting meaningless gibberish? And yet Micah had never failed a spell in his adult years.
I must speak to her myself. To find out the truth.
Worried, she walked out of the room, nodding to the guards in respect.
Light Spinner entered the spare room, where Adora paced about in a magic prison. "What in the moons were you saying?" she asked firmly. "Micah and Angella are the kindest rulers on this planet. They would have granted whatever your real request was."
Adora studied her again, her eyes wide in disbelief. Why does she keep doing that? Light Spinner thought. The girl paced around her small cell. "I told you, that was my real request!" She laughed. "I don't even know why I'm talking to you. If I got you to remember who I was...I'd mess all this up. That's what you always said I'd do."
Why is she afraid of me? What is she talking about? Light Spinner pulled up a chair and spoke gently. "Whatever this Shadow Weaver did to you, I assure you I won't hurt you. We're just concerned with your health."
"I told you, I'm fine," Adora said, gesturing wildly. "I'm normal – you're the one who's acting weird."
"That's enough," Light Spinner returned evenly. "What do you really want?"
Adora clenched her fists, pausing for a long time. She's so familiar. Yet so...far away. Light Spinner studied those soft gray eyes for a long while. Yes. I knew those eyes, I think.
She concentrated, staring silently at the girl, studying her slender frame, the red jacket, the boots. How odd. No Etherian wears such clothing. None except...
She gasped, and a sharp headache pounded in her skull. Little girl. Adult Adora. Left me. Chased her. Catra. Myself.
She flinched, stumbling and tripping over the chair. Adora stepped back, trembling. "You do remember."
"I don't – I...I..." Light Spinner swallowed, and her heart pounded. I do know her.
Adora, daughter of Shadow Weaver, of the Fright Zone.
My daughter.
But that was impossible. Shadow Weaver had no children. Shadow Weaver had never married, never became pregnant. Unless...unless...
I adopted Adora. And I adopted a felinetta, too. A felinetta with a name as common as dirt.
Catra.
Light Spinner took a shuddering breath and fled from the room, lifting her skirts and racing down the halls. Yes. I've seen this place before. But not as a freed woman, not as a respected advisor.
As a prisoner. An attacker.
She burst into her husband's office, starkly aware of her disheveled hair and labored breathing. "Nell," she said, her voice shaking. "We're...we're not really married, are we?"
Nell frowned. "Alura, are you okay?" He stood, crossed the room, and set his hands on her shoulders. "You're shaking like mad."
She pressed her hands to her temples. More memories, out of order. A Spell. Micah, gone. Nell, leaving. A dead servant. Crying. Screaming. A red stone.
Me.
I'm not really here.
Tears stung her eyes. But how could that be? She'd been unable to cry for over ten years. All the tears had been drained out of her the day Micah perished. The day she had been unable to save him.
It's so real. It's right here.
Nothing is real. I am not beautiful. I'm not pregnant, or married, or happy. I'm a bitter shell of a woman. A body and a heart that craves power.
And Micah is dead.
She dropped to her knees in the chaos of the room. A roaring sound raced through her ears, and she crushed her eyes shut.
When she opened them again, Nell was gone. And depression crept over her, a dark cloud that stole her thoughts and turned them against her. Anger, for everything she'd done to herself. To her Micah. To everyone she loved. The palace crumbled around her as gentle tears streaked her cheeks, like the last trickle of melting ice.
I'm in the Fright Zone. Yes, that's right.
I'm rescuing Adora. I came with Princess Glimmer, and we used magic together. I took her power and made it my own. It felt...so good.
I have to find her again. To feel that once more.
But another blinding light flashed over Light Spinner. Agony filled her body, and she barely had time to scream before white and purple flames swallowed her in an instant.
Dizziness. Dryness.
Shadow Weaver's eyes opened with great effort, and it took a moment for her vision to adjust. The Fright Zone's musty air bore down upon her, difficult to inhale. The anger hadn't stopped. Will it ever? she wondered. Of course we failed to stop Catra from pulling the switch. Of course.
Catra stumbled to her feet, and Adora – She-Ra – scowled at her. The felinetta's tail prickled, and she cowered backward. Shadow Weaver's scarred face stretched with a smile. You showed me perfection. Perfection I could never have.
You made your bed, you brat. Now lie in it.
Hordak and Catra raced out of the sanctum as its walls began to tremble, shrapnel falling down from the gravity of the failed experiment. Shadow Weaver gazed over at Glimmer, still holding the princess' hand. She searched Micah's daughter for power, but it was nearly gone; she'd drained the last of it trying to stop Catra from pulling the switch, and they needed the rest to return to Bright Moon.
It was there. The portal reality. It was a dream, and yet it felt even better than power. I felt...free.
She would not cry again. The portal reality was a dream too good for her to ever have. Her reality was to stop Catra, and crush Hordak for his decades of torment and control over her.
Shadow Weaver stood tall as their team hugged Adora, thanking her for saving them. Spare me, she thought bitterly.
"Touching as this is, we need to go!" she shouted as a large metal object crashed a few feet from her dress. Everyone gathered around, and she held out her hand to Glimmer. As she sucked the remaining power from the princess' body, Glimmer gritted her teeth. Then they dissolved in a flash of light.