The New Normal
The sun rose up, bringing a new day to Brightmoon. The flowers opened up and the warmth of the light took away whatever cold came from the night before. Most people were still asleep in their beds after celebrating the crowning of the new leader of the Alliance. Except for a few people.
Inside a small house, amongst the trees and behind the walls of Brightmoon, Adora stirred in her sleep. The soft sensations that wrapped her body were unknown to her, it felt alien against her thickened skin after many years of sleeping in the Fright Zone and the worst conditions to toughen her up. Her eyes snapped open, pulling out a dagger under her pillow, her instincts already assessing that she was in danger. She didn't recognize the room she was in, until she spotted Lonnie and Scorpia sleeping in the same room as her.
"Right," she sighed. "We're in Brightmoon. Under house arrest. While Izuku and Catra are with the princesses and queen. Still sounds weird when I say it out loud." Adora struggled with the sheets, wrestling to get out of bed.
She fell down, waking up Lonnie from her own time in the land of the dreaming.
"Wha, huh?" Lonnie rubbed her eyes awake, spotting Adora on the floor before getting back to her feet. "Of course, still fighting with the bed, Adora? I thought after you tried to stab it, you'd be okay to sleep on it?"
"Sorry, it's just too soft. Makes me feel like something is wrong." Adora got up, putting the dagger away. "It feels like a fevered dream being here after all this time. The Horde has been trying to get here through the Whispering Woods since the start of the war and now here we are. I can't help it." Adora looked out the window to the castle with mixed feelings.
All her life she'd been taught and trained to see the princesses and their crazy magic as the enemies of order and yet now she was living next to the leaders of the Alliance like old bunkmates. Adding to her conflicting and confused mind, her dreams and revelations still left her with many questions about herself as well as Izuku and Catra's role in her life. It still baffled her that she was a descendant of the First Ones like Izuku, and that their former leader was actually there when the First Ones fell. So many unknowns that made her dizzy just thinking about them. Not to mention how it made her curious as to how all the princesses were so close to Izuku and Catra.
Her mind drifted back to the crowning ceremony and to The Snow Ball, all the princesses and Catra clung to Izuku like a pack of hunters surrounded their prey. But that wasn't it. Their eyes hungry and their approaches forward, almost tempting him to pounce on them. They circled him more like a pride of females enticing a male to claim them. It made her heart beat faster and leave her breath shallow just remembering the events. The warmth that began in her chest as it made its way through her whole body left her with a tingling sensation. Her legs couldn't move, losing strength and making her meek but also full of desires she didn't know she held deep inside her. Her mind flashed to the images of Izuku and Catra-!
"I'm gonna go for a run and then a shower!" Adora sprinted out of their room, leaving Loonie to pinch her nose bridge.
"That girl needs to get laid," Lonnie muttered.
Lonnie wasn't blind to the plight that slowly consumed Adora's mind, well more like plights. Plural. Not only had she found out her whole life had been a lie, she had learned that she was the last of the First Ones and was dealing with her rising sexual desires for Izuku and Catra and who knows who else. It was too much for the mind of the former golden child to take. Not that she could blame her for the screwed up upbringing that Shadow Weaver put her and them through.
Ever since Izuku and Catra had disappeared all those years ago, the shadow bitch had been glued to Adora, making sure to groom her into her perfect soldier at every turn. It distanced her from the rest of the cadets, putting an emphasis that what had happened to Izuku and Catra had been her fault for not keeping them in line. It was twisted, but it made Adora a soldier through and through that aided the Horde's advance farther than anyone her age had done before. But now? She was left without a path to follow and more questions than she cared to have. Adora was now like a domesticated animal let loose in the wild, dealing with emotions and instincts that had been dulled out by training and conditioning. And the former ones were coming back with a vengeance.
Lonnie couldn't blame Adora for getting the hots for Izuku and Catra or the other princesses they were surely more than friends with. But she just hoped that she didn't do anything too stupid.
"Um, Adora knows she just ran out in her pajamas, right?" Scorpia asked.
"...Yes… Yes, she did." It was going to be a long day for her.
Adora kept on running and running, trying to clear her head from the thoughts in her mind. She needed to get a clear head for what was to come. The questions in her head were piling and she felt so far from the answers she desperately wanted. It was driving her insane and no amount of exercise was helping keep her head from drifting back to the strange dreams that haunted her sleeping hours. If she could get some answers then she could probably get some semblance of normalcy.
"Okay, let's make a list. 1. I am a First One, or a descendant of them. Which means that my parents also were First Ones, so what happened to them? 2. Hordak and Modulock want to activate some kind of weapon to take over Etheria. How will they do that from the information they tried to get from the pyramid? 3. Izuku and Catra are involved in this given that Izuku is also a First One and Catra can transform into She-Ra. Why can't I stop picturing them like that?" Adora unknowingly ran into a garden until she stopped to ponder the last question. "What's wrong with me?!"
"It sounds to me like you have a crush."
Adora turned around, assuming a combative stance, ready to attack anyone that had snuck up on her. However, the person that stood behind her was not dressed for an assassination or even a fight.
Before her stood the former greatest assassin the Horde had ever had on their side. But instead of wearing anything closely resembling a tactical suit or battle armor to hide from her enemies, she wore a dress. A simple lilac outdoor dress with short sleeves barely reaching to the elbows. With sandals on her feet, a wicker basket in her hand and a sunhat on her head. Her hair was tied up in a small ponytail and her eyes looking at Adora with warmth.
"Lady Nagant?" Adora dropped her stance. "Is… Is that really you? What are you wearing?" She rubbed her eyes as she looked at Lady Nagant like she'd grown a second head.
"Yes, didn't you realize we were neighbors? Both under house arrest and everything?" The former assassin pointed to their respective homes with a slightly ticked off tone to her voice. "I assumed you'd remember."
"No, no, it's not that!" Adora held up her hands, not wanting to get on the former assassin's bad side. "I just never thought I'd see you wearing… this. No offense to your sense of fashion."
Lady Nagant looked at the dress she was wearing. Admittedly it was more girly and loose than what she was used to, but it gave her a sense of freedom she hadn't had in a long time. She looked herself over, noting that there was no way to hide any weapons or military equipment or freely use her rifle weapons. It left her as nothing more than an ordinary mother.
"Mom, I'm ready!" Souta ran to her side, taking her hand.
An ordinary mother that was happy.
"That's great, Souta. Are you ready to go pick up flowers?" Lady Nagant asked with a gentle smile.
"Yes. I want lots of the red ones!" Souta smirked. "And lots of berries too!"
"Of course, honey. But remember you have to eat your vegetables before eating them." Lady Nagant ruffled his head.
"Is she coming with us?" Souta asked, pointing at Adora.
"Um, well, I, um," Adora stammered.
"As soon as she changes, she can." Lady Nagant gave Adora a look. "After all, what kind of young woman would go around running in plain view of everyone in something that doesn't leave much to the imagination? Especially in front of an impressionable child." Her look grew more and more terrifying to Adora to the point she realized her shirt was almost transparent from all the sweat from the running.
"I'll go change!" Adora ran straight back, leaving the mother and son to wait for her.
Meanwhile, inside the castle, Glimmer slept peacefully with Izuku and Catra on either side of her as naked as the day they were born. She slowly stirred from her slumber, feeling like the night before had been a dream. Yet she could feel it, all the new power coursing through her like a live electric current. It felt strange and at the same time invigorating with so much energy in her body. Almost like she was recharging under the Moonstone at all times. She fell back, snuggling into Izuku and Catra's chests, the perfect combination of hardness and softness made for queens.
"Good morning, Catra. Good morning, Glimmer." Izuku kissed their cheeks.
"Love your morning kisses too, Izuku." Catra kissed Izuku on the lips. "But I like them more when we're awake." Catra kissed Glimmer on the lips with a purr.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you two." Glimmer kissed them both on the lips. "Yesterday still feels unreal to me. Me, queen. Sounds like a dream."
"Well, you did ride Izuku very hard, so it must've been a good dream~." Catra's tail tickled Glimmer's belly.
"I don't want to hear it from the girl that looked ready to pass out after he took you while sucking my breasts." Glimmer blushed, remembering her actions.
"Girls, please, no fighting. You need to get ready for your queen duties, Glimmer." Izuku helped Glimmer to her feet.
"Oh like there'll be a lot for me to do." Glimmer shrugged.
"These are the orders that need to be filled out and approved by you, Glimmer, before the end of the day."
Glimmer's eyes shrunk at the sight of three tall stacks of paper being placed before her by Netossa and Spinnerella.
"What is all this?" Glimmer asked, picking up the papers. "'Repair requests', 'Ration issues', 'Settlement Enforcement', 'Taxes'?"
"Well, a lot of the gear and infrastructures of the armies in the south and western fronts have suffered damages due to the intense weather and lack of proper roads. A blight caused the fields of the 501st legion to only receive half of their usual rations. The recaptured territories are having some issues with bandits and need to enforce their authority. And taxes are pretty self explanatory." Spinnerella explained the situation as Glimmer looked at the stacks with dread. "I know it's not as interesting or as exciting as going out on missions, but this is important, Glimmer, I mean, your majesty." Spinnerella patted Glimmer on the back.
"Glimmer is fine," Glimmer said. "Can we hold this off until the war room meeting? There might be a mission to fix some of these issues."
"That's hopeful thinking, your majesty," Netossa said. "But sure."
Glimmer dropped her forehead on the table as she followed the girls to the war room where Izuku, Catra, Bow, and the other princesses were waiting for them. She felt more at ease seeing her friends and lovers all gathered around the table. A sense of normalcy washed over her as she sat down next to her boyfriend and girlfriend. Though everyone was aware of their relationship and Izuku and Catra's whole open harem situation, they all looked at Glimmer before gesturing to the queen's seat Angella always sat on. It dawned on her like a lightbulb going off in her head.
As queen, acting or not, she was meant to sit in the queen's chair during the war room meeting. She quickly teleported herself to the seat, feeling it a little less comfortable than she expected.
"So, now that we're all here, let us begin." Glimmer cleared her throat, putting on her most commanding queen voice she could pull off.
"As you wish, your majesty." Netossa pulled out a map from the holographic projector on the table. "Ever since Hordak found the black pyramid in the Crimson Waste, there has been less and less activity on their front, leaving most of their captured villages and areas with the bare minimum to maintain."
"That means they really want that pyramid working," Izuku glared at the picture of the black pyramid.
The way that he felt so weak and useless against Shigaraki festered in him a rage that burnt his throat. He needed to get stronger and stop Shigaraki before he fully mastered his new abilities and Hordak and Modulock unlocked what they were looking for.
"Entrapta and I have been decoding the information we downloaded from their servers, but we've only gotten, like, a portion of it to make sense." Bow explained.
"Anything useful?" Catra asked.
"It depends on what you mean by useful. Some locations and cryptic words here and there, but nothing concrete," Entrapta said while looking over a piece of tech.
"Keep working on it, Entrapta. I wanna know what was so important that Hordak and Modulock were willing to risk capture and nearly having us killed." Glimmer matched Izuku's glare at the image. She particularly hated that the mad scientist of the Horde had hurt her mother and was still free to do his dark experiments.
"Which brings us to the proposition," Spinnerella said. "Since the Horde is busy with the black pyramid, we should take this chance to retake the villages and the territories along their front and make our way to the Fright Zone."
"We can cut them off and put the strangle on them. I'm in." Catra cracked her knuckles.
"Sounds like a plan," Glimmer agreed.
"We'll hit the villages at the beach and central areas of the territory." Netossa instructed. "Mermista, you and Frosta will hit those along the beach. Perfuma, you're with Entrapta."
"Then Izuku, Catra, Bow and I can-" Glimmer began only to be stopped by Spinnerella.
"I'm sorry, Glimmer, but you can't come on the mission." Spinnerella comforted her. "You need to stay here and help keep everything in Brightmoon running smoothly. You're not a soldier or a general, Glimmer, you're the queen."
"But, I could do both." Glimmer argued.
"Glimmer, as queen of Brightmoon, you're also the leader of the Alliance," Spinnerella explained. "If you go out on the field and something happens to you, the Alliance will be left without a leader to guide them and the power of the Moonstone will disappear. I'm sorry, Glimmer, but this is the truth of the matter."
Glimmer looked away. She knew Spinnerella was right. If the Alliance lost another leader then the Horde would capitalize on it and hit them while they were down. Hordak and Modulock would definitely not think twice about doing that. As much as she hated it, she needed to stay and be a queen instead of a soldier.
"Hey, don't worry, Glimmer," Izuku said. "We'll be back before you even have time to miss us." He smiled, giving her a thumbs up that looked far too childish to match the man that was making the look.
Glimmer along with every one of their lovers blushed, holding in a giggle for how cute he looked.
"Alright, I trust you all to be careful." Glimmer stood up. "Just because the Horde is making it look easy doesn't mean that they won't be expecting us. Keep your eyes open and watch each other's backs."
"You don't have to tell us twice, Sparkles." Catra and the rest got up from their seats.
With the meeting dismissed, Glimmer watched her friends and lovers leave the room, leaving her with Netossa and Spinnerella. Not bad company by any means, but she still felt like she should be going out there with her friends to help them. But the situation was different and she had to stay and keep an eye on everything at the palace and the kingdom. Just like her mother and every queen before her. It made her feel like a cloud hovered over her as she waved her loved ones goodbye.
"You did great for your first war room meeting, Glimmer," Netossa said. "And you're taking being kept from the action quite well."
"I'm thinking about how fast I could teleport onto Meelog before you two could stop me." Glimmer shrugged. "But there's stuff to do here, even if I don't want to do it."
"Now you're sounding like a queen." Spinnerella patted Glimmer's back, comforting her.
"Oh man, I am sounding like my mom," Glimmer felt her heart drop.
Not one day since she got the crown and she was talking and having to act just like her mother. The same kind of behavior that made her feel like she wasn't doing enough. But that was before she understood the weight of the crown she now wore, and how it would feel when she had her own daughter to keep track of.
How lovely.
Adora followed Lady Nagant and Souta as they picked flowers together. It wasn't the usual activity she would've followed training with, yet it seemed to be fine for the former assassin. Her eyes were so focused on Lady Nagant that she almost tripped a few times. Watching her smile and just play with her son was an alien sight as when she first saw a horse in the wild. The stories she'd heard about the cold and merciless sniper made her seem like she would kill anyone that got in the way of the Horde or tried to upset the balance of power. And yet, there she was before Adora, with a smile on her face as her son helped her collect flowers for an arrangement. Part of her wondered if the flowers were poisonous or dangerous enough to pluck.
Adora tapped one of the flower's petals, waiting for whatever was supposed to happen to happen. But nothing came of her exercise. She looked at how Lady Nagant and Souta did it, wondering if there was a trick to the picking of flowers.
"Now, Souta, make sure to pick them gently from the stem," Lady Nagant instructed her son. "We want them as whole as possible for the market. Understood?" Lady Nagant plucked the flower with the delicacy and precision of a sniper using a handkerchief to clean a glass.
"Okay," Souta started picking the flowers like his mother had told him to do.
Lady Nagant smiled as her son did as she instructed. It warmed her heart to see him actually doing something that wasn't connected to fighting. Feeling the grass with his hands, watching the blue sky and smelling the flowers that were around them were all luxuries that she never got. If she could, she would've had her son far from anything related to fighting, but the threat that something could happen kept her vigilant.
Speaking of…
"If you need something, come out and say it." Lady Nagant turned, giving Adora a stern look that sent shivers down her spine. "I invited you here because you clearly have questions. I'm not losing time with my son just because you can't put your thoughts in order." Adora shook, letting her old programming take over as Lady Nagant spoke to her like a drill sergeant.
"I'm sorry, ma'am! I feel there are forces around us that aim to disturb the balance of power and I find myself unable to come to terms with my new environment." Adora spilled as she stood in attention like a soldier addressing her superior officer.
"Don't call me ma'am, we're both equals as of the moment." Lady Nagant looked at the former child soldier with some pity. "At ease. We're both under house arrest and no longer associated with the Horde. You can relax. Let's start over. Do you want to ask me something?"
Adora loosened up slightly. Her mind was filled with worries and questions that she didn't know how to ask or even put into proper words. A year ago, her life was very different, and in the span of a few months more changes had hit her than in her whole life. It scared her that the 'normal' part of her life was the furthest thing she wanted or was even considered normal. And yet the only people she wanted to talk to were the ones she was scared of talking to. Mostly because Adora couldn't get her mind out of all the strange sensations that she felt whenever she saw them.
"How do you do it? Just take on a completely new life from the one you once had?" Adora asked. "All my life, I was told that it was my destiny to bring victory to the Horde and establish peace throughout the world. I had to do it for my comrades and my family. Or at least that's what Shadow Weaver always said. That I was special because I always had a fire in me. Even if I didn't know what that fire was."
"Yeah, that sounds like the Shadow Witch's way of keeping kids in line. I was tempted to put a bullet in her more than once for that stuff." Lady Nagant rubbed her arm, remembering the feeling of firing bullets at long distance.
"It's just… I don't know if I have it in me anymore or if I even had it at all." Adora looked at her hands. "All my life has been one lie after another, first Shadow Weaver, then that strange light lady and now my whole perception of the world is askew. I'm in Brightmoon, the place I once dreamed of conquering, living right next to my two childhood friends, who I thought were dead. And apparently have been- nevermind!" Adora shook her blushing face before she remembered the strange dreams she'd had about them.
Lady Nagant watched the poor girl try to rationalize the world she once believed in with the one she was on now. Her life had taken more turns in less than a year than a tumbleweed would spin in the Crimson Waste. Unlike the girl, she knew that Shadow Weaver was full of it and was only using others to get a taste of power. She needed some of her motherly fluffy side mixed with her more traditional truthful side to help this girl.
"Look, I can't say that it'll get better because that is up to you. You, your team, my son and I have gotten a new chance at life. A life of peace. And you can have what you've wanted, a proper purpose." Lady Nagant placed a hand on her shoulder. "A choice if you will. This is your life, Adora, not Shadow Weaver's, or Hordak's. It's your time to choose what you want with that life," Lady Nagant handed Adora a flower before going after her son.
"What do I want?" Adora looked at the flower.
Glimmer felt like her hand was about to fall off. She cracked her fingers after what felt like hours of paperwork.
"Finally, it's over." Glimmer groaned with a tired sigh. "I never want to look at another piece of paperwork in my life." She rubbed her hand from all the signing and writing she'd done.
"I gotta say, you looked like you were struggling there with the taxes stack, Glimmer, but you pulled through." Netossa took the stack of papers off of Glimmer's desk. "Not bad for a day of paperwork, and it only took you three hours."
"It's only been three hours?!" Glimmer snapped, looking at Netossa with a freaked out face. "I feel like I just read the whole library worth of stuff and fell asleep during half of it."
"Again, you impressed me for not dozing off." Netossa filed all the paperwork away.
Glimmer sunk down on her chair, a groan came out of her mouth as she felt the need of doing anything but paperwork.
"Please, tell me there's more to being queen than paperwork," Glimmer begged.
"There is actually a schedule that you need to keep up with," Spinnerella pulled up a scroll with activities written down.
Glimmer looked it over, reading each activity that she had to get through that very day. Her eyes almost grew out of her skull when she read through every single activity. The paperwork was only the first part of her day, she then needed to spend two hours listening to the concerns of the people of her kingdom, afterwards she would spend three hours inspecting the troops and going over the movements of the supply lines between the troops and then there were some brewing conflicts between the Rabbit and the Ice Kingdom, with only a lunch break after all that.
Her whole day was taken over by those activities and her next day was the same, filled with activities that she had no patience or desire to fulfill. But they were important. The Alliance had to be maintained and the kingdom had to be run, even if it wasn't fun. It was the job that her mother had to do for years and now she had to do so. She took a deep breath before getting up from her chair. Better get down to it instead of worrying about it, she thought.
"Alright, let's do this," Glimmer said.
Glimmer spent the next two hours listening to the farmers of the kingdom bicker about how some were letting their cows use the fields of their neighbors as their personal toilets, followed by how they were having a hard time with all the different rabbits and chickens running around. Their language was colorful to say the least. But at least the whole issues were easily solved with some clear talking and some questions being asked and answered. But there were a few punches thrown that the guards had to pull the farmers away from. Glimmer also had to help chase a runaway chicken that had found its place in the throne room.
"Catch that chicken!" A guard called out as it ran.
"I'm sorry, Doris isn't usually this lively!" The farmer cried out as Glimmer watched the scene unfold.
The inspection of the troops and the weapons went smoothly with Netossa being the one taking charge of the tour. She went very deeply into the different types of new ammunition that their newest weapons were capable of shooting. Though, Glimmer probably shouldn't have touched the missile launcher that fired one of those rounds into the shooting range. She did at least hit the target, which was a plus in her book.
"Nice shot, Glimmer." Netossa whistled.
Then came the ever so disputed issues that Princess Mirko was having with Endeavor. Glimmer suspected that the clash had something to do with one accidentally stepping into the territory of the other. Or maybe they were disagreeing on who should get more rations from their respective allies. Both of them were pretty rational adults that could think with level heads. She probably just had to stand as the middle for one small conversation and they would be right as rain by the-
"You wanna go flame for brains? Well, I'm here!" Mirko stomped her foot on the table, glaring at Endeavor from her side of the table. "Come on, I'm waiting!"
"You get in the way of my warriors chasing out Horde bots from my kingdom, nearly crushing them and you think I'm gonna just step down?" Endeavor growled, towering over the bunny princess. "You're sorely mistaken, girly." He glared at the princess, getting up from his chair to match her in height.
"Okay, so, I see that this was just a bg accident." Glimmer pointed out. "Maybe a simple apology and promise to not do it again should solve this?" Glimmer tried to calm things down.
"You expect me to apologize to this overgrown adrenaline junky? Not gonna happen." Endeavor glared with fire in his eyes at Mirko.
"I didn't mean you-," Glimmer tried to explain.
"Yeah, you better be sorry for blasting my warriors with your firecrackers, Endeavor." Mirko pressed her forehead against Endeavor, showing she wasn't backing down.
"Considering you buried my warriors and we had to dig them out, I see it as a very decent payback!" Endeavor snarled.
"At least I got the job done and stand on the front lines instead of barking orders from behind!" Mirko growled.
"Are they hearing me or?" Glimmer whispered to Netossa and Spinnerella.
"Mirko gets tunnel vision whenever she has to fight and Endeavor isn't one to take an offence lightly." Netossa sighed.
"And having them in the same room angry at each other is like throwing fire at a burning house," Spinnerella whispered.
Mirko and Endeavor jumped at each other, throwing punches and kicks as Glimmer, Netossa and Spinnerella could only stare in both horror and shock at how easily they devolved into violence.
"This is politics?" Glimmer asked.
"And you wonder why people don't like them." Netossa shrugged.
Adora watched Lady Nagant and her son picking up flowers from a distance. She had no desire to pick flowers, but she didn't have much to do to distract herself. Her mind wondered what to do with her own life. Lady Nagant had placed a thought that she had never thought about since she was very young: What did she want from her life? For most of her life, she only wanted to be useful to the Horde and rise through the ranks. But that had been Shadow Weaver's ambition for her since the beginning. Just another pawn to use and manipulate for her own desires. Izuku and Catra had told her straight to her face that same thing and she'd almost gotten them killed. Their forgiveness was reassuring, but she wanted more. To make up for that lost time, but they weren't going to stop their fight against the Horde. She wasn't sure she wanted to fight any longer.
She needed some time alone to get her head. A stroll around the forest would probably do her some good. She breathed in and out as her mind continued wondering as she did.
What did she want?
She was a fighter, a soldier. She couldn't go a day without going through some harsh training or sleeping in the roughest conditions. But that was how she was raised, how she and the rest of her team were raised. And compared to how Izuku and Catra lived in the Crimson Waste, it was probably a lot less dangerous. Adora didn't mind the fight so much as knowing she was fighting for the wrong people. How was she supposed to fight if she didn't have anything to fight for?
She was so caught up in her own thoughts that she tripped on a root. She rolled and fell down. Tumbling down the path, she landed on some bushes, covered in berries, sticks and leaves.
"Maybe I should stay in the house," Adora said. "At least, nature isn't trying to kill me there." She blew a few strands of her hair off her face.
A laugh caught Adora unprepared, making her jump to her feet. She reached for her staff, remembering that she'd left it back at her house.
"Oh nature will get you no matter where you hide, deary!"
"Show yourself!" She would not be caught flat footed in a fight. "You got the guts to talk the talk, but let's see you walk the walk!"
"Who's hiding?" A finger poked her in the shoulder, making Adora flinch.
She turned around only to see Madame Razz laughing at her reactions.
"W-Who are you?" Adora demanded. "Are you a witch or something?"
"A witch? Just because Razz lives in a hut in the middle of the forest, has a cauldron, and sometimes cackles, doesn't make Razz a witch." Madame Razz huffed, before a thought occurred to her. "Though, I do have magic, brew potions, and sometimes the kitty cat comes to visit me."
"Kitty cat? You mean Catra?" Adora asked, softening her glare. "Does she and Izuku come here often?"
"Oh yes, Mara and her boyfriend come over from time to time." Razz fixed her glasses looking at Adora more closely. "Though you look more like Mara than Mara does. Maybe it's the poofy hair thing. What's your name deary?"
"I'm Adora. I'm… friends with Izuku and Catra." Adora looked away as Madame Razz looked her over.
"Oh, you're friends with them? That's great!" Razz snapped her fingers making a basket appear in Adora's hands. "You can help me prepare Madame Razz's famous berry jam. Perfect for lovers and broken hearts and confused hearts too." Madam Razz walked to the bushes and started collecting the berries.
Adora blushed at the old lady's words. She wasn't in love with anyone. Granted she was confused about where her life was heading and what to do with it, but love was not amongst her problems. Rushing to clarify the situation to the old lady, she found herself wondering if she actually felt something more for her childhood friends. She'd seen what they could be and how much they had grown with the world around them as a result of leaving the Fright Zone so long ago. Not to mention that they were both incredibly attractive and trained warriors.
Shaking her head, Adora tried to calm herself before remembering the visions and dreams she'd had of them.
"Y-You're wrong, ma'am. I am not in love with anyone," Adora said as Razz filled the basket with berries. "At least, I don't think I am."
"Maybe that's the problem, deary. You don't know your own feelings because you've never been allowed to freely express yourself." Razz handed her a berry. "You see that little berry? What if I told you that it can be used for both jams as well as poison? It can be good or bad, but it's up to you to choose what you use it for."
Adora looked at the berry. It looked so small and insignificant compared to what she was feeling, yet she could see how the green and red berry reminded her of Izuku and Catra.
"I've never really thought about feelings like that. Guess I was too scared of what would happen if I did." Adora remembered all the times Shadow Weaver punished Izuku and Catra, telling her that they were her responsibility. "I wanna be there for them. But I don't know if I should go. I don't think I've earned this kind of peace."
"If you need to find something, first thing to do is go look where you think you lost it." Razz laughed.
Adora wondered where she had actually lost her way. The Fright Zone was the obvious thing, but that wasn't it. She needed to face her friends and actually have a real conversation and apology with them.
"I think I know where to look for," Adora handed back Razz's basket filled with berries. "Hopefully it is."
Angella sighed, feeling rested and recharged from her long sleep. Looking out the window, she noticed that it wasn't the morning but much later in the day. A bit unusual and strange for her given her old routine dealt with waking up early to get a head start on the tasks of the day. Though she did enjoy not having to deal with all the paperwork as much as she found it interesting. It made her wonder how Glimmer was hanging on as her first day as queen of Brightmoon.
At that moment, Glimmer entered the room, covered in scorch marks, scratches and bruises. She licked her thumb and index finger before putting out a strand of her hair that was still on fire. Her face looked tired and miserable in all its wonder. It was the face that Angella knew all too well. One that she wore during her first year as queen before she married Micah and learned how to balance her new work ethic and the problems that came from it and the war.
"Hiiiii mom," Glimmer slurred, stumbling towards her bed like a zombie about to die once more.
"Hello Glimmer, how has your day been so far?" Angella asked as Glimmer fell on top of her bed. "I take it that you're tired and need ten hours of rest." Angella rubbed Glimmer's head.
"Things just don't seem to stop. I had to go through three stacks of paperwork, had to chase a chicken, almost blew up the armory and Mirko and Endeavor destroyed the room they were meant to talk things out in." Glimmer grumbled in exhaustion.
"Yes, I heard the explosions," Angella said. "So, I take it that you are not getting the fancy part of being queen, are you?"
Glimmer only shook her head.
"But you still have to do it even if you don't like it." Angella looked at her daughter as she just turned away.
Glimmer didn't want to snap at her mom or let out all her frustrations on her. Ruling wasn't easy or glamorous as some claimed it was. It was bitter work that relied on tact and diplomatic relations that required constant understanding and compromise. But that wasn't what irked Glimmer about her situation.
"However, I suspect that this isn't the issue you have with being queen," Angella said.
"I just feel like I'm not doing anything." Glimmer got up from the bed, pacing around the room, trying to burn through all the energy that she'd gathered that day. "I should be out there with my friends. Fighting and reclaiming Etheria from the Horde like I was. I'm a fighter, I don't have the patience to deal with all this political red tape, boring check ups and the never ending paperwork that seems to pop out of nowhere. Oh gods, the paperwork never ends!" She collapsed on a chair, rubbing her face. "This is why I'm no good as a queen."
"Glimmer, this is your first day. You know those are hard no matter what." Angella understood her daughter more than she knew.
"But I feel like I could be more useful out on the field. I don't want to be known as a queen that hides behind her friends." Glimmer looked at her mom, hoping she understood where she came from. "I want to be there for them and help out as much as I can. I know the risks of getting hurt on the field, but sitting back and doing nothing isn't an option."
"Glimmer, I understand your frustration. And it's good that you understand the risks of what it means for a queen to be out there on the battlefield. The war has taken a turn that no one could've expected, and you're dealing with more than I ever did." Angella looked fondly at the pictures of her family. "But you're not alone, you have me, the other princesses and your friends to back you up if you need it."
Glimmer couldn't help but picture Izuku and Catra and the other princesses helping her with her queenly duties. The sheer disaster that Catra, Frosta and Mermista would cause against the paperwork. The many discussions that Perfuma would try to solve with flowers while Entrapta blew something up. And finally, Izuku, Netossa and Spinnerella running around trying to fix everything before the castle burnt to the ground. It sounded like chaos incarnate. But it all brought a smile to her face.
"How did you deal with all the work back when you started as queen, mom?" Glimmer asked.
Angella blushed, looking away from her daughter.
"Um, your father and I were married by then, so I… um, took my frustrations out on him." Angella scratched her cheek.
Glimmer didn't need any more information to get the picture.
"Something else, please!" Glimmer said, no matter how much she would have Izuku and Catra from then on.
"Well, when you were younger, your father and I would set an hour of the day to play with you," Angella said. "I think that you have the energy to let loose for a while, if you want to."
Glimmer perked up at the possibility of cutting loose and going back to being just a worryless kid made her day. She hugged her mother.
"Thanks mom, I'll be back after letting off some steam." Glimmer pulled away.
"Just as long as you do it responsibly." Angella kissed her daughter's cheek. "I don't want to be a grandmother just yet. Though you should consider who your husband will be. I must approve of them before you walk down the aisle."
Glimmer froze in place.
"Um, how about we keep the marriage thing for later?" Glimmer begged. "But, um, what if there were more than one candidate? Hypothetically speaking."
"Well, I-Glimmer, are you seeing someone?" Angella asked.
"What? No, no, no, I was just saying as a hypothetical, but the answer can wait. Bye!"
Adora paced before Lonnie, Scorpia, Rogelio and Kyle as she went over what she was going to do.
"Alright, how's this: 'Izuku, Catra, I know you said that we were good, but I feel we have more to talk about.'" Adora rehearsed. "What do you think?"
"It feels a bit formal." Scorpia pointed out.
"Yeah, try to be more friendly." Kyle suggested.
"'Yo, Izuku, Catra, my homies-'" Adora began.
"No, no, please, stop! Adora, just go up to them and say, you want to talk." Lonnie got up before her friend could further spin the mess. "They said they forgave you, but you still feel like you need to work things out. Just tell them you wanna be friends again." She held her friend's shoulders, calming her down.
Adora let out a sigh. She couldn't keep spinning her head for the perfect chance. She just had to take it and deal with the consequences.
"You're right. Wish me luck." Adora hugged Lonnie before kissing her on the cheek. "Thanks Lonnie, now I feel ready."
Lonnie blushed as Adora made her way out of the room. Unconsciously, she touched her cheek where Adora had kissed her. It wasn't that she wasn't used to a softer touch, but a show of affection so direct and from an old friend was something she was not expecting. Her heart skipped a beat as she watched her go on to face their two friends.
And for some unexpected reason, she wanted to go too and tear off their clothes.
Glimmer found herself in the garden behind the castle after teleporting there while there was still some light in the day. It was where she and her parents used to play when they had some free time. It was a place that held a special place in her heart, and a part of her hoped to have her own children play and have a fun time here when they were old enough. Now that was a pleasant thought, especially when she knew that Izuku and Catra were going to have lots of children with her and the other princesses. But for now, this place was hers and hers alone.
She'd finished her work and now she could blow off some steam. Her staff appeared in her hand before a smirk spread on her face. Glimmer spun the staff over her head before pointing it at her imaginary enemy.
"Get ready to pay for all your crimes, Hordak!" Glimmer imagined herself leading Izuku, Catra and the rest of the Alliance into one final confrontation with Hordak.
She was far from the action, but that didn't mean that she would get soft and out of practice. Izuku and Catra as well as the rest of their friends were probably thinking the same thing. They needed to get stronger to defeat Hordak, Modulock and Shigaraki.
She jumped forward, spinning her staff as if to strike her opponent. Teleporting around the garden like in the middle of a battlefield, she spun in the air, avoiding imaginary lasers going after her. She imagined Hordak fighting against her with his deadly arm cannon, only for it to clash against her staff. Sparks of magic blasted and scattered through the garden as Glimmer imagined herself and her allies besting the leader of the Horde. It was a moment she wished to make a reality more than anything. A moment where the ones responsible for all their losses and fallen friends would face justice. This caused her determination to grow much stronger and sharper than before, making her attacks more precise and intense by comparison.
"Hordak, for your crimes against Etheria, I, Queen Glimmer of Brightmoon, sentence you to face justice!" Glimmer summoned a magical glyph before her. She thrusted her staff into the glyph, blasting a powerful magic ray to the imaginary enemy standing before her.
The blast struck a large tree, reducing its upper trunk, branches and leaves to cinders.
"AH!"
Hearing a scream, Glimmer came out of her imaginary battle. She rushed to the tree, worrying that she might have hurt someone in her training. Arriving at the now charred tree, she spotted none other than Adora, looking at the trunk and then at her with shock in her eyes.
"I-I just wanted to speak with Izuku and Catra." She kept on shifting her eyes between the trunk and the queen.
"Oh my gosh, I am so sorry! I thought I was alone out here," Glimmer knelt next to Adora, dropping her staff. "Are you hurt?"
"No, no, I'm okay. Just shocked." Adora was helped to her feet by Glimmer. "Do you do this every day?"
"Oh, no, not every day. I just needed to cut loose," Glimmer said. "Though, I should start training more to get stronger. With Hordak, Modulock and Shigaraki out there, we can't be too careful."
"That makes sense. It's what Izuku would say," Adora said. "I want to speak with him and Catra. Do you know where I could find them, your majesty?"
"Please, just Glimmer. We can skip the formalities after I nearly blasted you. Sadly, they're not here, they went on a mission," Glimmer explained. "They should be here tonight or tomorrow."
"Oh… I see," Adora said.
The two girls entered the awkward silence part of their conversation. Though it was hard to blame either with neither knowing the other very well, and Glimmer nearly blasting Adora's head off.
"So… I'm gonna go now." Adora turned to leave.
"Wait. Why did you come to talk to them from the back? You could've asked the guards to speak to them?" Glimmer asked.
"I sort of needed to get a few things off my chest," Adora replied. "I… uh, assume you know our complicated history?"
"Yeah, I'm aware. But they mostly just blame Shadow Weaver," Glimmer said. "Would you like to sit down and talk about it? Or of anything?"
Adora looked at the queen with some apprehension. Adora didn't know her all that well, and Glimmer had almost killed her. But at the same time, if she didn't let her words out soon, she probably would never get a chance to do so. And if worst case, she just made a fool of herself and no one would ever know.
They sat down on the stump as a makeshift bench before they started to talk.
"So, well, to be honest, I feel like my life has been uprooted and turned so much that I don't know who I am anymore." Adora began. "Yet I know that I want Izuku and Catra in my life. But they've changed so much that I barely recognize them. I want to get to know them and understand these feelings I've been-"
"Feelings?" Glimmer looked at Adora, making her blush.
"Well, I mean, I-you know how it is. Friends return differently and you can't tell what's up." Adora tried to hide her face though Glimmer could only roll her eyes at the idea of another woman joining the harem. Not that she was against it.
"I understand. Whenever I see them, they bring a feeling that everything will be alright as long as we're together." Glimmer explained. "Sure, we got a rocky introduction, but we worked through it. If anything, showing that you want to make things better and explore what you feel will make them more open to talking and understanding you. Just be yourself."
"Everyone always told me that showing weakness was unseemly." Adora wrapped her arms around her torso.
"Well, here we share a lot of things, feelings and weaknesses being two of them." Glimmer got up from the stump. "If you also want to help, or get answers of everything really, you should help us. Hordak is planning something that could affect everyone, and the more help we get will be welcomed. You want in?"
Adora looked at Glimmer's hand tentatively.
"I've been a soldier my whole life." Adora looked down. "I don't know if I've got it in me anymore."
"It's your choice. You said you feel like you don't know who you are, well I feel like you're not the kind of person to leave others to fight your battles." Glimmer said. "This is your choice."
Adora looked down at her hands. She had her doubts, but knowing that she had to right so many wrongs filled her with courage. The words of her friends echoed in her mind as she took Glimmer's hand.
"Your highness, Izuku, Catra and Bow have returned." A guard walked to inform them.
"Well, would you look at that," Glimmer said. "Told you, didn't I?"
Adora couldn't hold back a smile as they went to meet their recently arrived friends, who were all covered in slime.
"What happened to you guys?" Adora asked.
"This is what happens when a misfired arrow hits a food truck from the Horde," Izuku explained.
"They really must hate themselves to eat this slop." Catra shook off the gunk.
"Still wanna talk to them?" Glimmer asked.
"Maybe later." Adora stepped back.
