Chapter 72: Going Home Part 4

Gate Area, Outside Bright Moon, Etheria, December 28th, 1998 (Earth Time)

The Horde fortifications being put up around the gate were a stark contrast to what Samantha Carter had started to think of as 'Etherian style'. They lacked the smoother curves and elegant lines of Bright Moon's architecture - or the clean style of Horde frigates. They looked more utilitarian. Reduced to what was functional, nothing else. Bare metal and concrete, mostly, if of a slightly exotic colour. And they looked… cheap, Sam decided would fit best. She could be mistaken, of course, but since she had seen how they had been set up, she didn't think she was.

Entrapta confirmed her suspicions. "Glimmer's still undecided on the final design for the main building for the gate base. Oh, and there's some talk about Bright Moon's architecture being presumptuous, so even once she decides on the style, the rest have to approve it." She shrugged. "I don't get what's wrong with just using Horde bunkers - except that we could still improve on them, of course. But they serve perfectly fine if you need a base."

Sam nodded. "They might not want this to be the thing a visitor sees first upon arriving on Etheria," she pointed out.

"Oh? I guess that might be true. It's still weird, though." Entapta shrugged, then pushed her visor up and looked around. "Everyone knows we won the war. And most of the Horde soldiers deserted or joined the Alliance against Horde Prime, anyway. And his tech looks quite different. Although Hordak might have picked a similar design to Horde Prime's if he would have had the resources available, I think. Not anymore, of course. But back then, probably."

Sam didn't really want to talk about Hordak - the former Warlord still gave her the creeps, for all that she understood how he ended up doing what he did. That he wasn't imprisoned, exiled or executed was a testament to how different the Etherians - at least the princesses - saw such things. "Well, unless they come to a decision quickly, this might end up being quite a long-lasting temporary solution," she said.

"Yes!" Entrapta nodded with a smile. "The Bright Moon building techniques aren't as fast as Horde technology, either. Although that might be because they do not use bots as much. Or at all." She pouted a little. "I hoped bots would become more accepted in the other kingdoms, but despite their help in rebuilding after the war, many princesses seem to distrust them. Even the smart bots, like Emily."

The bot beeped in agreement - and Sam could detect some sadness as well in the tone. So she swallowed her comment that the princesses might distrust intelligent bots even more than the dumb ones. "Well, they might associate bots with the Horde," she said instead. "It's hard to overcome such impressions."

"Well, it's stupid. We're not at war any more." Entrapta patted Emily's dome with her hair. "But I am sure that they'll warm up to you sooner or later, Emily! We just have to keep showing how great you and your fellow bots are!" She turned to Sam with a smile. "Our bot network should help with that - the spy bots are so useful! And so brave!"

Useful, undoubtedly. Although Sam was sure (and had ensured) that they hadn't sent any smart bots abroad. She would rather not see sapient machines spreading through the Galaxy. So she wouldn't call them brave. But she wouldn't correct Entrapta - it was a minor quibble. "Yes," she said, nodding. "I assume that former Horde soldiers are faced with similar problems?"

"Well, yes, but they are mainly settled in the Scorpion Kingdom, anyway."

Which was ruled by a former Horde Force Captain. Who was the partner of a key member of the Princess Alliance. Some might even suspect that the Horde merely changed the name of their country. Sam doubted that - she had met Scorpia, after all, and Perfuma's influence on her was also quite obvious, in Sam's opinion - but perception rarely matched reality. Especially when it came to grudges.

She might ask Daniel about this - his insight might be useful. And they would have to find out if other princesses in the Alliance harboured such grudges. The last thing Sam wanted was a row breaking out between two princesses deep inside Cheyenne Mountain.

She was rather fond of her lab, after all, even if she would have to move soon anyway, and the collateral damage that such a row could cause… Before she could think of a way to ask Entrapta about it without giving offence, Emily turned and beeped, her blaster cannon aimed. Something was up.

Sam quickly walked over to her pack, where she had put her carbine as well. She should have kept it on her, damn it! The Colonel wouldn't be happy if he heard about this.

"Oh. Perimeter scouts report that we're about to have visitors," Entrapta said - she had pushed her visor down and must be checking the feeds from the bots. "I think."

"Where are they?" Sam asked. They were in the middle of the camp, behind the field fortifications, but if someone took to the hills nearby…

Entrapta pointed at the largest hill around them. "They're up there."

Spies, Sam thought.

She quickly joined Entrapta, putting Emily between them and the hill. "Do you have a visual feed?"

"Uh… yes, let me link it to the… thank you, Emily!"

Sam looked at the screen Emily had handed to Entrapta. It showed half a dozen people - mostly humans except for one, no, two… satyrs, she'd call them on Earth. Diverse appearance, no uniforms - though a few of the outfits they were wearing looked as if they once were part of a uniform. And all of them were armed.

Sam recalled what she knew about Etheria's history. "I don't think they're visitors," she said. "They look like bandits."

"Bandits? In Bright Moon?" Entrapta blinked. "Are you sure?"

"No," Sam admitted. "But weren't they trying to sneak up on us?"

"Well, we are in the middle of a new base… which kinda looks like a Horde base, now that I think about it." Entrapta looked a bit embarrassed. "They might not trust us."

"But sneaking into Bright Moon?" Sam asked while watching the six men and women slowly crawl up to the top of the hill. "They haven't noticed the spy bot?"

"No, they didn't! She's a sneaky one!" Entrapta smiled.

Sam felt herself smiling as well but quickly grew serious again. She turned to look at the guards at the gate and those patrolling the close perimeter. "Do they know?"

"Oops, I forgot that they aren't in the network. Glimmer should really update Bright Moon communications." Entrapta looked sheepish, then she turned, her hair keeping the screen steady, and yelled: "Sergeant Slater! We have visitors - potential visitors - on the hill there."

"Armed ones," Sam added, and the sergeant nodded and started bellowing orders.

The people on the hilltop hadn't missed that, and Sam saw that they were falling back, out of sight of the base but not of the spy bot, and were looking around - trying to spot who had discovered them, she realised. That would fit former soldiers.

The short squabble that followed, ending with one of the goat people getting cuffed on the head and sent sprawling on the ground by the apparent leader, would fit deserters as well. But they were standing their ground now - even returning to the hilltop. Bandits or not, they had guts, as the Colonel would say.

Or they were desperate - or feared their leader more than they feared Bright Moon's soldiers. Then again, if Bright Moon's regular prisons were even half as nice as their converted guest rooms for special prisoners…

She studied the leader. He was a human but as tall as Teal'c and, as far as Sam could tell, even wider. And not much, if anything at all, of that bulk seemed to be fat.

"Should we go and talk to them?" Entrapta asked as Slater sent two squads up the hill, one gong around it to cut off a potential escape.

"Won't Slater take them to us?" Sam asked.

"Well… I dunno?" Entrapta cocked her head. "If we want him to, he would, since this is a Princess Alliance base. Technically. And I am a princess."

Sam reminded herself that for all her experience in a war and as the absolute ruler of a sovereign kingdom, Entrapta wasn't exactly what the Colonel would call 'leadership material'. "I think we should talk to them," she said.

"Alright!" Entrapta raised her multitool and pushed a button. "Sergeant Slater? Could you lead them to the base so we can talk to them?"

Sam heard the sergeant reply: "That might be dangerous, Princess."

"Well, do you think they're dangerous?" Entrapta asked, cocking her head.

Yes, Sam thought. "We can talk to them behind Entrapta's shield," she suggested. "Outside the base."

Slater agreed, and so Entrapta gave the order. Technically.

Sam focused on the upcoming talk, but she couldn't help wondering how this would have played out in a joint American/Princess Alliance mission.

It didn't take the soldiers and their guests long to descend from the hill - with the strangers in the middle, between two columns of soldiers. Entrapta and Sam met them in front of the gate, with Entrapta at their back and the bot's shield in front of them.

"Hello!" Entrapta waved. "I'm Entrapta, Princess of Dryl! And this is Sam Carter, my friend and science buddy! She's from… a place I'm not supposed to tell you. Who are you?"

Instead of giving his name, the man sneered. "We know she's from space. And we know she arrived through the gate with her friends."

So much for OpSec, Sam thought, pressing her lips together.

"Oh." Entrapta blinked, then smiled. "Good! If you know that already, then we don't have to explain things."

Sam suppressed a wince.

"Yes," a goatwoman blurted out. "We know what you are doing! You want to keep the portal to yourself! And we won't accept that!"

The leader glared at her, and she cowed her head. Then he turned back to frown at Entrapta. "We're sick of the princesses keeping all the good land to themselves while we starve in the desert! We want to move to another planet with fertile land!" he all but yelled. The rest of his group cheered in agreement.

Sam wanted to curse. She wasn't an expert on Etherian politics, but she knew this would be trouble.

Bright Moon, Etheria, December 28th, 1998 (Earth Time)

"They want to use the Stargate to emigrate to another planet?"

"That's what Sam just said," Catra replied to Glimmer's probably rhetorical question. Glimmer shot her a glare, and Catra put on her most fake 'earnestly helpful' expression. She didn't ask if her friend's ears were OK, but she wriggled her own a little. Then she winced - Adora had just pinched her thigh under the table with a whispered 'be nice'.

"Yes." Entrapta nodded with an honestly earnest expression. "They said they were sick of living in the Crimson Waste, and that all the fertile land was already taken, so they want to move to another world." She tilted her head. "And they said that the Stargate belonged to everyone, not just princesses."

Catra couldn't help snorting at that. "That sounds like former Horde soldiers."

This comment earned her a few more frowns, but Adora nodded in agreement. "Yes. That would fit what we were taught in the Horde."

Scorpia nodded as well. "Yeah. It's a bit different for me since I was a Force Captain, and well, everyone loves Perfuma…" She exchanged a sappy look with her lover. "...but there's still some, ah, suspicion towards princesses in some parts of the Scorpion Kingdom."

Quite significant parts, Catra thought. A lot of Horde soldiers were probably fed up with princesses - and with herself, of course, she added with a mental snort - after the war. Well, too bad for them; without the Princess Alliance, Etheria would have been conquered and then destroyed.

"Former Horde soldiers who turned bandits don't like us? What a surprise!" Mermista scoffed. "They're just pirates on land."

"We don't know that," Adora objected. "Not everyone in the Crimson Waste is a bandit. Huntara is a good friend."

And a fellow member of the Princess Alliance. Sort of - she hadn't really been at any meeting since the end of the war, not after she had left to 'liberate' the Crimson Waste from the Horde.

"And speaking of her: What is Huntara doing? The Crimson Waste is hers. She's been too busy conquering it to attend any meeting since the war, so she should be handling this!" Mermista commented, echoing Catra's thoughts.

"I don't think she has finished conquering it," Catra pointed out. "It's a very large territory, and while the number of areas with any strategic value is limited to the places with water, there are still quite a lot of them, and her forces will have taken casualties fighting the Horde and Horde Prime. Also, she might have lost some followers once the Horde was beaten and stopped being a threat." Catra knew what the Crimson Waste was like and she had no doubt that half the better bandits there would rather rule an oasis of their own than follow Huntara.

"Ugh." Mermista rolled her eyes. "I had to retake Salineas and didn't take that long."

"You are a princess," Glimmer pointed out. "You had the support of your kingdom's soldiers and people. Huntara doesn't have that."

The same people and soldiers who had deserted Mermista once before, when it had looked as if she would lose, but Catra refrained from pointing that out. Mermista could be prickly about that, even if she sometimes mentioned it herself.

"We should still ask her about this. She is the closest we have to a princess in the Crimson Waste," Perfuma cut in. "If her people want to emigrate through the Stargate because they are sick of living in the desert, she needs to know." She perked up, "I could help her improve the land!" With a glance at Scoria, she added: "Though that would cut into my work in the Scorpion Kingdom."

"Oh, that'd be OK. You've done so much for us already." Scorpia beamed at her. "And I think we're doing good now. Though we'll have to wait and see how the war changes this."

Catra snorted aloud. "I don't really think this is just about not wanting to live in the desert any more," she said. "Etheria has enough, more than enough, fertile land for people to settle, doesn't it?" She shook her head. "I think they just don't want to live under a princess's rule." They were, by and large, former Horde soldiers turned bandits, after all. Instead of joining the Princess Alliance.

"Well, technically, Huntara isn't a princess," Bow commented. "She hasn't shown any magical power so far. But she's still going to conquer the Crimson Waste and rule it like a princess, so the difference for those under her rule is probably moot."

Catra nodded. The former Horde soldier had made her views clear - 'the strong make the rules', if she recalled it correctly. Which meant the strong ruled. Though Catra wasn't yet sure if Huntara was strong enough - or smart enough - to rule the Waste. Time would tell.

Glimmer huffed. "That's all interesting, and finding out if you can become a princess without magical powers is certainly a complicated topic, but we need to decide what we do about their demand to use the gate to colonise another world."

"We can't just let them conquer another world!" Adora blurted out. "That would be wrong!"

"Just send them to an empty world," Mermista retorted. "Better than having them trying to carve out their own kingdom on Etheria."

"We would have to find an empty world for them first," Bow pointed out. "And it would have to be a world able to sustain a kingdom. Finding one, and ensuring that they can survive and thrive there will take some time - possibly a long time."

"And it would take resources we need for the war," Glimmer added. "We have more important things to do than cater to a small group of deserters and bandits - whose new world we would then have to protect as well so they don't end up conquered by the Goa'uld."

"But do we know how big their group actually is?" Adora asked. "And how many similar groups exist?"

That was a good question. Catra nodded. And had to suppress a snort when she saw the glances the others were exchanging.

How many people on Etheria would want to leave instead of living under a princess? She had a feeling that there were more than a handful.

Another evening, another state dinner. If this continued, then Jack O'Neill was sure that in just a week, he would've hobnobbed more with royalty than every general at the Pentagon put together managed in a year. Or at all - it wasn't as if they met actual kings and queens very often in their line of work. And the food was to die for.

On the other hand, for a dinner involving multiple heads of state - absolute rulers, even - the whole shebang felt more like a family dinner. With all the squabbling you expected over the holidays.

As long as you didn't think too much about the fact that half the people present had the power to turn you into a paste on the floor with a thought, of course.

"So, you've got a group of discontents who want to emigrate to a planet without princesses?" he asked once Mermista and her 'consort' had stopped reenacting a scene from Much Ado About Nothing or something. He managed not to smirk. Not much, at least, and he hid his mouth by taking a sip from the excellent wine right afterwards.

"You didn't fill him in?" Glimmer raised her eyebrows at Carter.

"I did," Carter replied. Very reservedly.

And Glimmer tilted her head to raise her eyebrows at him.

Jack took it in stride and grinned. Playing dumb didn't work all the time, especially not with people who knew you, and he was no Peter Falk, but it was best to keep in practice. "Yeah, I heard the gist. But I guess you've talked about it in more detail."

"We did." Glimmer nodded. "But we haven't decided how to react to their demands yet."

"We need to carefully consider the issue," Perfuma said. She really had flowers in her hair at all times. Jack wondered if they grew on her head - it wouldn't be the weirdest thing he had seen so far in Etheria. "And we need more information."

"You can't trust the words of deserters turned bandits," Mermista said.

"We don't know if they are bandits," Perfuma objected. "Just because they come from the Crimson Waste."

"They claim to come from the Crimson Waste," Mermista retorted. "They might be pirates who survived the sinking of their ship - or deserted their crew in a port."

"Indeed!" Her consort, the smuggler, spoke up, nodding. "Having broken the sacred bond of captain and crew, they would naturally attempt to hide their betrayal by laying claim to a new identity." He stood, raising his fist, but Mermista pulled him down into his seat before he could… do whatever he had planned. Probably something dramatic, in Jack's opinion.

"I don't think we should assume the worst of them," Adora said.

"But we also shouldn't overlook that they sneaked into Bright Moon," Catra added. "Of course, that's not a big achievement since you can sneak entire herds of horses over the border without your patrols noticing, but it's a little suspicious."

"Swift Wind is a special case."

Glimmer was frowning at her, Jack noticed. But… "Swift Wind is smuggling horses?" he couldn't help asking.

"He sees it as freeing slaves," Catra explained with a grin as Adora blushed.

Daniel blinked. "Are horses sapient on Etheria?"

"No. They're animals," Glimmer told him.

"They're as smart as dumb bots, I think," Entrapta said. "It's hard to measure that. Especially without invasive surgery."

"Ah."

"But Swift Wind was a normal horse himself before Adora accidentally turned him into what he is," Bow said. "So, his views are… kinda coloured by that."

"And he's trying to pull a Planet of the Apes?" Jack blurted out. He winced when everyone looked confused. "Ah, that's a movie from Earth. About an astronaut landing on a planet where humans are dumb like apes, and smart apes rule the world. "

"Sounds like a weird movie," Catra commented. "But not the weirdest I've seen."

"So, back to your wanna-be colonists," Jack said quickly when he saw that Daniel wanted to expand on the topic. The last thing he wanted was to discuss old science fiction movies. And accidentally starting a fear of a horse uprising.

"It's quite understandable that they don't want to live in the Crimson Waste," Perfuma said with an earnest expression. "It's a giant desert, and the plants are mostly cactuses. Which are fine plants, but they can be a little prickly." She blinked, then blushed as a few people - including Jack - snickered. "I didn't mean it like that! I meant they can be hard to control!"

"But doesn't your planet have more habitable regions? You only have about fifty million people, and Etheria is as large as Earth," Daniel pointed out.

"Etheria has plenty of room for everyone," Glimmer said. "Without counting mountains or deserts."

"There's nothing wrong with mountains. Dryl's perfectly fine," Entrapta objected.

"But it's not a farming country."

"No, but we trade ore for food." Entrapta nodded.

"They want fertile land, which usually means good farming land," Bow cut in. "Though they didn't actually state that they wanted to farm, did they?"

"They didn't. That's why we need more information before we can actually discuss the issue properly and come to a decision," Glimmer said.

"But we can't just let them colonise a planet anyway," Adora pointed out. "What if there are already people living on it?"

"Yes," Daniel, of course, agreed readily. "The history of Earth shows the consequences of such colonisation. The United States' history in particular."

The way everyone nodded with a serious expression made it clear that Glimmer and the others had filled them in about that particular part of human history.

"But sending them to an empty planet, as tempting as it is, is not a good idea either," Catra said. "They'd need protection so the Goa'uld can't take them over. Unless they all die off, of course, if their crops fail. Or if they find out that knowing how to raid doesn't let you survive when there's nothing to raid."

"Oh, yes!" Daniel nodded. "Colonies on Earth often required constant support from the country of origin, at least in the beginning, and many failed anyway. Though the Stargate would make supplying a settlement far easier, I guess."

"That begs the question of whether we want to support such a colony or not," Glimmer said. "They obviously don't care for us - or anyone else except themselves. Why should we let them settle a planet and then protect it while entire worlds full of people are occupied by the Goa'uld?"

That was a good question, Jack had to admit. Even though he liked the thought of Etherians striking out to live free from the rule of magical princesses. In an abstract way, though - the nitty gritty details were much less appealing.

Though that wouldn't really bother the press back home if they caught wind of it. He could already see the headlines and talking points about a second Mayflower. And at least some back home would want to emulate them as well and make their own country. A country that would probably be very similar to what the pilgrims had wanted to create.

Yeah, it wasn't really amusing any more.

Above Bright Moon, Etheria, December 29th, 1998 (Earth Time)

She could do this. She had to do it. Well, there were alternatives, but it was the right thing to do. Probably.

Adora closed her eyes and sighed. What should she do?

"Is something wrong?"

She forced herself to smile at Swift Wind's question - he had turned his head and was looking at her while they flew through a cloud. "No, no," she lied. "I was just thinking. About the war."

Lying to her friend felt awful.

"Ah! I can understand - it must be a daunting task to face such evil. An Empire built on slavery - oh, I understand perfectly. I am waging my own war against slavery here on Etheria, as you know."

Adora winced. Fortunately, Swift Wind was looking ahead again and missed it. Just the topic she had been torn about. Enough - she would face this head-on! As she should have from the start. "So I've been told," she said. "You've been taking horses to Bright Moon."

"Micah has been very helpful in housing them free and safe," he replied. "No slaver would dare to mess with the most powerful kingdom on Etheria. Of course, now that you're back, it should become even easier to free horses - who would dare to challenge She-Ra and her faithful mount?"

Adora blinked. Was he expecting her to help him with stealing horses? She-Ra, a thief? For a brief moment, she imagined herself wearing a mask. And shuddered at the thought of looking like Shadow Weaver. Maybe a full suit with a helmet… No! Everyone would know it was her, anyway - she was usually the only one riding Swift Wind, after all. And he would probably announce her anyway. "Well, they knew you're my friend, my mount, already," she said.

"Yes, but they also knew you were gone. Some might have even hoped that you'd stay gone! But now that you're back, they know they've got no chance to stop us!"

"Yeah…" She winced again. "But I'll still be busy with the war against the Goa'uld."

"Of course! And I will fight at your side! But trust me, freeing horses is easy - you can do it to relax and unwind. And there's nothing more satisfying than seeing them free of the cruel yokes that were forced on them, galloping over the fields and hills!"

Adora pressed her lips together so she wouldn't curse. Swift Wind was… well, he was clearly fully invested in this. And what could she say? That he should let his people - he was a horse, after all, just a special one - just be? Well, she had been planning - considering - that, but now… "Do you know how many horses are on Etheria?" she asked.

"No." He laughed. "But I won't rest until the last one has been freed and slavery vanquished!"

She would have to talk to Glimmer.

Bright Moon, Etheria, December 29th, 1998 (Earth Time)

"You want us to keep supporting him?"

Adora winced a little - Glimmer's outburst was a bit loud. Well, she was under a lot of stress, what with having to deal with all the issues that Micah had left for her to decide during their absence. Still… She nodded. "He is set on liberating all horses."

"We already knew that." Her friend shook her head. "So what? That means we have to go along with it?"

Yes. But she didn't say that. "Well, we have been going along with it, haven't we?"

"Dad has." Glimmer sighed. "But we can't keep doing this - do you know how many horses are on Etheria?"

Adora shook her head. "That's what I wanted to ask you."

Glimmer scowled in return.

"I guess you don't know either, huh?" Catra cut in from where she was sprawled on Glimmer's couch eating a tuna sandwich.

Glimmer's scowl deepened.

"We can find out," Bow said, smiling at everyone. "There should be records."

"You record the number of horses? Do you tax them?" Catra asked.

"No, we don't tax horses," Glimmer said. "But Mom ordered a count in case we had to confiscate them for the war effort."

"You wanted to fight us with horse cavalry?" Catra asked. "Or mounted infantry?"

"Mounted infantry, of course," Glimmer replied. "They would have been good to move troops through rougher terrain where your tanks and transports would get stuck."

"Ah, so in case you needed to evacuate Bright Moon and had not enough skiffs."

"Yes."

"Got it!" Bow announced. "So… Hm… that's a lot of horses. Oh. That includes the horses Swift Wind brought in."

"But that doesn't tell us how many are left," Adora pointed out.

Bow smiled again. "Well, if we use Bright Moon as a baseline…"

"Can we use it as a baseline?" Catra interrupted him. "The Scorpion Kingdom doesn't have many horses, I bet. And I don't think the Kingdom of Snows or Salienas have many horses, either.

Bow frowned in return. "It would be a conservative estimate, I think."

"A wild-ass guess. Got it." Catra nodded with a smirk.

"It's the best we have," Glimmer spat. She tapped a few keys on her tablet, still scowling. "So, all things considered… we could be dealing with a few hundred thousand horses on Etheria."

That was… a lot. Or was it? "How many horses are on Earth?" Adora asked. "Just to get a comparison," she explained.

Her friends were staring at her. Even Catra.

"Did he say he wanted to 'liberate' them too?" Glimmer asked.

He hadn't. But it wasn't as if they had talked about that. Adora wasn't even sure if he knew that there were horses on Earth - wait, he had to know that after talking with SG-1. Right?

"So… we've got people wanting their own planet, without magical princesses to rule them, and a magical flying horse - unicorn - running an underground railroad for runaway horses."

The Colonel, lying on the couch in their room, didn't sound as amused as Samantha Carter would have expected, given the situation on Etheria. No comment about 'ripping off Earth history' or about former bandits 'founding space Australia'. He seemed to be treating the potential problem with the seriousness it deserved - for a change. She nodded. "Yes, sir."

"Solving that will be a little tricky."

"I do not see the problem," Teal'c commented. "According to our allies' best estimates, and supported by Captain Carter's observations, those people are deserters from a vanquished enemy army who were too craven to take up arms when their planet was under attack. The Princess Alliance does not owe them anything."

"Yeah, well… obviously, the magical princesses don't see things as simple as that, Teal'c," the Colonel replied.

Teal'c inclined his head, acknowledging the point.

"And what do you think about Swift Wind's, ah, crusade?" Daniel asked.

"I respect his decision to fight to free his brethren."

"Ah…" The Colonel looked surprised. "We're talking about horses, not people."

"Exactly." Teal'c's face showed a hint of a smile.

"But…" The Colonel fell silent with a pout. "Were you pulling my leg?"

And the hint vanished. "No, Colonel O'Neill." Once more, Teal'c nodded. "I do not think that Swift Wind, having been born as a horse, would care whether or not others consider horses as more than animals."

"Ah… Good point."

And Teal'c would empathise with the idea of freeing your enslaved brethren.

"Yes," Daniel agreed. "His, ah, unique history would ensure that he has a different view of the whole situation. And it would be quite, ah, callous, I would say, and perhaps naive and shortsighted as well, to expect him to treat horses as mere animals - he is likely to feel a kinship with them despite their lack of sapience. Of course, since he is a horse of sorts, that's quite justified."

"Yeah, I think we all realised that when we heard about his crusade to free his brothers and sisters from bondage," the Colonel pointed out in a dry voice.

Daniel blushed slightly. "Well, yes, I was just agreeing with Teal'c."

"Indeed."

"Yeah, yeah. But just because he thinks horses are people doesn't mean everyone will agree with him. And that's the problem," the Colonel said.

Daniel blinked. "What do you mean?"

"We have millions of horses on Earth," the Colonel explained. "Some people even eat them."

"Oh. I didn't… How didn't I think of that?" Daniel looked aghast. "He must think we are cannibals - using the more colloquial definition of a cannibal, of course, since, strictly speaking, cannibalism is defined as eating your own species, not merely other sapient beings."

"I doubt that Swift Wind will care about such word mincing."

Sam nodded in agreement with Teal'c.

"But the real question isn't what our magical flying unicorn is going to do, but what the princesses are going to do." The Colonel was looking at her, Sam realised.

"That wasn't a topic that came up while I was working on the Stargate with Entrapta, sir," she told him.

"I expected that, seeing as everyone seems to have been blindsided by the horse crusader." He was still looking at her. Why would… Ah.

Sam narrowed her eyes. "Entrapta is a brilliant scientist, but she is rarely interested in such political questions," she pointed out. She wasn't going to use Entrapta as a source of information about the internal discussions of the Princess Alliance.

"Yeah." He wasn't pressing the implied suggestion. Good.

"We'll have to talk to the Princess Alliance about this," Daniel pointed out the obvious. "This could become a diplomatic catastrophe if the Etherians back his, ah, intentions! And if he uses his unique appearance and nature to run a PR campaign…"

"I think he'd have the girl demographic solidly in his corner. Probably even the French ones," the Colonel commented.

Daniel nodded. "Well, yes, sure, who wouldn't love to… Oh my God - what if he wants to attend the party?"

Sam froze. That would…

"We've never seen him indoors, have we?" the Colonel asked.

"No. But that doesn't mean he won't enter buildings. He might actually live in the palace stables," Daniel said, wincing. "And since everyone here seems to be getting excited about the party, he might want to attend as well."

"And someone will want to talk to the talking horse, and talking about horses that don't talk seems the obvious topic to break the ice." The Colonel looked grim.

Well, he was nominally in charge of the party organisation now.

Sam managed not to smile at the irony, but only because she was still involved as well. "I suggest you breach the subject as soon as possible, sir."

"Yeah."

Bright Moon, Etheria, December 30th, 1998 (Earth Time)

"We should just ignore them. We don't owe them anything."

"But Mermista! We can't just ignore them - they're as much victims of the war as anyone else who was displaced. At the very least, we should let them resettle in a more fertile region of Etheria."

This is getting tedious, Catra thought while she munched on a tuna sandwich.

"They don't want to resettle on Etheria - they want a planet of their own. If they wanted to farm, they would have returned to the Scorpion Kingdom like the other former Horde soldiers when you put the call out," Glimmer retorted. "And we can't just ignore them sneaking over Bright Moon's borders! They might attempt to seize the gate by force!"

"All six of them?" Mermista scoffed. "Even Emily could handle that by herself."

"Both Emily's offensive and defensive capabilities have been increased significantly," Entrapta spoke up. "Her shield generator should be able to hold out against a prolonged assault with portable weapons, not counting advanced bombs though."

"Not quite my point, but see? We can ignore them."

"But we shouldn't ignore them!" Perfuma protested. "We're better than that."

"And they're kinda our responsibility - well, mine," Scorpia added. "You know, being former Horde soldiers."

Catra swallowed the last bite and snorted. She was a former Horde soldier herself - former Horde leader, actually - but she didn't owe those idiots anything.

"You fulfilled your responsibilities by offering every former Horde soldier a place in your kingdom," Glimmer told her. "If they don't want to live there, that's on them. And the place certainly fits their request for 'fertile land' now," she added with a scoff.

"Well, yeah, but it doesn't fit their request not to live under a princess," Catra said. Half the Alliance leadership turned to glare at her, but she shrugged. "I'm just pointing out that they don't just want fertile land; they want to rule it."

"They want an entire planet. For what, a few hundred people?" Gimmer shook her head. "And that's only if we believe their claims. Huntara messaged us that she doubts that they have such a big tribe."

"And if we give them a planet, others will want one as well," Mermista said. "Even a few princesses, I bet. More than a few, actually. I'd suggest giving them some desert island no one wants, but they'd turn pirate as soon as they can get a ship."

Perfuma shook her head. "They would only turn pirate if they have no better alternatives."

Oh… Catra suppressed a sigh. "Not exactly. Some people want to be raiders, be they pirates or bandits. They don't want to work because they prefer fighting."

"You would know, right?" Mermista frowned at her.

Catra raised her eyebrows at her. "I'm a soldier. I'm good at waging war with all that entails. Logistics, tactics, strategy…" Of course, she also was good at raiding since that was part of waging war, but that wouldn't help her make her point. "They, though, don't want to fight a war. They just want to plunder what others built."

"We don't know that!" Adora protested.

"Does anyone have serious doubts that we're dealing with a bunch of bandits?" Catra asked.

"They might want to turn over a new leaf," Perfuma said.

Which meant that even Perfuma thought that they had been bandits. And that meant they could easily return to their old trade, even if they wanted to change. Which Catra doubted.

"And imagine what example we would be setting if we let bandits set up a colony in the galaxy - and then would supply and protect it." Glimmer shook her head. "What would our allies think?"

"That this is an easy opportunity to exploit?" Catra suggested with a grin. "If we set up a protected colony, they'll want one as well." The Americans had been planning to set up a 'fallback' colony or something, in case Earth fell, but that had been before they made contact with Etheria. As far as Catra knew, they were now squabbling with the United Nations and NATO over the whole site.

"Yes. And you know how many humans are on Earth - and how many countries they have. Everyone will want a colony if others have one." Glimmer scoffed. "So, it's obvious: We have to refuse their demands." She looked at the others in the room - well, the other princesses, Catra thought.

Most of them nodded, some more reluctantly than others. Perfuma disagreed but didn't say anything, and Scorpia hugged her.

Well, it looked like they had finally dealt with this problem. Or at least come to a decision - they still had to deal with the bandits themselves.

"OK." Glimmer nodded, obviously satisfied. "Now that that's settled, Jack wanted to discuss a few things, mainly Swift Wind."

Cara saw that Adora tensed and scowled. Swift Wind's antics were already stressing her lover. If O'Neill added to that…

Adora would do anything for her friend - no one knew this better than Catra herself. But someone had to look out for Adora in return, or the idiot would sacrifice herself to help everyone else.

And that, Catra would never allow. She'd do anything to protect Adora.