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Chapter Text

Amazing cover art commissioned from @profound-drawings on Tumblr! :)

***

Catra dropped the note and stared blankly at Scorpia's bed. She had been abandoned – again. Why did this always happen to her? What was so wrong with her that people kept leaving her?

Catra had conquered Salineas. Her. No one else. Of course Hordak had taken the credit, but her strategy with Double Trouble was the only reason they had succeeded. She was the best Force Captain the Horde had ever had. Now that Salineas was theirs, Etheria would fall within a matter of weeks. The planet was hers yet no one stayed with her. Not even Scorpia.

Catra screamed and fell to her knees. Had she been wrong this whole time? Was she really just a villain fighting a pointless war? Was Adora right? Catra picked the note back up and shredded it with her claws. The tears began to fall uncontrollably. She half-wondered whether she should be ashamed of her weakness. However, the stress she had been under, combined with the intense wave of emotions, clouded her judgement. She kept crying on the floor of Scorpia's room until she had no more tears left in her.

Catra could not tell how much time had passed and she did not care. She slowly got up and headed back to her quarters. It was then that her tablet began to beep. She assumed it was Hordak and quickly wiped away all evidence of her breakdown.

Catra was now standing in an empty hallway of the Fright Zone. Catra vaguely recognized a pipe which she used to hide behind when she was smaller. She accepted the call but strangely no video came through. Instead she heard what sounded like Hordak, but was definitely not Hordak.

"Little sister?" Catra's eyes went wide and her left ear tweaked in alarm.

"What? Lord Hordak, is that you?"

"Hordak? Is that what my little brother has called himself?" The voice sounded genuinely amused. Catra was stunned. If she did not know better, she would guess this was Double Trouble playing a trick on her. Only she had not heard from them in a while, and whatever this was did not fit their sense of humor. She checked the identity of the person calling her. It was not Hordak - the number was unknown. The voice had now gone silent, but whoever it was was still connected.

Catra took a deep breath before asking:

"Who are you?" She heard an unsettling chuckle.

"Isn't it obvious? I'm Horde Prime." It was then that an image finally came onto her tablet screen. What she saw made her recoil in disgust. It was Hordak with four eyes, dreadlocks and an extremely malevolent smile. Horde Prime laughed.

"I thought you would be happy to see me, Catra. You did open the portal to get my attention, did you not?" No, she did not.

"Um…do you want to me to put you through to Hordak?"

"No" he said, briefly moving all four of his eyes to look at something near him. Catra felt a cold chill run down her spine. Before she could wonder why, Horde Prime continued:

"It took me a while to identify you as the one who opened the portal, and even longer to connect to your personal communication device." Catra's eyes went wide. How had he been able to do any of that? Just how advanced was his technology? Horde Prime continued:

"I assume you can re-open the portal?" Catra shifted nervously. She did not like this guy.

"Well, I suppose I could, but the equipment was destroyed after I activated the portal the first time." Catra paused before asking:

"Why do you want it reactivated?"

"So I can come through with my army of course. You wear the symbol of the Horde - I assume you would not be opposed to some reinforcements?" Catra began sweating. If they were led by him, she would definitely be opposed.

"Of course I would appreciate your help" she lied.

"Brilliant. How soon can you open another portal?" Catra's throat went dry. She gulped before lying again:

"It's hard to say. It could take several months…" Catra began to look around. She was still alone. She continued:

"What would you do once you arrive on Etheria? I mean…would you take over the Horde?" Horde Prime grinned before saying:

"No. I would simply invite everyone to join me and be freed from their pain and suffering." Catra raised an eyebrow.

"How would you do that? And what would happen to those who refuse your invitation?" Horde Prime laughed. Catra grimaced.

"You ask many questions little sister. Let's just say they would be persuaded. I have ruled the universe for hundreds of years - my knowledge surpasses time and space. I know the secret to peace and happiness as well as the fastest and easiest way to achieve it." "And what would that be?" Catra half-growled, not wanting to know the answer.

"The secret or the method?" Horde Prime smirked. He continued:

"The secret is servitude and the method is a chip fused with the subject's brain." Catra closed her eyes. This guy was insane. She decided right then and there that Horde Prime could never come to Etheria.

"You need me to open a portal in order for you and your army to reach Etheria, right?" "Yes." Catra took a deep breath before putting on her best fake smile.

"I will see what I can do." Horde Prime seemed to believe her.

"We will accomplish much, little sister. Once Etheria is mine, I will be happy to have you rule in my stead." Catra looked away from the screen. She was already on the verge of ruling Etheria and she hated it.

"Thank you, Horde Prime" she said slowly through gritted teeth. With that, Horde Prime hung up and his hideous face disappeared from view.

Catra immediately went and hid behind the pipe, just like she did when she was a cadet. She wished she could be a cadet again. Everything was simpler then. Sure she was continuously hurt and abused, but she had had Adora and everything made sense. Nothing made sense now. She was alone, hiding from no one.

Catra curled up in a ball and closed her eyes. She had never wanted to rule Etheria – not alone. Shadow Weaver had trained her together with Adora. Her whole life had revolved around Adora. She had opened the portal to get back at Adora. And even though they were bitter enemies, she was the only person Catra ever wanted to see. It was then that Catra heard a noise and quickly stood up.

Catra saw two young cadets walk by looking very subdued. One of them had been badly beaten up and the other had clearly been crying. Catra stayed hidden until they had passed. She then reflected on how she was effectively the leader of the Horde, and therefore one of the chief administrators of the cadet programme.

Catra had never given it much thought. Most cadets were forcibly taken during campaigns and brainwashed to follow Hordak in his conquest for Etheria. Catra had never been alright with that. She herself had been abandoned, and Adora had been found, but they were the exception. Catra remembered how much she used to hate the Horde for what it did to the cadets and their families. She nearly ran away several times and she would have done so had it not been for Adora. Stupid Adora.

Catra looked at the ground and then back up with newfound determination. The Horde was evil. It always had been. It made no sense to keep leading it the way she had. She needed to make it better, and by doing so she would make it lose the war. The first step would be to end the cadet programme.

Catra climbed back over the pipe and continued her walk to her quarters. A plan began to form in her mind. It would be dangerous and she would need help. Catra had run out of people she could trust, so she turned to the one person left with whom she had a connection. Once she reached her room, she pulled out her tablet and called Force Captain Octavia.

***

Force Captain Octavia hated Catra. Catra had partially blinded her when she was a senior cadet, humiliating her in front of her peers and superiors. How could she have let a creature half her age and height hurt her so severely? It did not help that Adora, the golden child, had protected Catra from her so she was never able to exact her revenge.

When Adora left, Catra had been promoted and was almost never in the same place as Octavia. At least, not before the Battle of Salineas. Octavia had been put in charge of the Horde's navy and had been coordinating the attack from the sea. She had seen Catra from a distance and had had to restrain herself from shooting her with her laser cannon.

When the battle was over, Octavia had searched for Catra in the debris, but had not found her. She then learned that Catra had been sent back to the Fright Zone and that she had yet again lost her chance to get even.

A couple of days later, Octavia was napping on board her ship when a call came in from the last person she ever expected to call her. Octavia answered the call with surprise and confusion painted on her face. Catra, on the other hand, looked unusually nervous.

"Force Captain Octavia. It's been a while." Octavia growled in response. Her hatred for this feline was clouding her judgement. Catra ignored her, however, and continued:

"How soon can you return to the Fright Zone?" Octavia's face went white. Why should she return to the Fright Zone? Surely the navy had to stay stationed along the coast of Salineas, assisting Hordak in his invasion?

Octavia had been working non-stop transporting troops and supplies, conducting patrols, and had even been attacked by She-Ra and the princesses in the performance of her duty. She was clearly in the right place! What was Catra thinking trying to pull her out? She growled louder.

"Just because Hordak sent you home doesn't mean you get to drag me back with you." Catra gave her an annoyed expression.

"Look, I know you don't like me, but just hear me out. I'm disbanding all the cadets and I need you to take them all back where they came from." Octavia stared at her blankly before laughing in disbelief.

"I'm sorry, you're doing what? Has Hordak authorized this?" Catra looked away sheepishly and said nothing. This surprised Octavia.

"Wait, you're serious? You're disbanding the cadets and going behind Hordak's back?" "Yep."

"Why? We need the cadets to keep the Horde running. Doing this will destroy the Horde." "Well, maybe it needs to be destroyed." Octavia gasped. Had Catra lost her mind?

"You are running the Horde, Catra! Your job is to keep it running! I don't understand what you are doing-" Catra interrupted her:

"The Horde is evil, Octavia. We're the bad guys. You know this. Who in their right mind praises a child for blinding a teenager?" Octavia's head jolted up as she relived one of her worst memories: Shadow Weaver commending Catra for successfully beating and blinding Octavia in front of all the cadets. It was one of the few times Catra was praised for anything. Octavia looked away as a tear welled up in her one good eye.

"Are you even sorry?" she whimpered. Catra looked confused.

"About what?" Octavia could not believe this.

"Taking my eye? Ruining my life? Do you even care about what happened to me after you did that?" Catra raised an eyebrow.

"If I recall correctly, you did provoke me."

"I called you names and chased you around a bit – like everyone else did that back then! I did not deserve to get blinded for that!" Catra scoffed:

"Did it ever occur to you that I did not deserve to get bullied like that? I wasn't just called names and chased around you know!" Catra sighed and pinched her nose before continuing:

"Look, I acknowledge that you were badly treated, but this only proves my point. The kind of environment that encourages this kind of thing is wrong and we need to put a stop to it. Do you really want the Horde conquering Etheria? Having every child in Etheria deal with the same trauma we did?" Octavia looked at the ground. She could not believe she was agreeing with the person she hated more than anyone in the world.

"I guess not. But how am I supposed to transport hundreds of children back to their homes without Hordak knowing? He's bound to find out eventually. Also, how do you even know where each kid comes from? Is there even a list?" Catra rolled her eyes.

"I assume so. If not I'll make one. Look, just be here in two days with as many ships as you can muster without causing suspicion. I'll handle Hordak. I'll see to it you are not punished for this." Octavia's expression softened for the first time since she had answered the call.

"I may have misjudged you kitty-cat." Catra glared at Octavia.

"Do not call me that." Octavia smiled. Everyone used to call her that. Well, everyone except Adora.

With that, Catra hung up. Octavia looked out the window and thought hard about what would happen next.

***

Octavia returned to the Fright Zone with around five ships. Catra was waiting for her along with Sergeant Cobalt. The sergeant was a legend in the Fright Zone – a blue-skinned Etherian who had trained several generations of Horde soldiers; including Octavia and Catra. He had been the main individual running the cadet programme and it had taken a long time to convince him to agree to this without alerting Hordak. Catra had somehow succeeded, however, and he promptly began organizing the children into groups and directing them to their respective ships.

Some of the cadets looked sad to be leaving, while most looked confused and/or excited. Many Horde soldiers both in the boats and in the Fright Zone were looking on in awe as the future of the Horde was literally sent away.

Octavia went and got the list from Sergeant Cobalt and began to distribute copies of it to the captains of the different ships. She had been careful in who she had asked to come with her. They were all generally sympathetic to the cause. After this, she finally turned towards Catra and the two of them stared at each other awkwardly before Catra broke the silence:

"Thank you for coming. I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't agreed to come." Octavia was caught off-guard by that remark, and the shock must have shown on her face. Suddenly all her hatred began to ebb and she awkwardly looked down at the ground before muttering:

"You're welcome."

Chapter Text

It had taken several days for the news of the cadets' absence to reach Hordak. He was bound to find out eventually. While he had been regularly checking in with Catra, who had constantly assured him that everything was fine, he had also been hearing whispers from his soldiers. He had eventually contacted Sergeant Cobalt and it had not taken long for him to admit the truth. Enraged, Hordak decided to return to the Fright Zone.

***

Catra's mental state had gone from bad to worse. She had not been eating or sleeping. She had begun to doubt the wisdom of destroying everything she had built, and it killed her to know she could not take back what she had set in motion. She had heard nothing from Octavia (not that she had expected to, but it would be comforting to know whether or not her plan was working). She still had no news of Double Trouble. She assumed they must have been captured.

Catra had successfully got her troops to the borders of the Kingdom of Snows and Plumeria. She was just waiting for Hordak to signal his complete control of Salineas before launching a simultaneous attack. The rebels would not know what hit them.

Catra had made little effort to weaken the Horde since disbanding the cadets, but she did not have to. Almost half of the soldiers still in the Fright Zone had deserted, along with several in the field as soon as they found out. Without the cadets, the Horde had no future. Only an idiot or an insanely loyal follower would stay. She marveled at how long it was taking Hordak to find out about the cadets. It must be common knowledge by now. As if on cue, Hordak rang her on her tablet. She quickly answered:

"Yes Lord Hordak?"

"I shall be returning to the Fright Zone shortly. You and I have much to discuss." Catra noticed the scowl on Hordak's face. She had displeased him. He must have found out. She chose to play it cool.

"Very well. I will prepare for your arrival." Hordak grunted before hanging up. Catra breathed heavily before checking the cameras again for Scorpia. She did not understand why she was so obsessed with her. She should be happy for her. The princesses were probably treating her like a queen. It is what she deserved. Catra was sad and lonely, however, and that drives people to do strange things. She looked out the window and saw her old squad returning from a mission. She decided to go and yell and them.

***

When Hordak arrived, he wasted no time in summoning Catra to his throne room. It was bizarre seeing him in there. He had almost always been in his sanctum since Entrapta entered his life. Catra entered cautiously – not knowing if he would try and kill her before giving her a chance to explain. Not that she could explain.

"Catra."

"Yes Lord Hordak?"

"Where are the cadets?" Catra gulped. She had to lie and it had to be believable.

"They are doing a training exercise outside of the Fright Zone." Hordak raised an eyebrow. Catra continued:

"Force Captain Octavia is supervising the exercise. They should be back soon." Catra shifted nervously before attempting to change the subject:

"Are you ready for our attacks on Plumeria and the Kingdom of Snows to go ahead?" Catra prayed she had convinced him. Hordak glared at her before turning around and staring at the wall.

"Sergeant Cobalt said you ended the cadet programme and sent every one of them home." Catra grunted in annoyance. She figured she had not entirely convinced Sergeant Cobalt to support her cause of weakening the Horde. She had used the wellbeing of the children in the midst of an intensifying war as her main argument. He was stubbornly loyal to Hordak though, so his tattling came as no surprise.

"Sergeant Cobalt is wrong" Catra stated calmly. She continued:

"I did not include him in the training exercise and he must have been upset about it." Hordak turned and glared at Catra. Catra lowered her ears. A long minute passed before Hordak turned back towards the wall.

"Launch the attacks."

***

Catra could not believe her luck. She had managed to convince Hordak that she was not a traitor and now she was closer to conquering Etheria than she had ever been before. She had half-changed her mind about the Horde. This could work – it had worked for a very long time. Yes, the Horde was evil, but she was not evil. Once the war ended, she would fix everything. She had already freed the cadets! She had been ruling Salineas and authorizing projects to rebuild while Hordak was securing its borders! The people of Etheria would not hate her by the end of this. Maybe ruling alone would not be so bad. Hordak would be easy to remove from power, and whatever was left of the Horde would do whatever she asked.

Catra went to her old squad's locker-room and splashed water on her face. She was so glad her lie had worked and Hordak had not tried to kill her. That being said, she did not look happy. She looked miserable. Before Catra could figure out why, her old squad walked in.

They stopped when they saw Catra and tried to leave. Catra told them to stay and asked them to report on their mission. She had wanted the comfort of some friendly faces. She had wondered whether she should brag about her little victory over Hordak. Instead, however, she was brutally reminded of how lonely she was, and how, even with all her supposed power and success, she seemed doomed to be alone forever. Maybe that was why she reacted so strongly to Kyle accidentally hitting one of Scorpia's old drawings. Maybe that was why she lashed out at Lonnie for defending Kyle. Maybe that was why, when Double Trouble suddenly appeared, she did not listen to her better judgement and believed everything they said.

It had to end. It all had to end. The sooner it was over, the sooner she could fix everything and be with Adora again. She did not give the order to invade Plumeria and the Kingdom of Snows. She instead gave the order to go and invade Brightmoon.

***

Catra was an idiot. She was an absolute idiot. Of course Double Trouble had gone behind her back and betrayed her to Hordak. They had been absent for so long – it made sense that Sparkles had bought them off.

Catra was poised on a girder in the forge of the Fright Zone. Hordak was chasing her and had every intention of killing her. She took a deep breath and assessed her situation. She had several cuts and bruises, but nothing too severe. She was not very familiar with the forge. She had not even known it existed before she was made second-in-command two years ago. That being said, it was not her first time hiding from a figure of authority who was stronger than her.

Catra had beaten Shadow Weaver by attacking from above. She could beat Hordak too. She had to. It was then that she heard his footsteps and prepared to pounce.

***

Lonnie, Rogelio and Kyle made their way out of the Fright Zone. They had not gone with the rest of the troops. They were never going with them again. Catra attacking Kyle in the locker room had been the last straw. It had been Lonnie's idea to leave. Rogelio had agreed with her and Kyle had agreed with Rogelio.

When the squad left, they had bumped into Scorpia and the sparkly princess. If it had been any other day, they would have done their duty and defended the Fright Zone. It was not like any other day, however, and, while the squad had been hurt by Scorpia's desertion, they understood why she had done it.

Catra really had gone too far. They had been hopeful when she disbanded the cadets, but her recent actions confirmed how little she really had changed. The squad had let Scorpia and her friend pass without a fight.

They were now in the wasteland outside the Fright Zone and had stopped to take a break under a large boulder. They watched as explosions lit up the sky. It was a good thing there was no one left in the Fright Zone. Whatever was happening there was absolutely destroying it.

***

She had done it. She had defeated Hordak. Catra fought to catch her breath. What was she going to do now? If Double Trouble could do this to her, then they certainly could have lied to her about Brightmoon. And even if they had not, Catra should have been with her troops. She needed to be with them to assure their victory. She was the only member of the Horde left who could take on the princesses. Having Shadow Weaver as a mentor had few perks, but learning how to deal with magic had been one of them.

It then occurred to Catra that because Hordak had prevented her from leaving, it was more than likely that the battle would end in the rebellion's favor and the Horde really would be destroyed.

Catra began to hyperventilate. If the war was going to end, it was going to end on her terms. She knew what she had to do – she had to get to Brightmoon. She was about to go when Adora's voice suddenly rang in her ear:

"Hey Catra."

***

Lonnie sighed loudly as Kyle took forever to find a map in the bag of supplies he had hastily grabbed on the way out. She was the unofficial leader of the squad and she had no idea where she was going to lead them. All she knew was they had to get away from the Fright Zone. Even the sparkly princess had said as much. What was her name? Lonnie could never remember. It was then that Kyle screamed, dropped the bag, and fell over backwards.

Both Lonnie and Rogelio stared as the bag began to move and a pair of eyes began looking at them from under the flap. Lonnie slowly approached it with Rogelio following her. She reached for the flap and opened it. The squad looked in amazement as Hordak's pet jumped out and onto Kyle. Kyle squealed in alarm before the imp nuzzled him happily. It seemed that he wanted to escape too.

***

Catra sat on the ground of the forge - utterly defeated. Double Trouble had confirmed her worst fears about the Second Battle of Brightmoon, had insulted her to her face, and presented her biggest flaws and insecurities for everyone to hear. Well, everyone being Hordak and herself, and she did not think he was even conscious.

Maybe Double Trouble was right in their presentation of her character, but Catra simply did not care anymore. Whatever resolve she had had a few minutes ago was gone. Let the Horde be destroyed. It made no difference to her. As if on cue, Queen Glimmer chose this moment to materialize before her. She was prepared for a fight. Catra did not want to fight anymore.

***

"He's so cute!" Kyle exclaimed while cuddling the little imp. Rogelio raised an eyebrow while Lonnie pinched her nose.

"We can't keep him!" she said almost angrily. Rogelio gave her a confused expression and Kyle looked at her sadly. Lonnie stared at them incredulously before continuing:

"We have barely enough supplies to get us to the Whispering Woods! We don't have any ration bars to spare!" Kyle looked at her with his best puppy dog eyes:

"Please? He can have mine!" Rogelio growled in agreement. He could have his too. They had only been able to grab brown ration bars anyway. He hated those. Lonnie rolled her eyes before giving in:

"Fine – but he's your responsibility!" Kyle's eyes lit up and Rogelio gave him a loving smile.

"Thank you Lonnie! You're the best!"

***

When the Heart of Etheria was activated, Glimmer immediately collapsed and screamed in pain. Catra was both confused and scared. What kind of ancient super weapon could do this to a princess? Was it doing it to all the princesses? Her thoughts turned to Scorpia. She hoped she was alright.

Glimmer began to say something - someone called Light Hope had "used" her? The name sounded familiar. Was that the name of the person Adora was looking for in that First One's temple two years ago? As soon as Adora came to mind, Catra growled in annoyance. Double Trouble's wounds were still fresh.

Catra angrily dared Glimmer to use her weapon, asking whether or not she wanted to win. It was then that Glimmer explained the weapon would destroy everything and that she had to fix it. With a grunt of pain, she got up and left. Catra followed her.

Glimmer headed to the Black Garnet chamber. Catra took a detour.

***

Lonnie did not know Kyle had packed her tablet before it began ringing. She pulled it out of the bag uncertainly and saw that Catra was calling her. Lonnie could not believe it. Was she going to ask for help? Would she apologize? No, Catra would never apologize - but she would never ask for help either. Curiosity got the better of her and she answered the call.

Catra looked awful. Before she could say anything, however, the sky went dark and the ground began to shake. Lonnie saw what looked like lightning in the distance. She cowered under the boulder with the rest of the squad. Catra began to yell over the noise:

"Lonnie! Where are you?" Lonnie scoffed and yelled back:

"As if you care! We've left, Catra! You can't make us stay!" Catra stared at her incredulously before lowering her head in defeat.

"Fine" she said quietly. She hung up. Lonnie was shocked. She had never seen Catra concede defeat before.

***

Octavia was outside Salineas when everything went wrong. The sky had gone dark and a vicious storm had started. Octavia ordered everyone to abandon ship when some lightning set fire to their sail. She had successfully taken all the cadets back to their homes and was now taking the few remaining cadets (who had no home to go back to) to a group of deserters hiding out in Salineas.

Catra had found them soon after ending the cadet programme and had told them that she would give them no trouble as long as they looked after whoever could not be returned to a home.

Octavia managed to get everyone to shore quickly. Her reptilian nature really came in handy in situations like this. As everyone huddled under a massive piece of debris, her tablet began ringing. It was Catra. Octavia quickly answered it:

"Hey Catra! What's going on?" Catra looked terrible.

"The Horde has been defeated! It's all over!" Octavia gasped and stared at the soldiers and cadets who surrounded her. They all heard that. Catra continued:

"The rebels have unleashed some kind of super weapon. I don't know what's going to happen now – but whatever happens, the Horde cannot be left like this!" Octavia stared at Catra wide-eyed. Left like what? What had happened? She had been out of touch for the last few weeks.

"You need to get on comms and get as many survivors from the Second Battle of Brightmoon to converge on your position as you can! You are the new leader of the Horde! Congratulations!"

"What?!" yelled Octavia, but her voice was drowned out as the sky lit up and the whole planet seemed to vibrate. After a few seconds, the blinding light disappeared and Octavia could see what looked like thousands of little lights in the sky. Catra yelled over the noise:

"Octavia! Did you understand what I said? What just happened?" One of the more scientifically minded cadets then proceeded to shout at no one in particular:

"Stars! Those are stars! Another portal must have been activated!" Catra's face went visibly white.

Octavia looked back at her. For a few seconds no one spoke. Then Catra broke the silence:

"I need to go, Octavia. Please do as I ask. Rally all remaining members of the Horde and keep them safe. Once you're altogether, head for the Crimson Waste. No one will bother you there. You can set yourselves up in the old Horde outpost. And stay hidden, okay? If anyone called Horde Prime reaches out to you, do not trust anything he says! Stay away from him!" With that, Catra hung up.

Octavia was thoroughly confused and, for the first time in her life, genuinely afraid.

***

Catra was in Hordak's throne room. Her injuries were becoming more apparent and every step was agony. She turned on Hordak's control panel and watched as the thousands of security cameras of the Fright Zone began flooding onto the screen. She saw what she thought was Hordak and Glimmer in the Black Garnet chamber. Then an intense green light suddenly appeared, making the two most powerful rulers of Etheria disappear.

Catra gulped. It had to be Horde Prime. She quickly got to work. She could not let Horde Prime get a hold of any of the Fright Zone's resources. She needed to give Adora time to figure out how to beat him.

Catra typed in her passcode and ordered the computer to start the self-destruct sequence. Only Hordak, Shadow Weaver and she knew this existed. Once activated, hidden charges would blow up the forge, the robot assembly line, the main weapons store, Hordak's sanctum and the Black Garnet chamber. It was only supposed to be activated in the event of a successful invasion of the Fright Zone. Catra did not care about that. She had to destroy whatever Horde Prime might be able to use against Etheria.

Catra had just managed to set the timer before she was also engulfed by a green light and felt herself pulled skyward by an invisible force.

***

Bow had run back into the wasteland surrounding the Fright Zone. He needed to get help. He had been unable to stop Glimmer from being captured by Horde Prime. The only person who could help now was She-Ra. He needed to find Adora. It was then that a deafening explosion could be heard coming from the Fright Zone.

Bow turned around and saw a giant plume of smoke emerging from its center. He heard what sounded like a big metal structure collapsing. Had Horde Prime decided to blow up the Fright Zone? Was someone else trying to? The first big explosion was followed by several smaller ones, until there were half a dozen plumes of smoke floating upwards.

Bow took a deep breath. He really hoped no one had been in there.

***

Glimmer was starting to panic. She had just watched Hordak get violently reprogrammed by Horde Prime. Shadow Weaver had warned her about him and about the danger his arrival posed; but she had not listened. Just like she had not listened to Adora and Bow when they warned her about the Heart of Etheria. Before she could start feeling sorry for herself, however, Horde Prime turned to her and apologized for Hordak's behavior.

Glimmer nervously inquired as to Horde Prime's intentions, to which he replied with some well-rehearsed speech about peace. That should have encouraged her, but the way he said it was just wrong.

Glimmer then asked uncertainly if that meant he would leave Etheria alone. Horde Prime smirked and confirmed that that would not be the case. He began to move towards Glimmer threateningly when the platform they were on began to shine with green light once more. It quickly dissipated to reveal Catra sitting on the floor looking disheveled and utterly defeated.

***

Catra looked up at Horde Prime and Glimmer. Glimmer gasped in surprise. Horde Prime turned towards Catra and held out his hand:

"Welcome, little sister."

Catra stared at Horde Prime with barely concealed fear in her eyes. Surely he must have realized she betrayed him. If he had technology that enabled him to call her tablet from a different dimension, he must know what she had done. She took his hand and just managed to stand up. She was in a lot of pain.

"I am happy to see you, Catra. We can now finally bring peace to Etheria." Catra visibly cringed. She knew what his version of peace was. From the look on Glimmer's face, she had just found out as well. Horde Prime continued:

"Before we begin, however, I am curious about something. How did you manage to reactivate the portal? You said that your equipment was damaged." Catra looked at Glimmer who was staring at her in disbelief. Catra could guess what she was thinking – time for another lie:

"I used some special new equipment in the Fright Zone. Would you like to see it?" Catra prayed the place had been blown to bits already. It had to be. Horde Prime raised an eyebrow.

"I suppose you are unaware that the Fright Zone was blown up a mere moment ago?" Catra restrained herself from smiling, and gave her best fake look of surprise while exclaiming:

"No! I had no idea!" Glimmer certainly had no idea. She had gone from glaring at Catra to simply staring at her in confusion. Catra gave a small chuckle. It had always been fun to mess with the princesses. Horde Prime noticed this and asked suspiciously:

"Do you know each other? I was under the impression that you simply fought against one other." Catra gave her first smile of the day.

"I was under the same impression. Then again, princesses are very emotional. It's what makes them so predictable." Horde Prime smirked and signaled to two of his clones to take Glimmer away. She tried to resist, only to discover her magic did not work here. Catra stopped smiling immediately and turned back to Horde Prime.

"You shouldn't hurt her." Horde Prime and Glimmer both stared at her in stunned silence. Catra took a deep breath and continued:

"Sparkles here is the ruler of Etheria. The real ruler. If you hurt her, it will be harder to achieve the peace you want." She really hoped this worked. She could just about cope with blowing up the Fright Zone, ending the Horde and losing the Second Battle of Brightmoon; but she could not stand by and do nothing while Sparkles got hurt and/or killed.

Catra was not sure why she suddenly cared so much. Was it simply because she hated Horde Prime so much? Or was it simply because she could not stand the idea of letting Adora down yet again? Horde Prime then signaled for his clones to stop and gave Catra an unsettling smile.

"You make a very good point, little sister. I suppose then that you will not mind taking her place?" Catra stared at him wide-eyed. Every bone in her body was screaming at her to say no, to apologize for speaking out of turn, and to go and find a pipe to hide behind. Maybe she would have done that a few hours ago, but she was done running.

Catra did not know what Horde Prime had intended to do with Glimmer, but she knew it was not good. Either way, out of the two of them, there was no question who was more deserving of the punishment.

"Sure. I'll take her place."

Chapter Text

Catra did not know what she expected Horde Prime to do to her. Probe her with needles? Beat her senseless? Maybe threaten her non-existent friends and family? Any one of those options would probably have worked on Sparkles but not on her. Growing up with Shadow Weaver had had few advantages, but knowing how to deal with torture was one of them.

The clones dragged Catra to an empty cell and dumped her unceremoniously on the floor. Catra let herself fall. They then handcuffed her to the wall, much like she had been when Hordak had imprisoned her all those months ago. It was not necessary – the mere act of standing up had become too painful for Catra. The clones then left and locked the entrance with a sickly green force field.

Catra leaned back in her seated position and stared at the ceiling. Had she made the right choice? It was a bit too late to wonder.

***

Adora did not know what to think. The Fright Zone had a giant crater in the middle of it. It looked desolate – and it was quiet. Too quiet. Adora could not remember a time when the Fright Zone had not been bustling with life, or at least the noise of machinery. There was nothing and no one there now.

As soon as Bow had told her what happened to Glimmer and Hordak, her thoughts had immediately gone to Catra. She had not been in the Whispering Woods with the rest of the Horde, meaning she must have been here, in the Fright Zone. Adora was not sure why she was there now.

It had been a couple of days since Adora had broken the sword. Horde Prime's clones and robots had driven the princesses out of Brightmoon and they were currently hiding in the Whispering Woods. She had gone on a few rescue missions as Adora, but it had been hard. She missed She-Ra and, now that she was here, she realized that was not all she missed. She closed her eyes and hoped that, wherever she was, Catra was alright.

***

Catra was not alright. After being left alone in her cell for what felt like days, Hordak himself came in and pulled her to her feet without saying a word. Catra had no idea how to react. It was clear something had happened to him – he was dressed like all the other clones and did not seem to recognize her at all.

Catra made a feeble attempt to resist as he dragged her out of the room, but she was too weak. She had not been eating the food they had been giving her, and she was still injured from the fight she had had with Hordak before all of this. She was half-convinced that she had broken or fractured something.

Catra let Hordak lead her down two long winding corridors before being pushed into a room with a large green pool. Hooded clones surrounded the pool at a distance, and they all glared at her in eerie silence. It was then that Horde Prime himself walked in behind her.

"Hello little sister." Catra turned and glared at him. Horde Prime continued:

"I apologize for your accommodation, but you did agree to take the queen's place." Catra lost the strength to keep glaring and let her eyes fall to the water. She hated water. Why did she get the impression she was about to be submerged in it?

"The queen currently occupies your quarters. If you wish for things to return to the way they ought to be, you need only ask." Catra raised her eyebrow and finally spoke:

"What am I doing here?" Horde Prime was expressionless as he responded:

"I meant what I said. I wish to bring peace to Etheria and I want you to help me do it. I would have brought you out of your room sooner had I not found out certain information." He enunciated the last two words. Catra's throat went dry. Which lie had been exposed? There were numerous possibilities. Horde Prime continued:

"You blew up the Fright Zone, did you not?" Catra said nothing. She wanted to laugh in his face and call him pathetic for having only just figured that out, but fear got the better of her. He continued:

"You also fought and defeated my little brother. I assume you grew tired of his incompetence?" Catra nodded. He was more or less right about that.

"And you disbanded the Horde. You sent the children away, along with every single soldier. Why did you do that, Catra?" Catra hated the way he said her name. Then again, she preferred it to "little sister." She cleared her throat before exclaiming:

"Why bother with them when you already have an entire army? They pose no threat to you! They are nothing without me!" Another lie. Octavia was a competent leader and she trusted that she had followed her orders. The remainder of the Horde should be on its way to the Crimson Waste by now. Horde Prime growled:

"But that's just it, isn't it? You're the reason the Horde almost succeeded in its conquest of Etheria. And you're also the reason it failed." He turned to look her in the eyes before whispering menacingly:

"You are a traitor." The blood drained from Catra's face. She was definitely going swimming.

***

Glimmer paced in her cell. She did not know how much time had passed but it could not have been more than a few days. She had neither seen nor heard from Catra. Horde Prime had not been to see her either. The same clone came by every few hours with a fresh plate of food, but she had been unable to eat anything. She was worried about what Horde Prime was doing to Catra and she was really worried about what was happening back on Etheria. Had Horde Prime started his invasion? Would She-Ra be able to save everyone like she always did?

Glimmer assumed Adora was the reason the Heart of Etheria had not destroyed everything. She felt terrible about that. All of this was her fault. For once she could not blame Catra for causing a near-apocalyptic event. Speaking of, why had Catra lied to protect her? She could have told Horde Prime about the Heart of Etheria. She could have even used that as her reasoning for keeping Glimmer alive! What she had done instead was put herself at his mercy after dethroning Hordak and blowing up the Fright Zone. It had to have been her, right? She had not seemed that surprised when Horde Prime said it was gone. What game was she playing? Was she friend or foe?

***

"You are a traitor." The words echoed in Catra's ears as Hordak held her under the water. It turned out to not be water at all but a horrible thick electrifying liquid. Catra felt the all-too familiar sensation of electricity coursing through her body and slowly burning her fur from the inside out. Everything hurt – her head most of all. She was seeing her life flash before her eyes and almost all of it had been bad. All except for Adora.

Catra clung to those memories of Adora, back when they were together and everything made sense. She tried to imprint her face in her brain while the green liquid slowly erased everything that made her who she was. When she emerged from the pool, her mind was blank. Horde Prime extended his hand towards her.

"Behold the purest among you!"

***

Glimmer felt sick. She had been taken back to her cell after having a meal with Horde Prime. He had told her he knew about the Heart of Etheria and had demanded to know how it worked. Glimmer had refused to cooperate until he had shown her what he was doing on Etheria. She saw her friends mercilessly attacked by robots, and she saw Adora trapped and defeated on the ground. What had happened to She-Ra? She dared not think about it - everything was her fault.

Glimmer had pleaded for Adora's life and explained that the Heart of Etheria needed all the princesses alive and well in order to be activated. Horde Prime had given her his best evil smile before inviting her to finish her food. Despite her hunger, Glimmer had not been able to bring herself to accept his invitation.

***

It had taken longer than Adora would have liked, but the upgrades to Mara's ship had finally been completed. Entrapta had managed to get Glimmer's co-ordinates and Bow had finished packing their supplies. The loss of She-Ra had badly impacted Adora, but she was determined to rescue Glimmer at all costs.

As they had been about to leave, however, Horde Prime's forces had launched yet another attack against them. King Micah had heroically stayed behind to cover them as Bow and Entrapta had got the ship in the air and up through Etheria's atmosphere.

So much had happened and Adora had barely had a chance to process it. That being said, she meant what she had told Bow outside the Fright Zone. They were going to save Glimmer, and then they were going to save the universe. As long as she stayed focused on that, she would not get distracted by her crippling self-doubt, dangerously over-developed hero complex, and increasing concern over the safety of her friends. Glimmer had to be alright. She just had to be.

***

Catra was feeling great. She had been a sister of Horde Prime for several days now and she felt so fulfilled. Whenever Horde Prime called her, she rushed to his side. She performed every task she was given as if it was her life's purpose. She had cleaned rooms and hallways, helped prepare food for the prisoner and her brothers, and had even been called by Horde Prime to answer a question about the location of a space ship. She had desperately wanted to help him, but her mind was empty. She could not remember anything. Horde Prime had dismissed her and Catra had felt like an utter failure. Still, she was generally happy and at peace - until she saw the prisoner.

Horde Prime had told her not to go near the prisoner's cell, but she had been given conflicting orders to go and get something from a storage unit nearby. She had to pass by the cell to get to it. She dared not question Horde Prime and had instead resolved to do her very best not to look at the cell, trusting the bright green force field would hide whoever was inside. Unfortunately the prisoner was having her meal delivered right at the moment Catra walked by, and she had seen her. She could not take her eyes off her. She was purple and sparkly, which contrasted very strongly with the white and green colors surrounding her. Sparkly. Sparkles.

Catra yelped as she felt a sharp pain in her head. What was happening? What was so bad about the word "Sparkles"? Both the prisoner and the clone looked in her direction. She must have said it out loud. The prisoner ran to the edge of her cell and yelled:

"Catra? Is that you?" How did she know her name? Before she could begin to wonder, her mind felt like it was being turned inside out. She heard Horde Prime's voice telling her to resist and to go to him immediately. Normally she would have - she would have raced to his side – but the way he told her to "resist" did not sit right with her. Resist what? Who was this prisoner?

With all her strength, Catra disobeyed Horde Prime for what felt like the first time in her life and headed over to her. The clone moved between them but was seemingly knocked out by the prisoner. Catra barely made it over to the cell before she literally fell into the prisoner's arms. She could barely focus with all the noise in her head. The prisoner stared at her in complete shock and horror. Never before had Catra seen someone so afraid. The sparkly girl cried out:

"Catra! What happened to you?!" Catra closed her eyes and thought hard. What had happened to her? A mess of blurry images and long-forgotten sounds and voices began to circle around her brain. She knew this girl. She had fought this girl. Had she also saved her? It was getting to be too much – Horde Prime's voice dominated her brain and she felt like her head might explode. She began to slip from consciousness as the girl leaned over her in concern. Catra flinched as the prisoner put her hand on her shoulder.

"Catra, what's on your neck?" With that, Catra lost control. It had been a valiant effort – an incredible effort – but Horde Prime finally took over her brain and Catra could feel her mouth moving as he spoke for her. Whatever she said upset the prisoner. She then felt her bones break and re-align as Horde Prime took control of her body. Her claws extended and she took a swipe at the girl.

Catra could do nothing. All she could do was watch.

***

Glimmer winced in pain. Catra's claws had scratched her badly on the side of her face. She fell over backwards as Horde Prime's laugh emanated through Catra voice. It was horrible. Catra's hair had been cut short and she was wearing a clone's uniform. There was a metal object on her neck which Glimmer assumed was how Horde Prime was controlling her. However, Catra was clearly a lot stronger than he thought. Her eyes were bright green now, but they had been their usual blue and yellow a moment ago. Glimmer decided she would do everything she could to see those eyes again.

After being satisfied that Glimmer was neutralized, Horde Prime turned Catra's body around to walk back out of the cell. Big mistake. Glimmer grabbed her chair and threw it at Catra. It hit Catra right in the back and she collapsed with a howl of pain. Glimmer then jumped on her and took advantage of her position on Catra's back to begin examining the metal device on her neck. It was too small and complex to risk actually removing, but maybe she could just break it?

Catra began to squirm under her. She was surprisingly strong and Glimmer almost lost her balance. It was then that she heard clones approaching in the distance. She had to think fast. She grabbed the glass of water from the tray of food on her desk. She poured it on the device. She really hoped this worked.

***

It did not work. Whatever the prisoner was trying to do was not working and was just needlessly hurting Catra. Why had she dared to rebel against Horde Prime? She knew he had her best interests at heart – he had been trying to protect her from this monster who had pretended to know her and now had her pinned to the ground. She had poured some water on her neck which had felt really unpleasant and served no purpose whatsoever. Water. What felt like a distant memory floated to the surface of her mind.

Catra remembered being forcibly submerged in green water. She remembered how it hurt her. She then remembered it had been at Horde Prime's command. Before she could delve deeper into the memory, however, she felt a sharp pain in the back of her neck. The prisoner was lightly punching her there. What was she trying to do? Horde Prime then finally managed to free Catra's hand and successfully pushed the prisoner off her back.

As Catra felt herself jump up and move backwards into the hallway, five clones emerged behind her. Horde Prime had saved her. Everything would be alright.

***

This was her last chance. Glimmer was not going to give up so easily. Using every last ounce of strength she had, she charged at Catra. She wrapped her arms around her as their bodies made contact and forced her way through the two clones who tried to block her. Glimmer ran straight into the wall across the hallway, ramming the device into it with all her might.

Catra screamed and collapsed in her arms. Before Glimmer could do anything, however, the clones were on her. Two of them held down her arms while another grabbed her around the waist. They managed to pick her up and throw her back into her cell. When she tried to get back up, the two other clones entered the cell and pointed their arm cannons at her. It was over. She had lost. Or had she?

Suddenly, one of the clones in the hallway let out a howl of pain as someone grabbed him and pulled him down. The clone next to him turned around and readied his arm cannon, but he was too late. Catra punched him square on the jaw. She then narrowly avoided an attack from the third clone and just managed to knock him over before knocking him out too. The two clones in the cell with Glimmer looked on in confusion and the queen decided to use this distraction to her advantage.

With that, Glimmer grabbed her tray of food and whacked the back of one of the clones' necks. The clone collapsed as his brother turned back around in horror. Glimmer was about to try and take him out too when Catra did it for her. For a second, the two girls stared at each other in silence. Then the alarm went off.

***

Horde Prime snarled as the cameras showed Catra and Glimmer running frantically down the corridors of his ship. He telepathically instructed every available clone to converge on their location. This embarrassment had gone on long enough. He had made a mistake sending Catra near Glimmer's cell. He should have known that the purifying process would work less well on her than it did on his brothers. Still, both she and the queen were nothing more than weak defenseless prisoners with nowhere to go.

Horde Prime would catch them and, when he did, he decided he would get rid of the queen. She was more trouble than she was worth and he had other ways of accessing the Heart of Etheria. As for Catra, he had grown intrigued by her. She was a great asset and it had taken this little incident to remind him of it. Not only had she successfully resisted his control, albeit for a moment, but she had taken out four clones at once. He stroked his chin thoughtfully. She was wasted as a mere clone. A different approach was needed – one where she agreed to work with him of her own free will.

***

Bow was a patient, understanding and loving friend by definition, but the continued technical problems on board Mara's ship, along with Enrapta's unwillingness to stay in one place while she fixed everything, was beginning to get to him. The power had shorted out again and he had had to leave Adora on the flight deck while he tried to find Entrapta.

All three of them had been in space for several days and they had heard nothing from the rebellion. Not that he had expected to – they were probably too far away by now. It would be nice to know they were alright though, or, more accurately, it would be nice to know whether or not they had heard anything about Glimmer.

Bow had been so relieved when Entrapta had found her location, but he was still worried. What was Horde Prime doing to her? Was she being tortured like she was all that time ago by Shadow Weaver? Was she being treated well, with access to food and water? Did she have somewhere to sleep? Was she able to sleep?

Bow cared for Glimmer. Despite everything she had done, he truly and deeply cared about her, and, if anything happened to her before they arrived, he knew he would not hesitate to send an arrow flying straight into Horde Prime's heart.

***

Catra's head hurt so badly. She could still hear Horde Prime's voice, but even it was being drowned out by the throbbing pain in the back of her neck and the inside of her skull. It was only a matter of time before Horde Prime regained control of her – as soon as she lost consciousness it would all be over. She had to fight it. She had to stay awake. She turned right into a different corridor, only to find more clones at the end of it.

Catra quickly opened the door to a room she vaguely remembered being a teleportation chamber and ran inside. She waited until Sparkles had entered before locking the door. Was that her name? Whether it was or not, it suited her. The girl in question was out of breath and raised her hand to point out the open door on the other side of the room. Catra ran to close it and just managed to do so before more clones got in. The alarm was still blaring and Catra's sensitive ears had almost gone deaf with the noise. She tried to concentrate.

She tried to figure out what to do next.

***

Glimmer gasped as Catra grabbed her arm and pushed her behind yet another green force field. For half a second Glimmer wondered whether Horde Prime had finally regained control of her, but her fears died when she saw Catra frantically fiddling with the control panel in the center of the room.

Her eyes were still blue and yellow. She was still in control. Glimmer called out to her:

"What are you doing?" Catra groaned in pain as she answered:

"What does it look like? I'm getting you out of here!"

***

Catra's hands shook. Her head was on fire. She tried desperately to remember how the teleportation controls worked. She had had to use them once before on a supply run while under Horde Prime's influence. Horde Prime. She was still confused about what had happened with him.

Every bone in her body told her to just give in, to listen to him, to go and beg for his forgiveness. Who was she if not a beloved sister of Horde Prime? The memory kept stopping her, however. The very real memory of Horde Prime ordering her to be drowned in electrifying green water. She did not know what she had done to deserve it, but she did know her hair had been longer and that she had been wearing a different uniform.

Catra was also certain that this prisoner, whoever she was, was someone good who had freed her from Horde Prime's control not for her own personal gain, but out of genuine concern for Catra's wellbeing. She decided she would return the favor.

Catra tried to remember any co-ordinates that were not outposts of Horde Prime's army. The clones had begun to force open the doors. She heard Sparkles yell over the noise:

"Catra! Why are you doing this? Where are you sending me? What is going to happen to you?" Catra grunted in agony. She could feel herself slipping from consciousness as Horde Prime's voice got louder. Somehow hearing his voice made her remember the discussion she had had with him about the space ship. The space ship! She remembered the co-ordinates for the quadrant it was in! That would have to work. She had no idea who was on the ship, but she figured they were neither clones nor fans of Horde Prime.

With that, Catra activated the comms on the control panel and isolated the signal to that particular quadrant. It was unlikely the ship had left it yet, or that any other ships would be there. The signal was received by someone who proceeded to open the communication channel.

"Hello? Who is this?" Catra gasped. For a second all of her pain melted away. She knew that voice. It was the one that had been circling in her mind the most since she had been released from Horde Prime's control. This time she knew the name of the person who spoke – Adora.

"Hey Adora."

Chapter Text

"Catra?" Adora could not believe it. That voice was unmistakably Catra's. Where was she? Was she also in space? How? Why? Catra interrupted her thoughts:

"I have someone here who I'm sending to your quadrant. I'm sending co-ordinates through to you now. Please be there to catch her." Adora could hear the shakiness in Catra's voice. Was she injured?

"Catra, what's going on? Who are you sending to us? Are you okay-" Catra interrupted her again:

"Adora, just listen! I don't know who she is but I know she saved my life and that she does not like Horde Prime. I'm sure you two will get along just fine!" It was at this point that one of the doors in the teleportation chamber was finally forced open and Adora heard a number of clones rush in. She then heard a beep as Catra successfully sent her friend on her way before suddenly exclaiming:

"I don't know who you are either Adora - but I know you are someone really special to me! Please do not come here! Horde Prime is ready for you! He will destroy you!" With that, the clones finally made it to Catra and easily subdued her. She was too weak to fight. The line went dead and Adora began yelling:

"No! No no no no no no no! Catra! Come back!"

***

As soon as they had received the co-ordinates, Entrapta had sent Mara's ship (who she had now named Darla) speeding towards them. They made it just in time and were ready and waiting for the last person they ever thought Catra would save – Glimmer.

After Adora and Bow pulled her into the now-sealed airlock, Glimmer embraced them both with tears in her eyes. Adora was so happy to see her friend that she did not hesitate to hug her back. Bow, however, was a little slower to do so.

Bow had not dared to hope Catra was sending Glimmer to them, and, while he was relieved she was alright, he now realized he was not actually ready to see her. He gave her a small hug and smile before immediately hurrying back to the flight deck. Glimmer watched sadly as he left. Adora then went and asked:

"What happened back there? What did Catra mean when she said she didn't know who you and I were?" Glimmer lowered her eyes.

"Horde Prime did something to her. She's forgotten everything. It's possible he was going to do that to me-" Glimmer started to cry. The stress of everything that had happened mixed with the joy of being rescued was just too much for her. Adora held her close and did not ask anything else.

***

When Catra came to, the first thing she noticed was the stinging pain in the back of her neck. She then realized that she was back in her cell from before Horde Prime had purified her. Wait, how did she know that? Why did she no longer hear Horde Prime in her head?

Catra sat up and felt the back of her neck. The metal device was no longer there. She then realized with a shock that she was back in her old Horde uniform – the one she had worn when she first arrived on Horde Prime's ship.

Catra began to wonder if maybe it had all been a dream and she had never left the cell, but her short hair told her otherwise. Catra's memories were slowly returning. She now remembered who Adora and Glimmer were, as well as why Horde Prime had almost drowned her. She remembered saving Glimmer and talking to Adora.

Catra cringed as she remembered telling Adora she was special to her. How could she have said that? Her thoughts were interrupted by two clones entering her cell.

"Horde Prime wants to see you."

***

Glimmer had been an emotional wreck since her rescue, with Adora having to carry her from the airlock to her designated room. Adora had then awkwardly excused herself as she had never been good at handling situations like this. Bow was, however. Unfortunately, Bow was avoiding Glimmer. Several hours had passed since her rescue and he had not gone to check on her once.

Glimmer had eventually left her room and entered the flight deck. She had seen Adora and Bow by one of the control panels and had gone over to them. When Bow saw her approaching, however, he had quickly turned around and walked away.

Adora sighed loudly from her current position in the pilot's seat on the flight deck. That had all happened an hour ago. She really hoped things would not stay like this. She needed her two best friends to get along. She needed some semblance of familiarity after everything that had happened.

Her thoughts were dominated by Catra and what she had said. Adora would not admit it yet but, despite everything she had done, Catra was special to her too. She had been ever since they first met all those years ago. Adora still remembered when Shadow Weaver led Catra into their squad's locker-room for the first time.

Adora had been about three years old and had been changing into her uniform before a training session. She had been the only one there and, when Shadow Weaver arrived with the completely adorable (and insanely fluffy) kitten, she had immediately rushed over to say hello. Shadow Weaver had stopped her from getting close, however, and had told Adora to keep an eye on Catra, and to be careful around her. Once Shadow Weaver had left, however, Adora had wasted no time in ignoring her warning and giving the kitten a giant hug.

Catra had resisted a little at first, but it was not long before she had started to purr in Adora's arms. The pair of them soon became inseparable, and any ideas Shadow Weaver may have had to get rid of Catra were completely shot down.

Adora was woken from her reverie by Entrapta, who had some news to share. Once they were all on the flight deck, Entrapta informed them that Darla was running low on fuel. They needed to land on a nearby planet to get more. Adora smiled hopefully. Maybe this was the distraction she needed. Maybe this mission would bring the Best Friend Squad back together.

***

Catra focused on her steps as she was led to Horde Prime's throne. She would not fall. She would not show weakness. Horde Prime sat in his throne and studied her pensively with his four incredibly creepy eyes. The two clones forced Catra into a kneeling position before letting go and stepping back.

Catra glared at Horde Prime defiantly. She did not care what he did to her. All that mattered was that Glimmer was safe and, more importantly, that Adora was alright. What felt like hours passed before Horde Prime finally broke the silence:

"What am I going to do with you, Catra?" Catra raised her eyebrow. Horde Prime continued:

"You were beloved in my sight and this is how you repay me? I give you the chance to rule the planet you've been trying to conquer for years, and you betray me. I give your mind the peace it so desperately sought, and you betray me once again. Explain yourself! Were these not things you wanted?" Catra barely restrained herself from laughing. How could this monster even hope to know what she wanted when she herself had no idea?

"Do you find this amusing, little sister?" Horde Prime growled. Catra finally let out the laugh she had been holding in and exclaimed:

"Well, what did you expect? After all, us Etherians are so very emotional! It doesn't matter what you do to me! Glimmer is gone and you'll never get your hands on Adora!" Horde Prime's scowl turned into an incredibly ominous grin. He reached out his hand and cupped Catra's chin.

"Oh my child, you are wrong. You will be of use to me yet." Horde Prime removed his hand from Catra's chin and walked over to his control panel. What looked like a live feed of Adora's space ship came onto the screen above it. Horde Prime zoomed the camera in to show Adora, Bow and Glimmer on the flight deck with what looked like Entrapta.

Catra's eyes went wide. She had assumed Entrapta had died on Beast Island. She was not exactly a trained fighter – how had she survived? Adora must have saved her after Scorpia left and presumably told them about her. Scorpia - now that was someone she had not thought about in a while.

Catra looked down at the ground. She had a lot of regrets and she had never apologized for any of them. Horde Prime interrupted her thoughts once again:

"Using the co-ordinates you sent the queen to, I was finally able to locate the elusive ship carrying the rebels from Etheria. I have not lost track of it since." Catra's expression grew increasingly despondent with every word. Horde Prime moved back to his throne.

"While trying to hinder my plans, you instead performed a great service for me." Horde Prime snapped his fingers and the screen turned off. He then leaned forward menacingly.

"Now then, little sister, do you know what a missile is?" Catra shrugged her shoulders, trying to play it cool. She was terrified. Horde Prime leaned back and smirked once more.

"It's a projectile. Here's what I'm going to do: I'm going to fire several giant projectiles at your friends' ship until both they, and it, are nothing more than space debris." Catra almost threw up when she imagined Adora's lifeless body floating around in the cold void of space. She turned her face away from Horde Prime, only to feel his hand grab her chin once more and direct it back towards him. His face was now dangerously close to hers. He whispered ominously:

"But what if I told you it does not have to be this way?" He released her chin and laid back in his seat. Catra breathed heavily before asking:

"What do you want from me?" Horde Prime smiled evilly.

"Simple. I want you to lead my army in its conquest for Etheria. Fulfil the destiny that was always yours and rule Etheria by my side." Catra raised her eyebrow and scoffed:

"Why would you want me to do that? You just said I'm untrustworthy. I've let you down multiple times. Wouldn't it be more efficient to just get rid of me?" She was hoping to distract Horde Prime long enough to get his mind off Adora and her friends. Maybe if she annoyed him enough he would forget all about them and focus on planning weird and wonderful ways to kill her instead. Unfortunately Horde Prime did not take the bait.

"I want you because you are a great leader and an even greater fighter. You made the Horde the success it became and you ended it just as effectively. You defeated the two other leaders of the Horde at the height of their power, while also being successful in resisting mine. You are incredibly strong and talented. I would be a fool not to want you at the head of my army." Catra stared at Horde Prime in disbelief. She had never been praised this much in her life - not even by Adora. Horde Prime continued:

"It's really quite simple, Catra. Either be responsible for the death of your friends or rule Etheria with me. The choice is yours and the clock is ticking." Catra looked at the screen in horror as a 60 second countdown appeared on it. She assumed it was for the projectiles.

Catra quickly assessed her options. Let Adora die or return to her life as an evil Horde commander. The choice was obvious.

"I accept your offer. Just don't hurt Adora." The countdown had not even reached 50 seconds yet. Horde Prime smiled as he turned it off.

"A deal is a deal, General Catra."

***

Adora had been right about the little refueling trip being just what was needed to get the Best Friend Squad back together. If anything Bow and Glimmer were now even closer than they had been before. It was a little weird, honestly. They were now frequently hanging out alone together, and Adora had noticed there was this odd tension in the air whenever she was near them. On top of that, she was convinced she had caught them about to kiss the other day. Then again, she was clueless about this kind of thing and was just happy her friends were happy.

Adora loved them both so much and was endlessly grateful for them. They had both agreed to go back and rescue Catra at Adora's request. She knew it made no sense, especially after everything Catra had done to them, but Adora could not just leave her. She could now openly admit that Catra was special to her too.

***

Lonnie, Rogelio and Kyle had been wandering aimlessly around the Whispering Woods for days now. They had just about managed to avoid Horde Prime's forces while feeding themselves with the fresh fruits and semi-edible plants around them. Needless to say, they could not keep this up.

None of them had had a good night's sleep in days and Hordak's pet was honestly looking very ill. Lonnie thought it was the food, Rogelio thought it was the cold, and Kyle thought it was homesickness. Either way, they were all very relieved when they stumbled upon the rebellion's camp in the center of the Whispering Woods. They were welcomed, despite their uniforms, and were almost immediately wrapped in a bear hug by Scorpia. They were given food and shelter and

Scorpia invited them to stay. Lonnie decided it was their best option. Rogelio agreed with her and Kyle agreed with Rogelio. Amazingly, they were allowed to keep the little imp too.

***

Octavia had had a rough few weeks. She had followed Catra's orders to the letter and was now in the Crimson Waste managing the few hundred remaining Horde soldiers. It had been relatively quiet for the first few days, but then hundreds of residents of the Crimson Waste had arrived and asked to join them in order to be protected from Horde Prime. The Horde's numbers had grown significantly as a result, which had caused their supplies to run out faster than expected.

Octavia had tried to fix this by organizing daily patrols whose only goal was to get more food and supplies. This had worked until Horde Prime's forces had found them and trapped them inside their own outpost.

Horde Prime had broadcast a message saying he wanted them to work for him and that no one would come to harm provided they agreed to do so. While the other Force Captains had thought this was a good idea, Octavia remembered Catra's warning. She had refused and the Horde had been under siege ever since.

As the food situation became increasingly desperate, it was only a matter of time before one of the Force Captains tried something.

Chapter Text

Catra stared blankly at the empty desert surrounding her. It had been a long time since she had been in the Crimson Waste. Her first mission as general of Horde Prime's invasion force was to go and end the siege of the former Horde.

Catra had been teleported to his outpost in the Valley of the Lost, and was now being driven to where she had ordered Octavia to go and hide all those weeks ago. How had Horde Prime found them? Catra assumed he must have accessed her memories while she had been under his control. She grimaced at the thought. She could still feel phantom pains in her neck.

Catra looked down at her uniform. It was the same one she had had when she first arrived on Horde Prime's ship. Miraculously, he had not got rid of it after he gave her the clone uniform. He had also had it mended after Hordak had ripped it during their fight. That being said, she did not have her head guard.

Catra had not asked about it (she did not want to spend any longer in Horde Prime's presence than necessary) but truthfully she missed it as much, if not more, than her hair. It had been a gift from Adora, just like that stupid red jacket she always wore had been a gift from her. Still, Catra was used to not getting what she wanted.

As she approached the old Horde outpost, she was reminded of the last time she was here. She had been on a mission to salvage First One's tech (as was frequently the case in those days) and she had met and recruited Double Trouble. Catra rolled her eyes. That had been a mistake.

The skiff stopped and Catra hopped onto the sand. The Horde's old outpost was underground and its entrance was surrounded by clusters of clones and robots. Catra slowly walked over to it. She had not thought of a plan and honestly did not care if she was shot on sight. She deserved it for working with a tyrant like Horde Prime. That being said, anything was better than a world without Adora.

Catra had meant what she had said to her. She could admit that now.

***

"You miscalculated." Adora fell to the ground as Horde Prime's words rang in her ears. She and her friends were on his ship, trying to rescue Catra. Only Catra did not seem to be there - Glimmer had only found an empty cell. Now Adora's ears rang from the forced severing of the comm-link she had had with her friends. She looked up and glared at Horde Prime with unbridled hatred. This was not working. They needed to abort the mission. Horde Prime distracted her from her thoughts:

"I see all. I know all. You have led your friends to destruction." Adora stood up and felt two clones grab her arms. She needed help. She needed She-Ra. This had not been a good plan. Horde Prime had called her bluff on the Heart of Etheria, had teased her about how much she cared for "her" Catra's safety, and had then proceeded to snap his fingers and nearly deafen her by destroying the comm-link.

Adora's thoughts turned to her friends. Horde Prime was right - this was all her fault. This mission had been her idea. She hoped they were alright. Adora then used all her strength to send one of the clones flying while just managing to break free from the hold of the other. Maybe she could distract Horde Prime enough to give them a chance to escape.

***

Catra typed in her old passcode and was genuinely surprised when the door opened. The clones next to her tried to go in, but Catra stopped them.

"I'll go in alone. Wait for me here." Before the clones could protest, Catra walked in and closed the door behind her. There were no sentries, but she had expected that. She did not think she would be stopped before she had at least reached the weapons store. This outpost was much bigger than most and it needed more than a few hundred people to properly staff it.

As Catra walked down the metal stairs she wondered what she would say to Octavia. Would she say she was wrong about Horde Prime? Or would she tell the truth and hope they killed her then and there? Just because Octavia had obeyed her orders did not mean she liked her. Surely one mean comment about her missing eye would be enough to send her over the edge. Her thoughts were then interrupted by a loud yell:

"Halt!"

***

Since they had been discovered, Glimmer, Bow, Entrapta and their new clone friend had somehow not only managed to regroup, but had also destroyed the server room and outrun the dozens of clones chasing them. They were now watching with varying levels of shock as Darla crashed through the walls of the ship at Entrapta's command.

As Darla stopped in front of them, and her ramp was lowered, Bow and Glimmer turned to each worriedly. Where was Adora? How would they find her? As the clones began to climb over the wreckage caused by Darla's arrival, Glimmer made a decision.

"Get on the ship and leave, Bow. I'll stay and find Adora." Bow stared at Glimmer in disbelief.

"No you are not! No one is getting left behind!" Some clones had now made it through the debris and were rushing up to them. Before Glimmer could protest, Bow grabbed her around the waist and ran onto the ship.

Bow made his way to the flight deck and dumped Glimmer unceremoniously next to Entrapta. She was hovering over the main control panel, and was trying and failing to get Darla to fly away. Bow immediately ran to the pilot's seat and tapped every button he could find. Something he touched made Darla upset and the ship went into lockdown. Glimmer ran to his side.

"Open the door, Bow! We can't leave Adora here!" For what felt like the first time in his life, Bow ignored Glimmer and continued pressing every button he could reach. He prayed something would happen. As if on cue, Darla's engines roared and the ship flew away.

***

Adora had fought valiantly. She had taken down more than ten clones by herself with no weapons. Unfortunately, without She-Ra and her friends, she was unable to take down any more than that. She was now pinned down by five clones at the foot of Horde Prime's throne, and she cringed as she felt Horde Prime's hand stroke her cheek.

"You're mine now, Adora."

***

Glimmer sat on the floor of the flight deck and sobbed. Things could not be worse. The rescue mission had failed and Adora was now a prisoner of Horde Prime. While Bow had successfully regained control of the ship after it flew off, Entrapta had been unable to release the ship from lockdown, as well as failing in her efforts to fix all the damage sustained by Darla. Apparently Entrapta required the authorization of an "administrator" to do both of those things.

All three of them, and the newly named Wrong Hordak, were trapped in the flight deck, and it was only a matter of time before Horde Prime's ships found them. Entrapta had told Bow and Glimmer that she thought they should just head back to Etheria and not risk further damage to the ship. As much as it must have killed him to say it, Bow had agreed with her.

Bow had not been able to look Glimmer in the eye since their escape - no doubt blaming himself for leaving Adora behind. Glimmer was furious with him. She should have stayed behind. Together she and Adora might have had a chance. Then again, she understood why Bow had not let her do that. The two of them had gotten very close recently. If it had been Bow offering to stay, Glimmer knew she would have done the exact same thing.

***

As Catra was led to the control room of the old Horde outpost, she could feel everyone staring at her. She must have looked a sight with her short hair and missing head guard. She recognized two reptilian thugs who had briefly worked for her after she defeated their boss, Tung Lashor. It took them a second for them to recognize her, but when they did they gasped.

As she entered the control room, the heated discussion the three remaining Force Captains had been having stopped immediately.

Catra recognized the large brown furry Etherian to the far right of the group: Grizzlor. He had been permanently posted just outside the Whispering Woods and had led the charge during the Second Battle of Brightmoon. There was no way he would be happy to see her. She did not recognize the giant lizard who stood next to him. He looked like Rogelio but with well-conditioned dark green wavy hair. Honestly, it suited him. Then there was Octavia to the far left. She looked pale and completely exhausted. She was the last one to turn and face Catra. When she did, her eye went wide.

"Catra? Is that you?" Catra did not miss the horror in her voice as she no doubt tried to recognize her without her hair and head guard.

"Yep. I got a haircut. You like it?" The lizard Force Captain gave an emphatic nod. Grizzlor, on the other hand, narrowed his eyes and growled angrily:

"It looks terrible. What are you doing here?" Catra shifted uncomfortably. Out of all of them, Grizzlor was the most senior and therefore the one who no doubt felt the most entitled to lead the Horde in its current dilapidated state. If Catra had had any kind of working relationship with him she might well have asked him to take it over. She had not, however. Octavia then spoke up:

"Catra? Can you please answer Grizzlor's question?" Did Octavia really just say "please"? Catra could not help but smile. She took a deep breath before delivering her message:

"Horde Prime captured me right after I called you and he made me a deal I couldn't refuse. I am now the general of his army and have come to ask you to surrender and join us." She had said that with as little enthusiasm as possible, hoping that Octavia would get suspicious and refuse. She did not, however. Instead she asked:

"So, you were wrong about Horde Prime? He's not a bad guy?" This made Grizzlor roar in exasperation:

"Of course he isn't! I've been telling you this for days now! We are the Horde! We served Lord Hordak for years! Horde Prime is literally just another Hordak!" The lizard Force Captain then joined in:

"Octavia, we are running out of supplies. We will not last more than a few days at most. And now that our absolutely fabulous Force Commander has returned to tell us we have nothing to fear from Horde Prime, surely we should consider listening to her? What's the worst that could happen?" Catra winced. She knew the worst that could happen and she was not sure how she felt about her new haircut being described as "fabulous." Octavia then yelled:

"Shut up both of you!" She then turned to Catra.

"Okay, Catra, can you promise me that you were wrong about Horde Prime and that this is your honest opinion on what we should do?" Catra's eyes went wide. Octavia really had matured as a leader. She took a deep breath and thought about what to say.

Catra was faced with a choice. She could lie to Octavia's face or tell the truth. Both options entertained the very real possibility of Octavia trying to murder her. After a moment's hesitation, her decision was made.

***

Adora said nothing as she was dragged to a giant dark room with a green pool. She still said nothing as Horde Prime ranted about his great plan to bring peace to the universe using the Heart of Etheria. Lies. It was all lies.

Adora looked around the room, half-hoping to see Catra looking down at her from one of the platforms surrounding the pool. Unfortunately there were just more clones, and, as soon as Horde Prime stopped talking, they started chanting:

"All beings must suffer to become pure! Prime casts out all shadows!" Before Adora could process what was going on, she was pushed into the water and felt a strong hand grip the back of her neck. She was then forcibly submerged in the green liquid.

Adora’s whole body screamed in pain as she felt electricity envelop her. The back of her mind wondered whether this had also happened to Catra. She was then reminded of how Shadow Weaver used to electrify Catra on an almost daily basis.

Adora's mind filled with images of Catra as her memories were slowly erased. She did not want to forget her – she refused to! She clung to the memories as if they were all she had left in the world – and technically they were. Despite everything Catra had done, Adora had never hated her. She was special to her, just like Catra had said Adora was special to her. They were meant to be together – not apart and fighting like they had been for the past two years.

Adora finally let out a scream of pain. The water tasted metallic in her mouth. Her mind was slowly emptied and, once it was completely blank, Adora was allowed to breathe again. She lifted her head from the water and stared in bewilderment as all the clones around her began to cheer. She then turned to Horde Prime who held out his hand:

"Rise, Despara."

***

Horde Prime chuckled to himself as he watched Adora get outfitted with special armour by his brothers. He had been impressed by his little brother's armour and had had it altered to fit Adora. He had great plans for her and thought it very fitting that he had renamed her Despara (after one of the most bloodthirsty tyrants ever to rule the First Ones' great galactic empire).

He knew that Adora was no longer She-Ra. He had realized it as soon as she had failed to transform when he captured her. He was not going to let that stop him, however. He had had a special sword made for her to replace her other one. This one was black and could shoot lasers, as well as a tracking device. Of course he had also chipped her, but he had learned that those devices were not as reliable as he would have liked.

He had debated having Adora's hair cut, but he ultimately decided there was no point. After all, her head was going to be concealed in a helmet most of the time.

Horde Prime had learned from what had happened with Catra - as long as those who knew her did not recognize her, they would not attempt to save her. As soon as the last piece of armour was fitted, Horde Prime approached Adora and presented her with her new sword. Adora accepted it happily:

"Thank you, Horde Prime."

***

Catra left the old Horde outpost bursting with pride. She walked straight over to the skiff, jumped in, and ordered a clone nearby to drive her back to the Valley of the Lost. He obeyed without a word. Surprisingly, none of the clones outside the entrance of the outpost had tried to stop or question her. She gazed into the distance as she reflected on what had happened.

"Okay, you want the truth? Horde Prime is not 'just another Hordak'. He is far worse! As soon as he gets his hands on you, he will attach a metal chip to the back of your neck which will let him control you. He'll force you to do whatever he wants!" Octavia gasped, the lizard Force Captain went white, and Grizzlor raised a furry eyebrow. Catra continued:

"As for what I think you should do? Honestly? I think you should keep fighting. Don't accept my offer - stay here! I'll find a way to get in touch with the rebellion. They'll be able to help you! They're all magical princesses after all." With that, Grizzlor burst out laughing, the lizard Force Captain gasped in surprise and Octavia yelled:

"Us working with the rebellion? Are you serious?!" Catra shrugged. At least she had tried to present a solution. At least she had not lied. Grizzlor had then walked up to her and slapped her right across the face. Catra had almost fallen over from the force of it. He shouted so everyone outside could hear:

"How dare you suggest we form an alliance with those monsters? That we let them save us?! You used to be someone great – someone who brought glory to the Horde! But now I see everything I thought was true! You are a traitor! You reduced us to this and now you want to bring us down further!" He was about to hit Catra again when Octavia caught his hand and pulled him back to where he had been standing. Grizzlor jerked his hand away but made no further movements. Octavia then walked over to Catra who was rubbing her stinging cheek. She asked:

"Catra, is the rebellion really our best option? What makes you think they'll want to help us? Do you even know where they are?" Catra frowned and looked down. It was not so much that they were the best option – they were the only option. And no, she had no idea where they were or whether they would be willing to help. Catra looked back up at Octavia:

"It's the only chance you've got. It's either them or Prime." Grizzlor had then taken a step forward and growled:

"Get out." Octavia looked at Catra sadly before nodding in agreement. The two soldiers who had led her in then took Catra by her arms and escorted her back to the entrance.

As the skiff approached Horde Prime's base, Catra smiled to herself. Grizzlor was right, she was a traitor, and all she had gotten was a slap.

***

Scorpia shuffled nervously by the campfire. King Micah was telling everyone about what had happened that day at Elberon. Frosta, Swift Wind, Netossa, Spinerella and himself had been tricked into attending a party where they had been ambushed by Horde Prime. He had somehow managed to get all the party-goers under his control and they had barely made it out alive. King Micah explained that they owed their escape to Lonnie and Rogelio who, while initially refusing the invitation to tag along, had eventually done so anyway out of boredom.

Lonnie and Rogelio had arrived right as the group was about to be captured. Lonnie had instantly grabbed a chair and thrown it into the crowd. This caused many of them to disperse and turn around, at which point Rogelio had charged forward and knocked several of them over. When he was about to be subdued, Lonnie had heroically leapt into the air and landed on his back. She had helped fight them off, and together they had reached the group and got everyone out. King Micah finished his story by praising both Lonnie and Rogelio for their actions, and everyone else joined him.

Scorpia turned to face the squad. Lonnie was beaming from all the praise while Rogelio was blushing from all the attention. Kyle, who had stayed behind to look after Hordak's pet, leaned over and gave Rogelio a kiss on the cheek. He could not begin to express how proud he was. Rogelio growled happily. Mermista interrupted the sweet moment:

"So, leaving out how the bad guys are good now, what does this mean? Like, can Horde Prime control anybody? And if so, how is he doing it?" Everyone looked at each other blankly. No one seemed to have any idea.

Chapter Text

Perfuma trudged sadly through the Whispering Woods, accompanied by Mermista and Sea Hawk. They were returning from their failed mission to get Prince Peekablue's help in locating their friends in space. Some terrible monster dressed like Hordak, with a hideous black helmet and sword, had burst in and ruined everything. The clones who followed her called her "Despara", and it was obvious she worked for Horde Prime.

As soon as Despara had entered the undersea party where Prince Peekablue was performing, she had headed straight for Mermista. Mermista had immediately sent water from a nearby fish tank hurtling in her direction, but Despara had used her sword to divert it away from her. She had then picked up a table and tossed it at Mermista. Sea Hawk had then heroically pushed Mermista out of the way, only to get hit by the table himself. Scorpia had then come rushing over and successfully knocked Despara down, pinning her to the ground. The clones had then begun to swarm around them, with around five of them grabbing Scorpia and pulling her off Despara.

Seeing Scorpia in trouble, Perfuma had not hesitated to shoot some vines directly at the clones – sending all of them flying against the wall. Mermista had then got hold of some more water and sent it hurtling at Despara again. Despara had just got back up, and everyone had watched in horror as Mermista's water had simply washed over her without destabilizing her at all. Despara had then turned to Mermista and had spoken with such malice in her voice that it could be heard through her voice modulator:

"Pathetic." She then raised her sword and shot a laser at Mermista. Mermista had barely dodged in time, and the laser had hit the glass dome separating the dry interior from the extremely wet exterior.

As the water poured in, the guests had started screaming even more than they had before, and they had tripped over themselves running for the exit. Perfuma thought she had seen Prince Peekablue in the crowd, but she had been distracted by Mermista heroically turning away from the fight, using all her strength to hold the water back. In doing so, Mermista had left herself exposed to more laser-fire from Despara. Just as Despara was about to fire again, however, Scorpia had regained her footing and jumped on her.

Despara was strong, but Scorpia was stronger. As the clones had begun to recover and move, Perfuma had run over to the semi-conscious Sea Hawk and had managed to pull him up. She had made her way to the stage elevator and had called everyone to join her. Mermista had then turned and told Scorpia to fall back. She could survive underwater, and, as soon as the guests and her friends were safe, she had had every intention of letting the entire ocean crash into the room.

Scorpia had not listened, however. Instead, she had maintained her position on top of Despara and had managed to get her helmet off. Whatever she had seen made her freeze, however, at which point the two of them had been surrounded by clones yet again. Perfuma had sent her vines flying once more, but this time they were cut away by a newly freed Despara. Her helmet had returned to her head, so the princesses could only guess as to what Scorpia had seen to make her freeze the way she did. At least ten clones had now got Scorpia pinned to the floor.

Mermista had desperately tried to think of a new plan of attack but, short of drowning everyone in the room, she had no ideas. Perfuma had then called her over again, and Mermista finally decided to follow her lead. She had begun to move towards the stage when Despara had reached her, swinging her sword like a lunatic.

Mermista had thrown a sizable torrent of water at Despara, causing her to lose her balance for a moment. Taking advantage of this, Mermista had made a beeline for the stage. She had then turned to see that the guests were now gone and the clones had left with Scorpia.

Groaning in frustration, Mermista had let the water crash in as she squeezed into the elevator with the others. She had watched spitefully as Despara was swept away.

***

"You failed me, Despara." Adora stood before Horde Prime's throne feeling completely ashamed and undeserving of the honour of being in his presence. Her helmet was off and the clones behind her were restraining a bound and gagged Scorpia. Horde Prime continued:

"I ordered you to terminate the water princess. You not only failed to do so, but you did not even hurt her." Adora closed her eyes and lowered her head in shame. With that, Horde Prime's features softened and her gently cupped Adora's chin with his hand:

"Don't worry, child. Prime is merciful. You will have another chance. For now, I will content myself with the consolation prize you have brought me." He then walked over to Scorpia and looked at her thoughtfully before saying:

"Oh yes, I believe I can find a use for you too."

***

Catra had been wandering aimlessly around Horde Prime's ship for almost an entire day. She had been teleported back here from his base in the Crimson Waste, but had been told he was too busy to hear her report. She was to sit and wait for him until further notice. She was happy to wait. She did not exactly have good news to share.

Catra sat on the sill of one of the giant windows where two corridors converged and stared at the planet below. It was not Etheria but it was definitely under attack by Horde Prime. She could just make out the explosions from what she assumed were those "missiles" he was so proud of. She grimaced when she imagined what one of those things would have done to Adora on that tiny spaceship.

Catra hoped Adora was alright and on her way back home. The rebellion needed her to win against Horde Prime, and the Horde needed the rebellion to save them.

***

Bow and Glimmer listened in horror as Perfuma told them what had happened. On top of everything else, it seemed the rebellion's camp in the Whispering Woods had been attacked in their absence (that being said, the presence of the squad had tipped the odds in their favor and had ensured that no one was taken over by Horde Prime).

Glimmer did her best to remain composed. She had not expected good news, but she had hoped it would not be as bad as this. They were a day away from Etheria and had had several adventures since being on Horde Prime's ship.

After two whole days of being trapped on the flight deck, Wrong Hordak, of all people, had successfully turned off Darla's lockdown function. They had then been almost immediately attacked by three clones who had been trapped in the corridor outside the flight deck. They must have run in right before the lockdown was initiated.

Glimmer and Bow had successfully knocked them out and tied them up, and were currently keeping them prisoner in the cargo bay. In addition to this, they had been attacked multiple times by Horde Prime's robots, and were no doubt still being pursued by them.

Entrapta theorized they were able to track their prisoners using the chips on their necks. Wrong Hordak had then unhelpfully stated that Horde Prime would simply terminate his brothers if they were causing an inconvenience. Bow had refused to do that, however.

Turning back to the situation at hand, Glimmer did her best to assure Perfuma that they would be there to help soon enough. Perfuma then asked if they were all okay. Glimmer lied and said they were.

***

"Catra, what is your opinion on the water princess, Mermista?" Catra's eyes went wide. Had Horde Prime not heard anything she had just said? She had just given her report on how the Horde was still undecided about accepting his offer. How did Mermista relate to this? She bit her lip and rolled with it:

"I think she's incredibly annoying and easy to beat with a good distraction." Horde Prime raised his eyebrow.

"Ah yes, you conquered her kingdom, did you not? You are well placed to take her down." Catra now raised her eyebrow.

"Take her down? Why? How is she more of a threat than any of the other princesses?" Horde Prime paused before replying:

"I'm currently building an outpost in Salineas. It's crucial nothing impedes its construction." Catra lowered her eyes. She had heard this before. Salineas controlled the seas, and, once you controlled the seas, you controlled Etheria. Horde Prime suddenly stood up from his seated position on his throne.

"Return to the Crimson Waste and launch an attack against the Horde. If they were undecided after you personally presented my offer, it means they will never be truly loyal to me. I have no interest in incorporating them into my army." Catra audibly gasped. Horde Prime looked at her in confusion.

"Is this something you do not want to do, little sister?" Catra tensed up hearing that name again. She stood up straight and looked Horde Prime in the eye.

"I am happy to obey your orders, Horde Prime, but I do have a suggestion to make." Catra barely hid her panic. She prayed with all her might that this would work.

***

Upon seeing the blockade of ships surrounding Etheria, Bow had been unsure whether he wanted to laugh or cry. Darla was barely holding together as she was, and now they had to fly through an entire armada of enemy space craft? They would not survive.

Wrong Hordak had then proposed that they simply announce over comms that they were brothers of Horde Prime, as his brothers would never fire on one another. While a good idea in principle, especially with an actual clone present to relay the message, Bow knew it probably would not work. They would be seen and identified regardless of what they said.

Entrapta had then suggested that they simply try and jam every ship's comm link so no one could hear anyone else. Apparently it could be done provided no one was very attached to the wiring in the kitchen. Bow and Glimmer looked at each other in bewilderment before agreeing that that was their best shot. At least then they would only risk dealing with the ships they were immediately passing rather than all of them at once.

Entrapta set to work making the device and Bow gazed at Etheria in the distance. They would make it. They just had to.

***

The rebellion, or what little remained of it, had been wandering the Whispering Woods for several hours looking for a new place to set up camp. They eventually stumbled upon an abandoned Horde base that Lonnie recognized as being the old pulse-bot factory. The squad had had to do a couple of supply runs here for Catra. Catra – now that was someone Lonnie did not miss. She wondered what had happened to her. They had seen the Fright Zone blow up – did she get caught in the explosion? It would serve her right as far as Lonnie was concerned.

As they entered the base, the smell of dust and rusty metal was overpowering. However, using her old Horde badge, Lonnie managed to turn the ventilation system on. She also managed to turn on the lights, or what little remained of them.

As the lights came on, Lonnie finally understood why the base had been abandoned. The ceiling seemed to have almost completely caved in during a fight which could only have been between Catra and a princess. The tell-tale claw marks were everywhere and the damage was too significant to have been caused by an ordinary person. No one else seemed to figure this out, however. Mermista groaned:

"Ugh, why is your interior design always so sad?" The question was directed at Lonnie, but she was ignoring her. Instead, Lonnie had wandered over to the still largely intact control panel at the far end of the base. She wondered whether they could find out what happened here.

Lonnie tapped her badge against the monitor and half the screens turned on. Much to her surprise, the last person to sign in had been Catra, and she was still logged in. Lonnie immediately began sifting through her messages. She had hundreds of them, most of which were unopened. A lot of them were just boring mission reports, but some seemed fairly important.

Lonnie clicked on one message titled "Salineas Sea Gate Reconstruction". As she did so, she could feel everyone beginning to surround her. Mermista would particularly want to see this. The message was a video and Lonnie played it. A Force Captain who looked just like Rogelio, but with wavy green hair, came onto the screen. Lonnie did not think it suited him.

"Hey commander! Force Captain Lance here! I know you never check my messages but I just wanted to let you know that your orders have been carried out and the sea gate is almost completely rebuilt! I've also just come back from the palace – the renovations are coming along very nicely over there too! Also, I should tell you that a whole bunch of the locals are now down by the port helping us fix the docks – I know you said not to let them help but they really wanted to! Their leader said that he really appreciated us trying to fix our mess and said it was more than their princess ever did for them - so I guess that's another point for you, boss! Anyway, that's all the news from Salineas! Thank you again for giving me this post! I still can't believe it! Um… Force Captain Lance, over and out!" As soon as the video stopped, almost everyone turned and stared at Mermista. She had gone completely white. She then started yelling furiously:

"No – he's lying! He has to be lying! My people would never say that about me! How dare he-" She kept yelling as King Micah leaned over Lonnie's shoulder and asked:

"Is there anything relating to Horde Prime or what happened in the Fright Zone before it blew up? What's the last message?" Lonnie scrolled down the screen. She saw several messages pertaining to the disbanding of the cadets, as well as a few from Hordak about the planned invasions of Plumeria and the Kingdom of Snows. She finally reached the bottom of the list and found a video message from Hordak. It was untitled. She played it. The screens lit up to show Hordak in his sanctum.

"Catra! Report to my sanctum at once! This is an order, not a request!" The video abruptly stopped with everyone suddenly having a better understanding of why Catra was so grumpy all the time. One could only imagine what it was like working with Hordak. Upon seeing and hearing his voice, the little imp that Kyle had been carrying leapt onto the control panel in an effort to find his master again. In doing so, he activated what Lonnie realized were Catra's personal logs.

Lonnie honestly did not think Catra did those. They were supposed to be a requirement of all Force Captains, but Catra was not known for following the rules. A video from two years ago came onto the screen. Catra was in her old Horde uniform and sitting in her then brand new Force Captain quarters. She had a snarky grin as she began talking to the camera:

"Alright, this is my first personal log. It'll probably be the only one I ever do, but I just wanted to say that Hordak made me a Force Captain! That's right! Lord Hordak himself! You should have seen the look on Shadow Weaver's face! Ha, Adora would have laughed!" Catra's face suddenly fell and a full ten seconds passed where she just stared into the distance and said nothing. It was very unsettling to watch. She finally continued:

"You know, I have no idea who's watching this, but I need you to know that I earned this badge." She held her Force Captain badge up to the screen before continuing:

"I deserve it! Just because it was meant for Adora doesn't mean it's not meant for me!" King Micah scratched his head. He was missing a lot of context. Catra and Adora had been close? Adora had been a Force Captain? He had not known this.

Everyone had varying degrees of shock and confusion on their faces. Catra was displaying vulnerability and insecurity. It was a side of her that none of them, not even the squad, had seen before.

It turned out Catra had done a few personal logs and so far no one had complained about them being played. Not even Mermista, who was still seething. The second log had been from just after Princess Prom. Catra had related how much fun she had had "distracting" Adora and how much more she had accomplished in one night than Shadow Weaver had in her whole career with the Horde. Frosta had scowled at that.

The next video had been from just before the Battle of Brightmoon. Catra had actually started the video properly – listing the date and time followed by her name and rank. She then proceeded to outline what Entrapta had been doing to the Black Garnet and had confirmed with great joy that she had taken out Shadow Weaver. She then announced her intention of invading Brightmoon and promised to do another report once the battle was over. As Lonnie expected, there was none. Instead, Catra waited several months before filing her next report. She recognized the date on the screen – this next video was from the day after the portal incident.

The Catra that now came onto the screen looked completely broken. She was still in her old uniform, and she looked so sad. She told the camera about what had happened in the portal, specifically between her and Adora. This was the first time anyone had heard anything about this.

Adora had only spoken to Bow and Glimmer about her interactions with Catra in the portal, and Catra had not spoken about it to anyone at all. After describing all the horrible things she had done to Adora, Catra tearfully related how Adora had punched her. She then surprised everyone by acknowledging that she deserved it.

The last personal log was much more recent – only a few months old. It was the day Scorpia left. The day Catra had finally made the right choice. She was now dressed in her Force Commander uniform and she spoke fast into the microphone:

"Hello, it's me again. I just wanted to officially announce that I will be disbanding the Horde, starting with the cadets. The Horde is evil. It drives good people away. People like Scorpia. People like Adora. It needs to be stopped. This war needs to be stopped and the Horde cannot win! If anyone sees this message, I dare you to send it to Hordak. I dare you to take on the guilt of stopping me from making the one good choice I've ever made in my life!" Catra took a deep breath before continuing:

"Horde Prime reached out to me. He wants to give me Etheria in exchange for re-opening the portal. But I cannot and will not do that! Trust me when I say this guy is messed up! He's way worse than Hordak!" Catra then sighed and put her head in her hands. She continued:

"This is my last personal log. In two days, Octavia will get here and we will get all the cadets out of the Fright Zone and back to their homes. It will only be a matter of time before Hordak finds out and tries to kill me. But the damage will be done. With no cadets, the Horde will collapse. I'll have accomplished my goal." Catra then went silent before scoffing in annoyance and lowering her hands to look back at the camera. There were tears in her eyes.

"Hordak's off securing Salineas while my forces sit around the Sea Gate and do nothing! I'll give my troops orders to start rebuilding what they destroyed. If they're going to sit around anyway, they may as well do something useful. Anyway, that's all I had to say. It felt good to get it out there. I'm genuinely sorry it's taken so long for me to do this. I hope Adora can forgive me." After another short pause, Catra regained her composure and looked back at the camera with newfound resolve.

"This is Force Commander Catra, over and out."

***

Entrapta's device was working. Darla had just begun to pass the first ships in Horde Prime's blockade and so far no one had stopped them. Bow watched anxiously as several clones stared at them through their ship windows. He took a deep breath and kept Darla moving at a steady pace. They were almost halfway through the blockade when several robots inevitably appeared and surrounded them. Thankfully it was not anything Bow could not handle.

Bow flew over the robot in front of him and took an immediate right next to a particularly large ship. Once he had done that, he turned left again, then right again, then left again, and so on and so forth until he was reasonably confident he had lost them. There was now a new problem, however.

Darla was on the point of entering Etheria's atmosphere and Bow had not yet started the landing process. If he did not do this, the ship would burn up on entry.

Entrapta ran around the flight deck frantically trying to do everything she could to help. Glimmer sat in the back with Wrong Hordak and began hyperventilating. She gasped between breaths:

"It's okay, we got this…It's okay, we got this…"

***

Adora was tracking the rebellion through the Whispering Woods. Her helmet was on and her sword was drawn. Spinerella was with her along with a battalion of clones. She had new orders: terminate every princess on Etheria. This even included Spinerella once the mission was over. Adora had wondered what that meant for Scorpia, but Horde Prime had said he would deal with her, and who was she to question the great galactic emperor?

Scorpia had been led away while desperately trying to communicate with Adora. Adora was grateful to her brothers for gagging Scorpia and preventing her from having to hear whatever lies she had wanted to share. That being said, it was a little strange how quickly they had gagged her.

In the back of her mind, Adora wondered whether there was something Horde Prime did not want her to hear from this woman. As she began to think that, however, her head began to hurt like crazy. She decided to stop thinking about it in the hope the pain would go away.

With that, Adora looked down and saw fresh hoof marks in the mud. She did not know how she knew this, but the hooves had definitely belonged to a flying horse called Swift Wind. She looked further down the path and muttered menacingly through her voice modulator:

"I got you now, princesses."

***

Catra walked down the now familiar hallways of Horde Prime's ship towards the teleportation chamber. She reflected on the new lie she had fed Horde Prime and wondered whether this time she had been really smart or really stupid.

Catra assumed Adora was back on Etheria by now and as safe from any "missiles" as she would ever be. This meant that Catra could me more lenient in her allegiance to Horde Prime. She had suggested that, instead of wasting valuable resources on destroying the Horde, she should be allowed to go to an old Horde base in the Whispering Woods to retrieve some powerful tech that could do the job just as well. After a moment's consideration, Horde Prime had agreed.

Catra tried to imagine what the old pulse-bot factory looked like now after she and Glimmer had wrecked it. She did not think it was still standing, yet alone that there were any pulse-bots still there. Catra was simply stalling for time to track down the rebellion and beg for their help in freeing the Horde.

Even if the Horde did not want her help, Catra had been the one who had sent them there and she felt responsible for what they were going through. She was done making selfish choices, and she already knew exactly what she would offer the rebellion in exchange for their help.

As Catra passed by the cell she remembered as her own, she was surprised to see it was locked - it had an occupant. Catra stopped and looked around. There was no one nearby. Letting curiosity get the better of her, she pressed on the force field so she could see who was inside. When she saw who it was, she gasped so loudly the person inside heard her. They called out:

"Hello?" Catra teared up. It was Scorpia.

Chapter Text

Catra stared at Scorpia. She had giant handcuffs around her claws and was looking up at her with such a sad expression that it broke Catra's heart. And yes, she had a heart, though she was loathe to admit it. Scorpia then spoke again:

"Hello? Who's there?" Catra was reminded that Scorpia could not see her through the cell's force field, and every bone in her body urged her to just leave and stick to the plan. Surely the few hundred soldiers of the Horde took priority over Scorpia? But Catra did not move.

Scorpia had been the person who had given her the push she needed to finally make the right choice. She owed her so much, and she had still not apologized to her for everything she had put her through.

Catra decided the Horde could wait. She took a deep breath and pressed on the force field again so Scorpia could see her.

***

It had been close but Bow and Entrapta had just managed to get the landing process started as Darla had entered Etheria's atmosphere. They had successfully landed in the heart of the Whispering Woods and were now heading towards the rebellion's camp. They had chased their three prisoners away, not wanting to lead them to their friends' location. That being said, they soon realized they had had no reason to worry. The camp had long since been abandoned, and it was clear its occupants had left in a hurry.

Glimmer looked around at the mess and groaned in frustration. Why did she have to go and get captured? If she had never been imprisoned by Horde Prime, she could have helped to stop this and Adora would still be here!

Glimmer teared up at the thought of her best friend still on Horde Prime's ship. She was determined to go back for her. She was not sure how, but she would find a way to save her. Bow then walked up to her holding his tablet.

"There's an old Horde base not far from here. According to my readings, someone just turned on its main computer. Maybe they've gone over there?" Glimmer glanced at the map on Bow's tablet and her eyes went wide. She recognized that Horde base. She had been the one who destroyed it.

***

After Catra's last personal log had finished playing, the room had descended into chaos. Perfuma had begun to lecture no one in particular about how everyone deserved a second chance – even Catra. Frosta had countered that by describing the many ways Catra had ruined Princess Prom.

Netossa had then backed her up by reminding everyone of the First and Second Battles of Brightmoon. Mermista had said nothing and simply stormed off once the video ended. Sea Hawk had run after her. King Micah had turned to Swift Wind and had started to ask him loads of rather uncomfortable questions about Catra and her relationship with Adora. For once, Swift Wind was at a loss for words. As for Kyle and Rogelio, they were running around the control panel trying to catch the imp who was still looking for Hordak.

Lonnie, meanwhile, could not believe what she had just seen and was frozen in her seat. Was it possible that Catra was, in fact, not a bad person?

***

Adora had found the entrance to the old Horde base where the members of the rebellion were currently located. She told the clones to surround the place and prevent anyone from escaping. She then turned to Spinerella who was crouching in the undergrowth beside her.

"Come on, princess. Let's go and have some fun."

***

"Catra?!" Scorpia could not believe who she was seeing. Not only was Adora working for Horde Prime, but Catra too? Her face fell and she turned away. She could not cope with any more betrayal. Also, as glad as she was that Catra was alright, she did not want to see her. She was still very hurt from the way she had been treated by her. That was why her heart skipped a beat when Catra finally spoke:

"I'm sorry, Scorpia." Scorpia looked back at her former friend incredulously. Catra had tears in her eyes. She continued:

"You were right! I'm a bad friend and a terrible person! I don't deserve forgiveness for all the horrible things I've done." She took a deep breath before concluding:

"But I'm done being bad! And I'm not going to leave you here! So, please, come with me?" With that, Catra unlocked the force field.

After a moment's hesitation, Scorpia gave a giant smile and wrapped her handcuffed claws around Catra – pulling her into one of her famous bear hugs. For once, Catra did not resist and hugged her back. She was actually crying now. This was the very first time Catra had experienced forgiveness. It was such a beautiful feeling. Of course the ship's alarm had to go and ruin the moment.

***

As the rebellion continued to process what they had just seen, Swift Wind suddenly felt an odd sensation. It felt as if Adora was near and yet it was not her. Whoever it really was was not fully in control - as if something or someone had corrupted them. Before he could interrupt King Micah to tell him about it, someone blew open the front door of the base. Everyone went silent and turned to see Despara and Spinerella standing at the entrance. Despara waved her sword menacingly.

"Hello princesses! You miss me?" With that, Spinerella sent a gust of wind towards the control panel and everyone near it got thrown across the room. Despara was about to rush forward when she realized she could not see Mermista. She turned around and was hit in the face by a torrent of water. She fell over backwards and Mermista leaned over her menacingly. She replied for the group:

"Not. One. Bit."

***

Glimmer teleported Bow, Entrapta and Wong Hordak to the old Horde base, and, as soon as they materialized, they were surrounded by clones. Glimmer screamed and quickly teleported everyone inside the base. She quickly wished she had not, however.

Perfuma, Frosta, King Micah and two ex-Horde members were lying semi-conscious against a wall in the far corner of the base. Spinerella and Netossa were having an intense and evenly matched fight in the other corner. Next to them, Mermista and Sea Hawk were fighting some unknown girl dressed like Hordak with a giant sword.

Suddenly, a third ex-Horde member, a girl who Glimmer vaguely recognized, ran straight at the Hordak wannabe and rammed her against one of the many large pieces of debris which adorned the dilapidated base. The armour-wearing girl did not even flinch as she collided with the giant metal girder. She easily pushed her attacker off her and turned back to face Mermista.

As Glimmer was about to go and help, she felt a familiar horse's nose nuzzle the back of her neck. She turned around to see Swift Wind. Bow was already hugging him.

"Swift Wind!" she gasped in relief and surprise. Swift Wind smiled briefly before saying:

"Bow, Glimmer, I'm so happy to see you, but right now we've got a major problem. You see that scary girl dressed like Hordak?" Everyone turned to watch as the girl in question tried to stab Mermista, only to be prevented from doing so by Sea Hawk. Glimmer and Bow nodded nervously. Swift Wind then dropped the bombshell:

"I think that's Adora!"

***

Catra ran down the now familiar corridors of Horde Prime's ship, and Scorpia followed her. She still had her cuffs on – Catra had been unable to get them off. They ran into the teleportation chamber and Catra wasted no time knocking out the two clones waiting for her there. She then pushed Scorpia onto the teleportation pad, like she had done to Glimmer so long ago. As the green force field went up, she ran and locked the doors. She then headed for the control panel, and, as she did, Scorpia began to plead:

"Catra, what are you doing? How will you escape?" Catra closed her eyes and tried to shut out Scorpia's voice. She would not escape. As soon as the clones entered, she would have nothing to look forward to but death. Horde Prime would not even consider chipping her this time. But she had to do this. She would not let Horde Prime hurt Scorpia, just like she would not let him touch Adora. Catra finally spoke up as she began to type in the co-ordinates of the old pulse-bot factory.

"Don't worry about me. All I do is hurt people. There's no one left in the entire universe who cares about me." Scorpia gasped and then yelled:

"Catra, no! That's not true! I care about you!" Catra felt a tear roll down her cheek as she looked up and smiled at her former friend:

"That's really sweet of you, Scorp, but you have new friends now – friends who are much better than me." Catra cleared her throat before continuing:

"I'm sending you to where I was going to go – the old pulse-bot factory in the Whispering Woods. There shouldn't be any clones there. As soon as you arrive, go and find the rebellion! They'll help you get those cuffs off, and, once they have, please tell them that what's left of the Horde is in the old Horde outpost in the Crimson Waste. They're being besieged by Horde Prime and won't last much longer. If Sparkles feels she owes me anything for saving her, tell her that saving them will make us even." She paused as she tried to think. Was there anything else she wanted Scorpia to tell them? Her thoughts turned to Adora.

"Also, please tell Adora…" What did she want to say to Adora? What were the magic words that would fix everything that had gone wrong between them? Her thoughts were interrupted by the noise of clones hurling themselves against the doors. She had to think fast. She finished her sentence:

"Tell her I'm sorry – for everything." With that, she sent Scorpia on her way – her cries of protest lost in the static. Seconds later, the clones burst in.

***

"What?!" cried Glimmer in utter disbelief. Bow pointed at the girl dressed like Hordak:

"That can't possibly be Adora!" Swift Wind whinnied in exasperation. He tried to explain himself:

"You know Adora and I have this magical bond, right? Well, I'm feeling it right now! But it feels twisted – corrupted! I think Horde Prime must have captured her and taken control of her!"

The trio watched as Despara engaged in a vicious sword fight with Sea Hawk. Mermista was preparing to throw yet more water at her, but was thrown against a wall by one of Spinerella's powerful gusts of wind. Netossa took advantage of her wife's brief loss of focus and jumped on her.

Netossa hit her hard on one of her legs, which caused Spinerella to cry out in pain. She then collapsed and found herself tied up in one of Netossa's nets. At this point, the newly recovered Perfuma rushed forward and secured Spinerella in her vines.

Glimmer turned back to look at Despara. She was winning the fight against Sea Hawk and looked like she might kill him when King Micah came forward and cast a spell to freeze her where she stood. Glimmer gasped as she recognized her dad. She had been vaguely aware of his presence before now, but had not fully registered it. She could not help herself as she stepped forward and yelled:

"Dad?!" King Micah turned and stared in amazement as his daughter approached him. This distraction cost him, however, as his magic weakened and Despara broke free. She stabbed Sea Hawk in the side.

As Sea Hawk cried out in pain, Mermista screamed in anger. She sent another torrent of water at Despara, only for her to jump out of the way and start running for the exit. She had realized that she was too outnumbered to win.

Glimmer then materialized before Despara blocking her escape. After that, Bow fired one of his arrows, covering Despara in a sticky green substance that held her in place. Despara roared in frustration as she tried to break free. Glimmer leaned over her and tried to pull her helmet off. Unfortunately the sticky substance prevented her from doing so. Swift Wind then came over.

"Adora? Can you hear me? It's Swift Wind!" Despara stopped struggling and stared at him incredulously.

"Is that horse talking?" Before anyone could react to that, Lonnie's voice rang throughout the base:

"Hey guys! Frosta's not doing so well!" Everyone turned to see Lonnie holding an unconscious and bleeding Frosta next to the control panel.

After Lonnie had been pushed away by Despara, she had decided to leave the fighting to the Salineans and had gone back to check on her squad. Kyle had spent the entire fight holding the imp close to his chest, while Rogelio had been shielding both of them from the debris thrown around by Spinerella.

Perfuma and King Micah had got up to join the fight as Lonnie arrived, but Frosta had not moved. After a while, Lonnie had gone to check on her only to realize that she had hit her head badly when Spinerella had blown everyone against the wall - she was bleeding.

Without a moment's hesitation, Perfuma rushed over to them and began to help Lonnie bandage Frosta's head. Netossa stayed by Spinerella's side, inspecting her and finding the chip. She yelled:

"Hey everybody! I think I found how Horde Prime is controlling people!" For the first time since they had arrived, Entrapta spoke from where she had hidden with Wrong Hordak:

"Is that tech? Let me see!" She rushed over to Netossa and Spinerella, dragging Wrong Hordak along with her. King Micah prepared to shoot some fire at him but Bow got in his way with a sheepish expression:

"Believe it or not, he's with us." King Micah then gave a big smile and pulled Bow into a hug.

"It's so good to see you again!" Mermista then yelled:

"Hey, you can say hello later! Sea Hawk is dying!" Sea Hawk then spoke up:

"Don't worry, love. At least I got to see you before I go." Mermista then began to cry:

"Why…why are you like this?" With that, King Micah began running towards them:

"It's okay! I know some healing spells!" Glimmer stared at him as he ran off. She still could not believe he was there. Her thoughts were then interrupted by Despara, who was still stuck to the floor and had been quiet this whole time:

"I'm still waiting to hear how the horse can talk." Glimmer went red and leaned over Despara menacingly.

"You better be Adora under there. If not, I will not hesitate to destroy you like I destroyed the last person I fought here." Before Despara could respond, multiple cries could be heard outside. There was a fight and a clone was thrown through the front door of the base. Someone then ran in after him. It was Scorpia in handcuffs.

"Oh, hey guys! Did you know there are, like, a ton of clones outside?"

***

As Catra was led before Horde Prime for what felt like the hundredth time, she did not bother to focus on how she walked, nor did she try to appear stronger than she actually was. She no longer cared what Horde Prime thought of her, and she was not about to spend her last moments trying to earn his validation. Like last time, the clones forced her to her knees before Horde Prime's throne, and, just like last time, Horde Prime sat and stared at her for an uncomfortable amount of time.

Suddenly Horde Prime snapped his fingers and the screen behind him came to life to show the interior of the old pulse-bot factory. Everyone was there. Everyone except Adora. Horde Prime gave a particularly insidious grin as he then stood up and approached Catra.

"It seems you have decided to turn against me yet again, little sister. Before I end your miserable existence, I thought I would let you watch the demise of those you chose over your destiny." Catra's eyes went wide as another screen lit up with a five-second countdown. Horde Prime was going to fire a "missile." Catra sighed – when would she catch a break? Was it too much to ask for a simple execution?

As Horde Prime was about to snap his fingers, Catra, using strength she did not know she possessed, sprung forward and successfully knocked the creepy metal device on Horde Prime's forefinger off his hand. Before she could do anything else, however, she was brutally subdued by the two clones behind her. Hordak, who had been standing next to Horde Prime the entire time, helped to hold her down. Horde Prime slowly leaned down to pick up his device. He laughed as he held it in his hands once more:

"Did you seriously think that that would work? I see all! I know all! You are nothing more than a speck of dust in the light of my greatness!" Catra struggled under the weight of three clones on her back, but there was no way she was going to let Horde Prime get away with this. She yelled defiantly:

"Oh really? You're not great – you're pathetic! You sit up here, in this ridiculously creepy space ship, surrounded by literal copies of yourself, as you destroy everything and everyone that doesn't fit in your perfect world! And why? Because you're an egotistical maniac with a god complex who's probably never had an interaction with anyone that didn't end in you betraying them!" Horde Prime's expression changed from one of amusement to one of horror. Catra then felt Hordak's weight shift on her back. Ignoring her impending doom, Catra resolved to die doing what she did best – fighting a losing battle. She continued:

"And you aren't even a competent leader! You let me free not one, but two, of your prisoners from right under your nose! I mean, you're literally the only reason I went near either of their cells! Not only that, but you've believed every lie I've ever told you – even after seeing my memories and controlling my mind! And believe me when I say that I've lied a lot!"

Catra fought to catch her breath after speaking so much while lying flat on her stomach. She was wondering why Hordak had not killed her yet, or at least knocked her out. All she could see from her position was Horde Prime's increasingly furious expression, and his fingers still holding the device. On that note, why had Horde Prime not put it back on and snapped his fingers yet? Were her taunts really that good? As soon as she got her breath back, Catra closed her eyes and continued to yell:

"You don't see all! And you certainly don't know all! You're nothing more than a fraud - a power-hungry tyrant whose evil makes me look like a saint! And you know what's worse? You've actually made me one! You're so bad that you made me good!" With that, Hordak's arm cannon finally went off and there was silence.

Chapter Text

"Scorpia!" cried Perfuma from all the way on the other side of the base. In what seemed like less than a second, she had run all the way across the room and enveloped Scorpia in a teary hug. Scorpia gave a beaming smile as she tried and failed to hug her back with her cuffed hands. Despara then interrupted the moment:

"What are you doing here? How did you escape?" Perfuma and Scorpia separated and turned to look at Despara simultaneously. Scorpia then came over and knelt in front of her. Using her powerful claws, she ripped Despara's helmet off, revealing to everyone beyond a shadow of a doubt that she was Adora. Her eyes were green as Scorpia replied:

"Catra saved me. I don't know what Horde Prime will do to her for it, but she didn't care." She then stood up and turned to Glimmer.

"She wanted me to tell you that the Horde, or what's left of it, is being besieged by Horde Prime's forces in the Crimson Waste. She asked if you can go and free them, as thanks for her saving you." Glimmer went wide-eyed. With all the drama with Adora, she had completely forgotten the reason that they were on Horde Prime's ship in the first place. Adora then gave an extremely unsettling evil laugh.

The mention of Catra had woken something in Adora that had begun to resist Horde Prime. Not wanting to take any chances, Horde Prime had immediately taken control of her. Everyone listened in horror as his voice began to speak through her:

"Hello your majesties. I would not be so quick to try and repay Catra as she is no longer with us. You may keep Despara if you wish – I was getting bored with her anyway. Thank you all for a most entertaining time. I shall enjoy ruling Etheria in your absence or, more accurately, I shall enjoy setting off the Heart of Etheria without you to stop me." With that, Adora fainted and, after a few seconds, woke up again with her blue eyes showing in the artificial light. Before anyone could process this, however, there was a terrific explosion just outside the base.

Everyone fell to the ground as more of the ceiling started to collapse. Once the debris stopped falling, Glimmer teleported outside. It seemed whatever Horde Prime had shot at them had hit about a mile away and completely decimated everything in its path. She stared at the sky in confusion. How could he have missed them?

***

Catra's vision was blurry and her head felt like it had been hit with a sledgehammer. Hordak had just missed her when he fired his arm cannon, but the blast had still hit the side of her face. She could feel a trickle of blood running down her cheek and remained perfectly still. Hordak had not killed her - not yet. Had that been intentional?

Catra tried to focus on Horde Prime, but he seemed to have lost interest in her and was now facing the screen behind him. He seemed to be talking but Catra could barely make out the words. As her senses recovered, she was able to hear what he was saying through whoever he was controlling in the old pulse-bot factory:

"…I shall enjoy setting off the Heart of Etheria without you to stop me." Catra tried to get up as she saw Horde Prime put the device back on his finger, but she was still being held down by the clones. As Horde Prime snapped his fingers, Catra screamed:

"NO!" Horde Prime turned around in surprise, and then Hordak shot him with his arm cannon.

***

Hordak had been receiving telepathic orders to shoot Catra for an entire minute before he had actually done so. It had taken all of his strength to miss her head, but he had. There was something about Catra's taunting that seemed so familiar. He felt like he knew this prisoner, and he felt like she had once yelled at him like this too. Memories of a life he had long forgotten had then begun to surface – more specifically memories of a girl with purple hair and the most beautiful smile. The prisoner had some connection with her and he needed to know what it was.

After Hordak faked killing her, Horde Prime had turned away to talk to the princesses through his screen. As he did so, Hordak had caught a glimpse of the girl of his dreams. He could not let her die. On what felt like instinct, he had done the unthinkable and shot his creator.

***

As Horde Prime fell to the ground, Hordak quickly shot the control panel behind him. Catra watched in astonishment as the screen showed the "missile" suddenly changing its trajectory. It hit what looked like an unoccupied section of forest right next to the old Horde base.

Catra closed her eyes and sighed in relief. Everyone was still alive. Adora was still alive. The two clones holding her down then leapt up and jumped on Hordak.

Hordak managed to shoot one of them before throwing the other off the platform. Catra stared at him in amazement. Hordak then turned to her. Before either of them could say anything, however, Hordak cried out and his bones started to realign. She then heard Horde Prime's evil laugh followed by his malevolent voice. He had survived and taken control of Hordak.

"Ah little brother! So it's true – you have been thoroughly corrupted!" Catra quickly got to her feet. Horde Prime turned Hordak's body to face her and said:

"As for you, why can't you just be a good little cat and die?" He then shot at her again. Catra rolled out of the way and almost fell off the platform. The side of her head was bleeding more than she thought and the blood loss was beginning to affect her. In an effort to stay awake, she yelled:

"I have a habit of surviving! You're gonna have to try harder if you wanna kill me!" She was slurring her words. Catra was not going to last long.

***

When Glimmer teleported back the base, she was surprised to see about ten clones standing at its entrance firing at her friends. The members of the rebellion, now covered in dust and bruises from the fallen debris, were hiding behind said debris and were doing their best to fire back.

King Micah was shooting lightning at random intervals and in different directions. He was clearly distracted by Sea Hawk, who was beginning to pass out from blood loss. Mermista was giving it all she had and was throwing all the water she could get her hands on. Unfortunately, her supply was running out.

Perfuma and Scorpia were engaging in a vicious hand-to-hand battle with no less than three clones. Even with her claws cuffed, Scorpia was a powerful fighter. The squad had also joined in, with Lonnie and Rogelio taking on two clones between them. Kyle ran behind them swinging a stun baton, screaming loudly.

Bow had run to the back of the base to protect Frosta and the imp, and had carried both of them over to where Netossa sat with Spinerella, Entrapta and Wrong Hordak.

Swift Wind, meanwhile, was posed protectively over a slowly recovering Adora who was still stuck to the floor in Despara's armour. She was the first one to see Glimmer and yelled:

"Glimmer! What is happening?!" Glimmer huffed and began firing sparkles at the clones nearest to her. She was glad Adora was alright and back with them, but it would take a while to get the image of her stabbing Sea Hawk out of her head.

***

Catra had lost. Hordak's last blast had thrown her right off the platform and she was now dangling from it with one hand. She could not see the ground, and guessed that if she fell that really would be it. Hordak then walked up to her and put his foot on her hand. Horde Prime spoke through him:

"Impressive, little sister, but no one beats Horde Prime." He then forced her hand off the platform.

Catra did not scream as she fell, and silently watched her life flash before her eyes yet again. This time, however, there were a few more good memories: her saving Glimmer, her telling Adora she was special to her, her telling the truth to Octavia, Scorpia forgiving her, her saving Scorpia, Horde Prime's projectile missing Adora…Catra closed her eyes and smiled as she waited for the impact. Then it came and everything went black.

***

Glimmer grunted with effort as she and Bow tied up the last of the ten clones who had attacked them. By sheer force of will, they had managed to beat them all. Adora was now up and leaning against Swift Wind in a daze. Everything was slowly coming back to her, and each new memory made her sick.

King Micah was still hovering over Sea Hawk as he successfully managed to reverse most of the damage caused by Despara's sword. Sea Hawk himself was unconscious and Mermista was holding him protectively.

In the back of the room, Entrapta was working with Wrong Hordak to try and remove the chip from Spinerella's neck. Netossa was holding her wife and whispering assurances in her ear as they did so.

At the same time, Perfuma was trying to use her powers to break Scorpia's cuffs. Scorpia watched her lovingly as she did so.

Meanwhile, the squad stood awkwardly in the corner while keeping an eye on Frosta. She had still not woken up.

For a long time no one spoke. Then a voice no one wanted to hear resounded throughout the base:

"So this is what remains of the rebellion? Interesting." Everyone turned to see Shadow Weaver standing at the entrance, followed closely by Castaspella. Before anyone could say anything in reply, she continued:

"We need to get to Mystacor. There we will find a failsafe for the Heart of Etheria."

***

Catra did not know how long she had been unconscious, but the sharp pain in her back and shoulders told her she was not dead yet. She tried to figure out where she was, but she struggled to move. That was when she realized she was caught in a net. There was a giant net located some distance below the platform of Horde Prime's throne, and she had landed on it. After she had taken a second to process, she let out a cry of both joy and frustration at her seemingly endless luck. Was this because she was a cat? Was the nine lives myth real? She was beginning to believe it was.

As she began to look around her, she saw the clone Hordak had thrown off the platform earlier. He had also been caught in the net and, when he saw she was alive, he growled and moved menacingly towards her.

Catra could not believe this. Would she ever stop being attacked? She was then reminded that, not only had she fallen from a great height and possibly broken something, but she was also still suffering from a major head injury. She could not afford to get into another fight.

Catra tried to crawl off the net but quickly realized there was nowhere to go. She growled in annoyance. Why was there even a net here? Did clones regularly fall off the platform or something? That thought made her smirk. Then the clone jumped on her.

Catra screamed as her thoroughly bruised and aching back fell against the net. That really hurt.

***

The members of the rebellion moved silently through the Whispering Woods. They approached the place where Horde Prime's projectile had hit and stopped to stare at the damage. Thank goodness no one had been living there – an entire square mile of the forest had been completely razed to the ground. Adora was walking at the very back of the group, and, when she finally saw the destruction, her eyes went wide in horror.

Adora was still wearing her armour with her sword attached to her waist, and it was all she could do not to cry. She remembered everything now, and what killed her, even more than what she had done to her friends, was the news out of her own mouth that Catra was gone. She had failed to rescue her - the girl she had made a promise to protect all those years ago – and now she would never see her again.

Shadow Weaver and Castaspella were leading the group, followed closely by Bow and Glimmer.

Bow was trying and failing to get through to his dads on his tablet. He wanted to know if they were alright and if they knew anything about the failsafe.

Glimmer had begrudgingly agreed that Mystacor was the safest place to go anyway (given how it was protected by Etheria's finest sorcerers and hidden from view), so that was where they were currently headed. That being said, she would be happy to go on a quick detour if that was what Bow wanted. She tried to give him a reassuring smile as he failed yet again to get through to his dads

Scorpia followed Bow and Glimmer. Her cuffs were now off and she was carrying Frosta gently in her arms. They had ascertained that the bleeding had stopped and that she was simply unconscious – but they had collectively agreed that a proper doctor should take a look at her when they arrived in Mystacor.

Perfuma walked next to Scorpia with King Micah and Mermista close behind. Swift Wind followed both of them with an unconscious Sea Hawk lying on his back. After them was the squad, followed closely by Entrapta and Wrong Hordak. Netossa helped Spinerella along behind them, and then there was Adora taking up the rear.

Adora's feet felt like lead as she struggled to move them. No one had said a word to her yet – presumably because everyone was still trying to get over all the horrible things she had done. Adora shed a tear – she did not even deserve to call these people her friends after the way she had treated them! More importantly, what was the point in continuing this fight if the person who meant the most to her - the person she had effectively been fighting to save - was dead?

Adora finally gave up trying to control her emotions and collapsed to the ground. She began to wail like a wounded animal, and everyone in the group immediately stopped and stared at her.

***

Catra did her best to fight the clone, but he proved to be too strong for her in her weakened state. In addition to this, it was proving very difficult to have a fight on a net suspended several hundred feet in the air. After a few well-aimed punches to the bloody side of her face, Catra passed out once more.

When Catra woke up, it became clear to her that she had been unconscious for much longer this time. This was because she was no longer on Horde Prime's ship. Instead, she was now in a dark cell with a window overlooking a giant lava waterfall. The temperature in her cell was ridiculously hot, and, as Catra examined the landscape around the waterfall, she reached a terrifying conclusion - she was not on Etheria either.

Catra was stuck in one of Horde Prime's outposts on some distant planet far from anyone or anything - condemned to live out the rest of her days slowly burning alive next to a lava waterfall.

Upon realizing this, Catra sank to the ground and put her head in her hands. Why did she have to keep surviving?

Chapter Text

Two days had passed since the episode in the old pulse-bot factory. The rebellion was now in Mystacor, recovering from all the pain of the last few days. Bow and Glimmer had left to go and check on Bow's dads, and they had refused to go near the failsafe until they had discussed it with them first. Shadow Weaver had not been happy about that, but, as Glimmer was the official leader of the rebellion, she had no choice but to wait for them to get back.

Frosta had woken up and was recovering nicely. She had just taken a nasty hit to the head. Sea Hawk was now fully recovered, and neither he nor Mermista had gone anywhere near Adora. Not that it was difficult to avoid her. Adora had not left her room the entire time they had been there.

Bow and Glimmer had come in to try and assure her that no one hated her, nor did they blame her for what she had done. Entrapta had then come in and removed the chip from the back of her neck. When she was done, King Micah then came in to ask Adora if she could give any insight into Horde Prime's plans. She could not.

Adora had now removed her armour and was back in her old clothes (not her red jacket – she did not know what Horde Prime had done with it). She lay on her bed and tried to sleep. Maybe when she woke up she would be back on Darla. Catra would still be alive and she would not feel like she was being stabbed every time she thought about her.

***

It had taken two days, but Scorpia, Perfuma and the squad had finally made it to the Crimson Waste. Glimmer had asked them to go and find out just how dire the Horde's situation was, and to help them however they could.

As they approached the Valley of the Lost, they began to work out a plan. It was decided that Perfuma and Scorpia would go and find Huntara, while the squad got their hands on a skiff to take them to the outpost. As they went their separate ways, someone watched from the shadows.

***

Octavia fell to the ground. Grizzlor raised his arm as he prepared to strike her again. Force Captain Lance got in the way, however, and yelled:

"Stop! We can't start fighting each other! That won't help anyone!" Grizzlor turned and glared at him.

"It's been nearly four days since Catra was here! She's had four days to get us help, and guess what? Nothing has changed!" He then turned back to Octavia, who was staring up at him angrily.

"We have no food, no water and no time! We have to surrender!" Octavia growled as she stood back up.

"The Horde doesn't surrender." There was a tense moment where no one said anything. Then the weapons store exploded. Horde Prime was finally attacking.

***

Perfuma tried to be as inconspicuous as possible as she and Scorpia walked down a side street to where she remembered Huntara had taken them last time. As they approached the shack in question, a voice they both recognized called out to them:

"I wouldn't do that if I were you. The purple giant isn't exactly in the mood to receive guests." Perfuma and Scorpia turned around to face the voice.

"Double Trouble" Perfuma muttered under her breath.

"Hello darling! Long-time no see!"

***

As the squad approached Horde Prime's outpost in the center of the valley, Kyle got increasingly nervous. He hated fighting and was bad at it. That being said, his squad was his family and he would not leave them to go on a mission alone.

He had the imp strapped to his back and a stun baton in his hand. He took a deep breath as he prepared for the ordeal ahead. Well, Lonnie would not call it that. All they had to do was knock out a clone and steal a skiff. What could go wrong?

***

Octavia ran frantically towards the entrance of the outpost. She was followed by an entire battalion of Horde soldiers. Maybe Catra had failed them but she would not. She would stand and defend this outpost until the end.

Octavia watched out of the corner of her eye as Force Captain Lance was trying to gather as many survivors as he could from the initial explosion, and move them to safety. She then heard Grizzlor's signature roar as he led another two battalions close behind her.

There were still about two hundred Crimson Waste residents hiding in the underground bunker, but they were being saved as a last resort should the Horde be unable to win on its own. This seemed incredibly likely as the outpost's entrance was blasted open, and dozens of clones and robots began to rush in.

***

"What do you mean she's not in the mood? What happened to her?" Double Trouble looked down at the ground before continuing in an almost sad voice:

"Horde Prime took control of her. He's taken control of everyone in this valley. If you go in there, you'll be walking into a trap." Scorpia turned to her girlfriend as if to ask her whether they should listen to them, but Perfuma was distracted. Somewhere in the distance an alarm was going off.

Scorpia recognized it - it was the same one that went off when Catra saved her.

***

Lonnie grunted furiously as she drove the skiff through the tiny streets. She was not a good driver and was hitting everything in her path. She wished Rogelio had told her sooner that he did not know how to drive, and that Kyle had not ruined everything by screaming as he knocked out the clone. Not only had this directed everyone's attention towards them, and it had led to them being chased by every clone in the valley. She hoped they found the others soon – she was really not sure the skiff would stay intact for much longer.

As if on cue, Scorpia, Perfuma and Double Trouble came into view. She stopped the skiff and told everyone to get in. As Double Trouble leapt on board, she grunted in annoyance. Even though she had never interacted with them, she had never liked them.

They then sped off to the old Horde outpost, completely unprepared for what they would find.

***

As Bow left the First Ones' ruin where his dads had been hiding, he had mixed feelings about what he had learned. He was thrilled that his dads were safe and well, and he was equally happy that there was a failsafe that could destroy the Heart of Etheria, but this meant they would have to work with Shadow Weaver. He knew Glimmer was particularly unhappy about that.

Meanwhile, Glimmer walked next to Bow silently. She had had a lot to process over the last few days. Aside from reconnecting with her long lost dad, and dealing with a traumatized Adora, she had also had a major fight with Shadow Weaver. She had told her she was wrong about everything and that she was never going to listen to her again. Now she would have to take it all back and ask her to lead them to the failsafe.

Glimmer sighed at the thought of it, and instead began to wonder how Scorpia, Perfuma and the squad were doing in the Crimson Waste.

***

Horde Prime's forces were totally overpowering the Horde. Octavia, who had been at the forefront of the battle, watched in horror as her soldiers fell one after the other. Grizzlor, who was fighting behind her with his troops, was having more luck – but just barely. There were simply too many clones and not enough Horde soldiers to fight them.

When all hope seemed lost, Force Captain Lance came rushing out of the underground bunker leading the two hundred Crimson Waste residents who had been hiding there. For a brief moment the odds were evened. But only for a moment.

Octavia closed her eye. This was it – the end of the Horde. Some leader she had turned out to be. She was then startled by a wave of red lightning which hit nearly every clone who had entered the base. This was followed by several roots shooting out from the ground to block the entrance. Two people then stepped out of the shadows and approached her. Octavia gasped:

"Scorpia?"

***

When they had gotten close enough to see what was happening, Scorpia had instantly taken command:

"Okay everyone! We need to stop Horde Prime and free the Horde! Perfuma, you come with me and we'll go inside the base. Lonnie, Rogelio, Kyle - you stay up here and try to stop the clones and bots from getting into the outpost! As for you…" Scorpia turned to Double Trouble and narrowed her eyes uncharacteristically:

"Stay here and don't move." Scorpia had then jumped off the skiff as they arrived, followed closely by Perfuma. They had quickly cleared a path to the entrance and gone in, with Perfuma then closing it up with roots.

Lonnie's eyes had grown wider with every command Scorpia had given. What had happened to her? Was this the same sweet person who had messed up that operation where they had to protect that fortress ages ago? Perfuma must have been helping her with her self-confidence.

Lonnie was then brought back to the present by a couple of clones climbing onto the skiff. Rogelio quickly knocked one of them out, while Kyle stunned another with his baton. As more clones began to approach them, Lonnie took command:

"Rogelio! Go to the entrance and try to stop them breaking through! Kyle, go with him!" Rogelio growled in agreement and hopped off the skiff to start pushing through the sea of clones surrounding the entrance. While he was much stronger than them, he was greatly outnumbered. It would not be long before he needed help. Kyle did not move to help him, however. Instead he froze and began to stutter:

"Wha…what about the imp?" Lonnie turned and stared at him in disbelief.

"Seriously Kyle?"

***

As the last clone and robot fell within the outpost, the Force Captains all ran to their rescuers. Grizzlor recognized both of them while Force Captain Lance recognized neither of them. Grizzlor huffed:

"Princess Perfuma! Force Captain Scorpia! Long-time no see!" Perfuma grimaced when she saw him. He was one of the Force Captains who had tried to poison her kingdom two years ago. Force Captain Lance was out of breath but managed to cough out:

"’Princess?’ Are you from the rebellion?" Octavia then interrupted him, directing her own question at Perfuma:

"Did Catra send you?" Scorpia glanced at her girlfriend before speaking for her:

"Yes, she did. Well, technically Glimmer did, but Catra asked her to." As she said this, the noises from outside the entrance grew louder. It was clear the squad was struggling. Octavia then spoke up again:

"Where is Catra? Is she here?" Before Scorpia could answer, Rogelio was pushed through the roots and fell at Scorpia's feet. Kyle came flying through after him, screaming loudly as he did so. After that, a blast re-opened the entrance and several clones and robots began to make their way through. Scorpia prepared to fire her lightning and tried to forget what had happened to Catra.

***

Upon seeing her friends overcome by clones, Lonnie had turned to Double Trouble, who was now holding the imp.

"I'm going to drive this skiff into the entrance and block it for good. You get out of here and keep that thing safe!" As she prepared to start the engine, Double Trouble reached for her hand.

"I think I might have a better idea - I just need a moment to get into character." Before Lonnie could protest, she found herself staring at Horde Prime. The imp shrieked and jumped out of his (their) hands. After taking a second to adjust to their new appearance, Lonnie smirked:

"That's actually a good idea."

***

Scorpia and Perfuma were successfully holding off the advancing clones and robots, and had given the Horde a chance to fall back and re-group. They were beginning to get overwhelmed, however, and were relieved when Lonnie blocked the entrance with the skiff. They were a bit confused, however, when she immediately jumped down and ran towards them carrying the imp. They were even more so when Horde Prime suddenly stood up in the skiff and began addressing the clones:

"My brothers! Stop this at once! Lay down your arms and return to your ships! Leave these poor pathetic Etherians in peace!" Scorpia gasped in astonishment. Once Lonnie reached them, she pulled her aside and asked her what was going on. Lonnie explained:

"That's Double Trouble and, from the sound of it, they're being way too dramatic. We probably have a few more seconds before someone gets wise."

***

Horde Prime stared at his screen in disbelief. He was still in Hordak's body and had had to spend the last two days delaying everything in order to adjust to the change. He had also been distracted by several rebellions across his empire, all of whom were supposedly linked to the rebellion on Etheria. On top of that, Catra had somehow survived the fall off the platform, and he had wanted her to be properly secured before he continued with his plans.

Horde Prime had learned not to underestimate Catra, nor her astonishing ability to survive everything that happened to her. He had decided that the best solution was to imprison her, and he had had her unconscious body flown to a prison far away on a tiny nameless volcanic planet. There was only one other living soul there, and he was confident they would never meet. Catra would be thoroughly alone and helpless.

Horde Prime’s thoughts then turned back to the situation at hand as Double Trouble continued their poor impersonation of him. Horde Prime snarled. This embarrassment had gone on long enough.

***

It had been two days, not that there was any sunlight on the planet Catra was currently imprisoned on. There did not seem to be anyone living here at all, with only robots staffing the base and her food being completely artificial and in liquid form.

Catra had barely eaten anything and the heat was really beginning to affect her. She had started to hallucinate and watched as a long forgotten memory played out in front of her.

A small kitten ran into her cell and hid behind a box that was not there. She was crying. A young Adora had then walked in, calling her name:

"Catra, come out! I know you didn't mean to hit Lonnie! It's okay, I'll tell them! They won't be mad. But first you've just got to come out and tell her you're sorry."

***

As Double Trouble continued with their performance on board the skiff, they wondered whether doing this would grant them favor with both the rebellion and the Horde. Their thoughts were interrupted, however, when one of the clones was taken over by Horde Prime and proceeded to yell:

"Kill this imposter now!" Double Trouble immediately stopped and gave a devilish grin.

"I'm not an imposter – I'm an actor. There's a difference." As they said this, Scorpia leapt onto the skiff and blasted every clone and robot in the vicinity with red lightning. They all fell, and those she had not hit began to retreat. Perfuma then climbed up behind Scorpia and gave her a passionate kiss before wrapping her in a giant hug.

"You did it! I knew you could!"

***

"Catra? It's dinnertime and you're missing it." Catra sat in the corner of her cell in tears. The hallucinations were getting more vivid and the memory playing before her was bringing up emotions she had long been suppressing. A young Adora continued:

"It's the grey kind tonight. I know it's your favorite."

***

The Force Captains stood with their rescuers outside the base. The Horde soldiers and Crimson Waste residents had started to march in the direction of the Fright Zone. There was an awkward silence before Grizzlor finally spoke:

"It seems we owe you a debt. If ever the rebellion needs us, you know where to find us." He then grunted and joined his troops. It must have killed him to say that. Force Captain Lance then spoke:

"Thank you so much for your help! And please thank Catra too! We owe her everything!" He smiled before running after Grizzlor. This left Octavia standing alone with the members of the rebellion. She turned to face the squad.

"You sure you don't want to come along?" Rogelio shook his head and Lonnie crossed her arms. Octavia got the message. She turned to Scorpia:

"It was good to see you again. I'm glad you're alright." Octavia then lowered her eye and asked:

"But, is Catra alright? I need to know." Scorpia looked down at the ground and Perfuma looked at her girlfriend in concern. She then spoke for her:

"She saved Scorpia from Horde Prime and then…" Perfuma paused, unable to get the words out. Lonnie finished the sentence for her:

"She's gone. Horde Prime killed her." With that, a tear rolled out of Octavia's eye. She could not believe herself. She hated Catra – she had ruined her life. Then why was she so sad she was gone?

***

"Go! Eat with your new best friend Lonnie!"

"Is that why you hit her?"

"I know you like her better than me! - You're supposed to be my friend!"

"I am your friend, Catra. I'm always going to be your friend."

***

Everyone was assembled in the great hall, waiting for Glimmer to speak. Glimmer cleared her throat before explaining the situation:

"After going to visit Bow's dads, Bow and I can confirm that what Shadow Weaver said about the failsafe is true. It does exist, it's here, and it can stop Horde Prime from using the Heart of Etheria." Everyone began to murmur as Glimmer continued:

"So we'll be going to find it as soon as this meeting is over. Any questions?" Mermista raised her hand:

"Yeah – I guess I have a question." Everyone looked at her expectantly as she pointed to the girl sitting in silence by the window:

"Is Adora coming too?"

***

"You should say sorry to Lonnie, and then we can all be friends." Young Catra's eyes flared up as she jumped on young Adora – pushing her to the ground.

"No" she said before getting up and jumping on her stomach. As young Catra ran away, young Adora called after her:

"Come on! Catra!" Catra let out a sob as she heard her younger self yell:

"I'll never say sorry to anybody - ever!"

***

"Well this has been such fun, but I'm afraid I simply can't stay. The people need entertainment in these dark times, and I must answer the call!" As Double Trouble turned towards the skiff, Scorpia grabbed them by the shoulder.

"Um, where do you think you're going?" Double Trouble turned their head so Scorpia could see every point in their profile. They replied:

"Wherever the people need me, darling." With that, they hopped on the skiff and drove away.

Several seconds passed before Lonnie yelled:

"Hey! That was our ride!"

***

"Yes." Shadow Weaver's voice echoed through the hall and sent chills down Glimmer's spine. How had she let this woman get so close to her? Shadow Weaver continued:

"Adora needs to be the one to accept the failsafe. It needs to be bonded to a willing soul and carried to the Heart of Etheria in order to be deployed. Who better to do that than She-Ra?" Glimmer crossed her arms.

"You didn't tell us this, and I can think of someone better than She-Ra - someone like you, for instance." Shadow Weaver groaned before saying:

"No – it has to be Adora." Mermista then spoke up again:

"Why? I'm sorry, but I'm not going into a dark creepy sorcerer's cave with the girl who almost killed my boyfriend!" Sea Hawk then sat straight up and exclaimed:

"I'm your boyfriend?!" Mermista looked down at him and blushed before muttering:

"Yes – don't make a big deal out of it." Sea Hawk gave the biggest smile he had ever given in his life as he barely restrained himself from saying anything else. Shadow Weaver then interrupted the moment:

"If any one of us deliver the failsafe, the magic of the Heart of Etheria will consume us. She-Ra is the only one who can hope to survive the process." Glimmer and Bow gasped simultaneously and were about to protest when Adora finally spoke:

"I'll do it."

Chapter Text

When Catra heard the voices outside her cell, she was convinced she was hallucinating again. This was why she did not react when her door was unlocked and she saw three very colourful people standing there. The shortest one (a blond haired dark-skinned girl in a white, red and yellow outfit) spoke first:

"Who are you?" Catra did not move and simply laughed at them. When she felt she had made them suitably uncomfortable, she finally replied:

"Who am I? That's a good question. Last time I checked, I was a general of Horde Prime's army. Before that, I led the Horde on Etheria. I guess I must be the bad guy who is finally getting what she deserves." She then leaned back and closed her eyes. That usually worked to get rid of the hallucinations. Then the other girl (a tall pink-haired dark-skinned girl with a white, purple and blue outfit) suddenly spoke:

"Did you say Etheria?" Catra opened her eyes. Were this a real interaction? As the realization hit her, Catra's eyes went wide and she struggled to stand up.

"Yeah, I did" she said uncertainly. The two girls looked at each other and the third person (a dark-skinned boy with white hair and a spiky white, pink and purple outfit) then spoke:

"Does the name Angella mean anything to you?" Catra stared at them blankly. Then two decades of Horde propaganda posters re-surfaced in her mind.

"Do you mean Queen Angella? Glimmer's mom?" The short girl squealed and jabbed the boy in the ribs with her elbow.

"Ha! I told you they were related!" The tall girl then approached Catra and said:

"We're here to rescue her. Tell us where she is and you can come with us." Catra's eyes grew even wider. She then smirked:

"Right – because Horde Prime totally gave me a tour of this place." The boy then put his hand on the tall girl's shoulder.

"Tallstar, it's fine. She can come too." He then turned to Catra and said:

"We're going to go and save Angella. Tag along if you want - just don't get in the way." He and the short girl then ran down the corridor towards the exit. Tallstar followed them, giving Catra a suspicious glance as she did so.

Catra suddenly found herself standing alone in her unlocked cell. She took a deep breath and then muttered:

"Screw it." She stepped out of the cell and ran after them.

***

Everyone walked in silence through the maze of tunnels under Mystacor. Mermista had ultimately decided to come as well, as long as Sea Hawk stayed close beside her. He had instantly said yes, and they had all left soon after that.

As they walked, Glimmer and Bow tried to talk Adora out of her decision, but it was no use. She was drowning in guilt, and it was obvious she was mourning Catra's loss. There was no reasoning with her in this state.

As they entered the chamber with the failsafe, Glimmer reluctantly activated it with the words:

"We're friends of Mara." Adora then took a deep breath and stepped forward. As she did so, however, the room began to echo with Horde Prime's voice:

"Oh Adora, did you really think I let you go?" Everyone turned to see dozens of clones standing at the chamber's entrance. Adora gasped and immediately ran to get the failsafe. Horde Prime could not be allowed to destroy it!

***

As the odd group ran down the seemingly endless corridors of the prison, Catra was able to gather that the short girl was called Starla and that the boy was called Jewelstar. Their owl was called Glory, and they and Tallstar were the "Star Siblings."

After asking, Catra had found out that they had recently joined the galactic rebellion against Horde Prime. Upon doing so, they had discovered that its leader had been captured a few months ago. The rebellion had been managing without her, but the siblings had figured the best way to make a real impact was to get her back. As impossible as it seemed, they had successfully tracked her to this prison - on a planet no one even knew existed.

As they went down a level, Catra tried to remember everything she could about Queen Angella. She had never met her personally, though she had seen her at a distance during the First Battle of Brightmoon. She knew she had led the rebellion and that she had disappeared following the portal incident. But that did not explain how she got into space. The only way to do that before the activation of the Heart of Etheria was to go through a portal…

Catra stopped in her tracks. For the first time ever, she put the pieces together. Glimmer's mom had gone through the portal after she had opened it. Glimmer had lost her mom and probably thought she was dead. That was why she was queen – why she had had to take her mother's place.

"Catra?" Tallstar had noticed that she had stopped walking and turned back towards her. Catra fought back tears as she said:

"I don't deserve to be saved. You should just leave me here." Tallstar raised her eyebrow before saying:

"Maybe not, but I'm guessing you're not in here for doing what you're told. You upset Horde Prime and that's good enough for us." She then put her hand on Catra's shoulder and said:

"Come with us. Once we're out of here, you can go wherever you want – as far away from Etheria as you wish." Catra lowered her eyes and gave a weak nod. They were then interrupted by Jewelstar's voice echoing down the corridor:

"Tallstar! Where are you? We found her!"

***

Glimmer could not understand it. How had Horde Prime found them? Was he tracking Adora somehow? How could he do that when Entrapta removed her chip? She looked around at her friends.

Mermista and Sea Hawk had both been stunned with lasers at the very beginning of the fight and were still lying paralyzed on the floor. Bow was standing next to Glimmer, firing his arrows frantically. Entrapta and Wrong Hordak had run to the back of the room, and were now hiding behind Swift Wind. Frosta was running to join them after realizing too late that there was no water to freeze without Mermista's help.

Meanwhile, King Micah had joined Castaspella and Shadow Weaver in firing various spells at the clones, and they seemed to be succeeding in holding them off. Glimmer then huffed when she noted the absence of Spinerella and Netossa. They had chosen to stay behind (Glimmer blushed when she imagined what they could be doing instead). It was then that a laser narrowly missed her and she teleported into the swarm of clones.

As she started shooting sparkles left and right, Glimmer watched in alarm as Adora was lifted into the air and surrounded by a bright blue light. She could hear her screams as the failsafe attached itself to her body.

Glimmer grunted in frustration. How could she have let this happen? Why had she not worked harder to stop Adora? She turned back to the clones and, after a few minutes of venting her anger on them, she heard the words she never thought she would hear again:

"For the Honor of Grayskull!"

***

As the failsafe fused with her body, all Adora could think about was the pain. It was a kind of pain she had only felt once before – when she had been drowned in electrifying green water. At the thought of Horde Prime, Adora screamed in anger. He had taken everything from her, and he was trying to do so again.

Adora opened her eyes and watched as her friends fought for their lives. She let out another angry scream before feeling something else she had only felt once before. For a brief moment, during the re-fueling mission, She-Ra had come back to her without the sword. She could feel her trying to come back now. With all her strength, Adora lifted her arm and yelled the words:

"For the Honour of Grayskull!" As soon as she did so, the failsafe finished attaching itself to her, and she felt herself transform once again. She landed on the ground and, as soon as she did, she did not hesitate to shoot all the clones within reach with what she could best describe as her rainbow magic. They all fell down instantly, while the others gasped collectively and began to retreat.

Everyone turned to look at her incredulously. This was when Netossa and Spinerella appeared, knocking out some of the clones who were trying to escape. After taking one look at her, Netossa gave a cocky smile:

"New look?"

***

As Catra followed Tallstar to Angella's cell, she got increasingly nervous. There was no way the former queen would be happy to see her. After all, she was the reason she was stuck here in the first place. Part of her hoped the Star Siblings had got it wrong. Maybe it was a different Angella? Or maybe it was a mistake and there actually was no one here besides her?

Jewelstar broke open the cell door before Catra and Tallstar arrived, and, as he did so, the alarm went off. Catra rolled her eyes. She had heard this alarm so many times now, and part of her was offended that, for once, it was not going off because of her. As she and Tallstar finally arrived at the cell, they heard Jewelstar yelling:

"…We're with the rebellion! We're here to rescue you! Please calm down!" Starla and Glory had already gone inside, and sounds of a struggle could be heard. When Catra tried to see what was going on, she was almost knocked over by Starla and Glory being literally thrown back into the corridor. An almost deranged voice yelled:

"Go away! Leave me alone!" Catra looked inside and gasped at what she saw.

It was definitely Angela, and she was standing in the center of her cell - poised to attack the next person who dared to approach her. She seemed to have lost her wings, and her outfit was dirty and torn. She had a wild look in her eyes – the kind of look one could only get after spending months in self-isolation. She shrieked again:

"You heard me! Go away! Don't touch me!" She then took a swipe in their direction, causing Tallstar to turn to her brother nervously:

"What should we do?" Just then, robots appeared at both ends of the hallway. Starla squealed in fear and Jewelstar grunted in annoyance. He then turned to Catra:

"You know her, right? Get her to come with us! We'll handle the bots!" He then ran down the corridor, followed by Tallstar. Starla took a deep breath before running in the opposite direction with Glory. This left Catra standing alone in front of Angella. Her mind went completely blank.

***

The rebellion easily defeated the rest of the clones with She-Ra's help. Once the fight was over, She-Ra approached the semi-conscious clone who had been taken over by Horde Prime. Before knocking him out for good, she looked into his eyes and growled:

"You miscalculated."

***

Horde Prime snarled at his screen. Contrary to what he had thought, She-Ra was still a factor in this war. He sighed. He would simply have to double his efforts to unleash the Heart of Etheria as soon as possible.

As he turned away from the screen, Horde Prime caught a glimpse of the purple princess his brother had been so obsessed with. He could hear his brother's voice yelling at him, trying to regain control. It did not work, however. After all, Horde Prime is all powerful.

***

Catra took a deep breath and slowly entered the cell. Angella clearly did not recognize her, and Catra honestly did not want her to. If she could punch someone as sweet and innocent as Starla, there was no telling what she would do to her. However, desperate times called for desperate measures, and this might just be the wake-up call the former queen needed.

"Hey your majesty! Remember me?" Angella went completely silent as she struggled to link Catra's face with a name. Catra would have loved to let her take her time with that, but the clock was ticking.

"It's Catra. Force Captain Catra - the one who opened the portal that got you stranded here?" Angella's face went white and then she screamed with anger. She tried to hit Catra, but Catra dodged just in time. Angella then turned away and cried:

"No – you're not here! Just leave me alone!" Catra then realized that Angella did not think she was real. How had she not figured this out sooner? After all, if she had not thought the Star Siblings were real after only a few days of being locked in here, how was Angella supposed to react after being stuck here for literal months?

Catra took a deep breath and did something she had only ever done to Adora: she leapt forward and hugged Angella. Angella tried to resist, but, as soon as Catra started to purr, she stopped. Catra heard her whimper into her short hair:

"You're real? You're actually real?" Catra did not respond and simply purred even louder. This had always worked to calm Adora during their worst days in the Fright Zone. She then felt the former queen collapse into her arms, crying and exclaiming:

"You're real! You're actually real!" The incredibly sweet moment was interrupted by Jewelstar running into the cell.

"Catra, there's too many of them! We have to go!"

***

By the time everyone had made it out of Mystacor's underground tunnels, She-Ra had faded back into Adora. Before she did so, however, Adora had registered her "new look" - her hair was in a ponytail, she was wearing trousers instead of a skirt, and her outfit looked almost entirely different. It felt better – more authentic.

As everyone re-entered the Great Hall, Shadow Weaver broke the silence:

"Well, I think we can all agree that She-Ra's presence was greatly appreciated just now. However, it is clear that Horde Prime is still tracking Adora. Before we go to disable the Heart, we must find out how he is doing it." Glimmer sighed and nodded in agreement before turning to Adora.

"I'm afraid Shadow Weaver's right, Adora. Do you still have anything on you from when you were on Horde Prime's ship?" Adora, still processing the return of She-Ra, muttered a hasty response:

"No – I mean, yes. I mean, I'm still wearing the same clothes, and my sword and armour are still in my room." Bow stepped forward and said:

"We need to get rid of all of it. Glimmer, could you help her with that?" Before Glimmer could respond, Adora backed away in confusion:

"Whoa, hey! I like my clothes! I've always had them! You can take the sword and armour if you want, but that's it!" Everyone looked at her in surprise. Apparently no one had realized how attached she was to her old Horde uniform. It should not have been a surprise – it was the only outfit she had ever worn besides the dress at Princess Prom. Bow spoke up:

"Adora, you need a make-over. We are not taking no for an answer."

***

The Star Siblings fought their way through the ever increasing number of robots. Catra followed behind them, barely supporting Angella on her back as she did. Angella was much taller than her, and considerably weaker.

As they kept moving, Catra became increasingly aware that she had still not fully recovered from her injuries, as well as the fact that she had not eaten anything in several days. Honestly, it was impressive she was able to move, yet alone carry someone. As they finally made it to an exit, Jewelstar blasted it open and yelled:

"Get to the ship! I'll cover you!" Catra did not wait for permission and rushed through the hole in the wall before he finished his sentence. She saw the ship in the distance – it vaguely resembled Adora's ship except it was purple and more stream-lined.

Catra had almost made it when she heard a scream behind her. She turned to see Jewelstar and Tallstar being mutually pinned down by robots, while Starla and Glory appeared to be knocked out next to them.

Catra groaned. Should she leave them? It could not be that difficult to fly this ship. She could take Angella back to Etheria, be exonerated for her crimes for doing so, and maybe, finally, get to be with Adora. But her conscience would not let her. Why was being a good guy so hard? She lay Angella down on the ship's ramp and said:

"I'll be right back – don't go away." She then turned and ran back towards the prison. It looked even creepier from the outside, and she could hear the lava waterfall crashing nearby.

When she reached the Star Siblings, she leapt at the robot pinning Jewelstar to the ground and began viciously scratching it with her claws. The robot let Jewelstar go and turned its attention towards her instead.

Catra then jumped on the robot holding Tallstar down, grinning as the first robot shot at her, only to end up shooting its colleague when she jumped out of the way. Jewelstar then blasted it and turned to her:

"Thanks!" Catra smirked:

"Don't mention it." All three of them then ran out, picking up Starla and Glory along the way. As they flew off, Catra breathed a huge sigh of relief. She was finally safe and, if she wanted to, she could go home.

***

A couple of hours had passed and Adora had been forced to try on several outfits. She hated all of them and she was really beginning to resent her friends for making her do this. They had long since gotten rid of her armour and sword, and she was convinced that that was all that needed to be done. She finally compromised on a red outfit.

It was not very fancy – long-sleeved red shirt, red trousers and red boots. The seams of her shirt were all laced with gold and it had fancy golden shoulder guards. Her trousers had two large gold stripes running down both trouser legs, and her boots were also brimmed with gold. She had basically gone from red and white to red and gold. It was not that adventurous, but it was already a huge change as far as she was concerned.

As she and Glimmer left her bedroom, Glimmer said:

"You know, you would look even better with your hair down." Adora squirmed:

"Too much, Glimmer. Too much."

***

Everyone gathered on the flight deck as the Star Siblings discussed their next move. Angella sat in the corner drinking a hot drink, slowly recovering from her ordeal. Catra sat in the other corner holding an ice pack to the side of her head. Her little fight with the robots had somehow opened up her head wound, and it hurt terribly. Tallstar spoke first:

"So, we could go and find the rebellion. That might take a while, though. They never stay in the same place for very long." Jewelstar then spoke:

"Or, we could just lay low for a bit? Float around until Angella fully recovers? Horde Prime doesn't patrol this quadrant and I think it'll take him a while to find out we freed his prisoners." Catra then surprised everyone, including herself, by suddenly saying:

"Or we could head for Etheria." Everyone turned to look at her as she continued:

"That's where Angella's from. It's where Horde Prime is right now. You want to make a real difference? Let's take the fight to him." Starla raised her eyebrow before saying:

"I thought you were a bad guy back on Etheria. Won't they arrest you, or something?" Catra gave a small grin.

"Trust me, they won't put me in self-isolation next to a lava waterfall on the edge of the universe." Jewelstar stroked his chin before heading to the nearest control panel.

"Etheria it is then."

Chapter Text

Everyone had been about to leave for the Heart when Scorpia had called Bow on his tablet. Scorpia had reported on how she, Perfuma and the squad had not simply assessed the situation, but had actually freed the Horde. She then related how the Horde were now heading back to the Fright Zone, but, before they did so, they had said they would help the rebellion if ever they were needed.

Glimmer's eyes went wide. The Horde and the rebellion working together? That was something she could never have imagined. Shadow Weaver had then stepped forward and suggested that they ask the Horde to cause a distraction – to attack one of Horde Prime's spires while they went for the Heart.

After glaring at her, Glimmer had begrudgingly agreed it was a good plan, and had asked Scorpia to send a message to the Horde asking if they would be willing to do that in two days' time. After all, it would take two days to reach the beacon, where Adora felt certain the Heart was located. Scorpia agreed and then asked if Adora was present. With that, Adora had moved closer to the screen:

"Yes? What is it?" Scorpia went bright red and began to stutter:

"W-Well, I was kinda sorta supposed to tell you this a while ago, but y-you were not exactly in your right mind, so…" Adora raised her eyebrow as Scorpia went quiet. Adora then asked again:

"Scorpia? What's going on?" Scorpia looked straight at the camera and then sighed:

"It's Catra. She wanted me to give you a message." Scorpia took a deep breath before continuing: "She wanted me to tell you that she was sorry. For everything."

***

It would normally take weeks to reach Etheria, but the Star Siblings' ship was made from technology stolen from Horde Prime, meaning they would make it in just under two days. Catra spent the first day resting while eating a lot of food. The prospect of being reunited with Adora had brought her appetite back, and Starla was an amazing cook. That being said, she stayed in her room and did not leave for fear of running into Angella.

The former queen had recovered from her ordeal faster than expected, and was already back to being her usual regal self. While they had shared a sweet moment in her cell (and Catra had played a pretty active role in rescuing her), it did not even begin to cover the many horrible ways Catra had hurt her. As soon as Horde Prime was defeated, Catra had no doubt she would be punished, and that Angella would be the one to give the order.

After eating her fourth meal of the day, Catra drifted off to sleep. She dreamt of Adora. She was more than special to Catra. In fact, Catra now realized she was in love with her.

***

The first day of the rebellion's journey to the Heart had been unusually uneventful. They were halfway to their destination and were now camping in the Whispering Woods. It was actually quite a peaceful scene.

Bow and Glimmer were both cuddling against Swift Wind, smiling into each other's arms. Mermista was leaning against a tree with Sea Hawk lying in her lap – looking up at her with adoring eyes. Spinerella and Netossa had fallen asleep together by the fire. Frosta was playing a guessing game with King Micah on the other side of the fire, while Castaspella and Shadow Weaver had long since gone to sleep nearby. The only one up who was not at peace was Adora.

Adora was standing at the edge of the camp, on a cliff overlooking the Whispering Woods. She could see one of Horde Prime's spires in the distance, and, just behind it, she could make out the vague outline of the Fright Zone.

Adora shuddered. She was still processing what Scorpia had said. Catra had apologized. She could not believe it – Catra had never apologized in her life. A tear rolled down Adora's cheek as she remembered her friend.

Adora was so happy that Catra had thought to send her a message in her final moments, but was so indescribably sad that she would never get to reply to it. If only she could tell her that all is forgiven, that she never hated her despite everything, and that she missed her so much.

Catra was more than just someone special. Losing her had shown Adora that she was someone she had loved. When that realization hit her again, Adora fell to her knees and began to cry silently.

Adora knew that, while her friends had tried to be supportive, they did not really understand. Catra had been their enemy, after all. Her recent actions could never make up for all the pain she had caused – for the loss of Queen Angella.

***

When Catra woke from her sleep, she was startled to find Angella sitting next to her bed. She cried out and hissed before calming down again. Angella raised an eyebrow before reaching out her hand to touch the side of Catra's head. Catra ducked out of the way and moved back against the wall. Was Angella trying to hurt her? The former queen then spoke:

"It's alright – I just want to see if your wound is healing." Catra stopped moving and let Angella lean forward to inspect her head injury. It had been cleaned and bandaged by Tallstar. After confirming that it was neither bleeding nor infected, Angella sat back down. The two women stared at each other in silence for a full minute before Catra spoke:

"Um, not that I don't appreciate the motherly concern, but what are you doing in my room? Couldn't you have waited until I got up?" Angella sighed and looked away.

"I suppose so. I'm just having a hard time believing you're here. That I'm here. That you saved me." Catra raised her eyebrow as Angella continued:

"The Star Siblings tell me you worked for Horde Prime before losing his favor and getting sent to prison. What did you do?" Catra's eyes went wide. Did she really have to be truthful about this? The truth would be so hard to believe and she was known for being a good liar. Catra cleared her throat before asking:

"You mean what I did for him or…" Angella interrupted somewhat bitterly:

"Both. What did you do for that monster and for what did he condemn you?" Catra gulped. There it was – Angella's true feelings on display. Of course she hated Catra despite everything. What else did she expect? Catra took a deep breath before replying:

"Believe it or not, all I actually did for him was send a message to what's left of the Horde. As for what I did to upset him, well, the list is long." Catra then went on to explain how she had not opened a second portal, lied to Horde Prime about it, disbanded the Horde, blown up the Fright Zone, saved Glimmer, saved Scorpia, and set a plan in motion to free the remainder of the Horde. When she finished, Catra found was out of breath. She was surprised at how long that list was - at how much she had tried to do the right thing.

Catra glanced at Angella. The former queen was looking at her with a quizzical expression, as if she was trying to tell whether or not Catra was lying. Angella then asked:

"You saved Glimmer?" Catra nodded. Angella hummed uncertainly before standing up and heading for the door. She was about to leave when she paused in the doorway. Even though her back was to Catra, she could tell that the former queen wanted to ask her something. Catra guessed what it was and said:

"Glimmer is alive. She's queen now. I last saw her heading back to Etheria with Adora and Bow." She paused before blurting out:

"I only agreed to work for Horde Prime so he would not destroy them before they got there! I'm sure they're back on Etheria now, saving the world like they always do!" Catra was about to apologize to Angella, to prove she really had changed, but Angella interrupted her quietly:

"I'm sure they are, Catra. Thank you." She then finally stepped out of the room. Catra sighed and fell back on her bed. She could only guess what Angella must be thinking.

Soon after Angella left Catra's room, Starla came in to bring her to the flight deck. They were currently passing a planet called Krytis, and Angella had received intel (before her capture) that this planet held the key to defeating Horde Prime. She had requested that the Star Siblings pause their journey to land there and investigate. They had refused to do so without everyone's agreement, however, which is why Starla had gone to get Catra.

When Catra entered, and her opinion was requested, she simply looked at Angella and nodded. She did not want to oppose her. She also felt certain she had heard the name "Krytis" before – when she was under Horde Prime's control. There could very well be something to what Angella was saying. So, they changed their trajectory and headed for Krytis.

***

It was the dawn of the second day of the rebellion's journey to the beacon, and they were making good time. In fact, they were only hours away from the First Ones' Temple when they reunited with Scorpia, Perfuma and the squad.

Scorpia proudly reported that she had made contact with the Horde, and that she had relayed Glimmer's request for them to attack one of Horde Prime's spires the following morning (as a distraction for the rebellion's infiltration of the beacon). Apparently Grizzlor had been the one to take the call, and he had reluctantly agreed to attack one of the spires on their way to the Fright Zone.

Glimmer had smiled hesitantly at the news. She knew it was easy for Shadow Weaver to work with the Horde – she used to lead them. But the Horde had taken so much from Glimmer, and she was having a hard time working with them. With a sigh, Glimmer composed herself and told everyone to keep moving.

***

Krytis was dark and desolate. Remnants of Horde Prime's invasion force cluttered the planet's surface. As Catra, Angella and the Star Siblings began to look around inside one of his old ships, Jewelstar found an old control panel. He decided to stay and try and find as much information about the invasion as he could. Starla opted to stay with him, along with Glory. She did not like how dead it all was, and she did not want to go further into the ship. Tallstar would have chosen to stay too, but Angella was determined to keep exploring.

The former queen resolutely headed down the corridor and away from the group. Tallstar immediately ran after her, and Catra, after a lengthy pause, decided she better go and help. Angella was her best bet at exoneration, after all, and she had to prove that she was worthy of it.

***

Horde Prime glared furiously at his screen. He had been working non-stop over the last two days to breach the First Ones' defenses in order to access the Heart of Etheria. However, the technology was so old, it had stopped working centuries ago. He had had to resort to literally drilling into the planet's surface in order to find each server, power them up, and then properly disable them. It was taking much longer than expected, and he was going mad looking for the last one.

The final server was supposed to be just behind an old First Ones' temple, but, try as he might, he simply could not find it. He realized he would need to resort to different methods - he would need to capture a First One with access to the mainframe. Unfortunately, there was only one individual who fit this description - She-Ra.

***

It had been almost half an hour and Angella had led Catra and Tallstar deeper into the ship. Tallstar was hating every second of it and kept trying to get Angella to turn back. Even Catra was beginning to get uneasy. The place was so empty - it reminded her of Horde Prime's ship.

They were halfway down another corridor when Tallstar suddenly screamed. Both Catra and Angella turned to see a dark-colored humanoid standing there. On instinct, Catra leapt on it, only to find herself teleported to a different part of the ship. She watched as the creature then turned itself into a giant cat with a luminescent mane. It circled her and bared its teeth before moving its face inches from her own.

Catra held her breath. Was this really how she was going to die? For some reason, the thought of her impending doom made her sneeze, to which the creature responded by suddenly pulling back, changing its mane's colour to blue, and sneezing as well.

Catra's eyes went wide. This was just the sort of crazy thing that probably happened to Adora all the time.

***

It was late in the afternoon when the rebellion arrived at the beacon. It seemed deserted, but Glimmer was suspicious. She decided to send everyone out to make sure there were no clones nearby.

The squad, Scorpia and Perfuma headed north, while Mermista, Sea Hawk, Frosta and Swift Wind went south. Netossa and Spinerella went east, and Shadow Weaver, Castaspella and King Micah headed west (Castaspella was really beginning to lose it with Shadow Weaver and King Micah had offered to go with her and provide some support).

In the meantime, Glimmer, Bow, Adora, Entrapta and Wrong Hordak stayed put in the clearing in front of the beacon, guarding the failsafe.

After more than an hour of no news, Glimmer began to worry. She teleported all around the beacon, looking for her friends. She found no one. Upon returning and telling Bow this, he tried to call everyone with his tablet. No one answered.

Using all her concentration, Adora transformed into She-Ra. Something had gone terribly wrong.

***

It had taken a while, but Catra had eventually found Angella and the Star Siblings. Angela and Tallstar had run back to where the others were to get help rescuing Catra, and they had all been about to go and find her when Catra entered with her new friend.

Catra assured everyone that the creature, whose name was Melog, meant no harm. She then told them that Melog had formed a telepathic link with her, and had revealed that Horde Prime's weakness was magic.

Once Catra finished talking, Angella slowly moved towards her. She then surprised everyone by giving the former Force Captain a hug, saying:

"Well done, Catra."

***

Not long after Adora transformed, She-Ra and her friends were suddenly surrounded by clones. Glimmer immediately teleported everyone just inside the entrance of the beacon, only to come face to face with Hordak. She gasped and cried:

"Hordak?!" Entrapta looked like she was about to run forward and hug him, but then Horde Prime suddenly spoke through him:

"Ah your majesty, so nice to see you again. And no, I am not my brother. My brother is now me, and, as you might have guessed, I am Horde Prime." She-Ra glared at him with pure hatred. Both Entrapta and Wrong Hordak cowered behind Bow, who let out a nervous whimper. It was then that Horde Prime's signature evil laugh was heard, and dozens of clones stepped out of the shadows to surround the group.

Glimmer, who had been caught off-guard, began to desperately shoot sparkles in every direction. Bow followed her example and shot every arrow he had. She-Ra, meanwhile, let out a loud battle cry and charged straight for Hordak/ Horde Prime. Many clones tried to subdue her, but none of them succeeded. When she finally reached Hordak/ Horde Prime, she grabbed him by his uniform and shoved him against the wall of the beacon.

"It's over, Prime" she growled. Hordak/ Horde Prime simply chuckled and said:

"Are you sure about that?" He gestured behind him, making She-Ra turn around. A terrifying sight lay before her – every single one of her friends, including those who had been fighting just seconds ago, were lined up behind her with creepy green eyes glowing in the dark light of the beacon. She-Ra gasped in horror. Even though she knew the answer, she asked:

"What have you done to them?!" Hordak/ Horde Prime laughed and snarled:

"My child, have you already forgotten your time under my control? I’ve defeated your pitiful rebellion and brought every single one of them into my light. They're all free now, as you were." She-Ra shut her eyes and felt a tear roll down her cheek. This could not be happening! Horde Prime could not win!

With that, She-Ra threw Hordak/ Horde Prime at her friends and used all her strength to smash through the wall in front of her. This set off the security protocol and the clones barely made it to the hole in the wall before they were cut off by giant mechanical spiders.

***

The Star Siblings, Catra and Angella left Krytis with an extra passenger, and Catra, for one, was really happy with her new friend. Melog was a very intelligent and insanely cute alien who engaged in long telepathic conversations while giving her cuddles. As the hours passed, she found herself opening up to Melog about her life and the decisions which had led her to this moment.

Melog had been very accepting of everything she had told them, and had said that, while Catra did owe the people of Etheria a debt for her mistakes, she had made the choice to change the narrative and to not let the past define her. In other words, she was now in a position to fix what she had broken, and was halfway there already.

Catra had really needed to hear that, and, upon hearing Melog's assurances that she was a good person, and that there was hope at the end of it all, she reached over and gave them a tearful hug.

***

As She-Ra ran further and further into the beacon, her eyes filled with tears. She was all alone. Horde Prime had not only taken Catra, but all of her friends too. On top of that, she had no idea where the Heart of Etheria was located.

She-Ra stopped to dry her eyes and, when she did, she was surprised to find herself almost collapsing from exhaustion. How long had she been running?

She-Ra slowly leaned against a wall and surveilled her surroundings. She was in a room with a ravine down the middle of it. Everything was lit in red, and the whole place seemed oddly familiar. Using the little strength she had left, She-Ra stood up and walked over to the edge of the cliff. That was when she saw it – Catra's claw marks on the floor just next to the precipice.

This is where Catra had taken down the elementals before throwing She-Ra's sword down into the darkness.

She-Ra cautiously leaned over the side and identified the ledge she had desperately clung to all those years ago. The tears she had fought so hard to control now fell freely as Catra's words echoed in her ears:

"You wanted me to think I needed you. You wanted me to feel weak. Every hero needs a sidekick, right?"

***

When the blockade came into view, Jewelstar called everyone to the flight deck. After explaining the situation, Angella was the first to make a suggestion:

"Doesn't this ship have a cloaking device? Wouldn't that work to get us through?" Starla had then blushed and said:

"Well, we did…but Glory and I may have accidentally broken it…" Tallstar then interrupted her:

"Don't ask. No one comes out well in this story." After an awkward pause, Jewelstar spoke up:

"Anyway, as I see it, we have two options: speed through and hope no one stops us, or just wait it out." This got Angella upset and she almost yelled:

"We cannot ‘wait it out’! My daughter is down there fighting that monster! I will not let her do that alone!" It was then that Catra, who had been telepathically discussing the problem with Melog, spoke up:

"Guys, I might have an idea."

***

Hordak/ Horde Prime was pacing back and forth just outside the beacon. It had taken a ridiculously long time to defeat all of the elementals, and every clone he had sent after She-Ra had been unable to find her.

He was now standing outside the beacon with all the members of the rebellion lined up in front of him - awaiting his orders. They had not been who he was after, however. He had only intended to use them to convince She-Ra to help him locate the last server. Now night had fallen, and he was still no closer to finding it. As he growled in frustration (and considered punching one of the members of the rebellion to feel better), one of his brothers ran up to him:

"Horde Prime, we've found it! The Heart of Etheria will soon be yours!" Hordak/ Horde Prime smiled evilly and followed his brother to the site of the last server. As it was lifted out of the ground, his smile grew bigger.

It did not matter that She-Ra had the failsafe. Now that the security protocol had been activated, the First Ones' temple was volatile and would not let her anywhere near the Heart of Etheria. He had nothing to worry about.

***

The Horde had almost reached the Fright Zone, and they were spending the night in Grizzlor's old Horde base just outside the Whispering Woods. No one was sleeping, however. Every Force Captain wondered whether they would go through with attacking one of Horde Prime's spires come morning, and every one of their soldiers was anxiously awaiting their orders.

As the guard changed at midnight, Grizzlor suddenly stirred from his bed and woke up Octavia.

"Come on. It's morning now. Let's just get this over with."

***

Thanks to Melog's magic, the Star Siblings, Catra and Angella had successfully flown through the blockade and entered Etheria's atmosphere. Angella had given both them and Catra a grateful hug before asking Jewelstar to land the ship in Brightmoon. Catra then spoke up:

"Horde Prime has that place under surveillance. He'll know we're here." Angella simply scoffed and said:

"Fine. It's about time he knew I was coming for him."

***

She-Ra was exhausted. She had spent hours wandering aimlessly around the beacon. She remembered some rooms from her training. Others she recognized from her time there with Catra. Everywhere she turned, there was another bad memory.

She-Ra struggled to maintain her magical form, but she remembered Shadow Weaver's warning – only She-Ra could deliver the failsafe and hope to survive. That was when the thought finally hit her – did she want to survive? Even if she did succeed in releasing the magic of the Heart, her friends were all gone – chipped by Horde Prime. Catra was also gone – killed by Horde Prime. In addition to that, she was also trapped in here, by Horde Prime. The more his name rattled in her brain, the angrier she got.

She-Ra angrily punched the wall next to her, and, because of her strength, part of the ceiling came down. She managed to move out of the way, only to hear Catra's laugh suddenly ring in her ears. On instinct, She-Ra ran to the voice, stopping as soon as she saw Catra. She gasped and cried:

"Catra! You're alive! I..." Her sentence was interrupted by the hologram changing before her. She watched as Catra transformed into a young cadet, then into her Force Captain uniform, and then back into her original form – that of the indomitable Force Commander.

She-Ra gasped as Catra walked up to her, and reached her hands to her face to bring their foreheads together. She then repeated the words that had been circling in She-Ra's head ever since she had first heard them all those days ago:

"Adora, you're someone really special to me." She-Ra transformed back into Adora and tearfully hugged the hologram until it turned off.

"I'm so sorry, Catra…"

***

It took over an hour to fix the server before finally placing it back in the ground. As soon as it was back in place, Hordak/ Horde Prime wasted no time in starting to bypass the First Ones' firewalls with his computer virus. He grinned as its horrible green light lit up the ground on its way to the Heart of Etheria. His joy was short-lived, however, as his brothers then reported that one of his spires was under attack.

***

The sun had not yet started to rise, but the Horde had already begun its assault on one of Horde Prime's spires. It was located just outside of the Whispering Woods, and Grizzlor, Octavia, and Force Captain Lance, had already agreed on a plan of attack.

They had no intention of taking the spire, simply aiming to keep Horde Prime occupied for as long as possible. Their plan had to be changed, however, when the princesses suddenly arrived and began attacking them.

Grizzlor growled angrily. Maybe this was a battle they were meant to fight after all.

***

As Catra saw the light of the moonstone in the distance, she knew this could very well be her last chance to ask the question that had been circling in her mind since she had first seen Angella in her cell:

"Um, I hope you don't mind me asking, but…what happened to you? After you went through the portal?" Everyone turned and stared at her in surprise. After a moment of awkward silence, Angella took a deep breath and said:

"When I closed your portal, it shut behind me and I found myself stranded in space. I floated around for days, only surviving due to my immortality. Horde Prime eventually found me, and, after he brought me onto his ship, he tortured me." Angella gestured to her absent wings and continued:

"He wanted to find out more about Etheria and how he could get to it. Fortunately, he couldn't reach it unless another portal opened." Angella paused as she saw they had now arrived at Brightmoon. Catra expected her to stop her story, but she continued:

"I was then rescued by two other prisoners who were the leaders of their respective planets. They'd been plotting their escape for months and took pity on me as they did so. When we left Horde Prime's ship, I decided to make the same choice I made when I closed the portal – the decision my daughter would've made - to be brave. Working with my rescuers, I created the galactic rebellion, and, after only a few months, we'd done more damage to Horde Prime's empire than anyone thought possible." She then sighed and looked down at the ground. Catra began to shuffle nervously. Angella then continued:

"And then he found me. After besieging the fortress I was in, and threatening the lives of everyone in it, I surrendered. As he couldn’t kill me, he had me put in that horrible prison – locked away for all eternity." A tear rolled down Angella's cheek as she muttered:

"I was all alone..." After a brief pause, Angella suddenly turned to look directly at Catra with an intensity that caught her off-guard:

"…until you came along. Like me, you were locked away forever – but not because you couldn't die. Like Adora, you simply chose not to let fear stop you…and it made you impossible to kill." She then surprised Catra even more by moving towards her and gently cupping her cheek with her hand.

The last person to do that had been Horde Prime, but this felt different. This felt warm and loving. Catra blushed nervously. She was not used to displays of motherly affection. Angella then spoke again:

"You're two sides of the same coin: you and Adora. I now see that you were both raised together for a reason. Shadow Weaver realized you were special and wanted you both to change the tide of the war, to conquer Etheria for the Horde, but what if your true destiny was not to take sides? What if the two of you were supposed to end the war entirely, bringing peace to Etheria after decades of strife?" Now Catra started to tear up. Ever since opening up to Melog a few hours ago, she had become more in touch with her emotions, and was having a hard time controlling them. Angella finally finished her speech:

"You've already done so much to end this war, and we all know Adora never stopped trying. Don't feel guilty about the portal, Catra. I forgive you. With you on our side, and Adora alongside you, there is no doubt in my mind that victory will be ours."

Chapter Text

It had not taken long for Grizzlor to sound the retreat. He did not know why the princesses were attacking them, particularly as they were only doing what they had asked them to do in the first place. Then again, they were princesses. He should have known better than to trust them.

Grizzlor's thoughts were interrupted by a giant wave of water cutting off the army's escape, while giant vines suddenly rose up all around them. Red lightning then filled the air, striking down every other soldier still standing. Then the water turned to ice and a spell was cast to freeze every remaining Horde soldier in place, while another spell was cast to shoot yet more lightning at them once they could not move.

Grizzlor looked over at Octavia, who had been knocked out by the red lightning, and then over at Force Captain Lance, who was struggling with one of the giant vines. There were only a dozen soldiers left now, and Grizzlor gasped as he watched them get attacked by a squad of ex-Horde members, a flying horse, and what looked like Hordak's old pet. That was when a net seemed to cover the entire army and a powerful gust of wind blew everybody up against it.

As Grizzlor fell to the ground, he watched as the princesses slowly advanced towards him. He closed his eyes – it was all over.

***

Adora had two more hologram experiences. She found herself staring at her sword, as it was the day she found it in the woods. Thinking that touching it might finally get her somewhere, she had done so. She had then found herself standing on that same cliff she had stood on the previous night, overlooking the Whispering Woods. It seemed different, however.

Everything was so bright and colourful, and Adora could not see the Fright Zone at all. That was when Mara, the former She-Ra, came and stood next to her. Seeing her predecessor gave Adora the strength to turn back into She-Ra. Once she had done so, she said:

"I'm going to save Etheria, no matter what it takes. Your sacrifice won't be in vain. I promise."

***

Right when Jewelstar was finally about to land the ship in Brightmoon, Starla suddenly yelled:

"Hey guys! You should see this!" Everyone crowded around the monitor she was staring at and Tallstar exclaimed:

"That energy signature is off the charts! Where's it coming from?" Catra’s eyes widened as she realized what was going on:

"The Heart of Etheria. Horde Prime is activating the Heart of Etheria! We need to find him immediately!" Jewelstar began hitting buttons, making the ship scan for clones. It did not take long for the ship's computer to identify a whole mass of them gathered just outside the Whispering Woods, near yet another old Horde base. Jewelstar sighed:

"He might not be there, but there's definitely something big happening." Angella finally spoke:

"It'll have to do. Let's go!"

***

It was all over. Clones gathered all the unconscious soldiers and dumped them in one giant heap behind the three Force Captains.

Grizzlor looked down at the ground, ashamed to have lost to the princesses yet again. Octavia closed her eye as a tear rolled out of it. She felt like she had let everyone down. Meanwhile, Force Captain Lance kept turning and smiling reassuringly at the soldiers who were waking up. While he was certainly not feeling great about their prospects, the least he could do was try and keep their spirits up. Queen Glimmer then walked up to them and Horde Prime's voice spoke through her:

"So this is the Horde? Pathetic. I must admit, you resisted longer than I expected, but Horde Prime is all-powerful. My victory is assured."

***

"You're worth more than what you can give to other people. You deserve love too. You're so close, Adora. Don't give up yet!" She-Ra gasped as Mara's voice was cut off and the hologram was paused. Everything went green, and, as She-Ra tried to figure out what was happening, she heard the voice of her worst enemy:

"Ah Adora, so this is where you've run to hide?"

***

As the ship approached where the large group of clones were located, Catra looked out the window and gasped. She saw the entirety of the Horde surrounded by members of the rebellion. She looked desperately for Adora but could not find her. She prayed nothing had happened to her. Angella then joined her and asked:

"What's going on? Is that the rebellion? Are they working with Horde Prime to take down the Horde?" Catra would normally have grumbled at the assumption that the Horde was still bad, but, seeing as how Angella had just forgiven her for the biggest sin of her life, so she decided not to push it. Instead, Catra turned to Jewelstar, who was still manning the control panel:

"Odd request – can you get a camera online and zoom onto the back of one of their necks?" Tallstar folded her arms and asked:

"Why? Is everyone chipped?" Starla then rushed to the window and said:

"Looks like it. Hey! I see Glimmer and Bow!" Catra stared at her in astonishment:

"You met Sparkles and Arrow Boy?" Starla looked at her in confusion:

"Yeah, we met Adora too. Didn't we tell you?" Before Catra could say anything, Jewelstar interrupted:

"I've got the feed up and running." Everyone rushed over to the monitor as the camera zoomed in on the members of the rebellion. It then zoomed in further onto the neck of a black-haired man dressed in purple robes. The device was sitting there for all to see. Catra said:

"Okay, I know from experience that only Horde Prime can take those things off. What are we going to do?" Much to her surprise, Jewelstar scoffed and said:

"What we always do! Jam the signal!" Tallstar then explained:

"We do it all the time. We just need to send out a jamming signal and then knock everyone out before they go mad. Once you've done that, you can get on with whatever you need to do." Catra groaned in frustration:

"Okay, that's great and all, but I don't want to simply knock them out – I want to get those chips off of their necks!" She was then suddenly interrupted by Angella exclaiming:

"Micah?!"

***

Force Captain Lance noticed the ship hovering above them before anyone else did. He was trying to keep his hopes alive. He knew something had happened to Catra (though Octavia had not told him what), but he was certain she would not abandon the Horde like this. She was their real leader and she would come and save them. She had sent Scorpia to help them last time, so maybe she would send someone else to save them now! Suddenly, Horde Prime's voice boomed out of King Micah's mouth:

"You're all traitors and there's no place for you in Horde Prime's light." As all the princesses simultaneously prepared to fire, Force Captain Lance closed his eyes. He had been wrong – Catra was not coming to save them. Or was she?

Force Captain Lance jumped as the ship blasted its cannon at the members of the rebellion in front of him (Micah, Swift Wind, Glimmer and Mermista). They all moved out of the way and everyone looked up. The ship was now flying close to ground and one of its doors opened. Force Captain Lance's eyes went wide as a familiar feline jumped out of it and landed on King Micah, forcing him to the ground.

"Hey Prime. Miss me?"

***

Adora gasped from the pain. So much for She-Ra. Horde Prime had activated one of the elementals guarding the Heart of Etheria – a hideous green creature with sharp tentacles. It had scratched Adora, infecting her with something that was making the failsafe flicker on her chest.

Adora groaned and let herself fall against the wall. This was it. She could not fight anymore. She had lost. With that, the elemental shot out its tentacles and grabbed hold of Adora's legs. She screamed and made a half-hearted attempt to escape - but it was no use. All she could do was helplessly let the monster drag her up to its mouth to finally end her life once and for all.

***

As Catra pinned King Micah to the ground, a high-pitched whine was suddenly heard coming from the ship. All the members of the rebellion simultaneously screamed and collapsed to the ground.

King Micah began to struggle under Catra, crying out from the pain of having his link with Horde Prime severed. Without hesitation, Catra flipped him over and used her claws to break the chip on his neck. He immediately stopped screaming and seemed to fall into a drunken stupor:

"C…Catra?" Catra then stood up and turned to the soldiers she used to command:

"Hit them in the back of the neck! That should take them down!" Much to her surprise, several Horde soldiers instantly obeyed her and rushed over to their captors. Catra then turned to face Octavia, who was gaping in disbelief. Before she could say anything, however, Jewelstar's voice yelled in her ear:

"We've got company! Turn around!" As Catra moved, she saw an army of clones racing towards them from the spire. She scoffed:

"It's nothing the Horde can't handle." She then looked back to Octavia:

"Ready to hit 'em where it hurts?" Octavia grinned. She then stood up, pointed at the advancing clone army, and yelled so everyone could hear:

"For the Horde! And for Force Commander Catra!" She then sprang forward, followed immediately by a few hundred soldiers. Catra felt tears well up in her eyes. She could not begin to describe how proud she was.

***

As Adora was raised in the air by the monster, her life flashed before her eyes. She smiled at the memory of dancing with Catra at Princess Prom. Catra had looked so hot in that suit and, she had to admit, despite all the pain and betrayal that had followed that night, she had never regretted that dance. Adora's thoughts were then interrupted by Horde Prime's evil laugh echoing through the room. Adora squirmed one last time, but it was still no use. Or was it?

As Adora struggled, her staff came loose from her belt. She had completely forgotten she had it. It was Adora's weapon – a weapon designed to protect her when She-Ra could not. As the monster dropped her in its mouth, she grabbed it, extended it, and used it to catch herself on its teeth. Before it could close its mouth, she used every ounce of strength she had to climb out and fall to the ground. Mara's words echoed in her ears:

"Don't give up yet!"

***

The Horde, led by Catra and its fearless Force Captains, charged at Horde Prime's clone army. They were vastly outnumbered, but the Horde was better trained and had the assistance of an actual spaceship's cannon.

As the battle raged, the princesses began to wake up from their ordeal. They collectively stared at the battle in disbelief for several minutes before Mermista finally turned to her friends and asked: "Is that Catra?"

***

Adora rolled around on the floor, desperately trying to dodge the monster's tentacles. She then used her staff to stand up and give her enough momentum to run to the exit (which she really hoped would lead to the Heart). The monster then stopped her in her tracks by grabbing her again, only, this time, he also scratched her on her other side.

Adora screamed and hit the tentacles frantically with her staff. This seemed to work to get them off her. As soon as the monster let go, Adora continued her bee-line for the exit, and only just made it out of the monster's range. When she did, she sunk to the floor - hugging her wounds. She knew that, unless she found a way to transform back into She-Ra, she was definitely going to die.

***

Just as it looked like the Horde might lose this fight, as it had lost so many others in the past, the rebellion finally joined in.

It had been Catra's idea to incapacitate the chips after cutting off Horde Prime's connection with them. This gave each member of the rebellion enough control over their own bodies to start taking down clones, despite still having their minds clogged with Horde Prime's voice.

As the princesses brought the elements crashing down on Horde Prime's army, nearly all the clones turned and fled. It did not take long to take down the ones that remained.

Everyone cheered as the battle was won. The Horde and the rebellion were now officially on the same side.

***

Adora gasped with effort as she finally pulled herself up, losing blood and energy as she did so. She slowly began to make her way down the corridor she was in. The creature's screams soon began to fade in the distance, and the failsafe began to flicker even more erratically on Adora's chest.

While considering her impending death, her thoughts turned to Catra once more. She teared up as she remembered two young cadets sitting together on a bed many years ago.

"It doesn't matter what they do to us. You look out for me, and I look out for you. Nothing really bad can happen as long as we have each other."

"You promise?"

"I promise."

***

With the battle over, the Horde began to re-organize itself and slowly head back towards its base. The members of the rebellion gathered in front of the Force Captains, with Force Captain Lance being the first to break the awkward silence:

"Well, wasn't that something? True, we got off to a rocky start, but we finished strong!" Grizzlor growled and Glimmer went red from embarrassment. She muttered:

"We're sorry. Horde Prime was controlling us." Octavia then smiled:

"It's no big deal. The important thing is, we won! It felt good getting to win for a change."

"Be careful!" Catra's voice rang out. Everyone turned to look at her as she approached. After locking eyes with them all, Catra finished her sentence:

"If you keep winning, someone will try to kill you. Believe me, I speak from experience." Despite the somber message, Octavia's smile just grew even wider. She ran forward, and wrapped Catra in a hug.

"I missed you, Kitty-Cat." Catra groaned:

"I told you to not call me that." Octavia ignored her and hugged her even tighter. This surprised Catra, who responded by awkwardly patting her on the shoulder.

"Uh…it's great to see you too?" Octavia then let go and said:

"I thought you were dead – we all did." There was an awkward silence as everyone silently confirmed this with shared expressions of shock and confusion. Catra raised her eyebrow before smirking:

"Well, maybe I really do have nine lives." She then paused before finally asking the question which had been circling in her mind ever since she had noticed her absence:

"Where's Adora?"

***

Hordak/ Horde Prime growled at his screen. She-Ra may have been defeated, but he had lost his power over the rebellion and the Horde. And Catra was back. How was that possible? With a roar, he punched the screen, shattering it.

After taking a deep breath, Hordak/ Horde Prime composed himself and snapped his fingers. Upon doing so, hundreds of clones instantly teleported to surround those who dared to challenge him. He then activated his hologram generator and, once his body was projected on every spire across Etheria, he began to speak menacingly:

"Rejoice, Etheria, for your day of reckoning has come. I offered you mercy, but you have spurned my good graces. So be it. Your resistance has been for naught. Your She-Ra has abandoned you. All that is left for your world is a terrible and eternal night." He then narrowed his eyes and added:

"Not even Catra can save you now."

***

Catra gulped as she tried to process what was happening. A giant clone army had suddenly materialized around the Horde and the rebellion, causing everyone to fall silent with fear. Then Hordak/ Horde Prime had projected himself from the spire next to them, and, while she was almost flattered by being labelled as a potential savior (much to the confusion of nearly everyone around her), she was distracted by what he had said about Adora. What had happened to her? What had Horde Prime meant by her "abandoning" them? She then felt Scorpia's claws on her shoulders.

"Don't worry, Catra! I'm sure Adora's okay – just like you!" Before Catra could respond, Scorpia suddenly wrapped her in a bear hug, crying:

"I'm so glad you're alive, Wildcat!" Just as she did that, the clones began to fire, and all the princesses, including Scorpia, instantly began to fire back.

As Catra was about to join the fight, she felt a hand on her shoulder. She instantly knew who it was – Shadow Weaver.

"I can get us to Adora, but we need to hurry."

***

Adora had lost a lot of blood, and she had still not made it to the end of the corridor. She was close to passing out, but was willing herself not to. She focused on the memories that kept circling in her mind – memories of Catra. It was not long before those memories turned into literal fever dreams.

As Adora turned her head, fighting to stay awake, she saw Catra next to her in her old Force Captain uniform. She was gesturing wildly at her, like she used to do when she was trying to win an argument. Adora stopped and tried to focus on what her mind was showing her. She then heard Catra speak:

"Why? Why are you like this? Why do you always have to sacrifice everything for everyone else? When do you get to choose? What do you want, Adora?" Adora's eyes went wide. Was this real? Was Catra really here? That was impossible. She closed her eyes and spoke to the walls around her:

"I…I have to do this, Catra. I'm the only one who can." When she opened her eyes, Catra was still there, only this time she was in her Force Commander uniform. She looked as sad as she was in her last personal log. She turned to Adora and said:

"Then do it, if that's what you want. That's what you'll always choose. I don't have to stay and watch it happen." Adora's eyes went wide. She reached out to her hallucination and begged:

"Catra, please, stay! I need you!" It was no use, however. A tear rolled down her cheek as she watched Catra begin to disappear - her last words echoing in her head as her mind finally brought her back to reality:

"No you don't. You never have."

***

Catra groaned as she felt herself once again ensnared in Shadow Weaver's magic. When it finally released her, she opened her eyes and looked around. She was now in a dark corridor with First Ones' writing on the wall, and a creepy green light emanating from the floor. She then heard Shadow Weaver moan in pain, and turned around to look at her.

Shadow Weaver had collapsed on the ground, supposedly from using all her power to get them there. Horde Prime had had her chipped along with the other members of the rebellion, and, like the others, she had been freed from his control by a Horde soldier damaging her chip (though Horde Prime might still regain control of her if she passed out or stopped resisting him).

The whole experience had clearly taken a toll on Shadow Weaver, not that Catra was sympathetic. She was one of the few people who saw Shadow Weaver for who she truly was: evil. After a moment of silence, Catra finally growled:

"Where are we? You said you were going to take us to Adora. Where's Adora?" Shadow Weaver took a deep breath before responding:

"She's close. This passage leads to the Heart of Etheria, deep within the planet's core." Shadow Weaver then coughed and grabbed Catra's hand, causing her to hiss. As she yanked her hand away, Shadow Weaver spoke again:

"You have to find her - you have to make sure she reaches the Heart. The magic must be set free." As she coughed again, Catra raised her eyebrow in confusion.

"What are you talking about? Why is Adora even going to the Heart? Is she turning it off so Horde Prime can't use it?" Shadow Weaver nodded before muttering:

"You were always the smart one, weren't you?" Catra's eyes went wide as Shadow Weaver continued:

"I'll admit, when I first heard you died, I thought little of it. But then I saw the effect it had on Adora – how it destroyed her. I realized it was my fault - I raised you together. You were supposed to stay together – rule Etheria together. You're both so special, and…I'm so proud of you, Catra." Before Catra could say anything, Shadow Weaver passed out. Catra then screamed in anger and yelled at her former mentor's unconscious body:

"I don't need you to be proud of me! I'm more than what you made me! So is Adora! You have no power over us anymore!" With that, Shadow Weaver suddenly woke up – green eyes shining in the dark. Catra gasped as Horde Prime spoke through her:

"Oh little sister, what a shame. I had such high hopes for you."

***

It had taken every ounce of strength she had, but Adora had finally made it to the Heart of Etheria. She now realized just how slowly she had been walking because she tried to speed up and almost collapsed from the thought alone. She was in so much pain and her skin was so pale.

Adora looked up at the beautiful blue room with the flashing light of the Heart at its center. She knew that if she could just get near it, she would have completed her objective.

As Adora slowly began to advance, she tried transforming into She-Ra one last time. It did not work. As she resolutely continued her walk, her mind showed her Catra again. She was standing where Adora was heading – the center of the room. She was now a young cadet, and she looked scared and confused as she cried:

"Why do you keep imagining me? We both know I don't matter!" Adora smiled and spoke quietly to the room around her:

"You matter to me."

***

The battle raged outside the Whispering Woods. The Horde were valiantly standing their ground, while the princesses were successfully pushing most of the clones back with their powers. However, there were just too many of them. Glimmer yelled in frustration:

"This isn't working! We need help!" As if on cue, the space ship Catra had flown in on descended from the sky and blasted a whole battalion of clones in front of her. As it passed the line of princesses, the door opened, and Glimmer recognized Tallstar, Starla and Glory as they jumped out and ran towards her. When they reached her, Tallstar waved:

"Hey Glimmer! Long-time no see!" Starla then gave her a hug and said:

"It's so great to see you again!" Glimmer smiled and said:

"It's great to see you too! Is Jewelstar flying the ship?" Tallstar nodded:

"Yep! He's not the one firing the cannon, though." Glimmer raised her eyebrow and asked:

"Who's firing the cannon?" Tallstar smiled and said nothing. That was a surprise for later.

***

Catra leapt out of the way as Horde Prime took control of Shadow Weaver's body and began to shoot her dark magic at her.

As Catra's back hit the wall, she groaned and tried to remember how she had beaten Shadow Weaver last time. It had been so long ago – back when her anger against Adora fueled every decision she made. Horde Prime continued to speak through Shadow Weaver:

"So brave, risking yourself for Adora. But it will make no difference. The Heart is almost mine, and when it is, your Adora will die." Catra growled and leapt at Shadow Weaver. She remembered what happened last time - she had to go for the mask.

Catra extended her claws and, using all her strength, ripped Shadow Weaver's mask apart. As she hit the ground again, she heard Shadow Weaver scream behind her.

Catra thought she had won, but then she heard Shadow Weaver laugh. She turned around and gasped at the hideousness of Shadow Waver's face. Her eyes were still green and she looked straight at Catra, saying:

"So, tell me, little sister, was it worth it?" With that, Shadow Weaver fired yet another spell at Catra.

Catra continued to struggle against Shadow Weaver's attacks for several minutes. The corridor they were in was small, giving her little room to move. It also did not help that Shadow Weaver's horrible face, mixed with those terrifying green eyes, distracted her every time she tried to fight back.

As Catra was thrown against the wall once more, she closed her eyes and tried to think. She knew Shadow Weaver's magic better than anyone, and she knew that, when casting a spell, she would always involuntarily over-compensate because she was addicted to the power.

Catra gave a smile as she opened her eyes and narrowly dodged another rune. Breaking her former mentor's mask may not have worked (given she was no longer connected to the Black Garnet), but that was not the only way to beat her. It was Shadow Weaver herself who had taught Catra to use her enemies' weaknesses against them – she was about to get a taste of her own medicine. Catra turned to Shadow Weaver and yelled:

"You know what, Horde Prime? You and Shadow Weaver are the same – you want power and will do anything to get it. But do you know what happens when you have too much?" With that, Catra leapt onto Shadow Weaver's back, and, when she raised her hand to zap Catra, like she had done hundreds of times before, Catra moved out of the way at the last second. Catra then watched with a wry grin as Shadow Weaver zapped herself.

Being hit by her own excess power incapacitated Shadow Weaver, and she fell to the floor with one of the loudest screams Catra had ever heard. Once she had passed out again, Catra stood over her and answered her question:

"You get burned."

***

Adora breathed a sigh of relief - she was now under the Heart. She finally let herself fall to the ground, and gasped as she felt the failsafe begin to react to its surroundings. It sent waves of pain through her already pain-stricken body.

Adora screamed and began to convulse on the ground. This was it. She was about to die.

Chapter Text

As soon as Hordak/ Horde Prime lost control of Shadow Weaver, he roared in anger and punched his screen again – shattering whatever was left of it to bits. He turned to one of his brothers and yelled:

"Put an end to this mockery! Destroy them all!" His brother immediately teleported away, supposedly to organize the transportation of even more clones to the battlefield.

As Hordak/ Horde Prime composed himself, another of his brothers ran up to him with a tablet.

"My apologies for the interruption, Horde Prime, but we have gained access to the Heart of Etheria." Hordak/ Horde Prime's eyes lit up and he laughed evilly before yelling: "Ah! I can feel it! The Heart is mine!"

***

As Adora drifted into unconsciousness, she suddenly saw herself in a beautiful room – looking at a waterfall. She was dressed in a lovely white dress and her hair was down.

As Adora took in her surroundings, she heard a door open behind her. She turned to see a short-haired Glimmer chasing Catra into the room with a hairbrush. Catra had her hair up, and was dressed like a member of the rebellion. She looked beautiful. Glimmer laughed:

"Just let me brush it!" Catra shook her head and yelled:

"No!" She ran up to Adora and, once she reached her, she hid behind her to keep away from Glimmer. Catra tugged Adora's arms:

"Don't let her touch me! She's going to torture me!" Glimmer laughed:

"Do you always have to be this dramatic?" She was then interrupted by Bow, who walked in the room dressed in a suit - with a cape that matched Glimmer's. He seemed older, with a goatee and ponytail. He said:

"Come on, guys! If we're late to Scorpia's first ball, she's going to kill us." He then pulled Glimmer towards him, and she leaned her head against his shoulder affectionately.

"Fine!" She then turned back to Catra and continued:

"You're off the hook. This time." Catra responded by sticking her tongue out at Glimmer. Adora stared at them. What was this? Was her mind still playing tricks on her? Was this the beacon punishing her for destroying the Heart of Etheria – giving her a glimpse of a future she could never have?

Adora watched sadly as her friends turned to leave, and Catra followed them. She was convinced this was it – that this was the end of the dream. But then Catra turned around and reached her hand out to her:

"You coming?" Adora could not help but smile and reach out for her too. There was absolutely no doubt in her mind that she had been in love with Catra this whole time. Why could she not have realized that sooner? Her thoughts were then interrupted by Catra transforming into Horde Prime, and the room around her fading to black. He looked down at her and said:

"A beautiful wish, but there will be no future. Not for you." Adora then felt herself restrained and could once again feel the pain of the failsafe reacting to the Heart. She screamed. When would this nightmare be over?

As Adora felt tears leaving her eyes, a bright light suddenly shone in her face. She looked up and gasped as she saw Catra once again reaching her hand out to her. This time, however, she was in her Force Commander uniform and had short hair. She yelled:

"Adora! Please! You have to wake up!"

***

As soon as Catra had defeated Shadow Weaver, she ran down the corridor like her life depended on it. Well, technically, it did. She could not live without Adora, and, from what Horde Prime had said, she was already dead. It was not long before she saw the shining light of the Heart of Etheria in the distance. She screamed:

"Adora! ADORA!" Once she entered the room, it took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the light.

Then she saw her.

Adora was lying perfectly still under what Catra assumed was the Heart itself, with something flashing on her chest. Catra immediately ran over to her, fell down beside her, and held her in her arms. As she did so, she noticed the deep cuts all over Adora's body, as well as the worrying green colour of her veins.

Catra gasped and tears filled her eyes. She was too late – Horde Prime really had killed Adora. Or had he? It was at that moment that Catra heard Adora moan in pain. Realizing Adora was not dead yet, Catra hugged her close and spoke directly into her ear:

"Adora! Please! You have to wake up!"

***

The battle outside the Whispering Woods continued, and the Horde and the rebellion were now winning with the help of the Star Siblings and their space ship. As the clones were gradually pushed back towards the spire, Glimmer called to Entrapta, who had been hiding behind a rock with Wrong Hordak:

"Hey Entrapta! Remember how you got us through the blockade by jamming Horde Prime's comms? Could you do that again?" Entrapta nodded and said:

"Yes of course! But I'll need access to a communications panel, like the one we had on Darla." Glimmer turned to Tallstar, who was firing her weapon beside her:

"Hey, you got one of those on your ship, right? Could you let her on?" Before Tallstar could reply, Bow rushed over yelling:

"I'm all out of arrows! Let me go too – I can help!" Glimmer smiled and nodded while Tallstar quickly called up to her brother:

"Jewel, Glimmer wants you to make another pass and pick up Bow and a friend of hers. They just might be able to cut Horde Prime's comms and end this battle early!"

***

Adora stared blankly at Catra reaching her hand towards her. She was convinced this was not real. Her mind had been hallucinating Catra for the last hour, and Adora had just seen a future version of her in, what she assumed, was a combination of her own imagination and First Ones' technology. Seeing her again made her cry even more. When would this end? Had she not been punished enough for failing to save Catra? To make it worse, Catra kept yelling at her:

"You can't give up! You've never given up on anything in your life. Not even on me. So, don't you dare start now!" Adora's eyes welled up with even more tears. That was not true - she had given up on Catra. Why would Catra think otherwise? And why was she telling her not to give up? She was not giving up – she had lost. Adora tearfully replied to the vision before her:

"It's too late. I've failed." Much to her surprise, Catra leaned even closer to her and practically began screaming:

"No! No! I got you! I'm not letting go!" Adora's eyes went wide as she suddenly felt someone hug her dying body. She took a closer look at Catra. She had short hair now and it looked really cute on her. Her expression was that of genuine distress – one Adora had not seen in a long time. She was not like her other visions: she was not disappearing, nor was she a hologram… Adora gasped. It really was Catra!

With that realization, Adora desperately reached out her hand, willing herself to tell Catra everything she meant to say before it was too late. She tearfully confessed:

"Catra…I'm sorry…I never hated you…You're special to me too…I'm sorry…for everything..."

***

Catra gasped. She could not believe what Adora had just said - albeit very quietly and without opening her eyes. She never hated her? She reciprocated Catra's feelings? As Catra tried to process it all, Adora slumped further into her arms – her body finally giving up. Catra yelled:

"Adora! Adora, stay awake!" Catra then realized this might be her last chance to tell Adora what she really wanted to say – what she had wanted to say for a long time. She leaned close to Adora's ear and cried softly:

"Don't you get it? I love you! I always have. So please, just this once, stay!"

***

As Hordak/ Horde Prime's brothers worked to fix his screen, he studied the schematics of the Heart of Etheria. He knew that once he unleashed it, he could not control it. It would certainly destroy everything – his empire and maybe even the entire universe. But that had been what he had wanted for a while. Horde Prime had ruled supreme for thousands of years and had never known true peace. Maybe unleashing the Heart would finally give him a glimpse of what that was.

Once his brothers had finished fixing his screen, and Hordak/ Horde Prime had hooked himself back up to the monitor, he was about to finally unleash the Heart when his comms suddenly went dead. He stared in disbelief at his screen as a member of the rebellion came on, hacking into his hologram projector:

"Hey everyone! I'm Bow. Prime is probably trying to get his channel back, so I have to make this quick. Prime's controlled the universe for a long time. Right now, we're the only thing standing in the way of him controlling it forever. You might be feeling hopeless. You might be thinking, "We don't stand a chance", and maybe we don't. Prime's too strong. His army is too powerful. But that's not going to stop us. We need to show Prime we're not afraid of him, because we have each other. And we have love. We can't give up. And if we go down, we go down together. We need you – all of you. It's time to take back our world. It's time to fight. For She-Ra, for our homes, and for each other!"

***

When Bow turned off the hologram projector, he breathed a sigh of relief. He hoped he had occupied Horde Prime's channel long enough for Entrapta to not only hack into the signal, but completely shut it down. He did not hope in vain, as Entrapta called out to him from behind the communications panel on the Star Siblings' ship:

"I did it! I've shut down the signal! Now Prime won't be able to contact any of the clones anywhere on Etheria!"

***

As soon as the signal was shut down, Hordak/ Horde Prime screamed. The pain of being separated from his brothers was too much, and Hordak was briefly able to regain control of his body. He turned to the monitor and programmed every ship in Horde Prime's fleet, including the flagship, to self-destruct. Horde Prime then fought back and succeeded in subduing Hordak yet again. However, upon seeing what Hordak had done, he did not try to fix it. Instead, he growled:

"So be it! You have forced my hand! I will unleash the Heart, and so we shall die in cleansing flame together!" With that, he hit the button, and the Heart of Etheria was activated.

***

"Stay" Catra repeated into Adora's ear. Just as she did so, the whole chamber turned green and the Heart flared up – shooting bolts of magical energy in every direction.

Catra braced herself. She expected to feel the familiar burn of electricity, but was instead surprised when she felt Adora's hand on her back. As she looked up, Catra saw that Adora had woken up and had somehow summoned her sword to prevent Catra from getting hit by the blast. Adora was looking at Catra with wonder in her eyes as she asked:

"You love me?" Catra stared at her in shock before chuckling to herself:

"You're such an idiot." Well, they were both idiots, but Catra would never admit that. With every second of silence, Catra became increasingly certain that, while Adora may still want to be her friend, she did not want Catra the same way she wanted her. That was why her eyes went wide when Adora suddenly smiled and said:

"I love you too."

***

Adora could not believe it. Catra was alive. Not only that, but she was also here - and in love with her. Knowing this had somehow re-established Adora's link with She-Ra and, for the first time in a long time, she had hope.

When she told Catra she loved her too, Catra's eyes went wide with surprise. She then gave a beautiful smile and leaned down to kiss Adora. Adora let her, and the pure joy she felt at receiving a kiss from Catra, the woman she was completely in love with (and who she thought had been dead only moments before), re-awakened She-Ra.

Adora felt herself grow bigger, with her wounds healing themselves. She then felt the failsafe finally separate from her body, and listened as it destroyed the Heart of Etheria. She wrapped Catra in a protective hug as the magic began to swirl around them, deepening the kiss between them. She now knew her answer to Mara's question - this was what she wanted.

Chapter Text

Hordak/ Horde Prime stared at his screen in disbelief. Despite being online mere seconds ago, the Heart of Etheria was suddenly no longer accessible. He screamed in anger and, in a fit of rage, left Hordak's body and took over that of his brother behind him.

Hordak fell to the ground and growled in pain. Horde Prime, now in his brother's body, walked up to Hordak and punched him in the face. As he fell to the floor once more, Horde Prime kicked him in the ribs and then pulled him up by his uniform.

"My dominion was perfect! Everything was as it should be! And so it shall be again. I should never have come to this pathetic planet, nor should I have cared when you tried to contact me. I should've left you here – alone, pathetic, useless! You're nothing without me, brother, and you have failed me for the last time!" As he raised his arm cannon to Hordak's head, Hordak yelled:

"I am not your brother! You made me in your image, but I am more than that! I gave myself a name, I made a life of my own! I am Hordak, and I defy your will!" With that, he broke free from Horde Prime's grasp and kicked him to the ground. He then ran to the monitor and sped up the self-destruct sequence to ten seconds. Horde Prime screamed:

"Brother! No!" Realizing it was too late to do anything, Horde Prime snapped his fingers to teleport himself down to Etheria. Hordak leapt on him as he did so.

***

Glimmer lay against a rock and rubbed the side of her head. After Bow's magnificent speech, the clones had all simultaneously gone crazy and dropped their weapons, running around and screaming like animals. The ground had then suddenly opened up, with beams of green light shooting skyward.

Glimmer's head had been knocked against a rock when she dodged one of the beams, and, as she lay there, her eyes filled with tears. Horde Prime had activated the Heart of Etheria. It did not matter what they had done – Horde Prime had still won. Or had he?

Just as suddenly as they had shot up, the beams disappeared, and the air began to fill with bright yellow lights. Glimmer recognized it as magic. She then gave a giant smile. The Heart had not been activated – it had been deactivated! Adora had delivered the failsafe! Glimmer stood up and cried:

"We've won! Horde Prime is defeated! She-Ra has saved us!" Upon hearing that, the members of the rebellion let out a loud cheer, while the soldiers of the Horde continued to look at each other in confusion. The moment was then interrupted by several thunderous explosions in the sky. Glimmer's eyes went wide and she muttered to herself:

"The blockade! Someone's destroying Horde Prime's ships!"

***

Catra and She-Ra had been kissing for what felt like hours but was only a few minutes. When they finally pulled back to breathe, She-Ra gave Catra her signature goofy grin. Catra raised her eyebrow before asking:

"What?" She-Ra then laughed:

"So, you admit you like me?" Catra glared at She-Ra before smiling and saying:

"Hard not to when you're dressed like that. When did you get the upgrade?" She-Ra blushed and blurted out:

"A few days ago - when I got the failsafe. But, what about you? When did you cut your hair? It looks amazing!" Catra's expression suddenly went dark, making She-Ra realize she had said the wrong thing. Catra muttered:

"Horde Prime cut it. When I was a clone." Tears welled up in She-Ra's eyes and she pulled Catra in for a hug. She whispered:

"I'm so sorry, Catra. I went back for you – I promise I did! But Horde Prime captured me and took control of me..." Catra's eyes went wide and she yelled:

"He did what to you?! That…that…there isn't even a word bad enough to…" Catra was then interrupted by Shadow Weaver's voice:

"Catra, Adora, you need to get to the surface. The battle isn't over yet." Catra and She-Ra turned around to see a limping and disheveled Shadow Weaver slowly making her way towards them. She-Ra gasped:

"Shadow Weaver! How did you get here? What happened to you?" Catra gave a wry grin:

"She got what she deserved." Before She-Ra could respond, some of the ceiling fell behind them.

The deactivation of the Heart of Etheria had left the room unstable, and now that part of the ceiling had caved in, a few rays of sunshine could be seen. Catra and She-Ra had not noticed until now, given how happy they were to finally be in each other's arms. However, Shadow Weaver's presence had brought them back to reality. She-Ra looked up at the hole in the ceiling and said:

"Right, well, I better get back up there and help my friends." She then turned back to Catra, her eyes full of love:

"You coming?" Catra smiled as she realized the true meaning of that question. She said:

"I'm not leaving. Whatever happens, I'm staying with you." They kissed again, and, before Shadow Weaver could voice her annoyance at their newfound romance, She-Ra picked both her and Catra up in her arms, and literally jumped up through the hole in the ceiling. She landed just next to the battlefield, in front of the spire.

Shadow Weaver groaned in pain and She-Ra unceremoniously dumped her on the ground. Catra then moaned:

"Ugh, how about a warning next time?" She-Ra's face went white with concern as she lay Catra gently on the ground and gave her a hug.

"I'm sorry! I forget how strong I am like this! Are you okay?" Catra laughed and said:

"Of course I am, you idiot! Now go and save the world – it's what you do best!"

***

Bow and Entrapta watched Horde Prime's ships blow up on Jewelstar's monitor. Jewelstar sighed:

"Well, I guess that's that then. Horde Prime really has been defeated." Bow nodded while Entrapta lowered her eyes. She was worried about Hordak. Despite knowing he had abandoned her on Beast Island, she still cared for him and really wanted to know where he was. She really hoped he was not on one of the exploding ships.

Bow then gasped and Entrapta turned to see what had got him so excited. It turned out not to be a thing but a person. Bow cried:

"Queen Angella?!" Angella smiled as she stepped out of the hatch leading to the cannon control room.

"Bow! It's so wonderful to see you again!" Bow gasped as Angella approached him and wrapped him in a hug. Entrapta went red and shuffled backwards to where Wrong Hordak was standing.

Entrapta remembered the last time she had seen the queen – it was back when she had worked with the rebellion. She had then betrayed her and gone to work for the Horde. On top of that, she had made the portal machine that had supposedly killed her, only now it seemed to have simply sent her outside of the dimension of Despondos. While this revelation fascinated Entrapta, she was too pre-occupied by the fact Angella would not be happy to see her.

Entrapta expected Angella to yell at her the same way Mermista had (when she had been trying to locate Glimmer using Horde Prime's tech). Her thoughts were then interrupted by Bow crying into Angella's shoulder:

"I can't believe you're here! We missed you so much! Glimmer is going to be so happy to see you!" Bow was then interrupted by Jewelstar:

"Um, guys? Not to break up a tender moment, but I think I see Horde Prime!"

***

Horde Prime's clone army, the Horde and the rebellion all stared up at the sky in confusion (watching as Horde Prime's fleet was completely destroyed), when, suddenly, a loud cry was heard. They all turned to see Hordak and another clone suddenly materialize in the center of the battlefield, fighting each other viciously.

The soldiers of the Horde moved away – well-trained in the art of not interfering with Hordak. The members of the rebellion also stepped back, unsure of what they were witnessing. Meanwhile, the hundreds of clones who, up until now, had been going crazy at the loss of the hivemind, all simultaneously stopped and stared. A long moment passed where everyone watched as Hordak and the other clone fought each other. Finally, the clone subdued Hordak, looked around and yelled:

"Though all is reduced to rubble, Prime shall rise again! So it has been and so it always shall be!" With that, he snapped his fingers and every clone on the battlefield suddenly stood to attention. Then, without a word, they all charged forward.

The Horde and the rebellion turned back to face them while Horde Prime looked down at where he had Hordak pinned, and, laughing evilly, he raised his arm cannon and fired.

***

Entrapta screamed as she watched Hordak get shot. Bow gasped and Angella said:

"We have to get down there. Jewelstar, bring us down!" As Jewelstar rushed to the control panel, Melog emerged from where they had been hiding in the corner of the flight deck. Bow cried out in fear:

"Ah! What is it? What is it?!" Angella smiled and said:

"This is Melog – Catra's friend." This statement caused Entrapta to finally put aside her fear of Angella in favor of learning new information. She looked up at Angella quizzically:

"Catra has a friend?"

***

She-Ra ran towards the battlefield - it had taken her longer to get there than expected. As she got closer to the battle, she could hear the noises of laser fire and people screaming in anger and pain. When she finally arrived, she assessed the situation.

It seemed the Horde and the rebellion were fighting together against a whole mass of clones. Without a moment's hesitation, She-Ra plunged her sword into the ground, causing vegetation to suddenly grow and cover the entire battlefield. Catra had told her that magic was the key to defeating Horde Prime, and she had every intention of using it to do so.

The sudden change in the landscape made almost all the clones fall over in shock, which then caused all the Horde soldiers and princesses to stop fighting. Horde Prime, who was still standing over Hordak's body, roared in anger and raised his arm cannon at She-Ra. He then fired it, nearly hitting her. She-Ra deflected the shot with her sword and charged forward. No one moved as everyone watched the fight of the century unfold before them.

She-Ra reached Horde Prime and swung her sword at him. Horde Prime grinned, moving out of the way at the last minute. He then shot her in the side with his arm cannon, making She-Ra cry out in pain. She then turned back around and sliced his leg open with her sword. Horde Prime screamed and fell over, glaring at She-Ra. She-Ra then bent over him and put her hands on either side of his head. She declared:

"You've lost, Prime. It's time for you to go." Then, using her magic, she expelled Horde Prime from the clone's mind – finally killing him once and for all. With that, all the clones stopped their attack and went silent, staring in awe as Horde Prime simply ceased to exist in their minds. Everyone then cheered with Glimmer teleporting next to She-Ra. She hugged her and cried:

"You did it! You saved the universe!" She-Ra smiled and was about to reply to Glimmer when she suddenly heard Entrapta's voice yelling:

"Hordak!" She turned around to see Entrapta hugging Hordak's body, with Wrong Hordak close behind her. She-Ra broke free from Glimmer's hug and walked over to her. She knelt down beside Entrapta and, giving her a comforting smile, she used her magic to bring back Hordak.

Hordak slowly opened his eyes and saw the girl of his dreams looking down at him. Hordak gasped and asked Entrapta:

"Are…are you real?" With tears in her eyes, Entrapta nodded and hugged Hordak tightly around the neck. With that, everyone finally began to celebrate their victory.

Scorpia picked Perfuma up and kissed her. Netossa pulled Spinerella in to kiss her. Mermista gave Sea Hawk a kiss on the cheek (which made him faint). Frosta jumped on Swift Wind, who then flew up in the air to do a few celebratory loop-da-loops. Castaspella and King Micah hugged each other happily, and the squad showered each other in kisses. Bow then ran up to Glimmer and gave her a big hug. He then pulled back and said:

"Glimmer, there's someone here who you'll really want to see." Glimmer raised her eyebrow before looking over Bow's shoulder to see who he was talking about.

Walking towards them, followed closely by what looked like a giant cat, was her mom. Tears filled her eyes as Glimmer cried out:

"MOM?!" She broke free from Bow's arms and ran to Angella, giving her the biggest hug she could. Angella's eyes filled with tears as she wrapped her arms around her daughter.

"Oh Glimmer. I missed you too." With that, King Micah appeared behind them, tears already falling from his eyes.

"Room for one more?" Angella turned to look at him and laughed tearfully:

"Micah, my darling." She held out her hand and pulled him into the hug.

Meanwhile, the Star Siblings reunited and began to congratulate each other on helping to end a thousand years of tyranny. The three Force Captains also got together and congratulated each other on a job well done. She-Ra, however, had wandered off by herself and transformed back into Adora.

Adora had found a lovely spot in a corner of the battlefield from where she could take in the new magic-filled Etheria. It was beautiful – the way it had been in the First Ones' hologram with Mara. Her thoughts were then interrupted by the voice of her favorite feline:

"Adora?"

***

Catra had reluctantly helped Shadow Weaver to the edge of the battlefield, but was now well and truly done with her. Without a word, Catra dropped her on the grass and looked around.

Catra smiled as she saw the members of the rebellion and the Horde celebrate their victory. She raised her eyebrow at the significant number of clones scattered around the battlefield. They were simply standing and staring at each other - unsure what to do. She then heard Glimmer yell:

"MOM?!" Catra turned to see Glimmer hugging her mom in the distance, soon to be joined by her dad.

Catra smiled even more. Her work was done. She had finally succeeded in her mission. The war was over, and now there was peace.

Catra then began to scan the crowd for She-Ra, and, instead, found Adora standing some distance away. Catra walked over to her and called out:

"Adora?" Adora turned around, smiled and held out her hand. Catra grinned as she took it, letting Adora pull her close so their foreheads were touching. She purred at the contact. Adora then said:

"It's over. He's gone." Catra's grin grew to a smile as she said:

"Good riddance." The two girls stood like that for a long time, silently promising to never let go again.

***

After Glimmer finally pulled back from her hug with her parents, Bow came over and put his hand on her shoulder. Glimmer turned and gave him a hug, saying:

"Bow, I love you." Bow smiled and kissed her. He then said:

"I love you too." Micah leaned on Angella's shoulder, smiling at the couple. He then looked up at his wife and said:

"Can I just say that you're even more beautiful than the last time I saw you?" Angella laughed and said:

"Well, you look just as handsome as you've always done." The romance was then interrupted by Grizzlor, saying:

"Excuse me, your majesties, but we need to discuss what happens now. Or rather, what'll happen to them." He gestured to all the clones who had not moved since Horde Prime had gone, and who were still looking thoroughly traumatized by his departure. Glimmer turned to her mom:

"You should decide. You're the queen." Angella smiled at her daughter reassuringly.

"No, Glimmer. You're the queen. You have been for a while. I know you'll make the right choice." Glimmer felt her cheeks go red with pride as she stepped forward. She spoke loud enough for everyone to hear:

"The clones will all go to Dryl, to be looked after by Entrapta. That's where Hordak will go too, until we can get a trial organized to decide whether or not he should be punished for his crimes." Glimmer then turned to the Force Captains and continued:

"As for you and all the soldiers under your command, you're free to go and are exonerated for what you did in the war. As leader of the rebellion, and queen of Brightmoon, I recognize that you were merely following orders, and your help in defeating Horde Prime has proven that you all deserve a second chance." As the soldiers of the Horde murmured amongst themselves, Glimmer then turned towards Shadow Weaver (she had approached when Glimmer had started talking):

"As for you, you are coming with us to Brightmoon. You'll be held in custody there until your trial, at which point I expect you'll be in a cell for the rest of your life." Before Shadow Weaver could protest, the squad rushed forward and grabbed her – preventing her from escaping. She cried out:

"But, your majesty, I…" Glimmer cut her off:

"Silence!" She then turned to look for Catra but could not see her. She noted that she also could not see Adora. She raised her eyebrow as she spoke:

"And finally, Catra will be expected to come to Brightmoon for her trial when the time comes. However, in recognition of everything she's done to end this war, and to right the wrongs she committed during it, she may remain free until then. So long as Adora stays by her side." Bow chuckled and said:

"I don't think that'll be a problem." He then pointed straight ahead and everyone turned to see Catra and Adora kissing each other happily – their silhouettes perfectly contrasting with the gorgeous Etherian landscape. Scorpia said:

"Aw! They're so cute together!" Octavia folded her arms and laughed:

"Finally!" Lonnie grinned and said:

"I know, right?" Mermista then groaned and said:

"So, are we all just, like, okay with this?" Angella then smiled and said:

"Yes we are. Catra and Adora were always meant to be together – destined to change the tide of the war. But they were not supposed to win the war for the Horde or the rebellion. They were just supposed to end it. And they could only do it together." Bow then stepped forward, yelling:

"Three cheers for Catra and Adora!" As everyone began to cheer, Catra and Adora finally became aware of their names being called and turned to look at everyone.

***

Adora blushed when she realized everyone had seen her kissing Catra, while Catra blushed when she realized everyone was cheering for them.

As Catra looked at her girlfriend, she gave a giant smile. She remembered the moment, all those weeks ago, when she had made her first good choice – the day Scorpia left. She could never have imagined it would end like this – with her getting everything she wanted and more.

As Adora looked like she would faint from embarrassment, Catra gave her a light kiss on the lips before saying:

"Come on, we have to go."