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Chapter Text

Angella pressed her hand against her temple and sighed. She could not believe her daughter sometimes. “I told you that under no circumstances you were to fight the Horde”. Angella glared at the obstinate princess. “You disobeyed me.”

Like usual, Glimmer refused to budge. “Mom, if we hadn’t done anything, the Horde would have taken Plumeria! And besides, we won! We saved Plumeria and got Perfuma to join the Princess Alliance! I thought you would be happy.”

Angella lowered her voice. “Glimmer, I am glad that you succeeded. But you cannot keep on running headfirst into every possible battle. You will not always be so lucky. One of these days, you might—”

“And what’s your plan, huh?” Glimmer challenged, hands on her hips. “Just keep on losing to the Horde? This is the biggest win we’ve had in years! Why can’t you see that?”

The queen stood from her chair and walked towards her daughter, wings unfurled. “You need to learn to be cautious. How can I send you into battle if I cannot trust that you will follow orders?”

“You want to talk about trust? You never trust me to do anything! I am sick of it!” Glimmer began to tear up from frustration. Trying to hide her moment of weakness, she turned and stormed off, heading towards the door of the war room.

“Glimmer! We are not done here! There will be consequences—”

Glimmer disappeared in a burst of sparkles. Angella reached out a hand towards where her daughter had been standing just a moment ago, then pulled it back. She sighed, then sat back down. What was she going to do with her?

Angella had been sitting there for several minutes, head in her hands, when the door of the war room slowly creaked ajar. A pair of blue eyes stared in through the gap.

Angella blinked with surprise. “Come in.”

The blonde soldier nervously walked in, stopping on the other side of the long table. “Your Majesty”. She offered an awkward salute. It was a noticeable improvement from her attempt last night. 

Angella almost smiled. The girl had looked so out of place in the hallway, inexplicably covered by feathers… Then she remembered who she was dealing with: the Horde soldier who had defected. 

Logically, Adora seemed trustworthy. The Horde had always treated their soldiers poorly; defection was uncommon, but certainly not unheard of. Additionally, Adora had defended both Thaymor and Plumeria from the Horde. If she was a spy, she was very dedicated to her role. Above all, this was not just any other soldier. This was She-Ra, the legendary hero meant to defend Etheria. It’s not as if the Horde could fake that.

At the same time, the queen could not shake the feeling that something was off about her. Perhaps it was the suspiciously convenient circumstances in which Adora had arrived. Maybe it was the way she carried herself. How she seemed almost afraid to meet Angella’s gaze. Did she have something to hide? It could be how desperate she was to please: how hard she was trying to gain her trust. 

With a start, Angella realised she had been staring. “Adora? What is it?”

The soldier awkwardly began to speak. “Well, since we just got back I thought you might want to talk about it- the mission. You know… debrief?”

Angella nodded her head. “Right. Glimmer told me what happened. You successfully fought off the Horde and defended Plumeria. Well done.” Relief flooded the blonde’s face. “But I thought I told you to not engage the Horde”.

Angella had only intended her statement to be a light jab, but Adora looked horrified. “Sir—”

Noticing her fear, the queen backpedaled. “I know it’s not your fault, Adora. Truthfully, I doubted you could stop my daughter from fighting the Horde. I’m grounding her, for a month at the very least.”

Surprisingly, she looked even more alarmed at this. “You can’t do that!”

Angella raised an eyebrow in confusion. “I can’t?”

Adora only now seemed to realise what she had just said. She trembled for a moment before she recomposed herself. “I’m sorry, Your Majesty. I meant to say that it’s my fault, not Glimmer’s. It was my idea to investigate the Horde camp. I’m the one who should be punished.”

Angella stared for a moment. What was with her? “Adora,” she continued carefully, “my daughter is responsible for her own choices. I have told her countless times not to rush into danger and yet she continues to do so. She needs to learn that her actions have consequences.”

“But we won. Shouldn’t you be happy with her? Sure, she disobeyed orders, but if she hadn’t, the Horde would have destroyed Plumeria! Besides, you ordered me not to fight the Horde too. Whatever you do to her, you should do the same to me.” Then she squeezed her eyes shut, as if accepting her fate.

Angella paused for a moment. She supposed Adora had a point. She still couldn’t understand why the defector wanted to be punished, but Angella sensed that she wouldn’t budge. She was like Glimmer, wasn’t she? Stubborn, but brave.

“Very well. I will concede that Glimmer’s actions saved Princess Perfuma’s kingdom. And since you bear partial responsibility, the consequences for insubordination will be split between you. You both will be grounded for one week.”

Adora sighed with relief. “Thank you, Your Majesty”. After a second, she looked up at the queen. “Uhh, what does that mean?”

Angella frowned for a second. After a moment, she realised where the confusion lay. “What does it mean to be grounded? Neither of you will be permitted to leave the castle, under any circumstances.”

“That- that’s it? I thought you were going to- you know, bury us. Just based on the name.”

“You thought I was going to bury my own daughter alive?! For an entire month?”

Adora rubbed her head. “Well, it seemed a little harsh-” Angella scoffed. A little ? “But I wasn’t sure.”

“Adora, I would never hurt her!” Suddenly, the soldier’s actions began to make much more sense to the queen. If she thought Angella was capable of doing that to Glimmer, how did she think she was going to be punished? She softened her tone. “I’m not going to hurt you either.”

Noticing that she didn’t seem convinced, Angella rose from her seat and walked towards the end of the table. “Adora-”, she began as she reached out her hand. Adora recoiled. The queen froze in place, then withdrew her arm. Perhaps she just needed space. “I need to talk with Glimmer. We can continue this conversation another time”.

Angella stood outside her daughter’s room. She hesitated for a moment, before knocking. “Glimmer?”, she asked gently. “May I come in?”

After a moment, she received a muffled reply. “Ok.”

Angella opened the door and stepped inside. As Angella entered the room, her daughter quickly moved to cover her journal with a pillow. “What do you want, Mom?”

“Glimmer,” she hesitated, “I’m sorry I was so harsh with you earlier. You putting yourself in danger frightens me, but I should have been more considerate of your feelings. Even though you did not do as I asked, I’m impressed you were able to defend a kingdom from the Horde.”

Glimmer finally looked up, clearly surprised. “Really? You are?”

“I am”. For a moment, she smiled at her daughter. “But don’t think I’m letting you off the hook that easily. You’re still grounded, for a week.”

“Mom!” Glimmer protested.

Angella raised her hand to stop her. “But in the meantime, I’ll consider your plan to rebuild the Princess Alliance.”

That was enough to cheer up her daughter. “Thanks”. As Angella turned to leave, Glimmer stopped her. “Wait! One more thing. Adora said that she couldn’t sleep in her bed.”

“Oh! Did I not give her enough pillows?”

“No, it’s the opposite actually. She said her bed was too soft and too big. She almost drowned. I guess in the Horde, beds don’t have much cushion.”

Somehow, until this point, Angella had not stopped to consider how much of a transition this must have been for Adora. She scarcely could imagine what it must have been like for the girl to lose her home and all her friends over the course of a single day. And Bright Moon was nothing like the Fright Zone. Had she been suffering in silence this whole time? If there was anything she could do to make this more comfortable for her, she should do it.

“I’ll have it replaced immediately. I’m sure we can find a firmer bed somewhere. There might be an extra in the guards’ quarters.”

Glimmer teleported next to her mother and embraced her. Angella reached down to hug her daughter, but she disappeared before she could reach her. Surprised, Angella glanced around the room to see Glimmer was nowhere to be found. She smiled faintly. Some things would never change.

Chapter Text

From her nest of blankets and pillows, Glimmer smiled up at Adora. Sitting up on her cot, Adora grabbed handful after handful of food from the bowl on her lap. She crunched on her food, the sound overwhelming the endless burbling of the indoor waterfall. The room was as dark as it could get in Brightmoon, still illuminated by soft moonlight through a gap in the curtains. Glimmer knew they should have settled down for bed hours ago, but she didn’t particularly care. It’s not like they had anywhere they needed to be tomorrow.

Adora leaned over the edge of her cot to stack the now empty bowl onto the growing pile of dishes at her bedside. “That was great! What was that?”

Glimmer grinned. “It’s called popcorn. You make it by heating kernels of corn. That bowl just had butter and salt, but it can have all sorts of flavors; you can sweeten it with sugar, cover it with caramel…”

Adora’s eyes widened, and Glimmer suppressed a chuckle. She loved seeing how her new friend was enamored with everything she showed her. It seemed ridiculous that just a couple of days ago, Glimmer had thought Adora was some heartless warrior. Now, even with the blood-red symbol of the Horde clearly visible on her back, it was almost impossible to imagine her as a Horde soldier (she had tried to get Adora to wear literally anything else, but she always had some excuse. Everything Glimmer had her try on was too restrictive, too heavy, too frilly... Why was she so attached to that thing? At least Adora had let her swap out the jacket’s insignia).

Bow sat up, still holding his blanket in his hands. “I can’t believe you’ve never had popcorn before. What did you even eat during sleepovers?”

“We were only supposed to eat in the mess hall, and only during designated meal times. We definitely weren’t allowed to eat in bed.”

“No snacks ever?!” Bow looked horrified. “Was their food at least any good?”

“I liked the gray ration bars, but the other kinds weren’t very good. Brown and beige ration bars were fine. It was hard to swallow the green kind.”

Realization crossed Bow’s face. “Did they only have ration bars in the Horde?”

“Yeah, but it wasn't so bad. They have all the calories and nutrients you need.”

Bow’s eyes were full of pity. “Glimmer, we need to give her every kind of food there is.” Bow searched the room for another bowl of snacks.

“I think that was our last bowl. But I have an idea! My mom always keeps a stash of cookies in the kitchen.” Seeing Adora’s blank look, Glimmer continued. “Cookies are sort of like biscuits, but thinner, crunchier, and sweet. They’re really good! My mom has the kitchen staff hide the jar so that I don’t eat them all, but I bet if we look together we could find them.”

Adora looked down nervously at Glimmer. “Are you sure? I mean, we’re already grounded. What are they going to do if they catch us stealing food?”

Glimmer hesitated for a moment. Adora seemed a bit put off by the idea, but she was sure that once Adora tried cookies, she’d forgive her. Besides, Glimmer wanted to give her friend the complete sleepover experience. Was it even a sleepover if you didn’t break any rules?

“We just won’t get caught! Besides, if anyone is about to find us, I can just teleport us out.”

“It’s getting a bit late. Maybe we should all just get some sleep.”

“Bow, she’s never had cookies before! What kind of friends would we be if we didn’t help her try some?”

Reluctantly, Bow nodded. Adora stood up from her bed to huddle next to her friends. “If we’re going to rob the kitchens, we need a good plan. You could just teleport us directly into the kitchen, but if it’s guarded or if someone else is in there, we’d be found out right away. We’ll need to walk there. Are there any guards patrolling at this time of night?...”

Bow peeked around a corner, then signaled that the coast was clear. Adora stalked forward to hide behind an ornamental vase, while Glimmer teleported behind a plant. Bow continued to the end of the hallway, then froze as the sounds of footsteps drew near. He ducked into shadow, freezing as Angella walked into view. The two girls shared a worried glance. Fortunately, the terrifying queen did not so much glance toward their hiding places before she had continued past and out of sight. Adora breathed a sigh of relief.

Bow crept from his place to the door of the kitchen, then put his ear to its wooden surface. After a couple of seconds, he gave Glimmer a thumbs up. Glimmer teleported to Adora and Bow in quick succession, before bringing them both inside the kitchen.

“I don’t know where they hide the cookies, but knowing my mom, they’re probably up high.” Glimmer breathed, pulling her friends in close. “Let’s split up.”

The castle kitchen was a vast room, filled with marble tables, stainless steel kitchenware, and white brick ovens. Adora noted that despite the mundane purpose of the room, it was no less flawlessly maintained and unnecessarily decorative than the rest of the castle. Even with all the clutter, the interior design was far nicer than any room she’d seen in the Fright Zone. She supposed that wasn’t saying much. Adora had no idea why the Rebellion put so much stock into aesthetics. Or maybe this was just a Brightmoon thing? It was all kind of confusing. 

She had been trying hard over the past couple of days to break the habits of a Horde soldier, but it wasn’t exactly easy. She still couldn’t wrap her head around the way they did things here. What was the Rebellion’s chain of command? Were Bow and Glimmer her squadmates? Why did everyone train so little? Why did her bedroom have a waterfall? Nothing made sense anymore. She wished she could talk to Bow and Glimmer about it, but they’d been so kind and welcoming; the last thing she wanted to do was make it seem like she missed the Horde. Guiltily, Adora realized she did.

To distract herself from her thoughts, Adora got to work searching the cabinets. Truth be told, she didn’t know what she was looking for. Glimmer said something about a jar? After a few minutes of scanning the shelves, she spotted a glass container full of golden brown disks. “Glimmer?” she whispered, “Are those cookies?”

The princess appeared at her side. “That’s it. Can you reach it?”

Adora leaned against the cabinet and stretched as far as she could, but the top shelf remained just out of reach.

“I have an idea. Stand still and I’ll teleport onto your shoulders; I think I’ll be able to reach them that way.”

Adora nodded and braced herself. She almost lost balance when Glimmer teleported onto her, but by grabbing hold of the cabinet she barely kept herself upright. She adjusted her stance to steady herself. Glimmer reached upwards, grasping the container with her fingertips. She nudged it towards the edge of the shelf until it was within reach.

Triumphantly, Glimmer yanked the cookie jar off the shelf and hoisted it above her head. The sudden movement threw off Adora’s balance. In a horrifying moment she failed to steady herself, and at once she tumbled backwards. There was a loud thud, followed by the sound of glass shattering against stone. Adora found herself lying on the hard floor, her head resting on something soft and warm. From beneath her, she heard a groan.

With a start, she scrambled to get off Glimmer. “Ahh, sorry!” she exclaimed, forgetting to keep her voice down.

Glimmer clambered backwards in a wobble, her face flush. In her haste, she failed to notice the shards of glass behind her. She suddenly shrieked in pain and withdrew her arm. Bow rushed across the room to her side, placing a hand on her shoulder. “Glimmer, are you ok?” He looked down at her arm and grimaced. “That… that’s bad.”

From Adora’s angle, the back of Glimmer’s arm was out of sight; all she could see was a trickle of her blood dripping onto the floor. She felt sick. Not only had they broken curfew (probably) and attempted to steal rations, they had destroyed rebel property too. Even worse, one of them had been injured in the process: There was no telling how that show of weakness would be punished. It was all her fault. 

Still, maybe she could stop the others from suffering for her mistake. “Glimmer,” she whispered urgently, “you two need to get out of here! Bow, can you treat her wound?”

Bow seemed confused. “Adora, what are you talking about? We should take Glimmer to the healers.”

Adora shook her head in panic, her ponytail flopping back and forth. “We can’t let anyone see! Please, just trust me!”

Glimmer and Bow shared a glance. After a moment's hesitation, Glimmer reluctantly nodded. Bow began to protest. “We’re not going to—” 

Glimmer grabbed Bow, and the two disappeared in a puff of sparkles.

Angella stared silently at her husband’s mural, as she had done on many sleepless nights before. What would you think, my love, if you saw us now? How would he feel seeing their daughter fighting the war he tried to end? What would say to his Glimmer, who wanted to rebuild the alliance for which he perished? Angella pressed her hand against the cold stone figure of her husband, as if it could imitate the tender warmth of his touch. Even after all these years, she still struggled to lead her kingdom without him.

For over a decade, she had the Rebellion playing defense. She told herself she had good reasons for doing such. Their enemy was larger, better trained, and infinitely more advanced than their forces. Attempting to take the fight to the Horde would be suicide. Slowing the enemy’s advance, disrupting their supply lines, and giving aid to refugees was all she could do. But passivity did not win wars. Her daughter’s plan might.

The Princess Alliance had once almost defeated the Horde, pushing back their forces out of their territory. With it rebuilt, perhaps the Rebellion had a chance. But after the spectacular failure of the alliance little over a decade ago, bringing kingdoms to their cause would be difficult. Any that declared themselves members of the Rebellion would risk drawing the Horde’s wrath, and how could they rely on the Alliance to defend them, when its predecessor had so easily collapsed? 

Still, these diplomatic challenges would not be insurmountable. The past decade had proven that appeasement and non-aggression were no protection from the Horde; it was abundantly clear that resistance was the only option. If this was not enough to persuade the princesses, they had been granted an advantage the old alliance never received: the legendary She-Ra, on their side. If there ever was a time to reforge the Princess Alliance, it was now. What kind of queen could pass up on this opportunity?

Angella could never forgive herself if her daughter met her husband’s fate. But this was not about her, was it? It was selfish, being controlled by fear when everyone was relying on her. She owed it to her people to fight for a world where they could live in safety. To her daughter, to give her a kingdom she could one day rule in peace. To Micah, to not let his death be in vain. 

Angella sighed and withdrew her hand from the stone surface of the mural. She needed to be careful. Losing people in one of her daughter’s reckless plans—which she so regularly posed—would benefit no one, save for the Horde. Still, she would try to keep an open mind. She must, for the good of all Etheria.

The queen felt herself slumping forwards and forced herself upright. With her endless duties as commander and queen, made even more complicated by the introduction of two new princesses into the Rebellion, Angella had not slept in days. Though she technically did not require sleep, hundreds of years of life experience had taught her that she needed rest to make sensible decisions. Deciding she had put off her needs long enough, Angella walked towards her bedroom.

A loud noise rang out through the still castle, like shattering glass. Angella turned her head. Based on the direction, it sounded like it had come from the kitchen. Why would the kitchen staff be up this late? Then, she heard a shriek. Was that her daughter?!

Angella unfurled her wings and flew through the castle's corridors to the kitchen, bursting through the heavy wooden doors. She created a glowing mote of light in her hand, brightening the room. Adora stood near a row of cabinets, her stance awkward and guilt written all over her face. She gave a hasty salute. “Your Majesty!”

Angella attempted to maintain her composure, but her voice betrayed her panic. “Adora? What is going on?”

Adora hesitated for a moment, long enough to be suspicious. Then she averted her eyes. “I was attempting to steal food. I tripped and accidentally dropped a jar onto the floor. I’m sorry, Your Majesty.”

Angella blinked. Was that really it? Her voice remained uneven as she responded: “Adora, you are a guest at Bright Moon; you are free to take from the kitchen as you wish. That is not stealing.” She looked over to see a pile of shattered glass and spilled food on the floor. She felt a twinge of irritation seeing an entire jar of her favorite snack wasted, but that wasn’t particularly important. “Go to bed. I will have one of the guards handle the mess.”

The girl visibly relaxed. A bit hastily, she walked towards the door. Angella glanced back at the heap on the floor, then froze. Just behind where Adora had been standing, a patch of the polished floor was stained red. She had a terrifying realization. The shriek she heard earlier was not hers; it had been Glimmer. That was Glimmer’s blood.

A terrifying storm of thoughts flooded Angella’s mind unbidden. A spy gaining her trust in a matter of days. Adora luring out Glimmer late at night. Her daughter bleeding out, impaled by the sword of protection. Her lifeless body, thrown out a window, hidden in a closet, or drifting down a blood-stained river. Angella whirled around, and was met with the icon of the Horde, which mocked her from the soldier’s back. Had she really been this blind? Could she not recognize an enemy that was standing right before her, and in uniform no less? (A part of Angella knew she was jumping to conclusions. On a better day, she might have taken a moment to breathe. But patience was difficult when her daughter might be bleeding out).

“Adora!” Angella cried as she marched forwards, the glimmering mote of light in her hand becoming painfully bright as she clenched her fist. “Where. Is. Glimmer?” Pure terror filled the soldier's eyes as she slowly retreated, her back bumping against the wall. “What did you do to her?”

For a moment, Adora appeared confused; then pained realization crossed her face. The complete story spilled out of her mouth in a nearly incomprehensible jumble of words. Nonetheless, the gist was clear. As she began stammering about how the whole thing was entirely her fault and not Glimmer’s, Angella raised a hand to stop her. She sighed.

“Adora! I do not care that you broke a dish or wasted food. I care that you got my daughter hurt.” Angella’s voice rose with agitation. “Not only that, you lied to me. You tried to prevent my daughter from getting healed to hide your mistake! I have tried to be… accommodating in your case, but you must understand that I cannot allow an ex-Horde soldier to keep secrets from me, not under any circumstances. You will not try to deceive me again. Do you understand?”

Adora was silent. If this had been Glimmer she had been lecturing, Angella would have been interrupted before she could finish her second sentence. Bow (in one of the rare occasions she was cross with him) would have offered some respectful and carefully worded defense of himself. Any other subject would have been terrified of the queen’s ire, but would have tried to excuse themselves of any wrongdoing. Adora just stood there, stiff as a board.

Eventually, she seemed to realize Angella’s question was not rhetorical. When Adora finally spoke, her voice was little stronger than a whisper. “I’m sorry, Shadow Weaver, I—”

“What?” she breathed. Angella’s blood chilled at the mention of that name: the terrifying sorceress and leader of the Horde’s armies. She recalled tales her husband had whispered of the monster that took his old teacher’s place, the killer of Mystacor’s Head Sorcerer. She remembered an escaped Horde prisoner who told of the interrogator who had tortured him with magic and stole his memories, leaving him little more than a husk of his former self. Adora knew that devil, personally.

A delayed realization finally hit her. She reminded Adora of Shadow Weaver. For a moment, she felt enraged. Then she took a breath, desperately trying to keep her emotions in check. Though the thought of being compared to that woman disturbed her, the pieces clicked in place. She supposed it made some twisted sense. Horde soldiers must have thought of the Queen of Bright Moon in the same way Rebellion fighters viewed the Horde’s dark mage. But no, that didn’t explain Adora’s fear. Shadow Weaver had been her commander, not her enemy. Unless…

Angella recoiled, and the magic in her hand faded to nothing. Did Shadow Weaver yell at her troops? Did she threaten them with magic, cornering them against the wall? Angella began to feel sick. She was nothing like that woman. She couldn’t be.

Adora finally realized her mistake and clambered to apologize. “I mean, Your Majesty! I’m sorry, it will never happen again. I won’t lie to you again.”

The anger she had felt towards the girl had completely evaporated, replaced by guilt and pity. “Adora, I will find Glimmer and take her to the healers. Please go to bed.”

Angella flew past the startled girl into the hall. She desperately tried to push out of her mind the image of Adora cowering from her, eyes full of horror. The queen had made a grave mistake. She only prayed that it still could be fixed.

Chapter Text

Bow enjoyed the return trip from Salineas even more than the adventure that was getting there. From the stern of his new ship, their captain recounted heroic tales of his escapades and joined Bow in singing and dancing. After their fifth consecutive shanty, Bow caught Glimmer’s annoyed glare and finally took the hint. He slipped his arm off Sea Hawk and excused himself, walking over to his friends. Adora sat leaning against the gunwale, staring out into the distance, while Glimmer stood beside her.

“I can’t believe we got to sail with the coolest Sea Captain! This is the best day ever!” said Bow, his eyes glinting.

“He’s… a bit much, but I can’t complain”, Glimmer said. “We beat the Horde, and we got another princess for the Alliance! Now I’m sure my mom is going to let us continue our recruitment mission. Just, nobody tell her about the sea monster. Or the battle. Or the ship I set on fire. Ok?”

Glimmer nudged Adora, who suddenly straightened up. Then she whirled around and grasped the other princess in panic. “We can’t lie to the queen! What is she going to do if she finds out?”

Bow stepped in to defuse the situation. “I know your mom said no violence, but the Horde did attack us first. I’m sure she’ll understand why we defended ourselves. There’s no reason to hide this from her.”

“Fine,” Glimmer sighed. “I just hope she doesn’t ground me again. We don’t have time to sit around the castle while there are still princesses to recruit!”

Adora pulled back and slumped against the ship’s polished wooden surface. “I’m sorry...”

“It’s not your fault, Adora.” Glimmer said, placing a hand on her shoulder.

“It is. Shadow Weaver must have sent Catra to take me back to the Horde. If I wasn’t there, Salineas wouldn’t have been attacked, and you wouldn’t be in trouble with your mom…”

The name Catra was vaguely familiar. Had he heard it before? He assumed that must be the feline woman who was attacking Adora by the gate. After a moment, he recalled the last time he had seen her. He had fought her back in Thaymor, after she hit Adora with a stun baton. She sure had it out for his friend, huh?

“The Horde is coming after you? Don’t worry, we won’t let them get you.” Glimmer rubbed Adora’s shoulder. “And I’m glad you came with us! If you hadn’t been there, we wouldn’t have been able to fix the gate and recruit Mermista. Anyways, I’m sure things are going to be fine with Mom. Everything’s fine, Adora.”

“Thanks, Glimmer.” Adora smiled, but her face remained lined with worry. By instinct, she pressed her hand against her cheek. Bow recalled the twin gashes that had marked her face only an hour ago. They had disappeared when she transformed back, but he wondered if the spot still stung.

“So,” Bow started. “Who’s Catra? Did you know her in the Horde?”

“She’s my—” Adora’s lip trembled as she desperately searched for the correct words. “I grew up with her. She was one of my squadmates.” She took a deep breath and clenched her hands, struggling to hold back tears.

“Oh.” Bow gave her a sympathetic look. “I’m sorry. Do you want to talk about it?”

She hesitated for a couple of seconds, then shook her head. Glimmer offered Adora a hug, which she readily accepted, desperately clinging onto the other girl.

Adora and her friends teleported directly into the war room. The queen looked up from her paperwork and smiled, face full of relief. “You’re back early. How was the mission?”

Glimmer beamed. “We did it! Mermista agreed to join the Alliance.”

Adora stared at Glimmer. Was that all they were going to say? After a couple of seconds, Bow stepped in. “The Horde attacked us at Salineas, but we fought them off with Mermista’s help.”

Angella’s eyes widened. “I had not realized their navy had advanced far enough to threaten the Sea Gate. Our intelligence must be out of date. I’m glad you are alright.”

“So, does that mean we can keep on recruiting princesses?” Before her mom had the chance to respond beyond a simple nod, Glimmer barrelled on. “Great! I think we should try for Princess Entrapta next. Dryl isn’t too far, and Bow says she’s one of the greatest inventors in the world. If we could get her on our side, maybe she could build us an army of robots to fight against the Horde!” 

Angella’s trepidation was clearly written on her face, but she didn’t protest. “Just one moment. If you do not mind, I’d like to speak privately with Adora.”

Adora’s posture grew stiff. Bow glanced at her and then back to the queen. “Your Majesty!” he said, with a forced grin across his face. “We’re all exhausted after the long journey. Maybe we should just get some rest?”

Angella hesitated, then shook her head. “No, I just need a moment with her. It should not take long.”

Glimmer nodded. She and Bow disappeared with a sparkle.

With only the two of them in the room, the air grew unpleasant. “Your Majesty?” Adora tried.

Angella opened her mouth, then closed it. Silence stretched on for a moment longer. “So,” she began weakly. “Are you alright?”

Adora was about to give a simple, dismissive reply to the unexpected question, but she stopped herself. Hadn’t the queen ordered her, in no uncertain terms, not to keep anything from her? But she had also told Adora not to disappoint her. That was the first command Angella gave her, did that mean it was the most important? Or should she follow the more recent order? She wrestled with the dilemma for a moment, before she realized that remaining silent would be a failure on both counts. Against her better judgment, she decided to show her commander weakness.

“No,” she admitted. “In Salineas, we got attacked by my squad—I mean, my former squad. I didn’t realize how hard it would be to face them.” Angella clearly had not anticipated that response. Her face filled with concern. Fearful that she had been misunderstood, Adora rushed to rectify her statement. “I still don’t regret leaving the Horde! I know it was the right thing to do. I just…” 

Angella nodded solemnly. “Adora, I cannot fault you for missing your friends.” She raised an eyebrow. “Were they your friends?”

“Well, yeah. We were assigned to our squad when we were junior cadets. We trained together for… ten years,” Adora said. “And even before that, we lived in the same barracks. Kind of hard not to be close.”

Angella frowned, but her voice was even. “Why don’t you tell me about them?”

Adora wasn’t expecting that, but she complied. “Well, there’s Lonnie: She’s passionate, headstrong, and a great fighter—almost as good as me. She’s smart, too. Rogelio’s the strongest of the group, and also the kindest. Whenever someone got injured, he never judged them or made fun of them. He’d drop everything to help someone in need. Kyle…” Adora paused for a moment. “To be honest, I don’t know how he got in. Our training course was for future leaders, potential Force Captains, the best of the best. Kyle is… not that. Still, he has a good heart. And Catra,” Adora took a long, hitched breath. “She was my best friend. We did everything together since we were kids: racing each other through the halls, whispering in bed after dark, sparring, exploring… But now—Whenever I think of her, I see her gleefully slashing my face, cupping my chin in her hand, calling me weak.”

Adora hardly noticed the queen’s frown as she sped up, talking more to herself at this point. “I thought she would want to leave the Horde when I told her we were being lied to, when she learned about the atrocities they wanted us to commit. But she didn’t even seem to care! I don’t know if I ever even knew her, the real her, and now she hates me, maybe because I’m a traitor or maybe because I’m a princess.”

Adora nearly choked on her last word. It was still hard to wrap her head around. A part of herself screamed at her: the part she had desperately tried to bury, the vengeful ghost of who she once was. She was a hypocrite, it told her. A monster, a freak, a danger to everyone around her. It terrified her that just a few weeks ago, she had taken the Horde’s lies as gospel. She had thought Glimmer was some monster when first met her, as inconceivable as that seemed now. She wouldn’t have known the truth, wouldn’t have accepted the truth, if it weren’t for some magic sword. What did that say about her? 

Adora barely noticed her eyes growing wet as she buried her head in her hands. “I just don’t—I just don’t know.”

She felt a hand press against her shoulder. She glanced up, surprised to see the queen standing next to her, the imposing figure looking down with sympathy. “I’m sorry to hear that, Adora. You have far too many burdens placed upon your shoulders for a girl your age. I cannot imagine what this must be like for you, becoming the enemy of every friend you had. That is something no one should have to go through.”

Adora looked up in disbelief. This was not the reaction she had expected, or even the one she had hoped for. Was the queen trying to comfort her? Adora didn’t understand.

Angella sighed and averted her eyes. “I must admit that I have not helped. From the moment you arrived, I was biased against you because of your background. I should not have allowed my feelings towards the Horde to worsen my treatment of you, especially not in a time when you needed support. I owe you an apology.”

Adora blinked. “It’s ok. You haven’t done anything wrong!”, she stammered. A superior admitting fault was almost unheard of. A commander apologizing was unthinkable. She didn’t know how to respond. Was this some kind of weird test? “It’s my fault. I was being difficult, you had to reprimand me. And I don’t blame you for not trusting me! I’m from the Horde!”

Angella stared in surprise. Then her face contorted with pained realization. “No,” she said firmly. “The way I treated you was unacceptable. Even if I could not fully trust you, I should have kept an open mind. Regardless, threatening you was not appropriate. No one deserves that kind of treatment. Perhaps you behaved erratically at times, but you are new here. That is to be expected. I should have been more patient, given your situation. That reminds me…”  

Angella lifted her hand off Adora’s shoulder. In a burst of sparkles, a book appeared in her outstretched palm. “Since you’ve been having trouble adapting to life here, I wanted to give you a journal. I can say from experience that writing can be therapeutic, particularly when coping with loss. Though your situation is not quite the same, journaling might make it easier for you to process your feelings. I hope it helps you as much as it helped me.”

Adora didn’t know what to make of this. She almost expected there to be some catch, some condition to receiving this gift. But there was none. Angella—she wasn’t quite like anyone Adora had met before, was she? Every day, this became harder to ignore. It was difficult to accept that a commander could behave this way: making themselves vulnerable, being kind. At first, she had assumed this was some kind of act. Now, she didn’t know what to believe. Even if she couldn’t fully believe it, she hoped against hope that it was real. “Your Majesty… Thank you.” Adora accepted the book and held it close. “But I want you to know something. I don’t think you’ve been unwelcoming to me. Despite where I’m from, you allowed me into your castle, offered me your food, tried to make sure I was comfortable… You even let me stay with Glimmer.”

Angella smiled. “Let you? You know my daughter. I couldn’t have separated her from you, even if I wanted to.”

Adora wiped tears out of her eyes and finally made eye contact with Angella. “Still, I’m grateful, Your Majesty. Just one question. What’s a journal?”

Queen Angella froze. Then she chuckled, a gentle, almost ethereal sound. 

Adora frowned. Once again, Angella defied her expectations. “Did I—did I say something funny?”

The queen shook her head hastily. “No, no, I’m sorry. I just wasn’t expecting that. I suppose I should not have assumed you knew.” She thought for a second. “A journal is a book you write yourself, for yourself. You can use it to record your feelings, your experiences; whatever you want. I hope you find it useful. Now, I think I’ve taken up enough of your time. Why don’t you catch up with Bow and Glimmer?”

Adora offered Angella a salute before taking off in pursuit of her friends.

That evening, Adora sat upright in her cot, with the book on her lap. She rubbed the smooth, leather surface, taking in the unfamiliar texture. The queen was kind, wasn’t she? She had never received a gift quite like this before, not from a commanding officer. Anything that a superior gave a cadet had a practical purpose: weapons to train with, clothing for warmth and protection, rations for subsistence. While unfamiliar, it wasn’t all that surprising seeing another difference from life in the Horde. At this point, she almost expected her expectations to be wrong.

The changes weren’t all bad. She loved the food; even the worst meal here was incomparable to ration bars. The people here were really nice, at least the ones who didn’t think she was a spy. She found the castle gaudy and a bit overwhelming, but it was still a notable improvement from the Fright Zone’s brutally utilitarian design. Now, being a princess? Her feelings about that were more complicated. Still, if she ignored the nagging voice in her head, it was actually pretty great! Becoming She-Ra gave her the adrenaline surge of a fight; it made her feel unstoppable, like she could take on an army without suffering a scratch. Plus, everyone liked her better that way.

Maybe this was overall an improvement, but still, it overwhelmed her just how much was different! Every day, she learned something else she’d been taught her entire life was a lie, or she inadvertently committed some faux pas, or she made herself look like an idiot, or she talked about something she found completely normal and then Bow and Glimmer stared at her like she was some kicked puppy. It got kind of exhausting. She wished there was an easier way to learn all this stuff. And then it hit her.

When she was in the Horde, texts on strategy, tactics, and leadership taught her almost everything she knew. Reading was just the most sensible way to learn anything you couldn’t learn by doing. If there was just some kind of book on all the differences she could expect, this would all be so much easier. If there was a book on how to be a princess, maybe she wouldn’t be so afraid. So why not write one? Adora flipped open the empty journal and lifted up her pen. Sure, she didn’t exactly have much experience to base this off, but she could work on that as she went. Besides, she’d ask Bow or the other princesses for help if she needed it. 

First, her book needed a title. She thought for a moment before penning down a couple of names. All sounded rather stupid when she read them back to herself. She crossed them all out. Ok, it didn’t really matter that much. With no better ideas, she might as well go for something rather literal. She called it Rebel Princess Guide.

Chapter Text

Angella slumped back in her elevated throne, struggling to make herself seem alert. She pressed her arm against the golden armrest, the smooth texture and cool sensation temporarily grounding her. While she had plenty of practice, nothing could make holding court pleasant. Hour after hour of settling subjects’ petty disputes, feigning interest in the latest news on the agricultural output of nearby towns, the occasional actual dilemmas that came with leadership; they never failed to leave her drained. After declining one particularly lengthy request — some satyr was requesting her to send soldiers to aid with the reconstruction of Thaymor, a move that would leave her already limited troops spread far too thin — she was relieved to see her daughter, alongside Bow and Adora.

Glimmer walked to the throne before briefly kneeling and beginning with the customary start to such a meeting. “Your Majesty,” she began. Angella rarely wished for her daughter to treat her as Queen rather than Mother, but she felt upholding the tradition of court was vital. In front of her court, she needed to present herself as a ruler, not a parent.

“Commander Glimmer,” she replied. “How was the diplomatic mission in Dryl?” The trio looked between each other, but none of them spoke. Angella sighed. “Let me guess, you fought the Horde again?”

“No, actually,” Glimmer said. Angella raised an eyebrow. “You could at least pretend not to be surprised. We didn’t even do anything particularly violent! We just got attacked by Princess Entrapta’s robots—well, they weren’t supposed to attack us, but they got corrupted by a weird First Ones disk that made them evil, so we fought them, destroyed the disk and saved Dryl. And Entrapta agreed to join the Princess Alliance!”

Angella blinked. How did her daughter keep on getting herself into so much trouble? She glanced at Bow and Adora. Those two had wary looks on their faces. Angella sensed that there was something she hadn’t been told, perhaps a topic unsuitable for such a public setting. Angella stood from her throne and descended its levitating steps, stepping onto the glossy floor. She turned to one of her guards.

“I will resume court in thirty minutes. Glimmer, Bow, Adora. Why don’t you walk with me?”

Angella thought she noticed Adora quiver, but it passed as quickly as it had appeared. Overlooking it, the queen led them out of the throne room and through the halls. “So, the mission. You said you encountered a First Ones disk?”

Bow nodded. “It looked like something that would store data, but it really spread some kind of virus. The disk could affect all kinds First Ones tech, which was a problem because Entrapta makes almost all of her inventions using the stuff. It even worked on Adora’s sword.”

Angella paused mid step and whirled her head, her eyes meeting Bow’s. “It infected the Sword of Protection? What does that mean?” 

“Don’t worry, Mom. Whatever it did to the sword didn’t last. Breaking the disk got everything working again.”

Relieved, Angella resumed walking. “That is strange. I’m glad it all worked out, though I sincerely hope your future missions will be less exciting.”

“Your Majesty,” Adora said, “You know a lot about the First Ones, right? Do you know what that disk was?”

Angella glanced back at her and smiled. “If you live as long as I have, you become an expert on many topics. I have studied much of the legends and history of the First Ones, but unfortunately, I am not particularly familiar with their technology. I’m afraid if Princess Entrapta did not understand it, there is little I can do to help you.”

Adora frowned. “You—you don’t know anything about it at all? Have you maybe heard about anything like it in legends? Do you know if the virus could have been some kind of security system? Or maybe it was a weapon?” 

Surprised by Adora’s panic, Angella attempted to calmly answer the flurry of questions. “I cannot recall anything like your disk in any story or record. It might have been intended for security. Many of their ruins have defenses against trespassers, but they usually take the form of guardians. I don’t know why they would make a security system that would disable their own technology. A weapon sounds more likely.”

“Yeah, a murder virus sounds great in a war,” Glimmer chimed in. “But why would they need that? Did the First Ones even have any enemies?”

“Though it is difficult to imagine a threat powerful enough to oppose the First Ones, there is some evidence that they had enemies. However, it is unclear whether their foes were historical or mere myth. There are several records that described them at war with one being, referred to as something like The One that is Many. A green symbol in the shape of a diamond usually accompanied its imagery. Some records showed First Ones battling other strange figures, some part machine, some with scales and tentacles, some with fur and tails. Perhaps it was meant to be used against one of these enemies, if any truly existed.” 

Having reached her destination, Angella opened the door to one of the castle’s gardens: an enormous balcony with lush grass and potted shrubs. The edge of the balcony was lined with blooming violets and bordered by a golden railing that glittered under the moonlight. The queen walked to a fine cedar table and sat down, taking a moment to appreciate the view of the lake. Glimmer and Bow joined her, sitting on the far side of the table. Adora remained standing for a moment before cautiously taking a seat next to Glimmer. The queen somberly noted that it was the furthest from her own chair.

“Why are you now curious about the First Ones, Adora?”

The girl lowered her head. “In Dryl, when the virus infected my sword… Well, I can’t actually remember what happened. Bow or Glimmer could explain it better.”

“After Adora fought one of the robots, some red stuff covered her sword and she suddenly passed out. When she woke up, she was like a completely different person! She could barely walk, and I had to almost carry her to keep her from throwing herself into the killer robots.”

Adora’s face seemed to burn with shame. “We need to find some way to make sure that doesn’t happen in the future. I thought maybe if we knew what the disk was we could find some way to counter it. I don’t want to be useless like that again.”

With a start, Angella found the crux of the issue. “I have never heard of anything like that disk, so I find it unlikely there are any others. But Adora, you are not useless. You do not need to always be successful to be worthy: I do not expect perfection of you.

She seemed unconvinced. “Your Majesty, you don’t understand. I was a deadweight on my team for the entire mission! Bow and Glimmer could have gotten hurt because of me. I’m sorry, I’ll try not to let it happen again.”

Glimmer put a hand on Adora’s shoulder. “It’s not your fault that the virus made you sick. You can’t blame yourself for that. And Bow and I are happy to help you whenever you need it. We’re your friends!”

Angella sensed Adora was unlikely to change her mind so easily. Whatever lessons the Horde had taught the girl about usefulness, weakness, and her worth doubtlessly ran deep. She pondered for a moment how to explain how she felt in a way a soldier would understand.

“Adora, why do you think you went to Dryl with your team, as you put it? The purpose of teammates is to support each other. You cover Bow and Glimmer’s weaknesses, while they cover yours. You are much stronger working together than alone.”

Bow seemed to catch on. “Yeah! Like in Thaymor, when I ran out of arrows and Glimmer ran out of magic. We were useless against the Horde, but you defended us. It’s only fair if we do the same for you.”

Adora smiled weakly. “Thanks Bow. And thank you, Your Majesty. I just hope we don’t run into anything like that again.”