Chapter Text
One of Glimmer’s earliest memories was also one of the only ones she had of her father. Her mom had always said that even though he was strong, brave, courageous, he was also wise, and used to read her his favorite poems before bed unlike most parents, who would read a story.
She didn’t remember most of them.
But she remembered one.
“Everyone is born a piece of pottery
Each one unique from the start
But as life goes on, they might get scratched or chipped
Or even shattered apart.
But it’s possible to pick up the broken shards
And put the pieces back together
And even though they’ll be different
They’ll be stronger, wiser, better.” her dad had said
She’d looked at him with wide eyes. At the age of 4, before he’d died, she’d had no idea what it meant. But her dad had smiled back.
“You know, Glim-glim, that one is my favorite out of all the poems I’ve told you.” he whispered
“Why?” She asked, her little voice filled with curiosity
“Because there are plenty of bad things out in the world that come to hurt people, but they are there to teach us to be stronger.” he replied
“You’re real strong though, did a lot of bad things happen to you?” Glimmer asked
He laughed, a tinge of sadness in his eyes “Yep, but the bad things made me who I am today.”
“Yeah, the best dad ever!” Glimmer shouted, jumping up and bouncing on her bed
Her dad smiled “Alright, settle down Glimmer.”
“Will the bad things happen to me?” she asked “Make me strong too?”
“Maybe when you’re older, you’re still too small to be too strong. Kowl would freak out if you suddenly got big and strong.” He said softly, handing her her favorite plushie as she giggled “But it’s time for bed now. Goodnight, baby girl.”
“Night night dad” Glimmer turned over in her bed
He died less than a month later, and that’s when Glimmer learned what “bad things” actually meant, a long jagged crack through her previously perfect form.
Still, she grew and became stronger.
Glimmer had been about 12 years old when she’d met Bow, and it had been quite a wild day. The annual Bright Moon Fair had been taking place, and it was incredibly vibrant with excitement due to the recent massive victory over The Horde.
But like every year, her mom refused to let her go.
In the past, she’d sit in her room and pout while listening to the joyful noises from her balcony, wondering why she couldn’t have fun too.
But she’d grown in her teleportation skills exponentially over the past year, so after going through the usual “Upset because mom won’t let me go to the fair” act to avoid suspicion, Glimmer put on the disguise she’d prepared and teleported into the greenery below her balcony, running through the brush until she made it there, slightly disheveled.
It was bright and beautiful and everything Glimmer could’ve ever imagined. Other kids ran around, adults laughed as they watched them, there were people doing all sorts of magic tricks around and a massive potluck in the center of it all. The area was surrounded by colorful lights which made it look incredibly magical.
But as Glimmer walked through it, she couldn’t help but feel alone, for the first time in ages.
Growing up in the palace, she’d often been escorted by guards or her mom, and even though they’d stopped as of recently she always knew there was one around. But she was by herself now, and it felt both incredibly freeing and terrifying.
But even more than those two conflicting feelings, she felt lonely.
Glimmer was no stranger to loneliness. Sure, she’d met the other princesses of other kingdoms, but she hadn’t seen any of them for years.
She looked around, all the other kids her age with their friends or families, and suddenly it was all too much. She needed to get out, but as she tried to teleport away, she realized her magic was drained, and she silently cursed at herself for forgetting to recharge again.
But she didn’t feel bad for long as an arrow zoomed right by her face, causing her to let out a startled scream.
There was another high pitched startled shout, and a boy about her age came running over to her “Are you okay? I’m so sorry!”
“Yeah, I’m fine.” Glimmer caught her breath
“Sorry about that. I’m still learning archery.” The boy rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. “I was sure I was good enough this year to perform, but I guess not.”
“No, no, it’s okay.” Glimmer said nervously “I mean, I’d like to see your archery skills. I’m sure it was just an accident and you’re usually really good!”
The boy’s eyes lit up. “Okay! We should probably do it in an area with less people around though.”
Glimmer laughed, “Heh, yeah.”
As they walked into an emptier part of the clearing, Glimmer grew nervous. She didn’t know how to talk to people!
“Um, so, what’s your name?” She asked
“I’m Bow. What’s your name?” He replied
“I’m Shimmer.” Glimmer lied. She was still undercover, of course “I’m 12.”
“Me too. It’s nice to meet you, Shimmer.” Bow replied
“Same.” Glimmer said
There was a brief bout of awkward silence, as Bow used some chalk to draw a target on a nearby tree, pulled out an arrow, and hit 3 bullseyes in perfect succession.
“Wow!” Glimmer exclaimed, jumping up and down in excitement “That was amazing!”
“Thanks.” Bow said shyly “So… are you here by yourself too?”
Glimmer blinked, unsure on whether or not to tell him the truth
“Sorry if it’s a sore subject, I don’t get out to talk to people much.” Bow said awkwardly
“Me neither.” Glimmer said “My mom never lets me come to the fair, but I snuck out this year. I was so excited, but once I got here it felt a little…”
“Lonely?” Bow offered
“Yeah.” Glimmer muttered
“We could hang out. Then neither of us would be lonely.” Bow said
“Okay!” Glimmer smiled “Ooh, we should go get some food, they have all sorts of stuff that I’ve never tried before!”
And within minutes, Glimmer and Bow were having a blast. They stuffed their faces with food, played some games, and ran around with the other kids. Bow was showing off his archery for the other kids when Glimmer heard a familiar voice.
“Princess Glimmer! What are you doing here!?” Her mom shouted
Glimmer reluctantly turned around to see her mom, wings spread, with an incredibly angry expression on her face, as everyone around was frozen, bowing to her.
Oh, she was in for it.
“You know, when an off duty guard came to tell me they spotted you at the fair, I couldn’t believe it. Not only did you directly go against my orders as your mother, but also as your queen! I cannot believe you would disobey me like this!”
“Mom!” She cried “I just wanted to have a little fun, make some friends. I never get to talk to anyone my own age, or do anything!”
“You acted incredibly irresponsibly. It’s a dangerous world out there Glimmer, we’re fighting a war, I just want to keep you safe!”
“Your majesty, if the Horde happened to attack, I would do anything to keep the princess safe, as an archer.” Bow interrupted, “Shim- I mean, Glimmer is very kind, and as her friend I would defend her with my life.”
Glimmer’s mom glanced at the Bow, then at the tree-target with multiple arrows on the bullseye, then back at Bow. “I’m glad you and my daughter get along well, however, I will be taking her home now.”
Glimmer sighed, and waved a silent goodbye to Bow as her mother led her away. He waved sadly back.
“I’m glad you made a friend, but you’re grounded for the next 3 months.” her mom said
Glimmer was too disappointed to even protest, because she knew that chances were, she’d never see Bow again.
A few weeks passed where she didn’t do much, just sadly worked on her studies, until her mom summoned her to the throne room one day, after about a month.
“Princess Glimmer, I have brought you here today to give you an offer. I will cut your grounding short as of today, but only if you agree to be occasionally accompanied by a personal guard as I see fit.” Her mom told her.
Glimmer blinked, before sputtering “What?! That’s not a fair agreement, I don’t want a personal guard!”
“Aw, that’s too bad, I really thought you would’ve liked to have me around as your personal guard!” Bow stepped into the room, a small grin on his face
“Bow!” She cried, teleporting over to him, jumping up and down with excitement “How did you- of course you can stay around, yes I agree mom!”
Bow was slightly startled by Glimmer’s excitement, but began to jump up and down in excitement with her too, as Glimmer’s joy was incredibly infectious. Glimmer glanced over at her mother, who she thought was strict and boring, only to see a soft smile on her face as she watched.
She’d done it on purpose. Maybe… just maybe she wasn’t so bad after all.
By the age of 17, Glimmer had learned how to convince her mother of a lot of things. She’d convinced her to let her help with the war effort. She’d convinced her to let her go out and be a general, as long as she didn’t fight of put herself in danger (which was a rule Glimmer didn’t really listen to), she’d convinced her to let Adora be part of the rebellion, and she’d convinced her to let her, Bow, and Adora to attempt to restart the Princess Alliance.
She may have been the weakest princess when it came to her powers, but she was the only one willing to go up and fight hand to hand with Horde soldiers, which made her the strongest in her terms.
Other than She-Ra, of course, but that was another story. Besides, even though Adora was a new friend, and formerly an enemy Horde soldier, she was actually really nice and respected Glimmer, something not too many people did.
Meeting with the other princesses again had certainly been different. Of course it had been over 10 years since she’d seen most of them, and people can change a lot in that time, but it was weird to think that she had friends now.
Friends that were probably coming to rescue her and Bow right now from the Horde, no matter how dangerous it was. She smiled at the thought of it, of it all, only to receive another grueling shock from Shadow Weaver. How had she gone from Princess Prom to this?
After the shock that seemed to last forever, her vision was turning dark at the edges. She knew if she passed out, she was only going to receive another shock, worse than before. She had to keep going.
She had to stay strong.
Was she going to die here?
She hiccuped back a sob at the thought of it. Never seeing Bow again, never seeing Adora. Never seeing any of the other princesses she’d just befriended not too long ago. Never seeing her mom, never going home, never being able to win the war.
She held the tears back. She wouldn’t- she couldn’t show weakness to the monster who stood unmoving in front of her, ready to give another shock at any move.
“How did-” she paused to catch her breath “How did a witch like you ever raise someone as kind as Adora?” She spat
“Oh please.” Shadow Weaver said, voice silky and calm, despite the situation “It is far from my fault that she defected, became soft like you, princess.”
Glimmer growled “Adora isn’t soft. She’s smart, brave, and a good person, something you will never, ever be.”
Another shock came at her, and everything went black.
She woke up, feeling weaker than ever, to Adora’s voice.
“Glimmer! Glimmer, I’m here. Don’t worry, everything will be okay, I’ll save you. What have you done to her?!” Adora shouted
There was a bit more talking, but Glimmer was too weak to make out the voices or what they were saying.
“Shadow Weaver, I’ll stay here with you willingly, but you have to let Glimmer go first.” Adora spoke once more
Glimmer painstakingly opened her eyes and looked at Adora, who was strapped to a table
“Adora, no!” she gasped
“Glimmer! Are you okay?!” Adora called
“You are correct, Adora, you shall stay willingly, because I am going to wipe your mind. You will have no memory of She-Ra, or the time you spent with the rebellion, everything will be as it once was!” Shadow Weaver said cheerfully
Somehow her tone of voice was the most threatening part. Glimmer winced.
“As for the princess, once I’m done, you’ll be happy to have her as your prisoner.” Shadow Weaver continued
She could hear Adora wince and began to scream with pain as she saw Shadow Weaver place her hands on Adora’s face.
“No! Adora!” Glimmer cried
Adora only cried out louder.
It was more than Glimmer could take. She barely registered the adrenaline and magic that burst into her veins, but could feel the pain of Shadow Weaver’s electric prison trying to fight back.
Adora screamed.
The magic filled her in a rush, and she instinctively tried to teleport.
Once.
Glimmer thought of the day she and Bow met Adora, encountering a Horde soldier in the Whispering Woods. They’d captured her. They’d gotten lost. They’d been attacked by an elemental. They’d seen her transform into She-Ra for the very first time to save them. They’d shown her the joy of the world outside the Horde, something she’d never seen before. They’d fought the Horde, stopping them from taking over Thaymor.
Twice.
She thought about when the three of them travelled around to recruit princesses into the Princess Alliance. How Adora fought the Horde without second hesitation, despite growing up with them. How ridiculous, yet sweet, she was after getting infected with Entrapta’s first one’s tech. How they couldn’t get her to relax, no matter how hard they tried in Mystacor. How she sacrificed her first Princess Prom to make sure the Horde wouldn’t try anything, even if it meant dancing with the enemy, even though she’d failed in the end.
Three times.
She thought about even though Adora had failed to save them at Princess Prom, how she was willing to sacrifice anything, to save her.
Glimmer’s magic filled her, burst through the electricity, and she teleported into the air, throwing the sparkliest, strongest punch she’d ever thrown straight into Shadow Weaver’s face, panting as she fell to the ground.
She was free, but Adora still wasn’t.
She ran over to the table where Adora hung, upright and bound, eyes shut.
“Adora! Are you okay?” She said, freeing her “Do you know who I am?”
Adora’s eyes twitched as though she was just waking up from being asleep. She opened them, expression hard and scared, but softened upon seeing her.
“Glimmer.” Adora muttered weakly
She hugged Adora, her best friend, and they ran as fast as they could, supporting each other, shaking with fear and relief.
They would make it out as long as they had each other. They would live and return home to Bright Moon, to see Bow, the princesses, her mom. They would live. Glimmer felt like collapsing, sobbing until the tears would no longer come, but she willed herself to remain strong. She was strong as she ran with Adora, as Catra showed up and just… handed her the sword back, as she ran with She-Ra, as they made it out onto the skiff and flew away, as she ran into Bow’s arms to hug him.
She only let herself break after finding out that Entrapta was dead, that she died saving them, sobbing silently, hugging Bow close as he hugged her back, his tears occasionally falling on her shoulder.
Sea Hawk flew the skiff, face hard, but clearly hurt. Mermista and Perfuma comforted each other, and Adora sat alone on the other end, curled up in a ball. The world was silent, other than the skiff’s hum, as they headed back in the direction of Bright Moon, broken.
Glimmer was starting to consider how she’d ever considered Adora a friend. She was just acting so awful as of recently, refusing to listen, cooperate, or do anything right! She was queen, after all, and her word was law, but Adora just didn’t seem to care.
Worst of all, she was slowly but surely getting Bow on her side too.
Glimmer didn’t know why she was doing this, why she refused to even consider using the Heart of Etheria. It was a weapon with unimaginable power, something they could use to finally defeat the Horde, once and for all.
The Heart of Etheria could give her enough strength to avenge her mother.
Even though Adora had been with the rebellion for over 2 years now, Glimmer couldn’t help but wonder if maybe she still had some remaining loyalties to the Horde. Perhaps that was why she was so against using the Heart, destroying the Horde.
The only problem was, Adora was the only one who could find out how it could be activated, the only one who had access to Light Hope’s ancient knowledge of the First Ones and the weapon they built, and she refused to go get that information.
Because anyone could just do whatever they wanted now, and being queen was a worthless title.
She sat in her room, thinking about everything. She’d tried doing what her mom would do. She’d tried doing things her own way. Nothing was working.
She wished things could go back to the way they used to be, before Adora had changed and became all cocky, before Bow started to prefer her over Glimmer, before- before her mom died.
Queen Angella would’ve known what to do. She always knew what to do, and with as much anger as Glimmer had at the world, she had even more at herself for not seeing it sooner.
Because she never listened to her mother, never learned how to be a proper ruler, and now she was paying the price.
She heard a knock on her door.
“Come in!” she called, collecting herself
Bow and Adora walked in.
“Glimmer, please, we need to go save Entrapta from Beast Island.” Adora said
Great. This conversation again, it wasn’t like she’d already refused multiple times today.
“Adora’s right. Entrapta is the only one of us who will know how to stop the Horde, and stop the Heart of Etheria from activating and killing us all.” Bow added
Glimmer groaned “Did you forget that Entrapta has been working with the Horde, helping them create new technologies that are harder and harder to fight?! She’s the reason why we haven’t been able to win this war yet! If she hadn’t helped build the portal, my mother would still be alive!”
Adora winced, and Bow’s gaze softened “Glimmer, I’m so sorry what happened, we all miss her. But right now, we need to put the past aside and do what’ll help us win in the future, and that means going to Beast Island and saving Entrapta.”
Glimmer stood tall “No, like I said earlier, we don’t have the time to be going out on dangerous missions! We need to learn how to access the power of the Heart, so we can win against the Horde once and for all!”
“We need to find a way to destroy or deactivate the Heart, it’s too dangerous to use!” Adora shouted “You can’t listen to Shadow Weaver, she just wants power and she’ll destroy the world if she has to to get it!”
Glimmer was at her limit “As queen, I order you to leave. Immediately.”
Adora’s eyes went wide, before she sputtered “What?! You can’t just ORDER me to-”
“Yes I can.” Glimmer interrupted, “Now leave.”
Bow sighed, getting up and pulling Adora out of the room with him, leaving Glimmer standing alone, breathing heavily.
A few hours later they came again, saying that they were going, whether she was coming or not. She ordered them not to, even having to use the “queen” card again. Her mother would’ve probably been proud of her for that, it was something she’d used often, to Glimmer’s annoyance.
When she finally went to sleep, late into the night, she felt like she’d just closed her eyes when she was woken up by a loud boom, causing her to run over to the balcony and question if they were under siege.
It was the crack of dawn, and a spaceship flew through the sky in the distance. Mara’s ship.
She teleported over to the guest room, finding a quick note left by Bow.
“Going to find Entrapta, sorry Queen Glimmer.”
Adora and Bow were gone, confirming her suspicions. They’d betrayed her completely.
Glimmer turned around, and walked out of the room, crumbling up the note and throwing it in the trash.
It didn’t matter, she didn’t need them.
She was queen, she would find out how to activate the Heart by herself, she would do so, and she would destroy the Horde once and for all, no matter what it took.
It looked like she would have to go visit a certain First Ones ruin today.
Glimmer sat alone in her windowless prison on Horde Prime’s ship. 3 walls white, 1 glowing green. At the moment, she couldn’t see what was going on outside of the cell, but she knew that whatever guards were out there could see in. And there were nearly always guards out there.
She had no idea how long it had been. Days, weeks, maybe even months. It was hard to keep track of time when she couldn’t see outside.
Not that it really would’ve mattered, because she was trapped in space.
It was still a relatively new concept for her, that they were now in a universe that was infinite, endless, after Etheria had been taken out of that empty dimension it was in. She’d only gotten brief glimpses of the stars, once before being taken to Prime’s ship, and a few being led past the few windows.
She was so, so, far away from Etheria, from her friends, from her magic, from her home.
But she was too drained to cry anymore.
The only way Glimmer had been able to keep track of time was picking up the chair and slamming one of the legs into the wall until it made a dent, every time she woke up from sleeping, but she knew it wasn’t foolproof. After all, there wasn’t much to do other than sit around or sleep, and she suspected she’d been doing a lot more of the latter than normal.
In those earlier times on the ship, Glimmer had shouted insults, hurled threats at the clones guarding her, until one confronted her, white pupils dropping down until they were focused on her with a sickening noise.
“My child, why must you act out? You have no magic, no power here.” the clone said with Prime’s voice
After the initial bout of disgust, Glimmer stood tall “I am not your child. I am Queen Glimmer of Bright Moon, and you will treat me as such.”
“Your status means nothing to me. I see all. I know all. I am above all. Don’t forget it.” Prime said, the white pupils vanishing, leaving nothing but the lifeless green eyes of the clone behind.
Every time she threatened the clones afterward she was met with the line “Horde Prime is above all, your status means nothing to him.”
She’d stopped trying to do so a long time ago.
Around 10 sleeps ago, Horde Prime had come by and taken her on a walk through the ship. Shown her a hall of artifacts from destroyed worlds, showed her objects created by peoples who no longer existed. It was horrifying.
He’d also shown her that despite everything, her father was alive. Trapped on Beast Island for all those years, and only found by Bow and Adora after they’d disobeyed her.
Glimmer was sure the irony was going to kill her, if Horde Prime didn’t first.
The other crazy thing was that Catra was on this ship with her, Commander of the Horde and therefore her mortal enemy Catra. Glimmer hadn’t really seen her between that first day and that horrible dinner, but she knew that Catra had free roam of the ship, and despite the snarky way she acted when Glimmer did see her, wasn't in all that much of a better position than her.
At that dinner, when Horde Prime showed them those videos of her friends desperately trying to fight off the clones and bots, Glimmer had cried, unable to watch the screen any longer. Through her teary eyes, she’d watched Catra instead, looking at her familiar enough, cold, hardened face. But in her eyes, Glimmer saw something less familiar. Real fear.
Catra was just as scared as she was.
About 5 sleeps ago, Catra had begun to come by to talk to her in the few moments that guards weren’t around, just about the most random things.
She couldn’t believe it, but it was comforting to talk to her about home, about her friends, about their pasts. She’d actually learned a lot about Adora’s childhood in that short time, something she rarely talked about.
Now Catra would stop by to talk once, sometimes even twice between every sleep. It was nice, not being alone the whole time, but Glimmer knew how much trouble they could get in if caught.
The green shield went translucent once more, with a small shimmering noise, and Glimmer looked up to see Catra on the other side. Speak of the devil.
“Hey Sparkles.” She said in greeting
“Hey Horde Scum.” Glimmer said back, getting up and walking to the barrier
They sat against the barrier, back to back, as usual.
Glimmer sighed “One of the worst things about being here is that there’s nothing to do here but think. Think about all the terrible things I’ve done.”
Catra made a little sound, but didn’t reply.
“I was a terrible queen. I used one of my closest friends as bait, listened to a monster instead of my friends, and made so, so many bad choices. It’s my fault that the Heart of Etheria was activated. It’s my fault that we’re stuck here and Horde Prime is hurting everyone back home.” Glimmer ranted “If I’d only listened to Bow and Adora, we’d still be on Etheria, Horde Prime would’ve never come, and I’d be reunited with my dad!”
“What does the last thing have to do with any of it?” Catra asked
“It’s complicated, but Scorpia came and told us Entrapta was on Beast Island-” Glimmer noticed Catra dip her head a little at the mention of that. She wondered why. “-and Bow and Adora were so insistent on rescuing her. I told them, I ordered them not to go because I said we needed to stop the Horde first, but they didn’t listen and went anyway. Turns out, my dad was there too, and they rescued him as well. If they’d listened to me, then I wouldn’t have known that my dad was alive all those years, and he probably would’ve died on Beast Island. I just can’t believe how stupid I was!”
“You and me both, Sparkles.” Catra muttered, though the usual smirk on her face was gone. She paused in silence “I feel stupid about a lot of the things I did too.”
Glimmer looked at her in surprise, but there was only regret on it.
“There was a time when me, Scorpia, and Entrapta were pretty close actually. Scorpia referred to us as the Super Pal Trio.” Catra laughed a little “But then Entrapta grew closer with Hordak as they built the portal… and well… it was my fault that she got sent to Beast Island in the first place.”
Glimmer sat up straighter, startled. “I thought she was sent to Beast Island by Hordak after the portal was such a disaster.”
Catra shook her head “In the end, she tried to stop the portal from being activated. Adora convinced her to do some experiment or something and she realized bad things would happen… or something. She tried to convince me to not activate it, and I tazed her. Yelled at Scorpia to take her away, to send her to Beast Island. I think she only listened because she was in shock. I was the one to activate the portal. It was all my fault.”
Glimmer was no less than shocked to hear such an admission from Catra of all people, but she willed herself to stay still, listening to Catra’s shaky breathing.
“Well, I guess we both deserve to die on this ship, huh?” Glimmer said, half joking
She expected Catra to jump up, to tell her that they were going to make it off somehow, some way.
Instead Catra stilled “Heh, yeah, I guess we do.”
Glimmer noticed her voice crack in the middle of that sentence. A moment later, her ears twitched, and she ran back into the shadows, clones coming in to check on her seconds after, bringing her food.
After hardly eating the bland meal, Glimmer went to sleep.
She had a wonderful dream, where she was back home on Etheria, still a princess, and both her parents ruled Bright Moon together in peace. The war had ended, the rebellion had won, and Horde Prime never existed. She, Bow, and Adora had spent the day playing games, having a picnic, visiting Bow’s dad’s in the woods, and ending it back in Bright Moon with a sleepover where they stargazed on Glimmer’s balcony, and Glimmer’s dad read them poems.
It was a perfect day.
It was almost torture when she awoke once again on the cold, sterile ship, but got up anyways, picking up the chair to make yet another dent in the wall.
Glimmer could hardly believe it, one moment she was clutching Bow as hard as she could while the ground collapsed below them, thinking they were on the verge of death, the next, vibrant life surrounded them, more magic filling the air with every step She-Ra took.
Glimmer couldn’t do anything but stare in shocked silence as she went up to the clone who had Prime’s white pupils, put her hands on his face, and stared into his eyes, and with a bright flash of light, the white pupils were gone. Horde Prime was gone.
The clones wandered around in a startled mess of confusion, yet didn’t seem to bother any of the Etherians who cheered in delight. All the bots had shut down, and the ship she’d been trapped on for so long had been turned into a massive, beautiful tree, floating in the sky.
Finally the shock wore off, and she jumped into Bow’s arms, crying tears of joy.
“It’s over! We did it, he’s gone!” She said
Bow laughed, and they looked into each other’s eyes. His eyes softened, and they kissed again. On the lips, this time.
When they pulled apart, both of them were grinning.
Bow hugged her close “I love you.”
“Me too.” Glimmer melted into the hug
After that they walked around, looking at everything. Entrapta was discussing happily with one of the clones, leaving Glimmer to assume she found the right Hordak, Mermista was watching in disgust with Sea Hawk’s arms draped over her shoulders, She-Ra gazed silently out into the distance and Aunt Castaspella helped her dad up.
Glimmer walked over to her dad, Bow staying behind to watch, and she took a deep breath.
“Glimmer?” Her dad asked weakly
“Hi dad.” She said, already feeling the tears well up in her eyes
“I- you-” he said, before sticking a hand out for a handshake “Hello, I’m your dad!”
She gave him a hug, letting the tears fall “Dad!”
Nearby, Spinerella and Netossa kissed, Melog and Emily chased each other around the clearing, and Perfuma and Scorpia chatted happily as Frosta laughed up on Scorpia’s shoulders, Catra eventually joining them, the four of them collapsing into a group hug. Glimmer watched it all from her dad’s embrace.
Finally, he pulled away, still leaving his hands on her shoulders. “Do you remember me, from when you were little?”
“A bit.” Glimmer said, glancing at Catra, who had somehow squeezed away from the group hug and had gone over to Adora, the two of them muttering to each other as their foreheads touched. She couldn’t help but smirk, suspecting something she’d first thought of after talking to Catra on one of those long days on the ship. “Is it okay if I go check on my friends?”
“Of course.” Her dad said, pulling her back in for one more quick hug before watching her run back to Bow, a smile on her face.
Bow was also looking at Adora and Catra. “So… do you think they’re-”
“In love? Yeah.” Glimmer smiled “I think they have been for a long time, they just stopped being stupid about it for long enough to realize.”
Bow smirked mischievously “Wanna go tackle hug them?”
Glimmer grinned “You already know the answer.”
They teleported over and slammed into them, screaming at the top of their lungs, and the 4 best friends collapsed on the ground, laughing.
“So, what are we gonna do now?” Bow asked
“We can bring magic back to the universe.” Adora sighed happily, looking up at the stars, before sitting up “What do you guys say to one more Best Friends Squad road trip?”
The rest of them followed her lead and got up with her.
“I’m in!” Glimmer agreed, laughing and pulling in Adora for a hug
“Obviously!” Bow added
“Of course I’m going with you, dummy.” Catra muttered
“Then let’s do this.” Adora smiled “Together.”
The 4 of them hugged, grinning at each other in silence, before Bow broke it.
“So… what happened down there?” Bow asked, smiling
Both Catra and Adora blushed immediately, pulling away from the hug in sync
“Oh, it was nothing much really, we used the failsafe to stop the Heart-” Adora started
“There was a monster guarding the Heart, it almost killed us both-” Catra continued
“Shadow Weaver saved us. She’s dead.” Adora interrupted, breath hitching “I don’t even know how to begin to feel about it.”
“And yeah, like Adora said, the failsafe stopped the heart, that’s about it.” Catra finished
Glimmer and Bow glanced at each other in disbelief.
“And absolutely nothing else happened?” she raised an eyebrow
“Why would you think something else happened?” Adora said nervously
“Oh, I don’t know, maybe it’s because I’ve literally never seen you nor Catra this happy, and also, you’re a terrible liar.” Glimmer smiled, throwing a light punch as Adora’s arm
“Okay! Okay!” Adora laughed, giving up. Her eyes literally sparkled. “She said she loved me, and I said I loved her, and then we kissed.”
“Adora!” Catra groaned, but she was still smiling, expression glowing with just as much joy as Adora’s “I thought we weren’t going to tell them!”
“They would’ve found out eventually!” Adora protested
“We kinda already suspected it. For a while, actually.” Bow offered
Catra’s fur spiked up “What?”
“We were stuck on a spaceship with you two after you made up for weeks.” Glimmer rolled her eyes “Even Entrapta suspected it! Now, c’mon, let’s go check in and make sure everyone’s okay.”
As they walked down the cliffside, Catra and Adora kept shoving each other, walking ahead of Glimmer and Bow, whispering like they were children.
“You didn’t know that I loved you, you’re such a dummy.” Catra said
“Well it didn’t help that you kept saying “this is not because I like you” before you did literally anything for me!” Adora replied “And you’re the one who's stupid!”
Glimmer could barely keep herself from laughing and they continued to walk.
“No you are.” Catra said, giggling
“No you are!” Adora giggled, throwing herself at Catra, and the two of them tumbled down the remainder of the hill
Glimmer looked at Bow, his eyes shimmering, watching them “They’re so cute!”
Glimmer smiled too “I don't know what they’re even arguing about, they’re both stupid.”
Bow laughed, and they teleported the rest of the way down the hill to only find Adora and Catra making out in the grass.
“Ahem.” Glimmer interrupted
While it was cute and all, they really had official business to get on with. Adora and Catra seemed to suddenly remember where they were and got up, blushing.
Before she could announce anything, she heard Frosta shout.
“Wait- were Adora and Catra KISSING?!? Are they married?!”
This sparked multiple murmurs amongst the rebellion.
“No, Frosta, that’s not how it works, people can kiss before they’re married.” Perfuma said
“I told you so, you owe me cleaning the house.” Spinerella told Netossa
“So like- when did this happen, I was kinda mind controlled for the past whatever, since when is Catra not an enemy Horde soldier?” Mermista muttered
Adora’s face was bright red “Catra, can we go find a hole to hide in forever?”
Glimmer cleared her throat, calling attention away from her friends and to herself.
“Attention, people of the rebellion!” Glimmer announced, and everyone went silent. “Many of you have been mind controlled by Prime, and may be confused about what is happening right now, but let me reassure you, we have won, and the Horde is no more!”
There was an eruption of cheers.
“Let me thank you all for just being here, helping us, even though it meant risking your lives. Whether you joined us recently or have been fighting with us for years, I, Queen Glimmer of Bright Moon, thank you for your participation in helping save Etheria. We’ve all lost a lot, and it will be a while before we will be able to repair the many damages this war has caused, but we will try our best to build a better, brighter future, not just for us, but for the entire universe!” Glimmer finished
There was another eruption of cheers, and as Glimmer looked out on everything, she realized something.
She was proud of who she was, who she’d become.
She was sure her mother would be too.