Chapter Text
Luz and Amity were sitting on their couch, cuddling, when they heard a a small crashing and a feline hiss. Amity peered out the window without really moving.
“It’s probably just a little angel, running into a cat,” Luz said.
“I know, but… something just seems… off,” Amity replied.
“Well, let’s go investigate. C’mon, sweet potato!” Luz exclaimed, hopping up and grabbing Stringbean.
Amity laughed, taking Luz’s hand and summoning Ghost. They walked to the back door, prepared to catch either animal involved in the probable scuffle. Luz opened the door. She stopped halfway into taking a step out. Four pairs of eyes stared back at them.
“Oh. My. Titan.” Amity breathed beside Luz.
Instead of a possum and a cat facing off, there were four humans. Sort of. There was an incredibly tall woman, white blonde hair cascading down her back in a ponytail, who was glowing. A smaller woman next to her had pink and purple hair swept to the side and sparkling, and she was holding a spell circle with multiple patterns filling it. Beside the two of them was a regular looking man holding a loaded arrow, and the source of the feline sound became clear as both Luz and Amity spotted an olive skinned magicat crouched to attack, pointed cat ears extending from her head.
The six started at each other for a moment before Luz and Stringbean prepared to raise an illusion and hide the unusual people from prying human eyes. As she did, the purple haired woman leapt into action.
“Adora, I’ll cover you!” she yelled.
The rest of the group gave her a confused look as the blonde sighed.
“Glimmer, I’m covering you. You have my magic,” she said, gesturing vaguely to herself.
“Right,” Glimmer said, clearly chastened.
The magicat tossed her head back and groaned to the sky.
“I’m so glad no one had to actually fight Horde Prime directly,” she mumbled, leaping for Amity.
Amity dodged her and Luz finished her spell, bringing a slightly shimmering shield up around them.
“Catra!” the tall girl yelled, “come back here! Just because we’re not supposed to be here doesn’t mean we’re going to fight them!”
Catra, poised to attack Amity again, groaned and sauntered back to her friends. She stood next to them as the man lowered his weapon. The blonde glared at her with a tight smile.
“There, was that so har-“
“AAAAAAAAAHHHH!” came a battle cry from Glimmer.
She leaped forward, brandishing a larger, more complicated looking spell circle. The tall girl rolled her eyes.
“Does she listen to anything you say?” Catra said mockingly.
“Shut up,” the woman hissed, closing her eyes.
As she did, she stopped glowing. Then she turned translucent and rainbow tinged, before shrinking into a completely normal woman. Her hair changed to dark blonde, falling down her shoulders in an unbrushed puff. Her red and white bodysuit and golden accessories changed to a simple white shirt and grey leggings. Luz gasped.
As her friend transformed, Glimmer’s spell circle flickered and faded. She paused for a moment, looking down before she tripped and face planted right in front of Luz.
“Adora!” she cried, “at least warn me!”
“Not if you run headfirst into a battle we’re not going to fight,” Adora told her.
The man walked forward, offering his hand to Glimmer. She took it, pulling herself up and walking back to the group’s little square of grass.
“Why doesn’t Catra get dropped in the dirt?” Glimmer whined, nudging Adora, “is it because you liiiike her?”
Adora flushed deep red.
“You do realize we’re supposed to be establishing contact with this planet,” she hissed at Glimmer.
“Mm… yep!” Glimmer replied cheerily.
Catra rolled her eyes, but her cheeks had a distinctive red tint to them. Glimmer grinned and cackled mischievously.
“Speaking of establishing contact,” the man said, giving the three girls a look.
“Right,” Adora said, “hi! We’re from Etheria, and we’d like to help you bring magic back to your planet, or at least make an alliance.”
She spoke with the air of someone who’d said it a thousand times before and still wasn’t used to it. Luz and Amity stared blankly at them. Who were they? The sort of magic Glimmer had used had never existed before on the Boiling Isles. Magicats were something they’d learned from a book of lesser known fairytale creatures. And Adora’s transformation was unheard of. You could do that with illusions, but who would trick them like this? Amity came to a conclusion.
“Gus?” she asked uncertainly.
The reaction was immediate. The man cocked his head, confused. Catra and Adora scanned their surroundings, Adora pulling out a sword from thin air. Glimmer tried something that looked akin to summoning another of her spell circles, but nothing happened.
Luz laughed a little awkwardly.
“Guys, if this is some elaborate prank, we’ve caught you. Give yourselves up!”
The squad stared at them.
Just then, Luz’s fragile illusion shattered. Gus screamed behind them, and the four people in front of Luz and Amity whipped around. Adora shouted something and changed back into the tall woman, and her glow returned. Glimmer’s spell circle attempt was not in vain this time.
“Wait!” Luz screamed.
It didn’t seem like the strange people meant any harm, but they were fast and dangerous. They spun again, Catra keeping a close eye on Gus edging his way to Luz and Amity’s side.
“Uh… do you know where you are?” Luz said.