Shera and the Evil Horde

The Portal

The imprisoned princesses had forgotten what sunlight looked like. Tucked away in the darkest and coldest part of the Fright Zone, they each wore hollow and empty expressions. The last time they'd spoken to each other they'd gone without food or water for three days. It was more than enough to remind them to keep quiet. Before, they'd held a glimmer of hope. Although Adora was apart of the Horde, she'd been somewhat decent to them. 

And then Catra died. 

The moment the princesses heard the news, they knew what came next. Adora took her wrath out on them and they paid the consequences worked to the bone, no longer believing that anything could change. They didn't resist anymore and were too broken to even think of a plan of escape. That is how Hordak found them.

"Ah." He mused. "The Princesses of Etheria. How irritating it was when Adora spared you...but now I'm grateful for it." 

Out of the bunch, only Mermista had enough spine to speak. "Is this what being spared feels like?" 

"I would say so," Hordak smirked. "Especially considering you're still alive." 

Exchanging looks, it became clear that the situation could change. Hordak tilted his head. "I will say this only once. Your poultry planet means nothing to me. Whether it falls or doesn't is of no consequence to me. But lend me your power and your citizens won't perish. They'll live, though I can't promise in what conditions." 

"And if we don't?" Mermista muttered. "What then? We can't trust you anyway. How do we know You'll not harm them?" 

"That isn't an option. I'll destroy you as well as your people if you disobey in any way. You will power my portal." He snarled. "But not as you are. You're so pathetic I doubt I'll get much energy from you. So these few days you'll charge and prepare yourselves." 

And with that disheartening and dark message, he left them. 

Catra returned to her body in a rather sour mood. One, her girlfriend went nuts and now probably wanted to destroy Shadow Weaver. And two, because she didn't have time to even process her circumstances before the happy squad decided to just move on. They left the island after securing the Magicats as rebel allies excited about some new mission Glimmer and Bow just made up. 

"Are you guys always like this?" Catra muttered as they boarded the ship back home. "I mean, I just found out I'm a magicat and we're just going to...move on?"

"Yup." Glimmer winked. "It's all apart of being in the rebellion! We go where we're needed and search for whatever can stop the Horde!" 

Catra couldn't explain it. But she was like a hundred percent sure if they lived in a different time, that single phrase would irritate her. Stop the Horde? Yeah, that was not as easy as they expected. Sure, she now had magic abilities and could turn into a giant cat, but that didn't mean taking down the Horde would be a piece of cake. Still, she had to hand it to them. They just loved being positive. Kind of annoying. 

"So," She sighed, "Tell me where we're going again." 

"We're searching the Crimson waste." Bow explained. "There might be tech from Mara's ship which can help us." 

Bored, Catra scratched her ears. "Yeah, what? Who the heck is Mara?" 

Bow's mouth dropped. "You don't know who Mara is?! What else don't they tell you in the Horde?" 

"Lots of things." She rolled her eyes. "It's the Horde." 

He scratched his chin and sighed. "Yeah, you're right. Anyway, Mara was an ancient version of She-ra. The last She-ra before Adora. Some say she helped protect us, and others say she went insane with power."