Chapter 42: Memory Shift (Part 2)

A loud hum of the engine was all that the crew of the stolen jet would hear for the first little while of their trip. Adora hummed merrily to herself as she flew the jet. Catra sat in the corner, hugging her legs and murmured nervous mutterings to herself. Oracle sat patiently across from Brittni, smiling and waiting for her daughter to speak. Brittni merely sat in her seat with her head down, trying to wrap around everything that was circulating her mind. The faux memories that Horde Prime had injected into Brittni were slowly but surely fading away, but Brittni was still cautious as to what she believed. Finally, Brittni took a deep breath and lifted her head up.

"Something on your mind, daughter?" Oracle inquired.

"I mean, if your name's 'Oracle,' shouldn't you already know what I'm thinking?" Brittni muttered sarcastically. Oracle smirked.

"Certainly. But that defeats the chance at conversation, doesn't it?" Oracle suggested. From the cockpit, Adora yelled out.

"Hey, fortune cookie! Read my mind!" Adora shouted while giggling. Oracle let out a sigh.

"You're thinking of a tiny pink giraffe stuck in a toaster oven," Oracle stated. Brittni cocked her eyebrow at Oracle and Adora let out a howl of laughter.

"Whoa! You really can read minds! Your mom's awesome, Brittni!" Adora guffawed. Brittni blinked a few times and switched her gaze from Adora to Oracle. The moment that Adora mentioned Oracle being Brittni's mother, Brittni felt a warm feeling surrounding her diaphragm. Oracle giggled quietly.

"So… uh, mom. I'm starting to remember everyone's personalities and… I'm not sure how to put this politely: What the ever-living-" Brittni began to say before a certain word was deafened by some turbulence, "happened to everyone?" Brittni inquired. Oracle narrowed her eyes at Brittni.

"Daughter, you know how I feel about profanity," Oracle muttered. She then sighed and went on to explain, "well, you see, Horde Prime is quite aware of you and your brother's power of observation. He reasoned with himself that he could convert you, Brett, Adora, Catra, and everyone else that was a part of the attack on Mystacor." Oracle declared. When she said this, Adora stopped giggling and Catra stood up from her corner and sat across from Oracle. Oracle then continued, "The way that he is achieving this is by… well…" Oracle stopped for a moment then said, "currently, your minds are hooked up to a machine that has created this false reality." Catra gasped and Brittni shuddered a bit.

"Y...you mean that this isn't real?" Catra inquired.

"We're in a simulation?" Brittni added. Oracle nodded.

"Indeed. You remember what happened back at Mystacor, yes? Back when Horde Prime activated the planetary shift?" All three listeners nodded, intently. "Well, when that happened, the planet was literally shifted out of one dimension into another. While that was happening, everyone within a several mile radius was rendered unconscious. Once that happened, Prime brought you all aboard his ship and hooked you up to the machine."

"But… Like, why?" Adora inquired.

"As I was saying before, Prime saw something special within all of you. He knows you to be Etheria's greatest warriors and felt that instead of obliterating you, he would convert you." Oracle indicated. Brittni shuddered at this aspect.

"Convert us? How?" Brittni inquired.

"You saw your brother? This simulation is meant to slowly warp your mind into seeing Horde Prime as the ultimate ruler. By keeping your personalities the same, you would all feel as though everything was completely normal. As time passed, the simulation would slowly place points in your mind to subconsciously; but eventually, consciously, change your mind to worship Prime as a deity." Oracle explained. Brittni blinked her eyes.

"Like brainwashing? What a psychopath…" Brittni muttered,"if that's the case, how come everyone's personalities but mine were changed?" Brittni inquired. Oracle smiled.

"Ah, that's where I came in. You see, a long while ago, a Horde technician arrived at my home from Elberon. She was carrying data regarding Void's true identity. When I touched the device, I also received a vision of this simulation. Through the technician's engineering skills and my magic, we were able to create a machine similar to Prime's. I knew that Prime's arrival was inevitable, so I have been plugged in for a while, waiting for Prime to activate his planetary shift. As soon as he did, I only had time to enter the simulation and set up a firewall around your mind." Oracle explained. Brittni gasped and Oracle continued, "I knew that your powers would lead you to the truth." Oracle winked, "as for everyone else, the technician did her best to hack the software and shift everyone's personalities so that you would be able to recognize that something was wrong."

Brittni switched glances between Adora and Catra. Adora was concentrating on flying, but her silence indicated that she felt haunted at what Oracle was saying. Catra's mouth was wide agape.

"Y… you mean, I'm not normally like this?" Catra inquired, "but… does that mean my regular personality is… mean?" Brittni and Oracle looked at each other and mumbled.

"Er… well… uh…" The two talked over each other. Catra wrapped her tail around her waist and hugged it tightly.

"I don't want to be mean!" Catra protested.

"Never thought I'd hear those words…" Brittni thought to herself.

"Ah, who knows Catra. Maybe you're really feisty! And I do like feisty." Adora said, almost flirtatious. Brittni groaned.

"Ugh, at least these two might actually admit their love for each other…" Brittni again thought to herself.

"Well… Thanks for believing in me, Mom." Brittni said, grinning. Oracle closed her eyes and smiled. Brittni then turned to Catra, "and don't worry, Catra, you're not that mean." Brittni winked. Catra once again hugged her knees tight, not wanting to think about her personality shift.

"We're almost there, y'all!" Adora indicated. Sure enough, the jet was entering Mystacor's airspace which manifested in a transmission from Mystacor. A melancholy sounding voice came onto the speaker.

"Um… hello, uh… y-you're entering… uh, M-Mystacor's airspace. Which is not restricted. I mean, Mystacor's restricted airspace is restricted- I mean... oh, man, I am so bad at this…" The voice said rather nervously. Brittni recognized the voice but not the tone. She ran over to the cockpit and pressed the intercom button.

"Glimmer?! Is that you?!" Brittni demanded. Adora giggled.

"What…?" The voice responded, "how… how did you know my name?" Glimmer inquired.

"Glimmer? Heh, that's a word, not a name." Adora declared as she made whooshing noises and wriggled her fingers in the air, signifying a flickering sparkle. Brittni ignored Adora's goofiness and responded.

"Glimmer, listen. We're friends of Mystacor! We're… here to learn!" Brittni declared awkwardly. Adora and Catra switched their gaze to Brittni in surprise, while Oracle simply smirked.

"Learn? B-But I can't do magic- Mmph!" Catra began to say before Oracle clamped her hand over Catra's mouth.

"Heh, magic. Princesses? Aren't we supposed to hate all that- Mmph!" Adora began to say before having her mouth clamped by Brittni's hand. It was quiet over the radio for a few moments that felt like an eternity. A pronounced breath escaped Brittni's mouth as she anxiously awaited a response. Finally, a hesitant Glimmer came back on the speaker.

"Oh… uh, well, okay, you're cleared for landing… I think." Glimmer said, nervously. Brittni took her hands off the intercom and Adora's mouth, then let out a dramatic sigh of relief.

"Whoa, awesome. So we're gonna learn magic? I bet Shadow Weaver is going to love that!" Adora indicated. She then steered the airship towards a landing pad near the front gate of Mystacor. While they were in the process of landing, Oracle gave a brief plan.

"Alright, this is how this is going to work. Once we land, you are all going to need to pose as students. I will act as your instructor. Once the pleasantries and rapport are established, we are going to need to find our way to the Lunarium. Inside the Lunarium is a device that acts as a failsafe for the entire simulation. Once we power it down, we should wake up back in the real world." Oracle explained. She took a look around and found only confused gazes staring back at her. She let out a light sigh then added, "it will all make sense once we've landed."

Soon enough, the jet landed and the passengers within made their way out. They were greeted by a group of sorcerers, one being the Head Sorceress, Castaspella, and another being…

"Glimmer...!" Brittni thought to herself. She then heard Oracle communicate to her mind.

"Act normal. Remember, this is not the Glimmer you know right now." Oracle telecommunicated. Brittni nodded and bowed before the magic-users.

"Ah, welcome to Mystacor. It is quite wonderful to meet you all." Castaspella said in an almost monotone voice.

"Greetings, Head Sorceress." Oracle said humbly with a bow. Castaspella gave a little smile and introduced the rest of her entourage. Castaspella's words began fading to complete silence as Brittni saw Glimmer in the background. Brittni could not keep her eyes off of Glimmer as Glimmer hid behind Castaspella. In her mind Brittni kept thinking to herself:

"This is the evil, psycho princess, hell-bent on destroying the Horde, Glimmer?" Brittni pondered.

"Glimmer," Castaspella began, turning towards her, breaking Brittni's daydream, "would you show these three to their first lesson?" Glimmer blinked her eyes and came out from behind Castaspella.

"Oh, uh... yes, of c-course, Auntie." Glimmer said nervously. She then turned to the Horde, oblivious to the uniforms and continued, "this... um, this way." Glimmer then led the trio into Mystacor's main chamber. As Brittni walked she looked around and could visibly see flashbacks of the death and destruction that was wrought by Night Moon when they attacked in the real world. She hid her shudder as the trio made their way into a classroom. Inside was a typical layout with desks, bookshelves, holographic writing boards, and various decorations. What was interesting to note, however, was the large circle in the middle that took up the majority of the room. Inside the circle, there were two students dueling; one using fire magic, the other, water.

"So, uh, this is, um, a classroom of beginning elements." Glimmer stated, rubbing her arm, "it's where beginners learn how to wield and use magic." The Horde trio gazed at the two duelists, enthralled by their finesse. The water user simply kept parrying the fire users' attacks. Once the fire user started panting with fatigue, the water user spun around and simultaneously hurled a large glob of water at the fire user's face, knocking him out of the circle. The water user smirked and raised a fist.

"Looks like I win." The water user giggled. The fire user groaned as he picked himself up.

"Well done, both of you!" The instructor proclaimed. She then noticed Glimmer bringing in the Horde trio, "ah, Princess Glimmer, what have you brought for us?"

"Oh, uh. Yes, these are new students, professor." Glimmer said, bowing and presenting them.

"Wonderful!" The professor began, "well, let's start with…" The professor went on to explain the basics of magic. Brittni was actually rather interested as she did not have much experience with the concept of magic. Though, suddenly, yet slowly, the professor's voice quieted and Brittni heard Oracle's voice.

"Brittni, it's your mother. I need you and Adora to make your way to the Antechamber of Artifacts. I've located She-Ra's sword. If she reconnects with it, it will bring back her memories." Oracle declared. The professor's voice suddenly began being audible once again.

"...So! Which of you shall attempt learning fire magic against our water user?" The professor inquired.

"Uh, I uh. Adora and I need to go to the bathroom, really quick!" Brittni declared. Everyone in the room gazed at the two with suspicious looks. Even Adora looked at Brittni, confused.

"Uh, so… I don't actually have to go-" Adora began before Brittni flashed desperate eyes at her. "I, um, mean, yeah, we'll be right back." Per Adora's word, the duo made a quick escape.

"Ah, oh well. You! Catra, was it? We'll start with you." The professor indicated.

"ME?!" Catra protested nervously.

Brittni and Adora make their way to the Antechamber...

As the duo entered the Antechamber, they found themselves surrounded by magical artifacts from all walks of life displayed in cases and on counters. Everything from magic staves to enchanted weapons, made this a rather large treasure trove of magic. While Adora was busying herself with touching everything in sight, Brittni was looking for the sword. During the search, Brittni had an eerie feeling when she heard the voice in her head. Something about the frequency did not sit right with Brittni. She also found it strange that there was no guard or even any visitors. Before Brittni could ponder any further, at the corner of her eye, she saw the sword encased in a glass display case. Brittni gasped as she ran towards it and put her hands on the glass. However, once she got a closer look, there was something different about the sword. Although it seemed to be the sword, Brittni could tell that the sword itself was a few millimeters shorter than it needed to be and the jewel in the hilt was a slightly darker blue.

"This isn't the sword..." Brittni thought to herself. As she was pondering, she heard a rather rambunctious Adora fling herself towards the case, causing Brittni to stumble to the side

"Whoa! Brittni, check out the sword!" Adora shouted as she ripped open the glass case and clutched the sword.

"Wait, Adora!" Brittni protested. But it was too late. Once Adora pulled the sword out of the case, an alarm sounded. No sooner did they realize that a group of sorcerers barged in. There was something eerily strange about all of them... in particular, their eyes.

They were glowing a neon green!

"Oh, no..." Brittni shuddered as she knew what the green eyes implied.

"Oh, yes..." A familiar but unwelcome voice came from behind all the sorcerers.

"...Horde Prime..." Brittni muttered in disbelief.

"Ah, so you do recognize me, child." Horde Prime declared as he moved forward, slowly clapping his hands, "after all, I would hope you wouldn't forget your own uncle."

"You're NOT my uncle!" Brittni sneered, pointing an accusing finger at him.

"I'm afraid I am, my dear. Now, if you'll please come with me, we can wipe your memory and restart this little simulation. What do you say?" Horde Prime inquired, gravely.

Something in what Horde Prime said had struck a nerve with Brittni. Brittni looked to Adora who had an absolute countenance of terror. Brittni turned back to Horde Prime. She felt angst knowing that she was being played from the start. She felt helpless at Horde Prime's power. She felt fearful at just what it was that Horde Prime was going to do. Soon, however, that fear transitioned to anger, and then manifested into rage.

Brittni let out a loud shriek and sprinted towards Horde Prime. One of the sorcerers made a few hand signs in the air. Brittni quickly recognized it as a paralysis spell. As she was running, she grabbed a crown of some sort on the artifacts display and heaved it at the sorcerer. The crown struck the sorcerer's hand. The sorcerer let out a shriek of pain and waved his hands around, trying to soothe them.

"Adora! Grab a weapon!" Brittni commanded. Adora anxiously looked around for some kind of weapon and ended up grabbing a staff next to the sword's case.

"Uh, so how do I work this thing-" Adora began to say as she clutched it. When she clutched it, however, the end of it began glowing. Adora nervously mused at the staff, aiming it at Horde Prime and the sorcerers. Horde Prime let out a gasp and raised his fist, activating a transparent shield that surrounded his body. The moment he did that, a large ball of energy shot out of the staff and struck Horde Prime, causing a massive explosion, knocking him, Brittni, and the sorcerers away from the blast. Adora was awestruck as she switched glances between the staff and the big hole in the wall that she had just created.

"I'm keeping this." Adora said, facetiously. Brittni groaned as she picked herself up. Adora ran over to Brittni and helped her up, dusting off the debris.

"Thanks, Adora…" Brittni said. Adora smiled, and for a moment, she began feeling some memories return. A few flashbacks of when they were in the Whispering Woods and Brittni getting stung by the giant wasp.

"...Brittni?" Adora inquired, rather seriously. Brittni blinked her eyes.

"Do you remember?" Brittni inquired back.

"I… I…" Adora stammered until they heard a loud growling noise coming from outside the Antechamber. The two looked and saw Horde Prime picking himself up.

"We gotta go!" Brittni interrupted as she ran out of the hall, stomping on Horde Prime as she ran.

"Oof!"

Adora followed the chase, also stomping on Horde Prime.

"Oof! Argh!" Horde Prime grimaced as the two girls ran down the hall towards the Lunarium. Heading up the stairs and avoiding any sorcerer that gave them a strange look, they eventually made their way to the entrance of the Lunarium. The girls panted as they stopped to catch their breath.

They opened the door carefully, revealing a group of sorcerers as well as the Head Sorceress, Castaspella. They were gathered in a circle, wearing robes that had hoods which cloaked their faces. It was dark in the Lunarium, with only the various constructs of magic as well as the moon, illuminating the room. The two carefully walked in, trying to remain quiet as they were weary that everyone was under Prime's control.

There were a few tables in the room as well as a parquet row of seats like in a theater. When they were safely hidden behind some of the seats, Brittni and Adora listened closely to what the group of sorcerers were saying.

"...And so, in the name of the great Horde Prime; our god, we sacrifice this woman…" The cultic group chanted. Brittni widened her eyes when she heard those words and moved around the seats to get a closer look. There, bound and gagged on a table, was Oracle struggling through her bonds. Brittni let out a stifled gasp. Oracle, through the corner of her eye, managed to see Brittni and let out a muffled scream. The group then turned towards Brittni and Adora. Castaspella let out a lifeless sigh.

"We have guests." Castaspella said, drawing a few hand signs. Brittni recognized them as a heat detecting spell. Sure enough, Castaspella pointed at the seats and added a monotone, "get them." The group of sorcerers marched towards the seats and aimed their staves, ready to fire.

"Hah! Let's see you fight this!" Adora shouted, standing up and charging up her staff.

"Wait, Adora!" Brittni protested, but it was too late. Adora and the sorcerers fired their staves with the beams and balls of energy flying towards each other. Adora, still in between her goofy and serious state, forgot about her own mortality, while Brittni ducked for cover. The two sides of energy collided, sending a shockwave to both parties, knocking them all on their backs, out cold. Brittni, while crouched, turned towards Adora who was sitting unconscious against a seat.

"Adora? Adora! Please say you're okay!" Brittni beseeched. It was no use, however, Adora was out cold. Brittni then heard a groan coming from the middle of the room. As she turned towards it, she saw that Castaspella had a knife to Oracle's throat, still bound and gagged to the table. Castaspella turned a lifeless gaze towards Brittni.

"Surrender, or I kill your mother." Castaspella threatened. Oracle let out another muffled scream. Brittni's nervous and widened eyes began to tear up as she did not know exactly what to do. She shuddered a bit before holding her arms up and coming out from behind the seats. She took a few steps towards Castaspella, which she took as a threat and so stuck her knife closer to Oracle's throat. Brittni stopped her pacing and gasped.

"Okay, okay! J...Just don't hurt her!" Brittni beseeched. A grin creepier than the Crypt Keeper's face, stretched across Castaspella's face.

"Excellent. Lord Prime will be here soon to send you to reconditioning." Castaspella indicated. Brittni grimaced for a few moments then grinned.

"He can try…" Brittni muttered. She then looked closely at Oracle, narrowing her eyes at her. Although her eyes were full of terror, and her muffled screams sounded sincere, Brittni felt something different about Oracle. She then added, "y'know, I grew up without a mom…" Brittni said, putting her arms down. Castaspella cocked an eyebrow.

"Hmm?!" Oracle muffled into her gag. Brittni grinned and started pacing around the room.

"Yeah, I mean, the Fright Zone raised me. They made me what I am today." Brittni declared as she stopped her pacing. "Then I met my mother. She was so kind and loving… she taught me about magic and about who was right and wrong on Etheria."

"What's your point?" Castaspella demanded, putting her knife closer to Oracle's throat. Brittni chuckled.

"My point is, Head Sorceress, do you really want to kill your own comrade?" Brittni challenged. Oracle and Castaspella switched glances and Brittni added in clarification, "after all… that's not Oracle. That's Void."

A string of gasps came out from Castaspella and the fake Oracle as they realized they had been caught. Soon enough, a shroud of darkness with beads of green light surrounded Oracle and when it dissipated, revealed Double Trouble.

"Very clever, Brittni. You always were able to see past deception." Double Trouble indicated, grinning with a row of sharpened teeth, "but it seems as though your luck has run out." The moment that Double Trouble said that, Brittni felt a presence overshadow her. She turned around and found Horde Prime towering over her. Before she could react, Horde Prime grabbed her by the neck and lifted her up. Brittni began choking, gasping for air.

"Such an insolent creature. So much potential, so much strength and intelligence… and you waste your gifts on a planet that should have been destroyed from the beginning." Horde Prime sneered. At this point, Brittni was no longer afraid of Prime. She gritted her teeth, glared at Prime, cocked her fist back and punched the left side of his head where the extra set of eyes were. Horde Prime let out a growl of pain and heaved Brittni to the right, towards a few tables. The tables broke in several pieces as Brittni's body crashed against them. She let out a painful groan as she attempted to stand back up. Horde Prime's feet pounded against the floor as he stomped towards Brittni.

"If you will not submit to reconditioning, then you will submit to death!" Horde Prime shouted as he was about to grab Brittni.

"You will NOT lay a hand on my daughter!" A reverberated and holy voice shouted from behind. Horde Prime looked back to see the real Oracle. Oracle then began making hand signs and spoke, "In the name of the Savior, you will face His holy light!" The moment Oracle spoke that, a beam of resplendent light fired upon Horde Prime, sending him flying into the wall, cracking an imprint into it. Brittni switched glances between the wall and Oracle.

"Mom!" Brittni shouted, running over to Oracle who began fainting from the energy she expended. Brittni caught Oracle before she collapsed, and a weakened mother smiled at her daughter.

"Hello, love." Oracle said." Brittni smiled back, though it was short-lived as Double Trouble and Castaspella moved towards them, aiming their respective weapons; swords and a knife. Brittni looked back at them.

"This. Ends. Now!" Double Trouble screamed, raising their sword. As the sword came down, a stream of fire was flying towards Double Trouble and Castaspella, coming from the opposite end of the room. Before they could react, the hot plasma engulfed the two, causing them to drop their weapons and panic. Brittni looked around and found… Catra? Using magic?!

"H-Hey! I learned how to control fire!" Catra indicated. Brittni blinked her eyes a few times.

"Catra using fire. Never thought I'd see the day…" Brittni thought to herself. Oracle coughed a bit and began speaking again.

"Brittni, quickly! You must activate the failsafe! It will end all of this!" Oracle declared.

"You're not activating anything!" A half-burned Horde Prime declared as he stood up. He slowly marched towards Brittni, aiming his wrist cannon at her. Brittni let out a gasp and dove to the ground, holding Oracle. The beam of plasma flew past them into Catra's fire that she used as a shield.

"Brittni! Get to the failsafe! I'll take care of Prime! Go!" Catra commanded. Brittni looked at Oracle who nodded. Brittni let go of Oracle and ran towards the failsafe while Prime and Catra battled it out.

"You will not stop this! You will all be my thralls!" Prime shouted as he fired more shots at Catra, with one shot hitting her fire wall, knocking her back. Brittni, meanwhile, sprinted to the center console and pressed a few buttons, revealing the failsafe. It was a lever, and she began to pull it.

"No!" Horde Prime shouted as he ran towards the failsafe.

"Yes." Brittni corrected as she slammed the lever down. Once she did that, the entire space of the room began warping, as though reality was bending itself. The room was shaking and seemed to start collapsing into itself as the floor and the ceiling began meeting. Brittni closed her eyes and waited for whatever was going to happen next...