Bright Moon war meeting room. Third person POV

Hordak's death was supposed to mark the beginning of the end for the Horde he created atop the ruins of the Scorpioni Kingdom. And the days & weeks that followed had reinforced that belief as the demoralized Horde soldiers abandoned entire towns & villages with barely any resistance. It truly seemed the great war machine disguising itself as a nation was in its death throws.

But then - slowly but steadily as was often the case- things started changing. The first change was the Horde had managed to launch new offenses. They were much smaller in scope & targeted only the Rebel warcamps nearest the border with the Fright Zone. These small offensives were proving effective so far and had managed to beat the survivors back, deeper into the Whispering Woods & the Dark Mountains. An unfortunate development, but it had been assumed that the Horde would go down fighting. Princess Catra -raised in the Horse's ranks- had reminded them as such. She'd also reminded them that regardless of how it struggled, the Horde was going down.

More curious was the reports brought forward by Princesses Netossa & Spinnerella from their contacts in the Rebellion. A single Horde vessel had escaped Salineas' patrols & was making it's way up the western shore. A interesting story but it was ultimately deemed irrelevant. A single ship from the Horde's depleted navy could only do so much in the grand scheme of things. The reports lay forgotten, its only contribution to the meeting a few good natured jests directed towards Mermista for allowing one to slip so far past her.

Except the ship refused to be ignored. It reentered the conversation when its final destination was revealed. It had bypassed Blackmoor & even the Crownless citystates that covered the majority of the Etheria's western coast & had sailed all the way north to reach Galacia. The isolated realm of the Selkies. A nation so isolated none of the Runestone Kingdoms had any way to reach out & inquire what was happening.

(Snows was close enough of course but the seething hatred between the two nations made the idea almost laughable)

Whomever the Horde had sent to the frozen land hadn't stayed long as only a few days after docking in Giant's Roost's harbor, the Horde vessel was making its return trip. But the truly attention grabbing aspect was that they were making the trip.... with a escort of Galacian cargo ships. The floatilla had been spotted by several Salinean patrols but each had backed away, not wanting to provoke the Selkies by damaging their ships. The odd fleet had docked in Rosewood where the Galacian vessels were observed filling their hulls with something before departing for home. Thankfully they decided to return home via the eastern route giving a Salinean captain the opportunity to hail the fleet and inquire as to what had occurred. What the captain heard was so shocking it was immediately reported up the chain of command, ultimately landing on the desk of Princess Mermista herself. And that was how the Princess Alliance arrived at their current state, standing in the exquisitely decorated War Room of Bright Moon Castle, trying to process the news the Princess of Salineas had just dropped on them.

Galacia & The Horde....had come to terms on a peace agreement.

Frosta had recovered first "What the hell are those damn Selkies thinking?"

"Frosta! language!" Perfuma lightly scolded.

"This has to be a mistake" Catra interjected, her face reflecting the confusion palpable in the room. "The Horde doesn't make peace. They've never even tried"

"Well it seems they've decided to give it a try" Mermista replied. Her usual aloof demeanor seem just slightly more forced than usual. "off to a good start too"

"But why Galacia?" Queen Angella said more to herself than anyone, her mind clearly hard at work trying to detect whatever scheme had to be at work. " They've barely interacted in the past"

"This has to be a trick" Glimmer spoke up "The Horde must have threatened them somehow"

"Um, I'm sorry to derail the conversation but...Why is this so important? Perfuma asked with a faint look of embarrassment "Who even are the Selkies?"

That set Frosta off "Who are the Selkies?" she roared, actually making the taller Princess jump in surprise nearly knocking over "Scorpia." They're only the blubber eating mongrols who humiliated my entire Kingdom!" Frosta's face was turning a startling shade of red which stood in contrast to her deep blue hair.

"Woah chill out tiny. Perfuma didn't mean anything by it" Mermista said raising her hands in a calming jesture.

"Don't tell me to chill out" Frosta snapped "If your people had done their job & caught the Horde's ship on the water. We wouldn't be in this mess"

"Uh excuse you" Mermista's face twisted in annoyance "My people may be the best sailors like, ever, but even WE can't cover the whole ocean at once" The Salinean princess folded her arm with a huff "One was bound to slip by eventually"

Frosta adopted a mocking look of apology "Oh i'm so sorry. Of course you can't be blamed for your ships missing the big, ugly Horde ship sailing the entire length of the continent. What WAS i thinking"

"OK, look half-pint" Mermista's rebuttal was cut off by Angella bring her hands down on the table.

"If you two are finished acting like children" she fixed the two bickering parties with a hard stare causing them to both look down in shame. "We have a serious question before us. What possible reason could the Horde have for seeking peace with Galacia"

"I still say it's a trick" Glimmer repeated.

Catra nodded in agreement."Yeah...yeah a trick. a, a diversion" The young Magicat seemed to be struggling to put her thoughts together. "Adora must've come up with a new strategy & she's trying to cover it up. I just don't get why the Selkies get out of playing along"

Clearing his throat, Bow finally entered the conversation. "Well Mermista's report clearly states they got something out of it. They were seen picking something up from Rosewood. The question is what could the Horde have that the Selkies would want?"

"Other than the chance to stick it to us?" Frosta grumbled.

"The fact is we don't know" Angella said with a look of confused resignation. "The Selkies have kept to themselves since winning their independence (she made a point to ignore the way Frosta tensed at that line) & none of us have found the time to establish consistent diplomatic channels, we have no way to...." It was Angella's turn to be cut off.

"I'll go" All eyes turned to Catra who seemed as surprised as anyone by what she'd just said.

"What do you mean you'll go?" Glimmer not quite shouted in her sisters ear.

"Catra dear that's not necessary" Angella said in a voice that only slightly revealed her alarm.

"Someone has to find out what happened up there" Catra began "If only to get a glimpse of what Adora is planning. I know her better than anyone, Let me go & hear how she convinced them to do this. It will be a start if nothing else."

"What makes you think the Selkies will listen to you?" Frosta asked, her previous anger seeming to have settled somewhat "Galacia is as anti-Princess as the rest of the Crownless" the way the short girl had said that last word you'd almost think it was an insult. To be fair, it was considered as such, for a time at least even if most Crownless citizens used the title themselves nowadays.

"But Catra isn't an ordinary Princess" Perfuma hesitantly reentered the conversation "She's the She-Ra. And who could turn away the She-Ra?"

"Plus she's a Princess of Bright Moon" Glimmer added "Not to brag guys but we ARE the only Runestone Kingdom the Crownless don't entirely hate."

That was true enough. Angella's famous preference for diplomacy had extended even to the Crownless -In stark contrast to her fellow Princesses who tended to ignore them at best- a fact that had actually garnered her no small amount of mockery over the centuries. But it seemed her evenhandedness was about to pay off.

Angella thought it over for a moment "Very well. If there are no objections (there weren't) than you may go after your next scheduled ambush in a few days."

"Thanks mom, everyone" Catra said directing a smile at each of her friends.

Angella smiled at her daughter before clearing her throat "Yes well, now that's settled for the moment. Let us return to our previous discussion, shall we?" No one objected to that either & so the Princess Alliance returned to the matter of addressing the Horde's recent push against the Rebels.

Lord Adora's office. Third Person POV

"I must confess Shakra, i didn't expect you to succeed. But i'm glad to have been proven wrong" The lord of the Fright Zone said, her smile pleasant in spite of the burn marks that covered the left side of her face to the point of turning the eye a milky white in contrast to the blue of the right.

"Well i'd be lying if i claimed i didn't have doubts myself my Lord" Shakra said with a slight bow of her head. "Thankfully the Selkies were more reasonable then i'd even hoped. Though i must ask, with respect, are we certain the ration bars were the best offering" The old woman couldn't keep a slight smile off her face as she finished her question.

"Oh i'm sorry Shakra were you hoping to hold onto a few?" Adora asked sweetly. The two woman looked at each other for a moment before they both broke out laughing. They settled down before Adora continued "So what were you planning to do now?"

'I was planning to touch base with our Crownless contacts" Shakra said wiping a tear from her eye "News may travel fast but it can take time to gauge reactions. I'll take a couple of days to read the proverbial room. It should help establish which parties are more open to approach"

"Fair enough" The Dragon said with a shrug. "But surely you have an idea who you'd like to speak to next"

"Well my lord there is one nation that i expect to be welcoming" The older woman replied. "They're so fond of Galacia, This treaty alone should more than put them in a talking mood. Though i should say they may be seen as an" Adora could tell Shakra was trying to find a good word "unusual choice for diplomatic outreach"

"Well i'm sure many would say the same for us" Adora stated coolly "So tell me, Who's on your mind?"

"Well" Shakra started carefully "How does my lord feel about...pirates?"

Adora paused for a moment before hew grin returned, wider and with a malicious hint that Shakra hadn't seen on her Lord's face before (& hoped to not see again) "I'm listening"