A/N: So, I was thinking; what if instead of Adora's back, Catra had scratched her eyes? Been a while since I saw the S1 finale, so sorry about all the wonky details. This is also my first time descriving a battle, so apologies if it sucks. Hope you enjoy the story never the less! :) To say Adora was in pain would be the understatement of the century. Not even menstrual pain could compare to the feeling of her former best friend's claws digging into her. Catra cackled, fleeing the scene after injuring her former comrade. "Adora!" Swift Wind cried, having witnessed the entire ordeal. The Princess of Power tried to locate her trusty steed, but found she couldn't see him, or anything else for that matter. ("Wait, what?! Why can't I see anything?!") Adora internally panicked, trying desperately to ascertain her surroundings. Soon enough, she heard 4 hooves landing in front of her. "Adora, thank the First Ones! C'mon, let's get outta here!" The flying unicorn said, spreading his beautiful multicolored wings. Adora tried walking to Swift Wind, but ventured off in the opposite direction. "Uh, Adora? I'm over here." Swift Wind deadpanned, thinking it was just a joke. "Swiftie?" Adora asked, walking in another direction. "I can't see you!" Swift Wind gasped, closed his wings, and raced over to the former Horde soldier. "Adora, why can't you see me?" Swift Wind panicked. "I don't know! All I know is that Catra scratched me and then all of a sudden I can't see anything!" Adora frantically explained. "You don't think she-?" Swift Wind covered his mouth with a wing as a horrible realization hit him like a ton of bricks. "What is it, Swiftie?" "Adora, please promise me you won't freak out." "Why would I-?" She was interrupted by Swift Wind covering her mouth. "Adora....." Swift Wind took a deep breath, knowing what he was about to tell his best friend would be hard for her to hear. "I think Catra blinded you." Adora gasped and covered her mouth, not believing what she had just heard. In the Horde, blind soldiers, useless to Hordak, were either kicked out or even...."taken care of" in the incinerator. "Hey, hey, it's gonna be ok, Adora." Swift Wind soothed. The blonde hadn't even realized she had started crying until she felt Swift Wind wiping her tears with his wing. "No......" Adora sobbed, collapsing to her knees and shedding her magical form, grasping her sword like it was a lifeline. "Oh, Adora....c'mere, follow my voice." Swift Wind offered, opening his wings. The former Force Captain walked over to her steed and bawled, shoving her face into Swift Wind's withers. "Sh.....it's gonna be okay, Adora, it's gonna be ok...." Swift Wind soothed, rubbing her back with his wing. Hearing Adora cry shattered the flying unicorn heart into a million pieces, but he couldn't show his feelings now. There would be time for that after they drove the Horde out of Bright Moon. It was then that he decided Adora wasn't safe here. He had to get her out of there, before she got hurt, or worse. "Adora, I'm gonna get you out of here, okay? I'll explain everything to the Queen later." Too tired and panicked to argue, Adora nodded after wiping her tears, and climbed onto Swift Wind's back. The flying unicorn took to the skies, carrying his injured-possibly-blinded passenger inside the castle and over to the infirmary, miraculously without injuring her even further. Swift Wind bridal carried Adora to a vacant bed, gently laid her down, and tucked her in. "I'll be back when it's all over, ok?" Swift Wind, promised, giving Adora a hug. Adora nodded, and quickly fell asleep. Swift Wind tiptoed out of the room as quietly as he could, closing the door behind him. Swift Wind was horrified at the sight of the pedestal holding the Moonstone, the source of Queen Angella and Princess Glimmer's magic, about to fall over. Suddenly, much to his and the Rebellion's relief, Princess Frosta arrived just in time to freeze the pedestal. "I hope I'm not too late." The 12 year old remarked. "No, you're right on time." Glimmer reassured, then began scanning her surroundings. "Bow, have you seen Adora?" The archer fired an arrow at an arrow at a Horde tank as he thought. "No, not since she and Catra started duking it out. Why?" "I can't find her!" Glimmer elaborated, punching a Horde Soldier that was about to attack Bow. "You don't think something happened to her, do you?" "What if she got captured?!" Bow panicked. Glimmer gasped as she round house kicked a soldier, knowing her best friend's theory was far from a stretch. She swallowed the urge to teleport inside each tank and rip it apart looking for Adora, remembering her mother's talk about impulsive behaviour, and the fact that defending Bright Moon was more important right now. Meanwhile, Swift Wind placed Adora's sword down in front of him, debating whether or not to try transforming into Swift-Ra. ("Swift Wind, you handsome devil, are you out of your mind?! It won't work!") Part of him argued. ("Its worth a shot anyway!") The other part argued. ("Our best friend is hurt, and we may just be the Rebellion's only shot at keeping Bright Moon safe from the Horde!") His decision made, Swift Wind knew there was only one thing left to do. "FOR THE HONOUR OF GRAYSKULL!" Swift Wind felt himself getting taller. In a burst of magical flame, horse shoes with red skirts appeared on all four hooves. His mane became longer and blew in a non existent wind, becoming braided, and a modified version on She Ra's tiara appeared on his head, accommodating his horn. Swift Wind threw the sword, and stomped his front hooves causing an elaborate chest plate to form. He caught the sword, somersaulted, and struck a pose. Glimmer and Bow stood there with their jaws on the floor, unsure of what had just happened. "Uh, Bow? Either I'm dreaming, or Swift Wind just turned into She Ra." "If you're dreaming, then we're *both* dreaming." "Swift-Ra, thank you very much." Swift Wind corrected. "Wait, what?!" He panicked, the Princess and archer's words finally hitting him. "Fight now, panic later!" Netossa cried, trapping one of the Horde tanks in her namesake. "Now, babe!" Spinerella nodded, using her powers to lift Sea Hawk's burning ship onto another Horde battalion. Glimmer teleported onto Sea Hawk's burning ship, and, after timing it *just right,* teleported both of them off, dropping Sea Hawk into Mermistas arms. Meanwhile, in a blind rage, Swift Wind was dead set on finding Catra and making her pay for what she did to his best friend. He landed and hopped from tank to tank, crushing them like steel cans. Swift Wind smiled evilly when he saw that mangy fleabag Adora used to call a best friend barking orders at her fellow soldiers. The flying unicorn pounced on the Force Captain, knocking her out cold. Swift Wind cursed to himself. He hoped that she could be stayed conscious, so he could threaten her. But, there was one thing he *could* do..... "Force Captain Catra, in the name of the Rebellion, I, Swift Wind, hereby place you under arrest." Swift-Ra picked Catra up and lazily threw her onto his back, not caring if she broke her neck. "Oh no you don't!" Another Force Captain, a mix between woman and scorpion, cried, rushing over to Swift Wind. Scorpia reached out one of her crustaceous arms to grab Catra. Before she could even make a move, Swift Wind turned his head and bit her, the sound of bones breaking amusing him to no end. Scorpia fled, heading to the Horde's first aid tent. ("They're so tough until you break their limbs. Then, they run like the cowards they are.") Swift Wind thought, laughing to himself as he flew back to the castle dropping Catra off in the Bright Moon dungeon, making sure to pick the dirtiest cell. He spat on Catra, slammed the cell door shut and threw himself back into the battle. If the situation wasn't so serious, Swift Wind would've started laughing. With one Force Captain down for the count and the other in Rebellion custody, the Horde soldiers were running around like decapitated chickens, desperately trying to win the battle. ("Idiots. Don't they already know they're screwed?") Swift Wind thought to himself, rolling his magenta eyes. Despite being tasked with protecting Bright Moon's runestone, Adora's sudden disappearance from the battle field did not escape her attention. She prayed to the First Ones that the Princess of Power was ok. The last thing the Rebellion needed was a fallen She Ra. Speaking of She Ra......had Swift Wind just turned into the flying unicorn equivalent, or were all those sleepless nights after her husband's passing finally catching up to her? Angella shook her head. She would demand an explanation from the flying steed later. At the moment, her only priorities were keeping the Moonstone and her kingdom safe. Princess Perfuma of Plumeria may be a pacifist at heart, but when a fellow kingdom was in danger, the floral princess didn't hesitate to come assist. Now, however, she felt tired, like she needed to recharge. But she couldn't go back to her runestone, not until she knew that Bright Moon (and the Whispering Woods) would both be okay. Perfuma sent a vine over to a Horde tank, snapping it like a stick. Mermista of Salineas once associated the saying "Beware the nice ones." with her. ("Oh, beware the nice ones indeed.") Perfuma silently concurred, snapping another tank in the same fashion as the first. "Need a hoof? I've got four." The Princess heard a voice offer. Perfuma turned to see Adora's horse. What was his name, Fast Breeze? "Much appreciated. Want to crush tanks together?" "Last one to finish is a rusty horseshoe!" Swift Wind challenged, taking off. Perfuma shook her head at Swift Wind's childish challenge, but destroyed tanks anyway, knowing how cathartic it felt. Swift Wind destroyed some tanks, cheering to himself all the while. Who knew destroying things could be so much fun?! No wonder Adora likes hitting punching bags so much. Adora..... Swift Wind back as worried at the thought of her. Would she be okay? Would she ever see again? What if her blindness was permanent?! Swift Wind was too distracted by his thoughts to notice a Horde soldier dragging him off the tank he was standjng on by his tail. "What do you think you're doing?!" Lonnie questioned. "If you think you're going to win, you're out of your mind." "Oh, honey, I came here to eat apples and kick butt. And I'm all out of apples." Swift Wind sassed, promptly knocking Lonnie and a string of other Horde soldiers unconscious. Back at the castle, the princesses tried their best to defend Bright Moon, neither wanting to admit that they were getting their butts handed to them. ("Where's Adora when you need her?!") Glimmer internally panicked, breaking a Horde soldier's jaw. Swift Wind landed in front of the girls, overly optimistic despite the current situation. "You girls ready to end this once and for all?" Swift Wind asked, speaking around the sword in his mouth. Glimmer sighed in relief. "Never thought you'd ask, Swiftie. Let's do this!" The princesses glowed as they placed their arms on each other's shoulders. Sea Hawk and Bow joined in for moral support, the latter's chestplate glowing. Swift Wind raised Adora's sword, and sent out a rainbow wave that defeated the Horde in one fell swoop. After the Horde's defeat, the princesses celebrated hugging each other, (making out in Spinerella and Netossa's case) and cheering. Swift Wind was overjoyed, but he also wanted to check on Adora. Before he could leave, however, Queen Angella landed, She Hawk and all the other princesses paying their respects. Angella acknowledged a few of them, before turning to Glimmer and pulling her into a hug, inviting Swift Wind in. Swift Wind hesitated. He would never normally turn down a hug from the Queen, but he was worried about Adora. Bow squealed and ran into the hug, dragging Swift Wind behind him. Queen Angella opened her wings so she could hug her daughter, her best friend, and the loyal steed. Then, a question she had suppressed since the battle had jumped to her tongue. "Swift Wind?" "Your Majesty?" "Where is Adora?" Swift Wind nudged his head toward the castle, silently expressing his desire to explain privately. "Of course." Angella scooped her daughter up and Bow climbed onto Swift Wind's back. After thanking the Princesses for their help, Angella and Swift Wind flew back to the castle. ~~ONE EXPLANATION LATER~~ Angella gasped. Glimmer teleported to her room, Blow running after her. "I know this was hard to hear. I *really* hope it isn't true." Swift Wind said. The sound of Glimmer crying broke the uncomfortable silence. "Swift Wind. Check on Adora while I comfort my daughter." Angella ordered. "Yes, my Queen." Swift Wind saluted, leaving at once. The flying horse was about to enter the infirmary, but was stopped by the head nurse. "You can't go in there." "I sure can under Queen Angella's authority. She wanted me to check on Adora." Swift Wind explained. The head nurse excused herself, and entered the infirmary. "I'm sorry, Adora will never see again." The nurse disclosed. Swift Wind gasped in horror as his worst fear was realized. "No........" Swift Wind breathed in disbelief. "I'm sorry, we tried everything we could to save her vision." Having heard enough, Swift Wind flew out of a castle window. Meanwhile, Glimmer's cries were slowly turning into sniffles. "Shhh, Mommy's here." Angella soothed, holding her daughter. After a while, the Queen began to realize that it had been a while since she had ordered Swift Wind to check on Adora. Had that horse gotten lost *again?!* A knock sounded at Glimmers door. "My Queen?" Angella would recognize the head nurse's voice any day of the week. "Enter." She commanded, offering Glimmer a tissue. The head nurse obeyed her Queen's command at once. "Am I interrupting something, Your Majesty?" "No, Vidalia. What news do you bring?" Vidalia removed her nurse's cap. "We tried everything we could, but unfortunately, Princess Adora was permanently blinded in the battle." Angella gasped in horror. How could the Rebellion stand a chance against the Horde with a blinded She Ra? "Where is Swift Wind?" Angella asked. "He flew out of a window. I have no clue where he went, Your Majesty." "I'll find him." Angella tucked her sleeping daughter in, kissed her on the forehead, and took off. The Queen of Bright Moon knew of a spot Adora always retreated to when upset, and no doubt existed in her mind that Swift Wind would be there as well. Angella landed and found Swift Wind facing away from her, gazing out at a lake surrounded by lush trees. "Swift Wind?" Swift Wind replayed the moment when Catra robbed Adora of her sight in his head. Why hadn't he done anything to stop it?! Swift Wind whimpered, tears racing down his cheeks. Unable to hold his composure any longer, Swift Wind fell to his knees, bawling hysterically. Angella calmly approached the crying unicorn, crouched down, and gave him a hug. "I don't deserve to be Adora's steed! How could I have let her go blind?! Why didn't I do anything to stop that mangy fleabag??" Swift Wind cried, his tears beginning to form a small puddle. "You are not to blame for this Swift Wind. If anyone deserves to be blamed for this, it's Catra." Angella spat the Force Captain's name like a deadly poison as she momentarily released the flying unicorn to wipe his tears. The more Swift Wind tried to calm down, the more he cried. Why couldn't he have been blinded instead of Adora? Swift Wind bawled into Angella's shirt. "Everything's going to be ok, Swift Wind. I promise."