Getting better together

Hordak was prepared for many reactions when he was the last to enter the courtroom. People paralyzed in fear at the sight of him. People angry enough to try to kill him. People in tears at the sight of him from the grief they experienced because of him. He expected everything from the wrath of the Etherians for what he had done to them.

What he didn't expect were the neutral expressions that he was greeted with when he and Entrapta entered last into the courtroom. Some even seem curious about Hordak; not a sign of malice in their eyes. Maybe that's why he was even more scared. He was prepared for everything to go wrong and here he is, waiting for his trial to start with Entrapta by his side and Kadroh and Emily in the crowd, silently cheering him on. Hordak gulped as he felt the weight of each strangers gaze, watching him, analyzing him and wondering what he has to say.

His heartbeat only slowed down when he felt Entrapta grip his hand. He turned to face her, a smile forming on his face when she gave an encouraging smile. She was next to him to give an opening statement and from then on, Hordak will be on his own to defend himself. He was prepared to not even give himself a defense, but now that Entrapta and the princesses are willing to fight for him, he was ready to fight as well. Hordak gave a gentle squeeze back on Entraptas' hand as he turned back to where the princesses sat in a semi-circle desk, faces as well neutral when looking, but eyes glowing with encouragement.

He took his last deep breath as Micah walked forward, making those in the room cease their noise, and said, "This meeting is now being broadcasted all through Etheria, please make sure to keep ruckus down to let others hear and pay attention to those talking so you have a clear assessment of those who are being tried." Hordak finally took notice of the robots around the room that seem to move methodically between him and the rest of the court, aiming their dome shaped heads with seemingly cameras in them.

Micah looked back at the princesses and they all nodded, ready to begin, and to Hordak and Entrapta who slowly nodded back to him. Micah clapped once and said, "With that, we will began the trial of former warlord and leader of the Etherian Horde, the clone, Hordak versus Etheria. Overseen by Queen Glimmer and her chosen Court. Princess Entrapta will begin with her opening statement and then we will move on to questioning Hordak."

Entrapta nodded as she walked towards where Micah stood, him going back to sitting with the crowd. Entrapta used her legs to move herself around and made herself walk tall, making sure to make direct eye contact with the princesses and bowed to them. They were taken back by her professionalism due to her bubbly personality, but bowed back as custom and watched her turn to the crowd and bow to them as well. The crowd bowed to her and when looking back up, Entrapta greeted them with a soft smile that seem to liven the mood a bit. Entrapta hated every moment of the attention, but to make a case for Hordak, she had to bring a professional introduction.

Entrapta took a breath in and began, "Around twenty-eight years ago, the horde had grown to infamy when they took control of the former frightzone, now kingdom of the Skorpiona." Entrapta brought a data pad and showed images of the former kingdom and now turned frightzone.

"The one who led the Etherian horde is the clone that is currently being tried. Hordak. Former leader. Former warlord. Former slave."

Entrapta made sure to talk to the crowd, making sure that people cling to every single one of her words and towards the cameras as well to make sure that the world listened. Only glancing at Hordak who was giving an reassuring smile from where he sat.

"Hordak had done all this. Leading an army. Conquering many lands. Fighting against the princesses. All in the name of his former make believe God, Horde Prime. Dead leader of the former galactic horde."

Entrapta showed a picture of Horde prime, a smug look on his face and billions of clones behind him, causing a small stir within the crowd.

"As you all know after hearing our dear clone Kadroh, Horde Prime was everything for them. Like a child to a parental figure. Someone to do everything for. Someone to even try to conquer a whole world for."

Another image appeared of Etheria, a hand grabbing out that was of Horde prime. She took a moment for the crowd to let in this information and the showed a small recreation of Hordak plunging into Etheria in his ship.

"Hordak never wanted to come to Etheria. He was sent to die in the front lines as he was defected in the eyes of Horde prime and only came by chance and was thrown into an unknown world."

Entrapta showed a silhouette of Hordak, tiny compared to the other images of creatures of Etheria and fauna that would be considered exotic.

"Stranded. Alone. Afraid. Just wanting to be back to his so called, 'God'"

Hordak gulped when heard the whispering of the crowd, not being able to listen to what they were thinking and scared to what they were saying.

"Hordak had done everything for Horde Prime, but in the end he forced Hordak to become a mindless clone. No thoughts of his own. His actions being equal to as a puppet and not being able to be different from other clones."

Hordaks' silhouette blended in with other clones silhouettes and Entrapta frowned when she remembered how Hordak might have felt during that time.

"Yet when he found the piece I created for him, he began to remember. Remember how Etheria was, who I was and most importantly, who he was as his own person. When the time came, he fought back against Horde Prime, making himself known as not a clone, but Hordak himself."

Entrapta smiled as she showed an image of Hordak throwing Horde Prime off the side. Though she sighed as she showed a recreation of when Horde prime took over his body.

"Although, as many know, Horde Prime can take over any clones body and that's what he had done to Hordak. Not being able to control his actions again as he was a host to Horde Primes final moments. If it weren't for She-ra ridding Horde Prime from Hordaks' body, he would not be here today."

Entrapta turned and smiled at Adora, bowing to her which Adora returned as well. Entrapta once again turned back to the crowd and said her final words.

"Of course his actions have no excuse, but I hope you see now why he done such things. Hordaks' past against Etheria can't be changed, but he's willing to change the future for the better. The power he used to make his own army, he can use to rebuild Etheria in new ways. Making things easier for those who were affected. It is up to you to decide, but know that there can be a chance for change for the better if we have Hordak by our side."

Entrapta once again bowed to the crowd, turned around and bowed to the princesses again. There was a murmur amongst the crowd as the princesses bowed back to her, but quiet down when seeing Entrapta walking back. Micah nodded when Entrapta returned to her seat, stood up and announced, "As trials before, we will ask questions for Hordak and under a truth spell by Queen Glimmer, he will answer honestly and if there are those in the audience wanting to ask a question, you will be able to after the courts questions."

Micah turned to Hordak, trying hard not to encourage him to do his best, and said, "Hordak, please come up towards Queen Glimmer and after being under the spell, you will face the crowd when being asked our questions." Hordak nodded, standing up and feeling one last bit of contact of Entraptas' hand before walking towards his judges. He bowed before the Princesses and walked towards where Glimmer sat, standing tall and proud. Hordak knelt to his knees, still tall enough that Glimmer didn't need to stand up to reach over, and shivered when he felt a wave of magic overwhelm him when being touched by her staff.

Hordak stood once again and turned to the crowd, now truly seeing the amount of eyes staring at him, eyes still filled with curiosity. He closed his eyes once more, silencing his thoughts and standing tall, his hands clamped together and was ready to answer.

Glimmer cleared her throat and asked, "Hordak. You have hurt many, but of those around you, which kingdoms have you done damage to?" Hordak opened his eyes and with a gentleness, said, "I have done great damage to the Kingdom of Skorpioni, Kingdom of Plumeria, Kingdom of snows, Kingdom of Salineas, Kingdom of Bright moon, and many smaller kingdoms."

The crowd murmured silently, but silenced when Glimmer asked, "You have also took over many villages, towns, and lands. Correct?" Hordak nodded and said, "Over the war between the Etherian Horde and the princess alliance, the horde has taken land by force and lost it again."

Glimmer looked to the crowd and asked another question, "How have you hurt Etheria?" Hordak looked down towards his hands, " I have done great destruction to their lands and homes of their people. Tearing families apart. Making people bow to the name of the Horde."

"Do you confirm Princess Entraptas' story of how you arrived to Etheria?"

"Yes, to shorten the story of my arrival, she explained it well."

Glimmer nodded and continued, "For what reason did you commit these crimes against Etheria?" Hordak winced, but said, "For the honor of Horde Prime. To continue to expand his reign over the galaxy and... to have a chance to be back to him." There was a silence that lingered after his words, making his grip on himself tighten as he watched over the crowd for a reaction, but yet their faces were neutral.  They seemed to be listening to his voice, but not to his words that they knew were to be true.

Hordak gulped, trembling slightly to the point he didn't notice when Glimmer asked her question, but was able to hear her voice. Hordak took a shaky breath and asked, "Pardon me, can you repeat the question again?" Glimmer hesitated, but asked again, "Are you ready to receive the questions of the people of Etheria?" Hordak closed his eyes at this and sighed.

"No"

He opened his eyes again and was welcomed with a different expression from the crowd. Confusion. He smiled at this, finally getting a reaction from the crowd that made his anxiety lessen even just a little, and finished his sentence, "But I will answer them to the best of my ability for them as it is the least I could do."

Hordak could see Entrapta from the corner of his eyes, smiling when noticing that his confidence is slowly coming back. Micah scrambled back up to where Hordak was and faced the crowd. He cleared his voice, announcing, "To make your questions please make a line in middle and Hordak will answer in a timely manner. However, a limit of one question will be allowed. After those in person finish their questions, we will take in questions from all over Etheria to a limit time of four hours."

Hordak gulped when he heard the time frame, not knowing if he was mentally prepared for that, but he shut his mind up as he knew that he can't say no to the request of answering questions. The murmur of the crowd snapped him back to reality, taking notice of those getting up and getting in line. Which took him by surprise as almost the whole court came forward to ask a question. He trembled at the amount of people, but made himself stand tall, not wanting to show weakness at those who might tear him apart given the chance.

Micah nodded and let the first to approach and asked, "Please state your name, affiliation and ask your question." The one who first approach was a young adult elf who seemed to have work in hard labor. With a softness in her voice she began, " Rea Lenning. Construction worker and citizen of kingdom of snows." She took a deep look into Hordaks' eyes, taking him aback, and asked, "Are you willing to help reconstruction of Etheria?" Hordak stared at her and nodded, saying, "I want to help reconstruct and create new things to help better life of those of Etheria."

Just like that, she seemed satisfied with his answer and returned to her seat. One person after another, they asked similar questions to the first. Will he help with their own kingdom? Will he accept all requests for help? Will he fix what his machines broke?Then came strange questions. How often will he be willing to help those around him even if they don't ask it of him? What was he planning to do when he had nothing to do for the day? What will he do with the help of his brothers?

Question after question, he didn't quiet know how to answer, but gave mostly the same answer; he will do anything for Etheria to fix his mistakes.

The sheer number of questions began to overwhelm him when the final person received their answer. However, when he heard Glimmer speak, he forced himself to listen to her words again. "We will take a short break before taking the questions from people all over Etheria. We will return in an hour.", Glimmer tapped the end of her staff twice on the floor and like that, the court stood up and dispersed for what seemed to be lunch. Hordak felt himself get dizzy and felt like the world moved before realizing that Entrapta was holding him up.

"Hordak?", Entrapta asked softly, taking him to his seat as he returned to his senses. Hordak simply waved, saying, "Just a little light headed..." Glimmer walked towards him and said, "Yeah, sorry you'll get that after a while with the truth spell. It's gone for now, so I'll have to put it on you again when we return." Hordak mumbled and nodded, his head pounding, but not the worst headache he gotten before. He was surprised by Catra crouching before him and holding one of his hands.

Any other time he would have retreated back, but Catra was trying her best to be there for him and he can appreciate her for that. She asked, "You think you can handle some food right now?" Hordak hummed and slowly nodded, "I believe it will help me... thought I doubt I will be able to move much." Adora crouched beside Catra and held his other hand and said, "We'll bring you some food, you just relax for now, alright?"

Hordak nodded and smiled at the two. "Thank you...", He whispered as he felt Entrapta make her hair into a makeshift bed and rested herself on it before moving Hordak comfortably on top of her, making him automatically cuddle into her. "Okay we'll be back." Was the last words he heard before he drifted off for a small nap in the arms of the one he loves.

Hordak awoke to the sound of laughter and was welcomed to the sight of Entrapta laughing. A bit of her hair slapped herself quiet and looked down to seeing Hordak finally awake. "Oh sorry Sunshine! Seahawk just said a funny joke", Entrapta apologized and kissed his forehead as he groggily got up from his position and saw the princesses and those close to them, circling the two and eating. Hordak blinked slowly and asked, "How long have I been asleep?"

Bow piped up, "Forty five minutes! We didn't want to wake you, but there's enough time to eat something." Frosta was the one who brought over a plate of small foods when he sat on his own seat. He smiled at her and ruffled her hair gently as he seen parents do to their young ones, thanking her. Frosta beamed up to him and brought herself on to his lap. Hordak was surprised at this feeling like that there was something so familiar of having someone so small on his lap, but smiled and didn't say anything as he began to eat slowly.

He felt a pair of claws on his shoulders and looked up to a worried Scorpia, asking, "You sure you okay? You still look tired after your nap." Hordak patted her claw  and chuckled, "No need to worry Scorpia. I will manage." Mermista walked next to him and said, "I can make some cool water for you if you need it. Alright?" Hordak was about to respond, but was interrupted by Perfuma who said, "Oh! I can make peppermint for you to chew on to calm your nerves to!" Spinnerella said, "I can make a little wind if you feel too hot."

Every one was offering help to Hordak and once again he felt a bit overwhelmed at the positivity that was coming his way. It stopped when Entrapta cleared her voice loudly, intertwining her hands with his, and said, "Hordak is feeling a bit overwhelmed right now. I know he will ask you guys help if he needs it." The others got worried and started to make their apologizes, but was stopped by Hordak as he raised his hand. He smiled at the others, saying, "I thank you for the offers, but at this moment, I believe I can manage."

They all nodded slowly, but came over it by continuing their conversation from before Hordak awoke and he tuned them out as he continued to eat until the break was over. From then on, Hordak made himself to sit tall as the princesses and the others returned to their positions from before. He tightened his grip on Entrapta as Micah walked up in front of others and said, "We will be continuing the trial, now receiving in coming calls from questions from all over Etheria. Hordak, please come to Queen Glimmer for another truth spell to answer these questions honestly."

Hordak nodded as he sadly let go of Entraptas' hand, but made sure his face still looked strong. He bowed once more towards the princesses and once again shivered against the magic of Glimmers. He turned to the court and bowed, ready for his trial to end. Micah placed a data pad in between him and court and then appeared the first Etherian. Once again, the process was the same. The citizen of Etheria would state their name, affiliation and their question. Similar questions as he received again and once again answering in a similar matter as before.

He was getting quite tired of these questions and he could feel his headache coming back. He wanted to sleep again in the arms of Entrapta, by the side of Kadroh and Emily, but he knew that he would have to push through. One by one. Again and again. Faces were becoming a blur and started to looked like one and another. It was getting harder for him to keep his head high and his feet started to feel weak as the minutes ticked by.

He wanted to take up the offer of Mermista giving him cool water, but he didn't want to seem weak in front of so many eyes. Oh how he wished that he could ask for Spinerella for a gust of wind as he felt himself sweat from what he thought was from the heat of the room, but it seemed that he was the only one sweating. It seemed to be later into the day as he could even see others getting tired, but he didn't let them make him too cocky as he still wanted to be cordial with the Etherians. 

Finally he heard Micah announce to the crowd, "This will be the last question of the trial so after this, Queen Glimmer will have her final words." The crowd seemed to be in agreement and finally the last Etherian appeared on the screen to ask their question. Hordaks' eyes widen as he saw a young child that he knew couldn't be over six years old. They looked like Adora when she was young and was looking to side and seem to get a nod from a person off screen. The child looked at the screen and asked with a voice filled with curiosity, "Oh Hi! um... I am Neenee! I like to draw and uh.... I live with my mommies! My question is... Do you have any regrets, Mr. Hordak?'

Hordaks' lips trembled as he looked at the small child with such gentleness that it surprised court with how soft he looked. He smiled, "Yes... I regret not stopping sooner. This world is beautiful and should have not been damage as I did to it." Neenee cocked their head and nodded, "Okay. I like that answer. Have a good day Mr. Hordak!" With that, Neenee was gone and Hordak was hit with a lightness in his head. Micah came up and was saying something, but he couldn't her his words.

His breath was quickening. He was sweating even more. His throat felt dry. He finally felt the stress of the day hit him like a rock. The last thing he remembered before falling was the yelling of his name by so many people. Why were they calling to him? Ah, who cares.

He just wanted to sleep.