Scorpia looked over the edge of the skiff. "Ooh, look at those trees! These are different than the trees near the Fright Zone!"

Catra sighed. "That's because we are not right outside the Fright Zone. Breaking news- scenery changes when you go South."

Scorpia ruminated on their direction. Although it had been hard to hear Perfuma and Bow's conversation, they had also mentioned something about going down South. Maybe Scorpia would see her there?

Though hopefully they were not investigating the same thing. An agent reported animals in a specific area were infected by a disease that caused them to rampage. If this transmitted to people, then there was an opportunity to wage some disease warfare.

But Perfuma and Bow had not specified what they were investigating… What were the chances they were looking at the same thing?


Two days travel and they finally arrived at the village that had sent a bird to Bright Moon seeking assistance. Azusa, a village elder, greeted them and explained the situation. "Little Billy got bit by an antelope three days ago, and he's been raving mad since. We've tied him down, so he doesn't hurt anyone else, but it's been a challenge to get him to eat and drink. There's also been violent animals that occasionally run through the town square, and whenever that happens, we have to barricade ourselves in our houses until they move on. We don't want anyone else turning out like Little Billy."

"How long does it take for the disease to run its course?" Glimmer asked.

Azusa sighed. "Observations of animals seem to indicate it never 'runs its course'. It just keeps going until the animal dies. That's why we're a little desperate, we want to get Little Billy better before he..."

"We understand," Glimmer assured her, "We will do our best to investigate this matter."

The four of them then gathered, away from Azusa.

"I'm so glad you came with us, Perfuma!" Bow exclaimed.

Perfuma smiled. "Why's that?"
"Well you know plants and stuff? And medicinal stuff? So maybe you can figure out an antidote to this disease!"
Perfuma grimaced. "Well, there's knowing plants… And then there's knowing medicine."

Glimmer huffed. "So you wouldn't happen to know what would cure rampaging animals?"

"Well I can brew some calming teas," Perfuma offered, "But I'm definitely not a medical expert."

"Greaaaat," Glimmer moaned.

Adora jumped into the conversation, "I'm sure we can find a way! Maybe I'll finally figure out She-ra's healing powers."

Bow physically cringed, but Adora did not catch the movement. Perfuma recalled that Adora had helped Plumeria when it got sick… but only by destroying Horde stuff, not by curing any disease.

Well, if there was anything that could be punched better, Perfuma was sure the four of them could do it. Otherwise, Perfuma did not have every confidence in them.


A day's worth of investigation yielded nothing towards a cure. It seemed the disease had been spreading mostly through antelope, though some other animals they came into contact with were also affected. Biting seemed to be the way it usually spread, and once a creature was infected it stayed infected.

Despite their lack of results, the village invited them to an evening celebration. Apparently despite the disease concerns, the village would not postpone their Berry Festival. They even gave the four visitors a special place at the great dinner table.

There was not a shortage of food here. The tables were practically bending under the weight of the meals. Perfuma dug into the hearty food with gust, it was all delicious. She drank a strange blue liquid they gave as well. When she asked someone, they had called it 'joyberry juice'. It was sweet, though pungent. And whenever her glass started to empty, men with large jugs would fill it back up to the brim.

As the night wore on, the conversation seemed to become more and more interesting. And funny. In fact, it was hard not to laugh at a lot of the things people said. And Perfuma felt like it was getting harder and harder to think. Some music started playing, but when she got up to dance she kept stumbling. The world seemed like it was spinning.

Maybe she should have asked why it was called joyberry juice.

Deciding dancing would probably look foolish in this state, she decided to go off into the woods. The woods were nice. The plants here were different, maybe she could see some interesting plants. And the plants would not judge her if she kept tripping and falling. She stumbled her way into the woods, but was unsure for how long she walked. There were glow flowers that helped illuminate the path, but despite that Perfuma felt lost. Where had she come from again?

She leaned against a tree to catch her bearings. Wow, that was cool feeling bark. She stroked it with her hands. What a nice texture. Maybe she could sleep out here with the bark.

A crackling noise behind her caused her to slowly turn around. There was an antelope! So pretty! But why was it going towards her? Weren't they usually afraid of people? Although the diseased ones…

Perfuma's eyes widened. She swung an arm out, trying to raise some vines, but they raised decidedly behind the antelope, easily missing it. She backed up against the tree and tried again, this time too far to the left. It was hard to aim when she was seeing everything double. Closer now, she could see the antelope drooling and vicious. Her head pounded.

"Perfuma!" Now she was hallucinating Scorpia's voice.

Both an auditory and visual hallucination, it seemed. Scorpia ran towards the antelope, and took it out with a sting. The creature collapsed.

Scorpia did not hang over it. She instead rushed to Perfuma's side. "Are you okay?"

Perfuma took a step forward and fell into Scorpia's arms. Wow, it was a hallucination she could touch as well. "I hadshomething," Perfuma slurred.

"It didn't bite you, did it?" Scorpia asked, scooping Perfuma up into her arms.

Perfuma curled into Scorpia's embrace. "Naaaaaw, it was just…" Perfuma struggled to find the words, "it was tryna get me, and I was tryna get it, but the world is so dizzy..."

"You're not making sense," Scorpia stared down in concern, "What happened to you?"
Perfuma stared up at her. It would be okay to touch a hallucination's hair, right? Scorpia didn't need to know how much Perfuma wanted to touch her, but there was no way this was real. Perfuma reached up her arm and ran her fingers through Scorpia's hair. "It's so soft."

Scorpia started to redden.

"So cute," Perfuma labeled automatically.

"W-what's gotten into you?" Scorpia stuttered.

Was this really a hallucination? It seemed strangely solid. Well, either way, it was very important that Perfuma talk to Scorpia right now, while she was thinking about how cute Scorpia was. Who cared about factions? They could work it out. "You like me," Perfuma told her.

"Um." Scorpia looked away. "Well. Um. You see-"

Perfuma tugged Scorpia down to give her a kiss.


Scorpia realized her lips were against Perfuma's.

She closed her eyes. Whatever was causing this, Scorpia would have to be insane to not accept such a blessing. Perfuma's lips tasted sweet, Scorpia wondered if that was lipstick or something she ate. Perfuma's arms wrapped around Scorpia's neck, tangling into her hair. Scorpia leaned into it, pulling Perfuma even closer and allowing their bodies to touch.

Eventually, they drew back for breath.

Scorpia looked into Perfuma's eyes. Lidded, lustful, and… Like something had been altered. Scorpia forced herself to put Perfuma down. Perfuma leaned towards her again, attempting another kiss, but Scorpia pushed her back. "Wait, before we continue, what's going on with you? Did you have something?"

"I think… joyberry juice may be a joyish-making berry."

"Joyberry juice?" Scorpia raised an eyebrow, "What is-"

"Shhhhh," Perfuma pressed a finger against Scorpia's lips before leaning in closer for another kiss.

Scorpia grabbed Perfuma's wrists, "Wait, we can't do this."

Perfuma pouted. "Why? You like me, I like you."

Scorpia felt a heat course through her upon hearing confirmation that Perfuma did, indeed, like her. But things couldn't be that simple. "I'm a Horde Force Captain, you're a Rebellion Princess. There's definitely some conflict of interest."

"Then why have you been visiting me all this time? You're the one who started this!"

Scorpia looked away. "Look, I thought we were just going to be friends. I have friends in the Horde, too, and I thought just one Rebellion friend wouldn't cause me to like, change sides, but a lover? That's… that's unbalanced."

"Change sides," Perfuma whispered.

Scorpia caught her breath. Could it be that simple?

She thought of Catra. And Entrapta. And all the people who helped raise her and make her who she was today.

"I can't risk it." And it was true. Scorpia knew if she started something with Perfuma, she would be challenged every day to choose between her lover and her home. And how could she make that decision? Worse, Scorpia had the creeping suspicion that if she started this, no matter how much she tried to stay away, Perfuma would keep bringing her closer to the Rebellion side.

Perfuma cooed at her. "Come on, don't make it sho complicated. We're here, nobody else, just… just touch me." Perfuma took a step towards her.

Scorpia took a step back, letting go of Perfuma's arms. "If I choose to stay with you now, I'd be betraying the Horde. I… I can't do that, I just can't."

But that did not stop Perfuma. She kept approaching Scorpia until Scorpia's back was against a tree. A devilish smirk came over her face. "So if it's not your choice, it's not a betrayal?"

Scorpia did not understand. "I… guess?"

Some vines tugged Scorpia's claws, pulling them up over her head. An experimental pull made Scorpia realize she was fully pinned against the tree, unable to escape. "What are you-?"
Perfuma loomed over her, on a platform of plants, and bent down to give her a quick kiss. "It's not your choice now, it's mine."

Scorpia's bonds were quite secure. She literally could not leave if she wanted to. Her head (and heart) raced. She could, theoretically, beg Perfuma to let her go. Perfuma was clearly in a strange state, it probably wouldn't be too hard. And even Perfuma would have to take a step back if Scorpia screamed or showed significant distress. And yet, despite these schemes seeming plausible, they also seemed… very undesirable. Enough so that all Scorpia could muster in response to Perfuma's daring threat was a breathless, "...Okay."

In response, Perfuma descended upon her, kissing first her lips, then venturing to the neck. One hand buried itself in Scorpia's hair, as though petting her. The other hand slid down her side, until eventually stroking the base of her tail. The touch caused Scorpia to gasp. The gasp caused Perfuma to stroke it more, forcing a tingle through Scorpia's belly.

"Please-" Scorpia begged, unsure what exactly she was begging for.

She did not have to articulate. Perfuma smothered her lips with another kiss, hands still running along her tail. If the tail had not also been pinned to the tree, Scorpia might have raised it to make it more accessible.

Snapping twigs nearby caused Scorpia to flinch. At Scorpia's movement, Perfuma pulled back. "What?" Perfuma asked.

"Did you hear that?" Scorpia asked, glancing around for the source.

Perfuma took a step back, and some movement came into Scorpia's view. The antelope.

"Perfuma, you have to let me go, it's the sick antelope."

But the antelope was frozen. It stood, staring at the two of them with wide eyes. Perfuma squinted. "Nooooo I think that's a different one. It doesn't look sick." Nonetheless, Perfuma loosened the vines so Scorpia could stand in a defensive position.

Although Scorpia was certain it was the same one, she also agreed it didn't look so sick anymore. "Maybe it got better?"

Perfuma snorted. "Nobody has ever gotten better from the disease."

"Well it's standing where I paralyzed the sick one, so unless the sick one disappeared and a healthy one took its place..."

Perfuma clutched her stomach. "I feel sick."

Scorpia grabbed her shoulders. "Like, 'rampaging' sick? Or-"

Answering the question, Perfuma threw up onto the ground. This triggered the antelope to sprint away, galloping in a healthy, fearful manner. Scorpia noted that whatever Perfuma ate earlier, a lot of it was coming up blue. Scorpia pulled back Perfuma's hair as Perfuma threw up again.

"Whatever you had, it seems like you had too much."

"I felt so great, but now I'm all-" Perfuma threw up a third time.

Scorpia held onto her as she stayed doubled over for a minute.

Eventually Perfuma spoke again. "I feel a lot better now."

"Really?" Scorpia raised an eyebrow.

"Well, better than before. I don't think I'm gonna throw up again," Perfuma clarified, "I have a killer headache though."

"We should get you to bed," Scorpia decided, "Where did you come from?"

"I don't know, I just sort of followed the glow flowers… then I found a really nice tree… Then you showed up..."

Scorpia took a breath. "Okay, so we'll follow these glow flowers until I can find somewhere near people to drop you off."

"Okaaaaay," Perfuma started to nod, then put a hand against her forehead.

Scorpia easily scooped Perfuma up into her arms again. Perfuma buried her face in Scorpia's shoulder.

As they walked, Perfuma mumbled sleepily, "Sorry you had to see that."

"No worries," Scorpia assured her, "It'll be a funny story in the morning, I'm sure."

"Uuuugh, you're so good," Perfuma sighed, "So nice… so sweet… what an angel."

Scorpia blushed. "You exaggerate."

"An absolute angel."


Perfuma woke up with a splitting headache. She was in a cot, with three unoccupied cots nearby. Sunlight was streaming in, all too bright, from a window on her left.

She cradled her head in her hands. What had happened last night?

Slowly, her head started working out the details. And she realized there was no way that Scorpia was a hallucination. And Pefuma had-

Perfuma blushed. She had done a lot of things.

And Scorpia had walked her home. She remembered being nudged awake, and told by Scorpia to walk forward to get into the village light. Perfuma had walked and encountered a villager, who immediately brought her to the house where Bow and the others were staying. As soon as her head hit a pillow she had fallen asleep.

Once vaguely aware of last night's timeline, she rewinded back to the embarrassing things she had said and done to Scorpia. And how good it all felt. Was it the joyberry that made everything so electric? Or was Perfuma honestly just that into Scorpia? Pinning her to that tree had been terribly exciting. Forcing Scorpia into submission was everything Perfuma ever wanted. Along with touching that soft hair, her tail, watching her undone face… Now if only she could use that to bring Scorpia into the Rebellion-

Bow entered, interrupting Perfuma's musings. "Bad news!" He glanced down. "Oh, good, you woke up."

Perfuma rubbed her forehead. "Could you be a little quieter? That joyberry juice really did a number on me."

"Enough that you disappeared for several hours. We have a lot of questions about that, by the way, but more importantly!" Unfortunately, Bow had only quieted by about a single decibel, "Someone else got bitten!"

This caused Perfuma to sit up straight, "What?"

"Yeah! Apparently Little Billy's sister, Ari, tried to force-feed him this morning too closely. She thought he would die if he went any longer without food, so she tried to feed him with her hands. She wore some thick gloves to protect herself, but… it wasn't enough."

Perfuma groaned. "Is she secured?"

Bow nodded. "She is, but now it's even more important that we find a cure. And unfortunately, we have no leads so far."

A strange thought tickled the back of Perfuma's head. Hadn't there been a sick antelope last night? But Scorpia had protected her. And then the antelope had gotten up, seemingly fine.

"Are you sure you don't know even a little bit of medicine? Like some sort of rampage disease anti-serum?"

Scorpia's venom. After the Antelope was injected, it became okay. Perfuma lifted a hand up. "Okay, firstly, I am a plant expert, not a medicine expert, but!" Perfuma took a breath. "I think I have a lead."