"Ready?" Perfuma asked Scorpia.

Scorpia nodded, staring at the vial in her hands. With one drink of this, Scorpia would become someone new.

"Just so you know, I purposefully chose someone tall so you would be more used to the point-of-view… but in reality I think she's slightly shorter than you."

Scorpia laughed. "I guess I'll find out."

With that, Scorpia downed the liquid.

The drink was thick, gross, and sour. Scorpia had to suppress a gag. Once she had drained the vial, she gave Perfuma the empty container. Perfuma put it down, but did not take her eyes off of Scorpia. Scorpia looked at her own claws, wondering when the potion would take effect. She didn't feel any different yet. Hopefully it wasn't some sort of absurdly slow potion, and she would change before the party.

A static feeling occurred at the tips of her toes. As if she had been sitting on a nerve there. "My feet-" Scorpia started before losing her balance.

Perfuma easily caught her. "Are you okay?" Perfuma asked.

Scorpia nodded. She felt warm, but she was pretty sure that wasn't because of the drink. The fuzzy sensation was carrying up her legs now. She glanced down at them, and Perfuma followed her gaze. Her pants had loosened… Or rather, her legs had gotten smaller than her pants. Now the feeling ran up her torso, leaving her unable to breath for a few seconds.

"Scorpia?" Perfuma's voice was pitched slightly higher than usual.

Her breath caught up with her, but now her arms and throat were covered in the sensation. On the bright side, she could feel her legs again. She smiled at Perfuma, trying to reassure her. Then her face was enveloped in the static, and her vision bubbled with darkness. She closed her eyes. When the feeling subsided, she opened her eyes again.

Perfuma stared at her, holding her breath.

Scorpia smiled. "How do I look?"

Perfuma let out a breath and hugged Scorpia. "It's still you in there, right? You look totally different."

"Force Captain Scorpia reporting for duty," She responded.

Perfuma bit her lip. "We can't introduce you like that. What should we call you like this?"

Scorpia smirked. "How about Rose?"

Perfuma laughed. "A good name.'

Scorpia stood up and looked down at herself. Her legs were smaller, as was most of her body. At this height, Perfuma looked taller than she had before. Only by a little, though. Scorpia stretched out her hands, and marveled at the sight of the fingers. Tiny and dexterous. She brought them close to her face and moved them altogether, then individually. Although they were much smaller than her claws, unfamiliarity with them made her feel clumsy.

Perfuma brought her own hand up to interlock with Scorpia's. "How do you feel?" She asked.

"Good, a little weird," Scorpia took some steps forward, and immediately stumbled.

Fortunately, Perfuma was more than ready to take Scorpia up in her arms. "Guess you need a little time to get used to new legs."

Noting a tickle around her ears, Scorpia brought a hand up to her head. She ran her fingers through her hair, bringing some in front of her face. "Long and red."

"I have a cute red dress I thought would match well," Perfuma told her.

"I guess I should try it on, then. This disguise is pretty useless if I'm still in my uniform."


Although Scorpia eventually could walk without tripping everywhere, she still locked arms with Perfuma for support. The two of them walked into the Bright Moon castle with barely a pause so Perfuma could show the guard her invitation. Once inside, Scorpia stared at the scene.

The large lights were off. Instead, various colors of lights rotated around the room. The edges of tables were lined with a glowing tape. In the center of the room, a mass of hard-to-distinguish bodies were dancing along to loud music.

"This music is really loud," Perfuma beside her commented, barely audible above the din.

Scorpia nodded, not confident in her ability to shout above the noise.

She could feel the bass pulsing in her bones. Perfuma pulled her towards the edge of the dance floor. Following, Scorpia let Perfuma pull her into a dance. Scorpia tried to follow along with Perfuma's dance steps, though it was a bit of a challenge with a body she had only had for about an hour. Fortunately, Perfuma was more than able to lead. At some points, for more complicated moves, Perfuma would simply lift Scorpia up to do the moves she wanted. Her hands easily grabbed Scorpia, and Scorpia was more than happy to be under her command.

Eventually, someone tapped Perfuma on the shoulder. "Hey, Perfuma!"

Perfuma put Scorpia down, but kept a hand around her waist. "Hey, Selena!"

"How are you doing!" Everything had to be shouted to be heard.

"Great! Having a lot of fun dancing! How about you!"

"Good! Who's this?"

Perfuma tugged Scorpia even closer. "This is Rose, my date!"

Scorpia stretched her hand (with fingers!) out to shake Selena's hand. "Hi! So nice to meet you!"

Selena shook her hand. "What did you say?"

Scorpia raised her voice, "I said: So nice to meet you!"

"Yeah, there's some cute meat snacks on the table!" Selena responded.

Scorpia was certain Selena had misheard her again, but trying to correct again seemed like a fruitless endeavor. Instead, Scorpia gave her a wide smile, and was pleased to discover Selena smiling back.

Scorpia could do this! The people here were friendly and happy to meet someone new! She just had to put herself out there!

Scorpia put her mouth right by Perfuma's ear. "I'm gonna check out those 'cute meat snacks', be right back!"

Perfuma nodded, and Scorpia made her way to the table. There was a lot of snacks. And drinks. Well, mostly water and some sort of blue liquid. Curious, Scorpia poured herself a cup. The drink tasted sweet, but with a strange undercurrent. Nonetheless, everyone else seemed to be happy drinking it, so she poured a full cup and used it to wash down her snacks: Mini croissants, cheeses, grapes, and more.

She had rarely tasted such delicacies. The Horde kept her fed, for sure, but their focus was more on nutrition than taste. In her early years, when visiting other princesses, she had sometimes hoarded some of their food to take home and eat secretly in her bunk. Scorpia would do it again, but last time she did so she got caught by a queen. That queen had scolded her severely, reminding her that such 'barbaric' behavior was why she didn't deserve to be a princess. Scorpia wouldn't want to sully Perfuma's reputation by being a barbarian at her party.

So she would just stuff herself silly now. It would all be in her belly, but she was going to bring as much home as possible. She chugged the blue drink in between big bites, refilling her glass a few times.

As she traveled to the end of a table to grab some chocolate-dipped strawberries, she struggled to stay completely upright. That was strange, she thought she had gotten the hang of this body. She slowed down so she wouldn't fall over, but found the best solution was to lean a hand gently on the table, centering her balance. Scorpia put a hand up to her forehead. Maybe she should sit down.

"Scorpia! There you are!" Perfuma's voice carried even over the ruckus.

Somehow Scorpia had gotten used to the noise, it felt like a nice heavy wave washing over her senses. The ocean was so pretty. Scorpia wondered if Perfuma visited it often. Maybe Scorpia could take her one day?

Perfuma came into Scorpia's view, grabbing her arm gently. "Are you alright? You seem sort of-" Perfuma glanced down at the cup Scorpia held. "Oh no."

Scorpia leaned on Perfuma. She was so supportive.

"How much Joyberry juice did you have?" Perfuma asked.

"I dunno, I haven't been counting… at least five?"

Perfuma took the cup out of Scorpia's hand and placed it on the table. "No more of that for you, it messes with your head. Let's get you some water."

"Water- we gotta visit the ocean! Do you like the ocean?"

Perfuma laughed at that. "The ocean? I guess, I haven't gone much." She handed Scorpia a new glass.

Scorpia tilted her head up to gulp the water down. Despite drinking so much juice, her throat reacted to the water as though parched. When she finished the glass she brought it down, only to see an unfamiliar hand on Perfuma's shoulder. Scorpia narrowed her eyes by instinct, and grabbed Perfuma's waist to tug her away.

Once closer, Scorpia could hear the stranger's words: "Truth or dare upstairs."

Perfuma squealed. She pulled out of Scorpia's grasp, but slipped their hands together so she could lead Scorpia towards the stairs. "Let's go!"

"What's truth or dare?" Scorpia asked.

Perfuma gaped. "You've never played truth or dare?"

"No?"

Perfuma patted Scorpia's shoulder. "It's super fun. You'll see."

With Perfuma's support, Scorpia made it upstairs in one piece. They were following another girl, someone short with green hair, into a room. The room was absolutely stuffed with pillows, including a bunch populating the floor. On some of the pillows were people, unfortunately some who Scorpia recognized. Glimmer, Adora, Mermista, Adora, and Bow. There was also Selena, the girl who had greeted Perfuma earlier. And the girl with the green hair who they followed in. Upon introductions, Scorpia learned her name was Emeralda. When it was Scorpia's turn to introduce herself…

"I'm Scorp-"

Perfuma jabbed her with her elbow, causing Scorpia to cough. Her mind really was affected, if she was slipping up so easily.

"Sorry, um, I'm Rose."

Fortunately, it seemed Scorpia may not have been the only person who dipped into the joyberry juice. Adora, the previously promising potential Horde Force Captain, was giggling and barely sitting up straight.

Scorpia found herself staring at Adora. She had been a favorite of Shadow Weaver's, everyone knew it. She had every advantage at her disposal, and yet she had defected. It didn't make sense to her.

"So! For the people who have never played this," Glimmer started, staring pointedly at Adora, "Let me explain the rules: One person starts, and chooses someone to ask 'Truth or Dare'. That person chooses either a truth, or a dare. If dare, the person who asked the question tells the person to do something. If truth, then the person who asked them gets to ask them another question, and they are required to answer truthfully."

Scorpia bit her lip. This might not be the ideal game in her situation.

"Another rule to keep things interesting: If truth or dare is done three times in a row, then the fourth person has to choose whatever was not repeated. I'll start: Perfuma! Truth or dare?"

Perfuma smiled. "Give me a truth."

Glimmer smirked. "So Rose is your plus-one, right? I've never met her before," Scorpia's heart started racing. Did Glimmer suspect something, "What exactly is your relationship to her?"

Perfuma giggled. "You don't need a truth to ask that." She grabbed Scorpia's hand. "I asked her out as a date."

The circle around them "Ooh"-d and "Aah"-d at the confession, and Scorpia could feel her face heating up. Her stomach was flipping, but in an exciting way. Perfuma and her had been hiding in the shadows so long, it felt nice to be holding hands in front of people, and letting them tease and celebrate. This sort of affirmation was not anything Scorpia had experienced before.

Now it was Perfuma's turn. "Bow, truth or dare?"

"Dare."

"Lift someone in this room up in the air for five seconds."

Bow laughed. "Easy-peasy."

He held out a hand to Emeralda, the smallest in the circle. She took his hand to stand up, and he wrapped her up in his arms to lift her up. He did not just lift her, but held her all the way above his head. The whole group counted down the five seconds, and he gently let Emeralda down.

"Now I choose Adora: Truth or dare?"

"Dare."

"Turn into She-ra and let us all braid your hair."

Scorpia laughed incredulously at the idea. Turn into a bio-weapon to mess with her hair?

Adora, however, easily transformed, and turned around so everyone could access her hair. She had a lot, honestly. Scorpia stared at it, slightly dumbfounded. So fluffy and golden…

Everyone was crowding around to grab their own lock, so Scorpia followed behind Perfuma. Scorpia could not braid, but she carded her fingers through Perfuma's section before Perfuma started braiding. With so many people on the case, they made fast work of it. The end result was peculiar, multiple braids of different sizes sticking out around She-ra's head. Scorpia had to laugh at it, and everyone around her also found it equally funny. Scorpia liked this. How often had Catra, Entrapta, and she laughed together?

Her thoughts were turning into big downers, so she was happy to be distracted by Adora's next words: "Selena, truth or dare?"

"I gotta do dare," Selena responded.

"Take off your dress."

Glimmer tried to hide a laugh behind her hand.

"Adora!" Bow chastised her.

"Glimmer told me that's a classic," Adora defended herself.

Selena laughed. "No worries, it's about time this game spiced up a little."

With almost no hesitation, Selena stripped her dress off. She wore a shift underneath, so she was not entirely bare, but the situation caused Scorpia to glance away.

"Rose, truth or dare?" Selena asked.

Scorpia had to take a moment to remember that she was Rose. Then she reminded herself that there were not a lot of truths she could give. So she decided: "Dare-"

"There were three dares in a row! That means this has to be a truth!" Glimmer shouted.

Scorpia grimaced. What would Selena ask now.

Selena smirked. "What are Perfuma's kinks?"

Perfuma sputtered. "Selena!"

"Girl, I'm curious! Or is it so bad that we can't know?"

"That's private! What would you even do with that information?" Perfuma contested.

"Come on, Perfuma, it's private, so that's why it's a truth!" Glimmer insisted.

Although Perfuma was embarrassed, Scorpia felt special to know such private information. And she felt like showing off how much better she knew Perfuma than anyone here. "She loves to tie me up."

The whole circle gasped.

Perfuma turned to Scorpia. "Sco-" She coughed, "Rose!"

Bow laughed. "Damn, Perfuma, I didn't know you had it in you."

"She also likes to tease me," Scorpia lips were very loose tonight, "She ties me up, threatens me, and makes me beg-"

Perfuma puts a hand over Scorpia's mouth. "I think that's more than enough information for this room!"

Selena snickered. "This is what truth or dare is really about."

Perfuma leaned in towards Scorpia's ear. Her breath tickled Scorpia's ears. "...'Rose', I'm gonna remove my hand from your mouth, and you will choose someone for truth or dare, and will not say anything else about our private life. Understand?"

Perfuma's voice was low, even, and serious. Scorpia felt a heat course through her belly, she imagined what would happen if she disobeyed. Perfuma might wrap her up in vines again. Tie her arms so she can't embrace her, then steal kisses from-

"I said: 'Understand'?"

Scorpia snapped out of her momentary fantasy to nod vigorously. There was no way she could disobey that voice. Once released, Scorpia spoke, "Adora, truth or dare?"

"Truth," Adora decided.

"What made you leave the Horde?"

The room got quiet.

That was the wrong thing to say. Nobody was laughing anymore. The happy, floating mood that had enveloped the room was quickly fading into nervous glances. Scorpia hated it. No matter how hard she tried in social situations, something always seemed to go wrong. It was like she was in a play where everyone but her knew the lines. All she could do was keep on an innocent smile and hope for the best. She tried to claw at her arm nervously, only to remember that she had no claws. Fortunately, Bow spoke, "Damn, we're digging deep tonight."

This opened the way for others to talk, lessening the awkward vibe. "Yeah, you used to be a Horde soldier, right?" Selena commented.

Adora nodded. "I mean, I thought the Horde was great while I was in them… Then I met Glimmer, and Bow, and they showed me that stuff was… not like the Horde said. The Horde had been lying to me about a lot of stuff… All my life I'd been told I was fighting a noble battle, and then I found out we were the 'Evil Horde'. That everything we were doing was hurting civilians and spreading destruction..."

People were quiet.

Adora laughed, then changed the mood. "Also, they don't have parties."

This lightened the room up. People were giggling again, and the game continued.

While Scorpia was not called upon, she mused on Adora's words. She wasn't blind, she had seen some questionable things during her time. But that wasn't Scorpia's job to question. Scorpia's family had promised themselves to the Horde, she couldn't just turn her back on her family's decisions like that. Which side of the war one was on just came down to where one was born. That was what perplexed Scorpia so much about Adora's situation. How had she made the decision to turn her back on everything she knew? To abandon her home?

"Rose?"

Scorpia jerked up, suddenly aware everyone was staring at her.

She realized what must have occurred. "Um, dare?"

Glimmer smirked. "Alright. I think you lovebirds need a break. You and Perfuma, in the closet, for 5 minutes. Do whatever, you want, but remember: If you're too loud, we can hear you."

This perked Scorpia up. A lot could happen in 5 minutes. She practically jumped up. Only to almost fall, her balance still skewed from the joyberry juice. Fortunately, Perfuma caught her, and pulled her towards the closet. The people teased them as they made their way, and the attention made Scorpia grin from ear to ear.

"And no tying anyone up with the belts in there!" Glimmer warned them as she closed the door.

When the door closed, Perfuma sighed. "This is so embarrassing."

"I thought you wanted to make out in a closet?"

"Well, yes," Perfuma whispered, "But not with everyone aware that we're in here, listening to our every move."

Perfuma was shifting from foot to foot. Not even close to touching Scorpia. "Forget them, they don't even know who I am."

"But they know who I am."

Scorpia, getting impatient, pulled Perfuma towards her. "Come ooon~"

Perfuma allowed Scorpia to pull her in for a kiss. Scorpia hummed, pleased at the contact, until Perfuma pushed her back. "You are not allowed to make a sound."

Scorpia's breath quickened at Perfuma's stern voice. "You keep teasing me though."

Perfuma pressed her into the wall of the closet, bringing their bodies so close their hips touched and their faces were nose-to-nose. "I mean it. You make a peep and I'm spending the next 5 minutes on the opposite wall."

"I'll do anything," Scorpia admitted, "Just kiss me already."

Perfuma caught Scorpia's lips in her own, blending them together in a pleasant rhythm. Scorpia brought her hands up to run one through Perfuma's hair. Perfuma's hand moved from Scorpia's cheek, to her neck, to her collarbone, to her-

It took all of Scorpia's self-control to not squeak at Perfuma's hand sliding into her cleavage to grab a breast. Her thumb rolled lazily over Scorpia's nipple. When their faces drew apart to catch a breath, Scorpia found herself panting from the stimulation. Perfuma wouldn't chastise her for panting, right? It wasn't that loud.

Perfuma dove in for another kiss. Scorpia's knees went weak, but Perfuma had her pressed securely against the wall, so Scorpia did not need to hold herself up. Perfuma's other hand ran along the spine of Scorpia's back, sending a shiver all the way down to her toes. The shiver was so strong it was causing her to lose sensation in her toes. Now her whole foot. Wow, it was climbing up her ankle-

Oh.

Scorpia had felt that before.

She pushed Perfuma back.

Perfuma stood dumbly for a moment, uncertain, "Was that too much? I thought-"

"Perfuma I'm transforming back."