In the grove, Scorpia began to take off the coat and dress. She glanced back at Perfuma, who had turned around for the sake of modesty. Scorpia would have liked to flirt a bit, but the mood was tense. Scorpia could also feel a headache creeping up on her. She sighed as she shed the dress, letting go of the dreams of being someone else who could stand by Perfuma's side. The few hours spent pretending to be just another princess was fun, but were all a lie. Even with a transformation potion, she could not be anyone other than Force Captain Scorpia. Even if the potion had lasted the full day it was supposed to, there would never be a possibility that Scorpia could stay in this grove.
No, Scorpia's place was in the Horde. She started putting on her uniform, reminding herself of the truth. The Horde did not party. In retrospect, Scorpia wished she brought a few bombs to strike fear into the heart of Bright Moon. Or, if she had explained the situation to Entrapta, maybe Entrapta could have given her some cool spy gadget to leave in there. But Scorpia's head was filled with flowers and vines, mindlessly trailing after Perfuma. And so she missed a perfect opportunity to advance the Horde's cause.
Perfuma was a weakness, because as much as Scorpia wished she could betray her, she couldn't. As long as Perfuma would indulge her, Scorpia was willing to keep their strange truce, stealing a moment's reprieve from the stresses of the Horde in this grove.
Once the uniform was on, Scorpia hugged Perfuma from behind. She did not want this night to end on a bad note. "It was nice to be with you."
Perfuma turned around, her eyes immediately looking Scorpia up and down. Her lips tightened at the sight, and Scorpia was unsure what that meant. Perfuma spoke slowly. "Scorpia… thank you for coming, but…"
Fear seized Scorpia's heart. But what? But Scorpia drank too much? But Scorpia couldn't read the mood during Truth or Dare? But Scorpia was an embarrassment to be around?
"…But we can't keep doing this," Perfuma finished.
Scorpia stared at Perfuma. "I mean obviously, you don't have any more of that potion left, right? It'd be pretty hard to get another batch, probably-"
"No, not like that!" Perfuma was louder than Scorpia had ever heard her.
Scorpia did not speak, unsure what was going on.
Perfuma looked away from her. "I mean everything. This relationship, our alliances, we can't keep them separated forever."
A hope Scorpia had never dared to entertain before came unbidden to her lips. "Join the Horde," Scorpia began to babble, "I know it's awkward, but I already told Catra I have a girlfriend, so if I told her the girl is you, and you wanted to join, she would welcome you in, in spite of the fights you've had before." Scorpia began to imagine it already, going out into the field with Perfuma by her side, powerful and fearsome to behold. They could crush their enemies together, then go home and cuddle once the days work was done.
Perfuma pressed a hand against her forehead. "I don't- you guys are evil! I hate to say it, Scorpia, but it's called the 'Evil Horde' for a reason!"
Scorpia furrowed her brow. "We also call you guys 'Evil Princesses'."
"But you guys are actually evil," Perfuma insisted, "You guys calling us evil is like, some sort of propaganda thing, we're really not. Do you think I'm evil?"
"No," It was not hard for Scorpia to answer, but… "Do you think I'm evil?"
That caused Perfuma to sputter a moment before continuing. "N-no, that's not what I'm trying to say."
"Sure sounds like it. How do you know that your side isn't doing propaganda themselves? After all, it's not like you've lived in both worlds."
"Adora has lived in both worlds, and agrees that the Horde is evil. You asked her about it, defecting had to have crossed your mind."
Scorpia prickled. "I asked because it was hard to comprehend, not because I'm considering it."
"Please, Scorpia." Perfuma took Scorpia's claw in her hand. "Adora left for a reason. There has not been a princess who has left the alliance to join the Horde, doesn't that suggest something about which side is right?"
"What about Entrapta?"
Perfuma froze. "Entrapta? What are you talking about? She was loyal to the alliance to the… to the very end."
Scorpia was now confused. "Huh? But she's making us cool Horde tech now. Is she a double-agent or something?"
Perfuma let go of Scorpia. "What the hell are you talking about? Entrapta died."
"Entrapta's dead?" Scorpia gasped. "Wait, when did this happen?"
"Back when Glimmer was kidnapped?"
"You guys left her," Scorpia informed her, "She's alive, she's with us now."
Perfuma took a step back. "No."
"No?"
"You- you're lying, you have to be," Perfuma was breathing fast, "We mourned, I built her a monument in Plumeria."
"Why would I lie about something like that?"
"To get me to join the Horde!" Perfuma's eyes were wet. "How dare you besmirch Entrapta's good name."
Scorpia raised her arms gently, as though trying to calm an animal. "I swear I'm not lying, Perfuma, I wouldn't lie about something like that."
Perfuma began to cry.
Scorpia rushed over to comfort her, but Perfuma pushed her away when she got close. "She- she's dead! How could she be alive? Why would she join the Horde?"
"If you come with me, you could ask her yourself," Scorpia dared to suggest.
Perfuma sobbed. "I don't know what to think anymore."
"Then don't think." Scorpia hated to see Perfuma like this, but if this could push Perfuma towards the Horde, she needed to take the opportunity. "Just come with me."
Perfuma shook her head, taking another step back.
Scorpia took another step towards her, arms outstretched invitingly, "Please Perfuma, we could spend every day together, we wouldn't have to hide, and you could see Entrapta-"
"This is way too much to process," Perfuma interrupted her.
Scorpia tried to wrap Perfuma in a hug. "Don't process, just come."
Perfuma stomped her foot, causing roots around her to burst and shove Scorpia away. Scorpia fell a few feet away. Perfuma shouted, "Go! Please, you're just making things worse."
"Perfuma..." Scorpia started, beginning to stand.
Perfuma's voice lowered, "Just go."
As much as it pained Scorpia, she turned away. Perfuma was not allowing Scorpia to comfort her, and literally pushing her away, how could Scorpia help? And, in spite of all of Scorpia's hidden hopes, Perfuma was not amendable to joining the Horde.
She left the grove quickly, headache now pounding in her head.
[HORIZONTAL]
The next day, Scorpia and Catra were waiting in Entrapta's lab. Entrapta said she had an incredible new machine to show them. Considering what Entrapta called "incredible new machines", the actual device could be anything between an apocalyptic doomsday device and a cupcake oven.
Whatever it was, it required some complicated startup procedures. Entrapta moved between walls of dials and buttons, hair and fingers dancing between the different interfaces, causing lights and displays to blink on and off. She muttered as she worked, a rapid-fire murmur Scorpia was fond of hearing.
Scorpia was glad Entrapta had joined them. Scorpia did not wonder much about the princesses who abandoned Entrapta before. Scorpia was not an expert in social interaction, but even she could recognize the Entrapta was strange. It was something comforting to Scorpia, since Scorpia knew she came off as strange as well. But that strangeness was something Scorpia was disliked for as a child, so she assumed the other princesses just disliked Entrapta for her strangeness as well, motivating their abandonment.
Perfuma built Entrapta a monument, though. That was not something one did for someone disliked. And Perfuma said the other princesses thought Entrapta had died, giving a different explanation for abandonment. Scorpia wondered if it was her place to talk to Entrapta about that.
Scorpia definitely did not want to talk to Entrapta about the subject. Was that Scorpia recognizing that it was not her place, or wasn't it for more selfish reasons? With such a misunderstanding cleared up, there was the distinct possibility Entrapta would leave the Horde. Then Scorpia would never get to spend time like this, watching Entrapta flutter about her machines. Not to mention nights when Entrapta would listen to Scorpia carry on and on about whatever Scorpia was excited for. And Scorpia would never again get to listen to Entrapta rant about whatever latest discovery-
Interrupting these worries, Catra groaned, clearly bored of watching Entrapta. "What is this machine? Could you at least explain instead of running around everywhere after calling us in here?"
Entrapta did not stop moving, but responded, "Will explain! First need to concentrate! Chat soon!"
Catra rolled her eyes, still bored. To alleviate this, she decided to be social for once and spoke to Scorpia, "So how was your date last night?"
Scorpia laughed, not wanting to worry Catra. "Well, it was great, specifically at the beginning, and part of the middle."
Catra raised an eyebrow. "And…?"
"And what?" Scorpia smiled innocently at her.
"You've literally never spoken for less than a minute when talking about your day unless interrupted by something."
"I love that you know me so well!"
"So beginning and middle was good, how about the end?" Catra refocused the conversation.
Scorpia laughed again, trying not to make Catra pay too much attention to the words. "Well, the end was not totally lovely. We had a bit of a… spat."
"Ooh," Catra rubbed her hands together, "Drama?"
"I guess one could call it that." Scorpia laughed again. Was she laughing too much?
"Well don't leave me hanging about, what did you fight about?" Catra was practically licking her lips.
"Well, I love that you're very interested in my life," Scorpia began, "And I appreciate your willingness to listen to my issues. I'm grateful to have a friend so kind-"
"Stop stalling," Catra commanded.
"It was… about our future as a couple." Scorpia gulped, trying to think of the best way to phrase the issue without revealing the most relevant details. "We've been having fun, and I am serious about her, but to be serious, one of us has to change, and we can't quite agree on who will give up certain things."
Catra tilted her head, not comprehending with the little information. "Like what-"
"Done!" Entrapta shouted.
Scorpia sighed, relieved to be interrupted. Catra would not remain interested in Scorpia's love life when there was more important Horde business to discuss.
Entrapta turned to them, eyes sparkling. "What I have here is a Whisperator 2.0! After borrowing some Old One's tech that responded to the shifting energies in the Whispering Woods, I noticed the tech was giving constantly changing output. I've been working on an interface system that can translate the output into useful signals-"
"Can we get like, a summary?" Catra asked.
Entrapta pursed her lips. "That was the summary. But if you would like an even shorter one: This technology is able to track all life inside the Whispering Woods."
"All life?" Scorpia gaped. "Even those itty-bitty dragonflies?"
"Even those!" Entrapta assured her, "But it had to be calibrated, first, which is what I've been doing."
Catra put her hands on her hips. "And you couldn't call us after calibration?"
"No I could not! Since I was trying to calibrate the machine to humanoid figures, I tried to calibrate it using my own body at first, but it was too specific, so it would only track me. When you guys came in, I scanned you and used you for further calibration, broadening the scope of humanoid figures it would track."
"You scanned us?" Catra guffawed.
"Yes! I have scanners all around the room, so I can always check what's in here," Entrapta explained, "Anyway, this is all awesome, but the incredible part is: this!"
Entrapta held out a device, hefty but something one could fit in a bag. Scorpia stared at it, and reached out to experimentally poke it.
Entrapta carried on, "This is the Whisperator 2.0: Mobile! You can carry this into the field, and it can remotely update itself with information from the Whisperator 2.0!"
Scorpia realized something. "Wait, Whisperator 2.0? What happened to number one?"
Entrapta gave a hearty laugh. "You don't need to worry about that."
Catra had a smile on her face. "So with this, we can track who's in the woods, and ambush them?"
Entrapta shrugged. "Well, I can't actually identify the exact people in the woods, but it can tell you how many and where they are."
Scorpia was always happy to see Catra happy, and Catra was thrilled. "I think we should test it out."
Scorpia wondered who they would end up finding. She just had to hope Perfuma would not decide to travel the Whispering Woods anytime soon.
