SAILOR MOON'S LATE NIGHT BY MOONLIGHT
A FANFICTION SERIAL BY JACOB DAVIS

- starring -
USAGI TSUKINO "Sailor Moon"
REI HINO "Sailor Mars"
AND AMI MIZUNO "Sailor Mercury"

EPISODE ZERO
Preparing for the First Show! The Guardians Get Ready for Live TV!

It was a dark night in the Aurora Network's "Broadcast Tower of the Northern Lights." Situated in Green Hill Zone, it made sharp focus for being a residential powerhouse for the many people who lived in it. But, it also housed the facilities for the network itself, a shining beacon of TV and radio for the Fantasy Lands. Inside, three of the most unlikely people to be on national television were working on what to do for their first late night TV show. Usagi Tsukino, Rei Hino, and Ami Mizuno were charged with protecting the public from demonic threats as Sailors Moon, Mars, and Mercury respectively. But tonight, there was no evil to fight. So, having this in mind, they weren't usually busy much, but tonight was an exception. Luna, Usagi's cat, was among them.

Usagi thumbed through a folder she was holding, which had some ideas for new programmes in it. She pulled one out. "How about this one?" she asked the others. "It's a good one right here. We could read stories on the air!" The file was labeled 'Reading Tonight.'

"Personally, I don't think so at all," Luna replied. "Reading books on the air wouldn't do very good for a national audience. Ami," she gestured to her, "wouldn't stay awake just trying to read. They'd turn the channel in an instant!"

Usagi then pulled out another file. "How about this one? An overnight news broadcast!" Everyone in the room gasped! None of the Sailor Guardians were even experienced in informational broadcasting to attempt it! The Sailor Scout of the Moon was downtrodden at that point, as she went back to looking through the folder. When she saw a paper labeled 'late night comedy,' she stopped and smiled. She had an idea! What if they could do a late night comedy show in their Guardian dress and attire? She shown the paper to the others. They both smiled back. They found their big break.

It took several weeks, but even without all the red tape, they would've pulled through anyway. Usagi, Rei, and Ami went back to the Network Tower to begin the plans for the new show, knowing full well they were taking the biggest risk in their duties as Sailor Scouts, despite any potential benefits. They had to get everything prepared in time for their premiere broadcast, due to begin in five months' time. The first month before broadcast started with "the plan." Several names were called out, others were considered for a while, but ultimately thrown out, but Aurora's board of directors were satisfied with "Late Night by Moonlight." The plan even involved set preparation and blueprints, and those involved the inclusion of a studio audience, as well as space for a desk, a full band, several video screens, and all the control and mixing boards for the various aspects of the show's look and feel on the air. Aurora's staff had helped them every step of the way.

The next two months were spent with Aurora's graphics development department creating the show's on air look, and the construction of the set itself. Studio T-14 on the 210th floor was chosen as the space for this, because due to its sheer size (it took up a whole floor, for pete's sake,) it would be just enough for the set and an audience of 5 thousand. The remaining two months were spent booking guests from all around the Fantasy Lands to appear on the show. Set construction stretched well into those remaining two months, but plans were virtually undeterred. Eventually, Usagi settled on Ash Ketchum, Vanellope von Schweetz, Tuxedo Mask, and two 'mystery guests' from the Mushroom Kingdom to lead off the inaugural broadcast, after many arguments from the rest of the team, as well as Usagi's conflicts with Rei.

Before long, the three were in their makeup room, on the day of the broadcast. Usagi was a little nervous, as were the other two, but a little coaxing from Luna helped them to calm down a little. Eventually, an announcement came over the intercom:

"Sailor Moon, Sailor Mercury, and Sailor Mars, report to Studio T-14. You're on the air in 10 minutes. Transform and report to Studio T-14. Luna, follow them to the studio and report to the mixing booth from there. Luna, follow to T-14 and report to the mixing booth."

With that, the girls looked at each other, then at Luna. They began to transform into their Guardian forms.

"Moon Prism Power, Make Up!"

"Mercury Power, Make Up!"

"Mars Power, Make Up!"

Before long, it was three minutes to air. The show was all set and the studio was packed to the rafters. Many more were watching on their televisions at home. Luna gave the girls headsets so she could talk to them from her perch at the mixing booth, from which she could see the entire stage. After all, she was also directing the show. Aurora's Over The Air Band was even there, ready to strike up a tune on a moment's notice. With that, the words came from the director. "Makeup, get out of there! We're live in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1!"

The show had begun.