A View From The Other Side In Search Of A Compass, a sailor moon fanfic

A View From The Other Side
Chapter 1: "In Search Of A Compass"
A Neo-Sailor Moon fanfic

By Bill K.

Just to forestall all of the questions ahead of time, this story has nothing whatsoever to do with My Little Pony in any way, shape or form.

Minako Aino waited at the door to the Asteroid Senshi's quarters. The environmental control computer had signaled the occupants that she was waiting, but no one had immediately passed her through. An eyebrow arched. She knew they were there, for the computer had told her so - - with one exception. That was the exception she was here to investigate. And it was probably the exception that was causing the delay in passing her into the quarters. Exhaling in frustration, Aino was about to use her entry code on the lock when the door hissed open.

"Hiding all of the contraband?" Minako smirked as she entered. Ves and Jun glanced nervously at each other. Palla-Palla sat amid her doll collection, but wouldn't look at anyone. The girl seemed upset.

"We haven't done anything," grunted Ves.

"Yet," Minako added, her eyebrow still arched. "Don't kid a kidder. You amateurs haven't thought of a trick I haven't already pulled."

"Aino-Sensei, there's nothing here that shouldn't be here," Jun offered.

"Yeah, but there's one thing that should," Minako assessed. "Where's Cere?"

"Around," Ves said vaguely.

"In the room 'around'?" Minako queried. "In the palace 'around'? Or in Crystal Tokyo 'around'?"

Ves just shrugged. Minako knew the girl was an experienced stonewaller, but she couldn't resist the challenge.

"And if I look in her bedroom, I'm going to find rumpled sheets, right?"

"Probably not," Ves replied. "She probably already made them. You know what a priss she is." Jun avoided eye contact. She seemed uneasy.

"OK, do it the hard way," sighed Minako. "Computer . . ."

"She didn't come home!" wailed Palla-Palla. Ves gave her an impatient look. "Well Palla-Palla is worried!"

"She's all right," snapped Ves.

"You're sure?" Minako asked. Jun exhaled in frustration.

"She probably stayed over at the home of that guy she's seeing," Jun admitted reluctantly. "I know she missed curfew . . ."

"Why do we even have to have a curfew, anyway?" railed Ves. "We're seventeen! Hell, Cere just turned eighteen! So what if she wants to stay out all night?"

"Because she has a job," Minako explained patiently, "just like you three have: Guarding the Princess." She saw it wasn't what any of them, Ves particularly, wanted to hear. "Look, I'm the last person to be lecturing someone on responsible behavior, especially when a guy is concerned. I understand true love, and I understand true lust, too. And I know how hard it is to be the Princess's guardian AND have a social life. But what happens if an emergency hits?"

"We can take care of it," Ves bristled. "Cover for her until she gets back."

Just then, the door hissed open and Cere posed dramatically.

"I'm back!" she exclaimed. Then she saw the room. "Oh. Aino-Sensei."

"Glad to see you," Minako said. "Was he worth it?"

Cere's grin grew ear to ear.

"Guess that answers that question," chuckled Minako. "I know it's a pain, but try to stay a little closer to the palace. And no over-nighters."

"Yes, Aino-Sensei," Cere mumbled.

"OK, I'll get out of here and give you girls time to dish," Minako said, heading for the door. "Oh, and morning classes are canceled, but afternoon combat training is still on." The door hissed closed after Minako left.

"So where did you and Kuroda-San go?" Jun asked.

"He took me to dinner, and then back to his studio," Cere sighed happily.

"And then?" Ves asked. Cere grinned. Palla-Palla's eyes bugged out and her hands flew to her mouth.

"Boy, you move fast," Jun shook her head.

"Hiroki-Chan is the hurricane, not me," Cere retorted. "He knows what he wants and he goes after it. Fortunately it's what I want, too." Cere scampered over to her computer station. "I have to get Hotaru and the Princess in on this, too."

"Don't bother calling the Princess," Jun advised. Cere's shoulders sagged.

"Again?" Cere asked incredulously

"I swear, I think she's going to start living up there," Ves muttered.

"Boy, that whole 'evil twin' thing just sent her into a tailspin," Cere shook her head. "Not even Hotaru can seem to get her out of it."

"I can kind of relate," Jun said. "I sometimes worry that something will turn me back to the Circus days. And I don't have nearly the power the Princess has."

"But the Princess is a good person," Palla-Palla piped up. "She's kind and she works hard, and she's smarter than anyone Palla-Palla knows, except for Miss Ami-Ma'am. She shouldn't be afraid. Palla-Palla isn't afraid of going back to the Circus days because she knows that's bad now. And the Princess always knew it was bad."

"At least she's not holed up in her room this time," Ves said, leaning her chair back on its back casters. "What she needs is some sort of crisis, so she can take command."

"You sure?" Jun asked. "I'm not sure how she'll react in a pressure situation now."

High above the palace, high above the city of Crystal Tokyo, a white horse with pristine white wings soared along the wind currents and glided over the land. Astride the back of the elegantly muscled creature was a young woman, her trails of pink hair fluttering behind her as the mane and tail of the horse fluttered. As they passed over people out and about, the people would look up and point at them. They would wave and smile. But the woman didn't notice. As the air whipped across her face, she would silently brood.

"Let me know when you get tired, Helios," Usa said suddenly.

"I shall, Maiden, though it has yet to occur," Helios thought back, for he couldn't speak in his Pegasus form.

The pair continued to soar leisurely over the city, out over the west end and back. Pegasus glanced back at his rider, then banked sharply to cross over the palace once more. Below, he could see Queen Serenity standing on the rooftop heli-pad, watching them.

They had gone flying like this, aimlessly, two to four times a week for a month since her encounter with the Princess Usagi of a different time line, the being who had surrendered to anger and petulance and destroyed everything dear to her. He had tried to console his Usa. He had tried to encourage her. He had tried to smother her melancholy with his burning passion for her. It seemed to work for a time, or else she was a good actress. But a few days later the cycle would repeat.

"I wish we could go to Elysian," he heard his rider say. "I wish I could just stay there forever."

"Elysian would be greater for your presence, Maiden," Helios thought to her. "But you would miss your family and friends."

"Maybe they'd be better off without me," she mumbled.

"And what of your own kind? There are few humans in Elysian."

"Your mom didn't have any trouble," Usa countered. "Besides, I could always become a horse. Think of it: You and me, running free through some field, not a care in the world."

The pair soared on, circling the southern portion of the city. Each low pass would elicit more gasps and exclamations from the people.

"What do you search for, Maiden?" he asked out of the blue. It was a moment before Usa even seemed to realize what he asked. She seemed startled for a beat, then retreated behind her gloom.

"Me, I guess," she said thoughtfully. "Who I am. What I am." She seemed to sigh. "What I could become."

"Black Lady is not a destiny etched in stone, Maiden," Helios advised her.

"I'd like to believe that," Usa replied. "But I've kind of had it forcefully jammed into my face. You can't ignore that. There's a dark side in me, Helios, and it keeps getting out at all the wrong times. I thought trying to be just like Mom could eliminate it. I thought trying to be better than Mom could. I thought knowing everything there was to know and being prepared for every possibility could."

"No one can be prepared for every eventuality, Maiden," Helios thought back.

"No duh," Usa exhaled. "The other Usa locked herself in her room and became a brain, and look what happened." Her hand went up and brushed her eyes. "I don't know what else to do. What am I not doing that I need to do to become Eternal Sailor Moon and not Eternal Black Lady?"

"Do you trust in me, Maiden?"

"Of course. Helios, I trust everything you say to me," Usa said. Then she smiled slyly. "Except when I notice you staring at my butt." Pegasus actually seemed to blush slightly.

"Do you trust in the advice of your friends, of Hotaru?"

"Yeah. They're only looking out for me."

"And the advice of your aunts and of your parents?"

"Where's this going?" Usa asked. The pair soared over the east end of the city, skirting the Pacific Ocean.

"You have great trust in everyone," Helios thought to her. "All but yourself."

"Gee, I wonder why," muttered the Princess.

"You obsess over your failures and ignore your successes," Helios continued. "You fret over the darkness within you to the point where you miss the nobility you possess. The only thing that holds you back, Maiden, is you. You and your inability to see what others see in you. You are the bright, shining dream light that brought me back from oblivion, Maiden. It did not get there by chance. But I fear, that if you continue to believe yourself to be weak and unworthy of the greatness within you, that this fear that preys upon you will become a self-fulfilling prophecy and you will drive yourself to become that which you fear most." Pegasus looked back at his rider. "And that would be a loss for all, but particularly for me."

Usa fell silent. They flew on for a few moments, Helios worried that he had bruised her psyche even more in his efforts to save it. But after an eternity, a soft feminine hand patted his front shoulder, right below his wing, and rubbed.

After another turn around the city, Pegasus arced in and came to a gentle landing atop the palace aeropad. Usa slid from his back and the great winged horse transformed into the white-haired guardian of pleasant dreams.

"Do you feel better now?" Helios inquired. Usa caressed his face.

"Some. Thanks," she said. "Can we go again in a few days? I'll try to be better company. But I've kind of gotten to like doing this."

"Anything that allows me to be in your presence is my favorite activity," Helios replied.

His arm slid around her waist. He leaned in and kissed her. Usa sighed happily and returned the gesture, draping her arm around his neck and kissing back. Finally they parted and Helios turned to the door leading back into the palace. Usa watched him go, her pink hair blowing in the head winds atop the palace. Then she turned and noticed her mother, Queen Serenity, standing a few feet from her. The woman had a pensive look and Usa knew why the Queen was pensive.

"Usa?" Serenity ventured cautiously.

"Mom, why is it whenever I come back from a date with Helios," Usa asked, turning her head to conceal the smirk she had on her mouth, "you're always waiting up for me?"

Instantly the Queen began to sputter and it was all her daughter could do to keep from laughing. Finally an impotent "brat" exploded from the Queen's delicate mouth. Usa relented, draped her arm around her mother, whom she dwarfed by at least six inches, and escorted her back into the palace.

"Hotaru," came the gentle voice of Ami Mizuno, startling Hotaru out of what preoccupied her.

Hotaru looked at the formula on the computer screen. For a moment, it looked fine. Then she realized that the potency of the chemical was too strong. Administered to a living organism, the chemical would result in death.

"I'm sorry!" Hotaru gasped. At once a calming hand came to rest on her shoulder.

"Concentration is essential when dealing with hazardous chemical compounds," Ami warned her student. "I understand, though, that the human mind can become preoccupied with emotions such as fear or worry. Perhaps when you're in such a state, you should avoid working in critical situations until you can properly focus, if possible."

"Yes, Sensei," Hotaru whimpered. She wouldn't look at Ami.

"I assume you're worried about Usa?"

Hotaru looked up and found a sympathetic expression on the vaunted doctor's face. It eased her mind. Ami wasn't judging her.

"What happened scared her," Hotaru admitted. "Seeing a complete copy of yourself turned into an unstoppable monster - - she's tried so hard to put that part of her past life away. But it keeps coming back."

"Have there been other such incidents?" Ami asked.

Hotaru tensed. Nobody knew about the altered history Desdemona had subjected them to, making them relive the events at D-Point. She and the Asteroids only knew because Usa had confided in them.

"I'm sorry," Hotaru demurred. "Usa wouldn't want me talking about it. I promised."

"Well I'm not going to force you to break your word," Ami assured her. "Hotaru, the life of a senshi isn't easy. Perhaps the most difficult part of the calling is being forced to watch the difficult, painful trials the person you're pledged to protect must endure in order to evolve into her final form. There were difficult times when I was helping Usagi become Queen Serenity. Personal pain was one thing; perhaps the most difficult part of it was watching her suffer with the burden of her role and the trials seeking to make her question her philosophy and commitment, and not being able to help her past it. And Usagi could often be her own worst enemy, just as young Usa is now. Rei once put it very succinctly: Our mission is to protect the Princess; sometimes we have to protect her from herself."

"How do I do that?" Hotaru asked plaintively.

"Well I can say with certainty that worrying will do very little," Ami told the girl. "That will only sap your ability to act as you see fit. And sometimes you must act to guide your charge away from unproductive behavior. Whether through logic, kindness, example or brute force if it comes to it, it is your duty to make certain your Princess is following the proper path."

Hotaru nodded thoughtfully.

"But first you must know what the proper path is," Ami advised. "That can only come through sound reasoning and a genuine desire to see right done. And you can't achieve such reasoning with a mind clouded with worry and doubt. Just as you can't properly administer to a sick patient with a mind clouded with worry and doubt."

"Our duty," Hotaru murmured. "Up to now, we've just been following her - - being there for her - - being her friend."

"And that's very important," Ami smiled. "But support and friendship alone isn't enough. You have to stand up when you see her about to do something wrong, should it ever happen, and make her see that it's wrong. From what I understand, the Usa in that other dimension didn't have a support system of friends willing to tell her 'no' when she was about to embark on improper or self-destructive behavior. This Usa does - - if her friends are willing to step up when she strays from the proper path."

Ami could see that Hotaru seemed overwhelmed by the advice she'd given. The doctor put her hands on the girl's slender shoulders.

"I know what you're feeling," Ami sympathized. "But I know you have the inner strength to do this. Plus, you and the other Asteroids all know what it's like to live with a past you aren't proud of. This can give you insight into whether you need to prod Usa or not. I hope you can find it within yourself to accept this challenge, Hotaru. Usa does need you all."

Returning to the Princess's room after a late night, Diana quietly crept into the room and surveyed it to see that nothing was amiss. A glance at the wall chronometer told her it was just after five-thirty in the morning. Diana considered her next move, because it was too close to Usa's wake up call to sleep and too early to do anything else. The cat's eyes shifted to the Princess, expecting to find her in the throws of a pleasant dream, courtesy of Helios. At once, Diana's eyes bulged.

"MY LADY!" Diana screeched in alarm. That instantly roused the sleeping Princess.

"What?" grunted Usa. She thrashed in the bed, unable momentarily to gain any leverage against the mattress and sheets. "Diana, what's . . .?"

Then, in the darkness, Usa could see something amiss. It went with the feeling she had. Something was wrong.

"Lights to forty percent," the Princess said. Dutifully the environmental control computer complied. Illuminated, Usa instantly saw what was wrong, but she could scarcely believe it. Stunned into an inability to act, Usa glanced at Diana. The cat's look of horror was enough to confirm that she wasn't dreaming, hallucinating or seeing an illusion. It was true.

She was no longer human.

She was a horse.

Continued in Chapter 2