1467/Dimension Past: Construction in the Cosmos

Dimension Past: Construction in the Cosmos
Date of Scene:	24 April 2024
Location:	Silver Millennium
Synopsis:	Madoka, Rashmi, Amy, Hinoiri, and Makoto successfully escaped Kunzite - and landed on the Moon, where they encounter Princess Serenity, Sailor Mercury, and a very lost construction worker. A discussion of futures, presents, and the ethics of the Prime Directive ensues.
Cast of Characters:	Usagi Tsukino, Makoto Kino, Hinoiri Kirara, Madoka Kaname, Hinote Kagari, Rashmi Terios, Amanda Faust, Ami Mizuno
Tinyplot:	Operation: Past

---

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
A portal opens, and from it's rainbow-colored depths appears a group of people. The majority of these people are fleeing from an otherwise certain death at the hands of Kunzite's echo - at least one is coming from a different portal, but is nonetheless dropped in the same place.

Not everyone who went through the portal with the fleeing group... makes it through to the same place.

But where is that place, anyway?

It's a spring meadow, trees heavy with leaves and blossoms creating shade, soft grass padding the ground. Flowers bloom, not in organic piles, but in neat lines and circles, creating aesthetically pleasing shapes. There are several grey benches, carved from whole slabs of basalt, decorated with repeating motifs of flowers, and a low table at the center of them.

Overhead, the sky is filled with millions of stars amidst the sea of black. It is not the sky, as filtered through oxygen and ozone and atmosphere, but a sky seemingly open to space itself - though there's something, that the eye can't quite catch, that exists up there as well. In the distance, but not that distant, is the Earth - blue and green and whole.

It's a familiar sight, to the majority of the group - a view of the sky from the Moon.

But there's no fire, now, no screaming or weeping, no scent of burning flesh and spilled blood. They are in the center of a spring, and in the distance, walls of hedges - a maze, or a labyrinth, whichever you prefer to call it.

They're also not alone. In the spring with them is a girl that most of them recognizes... sort of.

She has Usagi Tsukino's face, and her blue eyes, but her figure is different, slighter, leaner. Rather than blond, her hair is palest silver, like the stuff of stars.

Oh, and her skin glows. That's a thing. She's like the moon itself - giving off the faintest hint of celestial light.

She's also pacing, in front of a single construction worker, seated on one of the benches. He looks... confused, and apologetic, and she, confused, and distressed.

"But how could you have possibly ended up here?" Princess Serenity asks, wringing her hands. "You can't have teleported here, it's a very difficult thing for humans to do!"

"Honestly, Princess Lady, I don't think us humans can do that at all," the man responds sheepishly.

Makoto Kino has posed:
Last through the portal - second-to-last, only Sunbreaker burning through the dark behind her - as she comes out the other side, Sailor Jupiter staggers, gasping a lungful of clean air. She has barely enough presence of mind to clear the way in case Sunbreaker actually does come barreling through behind her, but then she just kind of stands there for a moment, bracing her hands against her knees.

A deep breath, indrawn and then slowly exhaled. Another one. Finally she straightens; as she dusts herself off with her hands, her henshin fades, and instead of Sailor Jupiter it's Makoto standing in this pleasant place, dressed entirely incongruously in a lavishly embroidered green gown that looks like something belonging more to the kingdom they just left than it does to modern Tokyo. Her hair is a wreck, like it got dunked in the ocean and then blow-dried in a tornado.

"All this coming and going is so disorienting..." she murmurs to herself. The color hasn't really come all the way back into her face yet, and her eyes are wide as she takes in the scenery. 'A walled garden,' those words came out of her mouth - but she hadn't seen this, yet, so how did she know to say it? Her eyes linger on Serenity, drawn inexorably by the princess's faint glow.

"Is everyone all right...?" she manages to ask, sounding a little dusty.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Sunbreaker came to a skidding stop. Literally. She landed face first and skidded along the ground, finally coming to a less than graceful stop. With a loud, pained groan. She slowly rose up, spat out some flowers, before letting out a frustrated growl and flipping the portal off with... the wrong finger. "Screw YOU you over payed lackey to a loser of a sun wielder! I am SUNBREAKER! The greatest mage in two worlds AND A MOON NOW! You don't get to kill CRUD because you can KISS MY sparkly FLANK!"

She groaned and got to her feet, dusting herself off and looking to them. Before... "Hey, you! Moon girl!" she yelled to Serenity. "Wait, hold that thought. YAH!" She yelled before erupting in black flames, sending the dirt skidding off her. "Where are the rest of your little planet girls. I got all I needed to know from the director's pathetic little trip down memory lane and... and... why are you in a dress and... oh... oh Sora DAMN IT! This is another... GUH! MOON! I swear if you..." Pause. "And she's not here. I come all the way here to grab her stupid flank and she gets lost the moment I come through the portal. Isn't that bucking fan-tas-tic."

"And I'm fine, thanks for... oh. You, err, actually did ask. I'm fine. Uhhh... how about you?"

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Hope Witch stumbles through the portal as fast as her little legs can carry her. She's out of breath and worried, but moves ahead to make plenty of room for others before she turns to look and make sure others make it through. Only to be disappointed and somewhat worried that not everyone shows up.

    Glancing off to the side, Madoka tries to reassure herself that the portals here do whatever they want and surely everything will turn out just fine.

    All of a sudden, her henshin fades and Gretchen's X-Egg pops out. "Wha-! Gretchen-chan don't just do that!" she protests.

    Gretchen pops out of her egg and says, "No! No more henshin. I'm mad and sad and tired. I want my plushies, I want my mask, and if you have any candy I want that, too!"

    Madoka opens her mouth to protest, but then thinks better of it. It's been a long day, and this peaceful serene place seems as good a place to rest as any. "Okay, okay. Fine." She reaches into her book bag and starts digging around. Foodstuffs might be hard to find, but candy has a way of keeping, and her book bag doesn't have the same... issues as Gretchen's Labyrinth when it comes to storage.

    Madoka glances up and sees Princess Serenity, and she stops her search. "O-oh, you're here! Wait..." The pinkette gives the moon princess a closer look. "You aren't... you're... from here, aren't you?"

    A tiny Labyrinth portal opens and Sio floats out. "Hey, I heard there was candy. Can I have some?"

    Madoka sighs, because she's tired and mad and sad too, but between the three tiny pink things she is by far the largest and that means she has to be relatively responsible. "Right, right. I'm sure there's some in here."

    Madoka sees Jupiter dehenshin in front of her and gets distracted for a moment, but all she says is, "I'm fine. Are you?" before going back to her excavation. Sunbreaker's outburst gets a small grin from her, but also goes without comment.

Hinote Kagari has posed:
Everyone is worried about the people who disappeared into the portal and Hinote Kagari has decided to investigate this the old fashioned way. He transforms into Pulp Noir, for protection, and stands in front of the barrier that was erected and walks past it, taking a deep breath.

"Here goes nothing." he says as he steps through the portal and---

He is in a meadow, a sea of black stars above him as he grips the tip of his hat and he whistles a little as he lowers his head. "Well." he says, staring at the blue and green orb in the sky. "Guess I'm not in Tokyo anymore." he says.

He sees people in the distance. He starts walking along towards them, Sunbreaker is at least....familiar.

"Well. I guess. There you guys are." he says. "Everyone back uh. On Earth." he says. "Are really worried about you." he says.

"Where are we exactly?"

Rashmi Terios has posed:
It has *not* been a good day.

Tumbling through the portal *later,* nevermind that she was thrown in *first,* Rashmi rolls to a halt and just... takes a moment, to lie flat on her back and be a mad, sad, tired, horrified little gremlin for a moment. Just lie there and let Sunbreaker's Sunbreakerness just wash all over her, too emotionally exhausted to even *care* to try and fail to penetrate that thick mirror that the Obsidian freelancer has for a skull.

"Uuuuuuuuuuuuuugggggggggghhhhhhhh," is the first word she says, a handy summation of the adrenalin crash washing over her. "I don't care where we are as long as nothing's on fire."

After a bit, she heaves another sigh, struggling up to a seated position... oriented just right to catch Pulp Noir approaching them. "Heeeeeeey, Noir-kun!" she calls, waving at the be-fedora'd mahou... and chewing her lip as she tries to figure out how to properly answer.

"Short version? Jerk Lady I guess was mad that we didn't know who she was and what she was capable of, so, um... We've been falling through a kind of echo of past events?" She opens her mouth to say more, but, her eyes dart to the quite-obviously-not-their-Usagi, and her teeth lock together with a snap. As long as she's not engaging with the memory, it won't notice them, right?

"Um... Come over here, Nicomachea'll show you the rest," she finishes, waving Noir over and struggling to her feet.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    A lot of people are desperately fleeing Kunzite.

    Amy isn't one of them.

    She's currently magicced for herself a fantasy outfit that may or may not be period-appropriate, and steps through the portal eating some kind of... like whatever burrito or hotdog or sausage-on-a-bun or the like she was able to take from a food stall.

    The most obvious part of the outfit is a white cloak, with a red horizontal line running around the outside near the bottom. Under it is a... fantasy adventurer dress of sorts, with a red sleeveless gold-trimmed coat open in front with beltlike fasteners above and below the chest, over a white dress and a belt around the waist. Red boots and cream-colored fingerless gloves over black armwarmers and... white-over-black multilayer thighhighs? complete the outfit. She obviously is copying some anime character, at any rate.

    She stops, and blinks as she looks over the group of people looking all agitated like they just fled a life-or-death situation. "Uhhh... What happened to you folks? Did you get caught in an anti-magical-girl riot or someth-- Sunbreaker?" She quirks an eyebrow. "Why'd the evil lady banish you here with us, anyway? Like, wouldn't it make more sense to have you out causing havoc while we're trapped?"

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
The construction worker is a regular, middle-aged Japanese guy, short black hair, a hard hat in his hands, and a dark blue one piece suit of thick, baggy material with large pockets, a brown leather belt with pouches around his middle. He's got ninja-esque footwear on, split-toed, and he looks pretty pole-axed as a group of teenagers comes through a portal from nowhere, pointing over Serenity's shoulder with a yelp.

"Holy Cheezus, where the hell did you kids come from!?"

When Serenity turns... she doesn't see anything, at first. The Princess looks completely confused, looking right past Rashmi and Amy and Madoka, at least until the pink-haired girl addresses her directly - at which point.. a pink haired girl seemingly comes into focus from nowhere. Naturally, she jumps back, layers of skirt swishing as she does.

"Wah! Where - mother help me, where did you come fro-"

She breaks off, as Sunbreaker bursts into appearance, flaming and loud and furious, incredibly rude -

"Um," she starts, and stops, and pauses and stares at the two of them - at Madoka and her two miniatures, at Sunbreaker, presently on fire. "Are you two... misplaced? If you're looking for the talks, they aren't until tomorrow, and visiting dignitaries are meeting in preparation now. If you need assistance finding where you're meant to be, I could give you a bit of guidance..."

As she's saying this, she's shifting to stand in front of the seated construction worker, as if her small frame could possibly hope to hide an entire grown man.

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Madoka finally fishes out a couple of suckers from her book bag: the remains of what Hinoiri gave her the other day. Well, mostly. There may be one or two left in her bag. She hands one to Sio, who is floating freely, and another to Gretchen, who is hiding in her cracked-open X-Egg squeezing a tiny shark plushie. When Madoka unwraps the suckers, they turn out to be Miracle Pops, the candy made in the shape of the Silver Crystal.

    As Madoka takes a moment to look at the shape of the suckers, she curiously glances towards Princess Serenity. Gretchen grows impatient with Madoka's hesitation and grabs the sucker from her hand, shoving it directly into her mouth before sitting back down in her egg to sulk. Sio takes hers a bit more politely and Madoka gives each of them a fingerpat in turn.

    Madoka notices Serenity's gaze upon her and realizes something. So she sees me, but not my fairies? With a thoughtful frown she studies the Moon Princess and-- the adult male hiding behind her?!

    "You, of all people, shouldn't be here," she says to the poor, helpless man. Then, to the Princess herself, Madoka suddenly tries very hard to be polite. She bows slightly in respect to the royal figure. "I'm afraid we've had a very rough trip, and we're kinda lost. Am I to understand that you're the princess of the moon? I'm not actually sure we know where we are."

    Madoka, the worst liar in the world, is trying very hard to make up an excuse. Well okay, she might not be the objectively worst liar, but she feels that way in this moment.

    "Ask her if they have any plushies," suggest Gretchen. As if the plushie pile she's currently sitting on in her egg wasn't enough.

Makoto Kino has posed:
"Could be worse," Makoto answers Sunbreaker with a very wry smile. "Thanks for coming to help. I don't really know, but..." her eyes track towards Serenity again, briefly, "I have a feeling Moon-chan is okay."

Which was, perhaps, not exactly the source of Sunbreaker's frustration. But it's all Makoto has to go on for the moment.

She turns her eyes around to the others, offering Madoka a little nod, but she's already moving, almost on autopilot, towards the Princess. Instinct served her reasonably well in getting this far. Maybe she can trust it a little further? "I'll vouch for them, Princess," she offers. "It's difficult to explain - I'm not sure exactly what went wrong myself - but they don't mean any harm."

She shoots Sunbreaker a definite side-eye over her shoulder. Do not make a liar of me, that warning look says.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Sunbreaker just sighed before glancing back to Makoto. "Don't think I don't recognize you, little miss suplex. That's right, I understand what you did to me now. BOTH times." And no, she didn't forget. Only two people had suplexed her and it seemed they were both the same person! Rude!

Then her eye twitched and she glanced to Pulp. Just twitched a few times. Oh. Of... course. The puncher.

"Beryl's a loser who can't accept that nobody knows, or cares, who she is. So she sent us all here. And she apparently can't aim, because she sent me as well. Oh. I'm sorry. Allow me to rephrase. Beryl is a loser who is so pathetically weak that she had to make a deal with a demon or some such in order to gain the power so she could send us to her little fantasy world. So that's why I'm here. Because some people are useless and don't know how to aim. And I swear. You lot better be working to find a way out too because if I have to do it *for* you I am going to make all of your lives tartarus AND NO THAT'S NOT TARTAR SAUCE!"

She was having a DAY! And then her eyes fell on the construstion worker. She blinked and then her eyes twitched. Again. "And this. This is the woman I am expected to take orders from. She has the aim of a unicorn foal with a defective wand! How can ANYONE be expected to work under conditions like this? You could throw a live party grenade into a crowded intersection and hit less people and cause less of a mess! UGH!"

Then looked to Serenity. And pinched the bridge of her nose. "You know what? I am going to give the current you such a talking to when this is over. But for now, can you just... go... make some tea for us or something? I've got to work on another scrying spell to find out where little miss moon princess exploding junk thrower disappeared to unless the rest of you got an A+ in advanced scrying? Noooo? I didn't think so," she snapped. She then glanced to Serenity and... "I am Sunbreaker, future Sovereign of Kirakirafantastica, student of Sovereign Sora, the most powerful unicorn in existence and future alicorn, nice to meet you... I guess," she grumbled before she started swirling a finger, sparkles flying around it. "Dragging civilians into this, I swear. And she's supposed to be above ME? Why not just give a rocket launcher to a child? They'd at least barely be able to find the button..." She then paused. Glanced towards Amy. Eye twitched again.

Hinote Kagari has posed:
Pulp Noir is glad to see a familiar face in Rashmi. He walks over and listens. "Wow." he says. "imagine having such an ego you need to force people to watch your home movies." he says dryly. He'll watch Nicomachea and what it has to expound as he takes in the information to get caught up.

"So this is just the past. But not really. Weird past. I don't remember anything like this from history class." he says, looking back up to the sky as he takes off his hat and brushes his hair a moment with a hand, as he replaces the hat.

"So what's the plan?" he asks Rashmi. "Keep leaping and hope the next leap is the leap home?" he asks.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"...Sunbreaker I know there is no sound in existence more important to your ears than your own voice," Rashmi sighs, lifting her glasses to massage the bridge of her nose. "But could you maybe tell yourself how wonderful you are, like... quietly? It's hard to think."

"...Her home movies have been pretty awful," she admits to Pulp Noir. "We're on the moon, by the way. This all happened like... fourteen? Fourteen. Thousand years ago, she co-opted Earth's generals -- there was a united world kingdom, I guess? -- and used them to drain the life out of enough entire cities to give to... yeah, a demon... and the demon, I guess, made the *rest* of Earth's people crazy and furious enough to be willing to beseige the moon. ...And for some reason it doesn't *quite* sound as horrible as it was to watch. I mean, the draining life and the moon war."

"But... yeah. Basically it's hopping from memory to memory, looking for a way out or for Beryl to guess we've learned all we need to about how powerful and awesome and unstoppable she is, which feels like I've been around that kind of personality before but I am *not* interested in figuring *that* one out." Oh, she has a name. But the last thing she wants is to sidetrack their trip home by saying it.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    > Beryl's a loser who made a deal with a demon--
    "Wait, what?! Demons are real?!" Amy shouts out, wide-eyed. "...Okay, I guess that's not really worse than Witches, but... like actual demon demons from Hell, or...? I don't suppose we can just stop them Doomslayer style...?"

> I am Sunbreaker, future Sovereign... most powerful unicorn?
    From another world. Keeps using weird words. Possible obsession with horses and pegasi arguing over what 'alicorn' means... it all finally' snaps into place. "You're a unicorn?! She glances over Sunbreaker, eyes wider, mouth agape. Then attempts to regain her composure. "Damn, that must've been a trip. And you've been stuck here for... damn. If the reverse happened to me I dunno what I'd do once the novelty wore off... I mean, 'find a way to survive', obviously, but like... yeesh."

> I don't remember this in history class...
    She glances over to the Detective. "Yeah... Magic's real, and it turns out a lot of what we studied in school is wrong. At least you didn't get a science degree..."

> Rashmi provides a timeline.
    "So that's... like six thousand years before the Sea People? Err, four thousand years before the Sea People and the Bronze Age collapse... how many ancient societies has Earth had?! ...Oh my god the Sea People were totally some magic bullshit or something too, weren't they, that's why nobody knows where they came from and... aaaaagh..." Amy holds a hand to her face, "Everything I learned in school is wrong..."

Ami Mizuno has posed:
"I knew I'd find you dawdling here."

A new yet familiar voice cuts through the din of the portaled individuals trying to make sense of things, and those learning many new things through Sunbreaker's usual overly vocal eruptions.

Sailor Mercury strides gracefully along the path of the gardens approaching the group. Though there's no immediate wind in the area there's an almost liquid movement in her shoulder length blue curls with every step she takes. Taller, older, more mature than her younger counter part that had not yet found the group that she'd come to try and rescue.

In spite of her initially possibly harsh remark she wears a smile of sheer amusement while approaching Serenity. Her steps cause her to breeze past Sunbreaker as if she weren't even there. Her gaze doesn't even acknowledge the others yet either.

"You know your mother is going to be looking for you soon. Venus can fool a good many, but your mother knows better..." It's once she's close enough to properly see the Princess's expression that she pauses with a sidelong tilt of her head with a sudden frown of concern.

"What's wrong? Who are you speaking to?"

A quick pinch to her earring brings out her Mercury visor with a shimmer of light. A quick half-turn allows her to scan the area and her eyes widen significantly and she softly gasps, "Oh, Asteroids."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"Well, I'm sure about that, onesan," Tomio the construction worker replies to Madoka in a thick Osakan accent. "Don't think anybody oughta be off the planet, y'know? But I don't think I got here by just popping in through some rainbow hole in the world, so you lot are mighty strange."

He's been having a time, honestly, having been separated from his friends in the maze, and now trying to explain himself to a very pretty but very young space alien princess has had him wondering if maybe he inhaled a bit of natural gas or something. Seeing a group of kids pop out of nowhere is not disabusing him of that notion.

Meanwhile, Princess Serenity is feeling flustered to be sure - it was bad enough that there was a strange human in the Maze Garden, but for that to be witnessed by two strangers, probable dignitaries at that? What would her mother say, if she found out? What if she thought Serenity had something to do with it? What if she found out about Endymion? Absolutely not! She would have to just - convince these two that the human man who was abosolutely not glowing and lacked any sort of pale hair, was in fact, a Lunarian! Maybe one lacking in vitamin D? That could work, couldn't it?

And then one of the strangers is bowing, and one of her miniatures is asking about... "We might have a plushie, little one, but you would have to explain what they are, exactly - oh! Jupiter!"

Because there, is her friend, her companion, her guardian - her secret keeper. Dressed in...

And a sly smile crosses Princess Serenity's face, a hand coming up as she giggles a little.

"Did you go sneaking off to see him?" She teases, taking in the beautiful dress, the gown in the style suited to Endymion's home kingdom. As if she's one to talk about sneaking! "Did you bring these strangers here? The garden is open to all, so it's no trouble for foreign dignitaries to visit, but there's a bit of a situation at the moment..."

And she flaps her hands towards Tomio the Construction Worker, indicating his entire person-hood-ness, and then -

Oh, Sunbreaker, you always know how to make an impression. Princess Serenity's eyes are somehow deeper than Usagi's, the same color, but with the endless quality of space, as thoughg they go on forever. Those eyes are huge, now, staring at Sunbreaker, and she thinks to herself, Mother, you have to tell me about the dignitaries we're expecting! I've never even heard of KiraKiraFantastica! What's a unicorn?! What's an alicorn?! Mother!

What she actually does is dip her head in faint acknowledgement, and say, "One of the machines over there will be able to provide you with refreshments. I'm afraid I'm not sure of who this Beryl is, but as an enemy, she must be frightfully strong, to distress you so. But you don't have to be afraid. Silver Millennium is an empire of peace. So long as you are within our borders, you are safe."

Pause.

"But I am the Moon Princess, and you've already found me so... I don't believe you'll need to go scrying?"

And then there's another girl, and she's talking, and how many people have been in the maze, and this girl - this girl looks like she could be human. Her clothing, at least...

She quickly glances at Jupiter again, and though her expression is quickly under control, it's still possible to read the HELP!!! there.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
All this, before Sailor Mercury joins them.

The young princess - and suddenly, with Mercury beside them, they can all see that princess is young. She is Usagi's age, their age, and Sailor Mercury is an adult woman, in her twenties.

"Well... you see... it's not my fault, Mercury, truly, I don't quite know what happened, but suddenly there was poor Tomio here, and then all of these dignitaries showed up, and I'm afraid that girl," and she singles out Amy, "Might also be a Terran, like poor Tomio, and I didn't bring them, I promise, I'm not so foolish as that, but I'm not sure how to get them back unnoticed, either, and poor Tomio doesn't know how he got here-"

"'s true, miss," Tomio says without skipping a beat. "Poor Tomio don't know nothin' about how him, I mean me, or Jou, or Mitsuo got here, an' honest, I don't even know where these two lazy 'uns are."

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Sunbreaker gave Rashmi a dirty look. "Oh, you wouldn't last ten seconds if you were to hear the things in my head," she said coldly.

Which, while it might be true, it wouldn't be for the reasons she implied...

"But fine. I'll try and be... nicer... sometimes..." she grumbles.

Then, finally, looks to Amy. She opens her mouth, pauses. And... "I don't know? Maybe? I don't know what your hell is like? Our tartarus is a prison but that doesn't seem to apply the same here... no idea what a doomslayer is?" She could feel a headache growing. "And yes, I'm a unicorn. And it has been *such* a trip. Fingers are *weird*. But, well. I'm amazing, so I made do. I... I..."

And then Serenity asked *the* question. She put her hands together. Deep, deep breath. And performed Summon Chalk board. Pulling out some chalk, she began to draw. "Okay, so..." she drew a crude pony. "This. Is a pony. Sometimes called a ground pony but we won't get into that." Then, she drew a second one, with wings. "This is a pegasus." Then, finally, a third one... with a horn. "THIS! This is a unicorn. AND FINALLY!" One fourth, and final one... with wings and a horn. "THIS is an alicorn. Notice it has wings AND a horn. A pegasus DOES NOT have a horn. A unicorn DOES, but does not have WINGS. Please remember this. If I can try to learn all the types of 'humans' you people have, the least you can do is tell the difference between something with a horn, with wings and with neither or both. Got it? Good." Pause.

Pause.

"Wait, I got side tracked. What was I doing again? I feel it was important. MOON! Right! Scrying, I need to do that."

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    With a very pointed, almost commanding tone, Madoka says to the construction worker, "You, and your friends, are coming with us. If anything happens, stay behind us. We're equipped to handle trouble. You are not."

    Turning to the other dimension-travelers, Madoka explains, "We might be their only way home, and I don't feel right leaving them behind." As an aside to Gretchen, she adds, "I hate to ask this, but... if it comes down to it..."

    Gretchen pops the sucker out of her mouth to respond, "Say no more." Then she goes back to her treat. Madoka seems relieved. She didn't want to say the words 'mind control' out loud, but fortunately she doesn't have to.

    Sunbreaker's explanation is noted. Madoka has gained: Pony Lore (Lv 1)

    To Mercury, the one from the past, Madoka backs up Serenity's excuses. "None of this is her fault, or the the man's. It's... a little bit complicated. I think if we find more of these rainbow portals we can find a way back." Clasping her hands behind her back, she leans forward with a smile. "Not that it isn't fun getting to meet you. I'm learning so much about your world."

    Gretchen adds, "By the way, a plushie something like this thing." She holds up a tiny stuffed shark. "It's soft and huggable and looks like a cute animal. It's like a pillow, but for your arms instead of your head. Do you have something like that?" Because really, that's what's important right now. Stuffed animals from ancient kingdoms.

Makoto Kino has posed:
"There was no sneaking," Makoto objects immediately, blushing bright pink as Serenity's teasing finds its mark entirely too well. "Nobody's even going to believe me if I say it was an accident, are they? ...but I did see Nephrite," she allows, glancing aside for a moment. Something tugs at the corner of her mouth, like she's trying to decide if she wants to smile or not.

She doesn't get the chance to figure it out before Mercury arrives, and for a heartbeat or two her expression tips perilously into a shade of 'oh. crap.' She's about to be so busted, isn't she.

That pleading glance from the Princess has her acting automatically. "It really isn't her fault this time," Makoto tells Mercury, while in the back of her head the gears whirr frantically - she will have exactly one chance, probably, to not blow this, and--

All the shouting is not helping. "I don't even know how to begin to put it into the right words," she tells Mercury with absolute earnest sincerity, "but to make a long story short, I think all of these visitors are projections from another time and place. They won't be here long, and they won't cause trouble."

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"*Thank you,*" Rashmi says with fervent reflief, as Sunbreaker promises she'll-- oh good there goes that right out the window.

Drawing in a long, deep breath, Rashmi brushes the grass off her skirts, shakes her vest to settle it some, swings her head to get her hair to fall more comfortably, then just *spins* on her heel, putting her back to Sunbreaker and walking with purpose toward the rest of the group.

And *just* as she rejoins the others, Jupiter manages to sun up their entire situation handily. "More or less!" she answers. "We kind of *can't* cause trouble, but that's not really that important. Just... Thank you, Princess... es? ...Because *seriously* our trip has been long and horrifying and it's just nice to be able to breathe in a moment's peace."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    So that must be Past Usagi. Guess she bleaches her hair in this timeline? Oh damn right they did all say she's a princess! The actual factual MOON PRINCESS.

    Life is ridiculous.

    Amy's not sure what to say to her, and now Future -- err, Past-But-Older Mercury is here too... And one random construction worker, and from the sounds of things, a couple of others too.

> Oh, you wouldn't last ten seconds if you were to hear the things in my head
    Amy mutters, "That's a contest I really don't wanna have..."

> Our tartarus
    "OH THAT'S WHY" she keeps using that obscure name, that is. "I mean... I don't think our Hell from mythology is real, but..." she waves vaguely at the group and their surroundings.

> Fingers are *weird*.
    "Right? They don't even fing." Amy wiggles her fingers, grinning despite herself.

> This. Is a pony. Sometimes called an earth pony but we won't get into that.
    "But it's not from Earth--OK."

> THIS is an alicorn.
    "OHHHHH! That's why! On our world 'alicorn' means a unicorn's horn, but like, languages evolve differently on different worlds, I expect..." Amy strokes her chin thoughtfully.

    So! There are others. Princesses and construction workers. First, the mundane. She turns to him. "Magic is real. It's like..." a thought comes to her mind. "It's like you've been isekaied like in all the popular stories these days? But I'm afraid you got dragged along by mistake when all the teenage heroes were summoned. Like she said, we've got magic, so we can protect you."

    "This world is kind of like a... living movie? Or a recording. As you can see, everything is real, so you can get hurt, but people mostly won't notice you until you interact with them. We're working on finding a way home, so just, stick with us until then, alright? We're kind of... jumping through 'scenes' in this world out of order, through the portals."

    To Serenity and Mercury, she turns... and then stuffs the last couple bites of sandwich in her mouth to chew as an excuse while she thinks.

    "...Um. Your highness." She curtseys. "I'm... a friend of your reincarnated self in the distant future. So are they. We're... very lost, and searching for a way back to our own time. Uhh, the reincarnation of Pluto is helping us, but we got separated. Um... we'll try not to be in your hair too much, but we're kind of jumping around uncontrollably, you know? Hoping the next leap will be the one home."

Ami Mizuno has posed:
Sailor Mercury glances toward the Jupiter that would be her contemporary if not for the fact that she looked several years too young. The explanation of being time displaced is taken in stride however--The readings from her visor were beyond anything she had seen before. "So it seems are you, young Jupiter."

Realizing there's far more going on here than it would seem she reaches out to lay a hand gently on Princess Serenity's shoulder. "While you're quite capable of mischeif I believe this one is not anything you could cause. We will help as best we can."

"If you would all kindly calm down, and cease with the yelling? It won't do anyone any good to continue in such an aggitated manner. Please," she adds gesturing to a few of the roaming robots in the garden to summon a few over. "I don't know how long or far you have traveled, but you must be tired. Take a few moments to refresh yourselves if you are able." The implied 'and calm the fuck down' is somehow there.

Focusing on a different topic breifly she looks toward Madoka and her fairies. "A childs' companion toy. Sadly there's none of such an age in the palace at this time, I'm sorry."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Tomio bristles a little, being spoken to so sternly by a little girl, but there's something in her eyes, and the way she takes all of this, that takes the steam out of his sails. "I'm still an adult, y'hear? No reason to be all commanding and such."

It's the closest seeing a grown man pout that they're going to get.

Sunbreaker's explanation of ponys, unicorns, pegasi, and alicorns is listened to attentatively, and Serenity nods along with polite interest and genuine curiosity, but there are more important things than asking how far off her planet is. She's used to seeing one type of being become another type of being - Luna and Artemis were quite capable of it, after all, as were visitors from a variety of planets and systems.

And then Jupiter explains, and Serenity spins to give Jupiter another, long look, more closely this time, and she realizes, as Sailor Mercury does, that there's something off, about her friend.

"Why, you look as though you were my age... Jupiter, to think, even if I'd been the same age as you, I wouldn't be so tall! It's really not fair, you know? You're the pinnacle of Jovian beauty, even now, and I'm still tiny."

There's a delicate smile on her face, but worry in her eyes. Especially when the word reincarnation is used.

"R-reincarnation? Horrifying? But that would mean that..." and again, her eyes fly to the young Jupiter, and the worry grows. "You all - not dignitaries, then, but... future heroines? And... I'm terribly sorry, that all of you have been lost. It must be so frightening..."

And the idea of Pluto, the legendary soldier, the one she's met, only ever so rarely, being with this group...

It does not bode well.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Sunbreaker glanced to Madoka and then sighed. "Yeah, we're all learning so much about this. I got to rise Beryl's rise to power. You ever watch someone make every wrong choice and know nothing you do will make them stop it so you just have to let it run its course?"

The irony was lost ENTIRELY on her.

Unfortunately, her mind was entirely derailed by something Amy said. "W-what? Oh... right... they don't... fing... yes. I... totally... know what that..." Pause. "Is it like... fling? Wait, an alicorn is a unicorn's HORN? Why would you need a special name for that? That doesn't even..." She had a headache. She just wanted to lay down and...

"Wait, what? NO! I am *not* a future heroine. I'm a future villain. I'm the bad guy. This? All of this going on right now? This is a one time only thing. This is a bad situation and I am helping to cover my own flank, not because I care about any of you. I don't. Don't read into it too much." She then held out her hand and a small fire formed in it while she tried to, once again, find where Usagi ended up. "She was with that... sea-pirate friend of yours, right?"

Makoto Kino has posed:
Mercury's reaction comes as a distinct relief, and Makoto flashes the woman a grateful, slightly guilty smile and inclines her head a little. Serenity's scrutiny has her ducking her head even more, and blushing again. "That's because you are you," she tells the Princess fondly. "Tiny and adorable."

Seeing that shadow of worry touch the bright sweet face, though, shifts something inside her. The girl who straightens and half-turns to look toward Amy and Sunbreaker and the others is still Makoto Kino, but - she isn't. Makoto doesn't move or hold herself like this, with absolute grace and poise and a sense of restrained power. Her green eyes flash with a sharp, quiet warning. "It would also help," she says, enunciating very clearly, "if we didn't confuse things unnecessarily by talking about reincarnation and things which may or may not happen in the future. If you would please."

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"No," Rashmi says faintly, "I have never once known anyone who insists on making every wrong choice no matter how much better it would be for everyone of they'd just *not* for a week. *Where* would you get that idea..."

Squeezing her eyes shut, she shakes her head, taking a deep breath. "Our apologies, Princess Jupiter. There truly is no reason to speak of worries outside of *this moment.*" The last, a subtle stressing for those on her side of the real/unreal divide.

"And... Tomio-san? Did I hear right, that there were three others with you? If you'll join us, sir, we'll try our best to get all four of you home."

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Madoka gives Tomio a slightly commiserative look. It can't be easy to get bossed around by a teenager, but the pinkette really has no time for bullshit. She especially wont if they run into another disaster area. She generally doesn't need to be firm with fellow mahou because they tend to know what's up. Someone like this, who as far as she knows probably still isn't fully aware of magic even now? "I'm not trying to be mean, but if things get rough we won't have time to argue."

    Gretchen gives Mercury a slightly disappointed look and settles back down into her egg. Madoka almost giggles. "Better luck next time, Gretchen-chan." Looking over at the robots, she asks, "Do they... have food? Like... real food with actual nutritional value. Aside from processed sugar."

    Sio is already looking at the robots and picking over any food they offer, then taking it back to the pink squad if allowed. You'd be surprised how much a tiny fairy can carry if it's food.

    To Sunbreaker, Madoka gives a blank stare and a flat tone. "No, Sunbreaker. I have no idea what that's like. It must've been hard to watch." She then leaves it at that because she's not interested in getting into another slap fight today. "Y-yeah, I think she was. The one with the gun and the shanties."

    Scratching the back of her head, she finds herself at a loss for how to handle this. The more info they give, the more confused this conversation will get, and there's not much point in explaining things to these temporal echos. "The important part is that we're lost and we mean you no harm. Even the one who calls herself a villain." She hopes.

    To Rashmi, she adds, "If I'm counting right, there's Tomio-san here, and also Jou-san and Mitsuo-san who are MIA. So that's three total, I think? Unless I miscounted."

Amanda Faust has posed:
> Why would you need a special word for that?
    "...They're said to have healing properties. If you regain your form here, stay away from poachers. Humans are bastards. I'm sorry." Beat. "Oh wait, you'd kick their asses. Err, flanks. Good."

    ...And then Makoto and the Princess are... flirting? And it is adorable. Amy feels a flicker of an unfamiliar envy. What?! Why would I feel that?! She pushes it out of her mind.

    And then Makoto... she has a Look, like when the Senshi all first got their past memories back. She's reminded of Uranus looking at her like a threat. And the force of personality in Makoto's eyes and voice cowes her for now, the redhead just giving a little nod exactly like if an authority she trusted were chastising her.

    She looks away. "So... what do we do now?"

Ami Mizuno has posed:
"Of course it's nutritious food. Is there any other kind?" That question baffles Mercury just a little though she does offer a small smile at them. They were around Serenity's age and she could afford to be a bit lenient with them.

At least until Sunbreaker says she's a villain.

A glance snaps over toward her as she sternly looks the teen over with lips pursed. "Please refrain from making such jokes. We do take security seriously. If others were to overhear they would not look upon you as guests, accidental or otherwise."

For now she gestures again with a little gesture to the robots that carry trays with them. Through some magic, or technology, glasses full of liquid appear on them. Others carry many various fruits from Earth and some that likely weren't from terran origin.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
The expression that crosses Jupiter's face is one Serenity recognizes with ease - it is the look of protectiveness and warning that has watched over her all her life. Serenity, beloved child of the planets, has never known a life where she was not shielded by that fierce gaze, that confident poise.

She relaxes, ever so slightly, even as her worries remain. These visitors, guests from another place and time, have spoken of many concerning things - demons and reincarnation, horrors and struggles. For them to be here and safe in the most protected area in all Silver Millennium is surely a boon to them, but it weighs on her spirit.

Can their information be used? If they are from the future, is the future one that they can alter?

She'll have to tell her mother after all. It will be something of a disaster, but she must, if there is even the smallest chance of a threat to their people, their worlds.

"...They have food of great nutritional value, but I am not certain it will be akin to your usual palates," she says apologetically, "Lunarian food may be... peculiar, to Terran tastes, though we do have some Terran fruits! Jovian foods are more alike to those from the Golden Kingdom, but the fruits may be of interesting taste and texture, those you do not recognize."

There was a great deal of acid in Venusian fruits in particular...

And indeed, the fruit is - unusual. The apples are crabapples rather than the usual sumptuous varieties they would recognize in grocery stores, though the figs are quite similar, along with familiar looking grapes (a seeded variety, to be sure), but these familiar fruits are sat alongside a blue-skinned fruit of thick peel - when tasted, the texture would be akin to a soft kiwi, while the taste is reminiscent of mint. There are slices of a vividly green fruit with pink rind, the texture something like an asian pears, a delicate crunch, with a faint flavor, like that of a pineapple-flavored water.

The beverages are equally light in flavor, for the most part, a wispiness to some that's more reminiscent of again, flavored water - they might find themselves drinking more and more, in an effort to identify the faint flavor. Others, are strong and rich, filling the mouth with an explosion of sensation, flavors unlike anything at all on earth. One, a particularly vivid orange, is quickly identified by Serenity as one they should not try -

"Not that one, for example!"

And if they should try it anyway, they will find themselves quickly spitting it out - tart, like grapefruit, but with the acidic properties of pineapple multiplied by several hundred degrees. It will definitely feel like singing your tongue, to their human tastebuds.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Meanwhile, Tomio is nodding to the two girls discussing the situation with him, looking uncomfortable at the thought of being helpless, but equally baffled by all the discusion of magic.

"Yeah, onesan over has it - there's three of us, me, and Jou, and Mitsuo. We all ended up in that maze over there, and we kinda split up a little, I mean, how big could it be, y'know? Only, after a while I found the lil Princess Lady, and she was real insistent on me sitting here and waiting with her, comin' up with a plan to make sure nobody found us, an' all? It ain't been that long, I think, so I'm sure they ain't got far. Jou's always had real shiiiiiiiiiifty senses of direction," the word is drawn out as he realizes maybe he shouldn't cuss in front of royalty.

Makoto Kino has posed:
In the space between one heartbeat and the next, Makoto is just Makoto again in her borrowed dress, and she offers Amy a grateful and slightly apologetic smile. "I think, for right now... the best thing to do is to take the chance to rest. I can't speak for everyone, but I know for a lot of us it's been a rough road getting here." And it's probably going to be worse on the way out, but Mako doesn't say that out loud.

"Anyway, it's peaceful here. And..." Her eyes sweep upward and outward, taking in the garden and the starscape above. "This isn't something most of us would ordinarily get to see. It's okay to take a little time to relax and just enjoy it, I think."

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Madoka can't really help but fret over the missing construction workers. She turns towards Gretchen. "I know you're tired, but I might need your magic again soon." The masked fairy gives Madoka a grumpy look. Then, turning towards Makoto and Rashmi, she asks, "Have either of you been able to contact the other members of our group at a distance? I might be able to use my minions to search for the other civilians, but if scrying and long-distance communication are hard here then I'll have to think carefully before sending them off. Whatever telepathic link I give them will probably face similar barriers."

    Thinking back, she adds, "I know that I was able to feel what my Familiar felt through one portal, but I was also standing right next to it." Further experimentation along those lines might be needed. Madoka wont let any innocents die here if she can avoid it.

    This next part she expresses telepathically, and explicitly to Rashmi. <<I want to think this situation through before we get into trouble. If I need to, I can use mind control on the construction workers and shove them in my Labyrinth until we get to safety, but that's getting into 'lesser of two evils' territory. Do you have a better option, or even an alternative in case I'm not around?>>

    Madoka stares at Mercury's response with a face that silently says 'maybe you're better off not knowing'. In the grimdark future of the 21st century, there is only high fructose corn syrup.

    She forces her smile to be a bit more pleasant as she looks over the food. "Oh, wow." With her being in the presence of royalty, she naturally assumes that the food here is of top quality. She also figures that this will be the last time she'll ever get to taste this particular cuisine, so she decides to try one of the alien fruits. Not the Venusian ones, mind, but she does start with the Jovian ones. When warned about one particular drink, Madoka turns to Gretchen and says, "If she's saying that then you probably really shouldn't..."

    "What? No. I'm only defiant when it comes to you, Doka-chi," bites back the dark fairy. "I'm not a dumb!"

    Upon hearing that the other two might still be nearby, Madoka turns to Gretchen and says, "If they're that close, they might still be in the maze. If you don't want to henshin with me, then will you send Hansel and Gretel after them?"

    Gretchen opens a tiny portal and the two weird-looking angel things fly out, going up into the air to see if they can get a bird's eye view of the maze. If they can find Jou and Mistuo, that'd be best. If they can find what portal they may have fallen or wandered through, that'd at least be a close second.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
"Poachers? Why would--" And then she put two plus two together and she looked to Amy. And just stared. Her mouth falling open. Amy managed to do the impossible. She was, actually, rendered speechless.

"They... you people wouldn't actually... do that to a... w-what... what's wrong with your species? Why is it the more time I spend around you people the more freaked out I end up being by everything you lot do? Like, your entire species needs therapy. I swear. Am I going to come to you lot for protection or something when I finally ascend and gain my true power?"

And she... well, there was food. She took a moment to stop and just... well. She was hungry. And she glanced up at the others before sighing. The others did it, so what did it matter. At this point so many people knew who she was and she was tired... The poacher thing really messed with her. She sighed and ended her own henshin. "Whatever. Just... find them so we can get out of here... before they end up wandering into a new portal or something equally dumb. And scrying is really hard here. You people can't even begin to imagine the amount of resources I had to burn just to find Sailor Moon that first time, not to mention breaking in to make sure you all got out. Fat lot of good it did."

Surprisingly, when told NOT to try a fruit... she actually didn't. She seemed oddly accepting and actually seemed to really like the blue fruit. Weird as it was.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
<< Actually now that we can sit and eat and *breathe,* >> Rashmi answers Madoka, << this is probably the best possible time to test the boundaries of this whole place. Things get really weird when they're conceptual, so... it actually would not surprise me if I could get *everyone* connected, it just depends what this echo considers 'local' when it's all technically the same Labyrinth kind of structure. But if I'm gonna do that... I *definitely* need to calorie up first, I used most of my mana helping us get away from Not-Kunzite. >>

So saying, she starts grazing at the fruits on offer, carefully avoiding anything pointed out as Venusian. Letting her own henshin drop, she simply sidles up to Sunbreaker in her civvies... Because after all, they're already both outed to each other!

"Seriously, Sunbreaker... thank you for trying. And, I'm sorry for snapping at you. This is a new level of stress for me to process, but I shouldn't take it out on people who're just trying to help."

MAYBE WHAT SHE NEEDS IS AN EXAMPLE? MAYBE?!

Ami Mizuno has posed:
"I can assist in locating the missing men. Now that I know what to look for it shouldn't take long." Mercury still had her visor on so she inclines her head to the others. At least the offer of food and drink was helping them to calm down a bit. There was a lot going on, but if more were missing in the gardens that meant they would need to be found.

Turning back toward Serenity she smiles reassuringly to her. "You've done an excellent job so far. Your diplomatic studies are proving very helpful. I'll return soon." She promises.

The others are looked over only for her gaze to settle on the 'younger' Jupiter. "I trust she'll be in good hands for now but I'll endeavor to return quickly."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy at least looks properly ashamed of her species after Sunbreaker realizes. She states plainly and a little somberly, "The short answer is that most of us are bad at seeing everyone as 'us' and not 'them'. Moral progress in human civilization is not realizing things like 'murder is wrong' -- Everyone knows that -- it's realizing 'those are also people, so it would be murder to kill them and bad to hurt them.' If you really want to know why we are the way we are, study evolutionary psychology."

    She blinks at a thought and looks at Sunbreaker curiously. "Wait, so how did ponies evolve intelligence? Because I'm pretty sure we only did it by manipulating eachother -- although, I suppose you could put a more positive spin on it by saying we're here because the power of friendship was stronger than any rock or spear, once upon a time. ...It is kind of nice, getting to finally just talk straight to eachother for once."

    Sunbreaker is warned about security. "Yeeeah I bet those robots have security functions in them." Amy adds as they come to her attention. And then... offer food?

    Okay, you know what? When else is Amy going to have a chance to try Lunarian food. Served by robots, no less! While looking up at the Lunar sky!! She'll happily go try that out, although something the Princess says does prompt another question: "Golden Kingdom? All of Earth is one kingdom? How'd that happen? And how do people live on Jupiter, it's a gas giant."

    Madoka sends Hansel and Gretel into the maze. "...That's a bit on the nose, isn't it? Aren't they going to get lost? Do they even have breadcrumbs?"

    Older Mercury is going to go find the construction workers? "Great! That would be very helpful, miss... um, I'm not sure what your title is, sorry."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"Thank you, Mercury!" Princess Serenity looks very pleased to be praised, particularly on her diplomacy - a skill that will be exceptionally important, if she and Endymion are to convince their families that they should be allowed to love one another, to convince their worlds that they should be allowed to embrace one another. "And thank you. Tomio here has been a wonderful guest, and I'm sure his companions are being on their best behavior. It's only, no one enjoys being lost, and humans won't be able to find their way here..."

In other words, she's very grateful that her very competent tutor, guardian, friend, is the one going after them.

As Mercury departs, her eyes scan over her tired guests, feasting on fruits and drinks, sampling items they would otherwise never try. At least this part is familiar - she has snuck to Earth many things for Endymion to try, and enjoyed many of the treats and snacks of the Earth, even if many are too rich, too heavy, for her own palette.
en Madoka encourages her little friend to act - she's surprised, eyes widening. Tomio... doesn't see anything unusual at all, but that's because he's a civilian, and the veil is a part of him. He's too accustomed to not seeing these things.

He does sample the fruits though, quietly watching the girls as they work.

"Yeah, those two knuckleheads won't be causing no trouble. If anything, one of them pro'lly got stuck in a bush, trying to climb over it."

Princess Serenity winces. "Oh, I hope not... the gardeners do put so much effort into caring for every plant here, they'd be sure to be upset by the damage that would cause..."

And she glances at Jupiter, for though Jupiter is not the caretaker of every plant, she does tend to take a keen interest in the ones on the Moon... hopefully, this younger but not less confident version of her guardian wouldn't take offense at the thought.

It's Amy though, who garners the majority of her attention.

"Oh? Is the Earth not whole, anymore, in your time? On Earth below, it was Queen Demeter who united all the Earth into the Golden Kingdom, though from my understanding, it was a finishing of the great work, rather than a starting it. She is a wise and virtuous woman, and a keen general - it was no small thing to unite all the world, but she has done a job of it."

She's not going to mention Endymion - but he's the one who shared with her, all the worlds' goings on, the situation that Earth has now. "And of course they don't live on Jupiter itself, it is indeed a planet of gas! However, the moons of Jupiter are many of them inhabited, and have been for a very long time."

As an aside, she adds, "She is Sailor Mercury - Princess Mercury, in formal occasions. She is one of my four guardians, like Jupiter."

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara gave a small shrug to Rashmi. "Yeah, whatever. It's fine. I'm a bit on edge too. Beryl's a bitch who tortured me and today I found out she wasn't even stronger, she just made some deal with some big monstrous... thing. And now I'm just... grouchy about it. I guess." She took another small bite of the fruit. "Probably shouldn't take it out on you lot. Most of you are pretty... good. I guess. Annoyingly... tolerable and pleasant to be around."

"I don't know what that..." Then trailed off and glanced to Serenity. "Hey. Actually, this is probably a good time. What do you know about a 'dark goddess that fell from the sun'?"

Then back to Amy. "I don't know. I imagine we got it the same way the dragons, griffons, minotaurs, and all the other species on my world got it. Your world is the one where it's only on humans. Maybe humans were just more violent and wiped out anything smarter than them."

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Madoka smiles softly at Princess Mercury and says, "Thank you. Any help you give us would be great."

    To Rashmi, she responds telepathically. <<That'd be a good place to start. Maybe before we leave we should try some things. I'd start now, but Gretchen-chan is getting tired and we need a bit.>>

    To Amy, Madoka gives a sheepish shrug. "At first they didn't have any names at all, but last Christmas Gretchen-chan wanted me to buy her a gingerbread house and help her make it. So you know... Witch fairy living in a gingerbread house, at some point we decided to name her two Familiars because of that."

    Sio chimes in, "That all happened before I hatched, so I missed out. Oh well, better luck next year!"

    The pinkette tries to consider how to best answer Serenity's questions regarding Earth of the future, and while a part of her doesn't want to hurt the girl's feelings another part of her knows that whatever information she gives will likely be forgotten soon. "No, in the future Earth is divided into many nations. Most of the world is at peace most of the time, but there's seemingly always a war going on somewhere. Demeter must've been pretty good at what she does to pull that off."

    Hinoiri gets a sideways glance from Madoka. "Well, there was the neanderthals I guess." Aside from that, she decides to listen very closely to the part about a dark goddess from the Sun.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Okay, the image of Gretchen living in a little gingerbread house is adorable and brings a smile to Amy's face. "That's fair."

    Ssssssip. What flavor even is this? "...We probably do need therapy. Do you know what humans would do to eachother if they had magic? 'Cuz I've seen what we come up with. Stuff like..." she reaches for an example, "like turning your enemies to stone is basic baby tier. Anyone could think of that. It only goes up from there."

    "Every time I see a new villain with unknown magic powers do something weird like Sailor Eclipse did I'm terrified I'm moments from it getting worse and seeing my friends and innocent people trapped in a living nightmare, and that's stuff people do by accident. A friend once asked me if identity death would be a good thing. That's just not thinking. Someone trying to be cruel? I'm terrified of what they'd do. Fortunately, villains seem to have goals like ascending into an alicorn and going home or kidnapping a princess instead of just hurting people with magic because they can."

    Serenity gives a tiny slice of an ancient history lesson. "The moons, huh? Even Io? That must be a pain to keep habitable. The only place we think there even might be life is under Europa's ice. Are there like, sea people under there?"

    Wait... Sea People. Europans. It all makes sense now! No that's probably not what happened.

    Probably.

    But if someone from several thousand years later in the timeline told her that's what happened, she'd believe it now.

    "Demeter... Goddess of harvests, a figure of myth and legend now. Her daughter Persephone was taken as a bride by Hades, overseer of the afterlife, and because Persephone must spend part of each year with him in his realm, Demeter weeps, parted from her dear daughter, and that's why we have fall and winter."

    Amy blinks as a realization strikes her. "...Wait, that's not true, is it?! Does Earth not have seasons in this time?!" Amy looks up at the distant blue globe.

    And then another realization hits. "Wait, did you say dragons?! And griffons and minotaurs?! All intelligent? And minotaurs aren't human hybrids?!" Beat. "...Man, I would love to see a world with multiple intelligent species all living in it together. Perhaps they've learned to be kinder than us."

    Amy turns to look at Sunbreaker as she says that last part and almost drops her drink in shock. "HINOIRI?!"

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"We are," Rashmi pipes up, "from rather... *far* in the future, Your Highness. I'd honestly not worry too much about the world we come from, and simply focus on ensuring that the Moon Kingdom remains a beacon of safety and prosperity." The blue fruit is sampled, and after a moment her eyes widen as she takes another pair of pieces, as well as a fig and an apple.

"It might actually have happened that way," Rashmi says to Sunbreaker. "It'd be horrible if true, but... All we can do is try to be better to each other and the world, than those who came befor--"

When Amy says the people from Sunbreaker's world have learned how to be kinder than on Earth, Rashmi has a mouthful of blue fruit, but looks up at the Puella just right to evoke an older meme--

Rashmi just can't enjoy her blue fruit.

"...I think you're suggesting that to the *wrong person,* she says, once she can depend on her voice.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"To my knowledge, there has never been another sapient species removed from the Earth, particularly by humans," Serenity says, because the conversation between the three red-haired girls is getting a touch uncanny. "And my mother has watched the Earth for a long, long time, so it's very unlikely."

She contemplates what they've shared of the future, and looks a little saddened.

"I suppose many great things come to an end. I hope that these many countries are at least happy, when they are not at war."

She says war like it's a foreign concept, something utterly alien. And then, Amy is suggesting things about Demeter, and she - blinks.

"Goddess of harvests? A daughter? Hades? I don't know ... anything about that... but Demeter is a human woman. Her only child is a son - the heir to the Golden Kingdom." She cannot stop the way her lips curve into a faint smile at the mention of him. "There are more seasons on Earth than there are here, on the Moon. Earth, like Io, and the many moons of Jupiter, is a wild planet, where the weather runs freely according to its own laws and mechanics."

She sounds a little envious of that, a little lovestruck.

But all of that fades, as Hinoiri's words strike, and she turns to her with alarm in her eyes.

"A dark goddess from the Sun? I... know nothing, of a goddess from the sun, but there have been - odd happenings, there. Odd readings, that our people have observed, dark spots converging and spreading, spikes in heat in portions of the star's surface, oddities that have not been seen in all the time of our empire. A goddess who fell from the sun... could something have taken root there? Or... been birthed from there?"

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara gave a shrug. "Yeah. Trust me. Amy, right? Don't focus on that. There are people who are cruel. Who have power. Who you don't want to think about. Just... stop. Before you give yourself an anxiety attack. If you try worrying about every eventuality, every jerk who might or might have the power to do some stupid thing to hurt you, you're going to just have a breakdown."

She took another bite of the fruit. Thoughtful for a second... "And if you have to? Dedicate your energy to getting strong enough that they can't hurt you or the people you care about. Ever."

She paused for a moment, thoguht about them being kinder and... "Nope. Not really. I mean, I have an... admittedly small sample size on this planet. But... the humans on this planet are... pretty.... I've seen some really good ones. Back home... it wasn't like that. More cut throat. But maybe that was just for me."

Another bite of the fruit and she looked up at Amy and then, well... gave a grin. "Sup. And oh, it can't be *that* big of a surprise. I mean, I'm the person who La Crima shouldn't want to steal positive emotions from, right?"

She then glanced back to Serenity and blinked... And then Serenity's words hit her like a blade. She stood up and slammed both palms down on the table. "Nothing EVIL was made from the SUN!" she snapped. Then cringed and took a slow, deep breath, before sitting down. "Right. Ahem. Probably took root in it, is tapping into the sun's leylines like I've been working to do. That's all. If you people don't know, that's fine. You sparkles may wanna get on that, though. Severing Beryl's connection to it might be what helps you lot beat her." Pause. "Oh, and I got an opportunity to slap her, full tilt. It was great... heh... So, like, this is basically Usagi, right?" Pause. "Wait. That... does that mean Prince Endymion is... oh my gosh this just got so much weirder. Still, he's nice, I guess. If he makes you happy, you go girl. Get your prince or whatever." She then grabbed something orange and began to peel it! Fruit was nice.

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Madoka's shipper senses start tingling like mad at the faint smile that Serenity makes. Granted, she knows that her current incarnation's boyfriend is Mamoru, but she has yet to meet the Earth prince of this timeline. She doesn't quite have all the pieces of that puzzle yet, even if Hinoiri just added a few. Even without the full story, Madoka smiles too, because love is cute.

    "So... Beryl is linked to a sun goddess. One that our gracious host doesn't seem to know about. There are also strange happenings going on at the Sun." Madoka thinks out loud. Then, to Hinoiri, showing very little surprise regarding her civilian identity, she asks, "You saw all of that? You saw her make that deal with the devil?" As odd as it might be to ask someone who's technically her enemy, somehow Madoka doesn't think Hinoiri would lie about this specific thing.

    "I guess there's no telling where it came from. Only Beryl would know, and it might only be the Beryl of the past." This is all getting pretty wild. The longer they talk in this peaceful paradise, the more Madoka realizes that actually, she's really tired. Tired in a way that sleep wouldn't really cover.

    She does, however, smirk at one thing. "Slap-chan using her powers for good." Madoka's a little surprised at herself for thinking that way, but... it's Literally Beryl.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
Rashmi carefully sets her plate down, and lets her face sink into her palms. Some days, it's just barely worth diving frantically through the time-space distortion. "...Okay so I guess we're *not* gonna try not to scare the lovely Princess with portents from the future she can't possibly act on? Good work, team... Also. Sunbreaker? One of these days, I'm going to introduce you to the concept of 'chill.' You will be *so much less tightly wound* I swea-- y'know what?"

Picking up her plate, she marches away from the food table and plops herself down a respectful, but still conversational, distance away from the poor Princess, and tries on her sunniest smile. "Hello, your Highness. It's truly, honestly lovely to meet you, and can you tell me about your wonderful Kingdom? What places do you like to visit the best?"

Amanda Faust has posed:
    A son, instead of Persephone? Huh.

    Although, there is, to Amy, a rather obvious resolution to that incongruency, she doesn't speak it.

    "Wait... in your time there are no sunspots? No solar flares?"

    Hinoiri talks plainly. "Yeah. I mostly don't dwell on it. But I get concerned sometimes. ...The people at Radiant Heart are nice. Not cutthroat. The world of adults... and even of children in many places... is much crueller."

    "I guess it's a blessing, that in between fighting Witches and dealing with stuff like... your boss, apparently, I get a vacation in a world where the worst worry is whether I'll get good grades. A safe place to try and learn how to be me, that I didn't get before. If I don't die in battle, maybe my second adulthood will... be better, and I'll get to live life more. Although I have no idea what I'll do if being Hannah's royal consort doesn't work out."

    She takes a breath and sighs. "Getting stronger... Perhaps I need to spend more time on that, but... I feel like I'm still healing, too. But yeah, being built to hunt Witches may give me an edge, but I don't assume it makes me invincible."

    Another thought hits her, and she points at Hinoiri, "Man, I *suspected* you were from another world! I even said you could talk about it, I think! And you said no! But I was right!"

    And then she lowers her arm. "...But it's probably pretty scary, to open up. I just... for me, loneliness and hiding from people is even worse and drives me nuts, but that's me."

    "...Oh yeah, What was that about a deal with a demon?"

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"How do you know about Endymion?!" A asquawk, entirely unprincess-ly, as Princess Serenity leans in to try and whisper the words. Is - is this a sign? Of good things to come in the future?! Pink rises in her pale cheeks, her pale moon glow warming around her face. She barely resists the urge to hide in her hands, flustered, but there's a smile on her face too, the smile of a girl in love.

"I would - um, I'll have to talk to my mother about the Sun, but, evil can come from anything and anywhere, especially when it holds great power," Serenity says to Sunbreaker, looking at the girl with sympathy, "It's not like there's anything that's ever been perfectly harmless... and of course there are hot spots and solar flares, but these are hardly normal meteorlogical activities. We've studied the celestial bodies in this region for many years - the things we've seen lately are not... normal."

Could the sun have leylines, wehn it didn't have solid land? She wasn't sure enough in her magical theory to be certain...

And then she's being thrown a rope, and in gratitude, she calls over one of the robots, asking it to fetch more snacks. In short order, in addition to fruit, the strange guests are being offered a variety of little snacks. One of them, well, they look like brussel sprouts, but when consumed, taste like rocky-road ice cream. There are small sandwich creations, layers of fruit and vegetable and bread, a taste similar to chicken salad with pecans and oranges - but entirely vegetarian.

"Oh, well, despite how - odd all of this is, it truly is wonderful to meet all of you, as well. And this must be a wonderful opportunity for you! Humans aren't allowed in Silver Millennium, so you're among the first to ever see these sights. And... I love to visit all the planets, though I'm not allowed to see the Outer worlds," she pouts.

"Io is always so exciting - it's a very wild world, much like the Earth, where everything happens all on its own, according to real weather patterns! The underground seas of Mercury are lovely too, I've always enjoyed swimming, and oh, the museums here, in ------------ [Capital City] are amazing! We have visitors from across the galaxy, you know, trading partners, allies, petitioners, and we've collected knowledge from everywhere... I love to see what makes everyone's worlds so unique."

There's a word she uses, before Capital City is understood, in a language so foreign, it's utterly unlike any spoken on Earth. The name of Capital City cannot be easily rendered to human speech, and so it seems, that whatever effect allows them to understand despite the language barrier, doesn't bother to try.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara nodded. "Yeah. Saw it all. Was... kind of annoying. Like... I don't know what she expected. It all went poorly for her. Of course it did. Why wouldn't it? It even told her as much. She was just so bent on vengeance and writing wrongs. Girl needed to let things go." she took a bite of the orange. "I mean, yeah, I can get a little focused on things sometimes too. But if all you focus on is getting payback, if that's your end goal? You'll just end up wrecking yourself." You'd think there'd, maybe, be just a hint of self introspection on any of that.

BUT NOPE!

"And I know plenty of ice spells!"

"... I don't want to talk about it. You people do realize a sizeable portion of your faction have tried to *kill* me, right? It makes me a little... wary of trying to open up with you. Besides, you're... a lot of you are..." She eyed her fruit, lightly moving it between her fingers. "At the end of the day, we're still enemies. I may be willing to work with you from time to time, but please stop cozying up to me. You can't change my mind. There is only one path ahead for me and I won't veer off it when there's no other path for me to go. So just... stop. I just... I just want to find a way to destroy this woman. This Beryl."

However, then she sees Serenity just... gush... about the prince. And she couldn't help but smile. "Oh, yes. When he was twelve. In his cute little soldier outfit. It was adorable. He kept fidgetting and squirming because he had to sit through a long, boring meeting about magic. It was kind of cute. Heh... eh...?"

And then she blinked. And her eyes went wide. "Oh... dang it. I've been *such* an idiot. Your mother. I should talk to her. She might know more and... ugh. I just... can't relax, okay? And none of you should be either. This is fun. Frankly... this is great." She glanced to Rashmi.

"But you lot have no idea how utterly *terrifying* Beryl is. But she *bucked up*. This is an opportunity. Now? I... we know how she got her power. If I keep looking? I might be able to find out how to *stop her* for good. If I can find out what this fallen thing in the sun is, I can maybe find out how she connected to it. Then I can find a way to sever that. Then..." She trailed off. She took another small bite of the orange.

"'m sorry..." she finally said. The surprising thing? She... sounded genuine...

Rashmi Terios has posed:
Rashmi blinks, tilting her head at 'trading partners from all across the galaxy.' Then there's a frantic moment of ensuring that Nicomachea has gotten a sense-recording of hearing Serenity say that, because that is a *large piece* of a *larger mystery* that it will be *extremely handy to have on hand.* "The *entire galaxy.* Your Highness? Wow... I mean... *Wow,* that must be *incredible.* I wish I could *see* those museums, but I... kind of have to doubt we'll be here long enough."

The brussels sprouts are tried, and there's a moment of sputtering indignation that something so similar to the Worst Vegetable could possibly taste like the Third Best Ice Cream. Because, I mean, food tourist. Then she nibbles on a sandwich, then sets it aside. "Your Highness... If I'm allowed to hear the answer, and I understand if I'm not but... I have to at least ask; *why* aren't humans allowed to visit, if most of the rest of the galaxy are? And I'm genuinely curious about the answer, I'm not upset."

Trailing off, she listens seriously to both Amy and Hinoiri... And raises her eyebrows at Hinoiri looks *genuinely* abashed.

Looking down at her plate, she closes her eyes for a moment, then draws in a deep breath, looking back up. "Hinoiri-san," she says, and her voice is actually gentle. "I honestly believe you can do what you say you plan to do... But I'd like to ask you to think seriously about this question; *if* doing it alone is a gamble, but having people to rely on is safer, *and* more likely to make a plan succeed... What *good* is going it alone? Maybe it works, but maybe it doesn't... and if you have backup, you'll have someone to catch you if you fall."

Blinking a bit, she hunches her shoulders, and takes a bite of her sandwich. "...Sorry. Done preaching, I promise."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    "THE SEAS OF MERCURY?!?!?!?!?!" What the fuck is the past. What even are physics. How does anything.

    She should know this; Witches are impossible. But somehow the scale of this, learning that Astronomy is completely wrong -- again, after Kyubey explained that the wishes of young girls keep the stars from going out -- just...

    Her life is insane.

    Amy looks at Hinoiri. "I've never tried to kill you. I've tried, repeatedly, to be your friend and reach understanding. I want to help you, although that means refining your plan because I think going back to the place you were exiled from once and beating them into submission has an obvious issue."

    She blinks. "Wait, did you say your goal is destroying Beryl now? Who exactly is Beryl? Is that the boss lady who trapped us all in here and made a deal with a demon, according to you?"

    "Talking to you like this for once is fun." Amy smiles.

    "No idea? She hurt you even though you're on her side. I suppose I can imagine, if she's someone who... I should be afraid of, in the ways we just discussed."

    Blink.

    "Wait, galaxy? ...THERE ARE ALIENS?!"

Amanda Faust has posed:
    If there is some confusion about 'uh, well, technically, Lunarians', Amy clarifies, "I mean, other intelligent species besides Humans?! From other solar systems?!"

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"My - my mother?! Oh, I'd, I'd really rather you didn't try to speak with my mother, she's very busy, with the talks that are happening, and I'm sure she's not going to reveal important information to a trio of strangers. Even ones from the future, that one of my Senshi can vouch for."

Her mother is worshipped as a goddess on Earth, is the pillar of a kingdom, has seen the rise and sprawl of their empire. Has survived untold horrors, to thrive. She would not... surely she would not be so kind as Serenity is, to these strangers.

She glances at Jupiter, but - though she trusts her loyalty, she can't be sure her friend-guardian-sister, can possibly stop this other, fellow traveler, from the far-off future.

Especially when the poor girl has suffered so. She's understandably afraid, and her allies... are not her allies.

It must be such a vulnerable position, and there's a glimmer of pity in her eyes, before she's distracted by Rashmi's question - and then Amy's outburst, in that order.

She... blinks.

"Well... I'm not a human," she says, blinking, "And neither is Jupiter, nor Mercury, nor Mars, nor Venus, nor Luna and Artemis, for that matter. And by our standards, as humans, you are technically the aliens on our planet? But of course, there are many lifeforms in the galaxy, across many worlds. Many galaxies, even! We trade with many, though not all, as there are many worlds outside of our empire..."

And then the Princess sighs a little, her lips set in a pout, sulking, "Because humanity is still very young. My mother is very firm in that we must watch over the planet, but we must not interfere. Humans were here before us. It would not be neighborly to throw their development into utter and complete disarray... any further."

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara kept idly poking her orange. "Because... some things... you have to do alone. Because if other people help you with them, it means you weren't good enough. There are some things I can ask for help with. There are some things... I need help with... maybe... and that's fine. But my ascension? It can't... it's not something you can give to me. If it was... I'd never be able to deserve it. I'd... I've seen what my destiny is. Where I end up. I just have to get there. And nobody became an alicorn because they had a bunch of random people who 'cared' them into it. It requires power, control and determination... besides... the last time I fell it was because the person I trusted to catch me threw me down..." she muttered before putting the orange down. There was a lot of really nice things here, but they felt like ash in her mouth.

And between Amy and Rashmi, she groaned. "I don't... I've made it clear what my goal is. What I need to do. You lot can't help me. But you all sparkle, it's what you do. You protect. I'm the dangerous one, not you. It's not... right for you to try to help me. And... frankly... what is your solution, then?" she asked, looking to Amy. "Give up? Abandon the only home I've ever known? Just accept it? That it's gone? And what, stay here? On this planet? On your planet? Until the veil hits me and I lose *everything*? Until I forget... everything I was, and think I'm just some weirdo who... had some... kind of weird make believe life? No thank you," Hinoiri muttered.

"And... yes. My goal is destroying Beryl. She trapped me in here. She's *terrifying*. She *tortured me*. She froze me in a block of ice for *days* so I could *watch the world pass me by*, unsure when, or if, I'd ever be free. She made me *count the bucking seconds*. And I was unable to do anything. I was *helpless*. That's the kind of person she *is*. And it wasn't even *her power*. And, fine, I know it'll put me at odds with Obsidian but I *hate her* and I would happily help *any one of you* stop her for good. Because you know what? I *actually* like you sparkles. I actually, genuinely do. Okay? You want the bucking truth? Some of you, a lot of you? I like you. I wish I could be your friends. I wish I could finish a battle and go and have shakes or burders or ramen or whatever other stupid thing you lot do. But that's not how it is. That's not how it will *ever* be." She got to her feet.

"Because I am Sunbreaker. No. Because I am Hinoiri Kirara. The only path ahead is the one that was set for me. I don't come from your world. I don't get chosen by some magical device. I'm not special. The only future for me, the only one I've ever had, is the one I make for myself. And it's lonely and it's cold and it's scary and I'm terrified every bucking day that I'm not good enough. That I'll *never* be good enough. And then you stupid lot come and act nice to me, or try to know me, or befriend me, or say you want to understand. And... and I wonder why..." A few tears started to fall from her eyes. "Why couldn't any of you have been there in my world? Why couldn't... you have been there when I needed you? Then... then maybe things would be different. Then maybe... Why did I have to come to a new world to feel like someone actually cared? So there, are you happy now? It'd be so much easier if we could just... fight. It's so much easier when we fight. I mock you, you mock me, we blast each other. Just... stop.... please... just stop trying to understand me. Stop trying to see me. Stop... just... stop... acting like things can possibly be any different. Please..."

"... Because the only way they can be different is if I give up everything I've ever known and cared about and I refuse to believe that it's my duty to sacrifice everything like that. That... that just wouldn't be fair..."

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"No," Rashmi says quietly, thinking of a different classification of space entirely, with its own ancient conflicts and its own interstellar empires that has *never heard of the Moon Kingdom.* "...I suppose it wouldn't be neighborly. It... makes sense, Your Highness. I imagine it might sound unfair, but... In that, I think your mother *does* have a good point."

Looking up at Hinoiri, Rashmi sighs the sigh of someone who has had this argument before, and will probably have it again and again, and it'll never be less of a pain in the ass than it is now.

Then she *keeps talking,* and annoyance melts away into sadness, and Rashmi shakes her head. "Hinoiri-san... The only way we could *stop* trying to see you, is if *we* gave up on everything *we* were and turned into the monsters from your world. And that's *not* happening, so I guess I'm gonna finally gets this out here, where the only people who're watching are people who agree with me at least a little."

"Sorry, Your Highness," Rashmi murmurs as she sets her plate aside and climbs to her feet, "but I gotta take care of this."

Striding quickly forward, she comes to a stop directly in front of Hinoiri. "Look at me, Hinoiri-san. I need you to look at my eyes and see how much I'm not lying."

"You are *infuriating,* d'you know that? You stand there and talk about how you're not special, and as much as it's *different* from when you're saying how much better than us you are, *it's even more of a lie and I hate it.* Of *course* you're special, d'you think *being willing to work hard* isn't special? D'you think that nobodies have designs on *apotheosis,* and actually settle in to *get it?*"

Behind her glasses, Rashmi's eyes are wide and furious and filled with tears of her own. "D'you think I hear you and I don't *wish so hard* I'd lived on your world just so you'd have a friend?! That I don't want to line up *every single person who ever made you feel small* and I don't wanna just slap them across the mouth, personally and *artisanally?* I would dole out only the most handcrafted, fine-grained *slaps across the mouth.* I *don't want to stop you,* Hinoiri-san. I want you to *like who you are afterward.* And I *honestly believe that's possible,* but before it is you *have* to understand what it means when people really work together. What it means when you're lifted to the stars by all the people who cared enough to *help you get your dreams.* You think *deserving that kind of love* is weakness?"

"Is it that you think you wouldn't deserve your win? Or is it that you don't feel you deserve *that* kind of win? The kind where people cheer when you cross the finish line because they *believe in you that much?"

Letting out a ragged breath, Rashmi plops her hands on Hinoiri's shoulders. "Just... stop lying, okay? To me, to you, to everyone... You're *bad at it.* It's okay to be scared and cold and afraid, and it's okay to ask to come in where it's warm. And when we get back? It's okay to have some korma and then just, in your words, have a bucking fight afterwards. Okay?"

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Well, I'm not a human. Humanity is so young, says the sheltered young elf, not even realizing the way she's looking down her nose at them, it's just what her mother told her... The human bristles at this.

    "Okay wow yeah I can see why humans don't like you, we really have no patience for putting up with anyone who looks down on us. Either we think you're gods and worship you, or we kill you, there's really no in between. Or you break us and keep us as pets and slaves, but there will always be those of us who dream of rebellion and independence... unless your magic can engineer that out of us?"

    She glances at Hinoiri, "You see what I mean? I'm not evil and I thought of that easily."

    She looks back to Serenity, and points up. "Furthermore, there are people on that world suffering, and with all this power you watch instead of help? I get it, a lot of humans say that's what a civilization in your situation should do, but you see, those are the people who aren't suffering and dying."

    "I only got some of my problems fixed by trading my soul for a wish, and most humans don't even have that option."

    Sunset says something... rather different. "As for you... ascension is something different, I guess. It's something you achieve, not something you're suffering under society's boot without. It was handed to me, well, at the cost that I have to hunt Witches until I die trying, but it in itself was never my dream, only what I'd be able to do with it. Which is: Live my life, for awhile, and protect people, for awhile."

    "I don't want you to give that up. I do hope that there's a way you can do it without hurting others. And my first suggestion would be resolving whatever problem got you exiled in the first place. If it was something with you, work on that and give them a chance to see your redemption before you force them with alicorn powers. If it's a problem with them... well, then I guess you were right that you'd better have the power to go in swinging. But we've never even talked about it."

    She takes a breath.

    And.

    Sunbreaker asks why.

    Why did no one care until now.

    And Amy just, slumps her shoulders, and then drops to her knees, eyes downturned. She chokes out, "I wonder the same thing. Why no one cared until now. Either the person inside here," She holds a hand to her chest -- though that positions her index finger on the soul gem currently hanging from a choker on this outfit -- "wasn't worth it and people are only so kind and caring because I look like this... or the world was cruel for no reason, which is an unfairness too terrible to fit in my brain, even if I can say the words."

    "I don't... I don't know the answer, about me..."

    She lifts her gaze to Hinoiri again and holds out a hand. "But I know that you deserve better. I might be too old, or not, thanks to cheating with magic, but you? You've still got your whole life ahead of you and you don't have to die in battle because of the wish you made. You shouldn't have to face a future of pointless suffering. None of your generation should. It's not too late for you!"

    Amy stands up, eyes wet and holding back tears. "It's the least I can do, to use this magic, this opportunity I've been given, so that you don't have to, have to hurt for so long and never know why! None of you deserve that, your lives can still change!"

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
And Serenity bristles right back, "It's not looking down on humans to want to let your people grow without ours deciding things for you! I want us to have more trade with humans, more sharing, more knowledge - but you're acting like it would be better for us to come down and change your entire society, your understanding of the world, your ability to learn and change and grow, just so it can fit what we can do, just because we can."

She stands, and she can't actually look down at the human, because she is the same height as her, as she snaps, "There are people who are suffering on that planet, and we cannot stop that unless we seize control of their governance, unless we force them to act to our ethics, our morals, conform to our standards, because the majority of human disaster is caused by governmental problems, by societal ills, by the laws that exist, by the upheaval that is only gradually being resolved by the union of the planet."

And there is some of Usagi's fire in this sheltered, beloved princess, because she has been wielding it in her voice, this princess who has against all odds been raised to rule and lead by a woman now worshipped as a god.

"Humanity is young. This is not an insult. This is a fact. I am young. It is like saying that I am as ready to bargain with the universe as my mother is, when she has ruled for generation upon generation, while I am fifteen years old. I love the planet Earth and I love to see the people of the Earth, and I do not want their culture to become a copy of ours, simply because we stepped in to prevent problems because we wanted to."

And then, in a tone quite bitter and frustrated, "And the humans don't want us to, anyway."

And then it seems like they have their own problems - their own struggles - their own strifes, that she cannot relate to or understand.

Instead, she looks to Sunbreaker -

And says something, perhaps odd, to the other two.

"Perhaps my mother would speak to you."

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara felt so, so, soooo incredibly uncomfortable when she looked Rashmi in the eyes... and kept looking away...

And then Rashmi said she wished she'd been there. She took a small, sharp intake of breath. Her arms wrapped slowly around herself.

"I don't... want you people to be proud of what I'm doing to get here. I don't... what I'm doing... is nothing to be proud of. I hate that I have to do this. It's not what I'm doing now I want... I want you people to see... I want..." She choked on the words a little bit. "What I want... is for you people... for other people... to be proud of me when I get it. With what I do when I achieve it. When I prove... when I prove I was right, that I deserved this... this power..."

"... That she was wrong to cast me out for not being good enough... that everything I did had value... that's when I want people to be proud. Not... not before..." she whispered, sighing and then looking to Amy.

"And... you... knock that off. Stop talking as if your life is over. You're not the only puella magi. Sayaka is one to. Your life isn't over. She's going to live a long life, I'm going to spay that vermin whenever I see him. Eventually, we're going to find a way around this stupid little... thing that rodent set up. So stop acting like our lives can change, but yours is somehow set in stone. Dumbass."

"... You people make it so hard to want to hate you... you know that?" she muttered.

Only for Serenity to offer, well... "Wait, what? Errr... Why? I mean, I figure I'll be bothering her later anyway... but ummm... why? In particular? Cause like... I had a whole... thing... planned... like... with... stuff?" No. No she didn't.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"Because in some ways," Serenity says, looking at Hinoiri now, and there is kindness in her deep blue eyes, there is gentleness, "In what you said, there are matters she may relate to. If you were willing to share your story, though it would bare your sorrows and hurts, she may be willing to share with you some of her knowledge, and some of hers. I don't believe it's the same... and I don't know if we have time for me to understand you."

It's not meant as an insult, but as a mere fact: these are people from out of time, and who can know how long this will last. There are people, who do know this Hinoiri Kirara, who are willing to reach out to her. That is more than a Princess separate from her by time and world, can offer.

"There is a drive and vision in you, Hinoiri Kirara. If nothing else, it is clear that you have that."

Rashmi Terios has posed:
Rashmi opens her mouth to press her point further, but gets the idea that it just might be unwise, and simple squeezes Hinoiri's shoulders. "Half the things you want to prove, Hinoiri-san, I already believe. So you're on your way. Just... remember. Korma. Fight. It'll be fun, and I'll probably put up an actual fight this time."

Turning away from the alicorn, Rashmi gathers Amy up in a tight hug. "Also, you. *You.* Who said a random universe is a cruel one? Can you imagine what it would be like if the universe was *fair?* If we *deserved* everything that happens to us?! That'd be *miserable!* I'm sorry for what happened before, but... You're here, now. And here is scary and insane and dangerous and magical and *amazing* and damnit Amy, maybe Hannah loves you because you deserve to be loved, and you just haven't *gotten* what you deserve. Shoo those brain-weasels away, they're upsetting my friend."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Sunset has things to say! Amy sighs. "I was an adult. I was lonely and was kept from being myself or even realizing who that was -- I'm still trying to figure that out! -- and resigned to a life of just waiting for science to give me the chance, if I lived long enough, because I sure wasn't smart enough to figure out how and would never be allowed to work on that stuff."

    She rubs the back of her head and looks away. "Although, it turns out, there was maybe an option I wasn't aware of, because society kept me from realizing, ultimately because bad people are in power, and also that goes about as well as being a Lunarian down there," Amy points up again."

    "So um. Straight and direct, that's what I mean when I say I'm only getting an undeserved second chance because of a cheat, okay? It can't be right and fair for me to get one when nobody else does. I... I selfishly try not to think about that sometimes, because, well, everybody being nice to me does feel really nice and I'm only human. But that doesn't really make it right...

    Amy sighs. "I don't understand what it takes to be an alicorn. I want to be proud of you, but it's like how uh. Ain't nobody cheering on star mathletes at school because most people don't even understand what they achieved. But I can at least be happy for you achieving a dream."

    "As for getting around Kyubey's whole deal... again, what do I know about freaking magic or how any of this works?!" She throws up her hands. "I seem to be the only Puella Magi who came out entirely on top! Like I'm not sad about this, a few years like this, even a few months and then dying in battle would be better than what I had. I am so much happier now!"

    "Although, if anyone can get around it? Maybe it's you, since you seem to be like... an actually educated magician who knows how magic works?"

    Eventually, Amy looks back to Serenity, tiredly. She waves up at the planet above them. "Yeah, and we're STILL HAVING ALL THOSE PROBLEMS. It ended the world once -- at least once -- and we're on the brink of it happening again. Fuck this Prime Directive bullshit, trillions of people will suffer and die. Stopping that is far better than letting it happen just because of the tiny chance we might one day do even better. Perfectionism is for personal projects, not for the lives of trillions."

    "Like, the humans alive now -- at least the ones in power, or brainwashed by them -- will fight tooth and nail against it, because they are the problem -- but if there's any 'greater good' to be found here, it's all the people who will live and be born into a better world, after."

    And then like. Rashmi hugs her. And points out the perception of reality clinging in the back of her mind -- that she deserved the life she had -- would be an even greater cruelty than that she didn't and it happened for no reason.

    And that's just...

    Like, it should go through her brain but it's a lot. It can't change all her feelings all at once.

    But... it's still a way of looking at it she never even thought of.

    And she can't think of anything to say against it, which is maybe a good sign.

    She just kind of limply leans into the hug and lets tears flow.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"I don't know what problems you all have," Serenity says quietly, shaking her head, "But conquering the planet Earth in the hopes that maybe we can force humanity to be better and avoid the catastrophe you all so obviously know is coming is not the solution. My people will not become the monsters humanity fears us to be, in the hopes of avoiding our destruction. You seem to think that we can just... fix your world. But we can't just fix your world without changing everything about who you are. That would be looking down on humans. Deciding that you will never, ever get it 'right' as if we know best what is right, and stepping into 'fix' you."

She has heard and learned much, and she will not be allowed to remember it. SHe is a snapshot of a girl, frozen in time, a girl who loved and lived and believd in all her heart.

"What we have to do is harder - we have to do diplomacy. We have to meet the people where they are, and convince our two worlds that contact is a good thing, that we have things to offer each other. We cannot do that by telling humanity that we have solved all the world's ills, and we can solve theirs too."

She looks away.

"I'm sorry your grief is so great, your suffering so mighty. I hope you can have the rest you deserve."

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Gretchen, who had been hiding in her X-Egg and taking a nap, wakes up in time to overhear Hinoiri's conversation. Madoka and Sio have gone off elsewhere, presumably in the Maze looking for the lost workers. After a time, the black egg cracks open, and she peers out at Hinoiri with her mask pushed off to her side.

    "I don't think you'd like it," she finally says, to Hinoiri. She pushes the top half of her eggshell aside and floats out. "Far be it from me to tell you not to follow your dreams, but as you are now I don't think you'd like it. The moment you lost your temper and destroyed someone who angered you, I bet you'd feel bad. You might hide from those feelings and tell yourself that they deserved it and had it coming, but deep down you'll know that's not true. Your lies will only make you feel worse, and the more you dig into that stubbornness the deeper into the hole you'll go."

    Gretchen points her finger at Hinoiri, as the black ribbons of her dress spread out like a bell. "Plus, it's lonely at the top, and you're already lonely as it is. Maybe you can tell yourself that you don't care, but it's pretty clear that you needed a real friend a long time ago. If you really became divinity, very few could ever really be your equal in power or wisdom, not until they ascended to your level. You'd never know for sure whether the mortals close to you clung out of love or fear. You'd be the an adult in a world full of infants, forever. As eldritch and incomprehensible as one of my Familiars."

    Gretchen crosses her arms and settles back down in her shell, "It may be possible for someone like you to achieve your goals, but if you don't work on yourself more you'll be damning yourself to your own self made hell. I should know. The only differences between a goddess and a Witch are awareness and scale, and I don't know a single Witch who's actually happy."

    Then the X-marked black Egg turns towards Amy and says, "Also, I thought you already knew that aliens exist. Kyubey's an alien. He's some weird alien immortal thing."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    "He's WHAT?!" Amy's shout is... a bit muted, compared to earlier, because she is. Kind of. Just done, maybe, from so much arguing and feeling and REALIZING CRAZY SHIT ABOUT THE WORLD OH MY GODOKA.

    "...I thought he was from Earth... we have mermaids... and at least one talking ca--oh wait she's probably from the moon huh. ...Wait, wait no there's yokai and stuff! So yeah a weird dealmaking cat-fox-squirrel thing that protects the world from Witches, or tricks girls into making deals to keep the stars burning because if the Sun went out we'd all die, sure why not??"

Rashmi Terios has posed:
And Rashmi just holds onto Amy, and lets the tears flow, but the tilt in her head speaks of her close attention to Serenity's words. "It *is* the hard way, isn't it?" She says, smiling sadly at the softly glowing teenager, over the head of a weeping Puella. "It's difficult, and frustrating, and it'd be *so easy* to just say 'I know best, I have the power, you *have* to listen to me.' But people are people, and they're messy, and blind, and can't see the wonderful things about their *own selves* half the time... But you can't force them to see. You only have to believe in them, and help them when you can... but let them take the big steps. Then, it's *worth* it."

In the snapshot of the Serenity of the past, at least... Rashmi has found a kindred spirit. And it's an *absolute pleasure* to know that this was once the truth.

THe fact that Gretchen's words have the ring of *lived experience* is unnerving... But a rare treat nonetheless, to have a perspective from the other side of the finish line. "Gretchen-san?" she says, her voice tired and sad for her friends (and Hinoiri) but still glad all this came spilling out now, under a shining Earth, in the garden of the gentle Moon. "Thank you. Tell Mado-chan that the next time she wants curry, I'll make sure there's an extra treat for you. Because it's the best way I can think to say thank you."

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara watched them... She then sighed... She waved her hand and fire erupted around her. "I've been... I... I don't... I'll... if I... Just..."

Her fists clenched. "I... I just... I'll think about it. I'll think about it, okay? I'll consider what you said. I'll consider... everything you said... But for now? Beryl is a threat. Beryl... Beryl is dangerous. And I'll... And if I'm going to throw my lot in with you, if I am going to help you stop her? Before she... then I'm going to give myself every edge. Because I won't let her beat me again. Serenity, I'm going to go find your mother so we can chat."

Sunbreaker started to leave... but then stopped. She sighed and glanced back at her for a moment. "And... Serenity? You're... you're a good friend. Just... i ncase you're.... ever curious or wondering. You fail here... but you'll do better next time."

And then, with that little bit of terrible motivation, fire washes over her and she teleports away. Time to go find Moon Momma!

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy sighs, and speaks, still softly, to Serenity: "...Perhaps not. And I shouldn't have... That wasn't all on you. I was just frustrated, and... We humans wanna look for easy answers. The idea that the Moon coulda fixed us... that there was something to blame... but Humanity's problems aren't your fault. I don't know that you should do nothing to help, but... conquering us? At no doubt great cost to everyone involved?"

    Amy shakes her head.

    "It wasn't right to yell that at you, or to blame you for Humanity's problems."

    She takes a breath, and chuckles. "That's such a guy thought, isn't it? 'The way to save the world is to get enough power concentrated in one place and then force everyone to do it your way, or if the problem is monster-shaped to just shoot it with enough power. We dream somebody really smart will just invent a solution or a really cool gun and heroically save the world. That's probably why I got a rocket launcher." Amy chuckles again.

    "But these problems will only be solved by most of Humanity coming together. We're magical girls... we solve things with friendship. But, haha, that's not always true either. Sailor Moon herself said sometimes we just gotta shoot 'em... I'm just... I dunno."

    She wipes her tears on Rashmi's shoulder and hugs her tightly. "I'm just doing the best I can. Or at least trying to do adequately. As long as it's better than nothing, I'm doing something..."