The stale white room. The scent of disinfectant that no matter what you tried wouldn’t leave your nostrils. The annoying heart monitor that went beep every few seconds. The way her parents pretended that their daughter’s sickly form didn’t bother them, hiding their obvious pain from her- but Valerie knew. She could always tell when people were unhappy, and it made her unhappy.
Despite that, she gave her best attempt at a smile, gritting through the pain in her face, head and generally everywhere else. It didn’t seem to help her father, and her mother less so. In fact, it seems to make her mother break down a bit, who hid her face.
There was an awkward silence before Valerie’s father spoke up, his voice faring much better than his face. “So, Val-pal, how’ve you been holdin’ up?”
“F-fine. Cletus says… that my next chemotherapy is due next week.” Valerie cleared her throat and managed to cover her mouth before she started to wheeze. Her mother rushed to her side and began to rub her child’s back, and Valerie couldn’t be more thankful to the soothing touch of her mother. Even if it didn’t alleviate the pain.
She didn’t say it, but she wasn’t looking forward to chemo. It never felt good, and she always felt weaker afterwards. Still, she fought through it regardless.
Her coughing fit eventually subsided, so she continued. “But I ran out of things to watch…” She looked past her father and towards the television screen opposite of her with no hidden resentment. It was hard not having much to do, especially after her roommate disappeared.
Her mother spoke up this time, a hint of humor in her tone. “You watched everything we brought you?” Valerie would’ve lightheartedly glared at her mother if she could. But she couldn’t. She couldn’t smile, or glare, or pout or even make funny faces.
It was probably the reason her parents looked so gloomy. She used to smile to banish away their worries- it was practically the only thing she could do to keep them from breaking down when she was too tired to interact with them, and could only stare or mumble. But after yesterday’s… ‘event’, she’s been having problems with her face. Cletus had told her she had a stroke, but she didn’t know what that word meant. Whatever it did mean, her parents were taking it hard.
‘Or maybe it’s something going on back home.’ She couldn’t think selfishly. It could have something to do with the place she’s rarely allowed to go to.
“I think I know what’ll cheer you up, sweetheart.” Valerie felt her mother rustle behind her, and felt something enter her hands. She looked down, and was greeted by the welcomed sight of a milkshake. “We picked this up on the way, since Dr. Tenebris suggested we get you a treat for today’s test.” Valerie knew they were talking about ‘Cletus’, who was both her Doctor and friend.
She wanted to jump, to squeal, to express her happiness at having her favorite sweet in the palm of her hands. But she settled for a quick “Thank you” and began to sip at the already inserted straw.
Then, a man that Valerie knew quite well entered the room. He was tall, blond, with bluish green eyes and wore what most would assume a Doctor would wear.
“How’s our resident heroine doing?” He asked with enough jolliness to make up for her parents’ somber lacking.
“I’m okay.” Valerie replied, giving him a thumbs up in exchange for her usual smile.
“You gave us quite the scare yesterday.” Valerie knew he was referring to her stroke the day prior. “You should be resting though, not hyping yourself up with sugar.”
“Sorry Cletus…” Dr. Tenebris just chuckled as he watched her set her drink on the side table.
“It’s okay. I’ll put it in the freezer for later, okay?” Valerie nodded in reply, feeling her throat drying out making it harder to speak. “Would it be okay if you two could step out for a bit? I need to administer her painkillers.” He had turned to Valerie’s parents as he asked that.
“Sure, we’ll be back this evening.” Valerie heard her father say. She was disappointed that they wouldn’t be staying, but the painkillers usually made her sleepy to the point of being unable to hold up a conversation. Plus, they both had jobs.
“Bye mommy, bye daddy.” She said. “I love you.”
“I love you too, sweetie.” Valerie’s mother replied, quickly repeated by her father as she bent over to kiss her hairless scalp that the little girl resented the most.
They spent almost a minute with her before departing, giving their child one last wave goodbye to which she reciprocated in earnest. There was a moment of silence in the room as Dr. Tenebris watched his patient stare longingly at where her parents once were.
“Uh, Cletus?” Valerie tentatively began as the Doctor pulled out a syringe. The sight made Valerie mentally flinch, her fear of needles taking hold over her despite how rare it really was for Cletus to actually use it on her arm.
“Yes Val?” Dr. Tenebris asked, extracting the liquid from a bottle she hadn’t seen before.
“C-can I watch Sailor Moon, please?” She wanted to distract herself from the needle. Her heart accelerated just from the sight, but the thought of a distraction was far too tantalizing.
Cletus chuckled at that. “You’ve seen that show way too many times.” He paused, looking surprisingly serious. It was uncharacteristic of him. “Well, why not. Season one?” He stood up and sauntered over to the television screen and plucked a DVD case from its resting place.
“Yeah.” Valerie replied. She watched Dr. Tenebris set everything up, and selected the first episode from the title screen. Afterwards, he picked his syringe up and went to her side to inject the painkillers.
The further into the episode she got, the more drowsy she felt. Until sleep overtook her surprisingly fast. The last thought she had was of how much she wished she could be like Sailor Moon.
Valerie was never an early riser. Pain medication and a lack of motive saw to that, so when consciousness returned she was in no rush. No one had tried to wake her up, so she must not have had any appointments.
Something was amiss, however. She couldn’t place it at first- too groggy to begin caring, or to even think anything of the irregularities, but slowly they began to fall into place in her mind. Where there always was silence, there was the singing of birds. Where there once were the scent of medicines mixing in a sterile environment, now were a cacophony of undistinguishable aromas that assaulted her nose in oddly wonderful and calming ways. And the last thing to fully register was a lack of feeling- or of feeling painkillers numbing her, or of dull pains that would wake her up in the nights at odd hours.
No, now there was a sharp pain in her back that caused her great discomfort.
“Ow!” The girl shouted as she bolted upwards, opening her crusty eyes blearily. The first thing she saw was the trunk of a tree which she nearly headbutted. Valerie glanced to her sides to orient herself, and found that she was deep in a forest and right by a murky lake. “Whoa! How’d I get all the way out here? I thought I wasn’t supposed to be outside the hospital.”
As she started to stand, propping herself up against the tree in front of her, she felt a rough tugging at the back of her head. She looked to see what the cause was, but stilled when she saw a long lock of golden hair that was caught on a malformed root jutting out from the ground.
Gripping the lock of gold, Valerie gave it a swift tug, wincing as her head was yanked along with the action. She repeated it a few times until it sank in that the hair was hers.
“I… I have hair!? I have hair, and I’m a blonde!” Valerie squealed, combing her fingers across her scalp to feel how much she had. She concluded that it was a lot, so went ahead and untangled her ponytail- or pigtail, she wasn’t sure what the terminology was for having two long strips of hair on either side of her head- and stumbled towards the water to see what she could gleam.
The face that stared back at her was not her own. It was years older than she was, with blonde hair that went from the back of her head, where it began as a pair of chignons, but continued as a pair of long pigtails that went down further than her skirt, which was long in and of itself. Her eyes were also a deep blue, which she was able to note because hers were originally a muddy brown that she never paid too much attention to. Her face, while still round, was a lot leaner and her skin was much too flawless for her dimple covered mug.
Her outfit was also a lot more eye catching- though she didn’t need the reflection to tell that. It was hard enough to see the colors of her eyes without practically dipping her nose into the water. The sailor school uniform with a blue skirt that went to her knees and was fastened with a bow at her tailbone, a white blouse with a collar that matched the skirt but with three white stripes intermittent as well as blue cuffs, a giant red bow with a golden brooch keeping it in place was pinned to her collar, and on her feet were a pair of reflective black scandals which were thick heeled and held in place with bands wrappings around the tops of her sock clad feet.
“S-Sailor Moon!?” Valerie’s eyes were as wide as saucers as her reflection sank in. The lip movements in the reflection matched up with what she said further proving that she looked exactly like Usagi Tsukino, her favorite cartoon character. “I-I’m- no! There’s no way! I can’t be Usagi, I’m me!”
Before she could fully process what was going on, the sound of a twig snapping broke her out of her stupor. Valerie turned to look around the foliage for who- or what was behind her, but saw only the close knit trees and accompanying shrubbery.
Standing up, Valerie turned away from the lake. The sun was high in the sky, but most of the surrounding area was darkened by the leaves, leaving anything beyond a certain point hard to see.
“Wh-who’s there!? I-I think I’m a magical girl, so you better show yourself!” The only reply she got was raspy breathing and shifting shrubbery. Panic began to spread through her as nobody replied, “O-okay, can I-I take th-that b-back?”
The breathing became clearer and louder. Closer and closer it became, until whatever it was launched itself out from the bushes, aimed for Valerie’s throat.
She gave a shriek as the blur attached itself to her neck, and the confused girl took a tumble backwards, landing herself in the murky pond and submerging herself and her attacker. The water seemed to make her assailant’s grip around her throat tighten, and Valerie responded by thrashing blindly, which seemed to do the trick as it dislodged the assailant from her throat, allowing the two to breach the surface separately.
Valerie gasped for air, crawling out of the water on all fours. She hadn’t been under for very long, so she didn’t spend long spitting out the murky water. It did make her want to gag, however.
Speaking of gagging, Valerie wasn’t the only one expelling liquid from her mouth. When she wasn’t focused on herself, she noticed a higher pitched coughing resonating from behind her.
What she found was something that distracted her from her panic and jubilation. A small pony that wouldn’t even make it halfway past Valerie’s calves, with drenched white fur, a bubblegum pink mane and tail, with saucer sized purple eyes that were so expressive it almost hurt to look into.
“Wh-what was that for!? You never got a flying tackle hug before!? Everypony loves my hugs!” Her voice came out shrilly, like it was artificially pitched but somehow more natural.
“Whoa! Are you a pegacorn!?” Valerie ignored her soaked clothes as she gaped at her apparent attacker. Though, ‘attacker’ wasn’t the right word now that she had context.
The pony balked at that, glaring at the now-blonde. “What-? No! I’m an alicorn! Pegacorns are a genetic defect.”
“Well, my Uncle says I’m a defect. Is it like that?” The teen asked, tilting her head. The pony seemed to stumble at that, but her glare faded. “Are you okay?”
“Are you… okay?”
“Yeah. Why do you ask?” Valerie grinned, seemingly oblivious as to what she’d said.
“We’re talking about this later.” The pony glared at the teenager with the ‘mother’s stare of disappointment’. It had the desired effect of deflating the now-blonde’s excitement. “Anyways, my name is Celestia, and I’m to be your guide for the duration of your stay. I need your help.”
‘Duration?’ Didn’t that mean her new look-the look of Usagi Tsukino, of the Sailor Moon- was temporary? That she’d go back to being bedridden? That she’d be ugly, and alone with only a Doctor to be her constant companion, while other children are constantly moved in and out?
A cold weight settled in her heart, but she kept that feeling bottled up. She needed to make others smile, even if she was in pain, and the pega- alicorn needed her. Genuinely needed her. She couldn’t let whatever was bothering her drag her new… friend? Acquaintance? Valerie wasn’t sure.
“I’ll explain later. Right now, we need to get set up! You weren’t one of my little ponies, so we’ll need to find my ‘Palace’ as soon as humanly possible!” Celestia added, fluttering her wings and taking off and hovering near the confused and conflicted girl. “My magic is weak, so I’ll need you to carry me the distance.”
Valerie noted how the white furred pony’s wings stuttered every here or there, and the tired look in her eyes. That was all she needed. Extending her hands, she let the alicorn land in her arms and readjust herself so that she was facing the girl’s front. Valerie adjusted herself, though her reasoning was that it was awkward to hold the tiny guide with her arms stretched out, so she held the pony as if she were a cat, the way her mother had taught her when they did have one. It wasn’t as natural as she had hoped, but she assumed she’d get used to it in no time.
She thought the trek to wherever they were heading would kill the soles of her feet, but her body seemed used to the sensation.
“So, if you have a palace… does that make you a Princess!?” Valerie’s earlier excitement had returned. The grime from the late, and the cool breeze against her soggy clothes wasn’t helping, but her excitement persevered.
Celestia, however, seemed to be much grouchier than Valerie was at being wet. The teen (oh right, she’d lost a few years becoming Usagi, who was fifteen if she remembered what Dr. Tenebris had told her. She’d have to sort out her feelings about that later) had to guess that it was because of her fur that not clumped up with a weird green substance that likely came from the lake. But Usagi’s hair was weighing Valerie down, as was her skirt. She had to occasionally pull the thing up, blushing at how awkward it was that she had to feel it sagging constantly. She may have lived in a hospital for most of her life, but she wanted to have some dignity in her new body.
“I was, once. But when you no longer have a people, a ruler you no longer can call yourself.” Valerie nodded, her face turning contemplative. She understood none of what Celestia was implying, but it sounded wise and serious, so she tried to look the part. She didn’t want to look stupid in front of royalty. “The ‘Palace’ is a place I created as a safe haven in case I was ever able to find someone to… help me, I suppose. It’s up ahead.”
While they spoke, Valerie hadn’t noticed that not too far ahead stood a two story log cabin fitted with a patio, broken windows and a door with a weird symbol carved into it that Valerie was unfamiliar with.
Valerie masked her disappointment as expected, falling to her knees and dropping Celestia face first into the dirt. “That’s the Palace!?” She stared at the cabin with a look of horror. “This place isn’t fit for a mouse! The windows are all caved in- and is there even electricity!?”
Celestia the Ex-Princess huffed, glaring up at the human. “You’ve clearly never gone camping, have you?”
Valerie shuddered at the thought. The one thing she hated more than being stuck in a hospital was the mere idea that going on a camping trip with her father entailed. They’d sleep in tents where the only mattress between her and the ground was a sleeping bag, she’s wake up in the morning surrounded by mosquitos, and when she needed to go to the bathroom she’d have to-
“There’s at least a bathroom here, right!?” Valerie’s face paled when Celestia scratched the back of her head while smiling sheepishly. At that, Valerie’s whole body slumped to the ground as her worst fears were realized.
“I’m kidding, I’m kidding! Oh horse apples, it’s not that archaic. You’re almost no fun. Almost.” Valerie looked up just in time to see that an evil grin had nested upon Celestia’s face, and the blonde couldn’t imagine what the alicorn meant. “But… I think I should start to ask some questions myself. First of all, who are you?”
“Usagi Tsukino.” Valerie replied without thinking. She then frowned. “No, wait, I meant to say Valerie Sperling!”
Celestia gave her an unreadable expression, before sighing. “Alright, Valerie. Now, let’s clean up the glass and figure out how to keep the cold out. Then I’ll explain-”
A faint, high pitch scream from the distance made Valerie bolt to her feet. She heard it again, and turned to the direction it came from. “There’s a girl in trouble! We need to help her!”
Celestia glared half heartedly. “Hey! Don’t interrupt me from talking!” Valerie ignored her, choosing instead to sprint towards the sound of those in need.
“Sorry Princess! I’m needed now!” Valerie shouted back, her heart soaring with a strange feeling she wasn’t used to. “It’s heroine time…!”
Author's Note
So, I've been writing this for a long time. I've found it's harder to write without a collab partner recently, so things may change soon about this fic regarding the characters and structuring. I'm not even sure if this is any good.
