Band of Five Attributes (Re-Written)

A group of ponies, all concealed by black clothing, sat at a round table, a single light hanging over their heads as they played a game of cards. All five were smoking cigars and drinking booze, having a jolly old time when a sixth pony, also covered head to hoof, came up to them dragging a young mare with him by the tail.

“This ‘un crashed through the bloody roof, boss.” He said, causing the others to look at him.

The one with the most chips in hoof’s reach spoke up, removing his cigar momentarily. “Is it a pegasus?”

“No, boss. She’s an earth pony.” Answered the pony who dragged the mare.

“How is an earth…” The stallion murmured before raising his voice. “Just dump her out into the street. If we meet with her again, then we’ll show her who’s boss. Sound good?”

“A’ight.” Replied the second stallion as he grabbed the mare’s tail and dragged her away. After a while, he opened the door and found lights brimming a vast street with all ponies in various colors and sizes, some with horns and others with wings. There were carriages drawn by some more ponies in the road.

Unto the sidewalk the mare went as the stallion rushed inside a decrepit building and closed the doors tight. Many ponies stopped to look at the mare and trotted up to her as she lay still. It was as if they wanted to know what she was.

Her entire body was purple, and her mane and tail a darker shade thereof. Both mane and tail had tufts of hair that acted like feathers, with the rest being long strands that reached her shoulders and back hooves. A picture depicting a grey-and-purple yoyo with a string circling it was on her hip, and there was a similar object whose string was wrapped around her hoof.

The mare began to groan and stir, stunning all that even looked at her as her eyes fluttered open. Her irises were a deep amethyst in color, and were still clouded with what appeared to be sleep.

“Ungh…..mmmm...where am I?” She murmured, her voice hoarse as she hoisted herself into a sitting position with her forelegs, then attempting to stand on her back legs before falling over. The world was now spinning for her, but she tried to get up again and failed to notice a pony at her side trying to keep her down.

“You’re in Manehatten, and you don’t look so good.” Said a young woman’s voice sternly. The purple mare looked to her right, eyes still spinning, to find a thing next to her. Then, the spinning stopped, revealing that an older mare with a white pelt and light green mane was looking at her. A horn was on her forehead, and she had teal eyes.

“Who’re you…?” Asked the purple mare weakly before attempting to stand on her hind legs again.

“I should be asking you the same thing.” The unicorn retorted rather rudely. “You’re not a Diamond Dog or a Minotaur. You are a pony--act like it.”

“A wha?” The purple mare asked before looking at her forelegs and nearly shrieking in horror. She scrambled to her hooves in a panicked manner and drew quite a crowd to herself in the process. She slowly turned her head to the unicorn, pupils tiny as can be and left eyelid twitching. Her jaw hung ajar and sweat was beginning to show on her cheeks.

“What’s wrong?” Asked the unicorn, eyes wide as if she were shocked.

“I...uh….I’m...human…?” Replied the purple mare, her own shocked look unwavering as she spoke.

“What’s that?” Asked one pony.

“I’ve never heard of that creature before. Does it exist?” Asked another.

“Maybe it has pixie wings?” Inquired a third.

The purple mare, expression still unwavering, tried closing her mouth. It was as if color were fleeing her body and her soul went with it.

“Are….you alright?” Asked the unicorn, ears flat on her skull.

Five seconds passed without a reply. Then ten seconds. Fifteen. The purple mare looked petrified, her legs failing to work as she stood there perfectly still.

That was when the answer to the unicorn’s question came: the purple mare screamed like a banshee in utter shock before she burst into a gallop past the crowd. She tripped once or twice, maybe three times, but just kept getting up and running as if being chased by some kind of monster. Oddly, her contraption did not unwind from her hoof once, even as she kept falling down onto the concrete with her face.

The ponies she ditched stood there completely dumbfounded for a few moments before giving chase. They galloped as if in a wolf pack, and the mare they were chasing was now at the peak of her panic attack as adrenalin rushed through her blood. She did not notice she was galloping properly as she fled her pursuers, taking a sharp right into an alley. She kept running, her body feeling as if on fire, taking a quick left on the alley and jumping some trash cans.

Another jerk to the right brought her to a dumpster that was emptied and laying on its side, the door held up by a few cinder blocks. Quick as lightning she hid inside it, kicking aside the blocks in the process and then using her entire body to right the dumpster.

For a few moments, all she could hear was the sounds of her own breathing and beating heart. The sounds of the crowd were getting closer, and their clamoring was beginning to drive her mad. Then gunshots rang out, and ponies screamed in the distance.

The mare listened carefully, and heard ponies scurrying away. Her breathing slowed somewhat, and so did her heartbeat, as all was quiet again.

Hooves beating against concrete hit her ears again, and so did the sounds of trash cans being kicked aside. Silence was present, but only for a few seconds before the hooves beat against the concrete again, this time getting louder. Closer.

The mare felt her heart racing again, but remained still as a rock.

“Nothing here, boss.” Said one voice.

“A’ight. Let’s get back to the hideout before the police find us. Dawn’s coming.” Said another.

The hooves beating against the concrete resounded again, but they sounded softer this time. After a few seconds, it was but an afterthought for the mare. She let a few more seconds pass before clambering out of the dumpster and finally noticing a foul stench permeating the area. She turned her head sharply to the right and found the dead corpse of a pony hanging from a lightpost in a street that looked abandoned altogether.

The mare gulped hard and turned away before going back the way she came, making sure nobody was watching. Thankfully, she did not find any more bodies to stare at, and quickly found herself on the street again. This time, a great tsunami of ponies was present, and many were in business suits. The purple mare quickly ducked back into the alleyways to avoid being run over.

Then the most unusual thing happened: a lightpost on the other side of the street grew a face where the lightbulb would be, and pointed ears out of the top of its head. A set of forelegs grew, and they were as lanky as the base to which they clung. Hind legs followed suit, and it stood effortlessly on them. It tried to attack a mare by crashing its forelegs on top of her, only to overshoot as a purple-and-grey blur whizzed past its neck and wrapped around it three times before tightening, bringing its mass arching over the intended target.