Band of Five Attributes (Re-Written)

It was barely mid-morning, and already there was clamor going on amongst a group that had seated itself (with table) in a red barn on a hill that overlooked apple trees galore.

“She...she disappeared?!” Kaguya wailed, a hoof raised from sheer shock reflex alone. Her eyes were wide and her ears paralyzed; even her tail stood straight on end like the hairs of a cat.

“It’s what Nurse Redheart told us. She also said feeling like something smacked her upside the head before falling asleep.” Nagare said, ears flat on his head. Despite the bored look on his face screaming otherwise, his anger was beginning to build up once more.

“I can’t help but feel that something about this incident is...off. I’d go as far to say it’s fishy.” Tenmei interjected, sitting on his rump with a cloth in one hoof and his glasses in the other.

“Has it been--” The white mare started, only to stop as Nagare raised his hoof as though he were in school.

“I’ve already told the guards who brought us here about it. The Princesses made a flyer or something telling the citizenry to report odd occurrences. We’re not citizens, but I reported anyway.” The green stallion spoke, the bored look still on his face.

“Aren’t we an odd occurrence?” The tan pony jabbed, putting his glasses on his face.

“Eh….in our own right, I suppose.” The green stallion answered, sighing afterwards.

“What of Rekka?” Kaguya asked, eyebrow raised.

“He’s still off in sleepyland.” Nagare answered, ears twitching. “Not gonna be awake for another few days at least.”

“We need to do something about this mess.” 01 said, trotting around Kaguya before sitting down.

“The question being what, exactly.” Koto agreed, stretching her good foreleg whilst sitting on her rump.

“She’s right; we can’t just expect to run around asking other ponies like headless chickens and somehow get a more-than-satisfactory result.” Tenmei stated, quickly covering his muzzle with a hoof before sneezing.

“Sadly, since we have no lead as to why she disappeared, that’s our best option.” The white mare interjected, sitting down herself.

“Either that or relying on the royal guards. They have wings and horns, and all we have are hooves and the weaponry we have.” 01 sighed, yawning and rubbing his hoof on the back of his head.

“While that is true, there’s two different branches of guard. Maybe three. They have a lot more ground to cover than we do, and thus more work.” Nagare replied, rolling his eyes in the process.

“But they’re country-wide security for Equestria. We’re just a group of outsiders with weapons, minus two.” Tenmei jabbed back, turning his gaze to the green pony.

“Yes, Mr. Nitpicky, you can stop pointing out the flaws of my argument now.” The green pony sighed, rolling his eyes again. He didn’t even bother making eye contact with the tan stallion.

“I am not nitpicky! I was only stating a fact, you lawn-fondler!” The tan stallion hissed, eyes narrowed dangerously low and ears flat on his head. He shook with anger.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever, dirt-molester.” Nagare jabbed back, rolling his eyes a third time. Only difference now was that he was grinning.

“Now, now, children, play nice.” 01 said, standing on all fours as if literally about to step in between the teenagers. “We aren’t here to fight each other, after all.”

“He started it.” The green one stated, pointing a hoof at Tenmei without making eye contact with the accused.

“Did not!” The brown-maned stallion hissed, gritting his teeth soon afterwards.

“Do either of you want to continue with the charade?” 01 asked, his voice darkening alongside his face. The lopsided grin was about two seconds from framing itself upon his muzzle.

“No, sir.” Tenmei and Nagare said in unison, anger fading away altogether as their heads hung low.

“Alright, then.” 01 said, scratching the back of his head with a hoof and yawning simultaneously. “We don’t need any more unruly teenager shenanigans, especially when one of five has gone walkabout and another two are injured.”

“I was stabbed with a knife, or so I hear. What’s your excuse?” Koto interjected, her eyes narrowing a little bit. She was looking at the stallions who had come dangerously close to getting lectured, and her frown told all present that she was not amused.

“At least you and Rekka still have a chance of recovery.” Kaguya sighed, not showing any expression at all. “Can’t be too sure about Yuuki, though…”

“That’s true, since we don’t know where she went.” Koto agreed, nodding. Her face relaxed enough for a small smile to appear on her muzzle briefly.

The doors to the barn opened, and Braeburn immediately rushed to the group gasping for air and mane clinging to his frame.

“We have a problem--a bad one, too!” He shouted, his voice cracked and ragged.

“What sort of problem?” 01 inquired, noticing that the orange pony’s eyes were wide as can be.

“A...a jailhouse has grown legs...and I hear a mare screaming from inside it!” The stallion quickly exclaimed before turning tail and bolting out the door.

01 exchanged glances with Kaguya, and then Koto. “Both of you, stay put. Tell Mimi and Mimu that we have gone out to take care of something.” He said before following Braeburn. Tenmei and Nagare also went along, hooves hitting the ground as if a flood was about to happen. The mares who were left behind looked at each other and simply shrugged.

The group who had been following Braeburn had been met with a ghastly sight that was dangerously close to the train station: there was indeed a prison of slate grey bricks, complete with black pony legs, head, horn, and brick outer wall topped with barbed wire. Its four legs were on the bottom, and the head on top, making it look like a mutated crab.

A crowd of worried ponies had already gathered in the station, complete with an occasional royal guard here and there in the fray. The stallions who’d just arrived pushed through the crowd in an attempt to get to the other side of the station so as to deal with the monstrosity when all stopped as a most peculiar sound hit the ears of everyone present: a horrific shriek of pain.

All who heard the despondent wail, even the walkabout jailhouse, froze on the spot. Another shriek followed shortly after, sending chills down many spines. The screams sounded heavily feminine, but also forced out of a tired throat. The horn of the four-legged building began to radiate a crimson aura, and it seemed to have grunted in annoyance.

Another shriek, much more ghastly than the first two, resounded soon after that and died down as quick as it had started. The beast’s horn stopped glowing, and its gaze was now set upon the train station a few kilometers away.

“Yep, somepony’s definitely inside that thing.” Braeburn sighed, ears flat on his skull. His eyelids drooped over his eyes, as if he were about to cry.

The winged guards who were present in the crowd unfurled their wings and took off, spears at the ready to harm the beast who was inching its way towards the town. As if defying the laws of the universe, the wire topping the gates quickly uncoiled themselves and shot at the aerial nuisances like rockets. Some of the guards dodged in the nick of time, while others found themselves being slammed face first in the stone gate.

Another shriek resounded once more, and only then did the pupils of 01, Tenmei, and Nagare shrink to tiny dots. Only then did the very tone of the terrified screams ring true to their ears.

Someone they knew was trapped inside the beast.