Band of Five Attributes (Re-Written)

The monster’s horn lit up again, and another annoyed grunt briefly permeated the air around its head. The guards who weren’t ensnared in barbed, iron vines flew around the beast, all with eyes looking and spears prodding at every block as though trying to find a weakness. The more unfortunate who either lacked speed or intellect found themselves tossed behind the stone wall surrounding the main building to which the beast’s head was attached.

Another woeful symphony of agonized, feminine shrieks resounded loud and clear, once more sending chills of terror down the spines of all who still stood in the train station.

“How do we get to the damn thing without being squished?!” Tenmei yelled at last, hooves on the sides of his head and teeth grating.

“I don’t know; all I know is we have no freakin’ wings!!” 01 shouted, a smile so wide his tongue lolled out as he spoke. His front hooves were before him, and sweat dotted his body all over. The elder stallion looked as though engaged for the occasion of a screaming fit.

Nagare sighed, scrunched his eyes shut, and proceed to let his hoof connect with his face. He put his hoof down and opened his eyes, only to notice a rainbow trail whizzing around the monster faster than any of the royal guards who were still airborne.

It was then the words of a pony he met yesterday flashed in his mind: namely, “the fastest flyer in Equestria.”

“Rainbow Dash...were you even boasting yesterday?” Nagare murmured, intently watching the rainbow-hued trail continually circle the jailhouse with legs.

The beast grunted again, the coils of iron that topped its outermost wall now stretching and tailing the rainbow trail as if a shark pumped with adrenalin on the hunt.

“Mā, kore wa tan'ni subarashīdesu! [Well, isn’t this just great?]” Tenmei hissed, eyelid twitching as he too watched the rainbow trail flee from the iron vines and circle around the beast.

“Watashi no kanjō o seikaku ni. [My sentiments exactly.]” 01 said, nodding as he also eyed the the spectacle before him.

The monster’s horn began to glow once more, and it opened its mouth wide enough to reveal a black mesh screen in the back of its throat. Without any other warning, a most dreadful cacophony comprised of an air raid siren and what sounded like school bells rang throughout the air.

All in the station and those flying around the beast stopped, even the owner of the rainbow trail--a cyan mare--was stalled into a standstill by the noise. Everyone covered their ears with their hooves, but even that failed to drown out the horrific tune that signaled a prisoner had broke loose.

The monster closed its mouth, and the noise receded from the world. The iron coils, also having stopped during the tune that made nails on a chalkboard sound like Mozart, resumed their course and homed in on those still airborne. The cyan mare, who recovered faster than the others, quickly went back to circling the beast in a vain attempt to figure out what was its problem or something.

The mare then decided to head to the train station upon seeing the rest of the guards get entangled in barbed wire and sent behind the stone wall of the monster.

Even more royal guards, some armed with chariots and unicorns sitting in said chariots, quickly flew in around the beast. The unicorns fired spherical bolts at the monster, and aside from sending the coils towards the annoyances that kept piling up, it looked relatively unfazed.

Another despondent, feminine wail resounded again, louder and clearer than what was yodeled prior. The monster’s horn was glowing once more, and another pained cry soon hit the ears of all again--this time, it sounded like “make the pain stop.”

Two pegasi pulling a chariot landed before the train station. One eyed the crowd intently while the other shouted, “We’re looking for a green pony, a pony with a weapon, and an older stallion.”

Nagare turned to Tenmei and 01 before nodding to both of them. All three bolted towards the chariot and quickly climbed inside before the pony-driven vehicle took to the skies and began its own course wheeling around the beast. The coils began to home on them, this time merging with one another to form a thick appendage that ended in what looked like a claw of some kind, only to get pinned on the outer wall thanks to a few well-timed crossbow bolts.

The stubborn iron claw, though, only pried itself off the wall and then did something unexpected: it retracted inwards behind the wall and fled into the main building that comprised roughly two-thirds of the beast’s body.

The circling chariots soon wheeled around the monster’s head, all pulling and riding them arching eyebrows in confusion.

The hand then pulled out a purple mare from the front door closed off by the outer walls, this one crudely bound by chains to a great, dark amethyst pearl. The mare was on the verge of wailing once more, only for her head to suddenly droop before she could. Her dark purple, matted mane obscured her face like a recently dirtied rag.

Tenmei’s eyes widened as he stared at the anomaly. So too did those of everybody else who had also witnessed the sight. He turned his head every which-way to find that unicorns were still charging magic in their horns, all poised by aim towards the pearl with the mare bound to it.

“DON’T HURT THE MARE!!” He cried desperately, pointing the hoof that didn’t have the crossbow strapped to it at said mare. The unicorns, despite hearing him loud and clear, paid no heed to his words and kept charging their magic anyway.

Nagare, who had a fire burning in his emerald eyes, stood up on his hind legs and drew his sword from the saddlebag sheath. He took a deep breath before shouting, “You hurt an innocent like her, and I swear I’ll rip those horns clean off of your skulls!”

01 also rose to his hind legs, and he yodeled, “She had nothing to do with this monster, why are you aiming at her like she has a target painted onto her stomach?!”