Band of Five Attributes (Re-Written)

A solid two months had passed since the day the jailhouse with legs was felled, and not once did anything unusually noteworthy happen. Sure, there was talk about the events that had transpired, almost as if the populace was trapped in the past or something of the sort, but that was about it--other than that, life continued as normal for many of the residents as it could possibly be.

It was also during this time that 01, Kaguya, and the sometimes-unruly teenagers they were stuck with began to know the locals better, as well as undertaking an assortment of odd jobs (Koto was exempt due to her healing leg, as were Mimu and Mimi simply because they were but fillies.) It was so they could have a place to stay--preferably one that didn’t have other residents to leech from or something.

Today, on a fine evening with a pretty sunset, the four working ponies were meeting up in the town square, a few houses away from the house that appeared to have been made of gingerbread.

Tenmei had accumulated a bit of dirt on his front hooves, and some sweat clung to his body. He looked like a wreck, to say the least, and his matted mane only served as further testimony to that fact.

“What kind of odd job did you work today? You need a bath!” 01 exclaimed, though he was not much better off himself. His mane glistened in what was assumed to either be sweat or water.

“I was gardening for a mare named Carrot Top. You?” Tenmei inquired, noticing black smudges on the normally-white coat of the elder stallion that would not be present otherwise.

“Remember the train that wrecked? I helped to repair the bloody furnace.” 01 answered, covering his mouth with a hoof to cough in it.

“I helped a stallion named Time Turner move furniture. He kept on asking me how I can not only walk on two legs, but be able to tote boxes with my front hooves whilst walking upright.” Nagare sighed, rolling his eyes. He had a bit of sweat here and there, but not much compared to the other two stallions.

“And why did he need someone to help him rearrange things?” 01 asked, eyebrow raised.

“He wasn’t feeling too well. Said he spent all last night either tossing in bed or throwing up, and needed to take his mind off his illness.” Nagare answered, sighing afterwards. He turned to Kaguya, and so did the other two stallions.

“I was working at the Carousel Boutique. As much as I hate saying it, the mare I worked for this day is a bit of a nitpicky artisan.” Kaguya answered, sighing herself. “Then again, I’ve no room to say anything since she’s an expert clothes designer.”

“Ah. The experts are usually overworked anyway.” 01 agreed, nodding.

“Wait--what’s an expert designer doing in a small town? Shouldn’t she be in one of the big cities?” Tenmei asked, eyebrow arched.

“I asked her the same question, to be honest. I got some babble on the Elements of Harmony or something.” Kaguya answered, briefly rubbing her left foreleg with her right hoof.

“Elements...of Harmony? Pardon me for sounding a bit rude, but were you working for a drunk ninny today?” 01 asked, an eyelid twitching. The words that flew out of Kaguya’s mouth had sounded absolutely absurd to him.

“If I was, I would’ve said so.” Kaguya cut back, eyes scrunched shut as a pink vein appeared on her cheek. A sort of angry smile was plastered on her muzzle, though she did her best to keep it at bay. A neutral look came back on her face after a few seconds as she sighed once more.

“So, should we head back to Sweet Apple Acres, take a nice bath and call it a day?” Tenmei asked at last, sitting on his rump and stretching his forelegs as far as they could go for a few seconds.

“I hope Mimu hasn’t caused any more chaos while we were gone.” 01 commented, sighing. “It’s bad enough we made Koto mare of the barn we’re staying in, and worse since her leg is still not better.”

“True that.” Nagare said, nodding with a small smile on his face. He and the other ponies started to trot towards the south end of town when a voice of feminine origin called out. What it was the voice said wasn’t too clear, so the group merely paid it no heed as they continued on their merry way.

The voice called out again, this time much clearer than before. “Wait! Wait a minute!”

The group stopped, and all four ponies glanced around a bit. It was then that Nagare was the first to see that Nurse Redheart was galloping towards him and the others, and behind her trotted two ponies. A red-maned stallion who was supported by a device consisting of wheels attached to poles that were, in turn, attached to his midsection. Accompanying them was a purple mare with faint scars lining the right side of her face, had smiles on their muzzles and kicked their legs into gear upon noticing the group.

“T-they’re awake?!” 01 asked, face darkening from pure shock alone. He watched as the two ponies picked up their pace, and had also seen that a hind leg of the stallion was bandaged and basically put in casts. The hoof was resting on a metal square that was attached to one of the poles; the kind of squares often found on wheelchairs.

“Yes. They’ve been up all day, in fact. We had to find a simple but effective way to address Rekka’s walking problem.” Redheart answered, a small smile on her face. “But he’s still going to need help removing the thing every night before he either takes a bath or falls asleep.” She added as the teen finally stopped next to her, breathing ragged like he was on the verge of fainting.

“Phew! Never envisioned getting this tired on three legs!” Rekka exclaimed, still struggling to catch his breath. He wiped sweat off his brow with a front hoof, the device on his midsection supporting his weight surprisingly well in spite of its delicate-looking frame as he did.

The purple mare, Yuuki, also stopped on Redheart’s other side and she too was panting in exhaustion. However, she also fell onto her side and scrambled onto her hooves. It became apparent that her legs were still on the shaky side, just barely supporting her as they threatened to become even wobblier than before.

Redheart turned to the mare and then back to the group. “She’s been having issues too, but not anything serious.” She said, smiling still.

“I think we should take them with us back to the barn?” Tenmei asked, a wide smile on his face.

“It’s why I brought them to you ponies specifically. I’d do it myself, but I didn’t quite know where you were staying, and I’ve other patients to attend to.” Redheart answered, smiling as she turned tail and galloped away to the hospital in the north of town.

01 exchanged glances with the teens who had finally caught their breath. “Did you two behave?” He asked.

“Kinda...had to.” Rekka answered, rubbing the back of his head with a front hoof.

“I had the increasing urge to avoid the stallions…” Yuuki sighed, ears flat on her head. Her eyes averted elsewhere; she wasn’t looking at 01.

“Let’s...discuss that later.” Kaguya stated, looking at Yuuki in a calm manner. The elder mare placed a gentle hoof on the shoulder of the younger as if to comfort her.

“Guys, I think we need to head back to the barn now.” Tenmei sighed, shaking his head rather disapprovingly towards nothing in particular.

“He’s right.” Nagare agreed, nodding rather fitfully.

“So, we’re all back together...now what?” Koto asked as Tenmei trotted past her with a wet coat that was drying and a towel on his midsection.

“I’ve counted up the bits we’ve accumulated through the vast array of jobs we slaved over, and then asked the local librarian how much a house for nine costs. I’ve done calculations thoroughly; we should have enough left over to ensure that we have food for a few days after getting said house.” Kaguya answered, her mane glistening a little bit as she spoke.

“I know it has to be a big house, but what kind of house is it?” Tenmei asked, the towel partially muffling him as he rubbed it on every inch of his head with his hooves.

“I’ve yet to decide on that. 01 and I will further discuss it later.” Kaguya answered again, a faint smile on her muzzle.

“Kaguya?” Koto asked, eyelids drooping as worry overcame her.

“Yes?” Kaguya replied, ears perked to attention.

“When can we go back home?” Koto asked.