Band of Five Attributes (Re-Written)

“I...cannot say for certain. Hell, I don’t even know if we can go back--I’m not sure what landed us in this seemingly-peaceful world to begin with.” Kaguya replied, shrugging as she did.

For a fleeting moment, Koto recalled that weird thing that spoke of chaos. Its words rang true in her mind, yet she could not make any sense of them. In fact, the words blurred altogether; ‘chaos’ being the only discernable thing she thought it spoke. Then, when she thought it could not get any worse, the whole memory escaped her for reasons beyond her current grasp. Her eyelids were still drooped, and happened to be on the verge of scrunching shut.

The young teen then snapped back to her current reality, looking at Kaguya who in turn looked at her with an arched brow. “Something wrong?” Asked the elder mare.

“N-nothing. Just...I’m tired.” Koto said, rubbing her eyes with her good hoof. A yawn escaped her lips, and as it did, a feeling of exhaustion washed over her. The mare got up on her three legs and hobbled her way towards a set of sleeping bags, five of which already had occupants who snoozed away. Rekka had a stick that supported his hurt rear leg as he slept, and judging from his mumbling about ramen or something, didn’t seem all too bothered by it.

Koto claimed a sleeping bag in short order, and before she could finish covering up, sleep washed over her. She was out like a lightbulb.

Kaguya sighed, a small content smile on her muzzle, as she rose up and trotted to the younger mare to fully pull the blanket over her blue-pelted frame. The elder then turned to Tenmei, who had already covered himself up in another bag and was just about to place his glasses on a small tray that was next to the pillow.

“You going to sleep soon?” He asked, looking at Kaguya with eyelids partially draping his eyes.

“Not at the moment.” Kaguya answered, small grin still etched on her face.

“Alright. Goodnight.” Tenmei said, putting the glasses on a tray and turning on his side. Sleep had soon stowed him away in its grasp.

“Goodnight.” Kaguya replied, turning slowly to the barn doors. She crept very quietly to them, making sure her hooves made as minimal noise as she could manage. Raising a slow but steady hoof, she nudged the door and silently cursed as it creaked gently.

Tiptoeing outside, Kaguya looked up and saw that a crescent moon hung high in the sky, providing some light in the surrounding orchard. She returned her gaze to the immediate area and found that, sitting close to a nearby well was Yuuki, the moon’s light barely illuminating her form.

The elder mare closed the barn doors cautiously, then trotted to the younger mare and noticed much of her mane obscuring her face. She tapped Yuuki on her shoulder with a gentle hoof to get her attention.

“You need something?” Yuuki asked, ears flat on her skull. Her eyes averted away from the elder mare, and a barely-visible frown was etched on her muzzle.

“We need to talk...01 told me to ask you something. What happened?” Kaguya answered, noting the teen wasn’t even looking her in the eye. “Please, look at me. You did nothing wrong.” She added.

Yuuki did as told, and her eyes began to water. “Yes I did…” She mumbled.

“No, you didn’t. Now, please tell me everything--leave out no details.” Kaguya instructed, her brow on the verge of furrowing. “This isn’t like her; she rarely behaves this way.” She thought, worry already gnawing away at her being.

A tear slid down the purple mare’s cheek, glistening in the moonlight before it hit the ground. The mare lowered her head as if defeated. “B-but i-it’s my fault…” Yuuki mumbled, her voice cracking as she spoke.

“Listen, I heard all about the…” Kaguya trailed off, putting both hooves on Yuuki’s shoulders. “...substance they found in you. That’s all I know about aside from the scars on your face and bodily bruises. Please, tell me what’s wrong so I can help.”

“You...c-can’t…” Yuuki sniveled, voice racked with sobs. She rose her head to look Kaguya dead in the eyes. “You...you don’t understand…”

“Please, just tell me why you want to avoid stallions. What’s the reason behind it?” Kaguya asked, moving a hoof to wipe away Yuuki’s tears.

“W-well...you heard a-about the t-train wreck, r-right?” Yuuki stammered, more tears flowing out of her eyes.

Kaguya nodded. "Mhm."

“I-I woke up i-in the hospital...and then t-tried to find a n-nurse…” Yuuki started, sounding like a frog was in her throat.

“Did you find a nurse?” Kaguya asked.

“Y-yeah...she t-told me to go b-back to bed...I did that after p-puking...and then passed out a-after I felt something hit my head…” Yuuki continued, swallowing hard.

“What...happened when you woke up?” Kaguya asked, hints of worry lingering in her voice. “This is serious, but I still don’t know the full details yet…” She thought, ears flat on her skull.

“D-dark place...C-couldn’t tell where I w-was until…” Yuuki trailed off, the memory of staring into the eyes of a gold-pelted unicorn assaulting her mind.

“Until what?” Kaguya asked, unable to keep a frown from etching itself on her muzzle.

“He...he showed up, and…” Yuuki stammered, her lips quivering as another tear streaked its way down her face.

“Who is ‘he’?” Kaguya asked, eyebrow raised.

“Short, r-red mane...r-red eyes...name on t-tip of my tongue…” Yuuki stuttered, feeling a golf ball lodge itself in her throat. “H-he...was...a-a unicorn…”

“A short, red mane…and red eyes…?” Kaguya thought before the word ‘unicorn’ also registered in her mind. “What color was his pelt?” She asked.

“G-gold…” Yuuki answered, tears still falling off of her face. Her head lowered once more, mane obscuring much of her face yet again.

Then, and only then did the image of a man with a gold cape and short, scarlet hair flash in Kaguya’s mind. Her eyes instantly widened and her pupils shrunk to tiny dots. “Y-you can’t possibly mean…?!”

Yuuki slowly nodded, eyes still shrouded by her bangs. She then threw herself at Kaguya, clutching the elder mare with both forelegs like a child soon to be stowed away. She sobbed into her chest, unable to contain her emotions any longer as muffled screams escaped her throat. Any words she could produce were garbled beyond recognition, and all Kaguya could do in her wide-eyed state of shock was embrace the sobbing mare in a hug.

“There somethin’ wrong?” Asked a masculine voice. Kaguya turned her gaze away from the screeching mare she clutched in her forelegs and found Braeburn trotting towards her, eyebrows slanted on his face to indicate concern.

“Very.” Kaguya answered swiftly, stroking Yuuki’s mane with a gentle hoof as she continued to weep.

Braeburn turned his eyes to the emotional wreck of a mare Kaguya held as if for dear life. His ears fell flat on his skull. He opened his mouth to speak as he returned his gaze to Kaguya, only to close it as the elder mare shook her head.

“Well...I’ll be heading back inside. Holler if ya need anything.” Braeburn said at last before trotting away.

Kaguya watched as the stallion trotted away, eyebrows furrowing as anger boiled in her blood and threatened to skyrocket beyond controllable levels.

“That asshole will PAY.” She thought, still clutching the sobbing mare in her forelegs as her mouth curled into a snarl.