Band of Five Attributes (Re-Written)

All night long the two mares sat on their rumps clutching each other in their forelegs, one crying her eyes out and the other keeping her seething anger at bay. Just as the moon was about to set, Yuuki fell asleep with her head resting on Kaguya’s chest and the two now sat in foreboding silence. Even a breeze that rolled past was deathly quiet, almost as if time froze right then and there.

Kaguya cautiously moved her head side to side, trying not to disturb the mare who was using her as a pillow. She turned her gaze to the setting crescent moon, noticing it seemed to have glowed brighter as it set--something she found rather odd, but soon shrugged off.

Yuuki shifted in her sleep, causing Kaguya to glance at her with widening eyes. The purple mare opened her eyes, but was straining to keep them closed.

“Having trouble sleeping?” Kaguya asked, her voice soothing and sweet as though she spoke to her own child.

“Mhm….” Yuuki groggily replied, nodding her head slowly.

“Let’s get you to bed. Morning’s almost here.” Kaguya said, breaking the embrace and standing up, helping the sleepy teen onto her hooves. The elder mare glanced at the sky once more and found winged ponies up above arranging clouds with their hooves. As the clouds over the barn got bigger thanks to many of the ponies forming it, it began to rain lightly. Wasting no time, she escorted the sleepy mare indoors to a warm sleeping bag.

Thunder clapped outside, and the rain began to pour. Kaguya trotted to the barn doors and closed them after realizing she left them open whilst bringing Yuuki inside. This didn’t drown out all of the noise, though much of it was dulled to mere echoes within the barn. The elder mare sighed and trotted to the table placed a few hooves away from the sleeping lot that had bags set upon the wooden frame, as well as a lantern that served as light.

The mare emptied the bags, one by one, to find herself with a pile of yellow coins that were about a quarter the size of her hoof. She then painstakingly counted these coins one by one, using a notepad and pencil to keep track of the exact number as she did. After that, she carefully put the coins back into the four bags as evenly as she could manage before turning off the lantern and going to her sleeping bag.

She lay there in the darkness, questions of her own being flung about in her skull. She thought about what Yuuki had relayed, and what little she had already known prior. Her eyes narrowed, and a scowl came upon her face once more as she lay there thinking. She couldn’t help but murmur as though from subconscious alone, “why?”

Thunder clapped outside once more, and as the rain pattered on, Kaguya’s own eyelids felt increasingly heavy. Before long, she too had fallen asleep in her makeshift bed.

Braeburn and Applejack trotted towards the barn, fresh puddles from the early morning rain rippling as hooves stepped in them. It was a somewhat cloudy afternoon, with rays of sunlight shining through holes in the clouds.

“She was cryin’?” Applejack inquired, eyebrow raised.

“Yeah. About what, I can’t say. Kaguya gave me the ‘stay out of this’ look.” Braeburn replied, barely noticing a cold shiver sent up his legs as his hooves stepped into another puddle.

“Sounds mighty serious.” Applejack commented as she and her cousin drew nearer and nearer to the barn, hooves soaked in mud and water without being their point of focus.

Raising a dirty hoof to open the door upon finding herself standing before the barn, Applejack peered inside and found 01 talking to the teen stallions and Koto; the others being sound asleep in sleeping bags.

The elder stallion was quick to take notice of the orange ponies as they casually trotted in with dirty hooves. “Why, hello there. I was in the middle of a discussion with the foals I wound up with.” He said, a smile on his face.

“I don’t think we’re kids anymore…” Rekka mumbled, an ear twitching in annoyance.

“We’re still such because he looks after us...at least, until we get our own place.” Koto jabbed back, a small grin etched on her muzzle.

“Alright you two, play nice.” 01 sighed, still smiling as he patted Rekka on the head with one hoof and ruffled Koto’s mane with the other.

“I see that. Breaburn told me somethin’ I find rather disturbin’.” Applejack said, looking at the elder stallion as she grabbed a towel and cleaned her hooves with it.

“I dunno the full story; all I know is Yuuki was cryin’ somethin’ fierce.” Braeburn spoke for Applejack, also cleaning his hooves.

01’s face darkened immediately, complete with lopsided grin. “I-I see…” He said, his mouth twitching as though he tried to keep the smile at bay.

“Want one of us to serve the role of translator?” Nagare asked, eyelids drooped to make it seem like he was bored.

“P-please do.” 01 answered, now breathing in and out frantically.

“From what I’ve heard, and from what I’ve seen as we took her to the hospital and away from that damn jailhouse with legs, she’d been...how shall I say...mistreated.” Nagare said, looking at Applejack as he spoke.

“Mistreated?” Applejack and Braeburn inquired in unison, both of whom had arched eyebrows.

“Allow me to recap,” Tenmei sighed, glasses glinting as he moved them with his hoof to a more proper position, “chained to a pearl, screeching until I was pretty sure her lungs would’ve exploded, bruises dotting her body, and let’s not forget that one side of her face was still recovering.”

“Did the doctors find anythin’ else?” Braeburn asked, eyes widening as Tenmei’s words hit him harder than a brick.

“...Yeah. From what I’ve gathered…” Tenmei took a deep breath, eyes narrowing low behind the lens of his glasses, “someone had the nerve to rape her.”

Applejack’s pupils shrank as she stared at the stallion with the glasses. It was as if she lost the ability to do anything else, as if Tenmei’s words petrified her in some indirect way.

Braeburn was also unable to believe the teen’s words. He too had been mesmerized, and not in a good way. He felt his gut twisting and turning from building anger.

“I can see why you two are still trying to make sense of the words I spoke.” Tenmei sighed, a frown on his face as his eyelids drooped.

“Kinda makes you want to rip off the culprit’s dong, right?” Nagare asked.

Braeburn’s lips parted, and a scowl came on his face as he spoke. “Now, I don’t know the culprit in person, nor do I know if he had partners in crime. That much about said culprit, I’ll say. But NOPONY should have to live with that...that...that kind of nightmare for the rest of their lives!”

“Here, here.” Applejack agreed, a scowl also on her face.

“Who’s on about what now?” Kaguya groaned as she got out of her sleeping bag, stretching her four legs as a yawn escaped her throat.

“Oh, just a discussion. That’s all. You’ve been asleep half the whole day, woman.” 01 commented, tilting his head slightly as he watched the mare trot to the table.

“Of course I’ve been asleep half the day, you dolt. I stayed up almost all night.” Kaguya jabbed back before yawning again, this time covering her mouth with a hoof.

“I...think I heard part of it…” Yuuki stated as she too rose from her bed, faint scarring apparent on the right side of her face. She also stretched her legs, and she had a terrible case of bedhead.

It was then Koto decided to speak up. “Actually, I think we all need to change the subject right about now.”