Band of Five Attributes (Re-Written)

A good month and a half had passed since that day, and this time too went without even the slightest incident. The town was very much alive with busy ponies this day, some who toted things, some who sold products, and so forth. Two ponies, both unicorns, had also been present in this bustling, and they had been bickering to one another as they went about their business.

“It’s finally good to walk on four legs!” Rekka chimed, eyes closed and a great big grin on his muzzle. Indeed, his injured rear leg was no longer covered in bandages, and the contraption used to hold him upright was not present on his frame. In addition, said rear leg had been functioning as though never inflicted by trauma at all.

“You said it!” Koto replied, also smiling wide. As with her companion, her foreleg looked as though it were never broken. She and her friend then shared a hearty laughter that, though short-lived, only served as testament to how high their spirits were this day.

The two stopped in their tracks, however, as they witnessed a single feather of emerald hue land delicately on the tip of Koto’s muzzle. She looked at the anomaly cross-eyed for a moment before her nose wrinkled. “Ah...ah...ah…” She gasped in short bouts before quickly raising a hoof to cover her mouth and sneeze into it.

“Bless you!” Rekka said, eyes widening a bit as he watched the mare put her hoof back onto the walkway.

“Thanks.” Koto replied, sighing before she smiled.

“Hey! Look up here!” Cried a masculine voice. Both unicorns froze for a second before doing as they were told, only to see a green pegasus with darker-colored wings flying overhead. With this one had been another of purple hue flying along in the air, a dark purple feather falling off the frame of feather-clad wings.

The two pegasi then descended to the ground, both folding wings shut as they landed. They too smiled brightly, almost as if without a care in the world.

“Whoa! You two finally took those flying lessons?!” Rekka exclaimed, eyes widening further as he spoke.

“Yep. We didn’t falter once yet.” Nagare replied nonchalantly. He nodded his head in short order. “It actually feels pretty good to fly--heh, so good in fact we almost went overboard a few times.”

“I’d imagine!” Koto chimed, her grin widening. Her horn flared up in soft blue as she gripped her boomerang in her magic and pulled it from its saddlebag before lazily spinning it around a few times.

“Got your magic under control, I assume?” Yuuki asked, stretching her dark wings for a moment before folding them back onto her body. She tilted her head slightly at the sight.

“With some practice. Having a horn almost feels natural, in fact.” Rekka replied, his wide smile returning on his muzzle.

“I’ll bet. I’ve grown...attached to my wings.” Nagare sighed contently. His eyes were closed, and a small grin was on his face.

“I kinda want to fly.” Koto sighed, her smile fading into a small frown as she put her boomerang in her saddlebag.

“And I want to use magic.” Yuuki agreed, also frowning.

“I’m surprised Tenmei’s yet to grow either horn or wings. I’m sure he’s jealous of all four of us at this point.” Nagare stated, his smile widening. He chuckled to himself.

“You’re right about that.” Rekka agreed, nodding heartily.

“Who knows?” Koto inquired, shrugging her shoulders briefly. “Maybe even Kaguya’s jealous.”

“Eh, I dunno. Ponies keep asking me about my yo-yo.” Yuuki stated, stretching her wings again.

“Which one, the one on your hoof or the one on your hip?” Rekka inquired, arching a brow as he spoke.

“A bit of both, actually. It kinda gets a bit awkward from there.” Yuuki replied, sighing through her nostrils. A slight blush was on her face, and her ears twitched.

Koto’s eyes widened. She let off a nervous giggle. “I’m almost afraid to ask, but...what kind of awkward do you mean?” She said.

“The kind where stallions keep asking you out and…yeah, I think you get the idea now.” Yuuki answered, her blush visibly brightening as she frowned.

“Oh my.” Koto said, a blush on her own face. She blinked a few times.

“Some of them even asked her about any...ahem, sexual kinks. That was...well, where I had to step in and tell them to leave her alone.” Nagare added, a frown on his face.

“Yikes. That’s pretty bad by itself.” Rekka said, his jaw threatening to drop open. He visibly struggled to keep his muzzle shut.

“Trust me, the freaking flight captain had to step in since I apparently wasn’t clear enough to those morons. I kept saying over and over ‘she’s not interested, leave her alone,’ and it STILL went over their heads.” Nagare sighed, rolling his eyes afterwards. “And what do they do? They asked her if she liked it rough IN FRONT OF THE CAPTAIN.”

“Ouch! That’s even worse!” Rekka and Koto said in unison, both of whom had wide eyes and were slack-jawed.

“After the captain demoted the idiots to the lowest possible rank imaginable in a flight team specialized in training the newbies, she asked us for our side of the story and we told her the truth, and nothing but.” Nagare replied, sighing once more.

“And after that, training went pretty smoothly. I swear, though, the idiots looked at me like they had a grudge or something.” Yuuki added, sighing with closed eyes and eyebrows twitching.

“I’m thinking that either A) they were mad at you for failing to--pardon my words here--screw you sideways, or B) they were mad at you because you kinda got them demoted just by rejecting them and drawing a crowd.” Rekka said, his eyes still wide.

“I’m certain it’s both.” Koto stated, slowly turning her head to her fellow unicorn with a red face and shrunk pupils.

“Let’s head back home before it gets even more awkward. We can’t keep the others waiting.” Nagare said, rolling his eyes before sighing again.

“That sounds rather disastrous.” Kaguya said, eyelids closed and ears twitching. “At least those stallions got put in their place.” She added, turning her head to Rekka. “And what of magic school?”

“It went rather well. Ponies kept asking me why my horntip was red instead of full-fledged orange like the rest of my body.” Rekka answered, shrugging.

“That’s good to hear. What about you, Koto?” Kaguya asked, turning her close-eyed gaze to the blue mare.

“Good. Ponies kept asking why my cutie mark’s a boomerang.” Koto replied, a half-smile on her face.

“Hmm?” Kaguya hummed, opening her eyes. “Did anything happen after?”

“No, other than learning a spell...I forget what it was called…” Koto answered, frowning as she rubbed a hoof on her head a bit.

“Illumination.” Rekka stated, shooting the blue mare a glance.

“Yes, what he said.” Koto said, smiling.

“Ah. I see.” Kaguya said, smiling warmly. “Did anyone bring up anything else?”

“No, other than this one stallion asking me why I tie my mane and tail. I simply told him it’s a habit of mine.” Rekka answered, smiling wide.

“It’s getting pretty late.” Yuuki commented, looking out the window to see a world of black beyond, illuminated by the light of a rising half-moon. She trotted to the stairs. “I’m off to bed.”

Rekka sat on his rump and stretched his front limbs, letting his mouth open wide for a yawn to escape it. He then rose and also trotted to the stairs. “So am I.” He said.

Koto followed suit, letting a yawn out of the back of her throat as she ascended the flight. Her eyelids partially drooped. Then, Kaguya tagged along, yawning as well. Nagare also went with.

Lights went off and ponies crept into beds, curling up underneath blankets with sleep soon overtaking them. It did not last that long for Rekka and Koto, however, as they heard something sounding like glass shattering before getting out of bed and their rooms to meet up in the inky black hallway.

A blue glow made itself known as much of the darkness was cast away, just barely on the tip of Koto’s horn. Her eyes were wide and her pupils shrank. “W-what was that?” She asked, ears flattening on her skull.

“I’m not sure what it is. But I think we should check it out.” Rekka stated, his ears flattening on his head before they perked up as more shattered glass resounded from the first floor. It sounded like the glass was being stomped on by hooves, but with a tired mind, he couldn’t be too sure.

The sound resounded again, sending a chill running down the spines of the two. They shook as if in subconscious response, but only for a moment, before they slowly crept down the stairs, the blue glow casting away some more shadow and causing other shadows to roil about as she and Rekka descended.

As the tell-tale shattering occurred once more, the duo froze again. The sound had very clearly come from the living room, but as Koto began to sway her head in every direction, it became clear that there was no shattered glass to be had. No shining shards on the floor, no broken windows, nothing to indicate that something had happened. How, then, was the noise being made in the first place?

“I don’t like this.” Koto murmured, turning her gaze to the kitchen door. It looked like it had not been touched at all. Then, the shattering happened yet again right then and there, and this time it was so dreadfully close she jumped and turned her gaze to her companion, finding he lay on the floor with eyes closed tightly shut.

The mare looked past the red-maned unicorn, only to find another with a pelt of gold and two glass bottles held in his crimson magic, one of which was already broken to the point of near-uselessness. She turned tail and began galloping towards the kitchen before she felt something hit and then shatter on the back of her head, and as the bout of pain ran its course, she fell onto the floor with her vision turning as black as the shadows she casted away.

The gold-pelted stallion chuckled wryly, encasing both of the younger unicorns in his magic before vanishing in a flash of crimson light with the two.