Band of Five Attributes (Re-Written)

A few hours dragged on that day, with everyone getting cleaned up and having food. Nothing really happened otherwise, and the hours ticked by. The day had just begun to recede into the twilight hour that would ultimately give way to the night.

“You two going out again?” 01 asked, watching with partially draped eyes as the two pegasi of the household were about to open the door and trot out.

“Yes. We’re going up to Cloudsdale.” Nagare replied, sighing and shifting his wings a bit. His sword was in a saddlebag strapped to his body.

“And why are you taking your weapons with you?” 01 inquired, blinking a few times.

“It’s in case we need to defend ourselves from something. It’s better to have my sword and not need it than for me to need it and not have it.” The young stallion replied, sighing again. “Last time that happened, it was nearly a disaster.”

Yuuki raised her right foreleg for a moment, which had her yoyo strapped to it. She set it down and sighed herself. “We’re probably going to be gone a while. Flight captain wanted to talk with us about something.” She said.

“Alright. Just stay out of trouble as best you can.” 01 said, closing his eyes and opening his mouth to yawn.

“Okay.” The two said as the door was opened with a green hoof. They trotted out in short order, closing the door as they went. Nagare craned his head sharply in the direction of Canterlot, then looked up to see a faint silhouette of clouds hovering well above the mountain castle. He flared his wings and quickly rose into the air with Yuuki following close behind.

Twilight was quickly fleeting, the bare top of the vivid orange sun already about to set. The last rays of light were going with that which produced them, and stars were very much beginning to twinkle in the other side of the darkening sky. The two pegasi ascended higher and higher, wings continually flapping and occasionally lodging a feather loose from their frames.

The wind blew in their ears as they ascended higher still, but it did not deter them as they approached the solitary cloud--more like an amalgamation of a bunch of clouds made to look like houses and the like--lazily floating above Canterlot. The night had emerged at last, and with it came a slowly-rising half moon that illuminated the sky with its own silvery light.

The two got closer to the cloud city, and as they did, Yuuki swiveled her head left and right. She saw more darkened silhouettes also flying to the city, their forms barely discernable from the deep navy blue of the night. Nagare also darted his head left and right, and he was seeing more flying ponies than he had wished to.

“Are they also going to talk to Spitfire?” Yuuki asked, glancing around once more. Cloudsdale was within mere yards now.

“I’m not sure. But we’re not stopping to ask.” Nagare replied, his eyes narrowing as he and his fellow pegasus came even closer to the city. He flapped his wings harder and faster, as if he were readying himself for a race. Yuuki proceeded to do the same, and as she took another cursory glance from side to side, it became apparent that the silhouettes had done this as well.

What’s more was that the silhouettes got closer to the duo, bit by bit. As they did, the moonlight made their forms clearer. One had a dark brown pelt, and another had a coat of light grey that could have been mistaken for white thanks to the glow of the moon. A third had pale yellow.

Nagare glanced around, turning his body so that his stomach faced the sky as he flew. He saw the ponies inching their way to him and Yuuki, all of which were stallions. “Fucking hell, we’re being tailed?!” He cried, positioning himself in an upright stance and still flying, though he stopped his original course entirely. As he did, a fourth pony of dark grey and with a mane with two tones of light blue showed up behind the first three.

Yuuki also turned around, positioning herself upright as well. The group of stallions had stopped likewise. The yellow stallion, who had red mane and green eyes, snorted a bit. The light grey one, who had a two-toned purple mane that seemed to wave about in a breeze, chuckled a bit. The brown one, two-toned yellow mane styled like that of the light grey pony, merely smirked.

“What do you want?” Nagare asked, poising one front hoof to draw his sword.

“Ey, Starburst. Ain’t that one of the two who got us demoted?” Asked the light grey stallion. He was grinning as he spoke.

Starburst, the yellow pony with the red mane, snorted. “Yep, he is, Sightseer.”

“Cloud Chaser, how are we going to pay them back for all the trouble they put us through?” Asked the brown stallion.

Cloud, the pony with two-toned blue mane, sighed. “Compass Star, we outnumber them. It’s two against four.” He answered, a grin already widening on his muzzle.

“That doesn’t answer my question!” Compass nearly shrieked, his eyes narrowing as he turned to his fellow pegasus. His smile turned into a frown.

“I say two of us take the green one, and the other two go after the mare.” Cloud answered, blue eyes brimming in the light of the moon.

In that instant, Nagare unsheathed his sword, the blue and green metal reflecting the moon’s light. He clutched it in his hooves, his mouth curling into a snarl as he kept flapping his wings in a stationary position. He could already tell that the situation was about to get much uglier in the course of a few moments, and at that fact alone his eyes narrowed.

Yuuki also narrowed her eyes, poising her weapon in her hooves. She coiled the string around one of them tightly, and held the yoyo itself in her other. The pegasi who had tailed her and her companion split in two groups, Starburst and Compass making one and Cloud and Sightseer the other.

Starburst and Compass then rushed at Yuuki with front hooves outstretched before their bodies, wings propelling them forward much, much faster than she had predicted. As a result, she kicked her own wings into gear and descended beneath them before their hooves could connect with her body. She swiveled around in a half-circle, readying her weapon for throwing.

The yoyo flew from her hoof, speeding like a rocket before it collided with the back of Compass Star’s head. He yelped in pain before turning around, Starburst doing the same minus the cry of pain. They rushed at Yuuki again, and she dodged the assault, this time flying overhead of the two.

Sightseer and Cloud, though, had a great deal of trouble with Nagare. They kept trying to hit him with their front hooves, only to be met with resistance in the form of the flat of his blade. He moved as fast as the would-be punches had come. No matter how low the punches went, the sword kept up in perfect tempo, blocking the hits with ease. The sword-wielder made it more irksome for the aggressive ponies by backing the flat of his weapon with his own hoof.

The two ponies who tried and failed to wail on the green stallion quickly backed off.

“It’s no wonder his cutie mark’s a damn sword! He’s real good with the damn thing!” Sightseer cried, his eyes narrowing low as he spoke.

“Too good. Never seen one quite skilled with that thing.” Cloud agreed, nodding with a scowl on his face. He looked towards Starburst and Compass, both of whom failed to land a hit on Yuuki. The mare was dodging left and right, occasionally throwing her weapon to land a hit on her pursuers before hastily retracting it.

“Break it up!” Cried a female voice, causing all to freeze for a second or so. A light yellow pegasus with a two-toned orange mane and matching golden orange eyes was flying right at the fighting group of ponies, two of which were armed with weaponry. She had a drill officer uniform on her body, front hooves outstretched before her moonlit frame. Nagare and Yuuki were quick to move away from the other four ponies, rapidly beating their wings to propel themselves and sheathing their weapons. The four pegasus stallions, though, only continued to fly towards the fleeing duo, eyes lit up by both the moon and anger.

“I said break it up!” The orange-maned pegasus yelled once more, her own eyes narrowing as she continued to fly towards the group. More pegasus ponies flew not too far behind her, and there was a good ten or so.

The stallions still didn’t heed the orange-maned mare’s words, almost as if she were but a figment of their imaginations. They still chased Yuuki and Nagare, who had completely turned tail at this point and rushed towards Cloudsdale like their lives depended on it. Only then did the stallions who followed them stop as the ponies who followed the orange mare surround them in a perfect circle.

“Take those bozos to my office pronto! I’ll have a chat with the other two.” The orange mare called out, turning her attention to Yuuki and Nagare, who had already set hoof on the streets of the cloud city. She flew to them, folding her wings shut as she set her hooves onto the streets herself. The pegasi who went with her had no trouble escorting the stallions towards a building in the city, right on the corner of the street she was on.

The mare snapped her head towards the two ponies who had weapons, both of whom panted for breath. “Who started what?” She asked.

Yuuki turned to her, ears flat on her head for a moment. “They did. We were only protecting ourselves.” She answered. “You remember how they acted in front of you to earn that demotion? It was about three times worse this time around.”

“I’ll talk to them about that later.” The orange mare replied, sighing afterwards.

“You wanted to talk to us about something, Spitfire?” Nagare asked, his wings twitching.

“Well, ponies in this town reported strange things walking around in the streets, but I’ve yet to see any of it. I dunno what they’re on about, but they’re swearing left right and sideways the things are part object, part pony. That’s where you two come in. Word sprang up from Ponyville that you two and a few others dealt with a walkabout jailhouse or something. I’m not sure how valid that claim is, but could you do me a favor and look into the matter as soon as you can?” Spitfire replied, an eyebrow arched the whole time she spoke.

“So, I want to get this straight: you caught wind of what happened a few months ago, and coupled with the recent rumors flying by here, you enlisted us to deal with it since we’re the only ones in the group you have heard of that happen to have wings?” Nagare inquired, one of his own brows arched.

“Pretty much. You two look tired, though. I’ll get you a room in the Wonderbolts Academy you can stay in for the night.” Spitfire replied with a nod.

“Seems legit. That fight kinda drained me. We’ll look into it after we sleep.” Yuuki said, a faint smile on her muzzle.