Band of Five Attributes (Re-Written)

Luna sat in her room at the palace, light of the waking dawn shining through very large open windows. Before her was a simple oak desk, atop it was a half-melted candle still lit aglow by a soft blue flame, and an inkwell whose liquid was of the finest quality.

The door opened, and the princess turned to glance at it. Standing beyond was another white guard, looking at her whilst blinking.

“Do you need anything, Your Majesty?” The guard asked.

Luna sighed contently. “Could you get me a few pieces of blank paper, if you please?”

“Right away, Your Majesty.” The guard replied before closing the door and taking off to get the requested item.

For a few moments, all was silent. Luna waited very patiently for the guard to return with the papers, and when he came back, she thanked him for the paper, sat them on the desk between the candle and inkwell, and sent him back to his post.

She pulled out a drawer of the desk with her magic, and within the confines was a hefty assortment of quills. One was lifted out of the drawer which was then closed, and held above the inkwell via magic.

The quill was dipped, and the tip was now coated in ink. Four pieces of the paper were spread out, and the rest of the stack placed neatly in the corner.

Luna furrowed her brow and sighed. The quill was moved over one piece of paper, and it was about to inscribe something when the door was opened yet again. The princess put the quill in the inkwell and glanced at the door, quickly donning a mask of emotionlessness in the process, and found Celestia looking at her this time.

“You saw more nightmares this time, am I correct?” Celestia inquired, blinking.

“I always do every night. Our little ponies--as well as the outsiders--cannot all have good dreams at once, no matter how hard I wish they did.” Luna pointed out, nodding as she spoke. “You know that as much as I do, sister.”

Celestia nodded back. “By ‘outsiders,’ do you mean…” The white alicorn paused, trying very hard to remember the name of the stallion who had given her what little he could of the Frontier Quartet. So much had happened in the last few weeks her memory didn’t quite function like she had hoped.

So much for politics.

“Yes, I mean Nagare and his friends. And, by extension, the Quartet as well, though they do not dream as much as the others.” Luna answered before Celestia could finish her question, sighing afterwards.

“Luna, you sound...troubled lately.” Celestia said quickly, catching her sister entirely off-guard with her remark.

Luna’s eyes widened briefly, before her face reverted to that mask of emotionlessness it had prior. No matter how hard she wanted to, she couldn’t deny her sister’s words, and the truth ringing within those words.

“That...I do indeed.” Luna admitted hesitantly. She turned her attention back to the paper, levitating the quill and letting the excess ink drip down back into the well. “One set of nightmares from a particular stallion were...troubling. So were those of his friends.”

“‘Troubling?’” Celestia inquired, curiosity aroused.

“Could you...give me some time alone, sister? I need to do something important.” Luna sighed, jotting down four names--one on each of the papers spread out in front of her.

“Very well. I shall have a little talk with Discord in the meantime, if he is able to come today.” Celestia sighed, closing the door after exchanging another glance with her sister and going about her business.

Luna looked to the paper on her immediate leftmost side, marked very neatly with the name of the red-maned unicorn stallion of one of the households she payed a visit to last night. Next to that, very neatly written, were the words ‘what his nightmares depict.’

From this stallion, she had surprisingly very few nightmares. But what the nightmares lacked in number, they more than made up for in causing him to shriek in the mornings when they did transpire.

She wrote quickly, but neatly, and once her handiwork had been done, she looked over the list to make sure she didn’t miss anything or add anything that didn’t belong.

Name of recipient of nightmares: Rekka
Species: Unicorn
Gender: Stallion

What his nightmares depict: Usually being overpowered by a large pony (about the size of an Ursa Major) with a deep, booming voice. Before waking up, he often hears a mare shrieking as she is swiftly killed. Sometimes, he is bound in chains above spikes or boiling lava, usually by the same ‘titan pony,’ or so he calls it.

Cause of nightmares: According to the recipient, the nightmares began sometime after he and a fellow captive had escaped from some unknown place with the help of a fellow third prisoner.

“Alright, time to document the next one…” Luna murmured to herself, once more moving the quill on the second piece of paper. Once finished, the paper looked something like this:

Name of recipient of nightmares: Koto
Species: Unicorn
Gender: Mare

What her nightmares depict: Usually wakes up in a dark place, her magic often failing to work. ‘When the lights come on,’ so to speak, she is stabbed and beaten with what appears to be a knife and baseball bat. In the event her magic does work, her horn is removed with a sledgehammer. Sometimes, she also dreams of the ‘titan pony,’ albeit it is Rekka who is killed before waking up.

Cause of nightmares: Nightmares reportedly began sometime after she and her fellow captive, Rekka, had escaped some unknown place. According to her, the place looked and even had the feel of a dungeon.

Luna double-checked the two documents she’d already created, making sure things added up. After that, she moved to the third piece of paper, and the following had been the result.

Name of recipient of nightmares: Yuuki
Species: Pegasus
Gender: Mare

What her nightmares depict: Usually either one of two things; the first being her travelling in a winter wonderland with her friends. A monster appears and overpowers the group, and before she wakes up, a stallion whispers into her ear. The other ‘normal’ circumstance is being horrifically abused by a tall, gold-pelted unicorn stallion.

Cause of nightmares: Reportedly, the nightmares began after she was placed in the hospital to have glass removed from the right side of her face, which transpired with her being involved in a trainwreck as a mere passerby. She vividly recalls being tortured on at least one occasion, perhaps twice. The abuse revolved heavily around physical and sexual assault, to the point she went comatose for two months.

Luna sighed, reading the document over again. “Nopony should have to suffer that kind of treatment…” She murmured, brow furrowing again as she neared the bottom of the document. “At least her friends had helped her to cope rather well…” The princess sighed, remembering how the young pegasus acted after they had first met in person. Despite her ordeal, the purple mare almost acted as if nothing happened, but could never deny what had transpired.

The princess, to be blunt, was told everything, and in such vivid detail she couldn’t help but see the very image of that atrocity playing out in her head. It was very disturbing indeed.

Luna sighed once more, and closed her eyes momentarily. Then, she went about making the fourth document with the scanned memories of the ‘particular’ stallion from whom she received them.

Name of recipient of nightmares: Tenmei
Species: Earth pony
Gender: Stallion

What his nightmares depict: Demon-like ponies insulting him as they rip him apart limb by limb. It almost seems he isn’t allowed to wake up until the bitter end.

Cause of nightmares: Currently to be determined from his memories alone; it is to be noted he has the inability to speak of what had happened to cause the nightmares. From what his friends say, he was comatose in critical condition for a month, during which time he was under extensive care for serious injuries whose source remains unknown. It is also noted he fears for his friends, saying that if he uttered a word of whatever had happened, what harmed him would kill them.

Luna shook her head, vividly recalling the blurs and shouts and whatnot from last night’s trip to the dream world. She lifted another piece of paper, and began to jot on it with her quill after dipping it in more ink.

Today was going to be a long day for the princess of the night.