Band of Five Attributes (Re-Written)

More hours passed, and the three guest fillies said their goodbyes and left for their homes. After that, everyone crept into beds and fell asleep, save one.

Yuuki threw the covers off of herself, drenched head to hoof in sweat. She felt like she was sitting in a volcano’s magma chamber, muttering a single “dammit” as she got out of bed and placed all four hooves on the floor. Sighing, she spread her wings and began flapping them, hoping to cool off.

At first, the cool air generated by the wingbeats did ease the heat and sweat, but as she flapped on, the heat came back full-force. Yuuki furrowed her brow at this, and she could now understand why Koto was more irate than usual when she went into heat. It was a bothersome, sweltering, and above all, unbearably long experience.

The pegasus winced, feeling a stabbing pain in her gut as she closed her wings. She looked at her drenched body, and at the rate she was going, if she didn’t address this soon then she’d be sitting in a puddle of sweat every night trying to figure out what to do.

The mare grit her teeth, feeling the base of one wing twitch as an itch made itself known. She twisted her body a bit, biting down firmly on the itch over and over until it was quelled. After that, she sighed and trotted to the door, opening it and making her way to the bathroom.

Flicking on the light and closing the door behind her, she shot a quick glance to the mirror. Much of her mane clung to her body, and a hefty few feathers looked out of alignment.

It was a good thing she came here. She needed a bath pronto. The young mare sighed and trotted to the tub, making sure to turn on the showerhead. She climbed in, shuddering as the water hit every inch of her body, soaking her with a clean liquid and rinsing away the sweat as it did. After a bit of sitting there, she began to preen her wings to take her mind off the current predicament.

Once that was said and done, Yuuki went to turn off the water when a few knocks were heard. She froze, turning to the door as more knocks made themselves known to her ears. “Who is it?” She asked once the knocks had ceased.

“What are you doing in there? Shouldn’t you be asleep?” Kaguya called out from the other side. She opened the door and trotted in, making sure to close it behind her.

“I felt like I was in an oven and just couldn’t get comfortable in bed.” Yuuki answered, sighing. The water still raining down upon her seemed to keep her temperature steady, and it was cooling her off much more effectively than her wings.

Kaguya groaned. “Heat cycles round here seem to be like that nowadays. I know the feel.” She said.

Yuuki turned off the water and clambered out of the tub, her frame dripping a bit as she did. She grabbed the nearby towel and dried herself off with it. For the time being, she felt five times better than she had been moments ago.

“I was thinking lately…” Kaguya started, immediately catching the young mare’s attention.

“About what?” Yuuki asked, brow arched.

“Since you, I, Koto, and Raki get heat cycles and they’re pretty bad, perhaps we could pay Twilight Sparkle a visit on one of our good days. Many ponies tend to seek her for advice, so what’s stopping us from doing that too?”

“I wouldn’t blame them. She’s quite knowledgeable.” Yuuki replied with a nod. “But what if Celestia asks her to do something and she has to leave town to do that something?” She inquired, blinking a few times.

Kaguya put a hoof to her chin and rubbed it a little. “I do see the point there, but Celestia’s as unpredictable as we are. There may be something going on in one of the neighboring cities and she’d have to attend it for whatever reason.” She replied, nodding a little bit.

“Yeah...politics and running a country are a pain in the ass. If I were in her shoes for a week I’d probably be sleep deprived.” Yuuki sighed, shuddering a bit at the prospect.

“There’s just so much a princess like herself has to do. Perhaps she and Luna take turns ruling depending on the time of day?” Kaguya mused, faintly smiling.

“Who knows?” Yuuki replied, also grinning. She winced again and grit her teeth, a pang from her gut and another pang from her mareparts letting her know they needed tending to.

Kaguya took notice of the wince, and she frowned slightly. “I’ve noticed something else…” She said, catching Yuuki’s attention again. Before the pegasus could ask, the elder continued, “You haven’t gone into heat until now. I heard heat cycles tend to happen simultaneously, but...I think you know where I’m getting at.”

“So...you’re saying something screwed with my cycles?” Yuuki asked, brow arched.

“Something fierce, too.” Kaguya answered with a nod. “We’ll have to ask Redheart why later.”

“Provided the patients still lodged at the hospital don’t give her grief.” Yuuki added for her, sighing afterwards. She remembered when she first snapped at the nurse herself, and she winced as a pang of guilt made itself present.

“There’s that and surgeries and all that other stuff a nurse does.” Kaguya said, sitting down on her rump. “You going to bed anytime soon?” She asked.

“Yeah, actually I am. I just have to use the toilet first.” Yuuki answered.

Kaguya nodded. “Alright. Sleep tight.” She said, getting up and making her way out of the bathroom. Yuuki waited for a few moments, hearing the sound of another door close. A few more moments passed, and by then, the pegasus figured Kaguya had gone off into sleepyland.

The young mare turned off the light as she walked out of the bathroom, and quickly went to her room simply to close her door. She then trotted to the end of the hall, turning to the door on her right before opening it, slipping inside, closing the door behind her, and finding Nagare sound asleep on his bed. The mare made her way to him and gently placed a hoof on his shoulder and shook him awake.

The stallion groaned as he was aroused, turning his head to glance at the one who woke him. “Yuuki...why are you still up?” He whispered, blinking a few times as he spoke.

Yuuki was silent, though only for a moment. “Can we share the bed tonight?” She whispered, a faint blush on her face.

The green pegasus smiled faintly, sighing contently. “Just don’t fall off. I’d hate to wake up and find you’ve gotten a bruise because you landed or something.” He replied, scooching to the wall to make room for her. She climbed in, covering up next to him.

"I have a bad feeling about tomorrow..." She murmured, eyes fixated on the other pegasus.

"Why is that?" Nagare asked, brow arched as he looked back at her.

"I dunno...it's just...ugh, maybe Kaguya's paranoia's getting contagious." Yuuki replied, unable to come up with a better answer. Her mind was pulling blanks now.

"I guess the heat's driving you up the wall?" The green pegasus asked, blinking.

"Only starting to, really." Yuuki sighed, closing her eyes.

"I see. Let's just get to sleep, and conserve our energy. We won't know what'll happen tomorrow, anyway." Nagare pointed out, closing his eyes and sighing afterwards.

"I guess you're right..." Yuuki murmured before they both went to sleep.

The next morning was a little slow since everyone had to eat breakfast and whatnot. After that, a brief chatter broke out before 01 had spoken. “I think I’ve found a decent-paying job around these parts.”

“That being?” Koto asked, brow arched. This she had to hear.

“Simple: an assistant teacher at the local elementary school. I hear one of the best teachers, Cherilee, is overworked, and I applied when a flier came in the mail yesterday.” 01 answered, a warm smile on his face.

“I see. So, I assume you’ll start work sometime this week?” Nagare inquired, tilting his head slightly.

“Yes. Not only that, but Mimi’s of school age around these parts...in short, she’s getting enrolled.” The elder answered.

“But I can’t read their language!” Mimi complained, jaw agape and ears flat.

“I’ll serve as translator, don’t worry.” 01 replied, sighing. “I’ve already told Cherilee we write a different language, and she agreed to copy your notes into her language as I translate, so that’s been taken care of.”

Mimi sighed in relief, and closed her mouth. Her ears returned upright.

“I may as well enroll Mimu while I’m at it.” 01 stated, rubbing the back of his head with a hoof.

“At least one of us will watch them at all times.” Kaguya agreed with a nod.

01 looked at her, eyes narrowing a bit. “You’re getting much too paranoid, woman. I am starting to worry for you.” He said.

“We’ll talk about that later.” Kaguya replied, blinking.

Someone began knocking on the door, and Yuuki got up and trotted to it. The door opened, and to her surprise, a few royal guards--complete with chariot--were standing beyond the door.

“Greetings,” Stated one guard, “Prince Shining Armor and Princess Mi Amore Cadenza have invited you to come to the Crystal Empire.”

“Could you pardon me for a few moments?” Yuuki asked. The guard nodded, and the pegasus trotted back to the table. She glanced at everyone quickly before making her way upstairs to get her weapon. The others who had weapons followed suit quickly before the lot returned to re-greet the guards.

“We heard that the five of you are being cautious. At ease.” The guard said upon noticing rather tense looks on all five faces. A collective sigh came from them.

Koto turned back to everyone else. “We’ll be back when...well, whenever.” She said.

“We understand. Just behave, alright?” Kaguya nodded back.

“Will do.” With that, the five boarded the carriage and were soon taken to the skies.