The Beckoning of Nature (Re-Written)

The visitors exchanged worried glances with one another.

“Why is that?” Kurei asked, brow arched.

“I’m not sure.” Reina answered, shaking her head.

Kaguya trotted from the kitchen, balancing a big platter with plates and glasses on it. All sorts of breakfast items were on it, so much it looked like it would tip over any second. Koto trotted up to her and lifted the entire thing with her magic, placing it with care upon the table thereafter. “Thank you.” The white earth pony said, smiling.

“You’re welcome.” Koto replied, also smiling. The earth mare then trotted back to the kitchen, probably to arrange even more breakfast platters and drinks. Reina and Kaze and the other two dug in immediately, being careful to save some for the other sleeping ponies upstairs.

“I can smell the chow all the way from here!” Mimu chimed as she descended down the stairs, her mane frazzled a bit. She quickly made her way to the table and took a seat and plate before stuffing her muzzle full of food. “It’s good!” The pixie-winged mare remarked after downing a piece of toast with bits of egg on it.

“Indeed!” Kaze agreed with a nod, scarfing down a piece of sausage afterwards.

“So,” Imura started after rending a piece of toast asunder and swallowing it, “is this town a nice place?”

“Yeah. Very nice. I was lucky to land here in my first days.” Koto remarked, smiling faintly. “Had Nurse Redheart and Doctor Stable not helped me, I may not be here.”

“Why is that?” Aoi asked as she came down the stairs.

“Long story short...someone, and I don’t know who, decided to stab me in my left foreleg. Bone was fractured and poking out of the skin, and I was bleeding badly, from what the nurse told me.” The unicorn answered, grimacing at the thought.

Aoi cringed, the image of her sister’s wounded foreleg running through her mind. Her eyelids slanted in worry, and she looked like she was going to cry. “Did it hurt?!” She shrieked, her legs shaking.

“For a little while.” Koto answered, sighing. “But I got better.”

“But I thought Kaguya said something about this land being peaceful.” Reina remarked, turning to the unicorn with a brow arched.

“For all I know, I could’ve just landed badly. I remember falling from the sky before blacking out.” The unicorn replied, blinking.

“If that was the case, the crash should’ve killed you on impact.” Reina sighed, worry flashing in her eyes.

“For all five of us, I agree that should’ve been the case.” The green pegasus began, eyelids slanting. “But I wonder if something saved us before we could die.”

“Whatever the reason, I’m sure we wouldn’t be here had the miracle not happened.” The tan pony stated, ears twitching. “We just haven’t found the why yet.”

“I think it was absurd luck on our side.” The red-maned unicorn said, blinking. “I mean, it couldn’t have been anything else--Reina said so herself, we should all be dead by now; yet we aren’t.”

“But not even luck can explain such a circumstance, Rekka. We all know that.” The purple pegasus pointed out, wings twitching. “I’d like to think it was divine intervention.”

“You’re saying Celestia and Luna helped us land in a non-fatal manner?” Rekka asked, turning to the pegasus with a brow arched. “How could they have done that, with the royal duties piling on them day by day?” He retorted, frowning.

Yuuki winced. She fell silent as her mind worked out the words of the unicorn.

“He does have a point.” Tenmei agreed with a slow nod of his head, glasses glinting for a moment as he looked at the red unicorn. “Perhaps it was a few passerby who saw us descend?”

“Maybe.” Koto sighed, blinking as she exchanged a glance with the other visitors. “Nurse Redheart told me a few ponies toted me to the hospital while I was out cold.”

“Perhaps.” Nagare began again, raising a hoof for a moment. “But...even if passerby didn’t stop our fall, then what did?”

“Who knows? I certainly don’t.” Yuuki replied with a shrug as she glanced at her fellow pegasus. “Let’s just be glad we’re alive and we can see our siblings again. Not all ponies are as lucky as we are…” She trailed off, looking at Imura with worry flashing in her eyes.

“In that case, we should also be glad the Quartet isn’t running around fucking up everything in sight anymore.” The blue unicorn said rather harshly, eyes narrowing for the briefest of moments. “Think of the countless live they could’ve hurt had we not been there to stop all of their messes-in-the-making.”

“Heard they also threatened Celestia and Luna. If they had won…” Tenmei trailed off, cringing and closing his eyes, “ugh, I don’t even WANT to think about that.”

“I can’t blame ya. I swear, they got worse and worse until the princesses gave them the boot to Tartarus.” Rekka agreed, nodding his head as he turned to the earth pony.

“How much worse?” Reina asked, blinking.

“Let’s just say they began to resort to...violence.” The purple pegasus sighed, avoiding eye contact with the mossy mare.

Kaguya trotted into the room again, with more platters on her back. These were again removed by Koto and placed on the table. The white-pelted mare noticed the looks on the visitors’ faces, and she blinked. “Did we have a change in topic?” She asked.

“Into a rather...unsettling topic, yes.” The green pegasus answered with a hesitant nod of his head. “I was going to ask if we could change it, actually.”

“I’ll...go turn off the stove and wake everyone else up, then.” Kaguya sighed, once more trotting into the kitchen. The stovetop was still burning hot, and it was on. She trotted over to it and turned the switch for one of the eyes that was currently on.

The red of the eye faded, signalling that it was turned off. Another eye was shut off in short order, and for a moment, the mare’s ears had flattened.

“Should I tell Reina about what happened all those years ago?” She thought, turning off another eye. The mare inspected the stove, and sighed as she found all of the eyes successfully switched off. “Hell, would she even believe me at this point? Considering she’s still in her beginning weeks of being in Equestria and simply getting used to the laws which don’t apply to Japan?”

For a moment, all was quiet in the kitchen, save for the echoes of the bickering bunch at the table. And for a few moments more, Kaguya stood there, her mind scrambling every which-way it could, all the while her eyelids slanted and her ears flattened once more against her skull.