The red-maned unicorn opened the door and peeked in, finding Koto sound asleep. He crept up to her silently, horn glowing crimson. As soon as he was next to her, he removed the wet cloths from her forehead and horn, dipping them in a nearby kettle filled with very warm water sitting atop a small fire. Wringing out the excess water, he was about to place the cloths back on their proper places when he noticed that the blue unicorn was looking right at him with open eyes.

Koto smiled weakly, letting the cloths be wrapped around her horn and forehead.

“You still feel overheated?” Asked the red-maned unicorn.

“A little bit.” Koto answered, closing her eyes in contentment. “Maybe I can move my legs soon.”

“I know the feel. Being bedridden sucks.” The stallion replied. “I’m just glad your legs aren’t broken.”

“Technically, they are, Rekka. I still can’t move them without feeling pain.” Koto replied, eyes opening again.

Rekka thought her words over for a moment. “The muscles, I can see why you’d say that. The bones, there’s no way they can be broken.” He replied, blinking.

“True.” Koto sighed, nodding her head a bit. Her eyes narrowed a little bit. “But what I can’t understand is why so many ponies want Yoneko’s power. She’s not a plaything.”

“I can agree there.” Rekka stated, nodding his head. “I’m just glad we only had to toss out one bloke since we came here to guard her.”

“You know Las Pegasus?” Koto asked.

“Yeah. Why?” Rekka inquired, brow arched.

“I recall Yuuki saying about how she went there once for the hell of it. She said something about the movie celebrities there just yakkin’ on and on about garnering Yoneko’s favor to make themselves more popular.” Koto sighed, blinking. “Ever since the rumors started the day after the trial...we’ve just been seeing more and more selfish ponies, y’know?”

“Yeah. I guess that’s what fame, power, or some other thing does to a pony. Like those two who chased you. One wanted revenge on his boss and the other just tagged along.” Rekka replied, sitting down on his rear. “What bothers me is how did they even get here.”

“You can blame me for that. They chased me all the way to Ponyville.” Spoke another voice. The two unicorns turned to the source which stood just beyond the door: a lime green stallion with an emerald mane covering the right side of his face, which was wild and unkempt. Eyes the same color blinked once.

“From where, Nagare?” Rekka asked, brow arched.

“Bloody Manehatten.” Nagare answered, sighing. “And they kept asking me over and over about you-know-who.” He added, eyelids slanting and a slight frown on his face.

“Yikes.” Rekka stated, cringing at the thought.

“Indeed.” Nagare replied with a hesitant nod of his head. “Oh, I went and checked the weather today. The sun should set soon.”

“That reminds me...when’s Tenmei coming back?” Rekka asked, briefly glancing back at Koto.

“Soon, hopefully.” Nagare replied, a faint smile adorning his lips. “We all know how little Sekitan gets.

“He told me about his school day yesterday.” Koto remarked, also smiling faintly. “He dared some of his classmates to translate his Japanese, from what I hear.”

“I suspect that baffled the classmates.” Nagare replied, chuckling at the prospect.

“He said they all looked at him like he grew a horn then and there.” Koto sighed, also chuckling.

“I remember when you two sprouted horns. You held me like a damn pinata, Koto.” Nagare stated, still grinning.

“And you tried cutting off your wings.” Rekka remarked, a frown on his muzzle.

“Yeah. Overreacting like that was...uncalled for, on my part.” Nagare sighed, frowning again. He turned away from the room. “I’m going to take a bath and then sleep.” With that, he closed the door and trotted away, leaving the two unicorns alone.

“Perhaps we should avoid wearing the garments inside the cavern so often…” Koto sighed, eyes wandering off to the ceiling.

“Considering it’s June, I can see why you’d say that.” Rekka remarked, his horn lighting up. His garments were enveloped in a crimson aura which then pried said garments off his body. After that, he took a third cloth and quickly wiped away the sweat he had accumulated this day before drying off and putting them back on.

Koto winced, a foreleg slowly shifting under the covers. A hoof of scarlet covered in black stopped it.

“Hey, don’t move. You’re still not quite ready for that.” Rekka scorned, eyes narrowing a little bit.

“How am I supposed to grin and bear the pain if I don’t learn first?” Koto groaned, shifting her other foreleg slowly. “I can’t stay in bed forever.”

“You are right about that. Just...don’t push it too much.” Rekka sighed, retracting his hoof. He watched with worry as the mare shifted her limbs slowly, wincing and gritting her teeth the whole time, a necklace adorned with a topaz shifting around her neck as slow as her legs.

As time passed and the limbs weakly moved at a snail’s pace, the unicorn eventually got used to the pain. Hesitantly, she moved off of the bed in an attempt to stand on her numbed legs. Rekka stood idly by, ready to catch her when and if she collapsed.

“I’ve never envisioned walking being this cumbersome ever since my foreleg was broken all those years ago…” Koto complained, her legs wobbling like jelly regardless of whether she moved them or not. Slowly, with the stallion at her side, she made her way to the door of the room.

"Aside from trying to get used to the pain, why do you want to walk?" The stallion asked, eyes flashing with worry. "You want to go somewhere?"

"Yeah." The mare answered with a nod of her head as the two emerged into the hall. "I want to use the bathroom...without soiling the sheets again."

"I understand. But still...don't push it too much. You could still leak just walking, and that would be worse than wetting the bed." Rekka pointed out, eyelids slanting in worry.

Author's Note

Sekitan is Japanese for Coal, unless I'm very much mistaken; just wanted to throw that out there. :)

~Dragon