/N: I am SO sorry that this took me so long, but I'm having a lot of writer's block lately. UGH!
Plus, this is just sort of a Segway into the rest of the plot. Nothing too extreme really happens.
Chapter 10:
A malicious laughter filled Michelangelo's ears. Darkness surrounded him and his brothers, and they all took out their weapons. Mikey swung his nun chucks in their trademark circles, but he was unusually nervous. Tension grew in the air, and he could tell that something was about to happen.
The laughter sounded again, and Mikey heard a scream. He looked at his brothers, and saw that Leo was being dragged into the darkness.
"Leo!" the remaining turtles called. Now they were blind and leaderless.
Donatello shrieked in shock, and suddenly disappeared.
"Donnie!" Now it was only Mikey and Raph left in this void of darkness. Raphael stood protectively in front of his little brother, who was now whimpering in fear. Then, the red turtle stiffened, proceeding to wriggle around and mumble unintelligibly, as if he was held by an invisible hand.
Mikey reached out to put his hand on Raphael's shoulder, but when his skin made contact with something, it was a pile of dust that was falling to the ground. Raph was gone, and now Mikey was alone.
The dark laughter intensified, and Mikey screamed.
He sat up and opened his eyes, breathing heavily. It was just a dream.
Le, Raph, and Donnie had woken up when they heard the scream, and were now standing with their weapons at the ready from instinct. When they saw that nothing was wrong, the turned to Mikey.
"What's wrong?" Leo asked.
Mikey didn't answer.
The orange turtle's tree brothers put away their weapons. "Do you want to talk about it?" Leo inquired.
Mikey shook his head, not looking up. He wanted to run over to his brothers and hug them, but he didn't want to seem like a little kid.
Raph went over to sit by Mikey under his window. Being so close to his brother, Michelangelo couldn't stop himself from throwing his arms around Raphae's sturdy form. "I was all alone."
"That'll never happen," Raph replied gently, extremely out of character. "We'll always be around. "" He softly patter the back of his younger brother's shell.
Mikey let go of Raph and sniffed. "Thanks. I feel better now."
"Let's go get some apples for breakfast," Donatello suggested.
"That sounds good," Leonardo replied.
Raph stood and held out a hand to help Mikey up, and they all headed out the door of the shed.
Each of the turtles headed to his own apple tree to pick his breakfast. A distant thump sounded, but the team thought nothing of it. Mikey took a bit out of an apple and chewed a bit. "Not as good as pizza," he said around his mouthfull.
The thump sounded again sounded again, this time closer and followed by a series of smaller thumps.
"What's that noise?" Leo asked.
The thumping stopped.
A clump of nearby bushes trembled, and the turtles instinctively prepared themselves for a battle. Each took out his own respective weapon and posed in a defensive stance.
An orange blob lin a cowboy hat plummeted through the bush. It was just Applejack. The turtles relaxed and put their weapons away.
"Hey, ya'll," the pony greeted, her accent thickening her voice. "Just wanted to check on ya 'n make sure ya settled in alright."
"We're fine," Leo replied. "Thank you for letting us stay here."
"It's no problem," Applejack said.
"What was that thumping sound we heard?" Donatello asked.
"Oh, that? It's Applebuck Season!" I have to harvest the apples."
"How? You can't reach them, and you don't even have hands! You're not a unicorn, so you can't use magic... Can you?"
AJ chuckled. "Nope, no magic, just this!" She trotted over to the nearest tree and turned her back to it, proceeding to give the trunk a mighty kick. The apples that had been attached to the branches moments before trembled and fell to the ground.
"Impressive leg strength," Leo complimented.
"Eh, I've seen better," Raph countered.
"Thanks, Leo," Applejack said, ignoring Raphael's rudeness.
"So," Donnie sighed in a bored manner. "Do you have anything you need us to do? We should keep ourselves busy to prevent wandering thoughts..."
Applejack thought for a moment. "I guess, since you're stayin' here for a while, ya'll could meet the family if ya like."
The turtles exchanged a glance.
"We'll have to come out of the shadows at some points," Leo mused. "I don't see why it can't be now."
"Alrighty," AJ said excitedly. "Follow me."
The gang of brothers followed closely behind their new equine acquaintance, not wanting to get lost in the maze of trees that enveloped them.
"Hey, dudes," Mikey said, taking another bite out of the large apple he'd chosen for his breakfast. "Do you think that after we meet AJ's family, we could go exploring?"
Raph sighed. Mikey always seemed to be so optimistic. Most of the time it was annoying, but every once in a while, it helped improve everyone's mood. Raph wasn't sure which of those options this situations fell under.
"Yeah, we might as well get used to our new surroundings," Leo replied, somehow still sustaining an air of leadership.
After a few minutes of walking, the large red barn loomed over the group, able to be seen through the trees.
"Almost there!" Applejack promised.
The band pushed their way through the last of the trees, then glanced around curiously.
Over by the barn stood two ponies; one was very tall and red with an orange mane and tail, and the other was very short and yellow with a reddish-pink mane and tail. The turtles were too far to be able to make out what their 'cutie marks' were, but they could see a splotch of green on the larger one's flank.
"Those are Big Macintosh and Apple Bloom," Applejack informed. "Granny Smith's probably in the house. I'll go get her and get them all ready to meet ya. Ya'll stay ere, okay?"
The turtles nodded in unison.
Applejack nodded in reply and began to trot over to the big cottage-style house.
The brothers sat down, patiently awaiting their new friend's return.