Chapter 6:
The white pony fainted, just barely being caught by her orange friend before she hit the ground.
Raph let out a chuckle. "That'll never get old."
Twilight trotted over to the new ponies. "Is Rarity okay, Applejack?"
"She should be fine, but…" The orange pony leaned to one side so that she could get a better look at the strange creatures who had caused her friend to faint.
"Oh," Twilight said. "I'd like you to meet Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello, and Michelangelo. They came from a different world."
"Well, that would explain their appearance." Applejack's voice was thick with a southern accent.
Leonardo approached the ponies. "Sorry for scaring you and your friend."
"It's fine, but… What exactly are you?"
"We were all going to explain that once the whole group got here," Leo replied turning to Twilight. "Is this it?"
The blue pony called Rainbow Dash appeared in the sky.
"It is now," Twilight answered. "We just have to get Rarity to come to."
"As if on cue, the white pony with purple mane began to wake up. Her blue eyes blinked open delicately.
"Where am I?" She looked around and saw the turtles again. "AAAH!" She began to scramble out of Applejack's grasp, but the orange pony tightened her grip.
"Hold on there, sugarcube. These fellars aren't gonna hurt you. At least, I think they won't."
"No promises," Raphael added, causing Leo to roll his eyes.
"No, we won't hurt you," the eldest turtle corrected.
The white pony settled down a bit. "Well, in that case, just let me say that your fashion sense is a bit strange. I do like the color schemes. Your mask colors match your skin tones fairly well."
"Um… thanks…" Leonardo was a bit confused at what the pony was talking about.
"Oh, how rude of me! I'm Rarity."
"I'm Leonardo, and these are my brothers: Raphael, Donatello, and Michelangelo."
"How come I'm always last?" Mikey complained.
"Because you're the stupidest," Raph replied nonchalantly. Leo rolled his eyes yet again.
Twilight cleared her throat. "Now, if you don't mind, we were all going to have a question-and-answer session. Would everypony like to join?"
Five pony heads nodded.
"Alright, let's begin."
The group of ten sat down in a circle in the dirt.
"So, uh… Should I go back to explaining what humans are, then?" Leonardo inquired.
"How about you go back to the beginning," Donnie suggested.
So, the four turtles worked together to tell the tale of their creation while the ponies listened in awe. The mutants did their best to explain what humans were, and a few other things about the world they came from, like how the clods move by themselves and most animals didn't need anyone to take care of them.
"But that's like the Everfree Forest!" Applejack pointed out.
"The what?" Leo asked.
"The Everfree Forest," Twilight explained, "is a forest, as you can tell by the name, but it's all very unnatural. Like AJ said, no one takes care of the animals or moves the clouds; they just do it themselves. Plus, all sorts of monsters live there, like timberwolves and Ursa Majors.
"However, we do know somepony who lives there. She's a zebra, and her name is Zecora."
"Those monsters you mentioned…" Donnie brought up. "Can you describe them to me?"
"Well, timberwolves are just that – wolves made of timber. I'm not sure how to defeat them, but you can slow them down by smashing their bodies. It takes a while for them to reform. And Ursa Majors are giant bears that look like they're made of starlight. They're enormous and there are no records of one ever being defeated. Their babies are Ursa Minors, which are only slightly easier to vanquish."
"And you know that from experience, right Twi?" Rainbow Dash added.
"Well, yes, but I wasn't going to bring that up. That really would be bragging."
"Fascinating," Donatello said. "It seems these monsters' names are puns in themselves. You see, in our world, there are timberwolves, but they're just wolves. They aren't really made of wood. And the Ursa Major is a constellation that looks like a ladle, but was named after a bear from Greek mythology. It's also known as the Big Dipper, and there is another constellation that looks similar, but smaller. It's called either the Ursa Minor or the Little Dipper."
"That really is strange," Twilight replied.
Suddenly, Fluttershy gasped loudly.
"Are you alright, Fluttershy?" Rarity asked. "What is it?"
The shy yellow pony galloped over to where Raphael was sitting, her eyes locked on something on the mutant's lap.
"Is that a turtle?"