Adventures in Equestria
Chapter 12:
The turtles and ponies worked hard for the rest of the day, stopping for a few breaks between harvesting sessions.
Leonardo was awed at how organized the Apple family seemed to be. Each pony had its own role, and without one of them, the whole process would fall apart. Applejack bucked the apples, Apple Bloom caught them in a basket, Big Macintosh hauled them over to Granny Smith, and she inspected them to see which ones were worth saving. Leo could even find similarities between the Apples and himself and his brothers when they used their ninjutsu skills.
Later in the evening, everyone agreed that it was time to stop for the day. Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo would arrive soon, and they'd already surpassed their daily bucking quota.
The group sat together in the Apples' living room and talked for a while, Applejack working with the turtles to explain their story.
There was a knock at the door, and Apple Bloom jumped to her hooves. "They're here!" The filly ran to the door and threw it open with a screech that was answered with two similar ones in unison.
Three blurs zoomed into the room: an orange one, a white one, and a yellow one.
"YAAAAAY!" the fillies exclaimed. Leo glanced nervously over at his brothers. If Apple Bloom alone was intimidating… this was three times worse.
The blurs stopped suddenly, leaving in their place three small ponies: an orange Pegasus with fuschia mane, a white unicorn with lilac and pink mane, and Apple Bloom.
"Guys, I want ya to meet our guests," Apple Bloom said, suddenly polite… sort of. She nodded over to where the brothers were sitting.
The two new ponies' eyes widened and they gasped.
"Woah!" the orange one exclaimed.
"What are you?" the white one asked. "Not to be rude, or anything."
Leo cleared his throat to answer, but Mikey beat him to it.
"We're turtle ninjas!" he proclaimed.
The fillies squeed with delight, then went into a flurry of babbling about how awesome it was.
After a few moments of initial excitement had passed, they calmed down. The unicorn stepped forward.
"I'm Sweetie Belle," she said in her squeaky voice. "This is Scootaloo. What are your names?"
Leo again took a breath to respond, and was again cut off by his youngest brother.
"I'm Michelangelo, and these are my bros, Leonardo, Raphael, and Donatello."
Sweetie Belle beamed with happiness. "Cool names!"
"Thanks!" Mikey replied, grinning like an idiot.
Apple Bloom giggled. "They're from another world, and they're stayin' with us until they can figure somethin' out."
"Awesome!" Scootaloo yelled. "Can you teach us how to be ninjas?" She looked over at the other fillies. "How cool would it be to have a ninja cutie mark?"
"The coolest!" Sweetie Belle squeaked at a pitch that anyone with a normal range of hearing should not have been able to hear.
"Yeah, dude! I can totally teach you!"
"Um, Mikey?" Leo asked, but his brother didn't seem to hear.
You can start out on the best weapon there is." He pulled out his own weapon. "The nunchuks!"
"Mikey?" Leo said, a little bit louder.
"And then we can teach you to kill shell!"
"Mikey!" Leo screeched. Michelangelo finally turned to look at his brother and leader, who beckoned him closer with one hand and a cross expression.
Mikey took a few steps closer to where Leo sat, and Raph and Donnie joined them in a huddle. "I don't think we should train them," Leo whispered.
"Aw, why not?" Mikey whined.
"Because they're just little kids. And they're ponies. We don't know how they operate, and we don't want them to get hurt. Even if they were human and somehow we knew them and they weren't freaked out by us, we would need to get permission from a parent or something."
Donnie nodded. "I agree. If they got hurt, their parents would be mad at us, and the last thing we need right now is an enemy. Who knows what could happen, what with magic existing here and all?"
"Plus, I don't want to spend more time with them than I have to," Raph added. "Ti's like having four Mikeys around."
Mikey sighed and pouted. "I never get to do what I want."
The turtles broke their huddle apart, and Mikey crossed his arms, looking at the ground. Leo looked over at the fillies, who were watching them with disappointment in their eyes.
"So you won't teach us?" Sweetie Belle asked.
"… You heard?" Leo inquired, to be answered with a solemn nod. "Well… we son't want you to get hurt."
"Yeah, okay," the small unicorn replied sadly.
"But we can still hang out with you, right?" Scootaloo asked, her voice betraying a hint of panic.
Leo nodded. "Of course!"
"Phew," Scootaloo replied. "Because he said he didn't want to spend time with us." She nodded at Raph, who shrugged as if he saw nothing wrong with his actions.