//------------------------------// // Blade Swipe's Tragic Tale // Story: Turtles of Equestria // by Wildcard25 //------------------------------// One day the girls and the ninjas were on a train bound for the Crystal Empire. As each of them were seated, Leonardo spoke up to Twilight, "I hope the Crystal Ponies are as accepting of us as the ones in Ponyville." "Don't worry about it, Leo. The ponies there will love you guys." Twilight assured him. "How do you figure?" Raph inquired. "Because they learned to get along with species outside their own kind." Starlight answered. "Such as?" Casey wondered. Spike spoke up, "Well, for one thing I am the hero of the Crystal Empire. Twice in fact." Karai replied, "Oh, right. I heard you helped save it from it's tyrannical ruler, and saved a huge sporting event going on there?" "That's right," Spike confirmed, "The ponies there call me 'Spike The Brave and Glorious'." he stood proud. "Wow. I wish I had a cool title like that." Mikey said with hope. "Keep dreaming." Raph burst his bubble. "And Spike also helped us accept a changeling who wanted to be good and not bad." Twilight added. "And he ended up becoming the new ruler of the Changelings." Pinkie finished. "So don't be frettin' about being accepted." Applejack said. "Indeed. And you'll find The Crystal Empire is very beautiful," Rarity said, "Like a glittering diamond in the sun." she sighed heavenly. "And it'll be useful for me to gather my own information on Equestria that I can archive back home." Donnie said, as he was going over his recorded notes on Equestria. "And a chance to see your brother and sister-in-law." April said. "And you've guys have to meet my little niece, she's the cutest little foal you'll ever meet." Twilight while gushing. "I really have to see that." Sunset admitted, as the group laughed. Outside the train, Blade's crow was following them from the sky feeding the images to its master. Blade was watching through his crows vision of the train moving, and spoke to himself, "So they're on their way to the Crystal Empire? Not a bad place to stage an attack. And I've always wanted to see it up close," he chuckled to himself, before snapping his fingers, and Dusk Ninjas appeared before him, "Prepare yourselves, my Dusk Ninjas. We're going to the Crystal Empire." the ninjas bowed their heads before vanishing back into the shadows, leaving Blade to himself as he dawned spiked armor pads for his knees, elbows, and shoulders. Meanwhile the train had just pulled into the Crystal Empire station, and everyone stepped off, "Oh, yeah. A chance to stretch my legs." Mikey said, as he walked around. "Come on. The Crystal Empire's this way." Twilight said, as they walked down the path leading to the gates. As they walked through the kingdom, the ninjas looked around in awe, "No wonder they call it the Crystal Empire." Shini noted. "Yeah. So shiny." Mikey marveled. Casey looked at several crystal ponies coats, "How do they get their coats to look like that?" "Years of living here, I guess." Applejack answered. Fluttershy looked at Spike who was walking casually and proud of himself, "You're not going to wear a disguise, Spike?" "Not this time," Spike answered, "If I keep wearing one every time I come here I might end up making a habit out of it, and I'd rather not make it a habit." As they reached the town square, ponies started cheering, "Spike the Brave and Glorious!" Spike turned to his friends from New York, "Show time." he said, as Crystal Ponies surrounded him and bombarded him with praise and admiration. "He really is a celebrity." Shini told Karai, Leo, and Mikey. "Yeah. So lucky." Mikey said feeling envious. Twilight finally used her magic to levitate Spike out of the crystal pony fan mob, "Sorry, everypony, but Spike must be coming along with us." the crystal ponies groaned in disappointment, as they walked on. "If that's really how fans react to celebrities I'm glad we stay out of the limelight back home." Raph said. "No kidding. Can you imagine the media trying to comb the sewers just to find us for an exclusive?" Leo asked. "Well, luckily Muckman is able to keep the media from trying to find us." Donnie replied. As they reached the castle they could see the statue of Spike holding the crystal heart outside, "A little much, isn't this?" Karai asked Spike and Twilight. "Hey, I ain't complaining." Spike replied. "I hope one day the people of New York will erect a statue of us one day." Mikey hoped. "In your dreams, Mikey." Raph replied. "Hey, is that the Crystal Heart?" April asked, as she gazed at the spinning artifact. "That's it all right." Twilight confirmed. "There's no corrupt pony living inside it, is there?" Donnie asked the ponies, while April recalled her issue with her aeon crystal. "Don't be ridiculous, Donnie." Twilight chuckled. "Just wanna make sure." he said. "Come on, let's go in." Twilight and the girls showed them all inside. Upon entering the throne room a Crystal guard announced, "Her royal highness, Princess Twilight Sparkle!" Standing by the throne were Twilight's brother Shining Armor, her sister-in-law Cadence, her infant niece Flurryheart, and the Crystaller Sunburst. Cadence spoke up in joy, "Twilight!" she galloped over. "Cadence!" Twilight cheered, as she galloped to her. Upon reaching each other the two performed their special 'hoofshake', "Sunshine! Sunshine! Ladybugs awake! Clap your hooves and do a little shake!" the two laughed and embraced. The ninjas watched as Mikey looked amazed, "Dudes, we should have our own handshake like that." "If we did you'd probably keep changing it to make us mess it up." Raph replied. "Twily!" Shining Armor came over and embraced her, "Good to see you, sis." "Good to see you too, Shining Armor," Twilight greeted, before looking down at Flurryheart in her stroller, "And there's my little niece." she started kissing her, making the baby giggle. "Sunburst!" Starlight cheered, as she trotted over to her childhood friend. "Good to see you, Starlight." he greeted back, and the two embraced. Twilight spoke up, "I'd like you to meet some friends of mine," she brought her friends from the other world over, "First off this is Sunset Shimmer." "Nice to meet you two." Sunset bowed her head while recalling about Sci-Twilight's brother who was an alumni of Crystal Prep and the Dean turned Principal Cadence. "And it's very nice to meet you." Cadence greeted. "We wanna thank you for looking after Twilight in the other world." Shining Armor thanked her. "No problem." Sunset replied feeling sheepish and relieved that they weren't thinking about how she first stole the crown. "And these are my ninja friends from New York City," Twilight introduced, "There's Leonardo, Donatello, Michelangelo, Raphael, April O'Neil, Casey Jones, Karai, and Shinigami." "Yes, the famous mutant ninjas," Shining Armor began, "We've heard a lot about you," he leaned close to Leo, "Thanks for taking care of my sister when there was danger." "No problem." Leo said, while sensing Shining Armor was secretly in protective big brother mode. "We welcome you to the Crystal Empire," Cadence began, "I'm Princess Cadence, this is my husband Shining Armor, our Crystaller Sunburst. And this is our little foal, Flurryheart." The group of ninjas walked up to the stroller and gathered around to see Flurryheart smiling and giggling at them. Mikey spoke up sounding adorable, "Oh! Look at the cute little baby! Cootchie-cootchie-coo!" "She's beautiful." April marveled. "Yeah." Karai agreed, while thinking about how happy her father looked when he held her as a newborn baby in his arms. Flurryheart giggled, as she suddenly poofed away and reappeared on Raph's head, "Hey!" Raph called in surprise. "Sorry about this," Cadence said, as she levitated Flurry over to her, "Flurryheart can be very mischievous and curious." "That's for sure." Twilight agreed. "Well, it's natural," Leo admitted, "When my brothers and I were tykes we were all curious." "Ah, the good old days." Mikey said in nostalgia. "Come on, let's go someplace to sit down and talk." Shining Armor offered, as they all left for the parlor. Outside the Crystal Empire, Blade who was wearing his cloak was sneaking around before passing the gate. He quickly blended in with the shadows, before summoning his Dusk Ninjas, "Ok, boys. Fan out and report back to me when you found them," The shadow ninjas vanished, as Blade Swipe put his hood up before walking around the empire trying to keep it casual. He then saw a Dusk Ninja hiding behind a house signaling to come over. He went over and spoke to it, "Did you find them?" the Dusk Ninja answered by pointing to the castle, "Of course. Where else?" Meanwhile back at the castle, the ninjas were getting to know the Royal couple and Sunburst some more, "So you went to Celestia's school for gifted unicorns like Twilight and Sunset Shimmer?" April asked. "I did." Sunburst confirmed. "But you dropped out?" Donnie asked. "Unfortunately," Sunburst sighed, "Turns out I didn't have as much magic reserves to cast bigger spells than I am at studying them." "And yet you still helped Twilight and the others save the Crystal Empire and restore the Crystal Heart." Leo reminded him. "Well, I couldn't have done it without a little guidance." he smiled at Starlight who returned the gesture. As Mikey was playing with Flurryheart, Shining and Cadence were talking to Sunset and Twilight, "I still can't believe you and Twilight went into space." Shining said to Sunset. "Well, we had no choice. We had to save the planet from the Triceratons." Sunset replied. "And we're sorry to hear about your friend Fugitoid." Cadence said with condolence. "Yeah, but he did what was right for all of us." Sunset answered, while still sad over the loss of the Professor. "But his past self is still alive with our past selves somewhere in space." Twilight reminded her. Everyone was feeling at peace, until the doors burst open, and a crystal guard stepped in, "Your majesties, the castle's under attack!" "What?" Shining and Cadence asked in shock. "By who?" Twilight asked. "Ponies dressed in black, carrying weapons like your friends there." he motioned to the turtle brothers. "Dusk Ninjas!" the brothers gasped. Sunset spoke up, "Was there another with them?" "Actually, yes." the guard answered. "Blade Swipe." Twilight's eyes tightened. "Are you kidding me?!" Raph asked in exasperation. "That guy just doesn't wanna leave us alone." Casey said. "Come on!" Leo ordered, as his comrades drew their weapons and headed to find their opponents. Cadence gave Flurryheart to the guard, "Take Flurryheart to her nursery right away." "Yes, your highness." the guard answered, as he took the child and protected her, while Shining, Cadence, and Sunburst followed the group. They hurried through the castle halls before opening the doors to the throne room. What they saw was the Dusk Ninjas fighting more Crystal Guards, with the guards losing having never faced anything like the shadow ninja ponies before. While sitting on the throne was Blade Swipe watching everything like it was entertainment to him. "Blade Swipe!" Leo called out. Blade spoke up, as he got off the throne, "Welcome, fellow ninjas. I was wondering when you'd get here." "You have a lot of nerve coming here." Twilight said firmly. "When I heard you were all coming here I couldn't pass up the chance to see the legendary Crystal Empire," he eyed the royal couple, "And it's rulers as well." he did a mock bow. "We gonna talk all day or are we going to get some action?" Raph asked, getting ready to fight. "Ninjas, take 'em down!" Leo ordered. The group engaged the Dusk Ninjas along side the crystal guards. Twilight used her magic to teleport her Kamayari Sickle Spear to her. And used her magic to giver her hooves a pair of magical aura hands to grip it, "Good thing I found this spell. Makes using my weapon easier." she gripped her spear and attacked the Dusk Ninjas. As Shining and Cadence used their own magic to blast or repel some Dusk Ninjas, they noticed how well Twilight's ninja friends were fighting, "They really are good." Cadence said feeling impressed. "Yeah. Maybe we should hire them as guards." Shining said. As Leo made it through the Dusk Ninjas, he engaged in sword play with Blade, "You have such talent, Blade. Why would you waste it on causing harm to others?" "Like you'd understand why I do things my way." Blade answered. "Try me." Leo challenged, as they continued to fight. When Sunset nailed some Dusk Ninjas with her kunai, she looked over at Leo and Blade fighting, and thought to herself, 'This may be the perfect chance,' she turned to Karai who had also defeated a Dusk Ninja, "Karai, let's help Leo!" "You got it!" Karai answered, as the two galloped over and fought Blade along side Leo. "We need to get him still." Sunset told the two. "I got this!" Karai answered, as she shifted into snake mode and fought Blade before wrapping herself around his body. "All right. Now let's see what's really going on in that mind of his." Sunset said, as she touched her horn to Blade's and could suddenly see his memories. The first memory she saw was a normal Blade Swipe with less raggedy looking mane and no scar on his face in Canterlot training with other guards. The second memory was of him entering a portal and was being experimented on by the Kraang who was filling him up with mutagen. Sunset's horn disconnected from Blade's before she could see more of his memories. The bad ninja pony broke free form Karai and knocked the two into Leo who rolled across the floor. "What did you just do to me?" Blade demanded, only for Sunset, Leo, and Karai to get up. "Are you three ok?" applejack asked. "We're fine." Karai confirmed. Leo and Twilight noticed Sunset looking in Blade's direction with a shocked look, "Sunset, what's wrong?" Twilight asked. "What did you see?" Leo inquired. Sunset spoke to Blade while hoof pointing at him, "You... You're a mutant!" "What?!" the New York ninjas asked in shock. Blade Swipe was taken aback by Sunset's claim, and asked, "How do you know?" "I saw your memories. You were a regular pony here until you were mutated by the Kraang." Sunset explained. "Dude, then you really are like us." Mikey gasped. "Like you?" Blade wondered in confusion. Leo spoke up, "My brothers are I are mutants as well." "Except we're actually turtles." Mikey added. "Turtles?" Blade raised a brow. "Yeah, we're not from this world." Donnie answered. Twilight spoke up, "Blade, tell us. We want to know how you became a mutant." "From one mutant to another." Leo added. Blade looked at the group seeing how curious they were, and answered, "Very well. You want to know the truth. I'll tell you." he snapped his fingers making the Dusk Ninjas vanish to show he won't do anything dirty. He then used his magic to project his memory in front of the group like a TV. And he began narrating. "Decades ago I was a normal pony training to be a royal guard in Canterlot. I was the top of my class and role model to the others. Then it was the night before Graduation, I saw a glowing light outside the barracks. I went to investigate and saw a portal appear out of nowhere. Consumed by curiosity, I stepped through it and found myself in another dimension. A dimension home to one of the most vile heartless creatures that ever existed. The Kraang." he explained as the group saw the flashback of Blade being restrained by Kraang droids. The mutant pony continued, as the flashback showed his past self strapped to a construction table surrounded by androids, "They kept me prisoner and subjected me to horrible experiments by injecting me with a substance they called mutagen. Then slowly but surely my body underwent a mutation turning me into what you see before you," he explained while hearing his own screams from the memory while watching his hoofs mutate into hands, "After months of hardships I escaped through one of their portals back to Equestria," he said as they saw the flashback showed past Blade get the scar on his cheek from being attacked by a Kraang droid, "I had hoped my fellow soldiers would be overjoyed to see me return. I was wrong. When I tried to reconnect with them, they didn't recognize me, nor were they even willing to hear me out. I was a monster in their eyes. A freak! No matter where I went in Equestria or what species I tried to associate with they never accepted me. So many rejections and ostracizing by my own kind led me to become bitter to ponykind. I knew if I was to survive on my own I needed to be stronger. Luckily my training in the royal guards hadn't dwindled during my imprisonment, but that alone wouldn't keep me alive forever so I found a new form of combat. Ninjitsu." "Good choice, brah." Mikey agreed, only to be shushed by the others. Blade continued with his story, "I trained myself day in and day out in perfecting the art of the ninja, while using my bitterness against Equestria to fuel my drive. When I was ready I set out to test my skills against Equestria's greatest thieves, criminals, and outlaws. For fifty years I've been in hiding from the outside world, only making my appearance known to those I saw as worthy opponents. And now you know of my existence." "Fifty years?" Casey asked, "But you don't look like you're that old." Blade smirked, and explained, "Amazing what the mutagen is capable of. As it seeped into my bloodstream it not only altered my DNA and physical stature, it also slowed down my aging process." "Not my choice for wanting to look young." Rarity said feeling disturbed. "So what's with the ninjas here?" Raph asked, "We know they're not real." "Raph's right. They're shadows," Twilight noted, "Is this some kind of spell you concocted?" "Not so much, Princess," Blade answered, "During my travels I happened to discover an old grimoire in a temple deep in the heart of the Equestria Jungle." "A grim what-now?" Mikey asked. Twilight elucidated, "A grimoire is book said to contain great magical power." "Correct," Blade nodded, "The power of the grimoire had increased my magical prowess better than it ever could've been. It gave me the power to summon these Dusk Ninjas to do my bidding." Shini spoke bluntly, "You are one serious messed up akuma." "What was that?" Blade asked sensing the sound of that insult. Leo spoke up while trying to sound nicer, "Blade, we understand where you're coming from." "It's tragic what the Kraang did to you." April agreed. "But taking your frustration out on ponykind?" Starlight asked. "This path is only going to lead you to more pain down the line." Karai warned him. "If the pain is inevitable, then I shall bear it on my shoulders." Blade answered. "Life isn't all about revenge, brah," Mikey said, "Why don't you just give up on this crazy life and have pizza with us?" "Your sentimental words will not sway me." "You have every right to feel bitter about how ponies treated you back in the past, but the past is in the past." Twilight explained. "Yeah. Live in the now for a change, dude." Casey added. "We can help get you back into society, the ponies today aren't as judgmental as they were back then." Pinkie put in. "It's already too late for me." Blade shook his head. "It's only too late when you've given up hope." Leo said. "And somewhere in there has to be the old Blade Swipe who still holds onto hope." Sunset believed. "He was weak and foolish, but I am not," Blade answered, coming off as sounding more like Shredder than the turtles compared him to before. Blade having nothing more to say to them announced to his minions, "Dusk Ninjas, attack!" the shadow ninja ponies resumed fighting the heroes who defended themselves. Twilight flew around striking Dusk Ninjas, before seeing Blade and Leo clashing with their swords like before. She thought to herself, 'Have to concentrate enough. Aim... Don't miss,' she aimed her horn at Leo and Blade, before calling out, "Leo!" Leo looked at Twilight, and quickly caught onto her plan and jumped away. Blade wasn't so fast to catch on and saw Twilight send a blast of her magic right at him. The blast collided with him sending him crashing into the wall injuring him. "You got him!" Pinkie cheered. Blade groaned before looking over to see the ninjas looking ready to corner him. Knowing he had no other choice, called out to his minions, "Dusk Ninjas, retreat!" the remaining Dusk Ninjas swarmed around their master creating a barrier around him, and they vanished into the shadows. "No! Got away again!" Raph groaned. "It's probably for the best, Raph." Sunset replied, seeing as how everyone was too tired from the fight. Even Mikey fainted on his back showing how tired he really was. "I guess you're right." the hot headed mutant admitted. "And the good news is we got some information on Blade Swipe." Twilight said hoping to brighten their spirits. "If he was once a guard in training, you think the Princess would know about him?" Karai asked. "Yes," Twilight confirmed, "Princess Celestia knows every guard that ever served her even those that were in-training." "Let's hope so," Shining Armor said, "When I was in training to be a guard no record in the hall ever mentioned of anypony named Blade Swipe." "I kinda feel bad for the guy." Mikey said. "You feel bad for an enemy?" Applejack asked. "Well, you heard him, didn't you? The Kraang messed up his life and was shunned by all the ponies when he returned." "Even so, that doesn't justify his actions onto any pony who's innocent." Leo replied. "Next time we meet we have to bring him in." Sunset added, as the others agreed. Meanwhile Blade had returned to his lair stumbling around from exhaustion while removing his armor pads before plopping into his arm chair. He panted, before looking at a table were a black book with strange writings engraved on it and the center baring the sigil of what looked like a triangle merged with a nine pointed star, "Next time we fight, I will have more magic at my disposal. And you ninjas will fall at my hands." he laughed to himself. That night at the Crystal Empire, Sunset was alone in her guest room contemplating on what happened, "I want to be mad at him for what he's done, but Mikey's also right. We can't blame him for what happened to him. He never asked to become a mutant. I don't know what to feel about this." she looked down in confusion. "Sympathizing with an enemy is not wrong," Sunset looked up and saw Master Splinter in the room, "It shows you can see why one is driven to such ambitions." "Master Splinter!" the unicorn gasped, "Seeing you is such a relief." "As it is to see you, my student." Splinter smiled. "Sensei, Blade Swipe may be out to get us and has hatred for ponykind because they shunned him for what he is. But I know it's not his fault. The Kraang turned him into a mutant. And when I read his mind I could still feel a faint glimmer of hope inside him. Do you think that bit of hope can be reached?" Splinter answered her, "Even the tiniest bits of light can be found in the deepest of darkness, Sunset Shimmer. If you believe there is any hope of saving Blade from the darkness then you must follow what your heart is telling you." "Thank you, sensei. I won't let Blade Swipe become worse than the Shredder." Sunset looked up and saw no sign of Splinter. She looked around, but eventually accepted that she really was talking with sensei before hitting the sack.