“Here we are.” Fluttershy said as she and Splinter were walking through the park. “Thank you for asking for my help, Sensei.”
“You’re welcome, Fluttershy.” Splinter said as they sat down on a bench. “The tambourine seems to be an easier instrument for me to learn.”
“Oh yes. A lot easier than the piano or the guitar, but just like that old saying goes: practice makes perfect. Plus, I always like practicing here in the park.” The girl said, reaching into her backpack and taking out two tambourines; she handed one to her friend. “Now try to repeat after me.” She shook the instrument and gave it a tap with her free hand; Splinter did the same and she nodded and smiled. “Good. And the best part about playing the tambourine is that you can pretty much do whatever you like with it.”
But just as she was about to demonstrate, a black cat jumped up out of nowhere in between the two friends. Splinter instinctively backed away from the feline, but the cat paid no attention to him; it just meowed, jumped off the bench, and ran away. Then a bark was heard; Fluttershy turned her head to see Applejack’s dog Winona coming towards the bench. She ran under it and continued chasing the cat. Fluttershy groaned and shook her head.
“I am so sorry, Master Splinter. Please excuse me.” She said, setting her tambourine down and going after the two animals. “Winona, no! Come back here! Chasing a cat is so cliché! You’re better than that!” She eventually disappeared.
Not knowing what else to do, Splinter picked up Fluttershy’s tambourine and looked at it along with his own; then he got an idea. He started to shake both tambourines at the same time and even hit them together, making a very nice sound. He was getting so into it that he didn’t even notice DJ Pon-3 coming up behind him. She gently tapped his shoulder and he quickly stopped and turned around to see her standing there.
“Oh. Hello.” He greeted, setting the instruments down. “You must be DJ Pon-3, yes?”
She nodded and smiled. He smirked.
“I see you are a girl of few words.”
She nodded again before her face lit up as she got an idea. DJ picked up the tambourines and grabbed Splinter’s wrist.
“What are you doing?” He asked.
She gestured for him to follow her. Splinter turned his head to see that Fluttershy was still busy with Winona and the cat and he figured she would be held up for a little while longer. So he stood up from the bench and followed DJ. Several minutes later, Fluttershy finally caught up with Winona and she returned to the bench, only to find that both her tambourine and Master Splinter were nowhere in sight.
“Sensei?” She asked, looking around.
“Hey, Fluttershy.” Applejack said as she approached her friend. “Oh there you are, Winona! Where have you been?” She took her dog back and quickly put a leash on her; she set her back on the ground. “Don’t you ever go runnin’ off like that again. Ya hear me?”
“Hi, Applejack. You haven’t seen Master Splinter around, have you?” Fluttershy asked.
“No. Weren’t you two supposed to—” The farm girl asked before she heard something; it sounded like music. “Wait, what’s that?”
“Is that DJ Pon-3?” Fluttershy asked.
“I guess. She must be havin’ some kinda impromptu rave or somethin’. Wanna go check it out?”
“But what about Sensei?”
“Maybe he’s with her. Come on.”
Applejack took Fluttershy’s hand and they walked towards the sound, which appeared to be coming from the nearby gazebo. When they arrived, the two girls were very surprised to see Master Splinter playing a set of portable turntables with DJ Pon-3 standing right beside him and shaking both tambourines the same way he was doing before. To everyone’s astonishment, Splinter was unexpectedly good at the turntables and the music he and DJ were making together was REALLY good. By then, a small crowd started gathering to watch and started cheering and clapping for Splinter; Fluttershy and Applejack could only watch in shock and disbelief.
“Go Splinter! Go Splinter! Go Splinter!” The crowd cheered as a few started recording the scene on their phones.
“Whooo! Go Master Splinter!” Rainbow Dash’s voice cheered.
“Rainbow Dash?” Applejack asked, heading towards her athletic friend.
“Oh hey, guys.” Rainbow said as she held up her phone; Fluttershy could see that she was recording Splinter as well.
“What are you doing?” She asked.
“Getting a video to send to the Turtles. They NEED to see this.” Rainbow Dash replied.
Then the song came to a close and the music faded to a stop; everyone clapped and cheered as Splinter and DJ took a bow. Fluttershy, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash all made their way to the front to congratulate their sensei.
“Hoowee!” Applejack hollered.
Splinter looked to see his young friends staring at him; he paused in embarrassment.
“Um…” He muttered, unsure of what to say.
“Master Splinter, that was… AWESOME! Wait until the guys see this!” Rainbow Dash cried, looking back at her phone and sending the video she recorded to the Turtles.
“The turntables, who knew?” Fluttershy commented.
“I’m very sorry for leaving, Fluttershy.” Splinter said, giving the sound system back to DJ.
“Don’t be sorry, Sensei. You were amazing!” She grinned as DJ gave her tambourine back to her.
“I’d say you were.” A new voice said.
They all turned to see Principal Celestia walking towards them; she stopped next to Splinter and gave him a big kiss on the cheek. Splinter smiled and blushed as Fluttershy, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash giggled in response.
“Oh Yoshi, that was incredible! I’m so proud of you.” She beamed, wrapping her arms around him in a hug.
Splinter reciprocated the hug before turning to DJ. “Thank you for your help, DJ Pon-3.”
After a moment, the girl removed her glasses and gave him a wink. “You’re welcome, Master Splinter.” And with that, she walked off.
The three Rainbooms stared at DJ with wide eyes as she walked away; in all of the years they had known her, DJ Pon-3 hardly ever spoke a single word and they were very shocked to hear her voice for the first time.
“Did she just say somethin’?” Applejack asked.
“She never speaks.” Fluttershy added.
“…So THAT’S what she sounds like.” Rainbow Dash exclaimed.
Splinter and Celestia looked at their students, then at each other; they laughed before sharing a kiss.