A winged pony silhouette flew into view from a distance before breaking through a sparkling rainbow, while cheering, “Whoo-hoo! Yeah!” It was Twilight Sparkle the Princess of Friendship. The mare who studied under the Princess of the Sun herself, Celestia.
She flew down to a riverbank where her five friends Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie have gathered for a picnic, “Hurry, friends! Time for another adventure!”
Pinkie gasped in excitement, as Rainbow Dash flew into view, “Adventure? I'm in!”
“Yee-hoo! Let's go, ponies!” Applejack cheered.
“Hey, you're not forgetting about us, are you?” came a male voice.
The six ponies looked to the side seeing four green coated anthro earth ponies wearing belts with holsters for their weapons. Each one had a colored mask that was the same color as their manes and tails.
There was Leonardo in Blue, Michelangelo in Orange, Donatello in Purple, and Raphael in Red. Twilight gasped, “How could we ever forget our friends the ninjas?” she flew to Leo who locked arms together.
“So we going on this adventure or what?” Raph asked rhetorically.
“I'm all set.” Donnie confirmed.
“Then let's do this thing,” Mikey said before announcing, “Booyakasha!”
And so they all took off with Twilight giving orders, “Earth ponies, take the lead!”
“Whoo-hoo!” Pinkie cheered, as she and Applejack charged.
“Pegasi, fly beside me!” Fluttershy and Rainbow followed in flight.
“Unicorns, horns at the ready!” Rarity trotted in the move igniting her horn.
“And ninjas, count it off!” Leo, Mikey, Donnie, and Raph each counted off.
“One!”
“Two!”
“Three!”
“Four!”
All ten gathered on a grassy hilltop, backed by a rainbow and an eruption of hearts and bubbles in the air.
“For Equestria!” They announced together.
“What fantastical foe awaits us, Princess?” Rarity asked.
“Is it something scary?” Fluttershy asked sounding apprehensively.
“Or is it something awesome?” Rainbow asked in excitement.
"Hope it's something I can really sink my fists into!" Raph said eagerly.
“No matter what is it, we'll face it together.” Twilight assured them.
“Because we're a team!” Leo pumped a fist before drawing one of his swords.
“Yes. We are the guardians of friendship! With the power of our friendship and magic, we will…”
“Spread love!” Pinkie announced.
“Give hugs!” Fluttershy put in.
“Have pizza!” Mikey added.
Suddenly Rarity's eyes flashed red, and her teeth became sharp and pointy before speaking in a male's voice, “Fry brains!”
This got the others confused, “Huh?” Fluttershy asked.
“Wait, what?” Twilight wondered.
“What'd she say?” Donnie asked.
The sky started to darken and goes sickly green while Rarity's horn crackles, before continuing to speak in this new not so nice voice, “Yeah, I’m a unicorn and we're evil!” the ponies gasped and cried while the ninjas armed themselves, “I’m gonna zap everypony with my horn lasers!”
The ponies started screaming in fright as Rarity started chasing them while firing spells from her horn, while the ninjas tried to stop her.
Twilight tried to keep her cool and spoke in a different female voice, “What? No! No, no, no! It’s all wrong!”
The scene suddenly cut to three young ponies sitting around a table where wooden carved figurines of the six ponies, and four ninjas stood atop. The three little ponies was filly Sunny Starscout, and two colts known as Hitch Trailblazer, and Sprout Cloverleaf. Sunny was wearing a pair of cardboard wings strapped across her back, as she and the colts had been playing with the figurines, until Sprout started making trouble with the plot of their adventure.
“The ponies are all supposed to get along, remember?” Sunny reminded Sprout.
“Bo-o-o-ring!” Sprout answered clearly not believing in her claim.
“It’s like in the olden times when all three pony kinds were friends-” Sunny narrated.
“Ugh, here we go again.” Sprout groaned in boredom.
“-and they never used their magic against each other!” Sunny finished.
“You're wrong!” Sprout accused, as Sunny turned back to face him.
“No, I'm not!”
Sprout climbs onto the table knocking over the Pinkie and Mikey figures with Rarity, “My mom says the pegasi and unicorns tried to eat up all the earth ponies by zapping ’em with lasers and frying ’em to a crisp.”
“They wouldn't do that!” Sunny argued, as Sprout continued to spout his own story.
“So the earth ponies kicked their butts in an epic battle, and if they ever try to come back to Maretime Bay, we’ll kick their butts again!”
“That's not true!”
“It is so! And ninjas? Please! Everypony knows there never were any ninjas in Equestria.”
“Those are lies!” Sunny continued to protest before turning to the other colt who had been silent, “Hitch, tell him!”
Hitch felt nervous having wanted to avoid coming between the two, but answered, “Well, uh, that is kinda what our teacher said in history class, but...” Sunny sighed making Hitch guilty for not supporting his friend, “…but, hey, oh, we can play the game your way if you want, Sunny. I don’t mind.”
“Well, I do!” Sprout continued, as he jumped off the table, “It's a boring game. Ooh, let’s play Pegasus Barbecue instead!”
“Sprout, stop it!”
“Earth Pony Burgers!”
“I'm going to tell my dad!” Sunny warned him.
Meanwhile down in another room, a wall was decked out in a map of Equestria, on which sketches of the cutie marks of Twilight and all her friends taped up, among other symbols like a kikkyo or bell flower, a symbol of a foot print, and the symbol of the Utrom. The rest of the room was cluttered with books and artifacts, some being ninja weapons.
Sitting at a worktable in the middle of this barely organized chaos is Argyle Starshine; Sunny's father, who was applying paint to an open-sided lantern whose frame is decorated with cutouts shaped as ponies of all three tribes. The sound of the three foals’ argument breaks his concentration; on the start of the next exchange, a platform carrying them descends into the room. The two colts were engaged in a lively bit of inter-tribal skirmishing passing the table where a leather-bound journal book sat. The journal was stuffed with notes and loose pages so that the cover-embossed with the two central stars of Twilight’s cutie mark-strains against the clasp holding it shut.
“Horn fight!” Sprout declared, while fighting Hitch.
“You're going to break them!” Sunny protested while chasing the two.
“Take that, earth pony!” Hitch laughed while the two made laser shots.
Sunny spoke to her father wanting him to settle the dispute, “Dad, tell them that’s not what they do!”
Argyle stepped out from behind his table and was wearing a wooden pendant bearing a cutout of the two six-pointed stars at the center of Twilight’s cutie mark.
He spoke patiently to the colts, “Time to head on home, don’t you think, colts?”
Sprout just tossed the figurine aside, “Ugh, fine.” he and Hitch headed for the door.
The entrance swung open, and the boys gasped, as a shadow fell across them. It belonged to Phyllis Cloverleaf, an earth pony mare wearing a single pearl on a thin gold chain at her throat, as well as pink-framed cat’s-eye glasses in front of her eyes.
“Mom?” Sprout asked in shock.
Hitch just smiled, “Hello, Mrs. Cloverleaf!”
Phyllis spoke to Sprout in worry, “How many times have I told you? You cannot just go trotting off without my permission?” she then muttered under her breath, “Especially not here.”
Argyle approach having heard her muttering, “And why is that again, Phyllis?” he asked with a smug look.
“Because you are brainwashing their minds with all of your…uh, nonsense.” she accused.
Argyle not taking offense by the mare's words spoke calmly, “It’s called research, Phyllis. And, by the way, I leave all the brainwashing in Maretime Bay to you.” he teased back.
Then Sunny came and brought a plate of two treats, "Unicorn cupcake?" Argyle asked.
Sunny said in singsong, “Freshly baked!"
"Nuh-uh!" Phyllis said.
"How about pegasus sugar cookies?" Argyle asked again.
Sunny said in singsong again, “One bite!"
Phyllis answered,"No thank you!"
"Oh, why not try these TMNT pies?"Argyle said as he handed out a plate of 4 pies that looked like green turtle shells, “An old recipe I found through my research.”
Sunny spoke in singsong, “You won't be sorry!"
Phyllis looked at the pies disgusted,"Ew! What is in those pies? Slime?"
"It's vanilla pudding." Argyle answered smugly.
Sunny continued to sell it, "It's delicious!"
"Ugh. You know you're an earth pony, Argyle," Phyllis groaned and she pulled Sprout away before he could have a bite, "You should really start acting like one. At least for her sake."
Sunny then took a bite on the unicorn cupcake and had pink frosting on her lips,"Mmm!” she giggled. Argyle and her daughter watched the three ponies trotting slowly back home. Argyle still had his smug look on his face as he kept staring at them before he closed the door.
Outside the mare and the colts walked down the path leading away from Argyle and Sunny's home being a lighthouse on a grassy hilltop overlooking a placid shoreline.
"Who does he think he is? Talking to me like that? That pony is trouble!" Phyllis said.
"Don't worry, mommy. When I become sheriff, I'll keep every pony in line." Young Sprout promised to her.
"Hmm, Sheriff Sprout,” she chuckled, “It does have a certain ring to it."
Argyle kept the front door open just a crack so he could listen in. He closed it causing a framed photograph on the wall nearby to tilt askew. It was of himself giving Sunny a ride on his back. Nudging it level, he found his daughter slumping glumly at the kitchen counter and regarding her Rainbow, Raph, Leo, and Rarity figurines. The icing around her mouth had already been cleaned away. She voiced a barely audible sigh as he crosses to her.
“What’s the matter, Sunny-Bunny?”
“Hitch and Sprout still don’t believe me.” she answered.
“Maybe one day they will. But the important thing is that you stand up for what you believe in. Okay?”
Sunny renewed with hope smiled and circled her father, “Well, when I grow up, I’m going to show everypony that we’re right.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah! And someday, the both of us will meet unicorns, or a pegasus, and we’ll be best friends forever.”
Argyle smiled, “Well, maybe today’s that day,” he glanced out the window and pointed, “Look! A unicorn!”
Sunny gasped and raced over to the window, while Argyle ducked out of view, “Where? Where?”
“Over here!”
Sunny looked back seeing her father proudly wearing a cardboard horn on his forehead while giving a cocked-eyebrow smile. The horn slid down to his nose, prompting laughter from the two, as he slipped it back into place. Sunny climbed onto his back as he galloped around.
“Whee! I’m soaring through the sky!” Sunny cheered while pretending to be a pegasus, before gasped, “Wait, dad! I have an idea!”
The two went up to the lantern room of the lighthouse where the beacon was. Sunny was at the central table drawing something as her father looked on, as outside started shifting into the evening. Argyle started to read Sunny's message.
“Dear unicorns and pegasi: You have friends in Maretime Bay. Come visit us.”
“Can we send it?” Sunny asked hopefully.
“I think it's our duty.” Argyle replied.
They attached the note to a paper lantern before setting it too to float off into the night hoping it would reach either the pegasi or unicorns to let them know they would be welcomed to Maretime Bay to the father and daughter. Argyle took his fake unicorn horn and put it on Sunny making her feel like an alicorn. Sunny giggled and nuzzled his foreleg affectionately.
“Can you tell me the story?” she pleaded.
“Again?” Argyle asked.
“Pleeeease?”
Argyle chuckled, as he decided to tell his daughter one of the oldest stories in Equestria, “Once upon a time, many, many moons ago in ancient Equestria, there lived a very special-”
“Unicorn!” Twilight declared.
Argyle chuckled, and continued, “The unicorn was very bright.”
“As bright as the sun!” Sunny continued.
Soon inside Sunny bedroom, the filly was sitting up in bed playing with her Twilight figurine, while Argyle read from his journal at her bedside.
“One day, the Princess summoned her to the castle for an important assignment.”
“To learn about friendship!” Sunny cheered.
“Mm-hm.” Argyle confirmed, as he took the figurine from her and put in on her nightstand with the rest of the figurines, “She soon made lots of new friends.”
“Earth ponies, pegasuses, and unicorns.” Sunny continued, as her father resumed.
“Together, they showed everypony the magic of friendship, and how to live in harmony.” he held up a lantern device.
“Wow... you finished it!” Sunny gasped.
“Pretty neat, huh? Earth ponies watched in wonder as pegasi painted rainbows across the sky. The nights were lit up by a hundred unicorn horns.”
He sat the device on the shelf and wound it up. A light inside glows as the framework begins to rotate…images of ponies appear on the walls/ceiling and begin to move within a scatter of stars as the frame slowly rotates and the filly voices a quiet gasp.
“It's beautiful,” Sunny said in awe, “Dad, could you also tell me about the ninjas from old Equestria?”
“Of course,” Argyle smiled, as he looked through another portion of his journal, “This bit of knowledge was the hardest for me to come across, but finding it was worth it.” He began to narrate another tale using shadow play puppetry. Sunny watched the wall as her father used the shadows of the puppets of the characters to tell his story.
“Four turtles....four brothers....genetically reborn in the sewers of New York city in another world. Named after the great Renaissance masters....and trained as ninjas by their father Splinter. They battled many creatures and foes before defeating their archenemy...the Shredder!”
Sunny gasped at the shadow of Shredder on her wall, as Argyle continued, “They forged their own bonds of friendship with the ponies of Equestria, and beyond the stars. From the smartest of Utroms to the strongest of Triceratons. Whenever they were needed they would be there to fight the good fight.”
Sunny smiled, “I wish I had a friend who could fly around or float things. Even a ninja,” she yawned, “Why can't we be friends anymore?”
Argyle sighed. It was something he had been trying to figure out for years since he began researching old Equestria, “That, my darling, is a big question,” he stroked her cheek, “And maybe one day, we’ll figure it out together. We’ll do our part…” Sunny touched a front hoof to his.
“Hoof to heart.” they said together.
Argyle placed a gentle kiss on the bridge of Sunny's nose, he turned for the door, as Sunny spoke, “Goodnight, daddy.”
“Goodnight, my little pony.” he exited the room.
Sunny looked to the group of figurines on her nightstand, “Goodnight, friends.” she closed her eyes and fell asleep wishing one day things could be like they used to be between the pony tribes.
Meanwhile that very night in the busy city of New York, above ground things were active as always. Humans, Aliens, Mutants, even Robots were going about the night like ordinary civilians. But far below in the sewers inside a lair was something else going on.
In a training dojo stood four little girl mutants. An albino turtle, and three weasels. The four squinted at each other waiting for the other to make a move. Soon upon instincts the four leaped to the center of the training area and were going at it in a free for all match. The four little ones were using basic hand to hand combat moves trying to outdo each other.
The four had been evenly matched and ended up tiring each other out. They fell to the floor looking exhausted.
“So, who won that time?” one of the weasels asked.
“It was a tie, Zanna.” the albino turtle answered.
“Speak for yourself, Lita,” the second weasel replied, “I could've totally won this match if Mushroom didn't get in my way.” she motioned to the third weasel.
“I beg to differ, Zink,” Mushroom argued, “You're the one who stepped in front of me causing yourself to fall.”
Zink frowned, until they heard footsteps approaching. Stepping into the light were the former ninja turtle bros, Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael, and Michelangelo who looked much older than they used to be.
“Blaming your failure on others will not do you any good, Zink.” Raph began.
Zink got up and bowed her head, “Yes, sensei Raphael.”
Mikey turned to the others, “And this lesson applies to all of you as well.” the other three got up and stood before the two old turtles.
“Yes, sensei Michelangelo.” they said together.
“Still you are all improving. But you must learn to work together as a team.” Leo continued.
“The world is a strange place above ground, more than it was back in our day.” Donnie explained.
“But just because the world above accepted the existence of mutants doesn't mean all will be welcoming of you.” Raph said.
“That's why we've trained you,” Mikey continued, “To prepare you for what's out there not just in New York but beyond as well.”
The four nodded their heads in understanding, as Leo spoke, “Now then. This concludes tonight's practice. Time for bed.”
“I hear that.” Zanna yawned, as the four young ones followed their senseis out of the training hall.
The four old turtles put the young mutants to bed, before Lita spoke up, “Sensei Leonardo. Could you tell us the story?”
Zanna shot her head up in bed, “Ooh, I love the story.”
“Me too!” Mushroom said, getting comfortable.
“Meh, I could go for it.” Zink said.
“Sorry, kids. But it's late.” Raph said, making them pout.
“Come on, Raph, they love it when we tell it.” Leo reminded his brother.
“And it's a good story too.” Mikey added.
“It's one of our faves.” Donnie nudged him.
Raph soon enough cracked a smile, “Oh, alright. Leo, you know what to do.”
Leo nodded, as the bros sat before the young ones, as Leo began narrating a story to them.
“Once upon a time in the magical land of Equestria, there lived a unicorn named Twilight Sparkle. She was tasked by her mentor Princess Celestia to go to a nearby town of ponies to make friends, despite not being interested in it. But she soon opened herself up to friendship and since then made friends with lots of ponies, among other creatures from dragons, changelings, griffons, hippogriffs, yaks, to even creatures beyond the land from Utrom, Triceraton, Daagon, Mutants, and more.”
“Like you guys.” Lita recalled.
“That's right.” Mikey confirmed.
Leo continued, “We aided Twilight in several adventures with the help our our friends, allies, and more. It's thanks to us Equestria had been saved countless times.”
“Why haven't you gone back there again if you were so renowned?” Mushroom asked curiously.
“Well, times have changed. We moved on, and our friends moved on. Besides we're too old to be doing dimensional travel these days.” Leo confessed.
“It can be very strenuous.” Donnie confessed.
“Still, we all think about Equestria a lot. And all the friends we made there.” Mikey admitted.
“Unfortunately, by now all those friends we had there are long gone.” Raph sighed.
“But they still live on through our memories,” Leo explained, “And trust me, we could never forget them.” Leo said thinking about Princess Twilight.
“You think we could ever go to Equestria?” Zanna asked.
“Yeah, Sensei Donatello has his dimensional portal ray.” Mushroom remembered.
“True, but I haven't used it in a long time. It's outdated.” Donnie noted.
“We could always upgrade it.” Mushroom suggested.
“Yeah, then we can meet the ponies of Equestria and have fun and adventures there like you all did!” Zanna cheered.
“Could we, sensei?” Lita asked Leo hopefully.
Leo chuckled, “That would be something. But you girls are still very young and in-training. We'll decide when the time is right for you to journey to Equestria and see it for yourselves.”
The girls sighed, as Lita spoke, “Ok.”
“Goodnight, girls.” Mikey said.
“Night, senseis.” the four answered, as the old turtles left the room.
When the coast was clear, the four opened their eyes and saw no one was coming. The three weasel mutants climbed into Lita's bed, and got under the covers while using a flashlight to see.
“Wouldn't it be awesome to go to Equestria?” Lita asked.
“Where unicorns and pegasi live.” Zanna marveled.
“I'll bet there's all sorts of stuff to do there.” Zink said.
“And imagine all the history we could learn from it up close.” Mushroom added.
“Girls, one day we'll make it to Equestria. I know it.” Lita promised her sisters.
“Yeah.” the weasels agreed, as they put their hands in making the promise together.