I let out a soft, annoyed sigh as I magically set the now clean plate on the countertop with the rest. Well, that could've gone better. That April Showers mare down right lost it when we told her that we had no actual way to pay. We tried to tell her that we're foreign, and that we didn't know, but she didn't seem to believe us. Great, now we were forced to submit to manual labor until she sees fit. I had the duty of washing the dishes, while Raphael dried them with a soft cloth. He didn't seem to be too happy about this either. I didn't blame it; this was all our faults anyways.
Originally, April Showers wanted Mikey to dry dishes, but we had to seriously convince her that that was a horrible idea. We've tried multiple times to leave Mikey alone with breakable objects, every single time, almost everything had gotten destroyed. The guy's like a bull in a china shop. I knew he couldn't help it, but it really concerned me.
Speaking of him, Mikey and Donnie were forced to clean the restaurant from top to bottom. I could hear them arguing from the kitchen where Raph and I currently resided. I couldn't tell what about, but Donnie seemed to clearly be getting agitated.
"When can we get out of here?" Raph asked, not looking up from the plate he was currently cleaning. I finished cleaning the one in my hooves and handed that one to him as well. Was...he actually talking to me? Well that's a good start! Maybe he's finally getting over his little jealousy act.
"Hey, you finally spoke to me." I acknowledge. My brother just shrugged.
"Ain't got nothin' better to do." He muttered, taking the plate from my hooves rather delicately. I grinned at him. I wondered how long he'd stay in this mood. I knew for sure that he was still a little salty with me, but hey, this was a start.
"I have no idea." I chuckled, truthfully. "I don't think Twilight has much experience making portals. It could take 24 hours, maybe even a few months." I admitted. Raph growled; I must have hit a nerve. Or made him realize something that he would've much rather he hadn't.
"Masta' Splinter's probably worried sick." He stated, wrapping the cloth softly around another white porcelain dish. I simply nodded. I didn't want to think about Master Splinter. Not at a time like this. It'd drive me insane with worry. This whole time I've been trying hard not to think about him, but I've felt myself slipping. I...I want to see my father, I miss him.
"We'll get home soon..." I replied, feeling a little depressed, as I cleaned the last of the dishes. Suddenly, I heard a loud CRASH from out in the lobby, followed by a painful groan that came from Donnie.
"Eheh, oops..." I heard Mikey apologize. I shook my head. He's going to get his ear chewed off by April Showers for that...
"That knucklehead is going to get us all in trouble one of these days." Raph deadpanned. I slowly nodded. It was true. Actually no, I think he already has. I remembered when we were exploring an underground lair where there were all those...experiments on humans taking place. Mikey, going on about monsters after reading one too many comic books, unwittingly set off some sort of anti-intruder alarm system. To put in short, we would have been crushed if it wasn't for Raph and his supreme sai throwing skills. I was very grateful, although I was a little disappointed in Mikey. I was not going to die due to one of my brothers careless mistakes. Where's the honor in that?
"Totally." I agreed. There was a long pause between the both of us. Neither of us really had anything to say. I considered asking if he was still mad at me, but I decided not to. I didn't want to remind him of his anger. If he's fine right now, I say let him stay that way. To be honest, I feel that he's actually trying to chill out. I think he's starting to learn that ponies aren't nice when they're angry or annoyed. And it only took 36 hours full of butt kicking and dirty looks, just to finally get it minutes ago.
"Mikey! Be careful!" I heard Donnie shout from the lobby. I sighed; I didn't even want to know what THEY were up to. "You already fell and broke half the dishes..."
"I prefer to call it 'lying down in style'." I heard Mikey retort. Not even ten seconds later, I heard another CRASH, followed by two groans. One was full of annoyance, while the other was full of pain.
"Are we almost done?" Raphael asked, trying hard to keep himself from beating some sense into Mikey himself. I nodded.
"Well, seeing as Mikey's breaking all the dishes, I'd say ye-"
"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!?" I heard a shrill voice suddenly echo through the retro diner. Great, April Showers is back, and she's in the lobby. Obviously, she found Mikey's mess.
"Ow!" I heard Mikey cry. Raph and I both looked at each other expectantly. "Stop hitting me with that thing!"
Suddenly, both doors that lead into the kitchen burst open abruptly. I wasn't surprised to see a panting Donnie and Mikey leaning against the door as if to keep April Showers from getting in. "You're going to pay for this! One way or another!" Raph had that look on his face as he reached for both of his sai.
"Oh, so it's a fight she wants...?" He chuckled grimly. I held a hoof in front of him, stopping him cold.
"Hasn't anyone told you it's not polite to hit a mare?" Donnie questioned. Mikey rubbed his aching head.
"Tell that to the crazy lady who thought it was a good idea to hit me over the head with her serving tray..." Mikey sighed. I'll admit, I almost laughed.
"Well, you shouldn't have broken all those plates! That stuff costs money Mikey!" Raph argued back. For once, he wasn't screaming. He was speaking normally as he tried to get his point across. Hmm...
"It's not my fault that the plates were cheap!" Mikey replied. Raphael smacked his face.
"Leo, he may have broken the plates, but if we don't get out of this place soon, my sanity's going to be next." Raphael admitted. I know that feeling. I wanted to go home too. But we didn't have time to think about that. The door banged loudly as April literally tried to BREAK the door down. What the shell is up with her?!
"Come out or I'm going to have you arrested for thievery and vandalism!" April Showers threatened. My eyes went wide when I realized our predicament. Either, we had to give ourselves up, and be forced to pay with money that we don't even have and do more physical labor, or make a run for it and try to get out of here. But if the police find us...we're not getting out of here anytime soon. I don't think authority here is very lenient with dimension crossers...
"Guys I think we should-" I started, turning back to my brothers. To my absolute terror, I saw Mikey and Donnie running towards the exit. Raph wasn't moving, and had his sai in his hooves, waiting for April Showers to break down the door. That brings up a point, is this mare freaking crazy!?
"She wants to kill us, Raph!" Mikey cried, trying to get through the emergency exit. It refused to open, for some reason. Donnie rolled his eyes.
"She's trying to kill YOU. You broke her dishes...and about everything else in the lobby..."
"Let. Me. Out. Of. Here!" Mikey shouted. April Showers was getting more and more angry; I could literally see her peering through the door through a crack that she had made in it. She kind of frightened me...
"I agree, let's bail!" Donnie added. I guess we didn't have a choice now! Raph sighed and gingerly walked over to the door, inspecting it for two seconds. He pushed Mikey out of the way before grabbing the door handle with his hoof, and pulling open the door. Mikey looked on, flabbergasted.
"You know, they should really label doors!" He chuckled. Raph rolled his eyes and pointed to the small sign right above the door handle that conveniently read "pull". Mikey swiftly turned a bright crimson.
"Being this pretty comes at a cost, you know." Mikey argued.
"Come back here! You're all going to pay for this!" April Showers screamed. Wait, ALL? Oh great. Now I'm being dragged into her unrelenting fury.
"Retreat!" I shouted. Mikey was the first one to bolt out of the door, literally flying. Donnie and I followed suit while Raph lagged behind. I saw him look back at his sai, and then the door that April was about to knock down. He was really itching for a fight, I knew it. With a grunt, he shook his head and followed the rest of us out of the back of the diner.
***
After our frighteningly close call with the waitress, we all made our way back to the library. I really hoped that April Showers hadn't called the police; otherwise we were in big trouble. I'm pretty she knew our names, as we had unwittingly called ourselves by our names back in the diner.
After stealthily making our way inside of library, and scaring the nonexistent pants off of Twilight, we could finally relax. Although, Twilight was none too pleased with our antics once Raph accidently spilled the beans.
"You did WHAT?" She hollered, setting down her tools. She was actually making good progress, to say the least. She had actually begun building the darn thing. Although it wasn't much, just a few pieces of hardware really. My brothers and I all stayed silent, although it didn't take Mikey long to speak up.
"The crazy waitress girl tried to kill us!" He said defensively. Everyone rolled their eyes; even Twilight knew that wasn't the whole story.
"You mean YOU!" Raphael shouted, poking his little brother in the chest. "You just had to get the rest of us involved, didn'cha?" He glared deeply at Mikey, whose only response was a nervous gulp. I did the honors of holding Raphael back; surprisingly, he didn't put up a fight. Twilight let out a weary sigh, and rubbed her left temple. I felt increasingly bad; we only seemed to be bothering her further. We should really just give her space for a while...if that's possible, anyways.
"I'll go to the diner and pay for you guys, alright? Just...stay here..." She mumbled, grabbing a nearby bag and hoisting it onto her back. Before we even had a moment to utter an apology, the library door slammed shut. My mouth was just slightly agape. I honestly didn't know how to feel. I was ashamed, disappointed, and furious, all at once.
Mikey looked at the floor, seemingly depressed. I didn't know what to say to him, and neither did anyone else. Donnie and Raph didn't seem to notice Mikey's moping, and wandered out of the room to do...other things. Mikey sighed before walking out the door behind the mare.
I felt bad, but it was Mikey's fault. If he wouldn't have broken all of those plates...
I could just feel the sudden stinging on the back of my head. Splinter definitely wouldn't be happy with me thinking that way. Well, I guess it's not all Mikey's fault. What's in the past was in the past, I guess. I decided to occupy my time by sitting down in the library and read a few books. Obviously, we weren't caught up enough on the way of life here. We needed to learn about the government, laws, currency, those kinds of things. I'm sure Donnie already read up on them, but hey, it's best to have backup knowledge in case he wasn't around.
Before I knew it, the sun had begun to set. I wasn't surprised; for some reason, time seemed to go by very quickly around here. I was deep inside a book about some kind of Princess. There appeared to be two princesses who rule this nation of Equestria; Celestia, who ruled over the day, and Luna, who ruled over the night. Hmm, it sounded like something straight out of The Odyssey. The book was fairly old. I wondered if they were still around today...Maybe they could help my brothers and I get back…Or the exact opposite; they could lock us up for being aliens...
Twilight had gotten home long ago, but when she did, she didn't say a word to me. She simply stomped upstairs, almost throwing a silent hissy fit. I felt so bad about what had happened today; we needed to apologize to the waitress.
I decided to stay up a little later than usual, reading. Donnie and Raph had already fallen asleep. I'll admit, I almost wanted to do the same, but I had just wanted to wait for Mikey to get home first. It made me nervous thinking about what Mikey could be out doing right about now, especially after dark. He hadn't even bothered to check up or anything.
At around 12:45 that night, I heard a small commotion outside. I heard two voices, a high pitched one, and another californian style one. It took me milliseconds to figure out who they were.
I trotted over to the door, a little dizzy. I had forgotten how long I had been sitting. I hoisted the door open and saw just what I expected to see, Mikey. He stared at me, almost bewildered as I stood in the doorway. He looked like a deer in headlights.
"Mikey...what're you doing?" I asked. Mikey looked left, then right, scratching his head.
"Uh...nothing." He said. Mikey was a terrible liar. With a sigh, I walked outside and closed the door behind me, as to not wake up anypony else in the library.
"Mikey, be honest." I asked, a little forcefully. Mikey looked at the floor, guiltily; it made me just slightly nervous.
"I... I was hanging with the townsfolk, alright? Lay off." He replied harshly. Jeez, what was eating at him? He's usually so laid back...something was definitely bothering him.
"Who, exactly?" I asked. Surely he's not out making friends at almost one in the morning. I know for sure that it's creepy in New York, as well as here.
"Uhm...just a friend." He was specifically trying to avoid telling me exactly who he was with; so that's what was eating him.
"Which friend? Tell me, Mikey." I said. I was getting a little annoyed with his uncooperativeness.
"Nopon-"
"MIKEY!"
"FINE!" He suddenly shouted, getting angry at the fact that I was now irritated with him. He looked back at the ground, as if he was embarrassed. "I-I was hanging out with Pinkie Pie." He admitted. I felt my face blush a little bit as a thought crossed my mind.
"You 'hung out' with Pinkie, until one in the mor-"
"We baked cupcakes!" He said defensively. Oh...good to know. "Look, it's none of your concern." He said, as he tried to barge pass me, but I jumped in front of the door. Something wasn't right here.
"What's up with you and this Pinkie mare?" I asked. Now that I thinking about it, he had spent an awfully long time with her since coming here. Just last night, she and Mikey were making pizza in the library. He sighed, getting more and more agitated.
"Nothing!" He shouted, trying to rush pass me. Once again, I prevented him by stepping in his way. "Move it, Leo!"
"Mikey, what's going on between you two?" I interrogated. I had a very bad feeling about this...
"We're friends! So what?" He retorted. "We're here, we're stuck! So what, I try to meet ponies!" I'm not sure if something slipped, or if he just phrased that incorrectly.
"Making pizza and cupcakes at the wee hours in the morning? Some friend! It seems like you only hang out with her when nopony is around! Now tell me, what's going on between you two!" I hollered. Mikey was turning a bright crimson, although I wasn't sure if it was due to embarrassment or anger. I already knew what was going on; I just needed Mikey to confirm it.
"I...I really like her!" He spat. "I'm in love with her!" My mouth dropped, flabbergasted. Mikey let out a sigh, as if he was glad that he finally had gotten that off of his shoulders. Mikey...is in love...with a pony?
"W-what!? Mikey you can't be serious!" I argued, but Mikey was quick to rebound.
"I am serious, Leo!" He replied. I was going to explain the irony of that, but now was not the time. "I... she gets me! Pinkie Pie actually gets me!" He pleaded. Really? Pinkie Pie is hyperactive, pink, party pony. Well now that I think about it, they did have a lot in common. They were both...random, and ultimately they both were weird as well. But even still, my brother, who was a turtle, was in love with a pony...
"Mikey...don't do this. We're not staying her-" Once again, I was cut off. Man, what is everypony's problem?
"I don't care! I feel how I feel bro!" He shouted, poking my chest. "Casey has April to love and...it hurts to watch, okay?" He admitted. Casey and April? Well, yeah, they have been married for about a year now, but I never would have guessed that Mikey was jealous.
"Mikey, we're turtles. Mutant ones." I whispered. I still didn't know if Twilight was listening in on us, but I wanted to make sure she didn't learn anything if she was. "As Master Splinter said, 'love from family matters more than that of another." I think that's what he said. Oh well, it had the same message.
"No offense, but after sixteen years with you guys, I don't see me spending the rest of my life with you three." I felt a little hurt, but I guess he had a point. When I get older, I kind of wanted to have pupils of my own...I never really thought about what Donnie, Mikey and Raph wanted to do. "I can love whoever I want, and no one can stop me!" And with that, he forcefully shoved me aside and stamped inside of the library in a huff.
I simply stood there, shocked beyond belief. This...this is horrible! What's going to happen when we finally get out of here!? He'll be devastated!
I let out a sigh as I turned to follow my brother inside.
Until I heard a rustle.
I abruptly turned my head, a little startled at the sound. My ears had perked up, and I heightened all of my senses. I squinted; something had moved in the darkness. I could make out the shape, it was definitely a pony…but...
No...
It was wearing a black, ninja-esque outfit. Much like my brothers masks, two strands hung from the figures own mask that seemed to sway in the night air. It bore a dull gray vest. There was a red symbol on its chest that almost made me sick to my stomach upon seeing it;
It was the foot of a three toed dragon.