//------------------------------// // Left Behind, Right Ways, and Middle Ground // Story: Teenage Mutant Ninja...Ponies? // by MemoryLane //------------------------------// We traversed through the early morning dawn in silence. No one spoke, grunted, sighed, or anything of the sort. The only sound that was heard was that of our hooves clopping on the pavement through town. Twilight looked absolutely crestfallen at what had just happened. I mean...her home and her livelihood had been destroyed in a matter of minutes! By us and our problems, nonetheless. The only pony who was in a remotely good mood was Pinkie Pie, and her constant smiling and bouncing was starting to wear down everypony's nerves. Well, I guess I had no reason to get mad. She actually saved us if anything. That party cannon really came in handy, and it was crazy how she tactically aimed the darn thing so the contents only hit the Foot Ninja. I'd consider her use it again later if we even come in contact with them again. But I'm sure the Foot will have some sort of retaliation for it. It wiped them out once, I don't think they'll let that happen again. Raphael still had that look on his face, the one that shown of adrenaline; something that my brother could just never get enough of. It worried me, but it gave me a sense of relief as well, for some reason. Part of me thinks that he relaxes through conflict, somehow. Everyone has something that brings them to bliss. Donnie has his gadgets, Mikey has his pizza, and so on. As time went on, Raphael's adrenaline slowly seemed to diminish. Donnie and Mikey stayed absolutely silent. Although I noticed Mikey was staring at Pinkie Pie for a bit. Luckily I noticed before she did, and I gave him a brief shake of my head. It caused him to realize his mistake and briskly look away. I don't know much about girls, in fact, the only one I've actually become friends with was April. But I know staring at them excessively like that was a little creepy. Mikey should have known that, with all the time he spends either on the internet or watching television. I didn't know how to feel about Mikey falling in love with Pinkie. I really didn't. It just didn't make enough sense to me. Sure, they were both hyperactive, love sweets, and have a crazy knack for puns. But...I just couldn't see it! What if Pinkie didn't like him back like that? He'd be heartbroken, and then we'd have another problem to worry about. Back home, it's super easy to cheer him up: Just order a pizza, give him a video game and he'll be laughing and cheering in a matter of minutes with his face covered in pizza sauce. Unfortunately, pizza and video games are out of the question at the moment. Although he could still make some later. I wondered if Ponyville had an arcade? Eventually, we reached Fluttershy's cottage. I had to admit, it looked...peaceful, from the outside at least. There was a large, and rather dark, forest in her backyard. We had to trot over a small bridge that hung over a small stream just to get there. It wasn't a tree, like the library. But there seemed to be a grand amount of foliage on the top of the cottage, to the point of where I really couldn't tell where the roof actually was. Birdhouses were everywhere, at least five on every tree. Maybe she uses the birds to help exterminate or something? Eh, of Twilight's friends, I knew the least about Fluttershy. Well, that's all about to change. Pinkie did the honors of knocking on the door for all of us in a rapid, three pound motion. Not even a few moments later, Fluttershy opened the door, and let out a soft yawn. Unlike Twilight, Fluttershy actually wore something when she slept: a small pink nightcap. ...Okay. I MAY have phrased that weird. I didn't watch Twilight sleep! Honest! It's just whenever she came downstairs she was- Forget it. You get my point. "Hm?" She said when she finally opened her eyes. You could tell that she was fast asleep not even a minute ago. The look on her face was rather priceless when she saw all seven of us at her doorstep. Her eyes shot open voraciously and she let out a small "Eep!". She lowered herself to the ground, as if to make herself as small as possible. "Hi Fluttershy." Twilight muttered, with a fake smile. It was obvious that she was trying to at least seem perky. Maybe not to worry Fluttershy or something? I didn't know. "Um, hi everyone..." Fluttershy squeaked, shivering slighty. She refused to look at me or my brothers. She kept her eyes solely on Twilight or Spike, and sometimes Pinkie. With her constant bouncing it was hard not to notice her. "W-What can I do for you?" She breathed. At least I think that's what she said... "Fluttershy, do you think we could come in for a bit? We need to talk to you." She choked, her charade was breaking, fast. Fluttershy picked up on this, and opened the door just a little bit wider upon realizing that something wasn't right. "Oh! Yes. Come in." She replied. With that, all seven of us trotted inside of her cottage. Upon immediately entering, I was hit with the distinct feeling of...comfort. Hm, interesting. The livingroom was quaint, and rather small. The walls were a dark, oak-ish brown, while the floor was a grassy green. It almost gave me the impression that the house was very...woodsy. There were bird cages on various sides of the room. All were empty, however. A red, floral rug covered about half of the room, while various furniture such as couches and chairs that were the same colors as the floor and rug itself littered the other half. There was a staircase that lead to what must be Fluttershy's room. There was also a room to my left immediately upon entering. I didn't get to glance inside, but I assumed that it was a kitchen. Her home was eerily silent, and I was starting to have second thoughts. Fluttershy took a seat on a virescent colored couch. There weren't many places to sit otherwise. There was a couch that was just a slighter shade of green of which Twilight, Donnie and Raphael all decided to reside there. Mikey and Pinkie both sat in chairs diagonally adjacent to each other, while Spike and I simply resorted to standing. Fluttershy illuminated the room by quickly turning on the lamp on the stand next to her. "Would anyone like tea?" Fluttershy asked politely, finally looking at my brothers and I. All seven of us shook our heads. No one was in the mood. Fluttershy suddenly brought her hoof to her chest. "Oh my! You all look so worn out! What happened?" She asked after taking a good look at all of us. I never realized it, but we were all pretty dirty. For the time being, I wanted to let Twilight talk to her friend, so I motioned to my brothers to be silent. A few were okay with it, while Raph simply rolled his eyes. "Uhm, yeah. The library had gotten attacked tonight, Fluttershy." Twilight's charade had fully fallen through right about now, and I noticed that her eyes were beginning to water. The pegasus instantly cooed at Twilight in a loving manner. "What? Who would do such a thing?" She whispered softly. "Psh, some clan called The Foot. They decimated the library, nearly sending it toppling down on us!" Spike said, walking around the room with his claws behind his back, angrily. He glared at my brothers and I with an eerily strong intensity. I think he seemed to take a liking to us. And, technically, neither my brothers, nor the Foot took down the library. That was Pinkie Pie. Although it probably wouldn't have been a good idea to say that. I guessed if the Foot hadn't shown then Pinkie wouldn't have even needed to use it... "They came here with these guys through some portal or something!" Fluttershy stared at us slack-jawed, and here I thought she was getting used to us. "That's not entirely true!" Donnie replied. But we all knew that it was a lie. "Well, possibly." "The Clan is after them." Twilight choked, referring to us. "And some Shredder character." She stared at the floor, as if she was contemplating what to do next. Her whole home was gone, her hobby was taken from her. The tears were slowly started to dribble down her face. Inside, my heart was breaking. I could tell that all of my brothers were disappointed in themselves as well, even Raphael. "They want us dead, to say the least...we're so sorry to have brought you into this-" I started, but Twilight suddenly stood up, her face quickly contorted in anger to the point of where she was actually starting to scare me. "SORRY!?" She hollered, causing Fluttershy to double back. "YOU'RE SORRY!? You come out of scenic nowhere, make me drop everything by giving me this sob story about how you need me to get home! Then, some of YOUR enemies try and kill Spike and I! Let's not forget that I am completely out of a HOME now!" She screamed at the top of her lungs. I looked back at my brothers, nervously. "And all you have to say is that you're SORRY!?" I was completely silent. I felt the guilt suddenly reel up and bite me in the chest. "I-" "Look! We can fix this! Alright!?" Donnie suddenly exploded. "We know what we need to do for the Tele-Portal-" Wrong move. "Hah! Great! After all this, after all this loss, you all still care more about getting home! What are we going to do? Huh?" Thaaanks Donnie. My purple masked brother simply went back to moping in his seat again. With an angry grunt, she stormed out the front door of the cottage, slamming the door behind her and causing some of the things on the wall to shake violently. Everyone stood there in silence, with Fluttershy cowering on her seat as she tried to block out all the yelling. Part of me wished the Shredder would just come through the door and end it already. *** No one went to sleep after that. The house was extremely quiet as the morning sun shone through the windows of the nimble cottage. Twilight still hasn't returned, and I don't feel that she will anytime soon. I guess it was a good thing, she can finally blow off some steam. She's been under so much stress lately. It was only time before she snapped. My brothers and I didn't do much. We kind of just sat around the living room for most of the morning hours. We didn't have much to do, and with Twilight gone, Donnie couldn't really work on the Tele-Portal. Somehow, Pinkie had brought it along with her, which didn't make sense. The parts are pretty heavy, but I learned not to question her. That's what Fluttershy had told me, anyways. I was bored, and I was getting antsy. I couldn't just sit around. I needed to do something worthwhile with my time. Pinkie Pie was happily baking breakfast in the kitchen, which was very kind of her. She has been trying to cheer eveypony up all morning. Whether it be jokes, funny outfits, or whatever. No one was in the mood. The party pony then decided to make food to make us feel better, which I have to admit, just might work. I was rather starved. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Michelangelo tip toe into the kitchen almost cartoonishly. I raised a single eyebrow as he disappeared between the doorway. Somehow, no body in the else seemed to noticed. Everyone was kind of doing their own thing. I know it's not cool to spy on a relative, but I am the leader, as well as nosey. I also had a good feeling about what he was planning to do, and I wanted to witness it firsthoof. I got up and stealthily peeped through the door, making sure to be extra silent. Luckily, no one else seemed to be paying attention. They were either lost in thought, or they had begun to meagerly chat amongst themselves. Mikey was apparently speaking to Pinkie Pie about something personal, as he had not even said anything and he was already a deep crimson. "Uh, hi Pinkie." Mikey was looking at the tiled surface below him, but between every other word he would switch his glances from Pinkie, to the floor, and then back again. "Hi Mickey! How's it goin'?" Pinkie squealed as she broke a few eggs and dumped the yolks into a plastic bowl. Mickey? That's a new one. Heh, I was going to have to remember that. My brother squirmed just slightly, shifting his weight. "Could be better..." My brother sighed. Pinkie easily picked up on the fact that something was bothering him, and gave him a frown much like his own. "Aw! Don't be sad! Sadness never gets anypony anywhere!" Pinkie exclaimed, getting...unnecessarily close to my brother. I didn't know why though. I'm pretty sure she just wanted Mikey to smile, anyways. Mikey seemed to blush slightly, before taking a half step away. Pinkie's smile became rather crooked. "A wise man once said, the walls we build around us not only keep sadness at bay, but also joy." He mumbled just loud enough for Pinkie to hear. She tilted her head in a confused manner. Mikey sighed. "I'm not sad." "Something's troubling you! Tell me!" Pinkie egged on, getting even closer in Mikey's face, opening her eyes even wider than what they usually were. A little creepy, to be honest. I could tell that Mikey was fumbling around in his head, trying to think of different ways he could get out what he was trying to say. "Uhm, well, have you ever...you know...liked someone?" Mikey asked, looking away. I wasn't even a part of the conversation, and I already knew that Pinkie was going to take that question into the opposite direction that Mikey had wished. "Of course!" Pinkie smiled, Mikey's ears perked up a bit. "I like everybody! Everypony has a friend here in Ponyville, and that would be me!" Mikey's ears dipped, as he grumbled a bit to himself. "What was that?" She asked. "But...how do I ask this...have you ever, you know, liked anypony before?" He asked, putting a little too much emphasis on the word "liked". Pinkie nodded, but Mikey still didn't respond positively just yet. "Eeyep!" She answered. Mikey waited for her to follow up on her reply, but never received one. After a small pause, it was obvious that both ponies were on two completely different levels in all of this. Mikey facehooved so severely that he actually left a small red mark on his forehead. "No! I mean have you ever...uhm, loved anypony before?" Mikey smiled, please that there was no way for her to get around the question this time. "Yes! Multiple times!" Mikey beamed, pleased with himself, but it was short-lived. "I love my bestest-best friends! Like Twilight, Fluttershy, Rarity, Dashie and Applejack! Oh we've been through a lot together! We like to sing songs together, play games, oh! I've even thrown parties for all of them! They were a blast! You should've came! Then it woulda been a par-" "Pinkie, I think I'm in love with you." My jaw dropped so quickly, so suddenly, that it was inches away from hitting the floor. Did...did he...he couldn't have! The kitchen was so awkwardly silent, that I almost felt like I couldn't watch anymore. Mikey stood like a statue, unable to breathe, or even believe, what had just came out of his mouth. Pinkie, who was just interrupted, still had her mouth open with her tongue just outside of it, hilariously. Although, she did manage to furrow her brow. "I...don't know. It's just that...ever since I met you, there has been some sort of attraction, you know? Something that I can't explain. I've never really felt something like this before, as back home, we don't have...uhm...time for relationships. But I know what it is, and it's killing me inside, and I hope you can understand and that you feel the same way." After Mikey's monologue, Pinkie had just then come to terms with what he had said. She closed her mouth as her cheeks managed to turn an even rosier color than usual. Her usual joking smile on her visage had vanished, and it was placed with a much more sincere one. Well, that's a first. I guess Pinkie could be serious if she actually tried, albeit for very short timespans. "Uh...eheh..." Pinkie was at a loss for words. "I...well, I don't know much about love either. I mean, I have tons of friends, but I guess relationships are a wee bit different, aren't they? Truth be told, I think you're a pretty nice stallion." Pinkie gave Mikey the most heart-melting of smiles. "Really?" "Yup! And your swinging sticks are super cool!" She blabbed, almost going back into her super-hyperactive mode. Should have seen that coming. "Do...do you think that maybe you'd want to go on a date with me? Uhm, if you're not busy or something?" Mikey asked, his confidence rising dramatically. Oh man, the moment of truth! I stared hard at Pinkie, expectantly. "I'm not very used to..uh, dating. I've never even had a coltfriend before." Pinkie admitted, staring deep into Mikey's eyes as she relished in the rather embarrassing fact. "Well, neither am I. So why not learn together?" Mikey asked, reaching out his hoof. Okay, now I know I had heard that on television somewhere! I absolutely knew it! Well, just goes to show that a little too much television can go a long way...I still couldn't believe that this was happening. Pinkie quickly scooted over to Mikey and embraced him with a large hug. Although it was apparent that this time wasn't like the last. It was longer, and both of them were holding each other just a little tighter. "Sure!" *** Pinkie Pie and Mikey quickly resumed to chatting amongst themselves, giggling and laughing occasionally at both of their jokes. I was quickly getting bored and tired of eavesdropping, so I quickly turned back to look at the living room. Everything was exactly the same, except for the fact that it was a little brighter in the room as the sun had risen since I had last checked. Everypony was slowly getting more lively as time rolled by. There was still no news from Twilight, and I was starting to get a little worried. Her house was destroyed, where could she possibly be? Maybe at another one of her friends houses? Raph was the first to break the deafening silence as suddenly hollered, causing most ponies to jump at the sound of it. He threw his hooves in the air, exasperatingly. "That's it! I can't take it anymore!" He shouted, standing up from the couch. "What's goin' on?" Mikey asked as he and Pinkie poked their heads through the door. Donnie, Spike, Fluttershy, and everyone looked towards my red-masked brother. "I'm so sick of this! I'm bored, I'm tired, and I want to kick some Foot Ninja butt!" Raph argued, pulling out his sai and swining them around, causing Spike to take a few cautionary steps away from him. "We need to teach them a lesson for what they did to Twilight's library, and for messin' with us in the first place!" He seethed. Most of the bodies in the room rolled their eyes. "Chill, Raph. We all want to get rid of them, but it's not a good course of action." Donatello remarked, resting his head on his hoof, boredly. "Why not? They're obviously a threat to us, and all the...uh...ponies in this world! I wouldn't be surprised if they don't try to take over! We need to do something about this!" Something told me that Raph was just looking for a fight, but another part of me was curious. "The library was destroyed in minutes, and I doubt that the government has the knowledge or power to hold off the Foot. Only we do!" "Well, what did you have in mind?" Spike humored him, crossing his arms and raising an eyebrow at the much-large stallion. "We go and find the Foot, wherever they are hiding, and we sabotage them! Or we knock some sense into them, at least!" Raph asked. I was starting to side with him, but his idea made me completely rethink why I actually listen to him sometimes. I mean, that's ridiculous! "That's...not a bad idea." Donnie replied, holding his other hoof in the air. I saw a small flash of yellow quickly make a break for the other room, although I decided not to question it. "If the Foot are here, chances are their technology is as well. If we can get in to their base and sabotage them, we might be able to grab some things that are necessary for the Tele-Portal." Okay, now this plan was making much more sense. "But there's a problem." I interjected. "We don't even know where their base is!" "Uhm...I might." A small voice squeaked behind me. We all turned to see Fluttershy emerging from the kitchen with a few small photos in her hoofs. "The other day I was exploring the Everfree forest, taking some of my animals on a walk, when I came across some kind of building that I have never seen before. There were these guards, and they chased me as soon as they saw me. I haven't seen my Angel since." Spike leaned over to me. "Angel is her pet bunny." I let out a small "oh" of understanding. "...I...I took a few pictures before they actually spotted me. Are these the ponies you were talking about?" Fluttershy asked, handing the photos around the room. As soon as they reached me, I knew that Fluttershy was onto something. In the middle of some wooded area was a very large, gray building. You could just tell that it was from our world, because it was very...industrial. I haven't seen a building like this one since arriving here. There were many large windows that were completely blacked out. The photo must've been taken in Fluttershy's haste, as it was slightly blurry, but I could have sworn that I saw the Foot Clans three toes dragon symbol on it. On another picture, it was the same exact thing, same place, same atmosphere. The only thing that was different was that it was even more blurry, and that there were two Foot Clan ninjas running towards the camera. That was when Fluttershy ran. To be honest, I was surprised that she actually got away...the Foot never quit... "So you're telling me that the Foot is right in our backyard?" Mikey added. Well, in a sense, they were. They were so close to us that it was rather alarming that we haven't been spotted yet. Raph had the most smug look on his face that made me wants to punch him straight in his jaw... "Yay!" Pinkie randomly cheered. "I'll get the confetti!" Everypony simply ignored her. I took a brief look at the pictures, formulating a plot in my head. I almost immediately thought of one, as the Foot always had some sort of fault in their architecture. We've broken into bases multiple times before, we sure as shell could do it again. "I think I have an idea. Everypony gather around..." I stated as I set the photo's on the ground. "Fluttershy, can you go grab some sort of sketchpad?" I asked, to which she quickly nodded and toddled off to her room to go and retrieve it. My mind was racing faster than it had in a while. The cheap thrill I get from strategic exempt. It was fun for me. I smiled as I finally realized it: I had a plan.