Of Ponies and Turtles.
Chapter 1
Eleven years before series.
Aquamarine colored eyes flashed brightly as the sun began to set over the city of New York, a metropolis that casts a veil of quiet and calm within its stone frozen streets and vertical structures. The owner of these eyes stepped forth from the shadows to reveal its slender feminine form. A round face with a slightly protruding muzzle, she stood on hind equine hooves, her upper torso and arms were mostly human in appearance while the whole of her body was covered in bluish fur and feathered wings of the same color sprouted from her back. She had a mane and tail decorated with the celestial night sky that flowed about her with a nonexistent wind, protruding from the top of her head was a single spiraling horn, the tip was gently glowing and on her flank shone a crescent moon. Pony ears held alert, twitching ever so often. She walked to the edge of the building she stood on and looked over the side
"Princess Luna," a timid voice called out from behind the majestic alicorn, causing the mare to look behind her as several other figures stepped from the shadows. Two mares, two young fillies, and what appeared to be a lizard child stood before the alicorn, looking worse for wear with tired looks on the faces and ragged stances.
The two mares were clutching the younger ones an attempt to assure themselves that the three were alive.
"Please your highness," one of the mares spoke, her mint green fur matted with dirt and grime, "were are we? What become of Equestria?" She asked looking toward the alicorn
Luna looked at the five that stood before her and sighed “I will be honest… Equestria… is lost. We were attacked by a terrible enemy,” Luna’s ears flopped down in sorrow. “The Elements of Harmony were no match for them, and, in an act of desperation, my elder sister and I used our magic to transport the population of our world to various worlds. Where they ended up…I do not know, just as I do not know how I ended up here with the five of you…perhaps destiny, perhaps luck…but, for whatever reason, we are alive and we shall survive” She glanced at the three little ones “Two fillies and a young dragon…the laws of this world have shifted our forms to appear this way…and the creatures of this world will never except us; they will fear us…they might even try to harm us” Luna stepped forward and, getting down on her knees, looked at the three children of various ages “What are your names, my little ones?” She asked softly.
The oldest was the dragon child; the tip her chin to underside of her short tail was covered with yellow scales while the rest of her body was covered in dark forest green scales. Her head was covered with thick, dark brown hair, and fin-like ears poked out on each side of her head. Her eyes were bright red and brimming with sorrow and unshed tears. Yellow spikes ran down her back from the middle of her shoulder blades to the tip of her tail she looked to be around eight years of age, “M… my name is.. Mona Lisa…” She mumbled curling her tail around her tiny body.
The second oldest appeared to be six years of age with a coat of pale purple, a blonde mane, and yellow eyes. A tiny horn poked out of her messy mane, “I’m Dinky Doo. Where is my Mommy?” She sniffled sadly not quite believing she had been separated from her beloved mother.
Luna reached out and gently brushed the young fillies’ mane, “I’m sorry little one… I… I don’t know but I promise you, I will find a way to reunite you with her… it’s a Princess Promise” Luna smiled gently “That means it can’t be broken and I will keep to my word no matter what,” Dinky seemed to have brightened up and smiled at the Princess of the Night.
The Princess turned to the youngest, a sad, young pegasus who looked up to meet Luna’s gaze. Her eyes were a bright baby blue that held a look of determination within them, “My name is Swift Heart, I’m an orphan so you don’t have to make any special promises to me.” She said with agitated voice. The filly’s fur was magenta colored, and her mane was two toned honey brown with a streak of lighter strawberry blond on the left side of her face. The little filly appeared to be only four years old, but her demeanor was different from the other two children.
Luna stood up and looked at the two mares “And what are your names?” She inquired, looking at the mint colored unicorn and her companion, a cream colored earth pony.
The mint colored pony had a lyre cutie mark on her flank while the other mare had three blue and pink bonbons as her cutie mark.
“I’m Lyra Heartstring and this is my wife Bonbon.” The mint colored unicorn said. Introducing the both of them.
Bonbon looked up at the princess “Your highness…what are we to do? You said it yourself, the creatures of this world won’t accept us, and we have to protect the little ones…” the cream colored mare said with urgency.
Luna turned back to the view of the city, “I will not allow them to be harmed, nor you… I will train these three in the way of the knight; I will train them to protect themselves and others… and to do so… we shall retreat underground.”
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A month later…
Luna looked over her new home, an older part of the city that had been buried and built over by the governing powers of the city. Old building, lifeless land, a clean water supply, and, most importantly, secluded. The princess of the night had begun training her new protégés in the way of the knight, and was pleased to see the potential they all had.
Mona Lisa had a streak of mischief in her; the young vibria went from a shy little thing to an all-out prankster! Luna couldn’t help but chuckle, the dragoness reminded Luna so much of Tia at that age.
As she thought about her sister, a frown crossed her delicate face “Tia… my search for you has been fruitless. Dear sister of mine, I miss you so much.” She whispered before returning to her private thoughts.
The eight year old showed great promise, ambidextrous, a rare trait for a knight to have, she picked two weapons to train with: the war hammer, which she now kept strapped to her back, and strapped around her waist above where her tail met the swell of her back was machete. Mona was pure strength even at her young age.
Mona, aside her pranking, showed to be quite creative as well; designing clothes for the group to wear, aside from Luna, who created her own armor outfit to wear. The vibria wore a simple pink tank top that hung loosely on her body, pulled her thick brown mane into a pony tail, and wore specially modified black shorts that she made to fit around her tail.
The Princess glanced at her own coverings. In Equestria clothing had been optional; however, in this world, clothing couldn’t be optional, the environment was too harsh and the shape of their bodies demanded cloth coverings. Luna now wore a long light blue off the shoulders dress with slits on both sides to allow full range of movement of her legs, on her arms she wore armor wristbands. Over that she wore a silver heart shaped breast plate that curved in the back to allow her wings free movement, her cute mark embodied on the center. Cuisses were attached to her hips for protection, and on her hind legs she wore bracers from the large curve of her leg to her hoof.
Luna’s thoughts then turned to the second oldest of her pupils, Dinky, the little unicorn was so serious about her new studies as a knight. Mona had dressed Dinky in a white midriff shirt, embroidered with her newly earned cutie mark, a three prong trident with swirls of magic around it, and wore a navy blue skirt. Luna chuckled to herself; Dinky was proving herself to be a natural with weapon magic, the unicorn seemed to also have an affinity towards water magic, it had struck Luna as odd at first, before she truly thought of it. Dinky proved to be calm and collected throughout the current circumstances, like water. She tried to move with flow and over the rocks, Dinky was somepony Luna hoped to eventually make leader of this little group.
The last filly, Luna sighed softly as she thought about Swift Heart, Swifty’s mind would have been veined for by many universities in Equestria. The magenta colored foal loved facing problems head on, and seemed to hate any idea of quitting or giving up on a project. She quickly learned how to understand this world vastly advanced technology. Luna felt almost embarrassed when Swifty casually mentioned how the most advanced thing Equestria had was the steam engine. Any book the filly got her hands on was digested within hours of reading. She was always taking things apart and reassembling them, creating new things from scraps of junk. Swifty was dressed rather cutely, black shorttalls and a simple, powder blue tank top that allowed her wings to have plenty of movement. She didn’t have her cutie mark yet, but Luna had an idea as to what her talent might be. Swifty’s weapon of choice was prance saber and her mode of defense was a short shield.
“Your highness!” A voice called out, bringing Luna out of reverie, “Princess Luna, Swifty took apart another toaster! I love her, I really do, but I can’t live without toast!” Lyra complained, exasperated. The mint-colored unicorn wore a white tank top and brown shorts. It was strange how eager she had been to wear clothes, “I can’t keep using a glamor spell to sneak to the surface to hunt down toasters anymore! I need my morning toast with peanut butter and jelly!” She shouted at the princess, her left eye twitching slightly.
Luna chuckled “I will speak to her and politely ask her to put her latest victim back together.” The Lunar Princess got up from her chair and walked past the fuming Lyra.
Dinky twirled, spun, jabbed, and parried, the pale purple filly was breathing hard, sweat was dripping from her body, and her horn was lit, armed with a spell as she went into the next set of combo moves. Moving slowly she summoned a water dome around her, and held her trident out in front of her. She screamed, releasing the dome outward and watching as it flooded the area. Dinky’s eyes were focused on mastering the current task, it was now her mission, become a knight and find Mommy! She knew Princess Luna was doing her best, but if she didn’t pull her weight the princess wouldn’t be able to focus on finding her mommy, she needed to be stronger! Her horn lit up again as she set to cast another spell “Mommy… I’ll help find you… just wait a little longer” she said softly.
Mona was humming softly to herself as she sat in her room; she was really falling in love with this dimension! The fashion was awesome! Bonnie managed to find her fashion mags which only furthered to inspire her inner fashionista! Fashion was her treasure horde! Mona chuckled as she held up her drawing pad.
“Oh so many ideas” she said smirking almost evilly, Dinky and Swifty were just soo cute! She couldn’t wait to force them into being her models!
“Mona, shouldn’t you be practicing?” Bonbon asked poking her head into the young dragon’s room.
Mona cringed and turned to the cream colored mare with a sigh, “Come on Bonnie! Practice isn’t until this afternoon!” Mona moaned with a pout, “It’s either I design fashion or I prank the others till practice.”
Bonbon groaned, she figured the young vibria would be similar to Spike from Ponyville…young, eager to help others, and sweet. Mona was rash, sarcastic, and somewhat arrogant. Smoothing out her orange sundress Bonbon took a deep breath and looked at Mona “If you want to eat dinner tonight and NOT be grounded, you won’t pull a single prank for the rest of the day.” She scolded the young dragoness.
Mona squeaked loudly in shock “Y- yes ma’am! I’d best practice!” Mona quickly put down her drawing pad and picked up her war hammer and machete. Strapping her weapons onto her back, she raced off to the practice arena.
“Swift Heart!” Luna called out as she entered the young pegasus’ lab, the lunar princess was always impressed whenever she entered the secluded little area.
“Yes, your highness?” A young voice answered back among the piles of scrap and machine parts.
Luna made her way further into the lab before coming upon the young inventor. Already, she seemed to be at work “I already know what your here about, and I’ve already put the toaster back together.” Swifty said pointing to a perfectly good looking toaster
“Swifty…if you knew taking the toaster apart in the first place was bad, then why did you do it?” Luna asked kneeling beside the young foal.
Swift Heart’s ears dropped as she looked away. “I can’t quite explain it; often I just feel the need to do things, like I’m compelled to learn about everything around me. I dislike simply sitting around and doing nothing.” She answered simply. The way Swifty spoke was abnormally articulate for her age; Luna hoped she would grow out of it and try speaking more informally around her peers.
Luna pulled the child into her arms. “Swift Heart, I can tell you’re a very bright child and you have your whole life ahead of you, when next you feel the need to take something apart, I want you to go to arena and try and work out your anxieties there. I bet physical activity will make you feel better.” Luna said, smiling at the foal, warmly picking her up and carrying her off. “It’s time for afternoon lessons and we’ll let Lyra make all the toasted peanut butter and jelly sammies she wants.” She nuzzled the foal managing to get a tiny giggle out of her as she walked off.
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Seven years later….4 years before series
“Mona?” Swifty knocked on the vibria’s door poking her head in, without waiting for an answer. Mona looked up and smiled.
“Hey, Bright Light, what’s up?” The teenage dragon asked motioning for the eleven year old filly to enter.
Swifty moved into the room and walked over to Mona. “Today Luna is going to officially make you a knight! It’s so exciting! Um, I truly hate to ask this, but I wanted to look nice for your ceremony…” She held up a manga book. “Can you make my mane look like this, please?” Mona looked at the book and giggled.
Over the years, Swifty had loosened up on her formal way of speaking. She still used some words the other couldn’t understand but it was a start at least. The dragon looked at the picture being shown to her and looked back at the young foal and nodded. “Okay! You, my dear, came to the right place!” She stated proudly as she used her tail to grab her special hair care kit.
Mona turned Swifty away from her and began brushing her soft mane, “Those sunlights you made have done wonders for this underground city, you should be proud of yourself Swift” She commented offhandedly as she began separating the hair into two parts and pinned one side up using a clip.
Swifty’s ears folded back against her head in slight embarrassment “Well, we needed some way to grow our own food down here. I merely took the concept of a greenhouse lighting system and changed the concept to install a modified light that would give both light and warmth by attaching it to the top of the cavern so the whole of the area would be covered in light.” The filly explained, trying to brush off the complement.
Mona chuckled shaking her head as she grabbed a blue colored ribbon and, taking the unpinned hair, tied a pretty bow around the bundle. She then took the ribbon tails and, separating the hair again, began braiding the hair, incorporating the ribbon into it.
“You have never been good at taking compliments, Bright Light” Mona chuckled, taking the clip from Swifty’s hair as she continued braiding until the crown was complete and two big matching blue bows sat on both sides of her head “There! One braided crown! So cute!” Mona cooed hugging the filly. Tentatively, Swifty hugged the dragoness back and smiled.
“Are you going to tie ribbons to your horns again?” She said looking at thin short horns that had grown on Mona’s head a few years back.
Mona shook her head “Not today, sweetness, maybe some other time. For now, we have to get going! Princess Luna forged armor just for me and today I’ll be receiving it!” Mona said, getting up and taking Swifty’s hand, then lead her out of the room.
“Come on Bonnie don’t cry” Lyra said, consoling her wife with a gentle smile.
“But Lyra, it feels like she all grown up now! She’s all grown up and doesn’t need us anymore!” Bonbon cried, fat tears streaming down her face. She had come to see the three children as her own foals.
“Mona’s grown up so much! Now she’s a full-fledged Knight!” Bonbon choked out “I’m just so happy!”
Lyra chuckled shaking her head softly “Come on dear we don’t want to miss the ceremony Luna has planned,” the mint colored unicorn said, taking Bonbon’s hand and leading her towards the practice arena. “Seven years and so much has changed. With Luna finding more survivors, and this place becoming a perfect little village, just like Ponyville was, but even better.” Lyra said nuzzling Bonbon’s neck and gently kissing her cheek.
It was true; four years ago Princess Luna managed to locate a small group of Equestrians in another dimension being treated as nothing more than slaves. Luna had gone to liberate the ponies and bring them to their current location. Sadly, Derpy was not found, much to Dinky’s dismay.
They called their new home Settlement Town, they really had no other name for it; it had become home since losing Equis, their home world, to an unknown enemy. However, no pony left to investigate the surface world though many were curious about the humans that lived in this world. Lyra more so then others, having been a human fanatic and a studious anthropologist, the unicorn was quite enthusiastic about learning everything she could about humans, much to annoyance of Bonbon.
“HEEEY! Don’t be sad! I’m going to throw an amazing ‘Yay! You’re a knight Party’ for Mona! This is like a SUPER DUPER HAPPY DAY!!!” The two mares turned and smiled at their old friend, they had been lucky to find her.
“Pinkie we are happy for Mona, but it hard to see her growing up so fast!” Lyra said as the bubbly pink mare hugged the other two, giggling
“But she’s growing up ‘cause she has the best mommies in the universe! Okay, so you’re not technically her mommies, but you two love and care for her like mommies need to, so that still counts, as you two will be her temporary mommies until we find her REAL mommy! Unless, of course, she doesn’t have a mommy, but instead she has a daddy…or two daddies! Then you two could totally be her mommies!” Pinkie rambled, much to the poor married couple’s annoyance.
Dinky stood on the left of Luna while Swifty stood on the right; both of their heads were bowed down. Dinky glanced around her, the practice arena was a refurbished stadium of some sorts, the unicorn didn’t know must about it, but the arena seats were filled with the town’s new residents, all eagerly awaiting to Luna’s oldest protégé receive the title of knight, the first dragon to become a knight. As happy as Dinky was that more ponies had been found, she still felt sad her mother hadn’t been found yet, but she still had hope that one day she would be reunited with her family. Until then, she continued to push herself with her knight training and, in two years, she’ll be the next to obtain the title of knight!
Keeping her head bowed, Swift Heart felt nervous, her mind seemed to be everywhere else but where it should be. She had recently obtained her cutie mark and Mona had embroidered it on her shirt. Her hand ran over the fine stitch work as she smiled at the pink heart that had a rim of darker pink outlining it with wings set on top of the heart. She had a cutie mark, she knew what her path was now. It was the mark of the undeterred heart, a symbol of determination, to keep moving forward and never look back, Swift Heart’s talent was to never give up, to push forward, and, if something got in her way, to find a solution to solve it. The young filly folded her hand in front of her as the ceremonial music began.
Taking a deep breath and, readjusting the outfit that would be worn under her new armor, Mona looked up from her spot, awaiting her cue to enter the arena. She glanced down again at her outfit and smiled. It was a brand-new black, short sleeve chain mail body suit with the legs stopping short of her knees and showed off the curves of her body, she was rather pleased with this body, well-toned from all the training and powerful. Her thick brown hair was hanging loosely about her shoulders as per Luna’s request. As the music started, her fin-like ears perked up and Mona walked forward, entering the arena where Princess Luna stood before her, beside Luna stood the two ponies the young vibria considered as younger siblings. She couldn’t wait till the other two were full-fledged knights! The three promised to go above ground once they were all knighted, it was going to be the best adventure ever!
Luna felt a surge of pride as Mona walked proudly towards her, glancing to both sides of her, the moon princess felt an almost maternal joy at how strong her girls were becoming. Focusing her eyes back on Mona, Luna watched as the teen kneeled before her. “We gather today in this arena to celebrate! Today Mona Lisa becomes a knight! She has trained hard and passed all her tests, I’ve watched with pride as this young dragon has grown over the past seven years and has learned many skills from me; however, the path of a knight never stops! She will continue to learn and grow. Though the path is long, I know she has the strength to protect those whom are closest to her!” Luna shouted so all could hear her.
The alicorn held out her hand over Mona. Her horn began to glow bright blue and her eyes light up pure white. Ribbons of pink magic began wrapping around Mona’s body, starting at her head, the ribbon encircled her hair and forehead flashing brightly upon contact with her skin and forming a gold and silver circlet on her head while her hair pulled into a ponytail, held by a golden clip with silver tassels decorating her hair. A ribbon wrapped around her neck, flashed, again and formed a long, pink scarf that cascaded down her back, the rest of the ribbons followed suit, forming a breast plate that wrapped around her upper chest, shoulder protectors, wrist gauntlets, an armor belt that had chains looping around it, greaves on her lower legs, and specially designed sollerets appeared on her three clawed feet. On her back a newly forged war hammer appeared as did a new machete, they were a slightly heavier weight than the training weapons Mona was used to, but she knew the extra weight would only make her stronger.
“Rise, Lady Knight, Mona Lisa” Luna said once the magical ribbons faded.
Doing as she was told, Mona rose and turned to the crowd “I hereby swear my hammer to up hold the ideas of a knight. To protect, serve, and honor those whom are important to me!” Mona said her practice lines as the ponies cheered in joy for her. Mona turned and hugged Luna, much to the alicorn’s shock, but soon, she hugged Mona back
“I truly am proud of you, Mona” Luna said patting her on the back and pulling away.
Dinky and Swifty practically jumped on Mona with their hugs
“You did it!”
“Congratulations!”
They both cheered “Alright! We’ve got a party to get to! Let’s celebrate today!” The three girls ran off to the party Pinkie Pie had planned for the dragon.
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Two Years later- Two years before series
It was Dinky’s turn to walk into the arena and receive armor. The under armor Dinky was given was different than Mona’s. The young unicorn was wearing a black halter top, a midriff shirt, and short spandex shorts that went a little higher up on her legs then Mona’s knee length style.
“Mother, I know you’d be proud of me… even if you can’t witness this day,” Dinky said softly, “I’m sorry to say that I- I almost gave up on finding you, but, luckily for me, I have a stubborn friend who won’t let me give up hope. When I find you Mom… and I know I’ll find you. I’ll make you proud of me.” She said gently as she looked up. Only two more years, then Swifty would become a knight, and on that day, the three of them would depart to the surface!
“Swifty! Are you almost ready?!” Bonbon shouted as she entered the magenta fillies’ room. Swifty was looking at herself in the mirror, more specifically, her chest
“Mona has a big chest, a D cup, and so does Dinky, a B cup. I’m practically a pancake, an A cup… an A cup!” She said as her ears dropped downward “I hardly even look like a preteen! I look like I’m still a ten year old!” She wept.
Bonbon sighed and walked over to the young filly “It’s not bad Swifty! I mean, think about it! When you fly, you won’t have big globs of flesh dragging you down, or getting in the way of your fighting!” Bonbon struggled to find positives for the young fillies ‘situation’ sweating bullets as she tried to think of something to say “Well, it just means you’re… a super genius! Yeah! Girls with smaller chests simply have bigger brains! Lyra was telling me that the other day from… from her… online school studies!” Bonbon said hoping her lie wasn’t too blatant “Scientifically proven!”
Sadly it was, Swifty gave Bonbon a blank stare that seemed to say “are you even serious? » on her face.
Bonbon sighed and taking the preteen by the shoulders “Come on, Dinky’s about to receive her armor.” She said pushing the pegasus out the door.
“Fluttershy! Ms. Fluttershy?” Mona looked around the cozy little cottage that had been recently built for a very shy butter-yellow pony. Fluttershy had been found a few months ago, along with a small group of survivors in a rather poor and barren land, just barely surviving. Said pegasus appeared a few moments after being called
“Oh, Mona! How nice to see you!” She said in a voice as sweet as honey.
Mona looked her over, Fluttershy was doing better then she had when she was first brought to Settlement Town, you couldn’t see her ribs anymore she had put on a healthy amount of weight, “Same to you Ms. Fluttershy! I was just stopping by before Dinky’s ceremony! I wanted to see if you were doing alright”
Cerulean colored eyes focused on the young dragon and smiled gently “I’m fine, really, thanks to Pinkie Pie. I have to admit, at first, everything was even scarier here, with all this advanced technology, but Pinkie helped me adjust. I just wish my other friends were here. I can’t stop worrying about Applejack, Rainbow, Rarity, and Twilight…but I know we’ll see each other soon.” She said walking over to Mona. “You and Rarity would have so much fun together! I bet you both would be really good friends! I really like this outfit you made for me” She spun around a bit showing off her ankle long yellow dress with a delicate white shawl hanging off her shoulders. Her wings were folded down under the shawl and her elegant tail reached the floor “It’s a perfect outfit, I’m sure even Rarity would agree! I bet she’d encourage you to keep designing as well!”
Mona smiled and turned away “Hey Fluttershy…w- what do you think happened to the Elements of Harmony?” she asked tentatively.
Fluttershy looked away folding her ears back “I… I’m not sure… I know the Elements are supposed to be inside of us… but… with Equis gone…I still believe in them…that they exist inside of us, but without the others they’re dormant. The Elements are waiting to reawaken, but…I just… I don’t understand why the rainbow failed to protect Equis against those horrible monsters!” The pure sorrow in her voice was enough to make someone cry. “And Discord…” Fluttershy wrapped her arms around herself, “he helped with opening the portals, he helped save all the citizens of Equis, but not even he could have foreseen were every pony would have ended up! I believe in my deepest heart he is also looking for us… and me.” A single tear slid down her muzzle.
“Discord was your mate…I can only imagine how painful it must be, being separated from your soul mate,” Mona said, blinking away her tears. “I…I believe it too. I believe in the Elements of Harmony still existing and about Discord searching for ya, after all, he did reshape the stars just to ask for your hoof in marriage!” Mona tilted her head to glance at Fluttershy before leaving. “I’ll see ya at Dinky’s party!” Mona said leaving the butter-colored pony.
As before, with Mona, music played, and Dinky walked proudly into the arena, the cheers of many ponies rang in her ears. The unicorn mare smiled at the trio before her: Mona wearing her armor proudly, Swifty wearing a new outfit Mona had made for her, a Japanese school uniform, with her wings fluttering softly and her tail wagging happily behind her. Dinky would have to tease the younger filly once the ceremony was over, but, for now, this was her moment to shine.
Luna stood before the large crowd one again, feeling nothing but pride as the pale purple unicorn kneeled before her, “Ponies of Settlement Town, I’m pleased to present Dinky Doo! Daughter of Derpy Brighteyes Hooves! Like Mona Lisa before her, Dinky has passed many trials to reach this point. It also my pleasure to say this: though she is young, I hereby announce that, along with the title of Knight, she is to be named captain of Mona and, eventually, Swift Heart. Dinky Doo, not only have you proven to be wise beyond your years, you've demonstrated the leadership and patience needed to be a good leader.” Luna closed her eyes, held up her hands, and summoned her magic.
Yellow ribbons of magic encircled Dinky’s body, the ribbons wrapped around her horn, forehead, and mane flashing brightly, forming a half helm with face side guards and a yellow bow bounding her mane in a low ponytail in the back. Ribbons wrapped around her neck, shoulders, and upper chest were here ribs stopped and formed mid-gaurd chest plate with protective shoulder guards and a long yellow scarf wrapped around her neck flowing down her back. Wrist guards covered the top of her hands and forearms, around her waist fitted leg armor formed around her hind legs and hooves. The final touch was her new weapon which appeared and strapped to her back, a blue steel three prong trident with her cutie marked engraved on it.
“Rise, Lady Knight, Captain Dinky Doo,” Luna said, motioning for her to raise.
Dinky stood, drew her weapon and pointed it upward, “I, Captain Dinky Doo, daughter of Derpy Brighteyes Hooves, vow to keep the ideals of the knighthood deep within my heart! To lead my team, my sisters at arms, through any battle and ensure they come home safe! I vow to be loyal, kind, and generous to all I meet!” Dinky smiled as the crowd rejoiced at her words. Closing her eyes Dinky drank it all in. She was aware of Luna congratulating her, of Swifty and Mona hugging her, and the shouts from Pinkie Pie announcing her celebration party, it was a good day.
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Present Day - set after Pizza Face
Swift Heart was sitting at her vanity mirror, brushing her hair and taking deep breaths. She was nervous, it was finally her turn to become a knight. All the hours of training, the extra flight training, the long hours of studying, and endless hours in her lab creating new things to help benefit the ponies that lived below the ground had paid off. All she wanted was to be needed, be useful, “I found it, I found my place, I know my path. I just need to keep walking it, I can’t be hurt by the monsters anymore.” She said to her reflection, trying to calm her beating heart. “I’m strong, and I’m smart, and I’m special.” She stood and walked to the door that leads out of her room. Taking another deep breath, she pushed open the door and walked out.
“Bonnie! I passed all my online courses! I’m officially a high school history teacher!” Lyra shouted happily, holding up her degree to her wife. “I even got a job! I got hired at Roosevelt High School! Luna gave me an enchanted necklace to wear that’ll make me look human!” Lyra said with much enthusiasm.
Bonbon wiped a tear from her eye “I’m so proud of you Lyra! We’ll actually be able to buy Hearth Warming Eve’s gift for the children!” Bonbon hugged Lyra “We’ll be able to buy them new things instead of rummaging through a dumpster! Ah! Maybe we can get Swifty that processor thing she been rambling on about!”
Lyra wrapped her arms around Bonbon and kissed the top of her head livingly. “That’s my Bonnie, ever the perfect mommy. I wish we could have given them better gifts over the years, and now we can.” Lyra whispered nuzzling Bonbon softly.
“But let’s not tell Pinkie Pie, I’m really not interesting in celebrating this, not right now. It’s Swifty’s time to shine.”
Bonbon nodded an agreement with Lyra. “So much has happened, sometimes I wonder if I’ll wake up only to find everything was just a dream, regardless of losing our home, I feel like I’ve gained so much more, our family has grown so much. Luna has become one of my dearest friends, I acted as mother to three wonderful little girls, and today, I’m going to witness my youngest become a knight, I feel content with my life.” Bonbon said kissing Lyra’s neck and cheek as Lyra nuzzled back.
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“And all three of you talked about this?” Luna said, looking at Mona and Dinky who nodded in response.
“You trained us to work as a team, but we… we want to see the surface, maybe even leave the city someday, for all we know there may be other Equins out there waiting to be found,” Dinky said, “maybe even my mother is out there, it’s a long shot, but it’s one I’d like to take.”
Mona stepped forward, “Luna, we are your knights, trained by the Sword of Equestria herself. Come what may, I think we’re ready to spread our wings, well, in Swift’s case, quite literally, but we all talked about and waited for this day. We want to go topside!”
Luna looked at them, a small peg of pain piercing her heart “I knew this would happen one day, little ones always grow up, and with that growth comes, so does the desire to find your path in life. Leaving the nest was bound to happen, yet my heart still feels unprepared for this. I will allow you to go topside; however, you’re still far too young to leave the city, if you still choose to do so in the future, when you’re adults, I will not stop you.” The moon princess said softly from her seat. She watched the two high five with a smile on their faces, the immortal princess knew they would eventually leave her, but she never counted how deeply she would come to care for them. She wanted to keep them protected from all the forces of the universe, but knew that wasn’t possible, all little birds must leave the nest after all, she only hoped she had trained them to be strong enough for this strange world.
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Swifty was pulling on the outfit she would wear under her armor; she had no clue what Princess Luna had in mind for her to wear. She worried about how heavy the armor would be, she needed as lightweight as possible in order to fly at her fastest. She currently wore a simple spandex body suit with a sleeveless top with thigh length shorts. She looked at her chest and twitched. “Too big for an A cup, too small for a B cup….” She pouted. “My boy magnets are too small!” She said, folding her ears back and frowned, displeased. Dinky and Mona had awesome bodies! Why did she get the short end of the body type stick!? Sighing softly she ran her fingers through her newly cut mane, she decided to go with a short boyish cut, luckily her mane was naturally fluffy so that made it easier to care for her new style without much work, her honey brown mane with the strawberry blond streak hadn’t changed much over the years, her tail was a solid brown without the natural highlight running through it, she had decided not to cut her tail short, instead she had her tail braided and tied off with a light blue bow. The young pegasus sighed and prepared mentally herself to walk into the practice arena where her older sisters waited.
Like the two times before, Swift Heart heard the music playing for her entrance; however, this time it was for her. The music was playing for her! The young pegasus entered the practice arena like she had dozens of times before now. Mona and Dinky were there, looking at her with pride, Luna held the same look as well! Never in a million lifetimes could Swifty imagine a princess being proud of her! She never imagined anypony being proud of her! She took the final stepk now standing before Luna and looking up at her slightly. Kneeling before the princess, Swifty stretched her wings out behind her she could hardly hear what Luna was saying over the pounding of her own heart, but she knew the words having heard them twice before.
“Swift Heart has used her brilliant mind countless times to aid in our continued survival here in this forgotten underground city that we’ve happily made our home, if Equis hadn’t fallen I could only imagine how many universities would fight to have her grace their campuses, but fate was kind enough to bring her to us, and for that, we are thankful.” Luna said addressing the crowd of ponies that had come to Knighting ceremony, the Princess could have sworn everypony in Settlement Town was in attendance today. Swift Heart made a huge effort to help the community around her, “It pleases me to say she’ll be a fantastic strategist and it is my hope she continues to grow into an even more brilliant mare!” Luna concluded and held out her hands as her horn began to glow brightly.
Ribbons and light blue encircled the young filly; a metal headband appeared on her head, a light blue scarf formed around her neck. Unlike Mona and Dinky, the armor Swifty received was a thick but tough leather dark brown dress with a sleeveless sweetheart neckline the scooped low in the back under her wings, on her right shoulder was a shoulder guard, on her right wrist was a leather guard with a steel gauntlet over her hand, on her left arm was a newly crafted round shield with her cutie mark engraved on it, on her hind legs, below her knees were leather guards, on her hips steel cuisses were attached, as well as her new saber.
“Rise, Lady Knight, Swift Heart.” Swift Heart snapped to attention at Luna’s command and slowly stood up and turned to the crowd, her breath hitching in her throat. She hadn’t expected so many to turn up for her, Mona, yes, many ponies depended on her strength, Dinky, definitely, she was a natural born leader and often took charge of many community projects, but her? She always felt she never did enough but… here they were, the ponies that liked her! “I, Swift Heart, a child of no pony, taken in by the kindness of those around her, hereby vow on this momentous occasion to continue moving forward upon the path set before me! I swear to never surrender! I will always find inspiration in those who around me to solve the problems that block the way.” Swift Heart shouted to the crowd and received a cheer in response.
Mona and Dinky stepped forward and each took one of Swifty’s hands before giving her a big hug.
“Bright light ya ready for our surface adventure?” Mona asked parting.
“We got permission from Luna!” Dinky said leading them away from the arena.
Swifty looked up at them, Mona stood taller than even Luna, and Dinky stood about the same height as Luna while Swifty stood at about five feet. Too short. After clearing her throat, she spoke. “I believe I am prepared for such an excursion! However, I will ensure that nothing is lost to chance, if you would be so kind as to meet me by the village entrance I will make haste and collect a few necessities from my room.”
“No!” Both girls shouted and proceeded to drag the little pegasus off.
“If you get caught by Pinkie Pie, you’ll be dragged off to the party and then it’ll be hours before we can surface!” Mona said sternly, pulling the shocked pegasus along.
“Yeah Swifty! I know you like trying to be ready for…EVERYTHING but once in a while you have to simply dive in head first” Dinky said quirking an eyebrow.
Swifty’s ears drooped down “Very well, I will make no further argument.” She said softly as the two let her go and the trio made their way topside.
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Meanwhile, the streets of New York were anything but calm and quiet as a single orange-banded turtle was screaming as he ran away “Why! Am! I! Always! Bait!” Mickey shouted as he slid turning a corner, hoping to not lose his tail to the newest mutant on the block “Nice boy! Good boy! Don’t eat me Doubledog!” He shouted, barely missing the mashing jaws of double doom. What chased him was a XX-large dog with two heads; the plan was for Mickey to lead Doubledog into a planned trap for capture. Sadly, it was Mickey that was bait and no plan ever survives, even with the best of intentions, the fun loving ninja turtle tripped.
“MICKEY!” Three voices cried out as they watched in horror as their baby brother was about to be made into a giant chew toy.
Raph was about to spring into action, he wasn’t about to let his baby brother be made into dog chow. He knew Leo’s plan was stupid! They had used Michelangelo one too many times as bait, the red banded turtle always wondered when the younger turtle’s luck would run out. However, his actions were stopped when a figure appeared out of nowhere with a giant mallet, like something out of Super Robo Mecha Force Five, the figure swung the mallet slammed it into the Doubledog sending the mutt flying back.
What happened next was a shock to Leonardo aside from the newcomer smacking Doubledog like a rag doll, in a flash of light another figure appeared “A… a teleporter?” Leo heard Donatello question, in shock. Leonardo watched, stunned, as something on the mysterious figure’s head lit up and a shield formed around Doubledog just the large canine tried to attack.
The final kicker was a third figure with wings, swooping down and quickly circling around the large dog before perching on its back, as the three turtles managed to reach Mikey. The orange masked turtle watched in awe as the third figure reached a hand around to Doubledog twin necks and suddenly started scratching his twin heads! The mutant dog stopped growling and snarling and fell to the ground, painting and whining happily. To say the least, the turtle boys were wide eyed with shock
“The what the shell just happened?” Leo asked as the third figure kept scratching the dog as it rolled on its back, exposing it belly to a tummy rub.
“Girls happened” Raph said in both annoyance and anger as the shape of the figures became clear; however, any further details were obscured by the lack of light, and the only light was the street lamp the boys were under.
“Sister may I inquire the acquisition of this dog? I would be most joyous to have a pet.” The figure with wings spoke in a gentle tone laced with formal vocabulary. Said figure was still scratching the deliriously happy, two headed dog.
The tallest hammer wielder turned to the small winged one, “I guess we could ask Luna… but… um Sis… ya might need to ask these boys first, I think the dog might already have an owner.” This one’s voice was more casual and easy going.
The last one then spoke, “Honestly, I don’t these boys own him. I think they might have just been baiting him, poor fella.” This figure had a tiny little horn on her head.
“Luna will most assuredly say yes, to fathom otherwise would be a jest! I shall give him a name in which a bond can form between master and pet, Sir Otis Cornwell Fluffy Paws is what he will be!” The winged figure giggled as the large dog began happily licking her, apparently he liked the name. Mickey, however, didn’t
The young turtle stood up, angry that someone dared change the name of a creature he had already named! Doubledog was an awesome name! “Hey! You can’t just rename something I already named! His name is Doubledog ‘cause he’s got two dog heads so the dog has been doubled!” He shouted angrily at the girl.
The three girls turned towards the turtles causing Mikey to gulp, wondering if his “saviors” were now his new enemies. The girl with wings stepped towards them
“A most preposterous name for one whose soul is a gentle and kind, so here, I say again, his name shall be Sir Otis Cornwell Fluffy Paws!” She stepped into the light revealing herself.
Mickey stared for a second, those eyes, baby blue and showing annoyance, those pouty lips, so perfectly formed into a unhappy frown “Uuuhh…um… I have no clue what you said.” He blanked out staring at the girl before him going silent.
Donnie blinked, “She said that name is ridiculous and she calling him what she wants to call him.” The purple turtle honestly didn’t want to repeat that equally, if not more, absurd name the girl had given Doubledog…err..Otis…rather. What happened next shocked Donnie and perhaps equally shocked his brothers
“Sir Otis Cornwell Fluffy Paws is totally the perfect name! Duh! Why did I totally not think of that myself?” Mickey exclaimed suddenly causing the other three turtles to gasp in shock, “And you know, he isn’t our dog, so if you want him, Otis is totally yours!” The younger turtle said quickly before Leo, or anyone else, could say anything.
“Did Mickey just blow a brain cell or something? ‘Cause he just let someone name something” Raph said, walking over to the orange turtle, who seemed to be in some sort of stupor.
Leonardo looked at Donatello and whispered “So… are we dealing with new mutants?” He asked looking curiously at the girls, he still couldn’t see the other two, but he was worried….very worried. He didn’t know which side these girls were on, and what level of strength they might have.
“I believe so…however that shade of pink is rather unique to find in nature.” Donnie stated putting a hand under his chin and he looked downward.
“Donnie, seriously, don’t flamingos have pink feathers?” Leo questioned
Donnie looked up, slightly annoyed, “Actually, young flamingos hatch with greyish-reddish plumage, but adults range from light pink to bright red due to aqueous bacteria and beta-Carotene obtained from their food supply. A well-fed, healthy flamingo is--” Sadly, before he could further explain he was interrupted.
“I am not pink! I am magenta! There is a very distinct color difference between pink and magenta. Magenta is a purplish red color and one of the three primary colors of the subtractive CMYK color model. On color wheels of the RGB additive and CMYK subtractive color models, it is located midway between red and purple. It is the complementary color of green!” She said crossing her arms and flaring out her slightly ruffled wings.
Suddenly the tallest figure began laughing so hard she actually stumbled towards the winged girl and wrapped her arms around her, laughing. “Ah, Bright Light, you’re cracking me up here! Face it; you’re almost on the spectrum of pink, honey. Just get over it and stop being so color sensitive all the time!” She said still chuckling as she hugged the smaller one from behind, she definitely looked like a “normal” mutant, if there was such a thing. The finally one also stepped into the light. This one had purple fur and a tiny horn sprouting from the middle of her head!
“Seriously Mona, you get angry if someone brings you the wrong shade of blue! ‘Oh no, that isn’t blue, it’s azure! That’s not blue either, that’s cerulean!’” She mocked the tall lizard girl laughing. The lizard girl, now identified as Mona shrugged, nonchalantly
“True enough, but only when I’m working on a project and I want just the right shade,” she said, putting her hands on her hips, looking at the young horned girl happily.
“Alright, enough playing around! Who are you girls, and you better give us answers now!” Raph said, getting fully annoyed by these weird mutants and their overly girlish-ness.
‘Bright Light’ gasped and turned to Raphael, “How ill-mannered you are to question for our names without first giving your own! Were you not taught proper etiquette when addressing a maiden?” She questioned, clearly offended by Raph’s rude behavior.
Mona slapped a hand to forehead with an exasperated sigh, “Ehh…sorry about her. My little sister has always had an extremely formal way of speaking, been like that since she was four. Anyway short stack, I’m Mona Lisa.” She said walking over to Raph.
The red turtle twitched; however, when she approached it was painfully easy to see she towered over even Donnie in terms of height. “What the shell!? You’re some kind of Amazon Lizard woman! And who are you calling ‘short stack?’” Raph snarled at her, gripping his sais in anger.
“Oh, I’m sorry, do I need to speak louder so you can hear down there, tiny?” Mona teased, smirking coyly, while the others were chuckling at Mona’s comeback.
Raph charged at her pulling his sais out, ready to strike, but the girl dodged easily.
“Ooh temper, temper, little guy” She chuckled, quickly turning on her heel as Raph passed by her.
Taking a shallow breath, she huffed out a tiny spark of fire, lighting his mask tails on fire Raphael blinked, sniffed the air “Hey, anyone else smell something burning?” He asked turning to his brother.
“Dude you’re on fire!” Mikey shouted in shock. The red banded turtle held up his mask tails and screamed as he tore off his mask to put out the flames.
“Mona why do you feel the need to instigate the situation, I implore you, most beseechingly, to cease this nonsensical banter and violent tendencies, we must make haste, for the hour is nigh till the clock strikes the time of moons highest peak.” The girl with wings spoke walking over to Mona.
Everyone but Donatello blinked in confusion.
“Uh, Donnie I didn’t get a word of that.” Mikey said clearly confused, the purple turtle slapped his forehead
“She means it’s almost midnight and to stop making the situation worse than it is,” his explanation was followed by an echo of ‘ah’ by his brothers. Donatello had to admit, it was rather refreshing to hear someone speak with such elegance, but it felt… forced… it felt unnatural coming from her.
“Well why didn’t she just say so?” Mikey asked.
The purple furred girl, who hadn’t done a lot of talk, sighed and looked at the sky, “Yeah, Swift is right, we can’t spend any more time up here, time to head home, we did make a promise to Luna after all, and as Captain I order both of you to follow me home without complaint or window shopping, is that clear?” She said confidently with a slight glare in her eyes. While she had been amused by the events, it was clear she took this encounter seriously.
“Alright, as you wish Dinky!” The other two chorused together. The three turned and began leaving the turtle boys, Swift guiding Otis away with them.
“Can’t we do just a little window shopping? I really wanna look at that cute blouse on 5th avenue!” Mona whined as they left the poorly lit area.
“Mona for the last time, NO!” Dinky said, her horn lighting up and in a flash of light, they were gone.
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The boys entered the lair.
“We’re back Master Splinter,” Leo said, rubbing his head, trying to piece together the events that just occurred above the surface, it was all confusing to him. The strange girls were on his mind, he was worried they might be new enemies, and he feared what abilities they might have had. One could breathe fire and another could apparently teleport, but he was clueless as to the last one’s abilities aside from flying.
“My sons, was your mission in the capture of Doubledog successful?” The old rat asked, stepping into the room and looking at his four sons.
“His name is Sir Otis Cornwell Fluffy Paws apparently.” Raph said, irritated “And, no, we did capture him, but Mikey here give the mangy mutt to a pair of big blue eyes!” Raph slapped the back of Mikey’s head.
“Ow! It’s wasn’t a pair of big blue eyes! It was a pair of big BABY blue eyes! With an adorably pair of cute pouty lips!” Mikey argued back.
Splinter’s ears perked up as his sons groaned at Mikey’s response. “What has happened and what this talk of baby blue eyes?” he inquired, looking at Michelangelo in particular, who started jumping in place
“Oh! I can totally tell you! Ya see, Leo was using me as bait ‘cause that’s what he always does, so, there I was running from Otis, leading him into the trap Leo set up, when I tripped! Otis was seconds from turning me into a chew toy when this girl came out of nowhere and slammed a hammer in Otis’ face, but that isn’t important, and neither is the other girl that like made a force field with her mind. What is important is Swift! She flew in, landed on Otis’ back, gave his head a scratch and BAM! Otis was rolling on his back and panting like a puppy! We started talking… though… I don’t remember half of what was said, but she was cute when sayin’ it!” Mikey rambled almost incoherently. “And she magenta not pink”
Splinter blinked and turned to Leonardo. “Can you explain what happened?”
Leonardo sighed softly; looking up to his father “Well…” he began explaining the oddity of the evening encounter to Splinter.
The ninjutsu master frowned deeply, he certainly wasn’t expecting anything like this, frankly, he didn’t know how to explain this himself. “My sons, until we have further information on these girls, avoid them at all costs. We do not know if they are friend or foe,” he said sternly.
“NOOO!” Mikey cried out “Can’t we just like…I dunno, talk to them! They totally can’t be evil!” The orange turtle seemed to be panicking and highly distraught.
“Michelangelo what’s the matter, my son?” Splinter assumed it would have something to do with pizza.
“I gotta see her again, that’s what! She was the cutest girl in the world!!” This answer surprised the rat and his other sons.
“Mikey… do you… maybe… sort of have a… crush on one these girls?” Donnatello asked nervously, walking close to his younger brother and putting a hand on the back of his shell. He honestly hoped this wouldn’t be another Karai incident, Mikey getting hurt in any shape or form was the last thing any of the brothers wanted.
“Crush? No. Hopelessly in love…definitely! Did you see those large expressive eyes? That fluffy hair? Those floppy pony ears?” Mikey sighed as his mind drifted off into daydream land.
Raph sweat dropped, “Hate to bust your bubble Mikey, but that girl is soooo not your type. As weird as she talks, she actually has a brain, whereas you are a brainless moron,” he said in his normal straight forward manner. He got no reaction. “Oh shell, he’s even more brainless than normal!”
Leonardo grabbed a slice of pizza and held it out in front of the somewhat comatose Mikey and blinked “Donnie, we need something now! I’m not getting a reaction here!” Mikey was even ignoring the pizza! It even had jelly beans and chocolate on it!
Donnie shook his head “Sadly, there is no medical means of deal with lovesickness. We’ll have to double on keeping him safe until he snaps out of this or until we find out she has a boyfriend and watch as Mikey falls into utter despair and depression while wallowing in self-pity with a pint of Ben and Jerry ice cream.” The three simply stared at Donnie with critical eyes. “Not that I know from experience!” Donatello blushed and looked away from the prying eyes of his brothers and father.
“Maybe we should call in some back up, like April or something. She might be able to talk Mikey out of this.” Raphael said, scratching the back of his head.
Donnie said nothing and pulled out his phone “Hey April, can you come and help us? Mikey claims to have fallen in love with a girl. No… I don’t know! We just met them. Yes them…. Ran into them…. Doubledog, well, Otis…I’ll explain later, just see if you can snap Mikey out of this, please! He won’t even eat pizza!” Donnie said into the phone “Thanks April, see ya later” He hung up. “Now, we wait.”
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“You may keep him Swift Heart, but remember this puppy is YOUR responsibility and he better not make a mess in the house, and you will visit Fluttershy to learn how to train him and to be a good pet owner.” Luna said, looking at Swifty from her desk.
Swifty gave a bright smile. “Such a gratuitous answer! I swear to follow all you have said to the latter! Sir Otis will be the picture of obedience!” The little pegasus said, her wings fluttering happily, until a familiar trickling sound was heard. “Starting… now! Come Otis, outside!” She quickly hauled the giant dog outside.
Luna sighed and looked at the new mess in her office. “Maid! I need the carpet cleaned!” She shouted as a maid entered the room bowing and got to work on the stain, Luna only sighed. “I remember when I was her age, I used to hide pets in the closet”
To be continued….