The Sunset Redemption (Sequel to A Sunset's Last Sunset)

Tearful Memories

After Sunset and I befriended Fluttershy, Fluttershy convinced her other friends to befriend us. Rainbow Dash and Applejack were extremely reluctant and skeptical to do so, and their stubbornness showed. But after a little convincing from Fluttershy, Pinkie, and Rarity, they gave Sunset a chance. And in time, they grew to like Sunset and I. Maybe it helped that I kicked those bully's asses; those four had been giving them a hard time. So they liked me. Plus they shared this ability to "Pony Up." Don't ask me, Sunset said it's because of some Equestrian Magic, which I think I might understand due to being exposed to Equestrian environments, and interacting with Discord. Kind of a Superman biology thing...

 Anyway, today's a certain day in my life that I wish I could be happy about, but I'm not. It honestly puts me in a sad mood. Today's my birthday. But it's also the birthday of my brothers, and on our birthdays, well, you know what happened. Anyway, I'm in a rather silent mood. This doesn't go unnoticed by Sunset and her friends. Anyway, it was lunchtime, and we were used to sitting next to the five girls I mentioned. I was silently picking at my food. Like I said, this didn't go unnoticed by the girls. "Raphael, are you okay?" asked Fluttershy, "you've been very quiet." I looked at them and stammered, "Oh, uh... I guess I can't lie, especially since AJ would know I'm lying." Applejack smirked and said, "Ya got that right, sugarcube. If you said you was fine, ya wouldn't be foolin' me." I nodded, knowing that Applejack was the Element of Honestly. "Why the long face Raph?" asked Pinkie, "Come on, let's turn that frown upside down!" 

"It's alright Raphael," said Sunset, "you can open up to us. We'll listen." Rainbow Dash nodded and said, "Yeah, you're among friends." I sighed and said, "Alright... It's just that, today's my birthday, and..." Before I could finish, the minute I said birthday, Pinkie jumped up and said, "Today's your birthday?!?!?!?! Did everyone forget?!?!?!?! Don't worry Raph, I'll get ya a cupcake! Quickly, what's your favorite flavor, what's your favorite candy? I'll even get your favorite pizza for ya! I'll turn that frown upside-" 

"Pinkie!" Rainbow interrupted, "Please don't interrupt Raphael. This is clearly serious to him, so can you give him a chance to explain?" Sunset nodded at me, telling me I could handle it. Pinkie blushed in embarrassment, embarrassed for getting carried away. "Sorry," she squeaked. "It's alright Pinkie," I said, "anyway, like I said, today's my birthday, but I'm not mad that anyone forgot or didn't know because in my defense, I didn't bring it up.  The main reason I'm unhappy is because, well, I'm the second child in a family of quadruplet brothers, and today's what would've been my brothers' birthdays..." I let those words sink into the girls. "What would have been?" asked Rarity. "Wait, do you mean ya lost your brothers?" asked AJ. "Yeah, and the worst part is, I lost my brothers, my friends, and my dad, all on my birthday..." I said, choking up. "Oh my, that's horrible..." said Fluttershy, "we're so sorry Raphael..." The girls looked at me with sympathy. Sunset looked at me the saddest. "It's alright Fluttershy," I said, "you know, you remind me of my brother Donnie... He was shy but gentle like you... You would've liked him... And Pinkie, you remind me of my baby brother Mikey... He was funny and energetic like you too... You would've liked him..." That's when I felt tears come down my eyes. I breathed heavily, got up, and ran out of the cafeteria. I just needed to be alone.

I ran outside the school, and found a tree. I sat down, my back resting on the tree, hugged my knees, and I burst into tears, sobbing. I've held back my pain and grief for two years. And I continued to cry and cry. I cried for Splinter. I cried for Leo. I cried for Donnie. I cried for Mikey. I cried for April. I cried for Casey. And I cried for Karai... A few minutes later, a voice said, "Raph...?" I looked up, and it was Sunset. I sniffled a little. "Oh... hey Sunset," I said, my voice hoarse. "You okay?" she asked as she sat next to me. I shook my head no. "Do you want to talk?" she offered. I sighed, "I suppose it wouldn't hurt to talk..." I then began the whole story, starting from the beginning.

"Once, when my father was human, he was part of a ninja clan in Japan known as The Hamato Clan. My father's name was Hamato Yoshi, one of the greatest of the ninjas. The Hamato Clan fought with bravery and honor, unlike their rival clan, The Foot. The Foot Clan was a treacherous clan of dishonor and brutality. The Hamato Clan wiped them out, leaving only their newborn child, Oroku Saki. Saki was taken in by Yoshi's father, and raised him like a son. Yoshi and Saki were like brothers, and the best of friends, having a friendly rivalry. But all that changed when they both fell in love with the same woman. Her name was Tang Shen. That is when their rivalry turned bitter. Saki's resentment towards Yoshi grew worse when Shen chose Yoshi over him. And the final nail in the coffin was when Saki learned of his true lineage. Yoshi and Shen married, and they had a daughter named Miwa. As for Saki, he rebuilt The Foot Clan and became The Shredder. One night, Shredder attacked Yoshi, and fought him, with the intent of killing him so that he could have Shen and Miwa all to himself. But when Shredder tried to kill Yoshi, the death blow he intended for him landed on Shen, killing her. Outraged, Shredder burnt down Yoshi's house, took away Miwa, renaming her Karai, and left Yoshi for dead." Sunset covered her mouth and said, "That's horrible... Please, go on..." I then continued...

"Yoshi then moved to America, residing in New York. He went to a pet store to buy some pets, and decided to buy four baby turtles, myself included. Outside, he stumbled onto an arms dealing involving this alien race known as The Kraang. Kraang noticed Yoshi, and intended to take him out. But the thing about my dad is, he was never the type of guy that would go down without a fight. So he fought them. I should also mention, he accidentally stepped on a rat. During the fight, the Kraang accidentally dropped some sort of ooze on Dad and me and my brothers. This ooze was some sort of mutagen where, whatever you touched the last time, you would mutate into. Dad got in contact with a rat and mutated into a humanoid rat. Me and my brothers were in contact with our dad, and we mutated into humanoid turtles. Dad took the four of us into the sewers where he raised us. He decided to take us as his sons, and named us after Renaissance artists, while Dad went by his old nickname Splinter. My older brother was named after Leonardo Da Vinci, I was named after Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, my younger brother Donatello was named after Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi, and the youngest of us was named after Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni. We were trained in the art of the ninja. Leo was the leader, I was the muscle, Donnie was the tech genius, and Mikey... He was like Pinkie Pie." Sunset nodded in interest. I continued...

"We were a team in a way. Saved the people of New York. But the past always finds a way to find you and bite you in the ass. We fought Shredder several times. Heck, Karai found out who she really was, and came back to us. On our birthday, Shredder attacked at our birthday party. And he killed everyone. He killed my best friend Casey Jones, he killed our friend April O'Neil, and he murdered Miwa, he killed my father, and he slaughtered my brothers... I swore revenge and became The Nightwatcher. I eradicated The Foot Clan myself, and then I killed Shredder out of revenge... He took everything away from me Sunset..." I then began to cry again. Sunset then hugged me tightly. "It's okay Raph," she said as she hugged me and held me in her arms, "It's alright... I know it hurts... I'll be your hero now... I'm here..." She gently rubbed my shell, letting me know it was okay. Well I cried my eyes out until I could cry no more. I then looked at Sunset. "Better?" she asked, and I nodded, "I guess I can see why you had so much anger. You were holding back so much pain. I understand... I'm here for you, just like you were there for me." By now, her cuts, including the part of her arm that she cut the word "MONSTER" on, was beginning to heal. Because of me, Sunset stopped cutting herself. "Between you and me, after I killed Shredder, I was almost considering killing myself," I admitted, "I guess the saddest people always try their hardest to make others feel happy, because they know what it's like to feel worthless, and they don't want others to feel that way..."

"I guess there's truth in that," said Sunset, "but thanks to you, Princess Celestia's alive, and I've stopped cutting myself. It's alright." I smiled at her, and got back up. I knew I could trust Sunset and show her my vulnerable side. We went back in the school afterwards. After school, I got a surprise. Pinkie made me a birthday pizza just for me, and she and the girls sang Happy Birthday to me. Good old Pinkie.