//------------------------------// // Invasion // Story: The Little Things In Life // by Cabral095 //------------------------------// Written By: Cabral095 (AR) Co-Written By: Edragon Edited and Fancified By: Edragon, Dalvazar, Bronzewolf78 Proofread by: ColeTrain4EVER This story is inspired from this picture - http://stardustxiii.deviantart.com/art/Gimme-some-284469748 Chapter 1: Invasion ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ “Finally!” Jeff screamed as he landed on the bed. A gleeful smile spread across his face. He sat back up and looked around his new bedroom. It was clean, spacious, and most importantly, his. Jeff was finally free from his parents and brother. No more “be back before nine.” No more younger brother and his constant “Jeff! Jeff! Can I use the Xbox? Jeff! Come on, lemme have the Xbox. Jeff, Jeff I wanna play!” And best of all, no more sociopathic pets constantly clawing and biting him at a moment’s notice. Flying paws of furry fury swiping at his legs and arms had become such a common occurrence that he stopped bothering to keep track and simply accepted that they just hated him. It was quiet in the room since his friend Brian had left after helping him move the last of his possessions in. Wanting to see the rest of his new home now that he had a moment’s peace, Jeff leapt off of the bed and maneuvered around the few empty boxes he’d used to transport his stuff. Stepping carefully to avoid the occasional LEGO he’d neglected to pick up, he made his way out into the small living room. He smiled and glanced over his few furnishings sitting in the room. A single, overly orange couch literally brightened the room; the lights reflected off the starburst-like color, giving the surrounding area an orange-y tinge. Aside from the couch which dominated the room was a small TV on a wooden stand in front of the couch, and a small glass table in between the two. Curious how long it had been since Brian left, Jeff reached into his pocket to check the time on his cell phone; 7:40 P.M. Connected to the living room was a small balcony, which he’d yet to go out on. Walking towards the sliding glass door, slightly fogged from the cool night air, he paused for a moment as he slid the door open. The cold night air embraced him, causing a refreshing shiver down his spine as he stepped out onto the balcony proper. The balcony handrail was cold to the touch as he leaned on it. He gazed down upon the dull road below. It was a rather quiet night, not that Jeff had any complaints. The peace and quiet was a welcome change from the grating of his parents’ nagging or his brother’s constant intrusions. Staring off into the night sky, his thoughts drifted to all of the new possibilities and responsibilities that come with living on his own. The feeling of such sudden independence was odd and unfamiliar, but he was confident that he would grow comfortable within time. Comfort, however, was still an inconsistent luxury as he was jarringly snapped back into the present by his cell phone, demanding his attention to answer. His ringtone blared louder as he pulled the device from his pocket displaying Mom on the screen. With a quick groan of annoyance at being bothered so soon after leaving his parents’ nest, Jeff answered the call. “Hey, Mom.” “Jeff?” responded a high-pitched voice on the other end. “Are you ok? Did you get all settled in?” “Yes, Mother, I did. Brian came by and helped me move everything in and unpack. He left about ten minutes ago.” “Oh, good,” his mother replied. “Now don’t forget you have work tomorrow, so get to bed soon.” “It’s not even eight o’clock yet,” Jeff deadpanned. “Don’t worry, Mom. I’ll go to bed when I need to, alright?” “Alright dear, I love you.” “Okay, Mom.” “And your father loves you too,” his mother continued. “Uh huh. Alright Mom, love you too,” Jeff said, half annoyed. “I need to get going, but I’ll talk with you later. Bye.” Quickly ending the call before his mother could reply, Jeff let out a sigh of relief to be alone with his thoughts again. It wasn’t that he hated his mother; far from it. He just wasn’t one for small talk and hated her tendency to talk at great lengths on the same topic over and over again, as if she’d forgotten that she said the exact same thing not five minutes before. Jeff checked the time once more before putting his phone away. With one final look at the night sky he turned to go back into the living room to catch the 8:00 news. Jeff flopped down onto the putrid orange couch and got comfortable, both enjoying the warmth of the apartment and missing the coolness of the night air. The remote control was sitting on the far end of the table, which he begrudgingly got back off the couch to retrieve. Pressing the large red button on the top, the television came to life and the various sounds of different programs and static could be heard as Jeff cycled through the channels before settling on the news. Let’s see what craziness the world’s gotten into today, he thought to himself. A man in a blue suit sitting at the news desk was speaking. “ -police captured the robber, finding him two blocks away from the scene of the crime. In other news, scientists have discovered odd anomalies in the lower atmosphere above California. A representative of NASA has released a statement, saying ‘The anomalies are being caused by a minor solar flare and are nothing to be concerned about.’ Even so, some citizens are stocking supplies of food and water in fear of a greater danger.” Atmospheric anomalies? What’s the worst that could happen, cotton candy clouds? Or the end of the world? … Again. Jeff changed the channel before the anchor could say anything else. After flipping through a few more channels, Jeff grew bored and decided maybe bed wasn’t such a bad idea. He shut off the television and carelessly tossed the remote aside. After some standard preparations for bed, Jeff walked into his bedroom. He shut off the light on his nightstand, and rolled over to face the window. He laid there for a moment until his eyes shut on him, and before he knew it, he was asleep. ~~~~~ Golden rays filtered in through a large stained glass window, painting the room with a multitude of colors. A white Alicorn sat by a large marble fireplace, attempting to relax in the warmth of her sun as the colored lights danced across her hide. Her eyes were closed in concentration, shifting occasionally as thoughts raced through her head. The tinge of magic and the soft sound of wisping smoke suddenly drew her attention. The smoke and dust quickly drifted in front of her and gathered together, coalescing into a scroll in a flash of fire. A golden aura enveloped the scroll, seizing it in the air before it fell, and quickly unrolled the paper. As she began reading the letter, her face contorted in confusion and concern. Her eyes darted back and forth across the paper at an alarming rate, attempting to understand what it was she’s reading. Satisfied with reading the letter, she set it aside with her magic and summoned parchment, a quill and some ink; the Alicorn used her magic to hastily write on the parchment. “Dear Spike, I thank you for sending me the urgent letter, I am on my way now. Stay in the library. Princess Celestia.” Princess Celestia set the quill down. Then, with one fluid motion, rolled up the scroll, sealed it, and the letter disappeared in a flash of white. Celestia rose to her hooves and walked out of her room, flinging open the large double doors leading to the hall. The two guards snapped to attention at the sudden kerfuffle*, not expecting the sudden appearance of their princess as she jaunted pass them without a word. Closing the doors behind them, the guards attempted to follow Celestia but were quickly stopped in their tracks by the princess’s magic, immediately understanding her need to forgo formalities. They stood stoic as Celestia turned down another hallway towards the main entrance hall. Her brow furrowed in concern, repeating the message Spike had sent her over and over in her head; each word searing into her mind. “Dear Princess Celestia, Twilight! Applejack! Rainb-, Flutt- …. You need to get here now! Like now, now! Like yesterday now! Something terrible has happened!” The rows of royal guards stood at attention along the main entrance, watching as the Princess hastily walked by, unblinking and unmoving as she passed. Celestia’s grand wings unfurled as she exited the confines of the royal building, taking to the sky with a single massive beat. “The last thing that I heard was Trixie saying she learned a new spell. She threatened Twilight!” Another powerful stroke of her wings angled her towards Ponyville and quickened her speed, her wings fueled by her divine strength of body and magic. “Twilight said she would talk to Trixie to make things better, but they didn’t get better. Trixie told Twilight to meet her by the Everfree Forest along with Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie. I followed Twilight there in case she needed some muscles to help her out …. I’m always having to look out for her now …. “Because I didn’t want to blow my cover, I hid in a nearby bush. After that, Twilight began to talk with Trixie. Trixie said this was revenge for being humiliated. And.. And she used some magic spell on them! There was a bright flash of light, and then they were all gone. After that, I um, ran back to the library to write this letter to you. It totally wasn’t to hide or anything. Please come soon!” The airspace above Ponyville was devoid of life. Multiple clouds were floating about unmanaged and with an odd slightly pink hue. Focused on the important task at hoof, Celestia dismissed the oddity and banked towards the Ponyville library. Several passersby gawked at her unexpected arrival as others looked warily about at the sky. Spike was inside the tree house, pacing the wooden floor. His teeth were munching on his claws; he’s nervous. A loud thud was heard from outside the library. Spike perked up and raced to the door. “Princess Celestia!” Spike cheered as he opened the door. “I’m so glad you’re here!” “Spike,” Celestia said urgently, her voice filled with the strength and conviction of a true commander; a voice she used only under the most stressful of situations. “I need you to take me to where Twilight and her friends were when they disappeared.” “Oh, right!” Spike exited the library and waddled towards the Everfree Forest, Celestia in tow. Spike started rambling off the myriad of “possibilities” that could have befallen his friends, culminating in another hypothesis of exploding twice. Celestia did her best to assuage his fears, but gaffed at the double explosion theory. “Nopony else know’s that spe ... er..um, nevermind.” But before Spike could question what the Princess meant, they reached the forest and approached the scene of Spike’s concern. “There!” Spike yelled pointing near the entrance of the forest. A large black scorch mark smothered the ground of where the six equines had once stood. “They were right here.” Spike pointed to the charred dirt. Celestia examined the black stained ground. “Spike, do you know where Trixie is?” “No,” Spike answered. “She ran off after she used the spell, she looked worried.” “Worried?” inquired the Princess. “Hm. Spike, where did Trixie run off to?” The small purple dragon scratched his scaly head and pondered a moment. “Uh, I think I saw her run into Ponyville.” “Thank you Spike, now run along back to the library. I think that Twilight will need someone to watch it while she is away.” “Oh yeah, I guess you’re right. Will they be okay Princess?” “I don’t know Spike,” Celestia replied. “All we can do is hope.” ~~~~~ “Hi again, Mom,” Jeff said picking up his phone. “How was your first week in your apartment, sweetie?” his mother kindly inquired. “It was fine. Look Mom, I had a long day at work, and I would like to get some sleep,” Jeff reasoned. “Tomorrow is Saturday. I’ll talk with you then, okay?” “Well alright sweetie,” his mother replied. “You have a good night now, love you!” “Yep.” Jeff hung up the phone and sighed. He looked at the night sky again, the brisk cool air soothed his body. Jeff moved the side of his balcony to check the flower he'd been growing. A silly 'housewarming gift’ Brian gave him as a joke, but one he decided to keep anyway if only to occupy some of his abundant free time. After several days the bud had finally begun to bloom and a sweet aroma tickled his senses as he leaned in close to examine it. Something caught his eye, a small cocoon hung from a leaf. Jeff looked over the delicate home. The delicate structure wiggled as he turned the plant to get a better look. “Looks like you have a friend ... ” A pause. I’m talking to a plant ... I need a hobby. Quickly distancing himself from the plant, Jeff gave it one last look and sighed as he left the balcony and strolled back into his apartment. He walked passed the living room and into the hall, passed the spare bedroom, and into the bathroom to ready himself for bed. Jeff picked up his tooth brush and set it to work. As he brushed his teeth, Jeff felt a light brush against his toe. Figuring it was just a piece of lint or something floating he didn’t take much notice of it and continued brushing. He spit and filled a nearby cup of water to rinse his mouth. Another warmer, firmer touch on his toe caused him to flail back. The cup of water flung into the air and splashed water all over the floor. Recovering from the unexpected sensation, he leaned down to search for whatever it was that caused his minor panic attack ... and found nothing. “The heck was that? I better not have any rats in here or I’ll do ... eh ... probably nothing.” After spending a few more minutes searching the bathroom for ... whatever it was he thought he felt, Jeff dried the water off of the floor and left; shutting the light off as he did. He stepped into the hallway and into his spare bedroom. Flicking the switch, the room brightened, displaying the many opened boxes of stuff he’d yet to unpack; including the black backpack next to his computer desk. Reaching into the pack, he pulled out an old worn book, Where the Red Fern Grows, and zipped the bag closed before proceeding back towards the door. As he reached the light switch, what sounded like whispering briefly gave him pause. He turned around, but saw nothing out of the ordinary. With a shrug, he turned the lights back off and walked to his bedroom. Plopping down onto his bed and getting halfway under the covers, Jeff turned on the small lamp next to him. He sat up against his bed rest, an extra pillow behind his back for added comfort, and started reading from where he left off. This had been how he spent most nights, enjoying a good book on a quiet eve. Jeff wasn’t the biggest reader in the world, however, with what little he did read, he enjoyed quite thoroughly. Unbeknownst to him, a small blue figure was peering around the - compared to it - large door observing him. “What’s that thing?” asked the curious little creature. “I don’t know,” responded another, “but I think it’s reading.” A purple figure peered further into the room for a better look. “Reading?” questioned the small blue figure. “Reading is for eggheads.” “Now be quiet both of ya,” a small orange pony, no taller than three inches, stammered at the two miniature filles. “We need some sort of plan.” A small pink filly jumped up next to the orange pony. “What kind of plan?” the curious pony asked. “Ah dunno,“ replied the orange filly, “but we can’t let that thing see us. Who knows what could happen?” The small colorful fillies continued to watch and comment about the ‘thing’ for another fifteen or so minutes, trying to figure out what to do as Jeff started to yawn. Folding the corner of the page he left off on, he closed the book. Meanwhile, the small purple filly clutched her chest in discomfort for a reason she didn’t know. He set the book on his nightstand, and adjusted himself in bed, throwing the throwable throw pillow through the air onto the thrown objects destination ... the floor. He yawned once more, turned off the light, and laid his head down onto his pillow, facing towards his window. “AH!” cried a small yellow filly. The blue filly pegasus quickly shut the crying filly’s mouth. “Shh, don’t blow our cover!” Jeff rolled halfway over and glanced back at his door again thinking he heard something. I swear I’m starting to hear things …. Is that a sign of something? I’ll Google it tomorrow if it keeps up. The small equines dared not move a muscle until the strange thing rolled back over after a few seconds. “That was close,” whispered the small purple unicorn. “We need to be more careful.” “I- I’m sorry,” replied the small yellow pegasus. “It’s just.. I-it’s so dark.. and scary.” The orange pony walked up to the yellow filly. “It’s alright, we’re all here for ya.” A little smile grew on the yellow filly’s mouth. The blue pegasus groaned. “Can we stop all this sappiness please? We still need to figure out what to do with that giant ... eh ... thing!” The purple unicorn walked to the center of the tiny ponies. “We could look around,” she shyly suggested. “It wouldn’t hurt would it?” “Yeah!” agreed the blue pegasus. “Maybe we can find something to vanquish the beast!” The purple unicorn filly turned to face the blue pegasus. “Why? It hasn’t done anything to us.” “Yet,” replied the pegasus. “It can still hurt us; we can’t trust it.” “Ah think ah’m goin’ ta have ta agree with her on this.” The orange pony walked to the purple unicorn. “Like she said, that thing can still hurt us; but that don’t mean we need to destroy it.” The purple filly looked around. “What do you all think?” “I think it could use some nicer curtains,” said a small white unicorn. “Those are hideous.” The blue pony groaned. “We don’t have time for this, I say we take action now!” “What do you suggest?” inquired the purple filly. The blue pegasus pondered for a moment. “Let’s take a closer look at it.” “Are you crazy?!” questioned the purple unicorn. “I thought you said that thing could kill us?” “True, but everything needs sleep, and that’s what it’s doing,” the blue pegasus said confidently. “Now is the best time to get a better look at it.” “Ah reckon it can’t hurt none,” added the orange equine. “Ah mean, it is sleeping. Besides, we can easily hide from it like we did before.” “Well, I suppose so,” the purple unicorn felt unsure, but she knew they had to find out what this “thing” was. “Wait, weren’t there six of us?” The purple filly began to count the ponies, “One ... two ... three ... four ... five ... Where’s the pink pony?” “Over there!” The blue pegasus stated. The pink filly was near the edge of the things bed, nearing its nest. The other small equines raced to her. The small blue pegasus practically body-checked the pink pony; and halting her ascent, brought her back down to the ground. “What do you think you're doing?” questioned the blue filly. “You could get us all caught!” The purple unicorn came up next to the two. “She’s right, if we go, we all go at the same time.” The other fillies agreed, and they all set to work. The large bed stood before them; it was massive compared to the tiny fillies. The purple filly walked to the beds perimeter until she came across some of the mattress sheet hanging close to the floor. “Hey!” The purple filly motioned back to the others. “We can climb up this way!” The fillies all began to climb the mattress sheet, aside from the blue filly who seemed to prefer flying everywhere she went and made the trip in some seconds. While waiting for the rest of her newly met acquaintances, the blue filly curiously looked over the strange creature from the air before landing on the pillow in front of its face. The other fillies had begun to converge near the pillow. “Hey!” she whispered. “You should look at it closer; it’s so weird looking.” ~~~~~ The next morning, the sun shone brightly through Jeff’s window, warming his face and slowly bringing him back to consciousness. Much to his chagrin, the small noises he thought he was hearing the previous night had returned with a vengeance; small taps and murmuring filled his ears. At this point he figured he was just still dreaming. He certainly still felt tired enough to be asleep and seeing as it was Saturday he had no qualms with simply going back to it. The sun however was having none of it and continued to shine straight into his closed eyes causing Jeff to roll over to make it go away. “Woah!” Again with the sounds. Slowly opening his eyes and wincing at the bright light, he sleepily glanced around, noticing small splotches of color through his hazy vision. With a mighty roar of a yawn he closed his eyes once more to try and get some more sleep. A buzzing sound soon filled his ears and, thinking it was a fly that was buzzing about his head, he swung his hand in the general direction of the sound to try and scare it off. “It’s attackin’!” cried the orange filly. “Run!” The large beast had hit the blue filly, sending her hurtling to the other end of the bed. Jeff’s eyes darted open. He checked his hand to see if there were fly guts. However, only a small blue feather was obtained. “What the ... ? Did I ... hit a bird?” Jeff rubbed his eyes to try and clear the sleep out of them before looking about the bed for whatever it was he’d hit. “Hm ...” “Hi there!” The small voice rang in Jeff’s ear, he looked from left to right, but saw no one. “No, over here silly,” the small voice laughed. Jeff looked at his right shoulder. His eyes focused in on a small pink pony. “Hi there!” the pink equine said cheerfully. *A beat* “AAHH!” Jeff screamed and jumped out of his bed, the pink filly hanging onto his shoulder and laughing like he was some carnival ride. Jeff looked on his bed and saw three more splotches of color, which he now realized were other ponies. A blue one with wings was lying down unconscious, while an orange pony was looking over the fallen blue pegasus. A white unicorn sat on the edge of the bed looking back and forth between him and the two ponies. “Wha- What are you things?” Jeff frantically asked. The pink pony on his shoulder giggled, “We’re not things, we’re ponies.” Jeff screamed again. “Talking miniature ponies?! This ... this doesn’t make sense, and you’re all so colorful.” Stupid ADD ... Jeff thought back at himself. “Well,” continued the pink pony, “maybe you’re just a giant! And you can like- OH! Can you make a giant cake?! I love cake!” Jeff was speechless to what the pink filly had just said. Words finally found his mouth. “Ok ...” Jeff composed himself. “I have small ponies in my bedroom ... and they can talk, what else can you do?” “I can use magic!” a small voice chirped. Jeff followed the voice to his nightstand, finding yet another colorful pony. This one, a small purple unicorn who sat in front of an open book, the book that Jeff had been reading ... She was already more than halfway through it. “Have you.. Have you been reading that story?” Jeff inquired of the small purple equine. “Yes I have,” She cheerfully responded. “I really like it!” Jeff pondered a moment, and glanced at the five ponies he saw. “Are there anymore of you?” “There was a yellow pegasus with us!” the pink pony shouted in Jeff’s ear with a volume far greater than something her size should be capable of producing. With his ear now ringing, Jeff was preparing to yell at the pink pony like he would do at his brother whenever he overly annoyed him, but something prevented him from doing so. For one, the pink pony had disappeared from his shoulder. Secondly, he noticed some movement from the ponies on his bed. The white filly was moving over to the orange and blue ponies. The blue pegasus, now in a daze, was muttering something about an “airship’s registry number”. That’s what I must have hit this morning, the poor thing, Jeff thought to himself. He walked to the bed and sat down, making sure he didn’t crush any of the ponies. “Is she ok?” Jeff asked. “Ah dunno,” the orange pony responded. “Ah think so.” “Look,” Jeff said, “I didn’t mean to hit her.” Jeff reached over and picked up the small pegasus in his hands, gently raising her to his eye level. Her body felt small and fragile, though he got the oddest feeling she’d try and attack him had he voiced such an opinion. However, she was just a filly, as were as the rest of these colorful equines. The pink pony curiously looked at Jeff’s hands and began to climb over to them, where she went or how she got back without notice Jeff would never know. She crawled across Jeff’s arm, causing him to chuckle from being tickled until she made it into his palm where she looked at the blue pegasus and then at Jeff’s hand. “Ooo, what are these?” the curious filly asked. “Those are my fingers.” “What do they do?” Jeff was a bit slow to respond to the filly’s question. “Um… they help me grab things, write, type, push buttons, eat, pick my--” “EAT?!” The pink pony exclaimed. “You have food?!” Jeff was shocked at the pink filly’s shouting, but answered her anyway. “Yeah …. What do ponies like you eat?” “Do you have cake?” questioned the pink filly. “Um.. no,” Jeff said bluntly. He was afraid this pony may receive one hell of a sugar rush if he gave her anything with sugar in it. “Do you like fruit? Like apples?” Wait doesn’t fruit have sugar too? Nah it’s healthy stuff, it should be fine. The orange filly perked up and ran over to Jeff’s knee. “You have apples?” she asked. “I have one or two, I think that should be enough for all of you.” Jeff set down the blue and pink fillies onto the bed. “I’ll be right back.” Jeff got up and walked out of the bedroom and into the hallway; his thoughts were racing. I’m taking this a lot better than I should be. Most people would have overreacted and probably called pest control, or worse. I wonder if people would really call the FBI? Does the FBI have a number? Then again I think they’d just call me…. I really hope I don’t get a phone call soon. It’s probably just over theorized. Then again, people are crazy, like Brian. Or even worse, my brother. What am I going to do with five colorful ponies? I can’t just have people come over willy nilly anymore. I’ll probably have to hide them. No, I can’t do that, that will probably lower their self esteem. Wait, do ponies have self esteem? I don’t even know. Ok, I’m sure that after I give them these apples, I can get them out of here. It shouldn’t be too hard. They must have parents of some sort, or names for that matter. Hm, I probably should have asked them for their names. Do they even have names? If they don’t then that’ll be weird. OH NO! What if they don’t and they ask me to name them! Then I’ll end up being stuck with these fillies for the rest of my life. I can’t get married, or even have a girlfriend! What would I tell her? Jeff reached the kitchen and walked towards the fridge. He opened the door and began his hunt for the apples. I mean I can’t just say to her, “Oh yeah, since you’ll be dating me, I should let you know I have magical colorful ponies living in my home. I’m not weird or anything, they just showed up one day!” Because that would go swimmingly. Then again though, I suppose someone would have to watch them. Now where are those apples? Jeff scrounged through his refrigerated products. “AHA!” he exclaimed in mock triumph. “There you are!” The apples sat towards the back of the fridge, as if trying to hide from Jeff’s searching eyes. Jeff grabbed the two apples and set the on the counter. After closing the fridge door, he glided over to his silverware drawer in search of a knife. After heroically retrieving the knife, he grabbed a plate and set the fruit upon it. Jeff made quick work of the apples and set the knife in the sink. As Jeff walked towards the kitchen door, he heard a small melodic voice, as if something was singing. Jeff stopped his movement and listened to the subtle voice. The voice was coming from his windowsill, where a small yellow pegasus was looking through the screen into the bright outside world. Jeff set the plate down on the counter and slowly approached the small pegasus. As he got closer, he could see a few birds had gathered by the window, joining the small filly in song like some harmonious chorus from a cartoon. Jeff stood a few feet back, and watched the filly sing to the birds. Her voice soothing and graceful; relaxing, almost making him forget that six tiny ponies had invaded his home…. Almost. As her song soon ended, she began to actually talk with the little birds he thought would have flown away. “That was a lovely song,” Jeff complimented the filly. The filly jumped back and looked at the strange creature. She fled to the corner of the windowsill, trying to hide. The birds flew off from the sudden intrusion. “Oh, I’m sorry,” Jeff apologized. “I didn’t mean to scare you. I liked your singing.” The small filly only hid her face with her wings. “So, do you have a name?” He smiled. The pegasus’s only response was a bit of trembling and squeaky noises he assumed were whimpers. With a sigh he walked back to the counter and picked up a piece of apple. He set it down on the corner of the windowsill opposite the frightened pegasus before leaving the kitchen with the remaining apples slices. Once the creature had seemingly left, the small filly lifted her wings from her face. She opened her eyes and looked around to see if the beast had indeed left. She sighed in relief and looked ahead of her, spotting the thing that the creature left behind, a slice of apple. Her stomach growled at her for being empty and she walked precariously over to the luscious fruit. She eyed the food and cautiously leaned down to take a bite, expecting the giant to return at any moment as if it were a trap. Munching down onto the apple slice, a sweet sensation filled her mouth. She smiled. With no sign of the creature returning, the filly sat on the windowsill and peacefully ate her breakfast, looking out the window at the birds that still fluttered about outside. Jeff opened the bedroom door and saw the five fillies looking at him anxiously. The blue filly had finally gotten her senses back and didn’t look all too happy. Jeff approached the bed and sat down on the edge, being careful not to crush any of the ponies. He set the plate of apple slices next to him, and watched the ponies rush over to them like wild animals. The blue one arriving first despite her previously rattled noggin and wariness of him. Hopefully giving her food will make her like me ... Wait, do I want them to like me? Putting the thought away for later, Jeff couldn’t help but laugh at the sight of three-inch ponies eating apples off of a plate. He watched as the curious little creatures devoured the apples with haste while chattering amongst themselves about the the food. The orange one seemed to have a rather odd opinion about them as if she could grow better apples herself. “You must be hungry,” Jeff chuckled. “What were you doing last night?” The pink pony Jeff had acquainted with earlier hopped up on his knee. “We were trying to vanquish you!” she said with the largest smile ever on her face. “You were ... trying to what?” Jeff questioned, flabbergasted by the response that was given to him. “To vanquish you! Oh it was funny, the blue pony tried to crawl up your nose an--” Before the pink filly could finish her speech, the blue pegasus raced to her and shut her trap. “Hehe,” she nervously chuckled. “You don’t need to hear about that; but that still gives you no reason to hit me like you did!” “Well I’m sorry,” Jeff melodramatically proclaimed. “But if something flies by my face, I’m bound to hit it. It’s a natural reaction. Besides, all that matters now is that you’re ok.” The orange filly devoured her meal and then walked over to Jeff. “He has a point. An’ besides, he gave us food. Ya can’t argue with food.” The blue pony thought for a moment, before having an odd reaction to the pink filly. “Did you just lick me?!” she exclaimed. The pink pony burst out in laughter and started rolling on her back. Jeff and the orange pony laughed as well. “That’s not funny!” the blue pegasus yelled back. “What if I get sick?” “She’s right you know. You can get really sick if someone licks you,” Jeff wryly said. Concern grew on the blue filly’s face; her ears drooped behind her rainbow mane. “R-Really?” she asked concerned. “No,” Jeff chortled. “I was only teasing you ... um ... you know, I’ve been wondering. Do you all have names?” The fillies all looked at each other, and shook their heads. Oh no! Jeff thought to himself. I’ll have to name them ... I’m going to have to have affection for these things ... There goes my love life. Perhaps a small price to pay. Though, fillies like these must have parents; really tiny… pony ... parents.. “Did you have parents?” Jeff asked the fillies. “I think so!” the pink pony burst in. “But I can’t remember.” A smile spread across her face. And if one doesn’t remember then I’m sure the rest don’t either. Just my luck. Well, I suppose it can’t be all bad. What’s the harm in raising small, colorful, magical ponies with no known origin? Jeff ended his thoughts. “You know,” Jeff began, “I’m probably going to regret this, but I suppose I can name you.” The small ponies cheered. The pink filly started bouncing up and down on the bed. “Pick me!” she yelled in excitement. “Pick me!” “Ok,” Jeff hesitantly said. “Um, well you sure are really pink; how about Pinkie?” I’m so terrible at this. The pink filly gasped, then smiled. “I LOVE IT!” She jumped onto Jeff, and started to climb up his arm. The blue pegasus raised her front leg high. “Me next!” she exclaimed. “Well, ok,” Jeff sat there for a second. This is bad, I’m blanking on a name for her. I could use sky. She is blue. Nah, too cliché; even for a pegasus. Ok, I’ll just look over her once more and something will come to mind ... And nothing does, great. Ok, ok, it’s fine, I’m sure something will come. Hm, what an odd mane color scheme: rainbow. Well, I don’t want her to be automatically stereotyped as a lesbian. Wait, can ponies be lesbians? I don’t even want to know. She does seem quick with her wings ... Wait, I think I got it. “You like flying don’t you?” Jeff asked her. “Yes!” the pony replied enthusiastically. “Oh my gosh, are you going to name me Flying? That would be so cool!” “I was thinking something along the lines of ... ” Pause for dramatic effect. “Dash,” Jeff said, trying to sound as cool as he possibly could, but failing miserably. The little pegasuses eyes lit up. “I love it!” she yelled. “Dash! It’s just so awesome!” Good thing she’s easily pleased. I’m sure that will change with time. Jeff turned to Pinkie, who was now sitting on his shoulder looking down at the other ponies. Jeff simply smiled and turned to face the other ponies. “Who’s next?” The other ponies were quiet for a second, before Jeff went ahead and picked one. “How about you?” he asked the purple filly. “Ok.” She said with a gleeful smile. Jeff pondered for a moment. “Hm, well what do you like to do?” Jeff inquired of her. “I like to read. Oh, and write notes!” the filly said happily. “You mean like studying?” Jeff asked. The filly nodded. She’s like school in a cute little purple package, Jeff thought to himself. I wonder if I’ll have to teach them? That would be horrible; I wasn’t the best at school. The C’s and D’s on my report cards can attest to that. At least I don’t have to worry too much about people finding out about these ponies; I don’t know that many people. The only person that’s at all likely to show up is Brian. I wonder what he’d think about me caring for colorful ponies. He’d probably laugh like he did when he found out I used Sparknotes for just about every school assignment I could. He didn’t let that go for months. I never looked at that website again. Which probably explains why I never went to college ... wait. A smile grew on Jeff’s face, “I know, how about Spark?” The little filly giggled, “That sounds silly. How about--oh! How about Sparkle?” “Sparkle?” Jeff asked the unicorn “Do you really like that?” “Uh huh!” nodded the purple unicorn. “Ok then, as long as you like it,” Jeff sighed to himself in relief. Okay, I’m on a roll. I got this. Only two more-- wait-- three. Three more ponies and I am done naming them. This isn’t so bad, I thought I would do horribly and pick stupid names like Jeff ... wait, that’s my name. Stupid brain! I meant names like Princess, Twily Sparkle Shine, Frank ... “Oh, could you give me a name next darling?” the white filly asked in a cute little accent. Darling? That’s adorable! Oh no ... I’m starting to like these ponies ... Especially the pink one, er, Pinkie. What is she even doing right now? Jeff looked to his shoulder to find that Pinkie had disappeared. He looked about to his other shoulder and around the bed, but couldn’t spot her. Suddenly atop his head, he could feel something warm. Slowly raised his hand above his head, Jeff gently set his hand down feeling a soft, small object on his head. “What are you doing up there?” he asked Pinkie. The pink filly remained silent and slept peacefully atop Jeff’s head. He gently picked up the pink filly and then set her down on his pillow. How did I not notice that? Am I seriously so focused on naming them that I couldn’t feel Pinkie climb up my neck? Well, I will say that she’s just a gem ... wait ... “I think I have a name for you little miss,” Jeff smiled. “Gem.” “Gem?” the white filly asked. “Gem,” repeated Jeff. “Gem?” This is going nowhere fast, Jeff thought to himself. Then again, she is young. I don’t even know how old these ponies are. What are ponies this young doing on their own? More importantly, why are they in my apartment? “Because banana!” Pinkie suddenly shouted in her sleep. Well that was oddly convenient ... Eh, I’ll worry about this later. I know this will come back to bite me in the end whether I worry now or not. “Do you know what a gem is sweetie?” Jeff kindly asked. The white filly shook her head. “Well a gem is ... um,” Jeff began to search for the right words. “A gem is a shiny rock, something of value. Um ... oh! Here.” Jeff turned around to the nightstand next to his bed. Opening the top drawer, he pulled out a small purple crystal that shimmered in the morning sunlight as he gave it to the white unicorn. “Something similar to this-- wait,” He thought for a moment. “Maybe a gem is something different, I’m not sure. Either way, it’s something similar this.” Jeff watched the small unicorn, her eyes glistened as she looked into the lovely object. “Oh,” Jeff said. “How about Crystal?” “It’s beautiful!” the unicorn proclaimed. “Really?” Jeff asked surprised. “Hm? Oh, not that. I meant the crystal.” I thought she would like that name. I spent a good amount of time making it… sort of. “So Crystal it is then?”Jeff asked once more. “Ok,” replied the white pony, her eyes fixated upon the purple crystal. It’s clear she has a taste for shiny objects; I hope she isn’t the spoiled type. Then again, I like shiny objects. Am I spoiled? I’m not too sure. I mean, my parents gave me what I wanted for the most part. Ah! Being distracted. Ok, now for the orange one. “What about me, partner?” The orange filly asked in her country accent. “Ya got a name fer me?” OMYGOSH! Her accent is so cute! ... I am SO glad no one can hear my thoughts ... Ok, I can do this. I’ll just look over her like I did the others or learn her personality. Hm, well she does remind me of my friend Jack. Jack has that accent, drives a giant truck, and has horses. Maybe I can ask him how to take care of small ponies? Nah, he’ll just laugh. Well I can’t just name her Jack. What about Jacklyne? “Um, Jacklyne?”Jeff asked unsure. “Nah, it’s sounds too frilly,” the orange pony replied. I thought Jacklyne was a good name; at least it would have been normal. Not some weird name like Sparkle, or Pinkie. Then again, at least those aren’t acronyms or nicknames, like JD or AJ. Then again, she may like that. “What about AJ?” Jeff inquired of the orange filly. “What does the A stand fer?” she questioned back. “It ... stands for,” Jeff looked around the bedroom. Oh come on! I can think of a simple name with “A”. Annabelle, Anna, Arianna, Ariel, Alice, “Apple.” APPLE?! Am I stupid or something? I just based her name off of the food I just fed them! Even worse now is that everytime I think of her name, I’ll be thinking of cereal ... Speaking of which, I haven’t eaten today, maybe I should. “Ah kinda like that. Ok then,” the pony began, “from now on, Ah’m AJ.” ... Really? Ugh, ok now at least I’m done naming them. Now What? Oh wait, I still have that other pony to talk to. “Ok,” Jeff started, “we have AJ, Crystal, Sparkle, Dash, and Pinkie ... Who’s still sleeping on my pillow ... What was she even doing last night?” Sparkle walked to Jeff’s knee, and looked up at him. “She said something about snow angels.” “But I don’t have snow in my room.” Jeff look to the far end of his bed. He spotted small little angel figures imprinted on his mattress. Pinkie sure is something. I wonder when she will wake up? Oh well, I have that other pony to attend to. “Alright girls, I have one other pony to go name so I will be right back.” Jeff slowly got up from the bed, making sure not to wake Pinkie. He glided across the room, and out the door. This won’t be easy. I saw how shy she was when I first complimented her. She hid from me like I was a beast, or monster. Then again, I am like 3,000 times their size. That’s a little bit of an exaggeration . Well let’s see, I’m about 5’ 10” and they were 3”. So if I ... You know what, screw it, I’m not working out math in my head. All I need to know is that I’m bigger than them, so I need to take responsibility. This is reminding me of movies I’ve seen like this. Jack and The Beanstalk, wait that was a horrible example. Spiderman? “With great power comes responsibility.” With small ponies, come great responsibility ... or maybe retrotsibility ... I’m such a dork. Jeff quietly entered the kitchen and look to the windowsill where he’d last seen the small yellow filly. She was no longer there, and the apple was gone as well. Well that’s good, at least she ate the apple. But where did she take off to? Jeff looked around his small kitchen, his eyes scanning the layout but failing to find her. Jeff exited the kitchen, and glanced around the living room. A small yellow flicker caught his eye as the pony walked behind the couch near the glass door to the balcony.