Throughout his life, Spike had asked himself several questions when he was caught off-guard; 'Wasn't that window open?'
'What twisted monster thought letters in a math problem was a good idea!?'
'I'm a foster what now?'
One such question was rolling through his head: 'Did one of those jackasses slip something into my lunch!?' Namely because of what he was seeing. Standing less than ten feet away (at least, he thought they were standing) were two ponies.
Two small, oddly colored, ponies. One was orange, and bizarrely enough, a hat and hair(mane?)style that was almost identical to Applejack's. The other was pink, and a mane that was a dead ringer for Pinkie's hair. And both were the size of a month-old puppy.
"What in the....?" He asked no one in particular, rubbing his eyes.
"What, ain't ya'll ever seen a pony before?" The orange asked, with a voice that sounded just like an older Applejack.
"Of course I have!" He replied. "But not ones as tiny as you! Heck, newborn foals are bigger..." He stopped. "i...I gotta be seeing things. I'm arguing with a tiny talking horse."
"Pony, actually!" The pink one joined in, complete with an older Pinkie's voice, before it belched.
"Pinkie!" The orange one scolded it.
"Sorry. Those cookies were good."
Spike was in the middle of trying to figure out what was going on when he heard that. "Wait. Cookies?" He looked at the pink one. "You're the one who left that plate and glass out on the table?" He asked, all traces of confusion gone and replaced with annoyance. "I HATE it when people do that! It always leaves me with a bigger mess to worry about....and I'm doing it again..."
"See, Pinkie?" The orange one spoke up again. "Ah told ya whoever lived here was gonna be annoyed if ya did that."
"Hehe...whoopsie? Ooh! I know what'll cheer him up!"
"How can ya tell that's a...Pinkie!" Spike found himself forced to drop both blades when the 'Pinkie' pony suddenly bounded up and leaped at him, wrapping its...or apparently, her front legs around his neck in a hug, with him catching her on reflex.
"Pinkie hug!" She squealed, nuzzling him in the process. "Wow, you're warm!" She giggled. "AJ, you gotta try this!"
"Pinkie, ya can't just go 'round huggin' complete strangers...though, Ah admit that does look kinda fun...an' Ah could use a cuddle right 'bout now-scoot over!" Spike soon found himself holding both while they buried their faces in his collarbone.
'H-holy crap...!' He thought, reality hitting him when he felt the surprisingly soft fur on his neck. "You...you're real??"
"Feels real to me!" The one calling herself 'Pinkie' chirped, purring as she curled up closer.
"Oni-chan!" Sunset's voice suddenly called out, followed by rapid footsteps.
"S-Sunset!?" He replied, remembering about the knife and sword and moving to kick them into the room before she saw them. "I told you all to stay outside!"
"When you didn't come out, we tried to call like you said, but it slipped out of Rarity's hand and we couldn't get it to turn back on!" She sounded like she was about to cry by the time she rounded the corner, coming to a stop at the bend. "We started to panic and I ran in..." She trailed off when she spotted the orange and pink cuddlers. "O-Oni-chan...what are those??" Her expression quickly brightened. "Are those puppies!?"
"Hi!" 'Pinkie' waved, looking over at her.
"Did...did it just...?"
Spike sighed. "Um, Sunny...go tell the others they can come back in." He glanced down at the two diminutive ponies still hugging him. " And have them all wait for me in the living room. Dunno why, but I have a feeling things are gonna get a bit...peculiar around here."
It didn't take long for them to regroup back inside, coupled with a definite sense of relief, and all ten huddled up on the couch by the time Spike got back. The two ponies - who'd introduced themselves as Pinkie Pie and Applejack, which weirded him out even more than the resemblance they had to the two girls - were curled up on his shoulders.
As soon as they saw them, the girls erupted.
"Puppies!? *SQUEE!*"
"Oh, their ADORABLE!"
"Where'd you find them, Onii-chan?"
"Why are they orange an'... an' pink?"
"Ok, ok. Settle down, all off you." He waited for them to all quiet down, setting the ponies down on the coffee table. "First of...I found our 'intruders'." He looked at the two as he said the word. "Girls, say hello to....pony AppleJack, and pony Pinkie Pie."
"Come again/Say what?" The two girls with the same names said in unison.
"AJ, check it out!" Pony Pinkie pointed at them. "They look like us!"
Silence reigned when that happened.
"Uh, yeah...girls, these are ponies" He was greeted by ten expressions of disbelief. "Yeah, I thought I'd eaten something off during lunch today when I saw them, but...yeah. These two are small, brightly colored ponies. And as you just saw, yes, they can talk. Say hello to Applejack..."
"Howdy!" The pony sat proudly.
"It..." Twilight started
"Pardon, Ah'm a mare!"
"Oh, s-sorry...she..." Twilight leaned in a bit. "She's got freckles likes yours AJ!"
"This is actually kinda cool." Rainbow commented. "Really weird, but cool."
"Right. And Pinkie." He barely finished before the girl with the same name was kneeling at the table, looking at her pony counterpart.
"Her hair looks like mine!" They said in unison. "Jinx!" The two descended in giggles after that.
"Well, they certainly seem alike." Rarity spoke up. "Um. I do have a question, though."
"Me too. Several, actually." Twilight said, pulling a notepad out of her pocket.
"Huh...we probably better bring the others if they got as many questions as Ah think we're gonna get." 'Pony' Applejack said, looking up at Spike.
"Others?" He blinked. "There are more of you?"
In answer, she just hollered. "Alright, guys! Ya'll can come out!"
Spike and the girls just watched while several other puppy-sized ponies, all of them with unusually colored coats and manes matching the other girls, came squirming and hopping out of hiding places around the ground floor to trot their way. Three even came buzzing down from the rafters!
As the technicolor puffballs came scampering into the open, only one thing came to mind for him: 'Why do I have the feeling my life just got a bit more cuter and complicated?'