//------------------------------// // Gonna need more beds. // Story: Onii-Chan's Interesting Life // by MrWriterWriter //------------------------------// Spike ran a hand through his hair at the sight before him. Less than five minutes ago, he'd gone from thinking that someone had broken into his house, only to learn that he had a group of brightly colored, sapient, and ridiculously tiny, ponies living there. Now, that would bizarre enough in itself...except that...well, they were all pony versions of the girls, even with the same name, for crying out loud! Seriously, all ten girls were currently huddled up on the couch, each one with her pony counterpart. "Ok..." He spoke up, getting their attention. "While I admit this scene is freaking adorable, I think there's a few things me and the girls are curious about." "Onii-chan has a point." Twilight spoke up, watching her pony self levitate one of her school books. "Where did you come from?" "We don' know." 'pony' Apple Bloom responded. "'Don't know'...? W-what do you mean?" Spike asked. 'Pony' Rainbow buzzed around his head. "We don't know or don't remember. All I know is we all woke up in some kinda big box." "Wait, someone left you in a box, the basement here!?" Spike wasn't sure if he should be ticked off or alarmed while the girls were just plain angry that someone would lock up the ponies up like that. "I'm afraid we have no idea how long we'd been in there, darling." 'pony' Rarity answered him. "None of us seemed injured in any way, though it did take a little effort to untangle ourselves." "Once we got out, we learned that we were in the basement of this place." 'pony' Twilight added, hopping in her counterpart's lap. "To be honest, it was more than a little creepy, given that we had no idea where we were or how to get out. At least, until our Fluttershy saw you come in." "Wait, all the scuffling I heard that day was all of you?" He asked. "I thought mice or something had gotten inside." "W-we're sorry about any trouble we might've caused, but we didn't know who or...or what you were at first." 'pony' Fluttershy spoke up, snuggled up in her counterpart's lap. "Fair point. But, how long...I mean, one of us was bound to see you walking around." "Week or two maybe." 'pony' Sunset answered. "We'd usually wait till all of you were asleep or had gone out and do a little exploring." "Luckily there's an old apple tree in yer backyard - ya'll really should get that looked at, it's kinda sickly." 'pony'Applejack pointed out. "An' we could get to the sink. Of course, some of us..." She glared mildly at 'pony'Rainbow and Pinkie. "Couldn't resist raidin' the fridge fer leftovers." "Like you're one to talk, AJ." 'pony'Rainbow retorted, crossing her front hooves. "Even you got tired of those apples." "So that's what happened to that old carrot cake in there." Twilight mumbled. 'pony' Rarity was the next to talk. "Once we learned the layout of this place, and found a few hiding spots, we felt a bit more comfortable coming out in the daytime for...I guess 'checking all of you out' would be the best term." "Wait a sec!" Applejack held up her pony counterpart, looking her in the eye. "You mean any of us could've been walkin' right by one of ya'll these last few days, an' we didn't even notice??" "Well, we can be pretty quiet when necessary, and there are quite a few areas we can duck into." 'pony' Twilight chuckled lightly. "And after what we saw in the last couple of days, I'd say we made a good choice on finally coming out." "What d-do you mean?" Fluttershy asked. "Like when Human Rainbow skinned her knee. Thankfully, the window was open and we could hear." Rainbow grit her teeth a little as she held onto her bleeding knee. She'd been running to catch up with her soccer ball when she tripped and hit her knee on a sharp rock. She could feel her eyes welling up, but she was tough! She wasn't going to cry! But, it hurt...really bad! "Dash!" Spike's yell caused her to look up in time to see her 'onii-chan' come skidding up to her. "What happened!?" "I-I tripped..." She said, trying to fight back the whimper in her voice. "It...it hurts!" "Hey, it's gonna be ok, Dashie. I got ya" He said softly, wiping off a tear that'd started to run. "Here, let me check." She let him move her hands away too see the cut. "Ouch...looks like you landed hard." He gently picked her up and started towards the house. "Come on, let's get you cleaned up and bandage that." "Wait, my soccer ball..." "I'll get it after we take care of your knee, don't worry." With that, he carried her back inside. "And that kiss on the forehead after you treated it...I..." 'pony Fluttershy and Rarity both let out an adorable 'squee'. "Dashie, you told the rest of us it was just a scrape!" Pinkie piped up. Rainbow flushed a little. "It w-wasn't that bad..." She moved her skirt to try and cover the bandage. "Rainbow, you're nine. You don't have to try and act tough all the time." Spike gave her a look, smiling a little as he did. She didn't respond, though her cheeks pinked. "Ooh-ooh-ooh!" 'pony' Pinkie bounced around between the girls. "What about during that thunderstorm the other day?" " Ok, girls, sleep tight. I'll see you in the morning." Spike said, kissing the last one good night. "Night, Onii-chan." They said in unison. Well, except for one. "O-Onii-chan...?" Twilight piped up, still curled up under her blankets. "Um...c-could you...read me a bedtime story?" "Well..." He started. "A bedtime story? Ooh! Me too!" Pinkie chirped. "U-us too, Onii-chan?" Sweetie and Fluttershy joined in. "Ok, ok." Spike relented. "Let's see what I can find." He headed over to the book shelves that held the ones they all tended to like and started rifling through the books. "Ok...too late for that one...this one'll keep all of you up..." *CRACK-BOOM!* He started a little at the sudden noise, coupled with Fluttershy's squeak of fear. A few moments a flash came through the window, followed by another loud boom, this time loud enough to startle even Sunset and Applejack. He peered out to see a curtain of rain coming their way. "Hoo-boy. 'Fraid we got a big storm coming in, girls..." He trailed off at the various gulps, whimpers, and other noises of fear the girls let out at that. Scootaloo had squirmed up close to Rainbow, and AJ was trying to console Apple Bloom, who looked close to crying as another boom hit, making the house feel like it was shaking a little "Here we go." He pulled out a slightly thick, leatherbound book. "How's The Hobbit sound?" He moved over to Twilight's bed and sat on the edge. Next thing he knew all of them had cuddled up around him; Pinkie latched onto his back, Rarity and Bloom had claimed his lap, and the others were all scrunched up on either side. "Ready?" He cleared his throat and started. "In a hole in the ground, there lived a Hobbit..." "Yeah, heh. That's kind of one of our 'neverending' stories." "Neverending?" 'pony' Sunset tilted her head in confusion. "'Cause none of them are awake before the end." He snickered some at the indignant squeak the girls let out at that. "Well, you do. Had to tuck all of you back in before the fourth chapter." "Anyway, that kinda showed us what kinda stallion-I mean guy, you are." 'pony' Twilight finished. "Pretty much just doing what I figured was a decent way to look after them." He replied, before bringing up something that just occurred to him. "So, what are you ponies gonna do now?" "Not real sure." She sighed. "We have no idea how to get back home." "Or even what 'home' is, to be honest." 'pony' Sweetie added, ears drooping as her counterpart hugged her. Spike watched in silence as the girls all cuddled the ponies, doing their best to comfort them some. "Gonna have to find some more beds than, aren't I?" "Oniii-chan?" Pinkie looked up at him, surprise on her face. "You mean..?" "I mean, I not gonna throw them out. Come on, you guys know me better than--hoog!" He was cut off as the wind was knocked out of him by a twenty girl/pony mass glomp. "I'll...take that as a sign of approval." He wheezed from under the hugging mass.