"Six, five, four, try to be the first out the door." Spike listened as the girls and ponies made up rhymes as they jumped rope out in the yard. Or, some of them were, to be more specific. Both Rarities weren't too keen on getting dirty from the start, Sweetie decided to just watch with her pony counterpart napping in her lap. Scootaloo and Apple Bloom, being the youngest, were the first to get winded. Fluttershy couldn't keep up either, while 'pony' Shy wanted to just watch as well, and both Twilights tried, only to wore out after a short minutes. 'pony' Apple Bloom gave a good show, but soon joined them with 'pony' Scootaloo right behind her.
"Well, looks like you've all settled in pretty good." Spike commented, watching Rainbow stagger out of the way, winded from trying to jump too hard, 'pony' Rainbow following shortly after. It'd been a week since the ponies had made themselves known, and they'd managed to fit in fairly well; the girls were pretty happy about it too. Spike on the other hand, was a tad worried about how others would respond. After all, small, multicolored, talking ponies aren't exactly commonplace in their world.
Thankfully, the house was isolated just enough to keep from worrying about any unwanted attention. And he was able to get across that there were others who wouldn't quite be as accepting to the ponies existence; at best they'd be ignored as hallucinations, at worst...seen as potential experiments. So, they'd have to be careful if they did let anyone else in on the secret.
"Kinda, this place is pretty big." 'pony' Twilight replied, looking back at the house and yard while 'pony' Sunset finally relented.
"Yeah, it kinda sizable. The whole property covers two acres. There's still a couple corners I haven't checked out."
"Hm...a foot in human terms is equal to about two pony lengths, give or take a centimeter..." The pint-sized mare did some calculations and whistled. "That...that's a long way in pony terms"
" Yeah. I'm considering making a roofed area off the backdoor so the girls can play some outside while it's raining." He chuckled when Applejack, pony then girl, finally surrendered, Sunset giving up a couple minutes later, leaving the two Pinkies facing off. "Ten kids cooped up indoors can be a handful sometimes. Add a band of ponies, some with a knack for being rambunctious as well..." 'pony' Twilight blushed a little at that.
"Um...Twilight?" Spike asked, watching the two Pinkies jumping rope. "When did your Pinkie get a pony-sized jump rope?"
"It's Pinkie. You're better off not questioning it." 'pony' Twilight responded, slightly deadpan.
"Oh..." He sent a worried glance over to his Pinkie, who was trying to find a rhyme for 'marmoset'.
'pony' Twilight put a reassuring hoof on his knee. "Don't worry; she doesn't seem to have the same abilities as ours. "
"Oh thank god..." He whispered.
"At least, not outside having a similar train of thought."
"Right."
The stand-off continued for another twenty minutes before they both called it a draw. Spike had to carry them back in due to being too wore out to walk. "All right, the lot of you can relax and I'll go make lunch." He said after putting them on the couch.
"Heh, *pant* that's a personal record." Pinkie said, letting out a little wheezing laugh.
"Woo, can't feet my hooves." 'pony' Pinkie chuckled, laying on her back and waving her legs around.
Heading to the kitchen, Spike noticed a piece of paper on the table. Several, in fact. "What's this? Girls, any of you leave your homework in here?"
"Ah didn't."
"Nope!"
"No, Onii-chan."
"Already did mine."
As the responses came, he looked at them. Turned out it wasn't homework, since every sheet said the same thing. "Halloween Party?"
"Oh! I knew we forgot something!" Twilight squeaked. "The teachers gave us those yesterday; there's a party scheduled next week and they're asking if parents are willing to bring snacks and stuff for it. That's the permission slip and a thing to list what you'd be up for bringing."
Spike looked over the suggested items. "Drinks, paper plates, cups, munchies. Doesn't seem too bad. Are they wanting store bought or made?"
"They didn't say. Though we heard one kid's parents tried to make it tofu and veggie platters only..." Rainbow scowled a little. "That's like getting a pencil when you go trick-or-treating!"
Spike cringed a little at that. "Ugh...! Well, thankfully, I can rectify that." He checked the slips again. "Costume contest too, huh?"
"Yeah, they said there'll be one for each grade, and the parents, if any come wearing one." Sunset replied.
"All right. We'll go costume hunting tomorrow."
"Kinda sounds like you guys have a Nightmare Night here too." 'pony' Scootaloo noted.
"Wazzat?" Sweetie asked, before Rarity chided her for not using proper English.
"It's a reeely scary night where ponies dress up and go door-to-door for lots of candy!" 'pony' Pinkie chirped, back to her bouncy self.
"Yep, same here. Though we call it Halloween." Applejack replied. "Dunno why, but there ya go."
"Wait, if-if we go, then what...what about the ponies?" Fluttershy looked around. "It doesn't...it doesn't seem fair to leave them at home if we go."
Spike glanced back at them. 'She's got a point.' He gave the group calculating look. 'Maybe...' "I think I might be able to come up with something." He said. "Provided you don't mind playing pretend."