As two days passed, more and more leaves were turning orange and falling down from the tree branches in November. One thing was for sure, it would he the time of year when his homeland celebrates Thanksgiving, however, he still can't really go back home yet. Of course, he realized that with Discord's help, he could probably ask th master chaos to take him home in an instant
Feeling a little sad about it, he admitted that he does miss his family and friends back on Earth, but this place seemed... perfect to him, and made him not really want to come back.
Of course he would get in touch with his friends and family by phone, but he knew that it wouldn't really stop their pain of missing him so much. Luke has seen how peaceful and united Equestria is from his home world. He saw that every inhabitant in this dimension was happy as they can be.
Oh in this world, there was no conflicts or civil wars, or dispute about politics and no acts of terrorism in any way. Equestria seemed like a perfect definition of heaven for him, gen if it doesn't have exactly everything he would want. He was thinking that maybe Equestria can be his new home after all.
While walking through Ponyville, he was having a decent lunch with his closest friends at the cafe. He had the usual dish he would normally have, which was the zesty pickle sandwich with mustard inside.
"Luke, are you alright?" Fluttershy asked him with concern, noticing his daydreaming and thinking.
"Of course, Fluttershy." The Human replied "why wouldn't I be okay?" Then he took a sip of lemonade with ice inside the glass. "Do I have something on my face?"
"No, it's just that, you have been a little quiet lately, dude." Rainbow pointed mildly. "And I see that you look away from us like something is definitely distracting you."
Applejack cleared her throat and stated "Yeah, sugarcube. I've seen that kind of face countless times before, and it tells me that something is buggin' ya."
Admitting defeat, Luke finally stated flatly "okay, I just miss my friend and family as usual. And... November is when the holiday called Thanksgiving comes on the twenty-fifth." He took yet another sip.
"What kind of a holiday is Thanksgiving?" Spike asked curiously. Scratching his head with a claw in confusion.
"It's... a holiday where everyone's family gets together and celebrates the very first harvest from the pilgrims when my ancestors first started to settle in America, since it came from immigrants."
"Pilgrims?"
"Long story, Pinkie. Anyway, we celebrate by eating foods like gravy, stuffing, mashed potatoes, asparagus and all that. And the number one thing we eat is.... how can I say it? Turkey." Luke sounded rather uncomfortable admitting that.
"Turkey?" Said Twilight, covering her mouth. "You don't kill the turkey and then eat it, do you?"
"Don't worry, Twilight. I would never kill an animal before I eat it. Like I have said, humans like us are omnivores."
"We know, Luke." Fluttershy said with a small sigh. "Well, as long as you. Ever kill a turkey, then that's okay."
"Of course I wouldn't. It's too evil for me to do." Then he took another bite of his lunch.
All of them smiled warmly at him, and Applejack said "we know Luke. We all know you would never do something like that."
"So, the point is, I might miss a thanksgiving with my family this year. Nothing against you guys, but family is family."
Fluttershy made a small pat on his shoulder, and stated herself "I understand. nothing is more important than family." And the rest made words and remarks of agreement.
"Well... Discord might take me back if he could but..."
"But what?" Asked Spike.
"Look around us, this place has everything I could ever want in my life.... well, mostly anyway. Equestria is so remarkable and peaceful. No worries, no pressures, no cares in this world, that sort of thing. No political disputes, no conflicts, and no civil wars or acts of terrorism and all that."
"It's okay." Twilight said. "We perfectly understand your decision if you want to stay here with us."
Luke smiled seeing at how much all of his new friends cared about him, and it made him feel so touched to be surrounded by a bunch of great friends like these ones, along with Big Mac, Lyra, Bon Bon, Zecora, Cloudchaser, Flitter, Thunderlane, Rumble, and Pip.
"Still, I would like to see them again, like... get into a thanksgiving dinner, like we would always do back home in Bend."
"Why don't you just get your family and friends to come visit here so you won't feel left out?" Fluttershy suggested. "That could help you."
Thinking about what his closest pony friend just said, he remarked "that's.... actually not a bad idea. We'll have our own Thanksgiving celebration in Equestria." And he began thinking about this some more. "But, since you guys are ponies, we'll have to find something to replace turkey and gravy and all the meat stuff."
"Good idea." Said Rarity. "We all love how you think ahead of time, darling."
"Of course. Some things require planning after all, Rarity."
"Well, I don't think we have to worry about that yet, do we?"
"No. No Pinkie, not at the moment. Today's November third and Thanksgiving is on the twenty-fifth, so it's still kind of a long way from today."
"I think you're right, Luke." Said Lyra. "We can even invite the princess' over hear to celebrate with us."
"Great idea, bestie!" Bon Bon agreed with her best friend. Then they both hugged each other like close sisters would do.
Luke then said "well, I better use the little human's room. That lemonade sure makes you want to go."
"Go ahead, Sugarcube, we'll wait." Said Applejack. As Luke hurriedly went into a restroom to do his business, Twilght suddenly had an idea for him. It didn't take long and after thirty seconds, the human was back at the table.
"Right, so where were we?" He asked, ready for a conversation to happen anytime soon.
"Hey Luke,"
"Yeah, Twilight?"
"How would you like to visit a whole new world with me and Spike?"
With his eyes widened, Luke suddenly asked "what do you mean by that?"
"I know a world me and Spike can visit whenever we want." Twilight explained. "But... originally if you couldn't get back here in a certain amount of days, you would be stuck in that place for the next thirty moons."
"But thanks to Twilignt," Spike noted "we can come and go into that place whenever we want."
Luke was feeling more than curious to see this peculiar world for himself. "Hmm, well I guess I could have a look at this place for a little while."
It made both Twilight and Spike happy to hear those words. They were all they wanted to hear him say.
"Awesome. Oh you will love this place!" Spike bounced with excitement.
Twilight giggled and said "easy Spike, you wouldn't want to hurt yourself." Then she gently ruffed his head. "So we can do it later on, and I can show you around some places and meet my friends in that dimension."
"That sounds perfect. Count me in."
"Wonderful."
"Wait, why can't the others come with us?"
"Because it would upset the balance in that world." Twilight said. "I'm sorry, Luke, but we have to go there alone."
Feeling a little bummed out, Luke felt great sympathy for Fluttershy, knowing that she won't come with him this time. He hated it, but he understood if it meant keeping both worlds at peace.
The yellow Pegasus then said "it's okay, Luke. I'll be alright." And she made a reassuring smile at him, and it made the human smile back at her.
"Good."
In the castle, there was a peculiar mirror in the middle of the library in a special room, powered by some machines and cables.
Rather impressed, Luke was also a little nervous about this, too.
"Alright, Spike. You ready to go?"
"You bet I am, Twi." Spike said boldly. "I can hardly wait to see the others again."
"What about you Luke. Are you ready?"
"Uhh, yeah, sure."
Twilight made a small frown, possibly knowing what was troubling Luke a little. "You feeling a little nervous about this?"
"Well.... this won't be painful will it? Like making a crash landing on the ground that would possibly break your neck, would it?"
Giggling, Twilight said. "No, it's quite painless, and a little fun. You'll see." And she made a small wink at him, giving Luke some more confidence. "Trust me, you will love it over there. I know you will
Taking a breath, the human slowly walked with her and Spike into the magical mirror, and he found himself in a vortex, spinning uncontrollably, and the same with Spike and Twilight.
At first, the human couldn't really see what just happened, but what he saw in front of him was like a regular high school, and looking back, it was where he came through from that portal. It looked like a mirror or a marble, which was the same glass as the mirror as well.
Looking at Twilight, Luke saw that she had completely changed, and the same with Spike. His eyes widened in awe. "Twilight?" He said "is that you?"
The allicorn turned from a pony to a beautiful human girl, and Spike into an adorable puppy dog.
"What do you think?" She said
"I... don't even know what to say." And he tried to look at himself if he changed too. "Did something happen to me?"
Making another giggle, Twilight noted "nope. You're still the same human named Luke Smith me and the others know in love."
"You look beautiful." Luke complimented.
It made Twilight flush hearing that. "Thank you." She said.
"And Spike, you're a dog now?"
"At least in this dimension, but that's fine. I'm still the same baby dragon back home."
"Gotcha." The human looked around at his surroundings and saw many humans with many skin colors and different styles in clothing and fashion. He saw many recognizable faces that ranged from Vinyl Scratch, to Octavia, and even saw human counterparts of the Cutie Mark Crusaders.
Was this world almost like Equestria? Except that the dominant species are humans and not ponies? Honestly, Luke was so amazed he didn't even k ow what to think,
"So, what do we do first?" He asked curiously.
"Come on, I want to show you my friends here." Then the human followed Twilight and Spike walked next to her as all three went to the school building.