//------------------------------// // New Friends can Come From Anywhere // Story: Home is where True Peace and Love Is // by MetalBrony823 //------------------------------// As Luke went inside the magnificent looking school, he was absolutely impressed by how the interior looked, and in the foyer, there was a stack of trophies inside a big display case behind glass. Feeling more than curious, he decided to look at them, and saw many types of sports trophies, and most of them had the name Rainbow Dash on them. As he would figure, there was a human Rainbow Dash in this world, and it made him wonder if there was a human Fluttershy, too. While looking at a few other trophies and plaques, he saw the name "Wondercolts" as the team's name, and probably the mascot of this school. The name struck him, making him remember the title "Wonderbolts" back in Equestria. "It's nice, isn't it?" Twilight said. "Really nice." Luke agreed with her. "I almost wish I could have come here sooner, but still. It looks amazing on this world. How did you come into this nice world before?" Spike got out of Twiligh's backpack with a leap and hopped on all fours like a cat would do after falling. "It's a really long yet fascinating story." He said. "Remember what Twilight told you about Sunset Shimmer?" "Oh yeah, right. What about her?" "She stole-" Spike was immediately interrupted by the sound of the school bell ringing, and Luke realized that it was already the end of the day for all the students here. "Uh oh, we might want to go back outside. Wouldn't want to be on the middle of the crowd." Twilight wanted with a sheepish smile. "Yeah, I hear that. Good idea." As all three of them went back outside to stand clear of the walking students, Luke was more than excited that he will meet the human version of his closest pony friend. Well, at least it wasn't a stamped of rhinos or angry bulls or something like that. No, if it was exactly like that, Luke would run for his dear life. The human saw many humans thatvlooked exactly like his friends, and all the ponies that he knew in Ponyville and Canterlot. Many of them waved at Luke in a friendly gesture, and some of them said "hello." To him. "Twilight!" Said a raspy female voice. He looked and saw beautiful and cute human versions of the other closest friends he has back in Equestria. There was Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie, and two girls that he hasn't really met yet, or wasn't very familiar with back home. One had orange skin and beautiful red hair with some yellow in it, and the other was a girl with green hair, glasses, and a pair of ponytails. Looking at Fluttershy, he thought she was the most beautiful and cute girl he had ever seen in his life. Even as a human, Fluttershy looked so adorable and sweet. Then he thought that just because it looks like the Fluttershy he knew, it doesn't mean she is the same one. No, these were different people than the ones back home. And finally, Luke saw another atwilight and Spike. He raised his eyebrow in confusion and looked at both pairs. "Ooh, who is your handsome friend?" Fluttershy asked her curiously. It made Luke flush hearing the word cute about him, especially if she is a counterpart of the closest Equestrian friend he ever made. "Girls, this is Luke, Luke Smith." Twilight said. "He is new to Ponyville, and I thought we Hey not bring him here?" "Luke, huh?" Asked Rainbow Dash. "Well nice to meet ya, Luke." And she shook his hand in a rough fashion. "Name's Rainbow Dash, captain of the sports team in Canterlot High! But you can call me Rainbow for short. I gotta say you are quite cool." "Ah, thanks." Luke said. "Oh my, you look really dazzling." Said the human Rarity. She gently touched Luke's hair and liked how it felt. "I am Rarity, and I say You got quite beautiful hair, sweetie." "Thanks, it's nice." "NameMs Applejack, and Yeah, I'll say, the hair makes you look like a handsome lion or some kind, or something like that." Applejack pointed. "Anyone who is a friend of Twilight and Spike is definitely a friend of mine." And she winked while patting his back. "Oh! We should totally hang out! What's your favorite color? What kind of music do you like to hear?" And the human Pinkie Pie kept on asking him so many random questions about himself. "Pinkie! Calm yourself." Said Fluttershy gently holding her back. "We're sorry about her, that's Pinkie Pie, and I'm.." then she said her name quietly in a shy tone of voice. "It's okay, Fluttershy, you don't have to introduce yourself." Luke remarked warmly to the shy human. It made the human version of Fluttershy perk her head up and feel more comfortable than she did before. "Oh my." She said "How did you know my name?' "Because I'm.... a people person." Luke said modestly. "Anyway, sorry, I should have let you introduce yourself to me properly." And he kinda moved his head away in mild shame, thinking he kind of made a fool of himself just saying her name like that. Fluttershy smiled warmly and said "Oh it's okay, Luke. I understand perfectly." Then she gently placed her soft, warm hand on his shoulder, making him a little warm on the inside. He heard a woman's clear her throat, and saw the other two girls he doesn't know anything about. "Sorry, Luke. I'm Sunset Shimmer, very nice to meet you." And she shook hands with the human. "Ah, so you're the one Twilight told me about." The woman nodded a yes to him. "Yeah, she might have told you that I was a former student of Princess Celestia." "Right, but... of course you changed, right?" Luke reminded "Of course, thanks to princess Twilight" she looked at the princess of Friendship warmly, and Spike the same way. "And... I am also Twilight Sparkle." Said the second one. "Wait, too of you?" Luke asked while pointing his fingers in a Chris-cross fashion. "Waits I'm confused. You apguys aren't multiplying are you?" Then the others laughed at his modesty. "No silly, they are just this world's version of me. How are you doing, Twilight?" "Really good, princess Twilight?" Said the one with the glasses. "Looking good, Spike." Said both dogs. "This is so confusing." The human said with his eyes crossed mildly. "Two Twilight's and two Spikes at the same time? Am I hallucinating or delusional? My head kinda hurts a little." "Don't worry, you're not going crazy." Said the girl with the green hair. "Juniper Montage, at your service." "Oh, so your the one Starlight told me about." Twilight said intriguingly. "She told me about how you wanted to be famous and used the magic mirror to-" "I don't want to talk about it!" She blurted. Realizing what she was doing, she covered her mouth, and calmed down a little. "But yes, I did." And then she bowed her head on shame. "Look. I am so sorry about that. I... just wanted people to like me and be famous." "It's okay." The Equestria version of ztwilight said warmly. "We all make mistakes, and it's okay to learn from them." "Yeah Juniper, we forgive you, and now we're your friends." Said rainbow Dash putting a hand on her shoulder for comfort. "What kind of thing did she do?" asked Luke curiously "It's... complicated." said Juniper in a sheepish tone of voice. "Well, where is a good place have a conversation at?" "Well there is Sugarcube Corner." Pinkie Pie suggested. "It's one of my favorite places in the universe." "Really? That sounds perfect. Then he had a thought, since there were humans, maybe there would be hamburgers in this world. They were one of his favorite foods after all. "On second thought, are there any burger chains around here?" Luke asked, patting his stomach. "I haven't had that in months now." "Of course. There are so many burger restaurants here." Fluttershy noted. "Magnifique!" Luke said with joy. "It's settled, we'll look for one here and we can all hang out there." Said Sunset Shimmer. They all made remarks of agreement, and went down to many restaurants that were burger themed and, and finally found a good place called Burger Prince, and it sounded a little bit like Burger King from back in Luke's homeworld, and they all went in there. The atmosphere was rather clean and very nice. The place was filled with so many customers, it of course it wasn't like a Walmart on Black Friday. At least there was still some seats that were not taken by any other customers. "I hope the line doesn't take so long." Luke said to himself "Don't worry, this place has a pretty fast line, Luke." Applejack said. "Good. You know this place is like a restaurant that I have in my home world." "What's it called?" Asked the science Twilight." "Burger King." "Ooh, does it sound better?" Asked Pinkie Pie "Well... every restaurant has it's ups and downs, no matter what location it is, that's for sure, like there are restaurants with good employees, and there are some that don't. You all get what I'm saying?" "Oh yes of course." Said Rarity. "We have the same exact problem as you do in many restaurants." "Oh yeah, services are good most of the time, and services suck sometimes." Rainbow said with a smirk on her face. " it, at least we can just ask them to fix the problem.p, and ask for a complete refund, cha-ching!" "Good point, that's why I would always check my food before I would actually take it home or eat it in the booths." Luke pointed. "I just wish that many workers would be more mindful of what they are doing, especially if they are teenagers with no experience." And the human cracked his knuckles just for kicks. "I couldn't agree more Luke. Well at least this place has good employees from what I have experienced." Said Sunset Shimmer. "Well, my stomach is growling like a werewolf, I'm starving. "You don't have to say that twice!" Said Juniper Montage in a sing-song voice they all went in line and it was moving rather quickly indeed. "So, who's gonna pay for the food?" Juniper asked curiously "I'll do it." The real Twilight volunteered herself. It took a little while for Luke to decide and then he ordered a double cheeseburger with no onions and no mayonnaise and a smaller double burger that is the same as the bigger one, along with some fries, chicken tenders, and a large root beer to go as a drink. For the rest, Twilight had a salad with some fries to go with it, and the same for the Human World's Twilight. Both Spikes were more than happy to have a piece of steak on a plate, eating on the floor. Fluttershy, being a hardcore animal lover, had herself a veggie burger and a cup of soft-serve ice cream with chocolate buttons swirled within it, almost like a McFlurry from McDonald's. Rainbow Dash had herself triple cheeseburger with no pickles, for she didn't really like them, and three sides of fries. Applejack had herself three double cheeseburgers all at once, much to Luke's surprise. "Wow, Apolejack, I didn't know you can eat so much." "Yeah I... kinda eat like a horse." She said while fluttering a little. Fluttershy made a giggle and said "it's true. One time she had a whole meatloaf and then she ate a whole birthday cake after that. Oh, it in a bad way, but- I mean-" Then the cowgirl made a giggle "it's okay Fluttershy, I know you're just being modest." Then she dug into her food. "And we thought Pinkie Pie ate like a pig." Rarity joked, and they all laughed. Speaking of which, she had herself a salad with tomatoes, lettuce, cheese, and croutons with ceaser dressing to go with it and her drink was herbal tea with ice in them Juniper had the same thing as Rarity had, while Sunset Shimmer had a chicken sandwich that was spicy. As they all dug on, Fluttershy noticed Luke eating rather quickly, not like a paper shredder doing it's work, but still." "Goodness Luke, try and slow down." Fluttershy noticed. "Sorry." He said after he made a gulp down his throat. "I'm just so happy to eat hamburgers again. They are one of my favorite foods ever. And he slowly took another bite to savor the sweet, juicy taste of the meat. "It's okay." Said Fluttershy with a smile. "So tell us, how l long have you been in Equestria?" Asked the Human Twilight. "Many months now actually." Luke replied boldly. "It's a very cool place, and nicer than my home world." "How did you get to Equestria?" Pinkie Pie asked curiously Then Luke narrated about how he made the wish on the shooting star and was magically brought to Equestria from another dimension. For all his new friends, it was a real page-turner, but of course the real Twilight and Spike already heard his story before. They all had aconversations like what his favorite type of music and what he really likes. "Wow, you play guitar and sing rock songs?" Asked Rainbow in an impressed voice. "Uh-huh. I am quite a gifted musician." "He's not exaggerating about that." Said Spike. "We heard him sing and play guitar many times back in Ponyville, and he is so awesome." "Can we hear you play?" Asked Fluttershy with a very eager look on her face. "I don't know if I feel like it right now but-" Then he was suddenly interrupted by another female voice. Luke suddenly looked, and he saw human versions of Lyra and Bon Bon themselves. Like the other girls, they both looked beautiful and adorable. "Excuse us guys, but we couldn't help but notice you have a new friend with you." said the green girl "Yeah, sorry for intruding." said Bon Bon "No, it's fine." said Twilight. "I'm sorry that you can't sit with us because we already packed the booths." and she made a sheepish smile while rubbing her head. "That's okay, we can just sit over at this table." said Lyra with a warm smile. "It's good to see you again, princess." "Same with you." Twilight replied with a warm smile. "How have you girls been?" "Oh you know, I've been running my own sweets stand." said Bon Bon in a modest tone of voice. "And I have been practicing my Lyre instrument and along with piano lessons. Of course hanging out with my bestie over here, right Bon Bon?" "Got that right, Lyra!" and they hugged eachother "Best friends!" "So, what's your name, stranger?" Lyra asked the human curiously "Luke. Luke Smith." "Ooh, that's a handsome name. Where did you come from?" "It's a rather long yet interesting story if you would like to hear it." the human said, taking a sip of his root beer. After that, he let out a loud and rather long burp. He covered his mouth, not knowing it would be like that. "Excusez-moi." he said. Then the others laughed "it's quite alright, Luke." said Fluttershy softly. "Better out than in." "And at least it's coming from up here and not down there." the human joked. Then they laughed even louder than before. "That is so true!" Pinkie agreed while laughing. "Anywho, I came from another world, that sort of stuff." then the human told the two best friends about how he came to Equestria and the shooting star wish and all of that. Lyra and Bon Bon were just as surprised and amazed as the others were. "That's so cool. we didn't know you live in Equestria too." "Well, I still have friends and family back in my home world, and i can imagine how much they all missed me." and he started to eat his second burger. "Yet again, my homeworld is kinda.... boring to say the least, but it is where my family lives. Equestria on the other hand has magic and cool stuff and creatures that is only mythology in my homeworld." "Do you still plan to go back home?" asked Rainbow Dash curiously "I'm... still thinking about it, but Equestria seems like a perfect world for me, and my own definition of heaven. That, and living in a place where everything is rock and metal related." "How are you going to get back?" "Well... I have a friend named Discord, who was the one who got me into Equestria in the first place with his magic since he is the master of chaos. I thought, well I guess I can always ask him if he can take me back home, but... Equuestria is perfect. No conflicts, no wars, no pressures, no cares, those sort of things." "What's wrong with your world?" asked Lyra curiously "It's.... just not perfect. There is some wars going on in some countries in my world, not my home of course, but some places are in conflict and some dictators in the world rule over those certain countries. And it is just so boring, no magic, or monsters like manticores, or chimeras." "No magic?" said Bon Bon. "That does sound boring." "Anyway, I am still in the middle of an inner conflict whether I should come back to my home or stay in Equestria and live a better life." "Well, we can respect your decision." said Fluttershy warmly. "It is your decision after all." "Thanks, Fluttershy." the human said to her. "You're welcome. Always happy to help out a new friend." "So anyway, Luke is a great singer and guitarist." Rainbow said. It made Lyra and Bon Bon even more eager about meeting this lone human being. "Really? can we watch you perform?" asked Lyra. Then she, Bon Bon, and the others began begging to Luke that he should perform a song all for them. "Come on Luke, it will make them very happy." Twilight said "Yeah, they will love it." Spike added. Thinking about it for a moment, Luke said "Well, alright." and it made all his new friends happy. "but where can we actually perform?" "Well, there is the school auditorium." Sci-Twilight said. "You can do it there." "That sounds perfect." Then after they were done with their little lunch, they went back to Canterlot High School and Luke was amazed at how the auditorium looked, especially the stage. It looked like a perfect place stage to perform a small concert, even if it wasn't like the House of Blues. Still, it was perfect for him, 'cause he probably won't perform a big spectacle song anyway, just for these new friends along with Twilight and Spike. "here, we know how to set the stuff up." said Rainbow voluntarily. "Even if we are not exactly roadies." "Are you guys in a band?" "Yes. We're called the Rainbooms." Fluttershy said. "Really?" Luke said in amazement. "Yep, we play some gigs and perform really great songs." Sunset clarified. "Rainbow's kinda the leader of this band." "Well, I don't like to brag but I treat my band-mates equally since you are my best friends." "What are you talking about? You brag all the time, Rainbow Dash." Twilight said. "You always say how awesome you are and those things, and I even remember how you beat me in the soccer game and all that." "Well yeah, because I am awesome." Rainbow gloated. Then they all laughed with eachother like friends would do. These human counterparts were exactly like their pony counterparts, except they were human. After trying to work on the speakers and the amplifiers, a small group of girls came inside the auditorium. They were almost like the Mane six, except they were quite different, as if they were complete opposites. There were five of them and they were wearing the same type of uniform like they were in boarding school or something like that. "Oh. The Shadowbolts." said Sunset. "What a surprise." "Hey, what's up everybody?" said the one with the wild green hair with a devil horn pose with her hands. "Hello." said Fluttershy, and then the rest followed after her, ans Luke of course. "How's it hanging?" said Pinkie. "Not so much happening right now. Everything is just fine for us as always." said the one with short purple hair. Then the five new girls took a look at Luke and weren't very familiar with him. "Who's the new guy?" Asked the one with pale blue hair with glasses and two ponytails. "Girls, this is Luke." Said Sci-Twilight. "Luke, these are my old friends from Crystal prep academy. Lemon Zest, Sour Sweet, Indigo Zap, Sunny Flare, and Sugarcoat." "Bonjour." Luke flatly said, waving his hair back. "Wow dude, I love the jacket you are wearing, very stylish." Said Lemon Zest. "It makes you look totally rad." "So, are you from Equestria too?" Asked Indigo Zap curiously "Well, not originally. It's a long yet fascinating story." The human clarified. "To shorten things out, I came from another dimension." "Another dimension?" Did Sugarcoat in astonishment. "That's rather fascinating." "What is it like?" Asked Sunny Flare. "Are they all like us?" "Do they have cool schools like us?" Asked Sour Sweet. "We really should know about your world." "Alright alright, back it up, darlings." Said Rarity. "Far too many questions for you all to ask him." "Right. So what's going on here?" Asked Indigo "Luke's gonna perform an awesome song for us." Rainbow noted with pure excitement. "Really? Is it a rock song?" Asked Lemon Zest with a big smile on her face. "You know it." Luke said. "Awesome!" "Hmm, I wonder how that will go." "You would all be surprised to see how awesome I do while I rock out." Luke gloated. "You will all love it." And then he remembered something. "I just wish I have a guitar with me." "Oh I know. You can use mine!" Rainbow said, promptly letting Luke borrow her own signature ax. "Ooh, that's very kind of you, Rainbow." Said Fluttershy. "What do you think Luke." "Yep, that is nice." Then Luke took the guitar and wrapped the strap around his torso. "Okay, let's get this show on the road." And he went on stage to perform another amazing song. He still had his singing and guitar skills, and amazing vocals to go with it. Plugging in the guitar, Lincoln took a little breath and counted to three. Rights for the song go to Firehouse Everyone was really impressed by his guitar skills and vocal range in the song. When it was over, they all applauded for him loudly. "That was so wonderful." Fluttershy congratulated warmly. Just then, she Suddenly gave him a kiss on his cheek. Luke honestly didn't expect that to happen, considering the fact they only just met. "Wow Luke, you do know how to rock." Said Lemon Zest. "I like you already!" And she roughly patted his back a few times. "Yeah, and the way you sing as well." Said Lyra. "It was a very good jov. You should be in a band." "And you should totally be apart of the Rainbooms sometime." Said Rainbow Dash. "You can make a great addition to the band." "Hmm that is nice, but I prefer to go my own way. Where a heard leads a man must follow." "Ah, I like your style, dear." Said Sunny Flare. "We can appreciate that." "Of course. I didn't say I will never perform with you guys. Let me know if you guys are jamming and I can join in." "Absolutely!" Indigo promptly stepped up and added "And you should share your talents with everybody here and Crystal Prep when you get the chance" "I will definitely consider that." Luke said. "So, what are you five doing here, anyway?" Asked Applejack. "Oh! We came to give Twilight her laptop back. Thanks for letting us borrow it, Twi." Said Soursweet "No problem." Said the other Twilight. "Always happy to help out friends, even if they used to be mean to me in the past." "We said we were sorry, didn't we?" Indigo pointed out. "I know." Twilight said with a smirk. "You know Luke, you are a very cool guy." Said Fluttershy. "I would really love it if you hang out with us some more. We can have so much fun together." "Well, i'm not exactly done here yet." Luke replied. "Well, you said you like animals. Woukd yoy like to visit my house and see my pets and maybe go down to the animal shelter after that?" "Of course. Animals are my passion." Fluttershy smiled even wider after hearing that, yes she will really like him indeed. As a matter of fact, all of these new faces like him already. Then all of them went to Fluttershy's house. Except for the Shadowbolts who prefer to go their own way.