Luke felt even more good about himself saving the young eland calf: Keke. It was a really close call that he, Fluttershy, Discord, and Abioye, the humble eland bull, went to help him out and save him from those hungry lions. If not for them, the poor, scared calf would have been minced meat for those ferocious, yet majestic big cats that are top predators around these parts. Still, Keke was perfectly alright, and he was brought back to the safety of his hometown.
King Imari was very grateful that these four helped find his son and saved him, and he said to Luke. "Well, you certainly accomplished a magnificent task, Luke. I am glad you have helped my son."
"Well, I wouldn't take all the credit." said Luke. "My friends helped out, too." he looked at Fluttershy, Discord, and Abioye, who were looking just as noble as he was. "So you should thank them, too, your majesty."
"Of course. For that, you are all welcome to visit us and our glorious city of Eleena whenever you please, plus, a twenty percent discount for when you purchase a meal at any restaurant here, or purchase any food from a bazaar, or any marketplace."
It sounded really nice that Luke was given a special treatment like this. "Thank you, my king." he replied gratefully. "I hope any lions don't give you any trouble the next time they try to get you."
"Don't you worry about that." said Nene. "Most lions prefer to keep to themselves from our city. They all know they would be greatly outnumbered around hundreds to thirty."
"We are a much larger city than that, my son." said Imari. "We are a number of five-hundred and fifty thousand eland living in Eleena. As long as I am a king, and that we all help one another, this city will be one of the greatest in all of Zebrica. And of course, this will go to Princess Twilight and her friends."
The others smiled at the king's great kindness and generosity. "Will the cakes have discounts for us too?" asked Pinkie Pie with her infamous, big smile on her face.
Imari couldn't help but chuckle in a humble way. "Of course, Pinkie Pie." then he turned into the yellow pegasus. "So Fluttershy, I am rather curious: how did you accomplish this? How did you tame a large pride of lions by yourself?"
Fluttershy replied by saying to the eland king: "Oh, it was nothing. I just have a gift with animals. Talking to them and communicating with them is my special talent." and she turned to her left to show her left flank. “It’s What my cutie mark represents.”
“And I think it fits you perfectly.” Said Imari. “And of course, I deeply commend you for your own bravery, Abioye. I have known you long enough to see how capable and courageous you are in the face of danger.”
“Oh, you were always the modest one, my old friend.” Said Abioye. “A good eland never backs down from a fight, unless he is is no longer able to.”
Turning to the master of chaos, Imari didn’t really look as amused as the other three. “As for you, Discord.” He Said with his eyes narrowed in slight annoyance. “I, Of course thank you for helping my son as well, even though you can be unpredictable and a good deceiver.”
“Me? A good deceiver? Never.” The Master Of Chaos Said in mock offense. “I would never deceit any of my friends here.”
Twilight, Spike, Lyra, Starlight Glimmer, And the other friends just looked at him with faces telling him they were not amused by his usual lying. “Really?” Said Twilight. “Need I remind you of your past mistakes?”
“That was then, Twilight.” Said Discord. “This is here and now.” Then he magically made a cape, a heroic sword, and a shield appear. He also wore a golden plate of armor to show his bravery. “I have said this many times before, but, I am now a hero. Need I remind you that I saved you and your friends with the help of Starlight Glimmer, Thorax, And Trixie?” He had that smug look on his face.
Applejack couldn’t help but laugh when she said: “Guilty as charged. Without y’all, Chrysalis would have taken over Equestria with one stomp of her hooves. You all saved us and Equestria from another uprisin’ from her.”
“She’s not wrong.” Starlight agreed. “That makes us heroes of Equestria too. Even though, we are no perfect. I committed mistakes myself.”
“But you learned from them.” Said Abioye. “And it is perfectly alright to create mistakes, as long as you learn from them.”
“That’s what our father always taught us.” Said Nene.
“Well, about those lions; hat became of them?” Asked the eland king.
“Well, I think they had a buffet and gotten quite enough to eat.” Said Luke. All of a sudden, his phone was ringing and the chorus for “Hail to the King” was playing on his ringer. It spooked him for a second, but he looked at it. “Uh-oh. It’s mom. Give me a second.”
It caught him by surprise, but Luke answered the phone. His mother was obviously checking on him on this fun trip. While on the phone, Luke answered it, and it was indeed, his mother. "Hi Luke." said Louise on the other line. "How are you?"
"Just fine, mom." said Luke. "How are things back on Earth?"
"Oh, everything is still fine. Mr. Chamberlain just came to my front door and wanted to know how you were doing in Equestria."
"Does he believe me?"
His mother made a chuckle through the other line before replying: "Of course he believes you, Luke. He knows you long enough to see how much of an honest, and sweet man you are."
"Okay mom. I was starting to worry my other friends wouldn't believe me about me being transported to another world and all."
"Don't worry about that. You can't convince some people their hair is on fire." said Louise. "They can be pretty hard to convince out there." Luke let out a small breath in agreement.
"True that."
"So how's your trip with your dad?"
"It's going so awesome. I like how this place is very similar to Africa back home. The animals, the climate, the creatures, although there are no humans around these parts. That's the only major difference."
"So are zebras the dominant species of that place?"
"Zebras, antelope such as eland, kudu, white and black rhinos, and there are some animals and creatures that don't exist in my homeworld: Mangani from Tarzan of the Apes, weird-looking types of animals and so much I can't describe all at once to you."
"Good. I'm glad to hear that you are happy and having fun. Is your dad drinking again?"
Luke made a mildly irritated groan after Louise asked him that rather annoying question. He knew that alcoholism was a problem for his father years ago, but he simply replied: "No mom. My dad is absolutely sober. Why can't you believe me when I say or he says that he hasn't been drinking vodka, bourbon, whiskey, or any alcoholic drinks in five years? If you won't listen to him or believe him when he says it, will you listen to me, believe me?"
"Look," said Louise. "I do believe you, but I just worry about you. I'm your mother after all."
"I know. I know." said Luke. "But you don't need to worry about me too much. I'm no longer a little kid."
Louise was silent for a moment, but she ultimately said at last: "I know, Luke. But, I am your mother, and I love you very much."
"Oh boy." Luke muttered under his breath. He looked around and felt embarrassed, but he quietly said: "I love you too, mom. Anyway, I'll be just fine, and it will only be a few more days before I go back to Ponyville with my friends."
"Good. Just checking. Just stay safe, and stay away from lions. I wouldn't want you to get mauled to death by a pride. I wouldn't even know what I would be if you died like that."
"Mom." Luke groaned. "Please. I won't be dying any time soon. I promise I'll live a long, and good life."
"Good. Bye Luke, have more fun on the trip."
"I will mom. Talk to you soon." then he hung up. He sighed in mild irritation. He always has a feeling that his mother will never stop treating him like a full-grown adult. Luke couldn't really blame his mother though, for she was just trying to be a good parent. He thought that he just wish his mother wouldn't have to worry about him like this all of the time because of his disability.
It was one thing that certainly irritated him between him and her. "What did your mom say, Luke?" asked Fluttershy curiously
"She was just checking on me, and asking if i was alright. God knows that she can be crazy sometimes."
"Oh come on. She was just checkin' on ya because she's your mom, sugarcube." said Applejack.
"Yeah. I suppose." Luke sighed.
"Tell me Luke. What was that musical tone that your phone had released?" Asked Imari
"Oh, that's just called a ringtone. This works like any other phone. And it was from a metal band called Avenged Sevenfold."
"Heavy metal?" Asked Abioye. "I did not know you listen to that kind of music."
"Yep. It's one of my favorite genres."
"Have you grown up listening to it?" Asked Imari
"Oh yeah. My dad had a collection of CD's with him, and I always enjoyed listening those kinds of bands."
"You should hear Luke play on that electric guitar and sing. He is a pro at music."
"Really?" Said the eland king with more curiosity. "Could you show us how good of a mucisian you are, Luke?"
"Well... because you asked nicely, I'll do it."
"Wonderful. Wonderful. I am certain you will do great in your performance."
"I hope it won't be too loud for you I don't want to scare any calves."
Abioye chuckled and said "Nonsense. Some of us eland have heard of this kind of music before. We are open to just about any genre of music."
"Good. And, we can have some traditional drums that the band for the Zeezu brothers did in their cool dance."
"An excellent idea." Said Imari. "It can blend with our own music. I like the sound of it."