//------------------------------// // Chapter twelve- Home if where the hoof is // Story: The Gate: A Strange New World // by Ranger-Redstar //------------------------------// Sargent Haynes and his team were escorting me to my parents’ house as we drove down the road. It had been months since I had last seen my parents ever since I’d become an ambassador. Granted everything happened so fast, however I do remember when the government brought me to their place to discuss what had happened and what I was to be doing. They were a little confused but happy that I had some form of job, and I wasn’t living with them anymore. My parents always wanted what was best for me and wanted me to succeed in life. I don’t think being an ambassador for an alien world was on their mind. Haynes pulled into the driveway and there were a lot of vehicles already there. Most were from my dad’s side of the family, and some were from my stepmom’s. Haynes got out and opened the door for me. I jumped out with pie in hand. “Thank you, Sargent” I said. “My pleasure we'll be out here if you need us” he said as he got back into the Humvee. I walked up to the side door and opened it and inside was a lot of my family including my sister and her fiancé and my older brother and his two kids. My dad was cooking like he always does, and my stepmom was making sure everyone was comfortable. As I closed the door, my movement caught my dad’s eye. “Hey, the big hero is here” when he said that everyone turned to see me like I was a ghost. “Hey guys” I said awkwardly “I brought pie.” “Hey Junior” My stepmom came over and gave me a hug. “Hey Shannon” “I’ll set this on the table by the desserts” My stepmom said. As I walked further inside to see everyone, they all thanked me on a job well done and then proceeded to bombarded me with questions. “So, where’s that from?” my sister said pointing to the pie. “Oh, one of my (ahem) friends made it.” “One of your pony friends, I hope they washed their hooves before making it.” “Oh, shut up” I said putting it on the table. My older brother then leaned in “How did feel gettin shot?” he said. “Andrew!” My stepmom yelled. “It’s okay I mean It did hurt a lot.” “How much money are you making?” my uncle said. “I don’t have the exact number, but it is sizeable.” “Enough to get your own place by the beach I see” he said. “So, Junior what do you do over there?” my grandpa said. “Well, I can’t divulge much cause it's mostly classified but my main focus is researching everything.” “They seem too friendly, how are we supposed to just trust them?” my sister said. That one felt like a stupid question and I honestly wanted to yell at her because she knew nothing about them or how they live over there. “If they wanted too, they could very easily destroy us, but they choose not too because they’re not barbarians” I said slightly annoyed, “Can we just eat and not talk about me, for five minutes.” We all sat around the table and ate our thanksgiving food. My dad makes the best turkey and ham with a mustard glaze. Along with the side dishes like mashed potatoes, parmesan carrots, bread rolls it was all good. I began stuffing my face with a little bit of everything. Being over in Equestria where there’s not a lot of meat to eat, eating turkey was a nice reward for myself. “I take it they don’t eat meat over there?” My dad said “Not really” I said chewing. “Well, what do they eat over there?” My sister retorted. “Certain flowers, grass, hay, and baked goods for the most part” “Heh they really are horses.” I wanted to slap her for that, but I just let it slide. “They’re a lot more civilized than you think” I glared at her. “Okay no more questions” My stepmom said. After a pleasant meal we all helped by cleaning off our dishes and I helped clear the table “Okay who’s got money for Mahjong” my grandpa said. Truth be told I have never played mahjong before but this time I was just gonna watch. “C’mon you don’t wanna play?” My dad said. “I’d rather watch.” “Afraid to lose money?” as he furrowed his eyebrow at me. “No, I just don’t feel like playing, I don’t even know how to play” “Here just watch me” he said all confident The tiles were placed on the table upside down and shuffled around, then the tiles were stacked on top of another to form four walls. Then someone picks a tile to determine who was going first. Then each player get sixteen tiles except for the person who’s it, they get seventeen in order to threw a tile away to start. The goal was to get five sets of three and a pair. A set of three could either be three of a kind or an up and down meaning they must be in sequential order and the same suit. It was interesting watching my dad, my uncle, my grandpa, and my sister play. It almost made me wanna play but I had better things to do. “Well, I’m glad you’re doing alright you’ve got your own place and a good job” my stepmom said. “Thanks” I said. “Okay who wants dessert?” My dad said. When she said that I knew I had to try out the pie. Everyone got up to get a piece of something whether it was my dad’s cheesecake, my sisters trifle, my uncles carrots cake, or my pie. I got a piece of the pie and took my first bite and holy moly was it good. The apples were so soft and not too crunchy the cinnamon mixed with the melted sugar and the crust was to die for. My sister tried a piece, and I could tell that she liked it as well. Even though she didn’t want to admit it. “Not bad for a horse pie right” I said. She rolled her eyes at me and went to eat her piece in private. After a day of food and family even though I didn’t really interact with much aside from catching up on what I was doing it was a pleasant thanksgiving. I then got a text from the major saying that all the pieces I requested were ready for me. I put my phone away and went to say my goodbyes. “Okay that’s my cue, I gotta go, it was nice seeing everyone.” “Hold one let’s get a picture before you go.” My family was obsessed with taking pictures and posting them on Facebook like a family tradition. We all lined up against one of the walls as the camera was set up on a tripod and my aunt set the timer and jumped into the photo before the flash went off. I said my goodbyes, and everyone hugged me as I made my way to the Humvee. Haynes got out and opened the door for me. I looked back to see my stepmom and my dad wave goodbye one last time as we pulled out of the driveway. We headed back down towards the beach which wasn’t far when Haynes chimed in “How’s the folks?" “They’re fine, they asked me nonstop questions, and I made sure no to tell them much.” “Good to hear” It was a little cloudy today as we slowly pulled in as the security gates closed behind us. I looked out and saw the Major was standing there waiting. I got out of the Humvee, walked over, and saluted him. “Major” “We have everything you requested now if you don’t mind me asking what you intend to do?” I looked and saw the shiny ore that Celestia gave me sticking out of the crucible ready to go. “I was hoping to make a few things out of the ore, like a sword, some armor, tools and maybe a few bullets.” The major nodded and waved his hand at the soldier by the smelter and he turned it on. The smelter furnace was set ablaze as the crucible heated up melting the ore in a matter of a few minutes. During which Haynes and I made some molds out of sand to cast my objects in which took a couple of hours. One by one we filled the molds with the molten metal and set them aside. We soon waited for them to cool down to a point where we opened the molds and pulled the objects out. The sand fell apart around the semi-hard metal. We then dunked them in water to cool them down quicker. The style of sword I went with was a set of samurai swords ranging from a katana, a wakizashi, and a tanto. For the armor I made a chest and back piece, two shoulder pieces and two thigh pieces. I also made a set of tools for building and construction. Finally, I made a bunch of 9-millimeter rounds as well as some .44 rounds. After several hours of grinding and polishing everything, I was left with some shiny new toys as the sun began to set on the ocean. The metal dust and remaining ore was poured into bars and giving to the Major for testing. All three blades were given sheaths and a holder for all three. The armor was attached using leather straps and the bullets were then pressed into the respected cartridges, put into boxes, and placed into a metallic case. The swords, the armor and tools were all wrapped up and placed in metallic crates. The major watched me work all day with the soldiers making sure everything was up to my standards as we packed everything up, he walked over to me. “Thank you, ambassador, for the research material.” As he held the shiny metal bar “You’re welcome” I said with a smile. The major looked at the crates as they were loaded into the back of the Humvee. “What do you intend to do with all that stuff?” he said as he furrowed his eyebrow at me. “Well, there are a lot of magical and yet dangerous creatures over there and are extremely tough this stuff is just for my protection.” “Hm glad you’re thinking ahead just don’t go and get hurt asking for trouble.” “Yes sir” “Oh, and before I forget” the major produced a plastic bag from one of his soldiers, the label on the bag was all too familiar. “This is for…. well, you know” he leaned his head towards me. “I’m sure she’ll love them” as I took the GameStop bag. He saluted me and I saluted back I then went to the Humvee where Haynes was. “We all set to go Sargent?” “Just about, you ready to go back?” “Yes sir” Haynes then opened the door for me as I got in. The Humvee pulled up to the gate as the doors slowly opened. We drove into the abyss slowly and headed back to Equestria all the while I looked back at the crate in the back seat. When we emerged from the gate Twilight and her friends were waiting for me with Pinkie jumping with joy. Haynes quickly stopped and jumped out to let me greet them. He nodded and they headed back to their base. “Yay Mel’s back!” Pinkie jumping with joy, ran to hug me tightly again just like last time a little to tightly. “It’s great to have you back Mel” Twilight said as she stepped towards me as pinkie slowly let go. “How was your…. uh giving thanks with your folks?” Aj said. “It was normal, a little weird, but everything went okay.” “What do you mean?” Twilight said. “They…well are still weirded out by you guys but it not your fault like I said humans take a while to adjust to this new reality and They kept asking all these weird questions.” “Well I for one am glad you're back and that you enjoyed yourself darling” Rarity said. I unwrinkled my suit from Pinkie's hug. “Hey what’s in the bag?” Rainbow asked pointing to the GameStop bag. “Oh, this is for Luna I promised her id get her more video games.” “Yeah, I heard from Celestia that Luna has developed a taste for your video games and that she's quite addicted to them” Twilight exclaimed. “So…. did everypony…er I mean everyone like my pie.” Applejack said “Oh, that pie was to die far and yes they loved it.” “Well, that’s good to hear sugarcube.” “Also, we all got together and did something special for your return…um that is if you want it or not” Fluttershy said all cute like “Oh, really I wasn’t expecting anything, thank you guys what is it?” I spoke. “Well first you have to cover your eyes” pinkie said as she leaned closer to me. “It’s a surprise” Pinkie then pulled a blindfold out of nowhere and wrapped it around my head to cover my eyes. “Okay now follow us” she said as she happily bounced off. I stood there for a second with the blindfold still on me. “Okay how can I follow you if I can’t see?” Applejack and the girls chuckled a little “Don’t worry partner we’ll guide you there.” Rarity used her magic to hold my hand and help guide me. We walked for a few seconds and if my memory was correct while I was walking, they guided me in right in front of the mayor’s office and stopped. I stood there and I could smell all kinds of delicious foods. The blindfold came off and I was standing at the end of a long stretch of tables with everypony in town waiting for me on both sides with food placed all along the tables. “What is all this?” a little surprised. Twilight then walked up behind me. “We talked to the mayor and decided to make a new holiday so that everypony can celebrate thanksgiving just like you guys do.” She then looked and nodded at Mayor Mare who was walking towards us. “I declare that on this day we celebrate a new holiday that I dub The Giving of Thanks in which families get together and share their food with each other and tell each other what their thankful for.” I was so impressed I almost shed a tear; It did make me feel good inside knowing I was celebrating a human/pony holiday with everypony like I was part of their family. “Here Mel, have a seat” AJ then pulled out the chair. I sat down and began sampling a lot of dishes. Some of the veggie dishes were not that bad. Some of the hay and flower ones not so much. However, the desserts were plentiful and delicious. I sat around and enjoyed everypony’s company until it was time to clean up which I also helped. I helped hand wash most of the plates by using a wash bucket and then I dried them off with a hand towel. By the time the dishes were all clean the sun was just about set. I wiped my hands off with a towel when Twilight and her friends came over. “So, what did you think Mel?” “To be honest I liked it more than when I was with my folks.” “Really?” Applejack said shocked. “Yeah, my family is still uncertain about this whole ordeal” I put the towel into a laundry bag along with the other dish rags. “Well, we are here for you Mel, you’re like family to us.” Twilight said. That made my heart explode and I couldn’t help but smile. “That’s nice of you to say.” I got up to stretch a little “Heh with all the cleaning you must be exhausted I’ve never seen anyone clean dishes for that long” Rainbow said. “Just a little, I gotta get some stuff sorted when I get back to Haynes’s base. “Oh, anything new from your world I can do some research on?” Twilight said with wide eyes and a smile. “No, it’s the gift I got from Celestia.” All six of them we shocked and confused at the same time. “Celestia gave you something?” Rarity chimed in “Yeah, it was a big piece of ore that can negate magical properties and its quite tough to break.” Again, they were all shocked especially Twilight. “You mean Alicornium!” Then I looked at Twilight all confused “Say what?” “Alicornium is a rare type of ore that is six times stronger than steel and weighs significantly less, along with its ability to withstand any magic.” “I’ve never heard of such a thing” Rarity said. “Well, you only learn about it from either reading a lot of books about minerals and ores or from Celestia.” “So, what’d ya end up doin with this Alicornium?” Aj said. “Oh, I made some tools like a hammer, an axe, a pickaxe, a couple of planes, some chisel’s, some drill and boring tools, some armor ya know that sort of thing.” “Huh I wish I had some of those tools I can’t tell how many times I’ve used a tool for years on a project only for it to break when you need it” “Is that all?” Twilight looked at me curiously. I didn’t want to say about the other things I made but I knew I couldn’t lie to them. “Yes, I did make some bullets and some swords.” They all looked shocked again. “A sword made of Alicornium could easily take down Celestia!” “Easy Twilight it’s just for my own protection besides I would never use it one any you guys.” When I told them that they all calmed down a bit “I know Mel, after saving Celestia the way you did I know you would never betray us” she said as she walked up to me and put her hoof on my leg. “I mean, I kinda wanna see the swords anyway” Rainbow said very excited fluttering in front of me. “Yeah, me too” Pinkie yelled as she leaned in “Okay then” I begin to walk towards Haynes base as the girls all followed me.