> Equestria's Second Thanksgiving > by Golden Flare > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Equestria's Second Thanksgiving > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Equestria's Second Thanksgiving by Golden Flare November 2015 Sun. Mon. Tues. Wed. Thurs. Fri. Sat. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 After looking over your calendar one last time, you exit your room and make your towards the dining hall of Twilight's castle. During that time, you reflect on last year; you had the best Thanksgiving of your life with all of your friends, especially Lyra and Bon Bon, the latter of whom you learned was truly Special Agent Sweetie Drops from your BFF (or to these ponies, PFF), Lyra, who was as shocked as you were when she first found out, and they both made you Pinkie Promise not to tell anypony. Your eye hurt for an hour or so after accidentally poking it from making the Pinkie Promise. Shaking off that painful and embarrassing memory, you focus on making your way to the dining hall, it was then you noticed one of Twilight's picture frames were crooked, you raise your hand and with a simple thought, said hand glowed the same color as your iris's and fixed the frame as it was enveloped in its glow. You look at your hand and briefly remember how you were able to use magic, chuckling, you felt a strange sense of nostalgia. You perish the thought and continue your trek. It wasn't long until you found the double doors to the dining hall, pushed them open with your magic, and instantly became awestruck at the sight before you; an extremely long dining table topped with tablecloth and food lined up from each end. The sight brings a tear to your eye, remembering Thanksgiving back at home and re-remembering the Thanksgiving you had last year. "Are our preparations THAT amazing, sir?" You turn your head to see Ponyville's resident musicians, Octavia, the one who spoke, and Vinyl Scratch, her silent companion and roommate. You made great friends with everypony in Ponyville, but other than Lyra and Bon Bon, these two were another of your closest best friends. You rub your eyes with an arm, "Sorry. It's just...everything looks great." Octavia giggled, "It should, we helped work on it all day." Vinyl nodded in confirmation. "I'll bet, this must've took a lot of work." "You have no idea." A new voice intercepted; Rainbow Dash flew into view. "Hey, Dash!" "Sup, pal? How ya holding up?" "I'm holding up fine, this year doesn't bother me as much as last year." "Heh, you're a tough kid." "With a land full of dragons, timberwolves, and manticores, I gotta be, right?" You chuckled. That got a laugh out of Dash, "Yeah, I guess." She said after she calmed down. "Hey!" You look to your left to see Twilight walk up to you with a smile. "Hey, Twilight, I see you invited more of our friends, I love the decorations, by the way." "Of course we did, darling." Rarity walked up next to Twilight, "We plan to make this Thanksgiving the best one there is, maybe better than last year!" You chuckle, "I look forward to it." For the next hour, you help your friends prepare the dining hall as more guests came to help out, like Lyra and Bon Bon. Today felt like a good day for you...but it would soon turn bad. While in the middle of decorating, utilizing your magic to do so, the other three princesses arrived with hopeful smiles. Celestia called out your name, "there's someone who'd like to see you, well, two to be precise." "Who are they?" You ask. "Sweetie?" Your mouth went dry and your magic faltered when you recognized that voice. The princesses stepped aside to reveal two people you never thought you'd see again: your parents. "M-Mom? D-Dad?" You stuttered. "Sweetie!" Your mom cheered as she ran to hug along with your dad. "We're so happy to see you again!" Your dad said. "I...I am, too." You say as you smile earnestly, but shifted into a horrified frown when your mom spoke. "Go get your things, sweetie, we're leaving." "Wait, what!?" "We're going home," your dad said, "aren't you happy?" "Well, yeah! Kinda, I mean. But...I..." "But what?" "I...I like it here." Your parent had emotionless looks opposite to the loving, emotion-filled ones from before, "What." They both said. "I said, 'I like it here'; I have friends, quite a bit of coin, a home, magic-" "Wait, magic?" Your dad asks. "Yeah, see?" You raise your hands as they glowed again, startling them both. "...We're leaving. Right now." Your mom says with finality in her voice. "But I-" "No 'buts', mister! These horses have obviously infected you with something!" Your dad shouts. "Yeah. Friendship. That's where my power comes from, believe it or not." "Alright then," your mom begins, "it's either your friends, or your family, take your pick." It was then you felt your heart in your throat, why would they make you choose? It isn't THAT bad here, they could've lived with you and your friends. But the damage has already been done, it's time to weigh your options; you could stay here, be with your new friends, whom of which you consider to be your family as well, and never see your true family again. Or, you can go home, which you wanted to since day one, return to your old friends and family, and never see your new pony friends or Equestria ever again. It's quite the conundrum. After taking a few minutes to think, you give a determined look as you made your choice. "My friends." Your pony friends cheered as loudly as they could, happy with your decision. Your parents, however, were absolutely aghast. "WHAT!?" Your mom shrieked. "For starters, my friends would've never forced me to make that choice; we could've all been happy in this world, together, heck, it's a lot better than our world, especially with the economy down the toilet." You state as your "family" growls at you. "Princesses...please escort my so called family back to their world, and seal the pathway, we don't want them getting any funny ideas." Princess Celestia nodded and lifted your parents with her magic and activated the portal. "YOU CAN'T DO THIS TO US! WE'RE YOUR PARENTS AND YOU WILL TREAT US WITH RESPECT!" Your mom screeched as she and your dad were tossed into the portal, making them both grunt, "Oof!" "Not anymore." You state as Celestia closes the portal. "YOU UNGRATEFUL LITTLE BRA-!" Your mom was cut off the second the portal closed for good. The princesses looked at you solemnly, Cadence walked up to you and spoke, "We're so sorry, we didn't think your parents were going to be like that." "It's fine," you waved her off, "no skin off my bones, they're not worth worrying over." "Will you be alright?" Luna asked. "Honestly...it'll take some time, but I'll be okay." You perked up and cheered, "Now, c'mon, everypony! This isn't a day to be moping, this is a day to be thankful!" Everyone gathered to the table as Lyra and Vinyl levitated the food over; stuffing, corn, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, the usual makeshift turkey, and the pies, pumpkin, apple, and cherry. Before everyone could eat, you grab your glass of apple cider and clink it lightly with your fork. "May I have everypony's attention?" That of which you received, "I'd like to propose a toast, not just to this day, or the food, or my friends, but to helping me realize who my true family is - you guys. You've all done so much for me, that I don't think I could ever repay you all." "Who's keeping score?" Pinkie asked, cheerfully, "We're all friends here!" You smile, "You're right, Pinkie," you raise your glass, "to friends and true family!" "Here-here!" They all cheered, then began to eat. Even if it feels like your family isn't truly your family, close friends can become family, especially if they're not blood-related. Those who care about you, that's a real family. THE END