Texas Twilight

Equestria
Twilight's Castle: Cutie Map Room
8:00 am

"So this is what has happened to the Cutie Map." Spoke Princess Luna as she approached the map to examine it closer. Celestia was right next to her, her face full of fascination and worry. Spike and the rest of Twilight's friends were present to show them the map

"I do not recognize this landscape sister. It appears to be some unknown desert wasteland." Celestia tried to keep her voice stoic, holding back her full concern. She then turns her head towards Spike. "And Twilight somehow was able to pass through it, like a portal?"

"She didn't pass through, she was sucked in, like a wormhole!" The baby dragon clarified. Both princesses shifted their looks from Spike, back to the portal as he continued to explain. "Starlight Glimmer had this scroll, she shot a beam of magic at it, and the scroll then altered the map to... that; and it pulled Twilight in."

The princesses continue to stare at the map, their minds racing on how such a spell is even possible. Celestia herself then approached the map again, placing her hoof on top of the surface. Her hoof causes ripples on the surface, but the landscape never changes. She feels her chest tighten, worried for her number one pupil and fellow princess.

"Where is the scroll?" Asked Luna, to which Spike produced it, holding it in his claw. Luna takes it in her magic and examines it. Her eyes widen upon seeing it. "Sister, thou must take a look at this."

Celestia, a bit concerned about her sister's shocked expression, steps forward and looks at the scroll as well. Just like Luna, her eyes widen, and is taken aback by what she sees.

"You two know the spell?" Asked Applejack.

"Know this spell? We are all too familiar with this spell. This very scroll was written by our teacher, Starswirl the Bearded himself!" Luna exclaimed quite loudly.

"Starswirl? The same Starswirl whose spell Twilight completed and in turn, granted her the title of Princess?" Asked Rarity, placing a hoof on her chin.

"Yes, the same one. This is his Trans-Dimensional spell. He had only used it a handful of times when he was alive. But this one seems to be altered in a way to affect the Cutie Map." Celestia informed as she got to the ripped part of the Scroll. "And unfortunately, the part that was altered has been ripped away. What happened to it?"

"I remember, Twilight tried to grab it before being pulled in. She and Starlight were tugging for it when it ripped, and the bottom half got sucked in with Twilight." Spike spoke up. Both Princesses looked at Spike and then back at the scroll.

"So... If the rest of this scroll is as lost as Twilight is. Then our only other option to get her back is to find this Starlight Glimmer, and have her remake it." Luna stated stoically.

"Where is Starlight Glimmer now?" Celestia asked, her emotions now beginning to crack through.

"We don't know at the moment, Princess." Said Rarity, as Applejack stepped forward.

"Though, we have a good idea on where to start lookin'," Applejack spoke which caught the attention of both Princesses.

"Please share where we should begin looking," Luna spoke, stepping in front of the farm pony.

"It's a small town that Starlight herself used to run. She would remove the cutie marks from ponies to make 'em all 'equal." Applejack reminisced.

"Yeah! But we helped the town ponies get their marks back and they ousted her! She ran up into the mountains and that was the last we saw of her, until now." Said Dash, floating above everyone's heads. Celestia's face began to harden.

"Very well. That's where we will begin searching for this Starlight Glimmer, have her undo this... and then she will face punishment." Celestia spoke as her eyes began to narrow.

Earth
Chihuahuan Desert, Texas
9:30 am

Twilight pokes her head out into the hallway. She slowly makes her way out of the bedroom, down the hall, and into the kitchen. She looks into the living room and sees Travis sitting at his table. His hair was a mess, and his face was in his palms. A cup of coffee was in front of him, as well as a milk gallon full of water. Her ears flattened against her head, and he looked ashamed. he must be thinking of what happened last night. She took in a deep breath, knowing she had to face the music eventually, and stepped into the living room.

"Travis?" Twilight spoke in a soft, yet stern voice. Travis slowly lifted his face out of his hands and looked at her. His eyes were a bit red as he slowly sat up.

"Oh... shit... Hi Twilight." His voice was a bit slurred and he was wincing a bit.

"Hi, Travis... I'm... I'm sorry about last night." She hung her head, ready for him to talk down to her.

"Really?... Why are you sorry?" He raised an eyebrow.

"For what happened last night." She spoke louder and looked up at him. She watches him rub his eyes with one hand before speaking again.

"Twilight... I'm in a jock right now. I hardly remember what even happened." He responded.

"In a...jock?" She tilts her head in confusion at him to which he gave her a deadpanned expression.

"I'm hanging like a fruit bat on a hot summer day Twilight." Travis's voice was monotone.

"Oh!...OH! Oh ok. I understand Travis." She blushed a bit before looking back up at him. "So you don't remember anything last night?"

"I remember telling you about my time in Afghanistan... but not much after that... I know you got close to me and... said something to me, but it's fuzzy after that." Travis scratched the back of his head. Twilight lets out a large sigh of relief. he doesn't remember kissing her, and her just letting it happen.

"I see. Well then I uh... I'm just sorry for uh... having you relive those bad memories, Travis." Twilight stepped closer to him, he gave her a small smile.

"It's ok Twilight. I don't talk about it much, but... It kinda feels nice to be a bit more transparent with you... you're becoming a close friend to me." Travis's response caused Twilight to sheepishly smile back. But then quickly thought of something that Travis should be doing.

"Hey, Travis, shouldn't you be at work right now?" Twilight asked with genuine concern. Travis shook his head in response.

"Nah, I called in sick today. I'm in no condition to be working on cars today." He rubs his forehead for emphasis when he suddenly gets an idea. "So, since I'm going to be here today, how about another movie night Twilight?"

Twilight's whole demeanor perked up upon hearing that. Her ears shot up, her eyes widened, and she grew a large smile.

"Yes! I would love to watch another movie!" She excitedly exclaimed. Travis couldn't help but chuckle at her excitement.

"Awesome, we'll have all day to watch many movies." He stood up from his seat and took another sip of coffee. "But let's get some breakfast started first."

Twilight licked her lips, she knew with breakfast came bacon. She was looking forward to that. She has got to ask Travis how it is grown. They begin to make breakfast, this time together. Travis smiles at her, actually feeling a bit happy to be forming a bond with Twilight. As they were cooking, someone was knocking on Travis's front door. Pharaoh, Barb, and Rusty all began to bark and crowd the door. Travis looked in its direction and then looked at Twilight.

"Stay here a minute Twilight." He said to which she nodded. He then began to approach his door, wondering who could be there. After pushing the dogs away with his foot, he opens the door, and standing in the doorway is his co-worker, Javier.

"Shaw, I heard you called off work today hombre. Estás bien? You feeling ok?" Javier asked, causing Travis to smile. Javier was his best friend at work, probably the only one he would call a best friend after coming back home.

"I'm fine Javier, just... just caught the brown bottle flu you know," Travis admitted, he wasn't going to lie to him. Javier let out a sigh and shook his head.

"Look amigo, I told you I would never judge you, but I still worry about you brother. You need to take care of yourself, amigo." Javier spoke sternly, causing Travis to begin frowning again.

"I know I just..." Travis looked towards the ground. "...I was just reminiscing about what happened years ago." As Travis spoke, he felt Javier place a hand on his shoulder. Travis looked back up at him to see his expression had softened.

"I care about you, amigo. I want to see you get better. I know you went through some tough shit, but your a tougher piece of shit hombre." Javier gives Travis a playful punch on his good arm, making Travis smile again. "That trauma will never go away homes, but listen to me, I wouldn't be here if I didn't care about you."

"I know Javier, thank you. I'm getting better every day. I promise." Travis explained.

"I know amigo. Look, maybe one of these days you should take a vacation. It's September, ain't your birthday coming up soon? Try going home for a few days. Go back to Dallas for a while, see your family hombre. I know they miss you a lot." Javier suggested, causing Travis to scratch his chin.

"You know... that's not a bad idea. I might do that, thanks for the suggestion, Javier. I promise to be in tomorrow." Travis spoke genuinely as Javier was walking back to his truck. Travis held up his hand to stop him, for a split second, he wanted to introduce him to Twilight. But, he slowly began to use it to wave at Javier. Javier waved back before driving off. Now wasn't the best time to show him a magic-talking purple-winged unicorn from another dimension. He lets out a long sigh before closing his door. He turns around and is a bit shocked to see Twilight standing there, looking up at him.

"Who was that Travis?" She asked enthusiastically.

"Uh, that was just a friend from work. His name is Javier." He answered truthfully.

"He sounds like a close friend to you." She smiled, but Travis placed his hands on his hips.

"Were you listening to our conversation?" He raised an eyebrow at her. She giggles back at him.

"A little." She winks. They both walk back into the kitchen as she continues. "I have a thing for friendship Travis."

"Yeah, I noticed that. Why do you care so much about friendship?" Travis asked while grabbing his plate and sitting down, taking a sip of coffee.

"Well, back home, I am a princess. A Princess of Friendship." As Twilight said this, Travis choked on his coffee. He immediately began to cough which caused some to come out of his nose. He wipes his face with his napkin before speaking.

"Princess!? You're a fucking Princess!?" He had no idea Twilight was royalty. Twilight blushes a bit at his reaction.

"Yeah, it's still somewhat new for me and I'm still getting used to the title. But yeah, I'm the princess of friendship." She reiterated. Travis was still cleaning up his spilled coffee while Twilight began to dig into her breakfast.

"Princess, of friendship? Hell of a title." He rolled his eyes. "How the hell does one become a princess of Friendship?"

"Well for one, me and my friends are closely bonded by a strong magical essence called 'The Elements of Harmony.' Two, I also completed a difficult spell that was created by the greatest unicorn sorcerer to ever live, Starswirl the Bearded." Twilight was entering lecture mode while Travis just looked at her weirdly.

"So... you were not born a princess? You were given that title?" He questioned, trying to understand the picture.

"Yes, correct. I was just a regular unicorn, but with the title of Princess, I was granted Alicornhood." She fluffs her wings for emphasis.

"So you grew wings!?... What the hell kind of world do you live in!? It sounds completely insane!" Travis was having a hard time understanding all being told to him.

"Well, that's how it works. Magic is involved with everything." She looked at him, it was hard to explain to someone with no concept of real magic how it all worked.

"I just... I... I didn't know you were a Princess..." He looks away. Twilight gently places her hoof on his shoulder.

"I'm sorry for not telling you Travis. I guess I should have mentioned that sooner. I just didn't want you to act differently around me." Her ears drooped as she spoke, but Travis reached up and gently took hold of her hoof.

"No, it's fine. I shouldn't be getting worked up. I don't want you to feel more like a stranger here than you already are. I can understand why you would keep something like that to yourself." He looks back at her, giving her a reassuring look, then smiling. "Should I be referring to you as 'Your Highness' now?"

"You better not, I don't like my friends calling me that." She gave him a deadpan look. He started chuckling at her.

"Very well... Twilight." They would soon finish breakfast and then head into Travis's living room. With practically 12 hours to themselves, they had a lot of time to watch movies. He gets on his knees and pulls out his large box of movies again. Twilight sits on her haunches on the other side of the box and looks inside. "Just pull one out that looks interesting to you Twilight, and we'll organize a whole marathon."

Twilight smiled at that, organizing was one of her favorite things. They both began to dig through the movies, Travis pulling out his favorites while Twilight was pulling some out that caught her eye. Twilight pulled out two movies each, Travis looks at the movies she pulled out and sees 'The Wizard of Oz,' and 'Titanic.' He thought she pulled out a decent selection. He then looks down at the movie he pulled out. 'Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of The Black Pearl."

They both then began to organize the movies. The total runtime of the movies would be about 7 hours. Travis checked his watch, it was almost 12:30. It would be around 8 o'clock at night when they were done. however, counting dinner time, it could be close to 10 when they were done. Perfect amount of time. They then placed the movies in a certain order and then went back to the kitchen to prepare snacks. Travis made a bunch of popcorn, and Twilight found a pound bag of M&Ms in Travis's cabinet. Travis decided to skip the beer this time and grabbed a 12-pack of soda, while Twilight grabbed a whole bag of Barbeque flavored chips. They were all ready for their marathon. Both of them were excited as Twilight was excited to see more movies. Travis was excited because he hadn't had a movie night like this since he was still in high school. It felt nostalgic for him. They sat down and turned on the first movie they planned to watch first, The Wizard of Oz.

"What made you decide to pick this movie Twilight?" Travis asked as the movie began.

"It said Wizard on it. It's gotta be about magic right?" She looked at him for some confirmation.

"A little bit, I think you will enjoy this movie a lot." He smiled at her reassuringly. As the movie played, Twilight was a bit shocked to see it in black and white.

"Whoa, where is the color? The box showed color." She asked quizzically.

"It's coming, it was a cinema trick at the time to show the land of Oz and Kansas. This is a pretty old movie, about 80 years old." He answered.

"80!?" She yelled. "You had this kind of technology for 80 years!?"

"Older than that even. Some movies are over 100 years old by now" He chuckled at her. Twilight slumps in her seat, her mind relatively blown by now. What these humans lacked in magic, they had accelerated in technology. The movie would continue, showing the tornado scene and the wicked witch. Which was a bit scary for Twilight as this was all still a bit new to her. However, the land of Oz was completely fascinating to her. All the colors, the quirky characters, and the musical charm were very enjoyable. She smiled at all the friends Dorthey was making on her journey like the Scarecrow, The Tin Man, and the Cowardly Lion. She loved the music and color, but also the serious scenes with the Wicked Witch of the West. When the movie was over, she couldn't stop smiling. She enjoyed it, the movie was very creative and had a fun plot she enjoyed. Travis got up to make more popcorn and put in the second movie, Pirates of the Caribbean.

"Pirates, huh? Is this movie good?" Asked Twilight and Travis was quick to answer.

"Oh hell yes. Probably one of my favorite movies ever. The first three movies in my opinion are masterpieces. A bit more actiony than the previous movies we've seen." He warned as he opened a can of soda. The movie began with the open scene of a burning ship, which Twilight was a bit shocked to see. Then of course the introduction to Captain Jack Sparrow was really enjoyable. The sword fight between him and William Turner took her by surprise. She was impressed with the choreography and how it looked like a real sword fight. Not long, however, would be the scene of the raid on Port Royal. She was frightened by it, and shocked to see so much violence in the film.

"Did... Did he just throw an axe into that guy's back?" She squeaked.

"Yeah, are you ok?" He looks down at her and he sees that she is a bit closer to him now.

"Well... I've read some stories that were a bit graphic, but to see it is... is gonna be a bit to get used to..." She admitted as she sunk back into the seat. Despite the violence, it was a bit thrilling. It would only get more graphic from there when it shows the whole crew of the Black Pearl as Skeletons. She was blown away by this scene.

"Whoa!!! How did they do that!?"

"How did they do what?" He asked her.

"How did they make them look like real skeletons!?" She could not come up with any good theory in her mind as to how they could have done that without magic.

"They used CGI, which stands for Computer Generated Imagery. It's made in a post on a computer." He responded. Twilight's jaw was practically to the floor. Humanity's progression in technology blowing her mind again. How Equestria would thrive if it had both magic and technology like this. By the end of the movie, she was clutching a sofa pillow tightly. The movie was fantastic, having a great story and great visuals. She also loved the character Captain Jack Sparrow and how charismatic and mischievous he was. By now they were out of snacks so they both decided to go ahead and have dinner before starting the next movie, Titanic. After eating, they both plop right back down on the couch.

"Anything I should be expecting in this movie Travis?" Twilight asked as she used her magic to levitate some M&Ms into her mouth.

"Well, this movie is based on a real event in history," Travis responded as he poured freshly popped popcorn into the bowl.

"Really? So it's a historical movie?" Twilight sounded genuinely interested.

"Yep, now the characters will be heavily fictionalized but the event happening in the movie did happen. Trying my best not to spoil the movie for you." He chuckled. Twilight chuckles with him as they head back to the living room. Travis puts in the movie and then sits back down. The movie starts with the expedition of the Titanic, which Twilight instantly takes note of. Seeing it sunk at the bottom of the ocean.

When Rose was brought aboard, seeing her reaction to the pictures, and the sight of the wreckage of the ship was foreboding. Giving Twilight the impression that this was not going to be a happy story. The flashback begins and the character Jack is introduced. Seeing his interactions with Rose was very heartwarming. Seeing the scene where both of them were having fun in the third class was very entertaining. Twilight was enjoying this movie, seeing it as a romantic comedy story. The chemistry between Jack and Rose felt so genuine and so magical. She was slowly leaning towards Travis, feeling a bit relaxed. However, she realized what she was doing, and quickly sat up, not wanting to repeat what happened the first time they watched a movie together.

The movie continues, and of course, the more risqué scenes happen. Jack drew Rose nude, and of course, the scene with the car made her blush heavily. She was a bit surprised by how much sex and violence was allowed in movies. Of course, the books she read dabbled in the same areas, but reading them and seeing them were two different experiences for her. Despite the raw imagery, it was still heartwarming to see how much the two loved each other.

The scene that followed, was like an electric shock. The scene with the iceberg. She watches the men in the engine rooms scramble, trying their best to keep the ship from colliding, but it is in vain. She jumps when the ship collides with the iceberg and sees the ship begin to flood with water. She covers her mouth with her hooves at seeing the workers scramble to the water-tight doors, seeing a few get trapped on the wrong side. Water began to fill the coach section and Twilight was starting to feel some anxiety. She remembers the very beginning of the film, where the ship was at the bottom of the ocean. This realization caused her to say aloud.

"The ship is going to sink?" She said looking at Travis. He looks at her and nods his head. She didn't care what would happen between them, she scooted closer and leaned against his arm as she continued to watch. The captain of the ship and the designer are in a meeting, discussing how many compartments of the ship are flooded, and come to the conclusion that the ship will in fact sink. She audibly gasped as the crew admitted that about two thousand people were aboard.

Twilight would then wrap her forehooves around Travis's arm at the scene where the bow begins to sink under the water. The story would continuously shift from the boat sinking to Jack and Rose escaping Hockley. But the sinking scenes were horrific. Seeing the ship slowly go under the water while people were scrambling to stay out of the water was leaving a pit in her gut. The lifeboats being launched with the women and children being the priority. When the four-man orchestra begins, the movie shows the scenes of those who have accepted their fate, and waiting to die. The captain went to the helm that was flooding with water. Mr Andrews, the ship's designer, wanted to go down with the ship. An old couple embraced as water filled their room, and a mother told her kids a lullaby. Twilight could feel tears welling up in her eyes the more she saw.

She was taken back to the death scene of the captain. The boat was now mostly submerged and people were swimming away from the boat, and then the flooding of the grand staircase. Seeing the desperate people now made the tears roll down her face. The Stern of the boat being suspended in the air and people jumping in the dire hope of surviving. When the ship splits in two, her jaw drops and she squeezes Travis's arm. Then, with the ship's final plunge into the ocean, she was now fully crying.

She watches as Jack keeps close to Rose, and finds a piece of driftwood to keep her out of the water. Watching as many of the people in the water, including Jack were freezing. Jack and Rose promise their love for each other, Jack keeps Rose's hope up. It was heartwarming, in a scene of intense sadness. She finally felt her tears stopping as Jack and Rose still had each other.

One Lifeboat came back to look for survivors, and seeing the number of dead people in the water made the tears return. Some so many people had frozen to death and she could not believe all of what she was seeing. So many dead, so many people who tried to survive but didn't. The camera goes to Rose who sees the lifeboat and tries to wake Jack. But Jack was not waking.

"No..." Twilight's voice was shaky as she began to cry again. Now burying her face in Travis's side and crying heavily. She feels Travis wrap an arm around her as she slowly looks back at the screen. She watches as Jack's body slowly sinks into the dark abyssal waters as Rose promises to never let go. It was almost too much, her heart was aching and she couldn't stop crying. Even with the ending showing Rose silently passing away in bed, her eternity is shown with Jack waiting for her on the top of Titanic's grand staircase.

It was near 8 o'clock when the movie ended and Twilight was still sobbing hard into Travis's side. Finally saying her first words again since the movie ended.

"Why..." She croaked out.

"Why what?" Travis asked while looking down at her.

"...Why couldn't they both live?... That piece of wood could have held both of them!" She blurted out loud as she had an angry and sad look on her face. Travis forces himself to hold back laughter. The question reminded him of the age-old internet debate on the same question.

"...Then the story would have been cliched." he quickly added. He watches as Twilight wipes away her tears while still sniffling. "Maybe that wasn't such a good movie to watch for someone new to movies."

"It's not that... I loved it." She admitted through her tears. "That movie was more like a book than any of the others I have watched. I was so drawn in... it... it was amazing... sad!... but amazing."

"Well, I'm glad you liked it then." He smiled sheepishly at her as she laid her head on his shoulder.

"Can you please... just hold me for a minute?... please?" She sniffled again, still sad from the movie. Travis feels a warmth in his face at that request and yet doesn't hesitate. He grabs her and places her on his lap and chest and just holds her. Placing his hand on her back and his other hand to stroke her mane. She continues to sniffle as she lays her cheek on his chest.

He could hear her whimpers becoming softer and more quiet the longer he held her. Eventually, she grew quiet and all he could hear was her breathing. He looks down at her and sees her eyes closed. He looked at the time, seeing it was now close to ten o'clock. A few gentle shakes would confirm that she was asleep. He sighs heavily before looking over at his calendar on the wall, September 5th. He remembers what Javier told him today. He scratches his beard as he thinks of an idea, perhaps he does need a vacation. It's been almost a year since he last visited his home in Dallas. Perhaps he should leave and see his family again. He then looks back down at Twilight and smiles as another idea forms in his head.