Chapters Twilight and her assistant Spike were trotting their way back to Twilight's castle. She had just given a lecture of the magic of Friendship at Celestia's school of Magic. They were discussing a certain somepony Twilight swore she saw in the audience. That certain somepony was...
"Starlight Glimmer?" Spike asked in both shock and confusion.
"I was sure I saw her, Spike. But when I looked again, she was gone! I'm just worried what she could be up to." Twilight herself even seemed unsure of what she saw, but she just knew that she saw her in the audience during her presentation.
"Nothing good, I bet. I heard she wasn't very happy the last time you saw her." Spike took her concerns seriously, something was telling him that Twilight was in fact telling the truth.
"Forcing everypony in her village to have the same cutie mark wasn't right. We had to do something!" Twilight had a serious look on her face, she didn't regret what she did to stop Starlight last time. She was stealing cutie marks and forcing ponies to follow her in her own ideology.
"And now she's coming back for revenge. Uh, or she was just really interested in your speech!" Spike gave a unsure smile with a shaky giggle. Twilight couldn't help but give the baby dragon a small but comforting smile back.
"Honestly, Spike. I'm not really sure what I saw. But as long as I have my friends, I know everything will be all right." Twilight's words did seem to put Spike at ease. The both of them make it to the castle and they enter without another word. They were on their way to the cutie map room. Twilight finally decided to break the silence once again, trying to relieve her own anxiety.
"Maybe I was just more stressed about that speech than I thought." Twilight let out an exhausted sigh.
"Yeah. That sounds better than Starlight Glimmer coming back with an evil plot for revenge." Spike joked as they open the door to the cutie map room. From there, Spike's eyes widened at what he saw.
"Well, when you say it like that, it does sound kinda silly." Twilight giggled at Spike's joke, unaware of who was in the cutie map room with them.
"Or it's totally true!" Spike yelled in a panic, pointing at the cutie map. Twilight turns to where he was pointing, and she gasps in shock at who she saw.
"Welcome home, Twilight!" Starlight Glimmer sat on Twilight's throne, smiling evilly at the alicorn princess. With her magic, Starlight teleports and levitates an unknown magic scroll in front of her. She zaps with her magic and it begins to glow, from the scroll, it projects a beam of magic at the map. Before Twilight's eyes, the map animates, but it doesn't show Equestria. The landscape was completely foreign to her, it looked like a desert, with mountains on the side.
"What are you doing, Starlight?" Twilight stepped forward, glaring and spreading her wings out in anger at the unicorn.
"Finally setting in motion what I have planned for months Princess! You took away the only thing I had comfort in, now I'm taking YOU away from your friends!" Starlight spat the words out like they were venom, as a magic hole began to open up in the middle of the map. A powerful vacuum began to suck in Twilight. She tries to fight back against the force but it was a losing battle.
"Twilight!" Spike yelled as he ran to save Twilight, but Twilight's horn began to glow. She grabbed a spike in her magic and threw him away from the map, she didn't want him getting sucked in as well. Twilight was right at the map as the force was getting stronger. A look of fear was spread all across Twilight's face, she didn't know the fate that was awaiting her in that abyss. She looks up at Starlight who was staring at her in evil bliss, finally thinking that she was getting rid of Twilight once in for all. Before Twilight could get sucked in, She uses her magic to grab the scroll Starlight was holding. Both of them struggled to hold onto it until it was ripped in half. Twilight and the bottom half of the scroll are then sucked into the hole, and it finally closes up. Starlight looked at the ripped scroll in dissatisfaction but then shrugs, crumpling it and tossing it to the side.
"It doesn't matter, without the full thing, there is no way she can get back. She's gone! Gone for good!" Starlight began to laugh as Spike looked up at her in shock and awe. Starlight then uses her magic to teleport away from the castle as Spike runs up to the map; it still displays the desert environment.
"Twilight! TWILIGHT!!! " Spike shouted as tears began to flood his eyes.
-Chihuahua Desert Western Texas. 15 miles Northeast of Van Horn-
Travis Shaw was a 26 year old man living by himself in the middle of the desert. His home wasn't the most luxurious, but it was home to him. He lived alone, with 3 dogs that he cared a lot about. They were a Doberman named Pharaoh, a Cane Corso name Barb, and a Dachshund named Rusty. Travis was sitting on his couch watching Tv, drinking a can of beer while rusty was laying his head on his lap. He was gently petting him when he sees Pharaoh patiently sitting by the door. He chuckles at him before setting his beer down.
"I'm coming boy." He stands up and approaches the door, Barb and Rusty both come scampering behind him as he opens the door. The hot Texas desert hits him as he dogs all scamper outside. He smiles, leaning in the doorway as all three of them begin to chase each other. Poor Rusty trying to keep up with the bigger dogs. He couldn't help but chuckle at his attempts. Travis wore a white sleeveless shirt with denim jeans and a pair of black boots. He was muscular, and had brown hair and brown eyes. He had a full beard that was half the length of his neck. He notices Pharaoh quickly jump away from something near a bush before looking back at it sniffing curiously. He frowned as he knew in this environment, nothing he found could have been good.
"Pharaoh, Get!" he yelled and Pharaoh backed away like his master commanded. He reaches back in his house, next to the door and grabs his 22. Long rifle. He walks out towards the bush where he sees his dog sniffing and hears the distinct sound of a rattle. He knew it, rattlesnake. It was a Western Diamondback, he couldn't leave it out here out of fear of his dogs and chicken's safety. He aimed his rifle and shot it right in the head. The rattling stopped as the snake died. Travis bends down and picks up the snake, it was a decent 4 feet long. He gives it an approving nod before slinging it over his shoulder. At least he found his supper for the night. He whistled for his dogs to come back inside as he stepped in and began to prepare his meal. Though some would think this would be an unusual way to live, this was common for Travis. He felt that this was the way his life would be for a long time.
I ain't never seen a horse like that before
Twilight was laying on the ground, her eyes shut and her head was aching. She groaned as she slowly lifted her head, and began to open her eyes. The sunlight stung her eyes, causing her to shield them with her hoof. She was finally able to open them up a bit more, and what she saw, froze her to the bone. Miles upon miles of desert. She slowly and wobbly begins to get to her hooves, shaking off the dirt that had stuck to her. She looked all around her, all she could see was hills in the distance, and dirt and bushes all around her. The sun was directly overhead, and the heat was excruciating.
"Wh-where am I? I... I don't know where I am..." She said to herself. At first she thought she may have been sent to the San Palomino Desert, but nothing looked even remotely familiar. She began to quicken her breath as panic was beginning to set in.
"I... I need to find help... I... I need to find somepony..." Twilight began to look in different directions, trying to determine what way would be the most productive for her to travel in. She settled in on one direction and slowly began to walk. The sun was bearing down on her back, making her very uncomfortable as sweat began to pour off of her. Insects began to swirl around her, to which she resorted to try and swat them away with her tail. She walks for around 3 excruciating hours when she begins to hear some rustling in front of her. She sees a bush moving, and she could see something digging around it. whatever it was, it was on four legs. She sighs in relief, hoping that she had finally found somepony.
"Oh thank Celestia. Excuse me, I'm lost... could you please help me?" Whatever was digging in the bush was startled by her voice and quickly turned to look at her. Whatever it was, it wasn't a pony. It looked like a large tusked pig with black fur. It squealed angrily at her. Twilight gulps and begins to back away.
"I-I-I'm sorry!... I didn't mean to... disturb you..." Twilight begged but the hog dug at the ground with its foot. Twilight sensing the danger turned and began to run. She looks back and sees the beast chasing her. She lets out a scream as she continues to run. The beast chases her for a good distance as Twilight's legs begin to burn. She trips over a large rock and falls hard to the ground.
"OUCH!!!" There was a large throbbing pain in her hoof. She looks down at it to see it has been cracked. She then quickly looks up to see the rushing boar still charging her. "G-Get back!"
Twilight yells as her horn lights up brightly, she fires a beam of magic at the monster which causes it to fly backwards a few feet. The boar scrambles to its feet and begins to run away squealing. Twilight breathes a sigh of relief and tries to stand, but her hoof surges in pain. She crumbles back down on the ground and looks at her hoof. She was in no shape to travel. But as she stares at her hoof, her vision goes blurry. She blinks a few times as exhaustion was overtaking her. She pumped a lot of magic into her horn to ward away the boar, but for some reason, her magic wasn't charging back as fast as it should. It was charging back at a fraction of the speed it normally does. Using so much magic, and it not recharging has her physically drained. She lays her head back down in the dirt as she tries to control her breathing. She could see the sun, which would only be in the sky for a few more hours, shading her in its light. She tries to force herself to stay awake, but it is no use. Her vision fades to black as her senses begin to numb.
-one hour later-
Travis was at his stove, deep frying his Rattlesnake. He was proud how they were turning out and his dogs sat down close by hoping he was going to share with them. With his plate full of rattlesnake, he reaches into his fridge to grab another can of his favorite beer when his shoulder locks up. He winces in pain as he grabs his shoulder and massages it, to try and ease the pain. This was something he had to deal with a long time, ever since he came home from serving in Afghanistan.
"Fuckin' arm..." He cursed himself as his shoulder finally released. He sighs in relief and grabs a beer. He takes his plate and beer to the couch and sits down. He takes a hardy bite out of his snake, pulling the bones out of his mouth. He tosses a couple of pieces to his dogs, who eat them pretty quickly. He opens his beer and takes a sip before looking out his window. in the distance, he could see a few buzzards circling around something. He lets out an annoyed grunt as he sets his plate down. If something is dead near his house, it could bring predators around his property. He sets his beer down and goes to his closet. He grabs his Remington 11-87, and his matte black Stetson hat. He then whistles for his dogs.
"Come on now." He encourages them as he approaches the door. They all quickly scramble outside as he opens the door. He rests the shotgun on his shoulder as he begins to approach the buzzards in the distance. His dogs keep near him, not going out too far away from him. When he was 30 feet from the birds he looked to his dogs.
"Go! Go get em'!" To which his dogs began to charge at the birds, howling and barking at them. This causes all of them to scatter, flying in all different directions. Travis chuckles at the sight as his dogs begin to sniff and investigate whatever the buzzards were picking at. "Alright ,alright. Get back you three."
He ushers them aside so he could see what has died and to his shock, what he found left him dumbfounded. It was a small, purple horse with wings and a horn. He looked to the sun, it was just now sitting, so it wasn't the heat making him hallucinate. Perhaps it was the rattlesnake, maybe he should toss it out. His thoughts were interrupted when he heard the poor thing whimper. He looks back down at it, slinging his gun on his back and he crouches. He gently placed his hand on its cheek, it was still warm, hell, he could feel it still breathing.
"It's still alive, but what in the hell even is it? I ain't never seen a horse like that before." He scratches his beard with his other hand as he tries to figure out what to do. With it still being alive, it would be cruel to leave it out here. He didn't want to put it down either, as it didn't look too badly injured, and as something unique as this, it was out of the question. He sighs as he finally comes to a conclusion.
"Alright, come on now. I got ya." Travis bends down and picks up the strange creature in his arms. It was limp, and weighed a decent bit. He looks back towards his house and began to carry the creature back to his home. His dogs walked next to him, just as curious about the thing as he was. He opens the door with his foot, and enters his house. The coolness of his air conditioner was instant relief. He walks into the hallway and into his bedroom. He didn't know where else to set it, so he placed the creature on his bed. Feeling the cool air, and some place comfy to lie, he could already see the creature begin to relax, still with its eyes closed. Whatever this creature was, it was adorable. Probably one of the cutest animals he has ever seen. He got a much better look of it now, its coat was purple, and its hair had pink and purple streaks in it. It had large wings and a long horn. It's flank was adorned with some sort of star, what was it?
"Is that supposed to be some sort of brand?" He asks himself, but he had no real idea what it was. He turns and exits, placing his gun back in his closet, and stepping back into his kitchen. He pulls out a jug of water from his fridge, it was cold. He pours some water into a glass bowl, and grabs a pack of carrots out of his fridge. Horses love carrots right? He turns and enters his bedroom again, when he hears a frightened gasp. The voice was feminine, and he looks up to see the horse has its eyes open. She was scooted all the way up near his headboard, and she looks on at Travis with scared unblinking eyes. Travis couldn't help but notice the all to human expression on the creature's face. He held up one of his hands in a peaceful manner.
"Easy there, I ain't gon' hurt ya." He spoke to it, but it did nothing to calm her down. He sets the bowl of water on the side table next to his bed and pulls out a carrot from the pack. "Here, ya hungry?"
The creature looked afraid to accept the food from Travis, so he just set it down on the bed near it and backed away with his hands up. The creature looked at the carrot, still a bit reluctant to take it. However, it did look at the bowl of water next to it.
"You want some water? Here, let me...." Travis's eyes widen when he sees the bowl light up with an aura surrounding it. The bowl then suddenly levitates. Travis looked at the creature, whose horn had the same aura surrounding it. The creature had a pained look on it's face, like it was struggling. Finally, the bowl reached its lips and it began to drink, like a human. Finally, the bowl was set back down, empty. The creature licked it's lips, satisfied with the water. It also appeared to be a lot calmer now as it looked back to Travis. He had pinned himself to his back wall as he saw the whole thing happen.
"...What the fuck?" He said with a confused expression. The creature widened it's eyes at his words, like it could understand what he just said. "How the hell did ya'll just do that!?" He asked, but really wasn't expecting an answer, but one did come.
"...Uh... magic..." The creature spoke, it just spoke to him. It spoke to him in English.
"How the fuck!?" He shouted, which frighted the creature. "You can fucking talk!?"
"Y-Yes..." She meekly responded.
"How the hell!? Why!? How!?" Travis himself was now beginning to panic. "This better be a goddamn dream!"
"...I'm hoping for the same thing..." She responded. She sounded female. "What happened? How did I get here?"
"I...I... I saw you... passed out in the desert. I thought you were just some animal... so I brought you here." Travis responded, still pressed firmly against his wall.
"Animal?" She raised an eyebrow like she was offended.
"Yes! You look like a fucking horse!" Travis said, narrowing his eyes at her.
"I'm not a horse, I am a pony!" She replied, narrowing her eyes as well.
"Horse, Pony. Same fucking thing! That doesn't explain how you can fucking talk, and move shit without touching them!" Tavis was becoming more frightened than the creature was by now. He saw that the creature was only getting more stressed out the more he began to panic. He took a deep breath and let out a long sigh to calm himself down. "Ok... I need to chill. You have a name pony?"
"...Tw-Twilight... Twilight Sparkle" She responded quietly.
"Twilight Sparkle? Okay... I'm Travis. Travis Shaw." Travis finally pulled his back away from his wall.
"Where am I? How do I get home?" She asked in sad sounding voice.
"Well... You're in my place, which is a bit outside the town of Van Horn." His answer did not satisfy her.
"Van Horn? Where... where in Equestria is that?" She sounded even sadder, like she had no idea where she truly was.
"Van Horn is a town here in Texas. A state here in the U.S." He responded.
"T-Texas? I don't know where that is? Am I even on Equis anymore?" She almost seemed to ask herself that as well.
"Equis? I have never heard of that." Travis was calming down a bit more. He could see the ever growing sadness on Twilight's face.
"What is this planet called?" She asked, looking at him with puppy dog eyes.
"It's called Earth." He responded. Twilight looked down at the bed. His words have done nothing to comfort her. She began to break down in tears, her hooves covering her face as she began to cry. Despite the weirdness of the situation, Travis's heart shattered at the poor pony crying on his bed. She was adorable, and seeing her cry was depressing. He slowly began to approach her, and sits down on his bed. She paid him no attention, until she feels his hand being gently placed on her back. She gasps again and looks up at him. Tears rolling down her cheeks as she met the kind and gentle gaze of Travis.
"Hey there, it's goin' to be ok. I have no idea of the kind of situation yer in, but it's goin be alright." He spoke in the most soothing voice he could muster. She sniffles and begins to wipe her tears away with her hooves. She winces in pain as she looks down at her hoof, it still has a crack in it. Travis notices and grows more concerned. "Ya alright? How'd ya go and do that?"
"I... I was being chased by this... this monstrous looking pig... and I tripped." Her voice still sounded pretty sad. Travis shook his head and sighed in response.
"Fuckin Javelinas." He swore. "Mean bastards. Would you like for me to take care of that for you?"
"It's ok... it can heal on it's own." Twilight looked up at Travis quizzically before asking him a question. "What... what even are you?" She asked.
"Me? You mean my species? I'm a human." He told her.
"Human?... I have never seen or heard of a human before." She admitted. Despite her situation, the curious part of her still wanted to learn.
"Well, I've never seen a weird purple-talking-winged-horned pony before." He said. "Just how the hell did you even end up here?"
"Well... I was in my castle... when this mean unicorn named Starlight Glimmer used this spell to banish me to this place. But I was able to grab at least half the scroll before I was sucked in completely." She told him, but her eyes quickly widened upon realizing something. "The Scroll!!! I forgot! Half of it's still out there! I need to find it! It's my only way back home!" She tried stepping back down but yelled when she used her hurt hoof.
"Easy there, you're in no condition to be looking for anything right now." He told, but she whimpered.
"But.. but I need to find it..." Her eyes were growing watery again.
"It's too dangerous at night, the predators are out. I'll help you look for it tomorrow." He assured her to which she looked up at him with a hopeful expression.
"You... you promise?" Her bottom lip was twitching.
"I promise, you can sleep here tonight, and we'll look tomorrow morning." He promised her. She slowly began to nod and she laid her head back down. Her eyes were still watery and she was sniffling. "You need me to get you anything?"
"...more water please..." She spoke in a sad tone.
"Alright, I'll be back." He stood and grabbed the bowl and headed for the door. He opens it to see his dogs at the door. They wanted in to see what exactly Twilight was. He keeps them back as he exits his bedroom. She used her magic to pull the carrot he had laid down near her and began to much on it. Travis was back in his kitchen, pouring her another bowl of water. "Tomorrow, I'm gonna wake up and realize this was all a fucked up dream."
Twilight slowly prys her eyes open after a very horrible night's sleep. She looked around the room, nothing looked familiar to her. She feels more tears return to her eyes as she was hoping yesterday was the worst nightmare ever. She wipes away the sudden tears with her hooves, and gently lowers herself onto the floor. She winced as her hoof was still sore, but it wasn't as bad as yesterday. She limps towards the door and opens it with her magic. The doors in this place were tall. Twilight's eyes widen when she comes face to face with a massive dog. The dog was a bit shorter than her, but it looked like it weighed a lot more than it should.
"Uh... n-nice puppy..." She squeaked out, a bit intimidated by the dog. Her eyes widened as she heard the dog give her a low-sounding growl. Her heart began to race before Travis raised his voice from the other room.
"Barb! Get!" Travis commanded. The dog seemed to cower a bit at her master's voice and slowly turned to leave Twilight alone. She lets out a sigh as she steps out of the bedroom. She sees that Barb had laid herself down at the front door, eyeing Twilight closely. She walked past her without too much of a problem and turned the corner which led to the kitchen. She could see Travis standing at his stove with his back to her. Sitting next to him was another tall dog, but seemed to weigh less. It pays Twilight no mind, focused on what Travis is cooking. Finally, a smaller dog approached Twilight and sniffed at her hooves. She sighed in relief, she was used to smaller dogs, like Winona back in Equestria. She lifted her hoof and gently petted him. The dog wagged its tail in response to the scritches.
"Seems Rusty likes ya a lot," Travis said, looking back at her. Twilight startled by his voice looks up at him.
"Rusty? That's his name?" Twilight asked as she looked back down at the little brown Dachshund.
"Yep, friendly little guy. This big guy next to me is Pharaoh. Pretty curious, but cautious towards other people. And that big bitch in there is Barb. She is just super protective." Travis introduced all his dogs as he went back to cooking whatever he had on his stove.
"Barb? wow, that's kinda funny actually." Twilight smiled slightly.
"Really? How so?" He asked with his back turned.
"When my assistant Spike hatched from his egg, we narrowed down two names for him. Spike was his name if he was male. and if he was female, we were going to name him Barb." Twilight looks back up at Travis who slowly turns and gives her an odd look.
"Hatched? You ponies hatch from eggs?" He raised an eyebrow at her to Which Twilight began to giggle.
"No, we are born like any other mammal. Spike is a dragon." She informed to which Travis rolled his eyes.
"Magic flyin' unicorns and dragons. Jesus your world sounds like a Tolkien wet dream." He said, but his joke went right over her head. "I still can't believe any of this is real. Nothing like this should even be possible."
"I was hoping it was a dream too... I want to go home badly... I miss Spike." She droops her head as she thinks about Spike. He must be so scared seeing what happened to her. Travis let out a loud sigh.
"Look, I'm still not used to all of this goin' on with you. But I hate seeing ya sad. So just forget about all that for now until we find your scroll or whatnot. Have some breakfast with me, been awhile anybody has visited me." He lifted two plates in his hands. Twilight's ears did perk up at the mention of breakfast. "Tell me about yer home some other time so you ain't so depressed right now."
"...Ok Travis. Thank you." She smiled at him weakly as he stepped into his dining room. His table was a bit of a mess, with papers, and tools spread out on one side. So he sets both plates next to each other and sits down. Twilight takes a few tries to climb into the chair next to Travis because of her hurt hoof. She sees that all Three dogs have joined them, sitting patiently around both of them. She looks down at the plate Travis had made for her, and she recognizes some of the food present. Eggs, strawberries, pancakes, but there was something else to the side. Something that she had never seen before.
"Hey Travis, what's this?" She asked pointing to it with her hoof. He looks at it while taking a bite out of a strawberry.
"That there is applewood smoked bacon." He replied.
"Bacon? Applewood?" She uses her magic to lift her fork and stabs a piece with it. She holds it up to her snout and sniffs it. She could smell the smokiness and the applewood aroma. But there was another smell to it, one that was foreign to her. She scrunched her nose and slowly took a bite. Her eyes widen as the new sensation of flavor fills her mouth. This was something she had never had before. It was delicious, and she easily ate the rest of it without a second thought.
"Yer gonna have to explain to me how ya'll can do that," Travis told her, eyeing her fork carefully.
"What do you mean? My magic?" She asked, taking her eyes off her plate to look at him. "Is there no magic here."
"Nope, not in the slightest." He shakes his head at her. Twilight was a bit shocked, but it also made sense. Yesterday after using her magic to fight away that boar, or Javelina as Travis called it, she felt weakened and her magic recharged much much slower than normal.
"...Where I am from, magic is a part of everyday life. Unicorns, Earth Ponies, and Pegasi all use some type of magic. Living without magic is like living without breathing for me!" She exclaimed loudly. To which Travis rolled his eyes.
"I'm just gonna pretend I understand that. From what I've seen you do with that horn of yours, I believe ya when ya say it's magic." Travis finished his breakfast and soon so did Twilight. Travis stands up grabs both of their plates and takes them back to the kitchen for them to be cleaned later.
"So now can we go out and look for that scroll?" Twilight asked with a bit of urgency in her voice. Travis looks at his watch and sighs.
"I suppose my morning chores can wait. It's only 8:00, chickens can wait a few hours." Travis goes over to his side closet, pulls out his matte black Stetson hat, and puts it on. He then looks over at Twilight and he reaches inside and pulls out a second one, this one brown. "Here, put this on, it will protect you from the heat."
Twilight's eyes go wide as he hands her the hat, it looks almost exactly like the one Applejack wore. She grabs a hold and looks at it. It's only been a day, but thinking of her friends chokes her up, she misses them badly. She puts on the hat and looks back at Travis. He pulls his Remington 11-87 shotgun back out and puts the strap over his shoulder. He also grabs his Springfield Ronin 1911 and puts it in its holster, and attaches it to his hip.
"What are those? What are they for?" Twilight asked quizzically with her head tilted to the side.
"They're guns. Ain't ever seen a gun before?" Travis asked her, she replied with shaking her head no. "Let's just say they're for our protection."
"Why do we need to be protected?" She asked as she felt some fear.
"Well, you don't want another run-in with a Javelina do ya?" Travis chuckled at her. "Besides there are also coyotes, mountain lions, and rattlesnakes. Coyotes aren't bad unless they have rabies, with all the dangerous animals out there, ya gotta bring some sort of protection."
"What kind of place is this if every time you go outside you need to protect yourself from dangerous animals!?" She exclaimed, the concept being completely ridiculous to her compared to her sheltered lifestyle. Travis just chuckled at her in response.
"That's Texas for ya." Travis heads for the door, Barb quickly sits up and his other dogs quickly approach the door and sit patiently. Travis finally opens the door, and the dogs dart outside. He then looks to Twilight and waves for her to follow him. "Come on now."
Twilight slowly follows him out the door, despite it only being morning, the sun was very bright, and its heat was baring down on her already. She hated being too hot, being hot made her sweaty. She feels like Rarity with how much she was complaining.
"Aight. I found ya laying down in that direction." He pointed in the distance to the spot where he found her yesterday. "So ya probably came from that direction, how long had you been walking?"
"I don't know... 3 hours? But I took a few minutes to rest in between walking." She replied. She sees Travis scratch his beard as he looks towards his garage.
"Aight, then we need to cover as much ground as we can. Follow me." Travis said as he began to walk towards his garage. Twilight followed him, not sure what he was hinting at. She watches him grab the handle at the bottom and lift the massive door. He steps inside and Twilight follows. She sees a massive red carriage that she has never seen before. It had a large flatbed in the back and lacked the hitches in front. This confuses her as she had no idea how this carriage was supposed to be pulled. However, she watches as Travis approaches the back and drops the tailgate. Both Barb and Pharaoh hop into the back and he closes the tailgate. He then approaches the driver's door and opens it, picking up an eager Rusty who looks excited to go for a ride. Travis then looks at Twilight as she examines the vehicle.
"You gonna get in Twilight?" He asked her, but she gave him a weird look.
"Uhm... Who's going to pull your weird-looking carriage?" She raised an eyebrow at him as he rolled his eyes and facepalmed.
"Just get in my truck Twilight," Travis said plainly as he climbed inside and closed the door. Twilight hesitates but then uses her magic to open the passenger door. She climbs in, which is a struggle, and sits down. Rusty sat between them, wagging his tail as Twilight closed her door.
"Seriously Travis, who's going to pull your ca-" Twilight sentence was cut off when Travis turned the key and revved his truck to life. Twilight jumps as she is startled by the sound of the engine turning on. That's when she was met with a blast of cool air from the AC, It felt nice compared to the hot air around her. She began to hear music being played out of a small radio in the center console, it was music she had never heard before. It sounded like a rock, or a country rock song, whatever it was, it sounded foreign. She watches Travis press a small black nob into the console before looking at her.
"Buckle up Twilight, safety first." She raised an eyebrow at him, but then he pointed the buckle to the side of her. "Right there, buckle up."
She looks at it and uses her magic to buckle herself up. Travis then put the vehicle into drive, and it began to move. Twilight takes in a deep breath as the vehicle begins to move. She looked worried but also interested. Travis slowly exits his driveway and onto a dirt path next to his garage. The nob he pushed in pops out, and Travis pulls out a carton of cigarettes. Twilight scrunched her nose, she didn't know he smoked. He pulled a cigarette out with his mouth and then pulled out the strange nob. He pressed it against the end of the cigarette and lit it. he put the nob back in its place as he began to drive. Twilight looked out the window, fascinated by this self-driving carriage while the foreign song was singing about a road made out of copper or something.
"What is this thing, Travis!?" She exclaimed, looking at Travis as they drove down the dirt path at a moderate speed. He blew some smoke out of small crack near the top of his window.
"What do you mean? Do you mean my truck? Don't you have vehicles where you're from?" He asked, looking at her.
"Of course not! All we have are carriages. Somepony is required to pull them, they never drive on their own!" She exclaimed as she saw how fast they were going while looking out the window, looking a bit scared.
"Damn! How the hell can your world have magic and dragons, but not even a simple vehicle?" He asked, he was completely unaware of Equestria's technological state.
"How can you have self-driving carriages but no magic!" She countered as she narrowed her eyes at him. He sighs and shrugs.
"Ya know what, no idea." He relented. He didn't feel like getting into it with her.
"How does this thing even work?" She asked, looking at the center console of the car.
"It uses a combustion engine that runs off a fuel source. The energy it produces is used to make it move." Travis explained in the simplest way possible, which worked as Twilight widened her eyes.
"Combustion! That is only a theory back home, fascinating!" She exclaimed.
"Yeah, just try to enjoy the ride Twilight. We should make up the time it took for you to walk in no time." Travis said as he looked out the front windshield. He takes another drag off his cigarette as Twilight leans back. Oh how she wanted to ask a million questions about this vehicle, but she decided to hold them back. Once she finds that scroll, she will find a way to fully remake it and she will be out of here. Travis drives for about 45 minutes before hearing Twilight's voice speak up.
"Ah! Right here! I remember this area!" Twilight perked up. Travis slows to a stop and Twilight sticks her head out the window. "Yeah! I remember this big ditch!" Twilight quickly opens the door and hops out steps into a rather deep-looking ditch. "And I remember those mountains way off in the distance!"
"Alrighty now, settle down." Travis steps out, letting Rusty jump out before closing the door. He lowers his tailgate to allow Pharaoh and Barb to jump out as well. The dogs immediately begin to sniff around as Travis goes back to the front of his truck and leans against it, he looks down into the ditch Twilight was in. Twilight instantly began to look for it, looking all over the area close to the truck before she looked back up at Travis.
"Aren't you going to help me?" She asked him to which he let out a long sigh.
"I don't even really know what kind of scroll you are looking for." He whined as the sun was bearing down on both of them.
"Just look for a piece of ripped paper. Please help me..." Her eyes softened and her lower lip pushed out. Travis sighs again, looking at the ground for a second.
"Son'o va... Aight, just stop with that face." Travis stood up straight and slowly crawled down into the ditch to aid her in the search. She smirked a bit as his back was turned. Hours would pass, many hours, and the once clear sky was soon cloudy, almost a bit too cloudy. Travis was a decent bit away from his truck, as his search led him to the far side from where he started. He sniffs the air a bit, smelling an all too familiar smell. He looks up and sees the clouds forming. Summertime in the Chihuahuan desert was always the wettest time. He swears under his breath and begins to walk back over to his truck where he sees Twilight about to make her 7th trip around her area.
"Hey, Twilight, we need to get up on outta here!" he called out to her, but she didn't even look in his direction.
"I'm still looking! Give me a bit longer!" She would yell back, her nose to the ground. Travis would look down to his watch before replying.
"We've been out here since 9 in the morning! It's pert near noon! Come on now, I think it's gonna rain!" Travis yells as he feels a few droplets land on his hat. He looks up and back down at Twilight. "Correction, it's rainin' now!"
"I can't leave till I find it!" She yelled back, now lifting her head to him and scowling.
"Goddammit! You got five minutes!" He yelled back, slinging his shotgun on his back. He leaned up against the dirt wall as the rain was beginning to pick up. Twilight's 5 extra minutes turned into 20 extra minutes the more she pleaded to have extra time. With the rain now coming down at a decent rate, he could see the water flowing through the ditch where they were standing. He looks down at the flowing water, something seems off about it. It almost looked like this was how the ditch was formed, the flowing water eroding away the soil till it was deep enough to climb down into. He followed it with his eyes as it seemed like a long path that climbed higher and higher up into the tall rocks in ridges in the distance. Slowly, his eyes widened as he realized where they both were standing.
"Ah hell! We're standing in the middle of a goddamn wash! Pharoah! Rusty! Barb! Twilight! In the goddamn Truck!" He quickly climbed out with Rusty in his arms. The dogs find their own way out as he approached his truck and opened the driver's door and both of his dogs came running to the sound of his voice, Pharaoh jumping in with ease.
"I'm still looking!" She yelled back in protest as Travis put Rusty in his truck.
"Tough shit! We're in a wash! They're prone to..." His eyes widen at the distinct sound of rushing water. He looked further up the wash and his heart skipped a beat. "...Flash Floods..."
Twilight's ears perk up at the same sound of rushing water. She looks ahead and sees a huge wave of water coming down the wash, coming right at her. Her eyes widen and her horn glows, but it soon fizzles out, not all her magic has returned to her, and she can't perform a teleportation spell. She looks to her horn and back at the flash flood, seeming to freeze in place. As her legs were frozen, she didn't notice Travis jump back down into the wash and was running to her, snagging her with his arms, and picking her up. He holds her with one arm and uses his other to grab an exposed root coming out of the side of the wash. The water hits him with a lot of force, causing him to stumble and slip, but he has a death grip on the root as well as Twilight. As Travis's legs were swept from under him, Twilight let out a loud yelp and wrapped both of her forehooves around his neck, and held on for dear life.
Travis cringes a bit as he notices that he is hanging onto the root with his bad arm. with all this force on it, he felt it lock up and searing pain went all the way from his shoulder to his fingertips. He couldn't hold on for long. With his free hand, he places it on Twilight's rear, causing her head to shoot upwards. He lets' out a loud grunt as he lifts her over his head, towards the edge. Seeing it, she quickly scampers over the edge and out of the wash. She looks back down and sees the rushing water sucking Travis deeper into the rushing flood. With his arm refusing to yield its pain, he began to let go against his will. He closes his eyes tight, saying one silent prayer before his fingers finally give out. instead of being sucked down the wash, Travis stayed where he was.
He slowly opens his eyes to see that he is covered in a bright pink aura. Slowly, with nothing touching him, he is pulled up and out of the wash. While in mid-air, he sees Twilight with a pained look on her face, and her horn glowing. The glow on her horn was dimming in and out, before finally fading away. When it does, Travis is dropped on his rear, and Twilight stumbles before collapsing herself. her brown Stetson falling off her head as she begins to breathe heavily. She soon closes her eyes and passes out. Travis looks at her for a bit, completely ignoring his still-hurting arm. He finally starts rubbing and massaging his arm, till it finally lets loose. The rain was still coming down as he slowly stood up, the flash flood still raging through the wash. He walks over to Twilight, picks her up in his arms, and carries her to the truck. He opens it and sees all three of his dogs still inside, each trying to get to him. He pushed them back the best he could as he laid Twilight in the passenger seat.
He closes the door and goes back into the Driver's seat and sits down. He leans his head back, wipes away the water around his eyes, and lets out a long sigh. After a few moments of hearing the rain hit the windshield, he pushes in his cigarette lighter and starts the truck back up. He slowly goes in reverse, his truck tires digging into the wet mud and sand. He turns away from the wash and begins to slowly drive back to his home. His lighter pops out, he takes it and lights another cigarette for the drive. It was a bit crowded now that Pharaoh and Barb were in the front, but he wasn't gonna let them ride in the back and get wet. He drove a lot more slowly, and when they were about 10 minutes from Travis's home, Twilight began to wake up. She groans, causing Travis to look right at her.
"You alright?" Those were the only words Travis said to her as he drove.
"I'm... I'm fine... My magic is still so low, I can levitate things just fine... but the heavier the thing is I'm levitating... the more magic I have to use." She rubs her head and looks out the window, seeing they are driving again. They both stay silent for a moment before Twilight speaks back up.
"Thank you Travis... for pulling me out of there." She squeaked. Her voice sounded a bit emotional.
"Right back atcha." He would respond, glancing at her for a moment before looking back ahead of him. Soon Travis would pull the truck into his garage, they all stepped out and headed for the front door. As soon as the dogs get in, they shake like mad to dry themselves off. Travis steps in and removes his hat, but Twilight rudely shoves past him, bumping into his thigh.
"Huh? Twilight, are you-" Travis didn't finish as She quickly turned the corner and went directly into his bedroom. he raises an eyebrow at that before finally putting his shotgun and handgun back in his closet and locking it. He then follows where Twilight ran off too, approaching his closed bedroom door. he reaches for the knob but then soon hesitates, as he could hear her sobbing from the other side. Despite only sleeping there one night, it was the only room she felt some level of comfort in to be by herself. With a sigh, he turns the knob and steps in. He sees Twilight crying to herself on his bed. her face was covered by her hooves as she bawled like a toddler. Cautiously he took a step in, he sat down next to her and placed his hand on her withers.
"Twilight, what's wrong?" he softly spoke, to which she pulled her hooves down just a bit so he could see her eyes.
"That... that...sniff ... That half of the scroll is probably long gone now!... I'll never find it! I'm stuck here! I'm never going to see my friends or family ever again!" she covered her face back up and continued to cry her hurt heart out. She didn't care she was practically crying in front of a stranger, she felt so out of place. Everything she had ever cared about, was gone forever, never to see anything, or anyone she recognized ever again. Despite her hard sobs, Travis kept his hand on her back and even began to rub it gently.
"Twilight, look at me." Once again she peeks out and looks up at him, his eyes resting on her with a sympathetic expression. "I don't know fully what to say, but I somewhat know exactly how you feel."
"Y-you do?" She sniffs again. He reaches for a picture on his nightstand and grabs it. He pulls it towards him, looks at it, and then shows it to her. It was a picture of Travis, though he looked a bit younger, and without facial hair. He was wearing a military uniform and she eyed it curiously.
"I was 18 when this picture was taken, that was about 8 years ago. I volunteered for the army, and was shipped off to this hellhole somewhere in Afghanistan." He began to reminisce. "I saw a lot of action and did a lot of things while I was there. There were times that I thought I would only come home in a casket adorned with the American flag. I thought I was going to die over there, and I would never see my Ma, or my Pa ever again. Those nights were tough for me, but I kept going. And eventually, I got back home."
He looks down at her, and smiles, hoping his words would somehow reach her. She was still sniffling, but she was no longer crying as she stared at the picture. War was not very common in Equestria, but with her brother in a type of service back home, she understood the importance of the military. She looked back up at Travis who was smiling at her.
"Though you feel like nothing good is going to happen to you again, eventually things will work out. If you were just yanked out of your world and brought here... well, I'm sure your friends are working on a way right now to bring you home. And until then..." He lets out a soft sigh. "You can stay here in my house till you find a way home one way or another."
"...Are... are you sure?" She croaked, moving her hooves completely away from her face. "Why... why are you being this nice to me?... Why do you care this much?"
"Shit, look at where we are. I doubt you could survive out there in the desert for longer than 2 days. I can't on a good conscious just kick you out and leave you to die. Not how I was raised... and... Admittedly. I kind of like the idea of some company out here, even if that company is a winged unicorn." He scratched the back of his head. She sniffed again and slowly sat up, wrapping her forelegs around his midsection. He looks down at her, a bit surprised by the act.
"Thank you... Travis... thank you so much...Sniff ..." She began to bury her face into the side of his chest. Despite the awkwardness and overly dramatic show of affection, Travis slowly and carefully wrapped his arms around her as well. The first bit of comfort she had received ever since arriving in this Celestia-forsaken place. She feels herself slowly relax and calm down. After a bit, she pulls away and wipes her eyes with her hooves. Travis leans forward and looks at her.
"You doin' better?" He asked her to which she slowly nodded. "Good, good. Ya hungry?"
"...Yes." She weakly responded, she was mentally trying to prepare herself for the long stay she was going to have in this world.
"What would you like?" He stood up, placing his hands on his waist.
"...I want more of that applewood bacon."
Equestria
Twilight's Castle, Cutie Map Room
"What in the hay happened to the map!?" Applejack exclaimed as she and the others examined the cutie map. It no longer showed the vast lands of Equestria, but an unrecognizable and dry landscape.
"You're saying Starlight did this with a magic scroll?" Asked Rarity, looking at Spike. Spike nods and holds up one-half of the crumpled scroll Starlight left behind.
"Yes, she used her magic on it, and it shot at the map... Changing it to show this weird desert and... and Twilight got sucked down into it." Spike said with a sniffle. Rainbow Dash approached the map and tapped it with her hoof. The map was solid, not letting her through. She scowls at it before looking at Spike.
"Well, what does the scroll say?" Asked Dash, to which Spike turned it around to analyze it again.
"I don't know. These words seem like gibberish to me... If Twilight was here... she could probably tell what it means... Magic is her specialty..." Spike began to sniffle again, to which he was comforted by Rarity.
"We'll get her back sugar cube. One way or another, we'll get her back." Applejack tried to comfort him, but her calming demeanor was overshadowed by the overly excited and shrill voice of Pinkie Pie.
"OO! Are we going to try and find a way to go through the map like Twilight did? Are we going on an adventure!?" She squealed, the only one among them able to manage a smile.
"Not yet Pinkie dear." Rarity said to the pink fluff ball. "First we need to figure out how exactly Starlight made this spell."
"Well... Maybe the Princesses know." Fluttershy voiced her opinion.
"Not a bad idea Fluttershy." Applejack smiled. She then turned to Spike who was still hugging Rarity's leg. "Spike, take a letter."
Chihuahuan Desert, Texas
10:30am
Twilight awoke after falling asleep on Travis's bed again. He allowed her to sleep there as she was having a very emotional moment last night. She crawls out of bed and stretches, before exiting the bedroom. She enters the kitchen and is a bit too surprised to see Travis is absent. However, a quick sniff in the air could tell anyone he had just finished cooking breakfast. Seeing the table on the other side of the kitchen, she could see Travis had already made her a plate.
She crawls up into the chair, the chairs in this world being a bit tall for her. She sees more of the same, Eggs, pancakes, Strawberries, and blueberries this time. But then her mouth waters to see more of that applewood bacon. She eats it pretty quickly, how come Equestria doesn't have bacon? She'll have to ask that question when she finally returns home. After having her fill, she uses her magic to levitate the plate and place it in the sink.
She then rubbed her horn, her magic still not fully restored, her magic was recharging so slowly that light levitation was practically all she could still do. With nothing left to do, and with Travis not around for some reason, she began to explore his home. If she knew it would be a while before she would go home, she thought she might as well familiarize herself with her surroundings. She finds the bathroom, a few closets, and of course the living room. There was a sofa with a pillow and blanket on it. This must be where Travis has been sleeping if he has offered her his bed for the last two nights.
Sitting in front of the sofa was a black square sitting on top of a small table. She approaches this black square thing and analyzes it. She tilts her head, seeing her reflection in the darkness of the glass that made the front. She then sees the name of the thing, which is on a black plastic lining around the glass. It said "Samsung."
"Samsung?" Twilight said to herself out loud. "Is that its name?" Twilight was about to touch the glass with her hoof, when she heard loud footsteps coming from outside, approaching the door. She looks towards the door as it opens, and inside walks Travis, holding a basket with a bunch of eggs inside. He wore his black hat, and he seemed to be sweating a bit.
"Oh, heya Twilight. You want ta watch some TV?" He asked to which she just cocked her head at him.
"TV? What in Equestria is TV?" She asked quizzically. She gets more confused as she sees Travis's face turned into an unimpressed look.
"You know, I shouldn't even be surprised. You don't have vehicles, so why the hell would y'all have a television?" He begins to shake his head. "I'll show ya what it is when I get done with my chores."
"Chores? Can I help?" She stepped towards him.
"Ya wanna help me with my chores?" He asked with an eyebrow raised.
"Of course. Just one of the few ways of paying back your generosity." Twilight spoke with a genuine smile.
"Twilight, you don't owe me anything, I'm just doin' what I think is the right thing by helping ya out." He responded, letting her know she had no obligation to help.
"I understand, but I want to help. As my friend Rarity would say, 'Such acts of generosity shouldn't go unrewarded.'" She chuckled as she put on a weird fru-fru accent. Travis again looked a bit puzzled at her but then shrugged his shoulders.
"Well, Alrighty then. Follow me to my backyard." Travis placed down his basket of eggs and walked back out. Twilight quickly followed, using her magic to grab the hat Travis gave her off a side table she put it on yesterday. He leads her to his backyard where she sees all three of Travis's dogs playing with each other. She continues following Travis and finds that he has a rather large chicken coop. "Just need some help tending to my chickens. I only get my eggs from them, so I treat them properly. I need ya to go grab my hose from off the side of the house."
Twilight looks to where he was pointing and sees a hose coiled on a rack on the side of the house. She uses her magic to unravel it and places the end in his hand.
"Thank ya, now turn on the water," Travis asked her as she also used her magic to turn on the spigot the hose was connected to. Travis began to fill up the three poultry water troughs for his chickens. "While I do this, can you toss some of their feed on the ground for em' Twilight?"
"Yeah, okay." Twilight sees the bag of feed Travis had brought out and was about to feed them himself. She uses her magic to pull out a decent-sized scoop. She then flings it over the fence, the feed scattering all over the ground. The chickens quickly ran over to peck at it and eat it. She smiles hearing the happy clucks the chickens made as they ate. She sees Travis also fill up a small galvanized steel tub with water.
"In heat like this, they need plenty of water to not only drink but also cool themselves off," Travis spoke as he continued to fill up the tub. "That should be enough, turn off the water please."
She uses her magic again and she turns off the water. Despite not working that hard, Twilight had managed a decent sweat. this heat was killing her. She wipes her forehead off with her hoof, flinging the sweat off of it with a flick. They would continue with the chores for a bit, repairing a bit of the chicken wire around his coop, cutting back some weeds growing around Travis's AC unit, and then doing some repairs to the unit as well, as the fan was not running at full speed. Twilight mostly watched him do that, not knowing how to repair an AC unit. The jobs take them a few hours, well past noon and up until 3 o'clock.
"I think that's enough for now, come on Twilight, let's go back inside." His statement was met with a sigh of relief from the bookhorse. He whistles for his dogs, and all 3 of them, plus Travis and Twilight return to the house. Twilight feels the AC, it was much stronger than it was before and she immediately relaxes.
"I got nothin' going on for the rest of the day, so I'm gonna go take a shower." Travis said, to which Twilight's ears perked up at the mention of a shower.
"Shower? I need one too, may I use it after you?" She asked, looking up at Travis.
"Of course, no need to ask me for a simple shower." He chuckled before entering the bathroom. Soon she hears his water running and begins to wait patiently. However, after a good twenty minutes, her patience wears a little thin. She had this problem with Spike back home taking long showers and leaving only cold water left. He better not be hogging the warm water. She approaches the bathroom door and slowly peeks her head in.
"Travis, save me some warm water, ple..." Her eyes widened as she could See Travis showering right in front of her. His shower was a walk-in with clear glass, she could see right through it. And what she saw... caused her to slowly pull her head back out and gently close the door. She was sure he didn't see her, but she saw him... all of him. Her cheeks flushed red and her heart began to quicken its pace.
"...So that's why he's always wearing clothes..." She whispered to herself, her cheeks only getting redder. As if on cue, she hears the water shut off. Her head shoots up and she quickly backs away from the door. Within 30 seconds, Travis steps out with a towel around his waist.
"All yours Twilight." He said, his hair dripping wet.
"Thanks!" She said quickly passing by him without looking up at his face and closing the door. He raised an eyebrow at her eagerness to get inside the bathroom.
"Uh... Towels are under the sink!" He hollered through the door as he walked down the hall and into his bedroom to dry off and get dressed.
Twilight wasted no time getting into the shower, despite it being rather tall for her, she just used her magic to turn it on. Thankfully, Travis didn't hog all of his warm water, as it began to wash away the grime she had collected from the desert since arriving here. She looks towards the ground, her wet mane falling on both sides of her head. Her cheeks were still red, the mental image of what she saw still in her mind. She glanced at the door a few times, scared that Travis may do the same to her, as she did to him. She takes a few deep breaths as she tries to suppress her thoughts. She grabs the soap and begins to wash up, first her mane. His shampoo was a bit different than the lavender cream-scented shampoo she had back home. She had no idea what an "Old Spice" was, but it had to work.
She then begins to wash her coat with his body wash, her blush slowly returning as she lathered her flanks. Thankfully, the shower head was detachable. She uses her magic to pick it up and begins to wash off all the soap, again blushing as she got to her flanks, trying very hard to not directly hit herself in the middle. She washes off all the soap and puts the shower head back in its spot. She turns off the water and uses her magic to grab a towel underneath the sink. That soap made her smell like a stallion, she frowns at that. Even the little things like her floral soap back home made her homesick. She wraps the towel around herself and steps out. With her towel still around her, she begins to dry off in the hallway. When she does, she sees Travis exiting his bedroom.
"Heya Twilight, ya can dry off in my bedroom, I'm done in there for a... bit... oh." His trail of thought seemed to end as he looked down at her, her wet mane to the side as she turned to look at him. Her eyes sparkled how he had never noticed before.
"Thanks, Travis." She spoke, stepping past him and into the bedroom. He scratches the back of his head as a certain thought enters his head.
"Damn... she's kinda cute." He sighs at the thought, trying to think more rationally than that. He exits his hallway and enters the kitchen. After mostly drying off, Twilight exits the bedroom and goes back to where Travis went off. She sees him in the kitchen where he is eating a sandwich, leaning against the counter. He looks down at her and waves.
"Heya Twilight. I didn't know what you'd like eat after a hard days work, so I just made ya a salad." He pointed to a bowl on the counter. She smiles as she looks at it, it has lettuce, red cabbage, carrots, and a hardboiled egg.
"This is perfect Travis. Thanks." She smiled warmly at him, though a part of her was a bit disappointed to not find bacon, it may be her new favorite. "You have any dressing?"
"Yeah, there is ranch in the fridge." He replied, to which she opened the fridge. she looks around for a bit before finding the bottle of Ranch and squirting some on her salad.
"Welp, wanna watch some TV? I promise you will love it." He smiled.
"Of course, I'd love to try anything new." She smiled sweetly at him. He chuckled at her eagerness and stood up straight. He entered his living room with Twilight following close behind him. He kneels in front of his TV and pulled out a box of movies he had under the TV stand
"So, ya have any idea what a movie even is Twilight?" He asked her as he began to dig through the DVD boxes.
"No, not really." She responded, looking into the box he was looking through.
"Well, the best way I can describe them is that, there like stories that you watch." Travis's answer was met with a very puzzling expression from Twilight.
"Stories? Like, the same from books?" She asked quizzically. "Reading is my favorite pastime! I've read every book in my library at least 3 times! When I get back, I should give them all another read." Twilight placed her hoof to her chin at that thought.
"I'm gonna assume that's a lot of reading. But instead of reading the story, you watch it, like a play." Travis tried to explain.
"Oh! I have read a lot of plays as well! Seen some too!" She smiled gleefully.
"Yeah... uh huh... But there is no reading involved Twilight, you just watch it." Travis deadpanned. "To help me narrow down what kind of genre you will like, can you tell me your favorite books to read?"
"Oh wow! How could I pick just one? let me think on that." Twilight began to mentally go through all her favorite books. As she recalled them, most of them involved a certain topic, one that was close to her heart. "My favorite stories involve Friendship. Not just any kind though, ones that will last a lifetime where all the memories you have made, will be treasured forever."
Travis looked at her as she explained. The way Twilight explained that felt genuine somehow. Like Twilight has a deep connection to the concept of friendship, part of him thought she may have been thinking of her real friends at home. Slowly he looked back into the box of movies, and he knew which one she would love. He reached down, near the bottom, and pulled it out. He smiled at it, it was one of his favorite movies as a kid. He then showed it to her, to which she took it with her magic.
"The Sandlot?" She asked, reading the title.
"Yeah, that's one of my favorite movies. if you want to watch a story about friendship, there is no better movie than that." Travis smiled, taking the movie out of Twilight's aura. "And it also involves America's favorite pastime, Baseball."
"Baseball? What's that?" She asked looking back at the movie.
"It's a sport, a bit complicated, I will tell you about it later. But the main point is that you use a bat to hit a ball being thrown at you, and you have to run around a diamond shape on the ground. And when you make it back home, you score a point." Travis tried to Explain it the best he could in a nutshell.
"Interesting..." Twilight was trying to visualize it in her head when Travis picked up the remote. He pressed a button on it, and the black screen that was on the TV turned to blue. Twilight, a bit surprised by it, took a few steps backward. Travis then opens his DVD player, places the movie in and closes it. Travis stands up and looks at Twilight.
"While the ads play, let's get some snacks." He told her.
"Uh, ok." She would follow him back into his kitchen. He pulls out a bag of potato chips and dumps them into a huge bowl. He also grabs a half-eaten pack of Oreo cookies. Finally, arguably the most important part, a six-pack of PBR beer.
"Beer? As in Alcohol?" Twilight scrunches her nose, she was never a big drinker back home.
"Oh hell yeah, can't forget the beer." He replied as he carried all the snacks. He walks back into the living room and sits down on the couch. Twilight joins him on the couch, sitting on the opposite side. Rusty jumps up and gets in between both of them while Pharaoh and Barb sit on the floor, patiently waiting for a chip to be tossed their way.
"Alright Twi, get ready for one of the best movies ever made." Travis places the bowl of chips in between them with Rusty very very close to it. He opens a can of beer and hits play. The movie starts with a man walking toward the announcer's box of a baseball stadium. Twilight's eyes immediately widened at what she saw.
"Whoa whoa wait!... The pictures move!?" She exclaims and her jaw drops to the floor. "How the!... How is this kind of technology possible!?"
"Pretty simple Twilight," Travis said as he took a sip of his beer. "This movie is about 30 years old."
"30 years!?" She exclaimed again, looking at Travis like he was an oncoming train. She stands up on all 4 hooves as the movie continues to play. The movie shows a bunch of kids playing a sports game that she immediately assumes is baseball as told by Travis. Oh how she had a million questions on how such a thing like this was possible, but as quickly as the questions came to her mind, they also quickly vanished as the movie began to draw her in. She was... fascinated... enthralled, and the movie was only 5 minutes in. She sits back down as Smalls explains how he built up the courage to go to the Sandlot to make friends.
The story was already catching her attention, she felt like she was there. The movie makes her think she was really at the Sandlot herself watching the events play out. Travis chuckles a bit at her large eyes fixated on the movie as he tosses a few chips into his mouth, and then to both Barb and Pharaoh, and Rusty, never forget Rusty. He hears a small sad gasp from Twilight as she sees Smalls run away from the Sandlot the other boys begin to laugh at his pathetic throw. Oh how she wanted to fly towards him and wrap him up in a big hug, but she was smart enough to know that if she tried, she ran face-first into the glass.
Twilight was focused on the next scene, Where Smalls's mom talks to him, calling him a very smart kid, and how she didn't want him cooped up all by himself with no friends. Twilight felt her heart go into her throat during this scene, feeling an incredible amount of Deja Vu. She could relate to the scene when she first went to Ponyville. A lonely bookworm at Canterlot asked to go make friends in Ponyville during the summer sun festival. The feeling gets even stronger when Smalls refers to himself as an egghead... Something Rainbow Dash used to call her playfully. 10 minutes into the movie, and she was already relating to it. A small tear rolls down her cheeks as this all makes her think of her friends back home. Travis notices and pauses the movie with the remote. Her ears perk up and she looks at Travis, who gives her a concerned look.
"Twilight, you ok? Why are you crying?" He asked her with genuine concern, this wasn't even supposed to be a sad part of the movie.
"Oh, y-yeah I'm fine Travis." She responds wiping away the tear. "Just... had a random thought that made me a bit sad."
"Well... alrighty then." He un-pauses the movie and Twilight went right back into being glued to it. He would continuously glance over at her, just to make sure she was fine.
Twilight begins to smile at the movie again as she sees Benny, making efforts to try and befriend Smalls, and even convince Benny's other friends to give him a shot. As the 9 boys were talking among themselves, Twilight had another question brewing. Who were the boys talking about? Who was the Sultan of Swat? The Titan of Terror? The Colossus of Clout? The King of Crash?
"Travis?" She spoke up.
"Yeah, Twi?" He responded, looking back over to her as she pulled her eyes away from the screen to look at Travis.
"Who is the Great Bambino?" She asked with a raised eyebrow. Travis instantly began to laugh.
"Of course, you wouldn't know who that is. It's the many nicknames of a man called Babe Ruth. Said to be one of the greatest baseball legends of all time." He began to explain, drawing in Twilight's interest. "He set many records during his career in the major leagues. He is an icon in the professional world of Baseball."
"He was a real pony?" She asked
"Ha! He was a real Person yes. Even though this movie is fiction, Babe Ruth was real." Travis explained. Twilight was genuinely interested. This world she was sucked into, has so much to offer for her to learn from. Oh, how she felt the need to go to the library immediately and begin learning all she wanted. But she doubted there would be one close in this desert wasteland. Plus she wanted to see more of the movie, so she forced herself to quell her need to learn and refocus on the movie.
She smiles at the part where Smalls is finally able to befriend the kids at the Sandlot. She leans back against the couch cushions and uses her magic to levitate some chips to her mouth. She was a bit reluctant to take a beer, but Travis insisted. She popped the top and smelled it. It didn't smell all that different from the beer in Equestria, but then she took a sip. She widens her eyes and she gags. the initial taste was not something she was used too. She decided to nurse it throughout the film. She only got through half the can when the scene where Squints tells the story of The Beast started.
When the screen went to black and white as the supposed back story of The Beast was being told, it genuinely scared her. Never seeing anything like it with her own eyes. She shook a bit as she saw the bones of cows being torn apart by The Beast in a junkyard. And finally, the scene of the Beast killing the thieves. When the massive paw struck one, she let out a frightened yelp and quickly leaned toward Travis. Stealing Rusty's spot, she wraps her forehooves around Travis's left arm.
Travis looks down at her, seeing her so frightened by the scene. Though the movie was made for kids, since she was new to the idea of movies, it is technically the scariest scene she has ever seen. Twilight was still so focused on the movie that she appeared to not even realize she was holding onto Travis. He was about to say something to her. Almost. But she wasn't bothering him, so she let her continue.
The scenes that followed were no longer scary, yet she continued to hold Travis's left arm. She would laugh once or twice during the pool scene, and watch on in amazement during the 4th of July scene. Then the scene with a rival group of kids showed up to the sandlot. Ham and Phillips were the ones who started yelling insults at each other.
"Moron!"
"Scab Eater!"
"Butt Sniffer!"
"Pus Licker!"
"Fart Smeller!"
"You bob for apples in the toilet! and you like it!"
"You play ball like a GIRL!"
"WHAT!?" The shrill voice of Twilight is now being heard over the movie. Travis looks down at the offended face of Twilight and he lets out a hard belly laugh. Twilight scowls a bit a bit at Ham's last remark, but doesn't say anything else. Travis was laughing so hard he had to lean against the right armrest of the couch, now partially lying down. Twilight who still had his arm, was then beginning to lean on him. She would cringe hard at the carnival scene, nearly looking sick herself as she watched.
The movie went on, and they were now fulling lounging on the couch, not paying attention to each other and what they were doing, but still acknowledging each other's presence. Travis was still leaning on the armrest with Twilight now practically laying on his side. The arm she held was no longer in her grip as his arm now laid over and across her back.
The movie would go on, to Smalls losing his dad's autographed baseball, to the antics the kids went to try and get it back from the beast. It was a comedic and heartwarming visual of these friends trying their best to help out one of their friends. She smiled with her cheek resting on Travis's side. The moment when Benny was running from The Beast was suspenseful, causing her to cling to him more. But the ending was perfect. Showing how even when friends grow up, and you will be separate for a while, you will see each other again, and you will always be friends.
Twilight smiled warmly at the ending, feeling some comfort within it. It was a story that she needed to see, something felt like it put her nerves at rest, relating it to her current situation. Even though she was separated from her friends currently, she just knew that she would see them again. She closed her eyes and let out a satisfying sigh as she laid her cheek back down on Travis's side.
"Travis, that was amazing. Thank you so so much for showing me that." She said with a breathy tone, feeling fully relaxed and snuggly for some reason.
"You're welcome, that's one of my favorite movies from when I was a kid," Travis said with a smile. He looks to the side to see her, now with no movie to distract his mind, he sees how they are laying. His beard could not hide the blush that was beginning to form on his face. As things grew awkwardly silent, Twilight opened her eyes and looked at Travis, seeing his blushing face confused her at first until she looked down. She was practically lying on top of him, and his arm was wrapped around her. She quickly sat up, her face instantly turning crimson. She looked him in the eyes, their awkward blushing faces not saying a single word. They had no idea how they ended up in that position... and secretly, a part of each of them missed the warmth of each other's body heat.
"Uh... so... Th-thanks for the visual story or whatever you called it Travis. I liked it... but I think I'm going to turn in early tonight..." She looked away, now not even bearing to look him in the face.
"Really?" Travis looked at his watch, his face still red. "it's only 5:30."
"Yeah, but... I'm tired...Night Travis!" She quickly steps off the couch and scurries into the bedroom. Now alone with just his dogs, Travis slowly sat up. He looks towards the bedroom where Twilight went in, and then back to himself. More specifically where she had been lying previously. He places his hand on his side, still feeling the warmth from when she was there. He let out a soft sigh... kinda wishing she was still there.
Twilight, however, was pacing around the small area around the bed of the bedroom. Her face is still red and her thoughts still racing through tons of thoughts. She couldn't believe she snuggled up to him like that. She was used to snuggling up to her pillows, or maybe even Spike sometimes when she would read to herself at home. But this... this felt... intimate.
"First I accidentally invade his privacy by seeing his... and now this..." She covers her face with her hoof in embarrassment. Travis was already going above and beyond by allowing her to stay in his home. "and this is how I reward him? Why didn't he just shove me off?... Yeah... wait... why didn't he?"
That thought stuck with her for a bit. It couldn't have all been her, he had his arm wrapped around her after all. And he did look a bit flustered like she was. Was it an accident they both made... or...?
Twilight shook her head at the thoughts, she was definitely overthinking. She began to take slow deep breaths, keeping her cool and not going over the edge like she normally does.
"Maybe it was just a mistake... and maybe I'm thinking about it too hard. Just pretend it never happened Twilight." She would say to herself as she crawled up into the bed. Another thought suddenly hits her, this was Travis's bed. Why didn't he make her sleep on the couch? He even gave her his bed to sleep in during her stay. She let out a long sigh and closed her eyes once more.
"Travis is such a great guy... and I feel like I haven't been properly paying him back... Tomorrow I should apologize for my actions... I hope he doesn't feel uncomfortable around me now..."
Equestria
"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
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.
Author's Note
This is a formal warning, This chapter may be disturbing as it dips into real world events that some may find disturbing
War Never Changes
Twilight wakes up early since she went to bed early. She Steps out and is a bit surprised to see Travis was getting dressed. He looks at her and is also surprised to see her awake.
"Hey Twilight, Whatcha doing up? It's only 6 o'clock." Travis asked, tying up his boots.
"I was going to ask you the same thing. I went to bed pretty early last night, but I could hear you in the kitchen up until 10 o'clock." Twilight responded. He nods in response and then stands up straight.
"Yeah, I understand that. Well, for me, I gotta go to work." Travis stretches his back, audible pops making Twilight cringe a bit.
"Oh? Where do you work?" Twilight asked quizzically.
"I work in town at the repair shop. I help work on cars." Travis responded, heading for the kitchen. Twilight follows close behind him.
"That's pretty cool. I guess it's what you know best?" She continued to ask questions.
"Yeah, I used to help my dad repair cars when I was younger. Hell, I was a Wheeled Vehicle Mechanic in the military." Travis admitted, causing Twilight to become even more curious.
"OH! I remember you telling me you were in the service. So you worked on those self-driving carriages during war times?" She smiled, genuinely curious about Travis's time in the military.
"Yeah, I was. But that doesn't mean I had it easy. If you are deployed, that means you're still in service. I still saw action." Travis opened his refrigerator and pulled out some eggs. Twilight's whose ears were perked up with interest, drooped down a little.
"Oh... I didn't know that. Well... You're still here though. So you survived. So that's good." She said with a wan smile, trying to lighten the mood, But it disappeared when she heard Travis let out an amused chuckle.
"Survived? Heh, yeah, barely." He chuckled to himself and began to cook, things got quiet. He turns back to look at Twilight who is giving him a sad look. "...What?"
"...What do you mean barely?" She asked, a bit afraid of the answer. Travis sighed a bit, he rubbed his left shoulder with his right hand. It was a memory that was a bit hard for him to remember. Dropping his hand back down, he went back to cooking.
"I got injured, is what that means." He stated plainly, showing little to no emotions while stating that. Twilight stayed silent for a moment before speaking up again, almost afraid to ask the next question.
"Was... Was it bad?" Her question seemed to go unanswered, as Travis stayed silent for a bit.
"Twilight... listen. It's not that I don't want to share that with you, it's the fact I can't." He kept his back to her as he spoke, he was too busy suppressing some memories to look at her. "What happened over there, it's hard on me. I need to brace myself to face those memories again before I share them."
Twilight's ears droop and she lowers her head. She could hear hidden emotions and pain in Travis's voice. She had no idea what he may have experienced, nor could she fully comprehend it. War was not common in Equestria. The last war in Equestria's history was the Equestria-Griffonia war, and that was almost 150 years ago. What happened to him, must have been extremely traumatic.
"I understand Travis, I won't bother you with it. You can tell me when you are ready." Twilight rose her head back up to see him. She was pleasantly surprised to see him turn his head back at her and smile.
"Thank you Twilight. You're a good friend." Travis smiled as he went back to cooking breakfast. Twilight could not fight back the large smile growing across her face. Travis called her a friend. Though she had only been in this world for going on 4 days, She and Travis had spent a lot of time together. For him to officially declare her a friend, made her feel a lot of joy. In this desert-filled world, she had a friend. Travis soon stepped away from the stove with two plates as always, she could already smell the bacon. He sets the plates on the table and Twilight joins him, but she notices something wrong with her plate.
"Hey, why only 2 pieces of bacon? You usually give me four." She narrowed her eyes at his stinginess.
"I only had 4 strips left. You practically have eaten me out of bacon." He chuckled. "I'll stop by the store before coming home from work and I'll get some more."
"Good." She stated before popping a whole strip into her mouth. Breakfast went by smoothly and before Travis left, he went to the back of the room and then came back to the table, and placed a grey plastic rectangle on the table. "What's that?"
"Since You're gonna be by yourself for a while, figured I'd give you something to do while I'm gone. Ever heard of a computer?" Travis asked, and she shook her head. He opened the laptop and typed in his password. Twilight watches closely and sees the keyboard.
"Hey, is this like a Typewriter?" She asked, noticing the QWERTY pattern.
"Kinda similar. You like reading and learning right?" Travis asked again, to which she enthusiastically nodded. "Well, whatever you want to learn about this world, you can use this."
"How in the hay will this help me learn about your world?" Twilight asked, unconvinced.
"Right here, look. See this? This is called Google. You go here and you search for anything you want. Let me show you." Travis then types into the computer, "Founding of America." And the first thing to pop up was the Wikipedia page of Columbus sailing to the Americas. Twilight's eyes widen at the wall of text that makes up the screen
"Wow... no books needed?" She questioned and Travis chuckled and he shook his head.
"Nope, no books, yet all you can read," Travis explained. He went off to finish getting dressed. It only took him about 5 minutes to change into a muscle shirt and put on his boots when he walked back out to see Twilight's smiling face.
"Done!" She exclaimed to which he raised an eyebrow.
"Done? What do you mean?" He asked quizzically.
"I read the whole page on Columbus!" Her words were met with a shocked face by Travis.
"You read the whole damn page in about 5 minutes?" He asked in surprise.
"Yeah, it wasn't that long." She giggled. Travis stepped forward and looked at the screen. The page was very lengthy and full of text. He eyes her one more time before shaking his head.
"Alright, if this is going to keep your interest longer, let me show you how to search for something." He exits from the page and goes to Google again. "Alright Twilight, I'm gonna show you how to search stuff on your own. Got a question? Ask it on Google."
"Well, I wanna know more about where I am. What exactly is Texas?" Twilight asked him, looking directly at the computer screen.
"Well then, type in your question." Travis motioned towards the keyboard. Twilight looks at it and her horn begins to glow. She uses her magic to type in 'What is Texas?' Travis tells her to hit enter and a new page pops up. His eyes shine with all the different links that pop up.
"Alright, now use the trackpad to select the link you want. let me show you." He gently took ahold of her hoof, causing Twilight to blush slightly. He guided her hoof on the trackpad to scroll the mouse over the Wikipedia page and then clicked on it. A new wall of text is brought up to Twilight's delight.
"Wow... endless knowledge..." She was completely amazed by this technology. Anything that she could ever learn, right here on this grey box. Travis chuckles at her and then stands up straight.
"You got the basics down Twi, web browse to your heart's content. Any question you have, just ask them right here. I'll be back later." Travis spoke before turning towards the door, he placed his hat on his head and then stepped out.
Twilight would be stuck at the computer for literal hours. She had found a pen and a notebook and would take notes on everything she would learn. First, she was curious how this world's solar system worked without Celestia and Luna raising and lowering the sun and moon. She was shocked to find out about the heliocentric model.
There was so much math and science in how a Heliocentric model works, how elliptic orbits work, and how Earth is in the 'Goldilocks' Zone. It was all so fascinating to her. This was the beginning of the rabbit hole she would find herself in as she would then learn about Earth's orbit and rotation. That the Earth has an axis that it spins on which simulates a sunrise. after spending hours on how Earth and its orbit worked, she now wanted to learn about Earth's geography.
The first thing she was greeted with was a Mercator map of the world. Seeing the unfamiliar topography did make her a bit nervous, only reminding her of how lost she was. She puts on a determined face and continues her drive to learn more. She sees a map of Texas, and how small it is compared to the whole United States. She was a bit amazed by the sheer size of the US, being over twice the size of Equestria as a whole. She learns about the different continents, North and South America, Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia, and of course Antarctica. Asia catches her eyes the most. As she sees the different countries that make up Asia, she sees the country of Afghanistan.
It was so far away from the United States, and this is where Travis was sent to fight in a war. Part of her was scared to learn about what wars were like in this world. Its technology was impressive, there was no doubt that their instruments for war were also advanced. But she was also curious about just what Travis went through. So, she looked it up. 'War in Afghanistan.' What she found, terrified her.
She found a full timeline of events building up to the war, during the war, and after it. The first thing to meet Twilight's eyes was the sight of two burning skyscrapers. The war in Afghanistan and neighboring countries like Iraq were in response to this "Attack on the free world." The more she read the more her stomach turned. Bombings, and more attacks on these lands. The images of the Taliban and their countless terror attacks, and America's retaliations frightened her. Seeing pictures of all the destruction, and the fire, what kind of world could let this happen?
Twilight had to stop for a moment, her heart was beating fast and she needed a drink of water. She uses her magic to get a cup and fill it with tap water. As she takes a drink, she looks at the clock, 5:30 p.m. Her eyes widen. She had been on the computer researching for about 8 hours straight. She should have been shocked, but she had pulled all-nighters before in Equestria. Travis should be home any minute, so she decides to conclude her research for the day, even though it ends on a horrible topic. As she gathered up her notes, she could hear Travis's truck pull into the driveway. She heard him step out and close the truck door. Pharoah gets on his hind legs and scratches at the door, excited to see his master.
Travis enters his home, his shirt covered in grease. He had a few bags of groceries and his dogs were at the door wanting to see him. He looks up and sees Twilight and smiles.
"Hi Twilight, you weren't too lonely were ya?" He asked with a large smile on his face. She gives him a wan smile back.
"No, not really. Been doing research all day." She admitted. He chuckles and steps in further and enters the kitchen. He begins to pull out the groceries so they can be put away. Twilight helps him using her magic. She saw that Travis had bought two packs of bacon. She smiles wide and her mouth waters. She was looking forward to these. As they put away the groceries together, things became unnaturally quiet.
"Travis? You ok?" She turned to look at him. He had his back to her, he was looking at the laptop. She peeks past him and sees what he is looking at. It was still on the page on the war in Afghanistan, she hadn't closed the page yet. She cringes and looks up at him.
"... I see you were a bit curious." He said, his voice a bit monotone.
"T-Travis?" She squeaked. She watched him turn around. His face was blank, no longer smiling. He looks down at her and then sighs hard. He lifts his hand to his face and pinches the bridge of his nose.
"...I did say I would tell you what happened... so I guess it's good you have some context." He admitted.
"Context?... Travis... What I saw on that page... I can barely comprehend it. How can war in this world be so... so terrible?" Her voice cracks a bit. Travis takes a few steps past her and towards his refrigerator. He opens it and then reaches inside. he pulls out a bottle with a brown liquid inside. Twilight's ears extend upwards when she read the label, 'Whiskey.' Travis reaches into a cabinet and pulls out a shot glass. He pours himself a drink and quickly knocks it back.
"If I tell you what happened... I have to do it a certain way." He still spoke in monotone. "What I went through has affected me pretty bad Twilight, so... You're going to have to bear with me while I explain."
She was now almost hesitant to know, Seeing Travis talk and act like this was a bit disturbing to her. He led her back into his living room and sat down on the couch. Twilight joins him and they are quickly surrounded by his dogs. He takes another shot and then looks at her.
"I enlisted into the Army when I was 18. That was about 7 years ago. The year was 2017, and the Taliban had been mostly dormant around that time... 5 months after my deployment... at the start of 2018 is when things went to shit." Travis threw back another shot. "At the beginning of that year, the Taliban continued its terror attacks."
FLASHBACK: JANUARY, 2018, 15 MINUTES OUTSIDE KABUL
Travis was riding passenger in a Humvee along with some of his squad members. They Were part of a Convoy moving towards the capital as Terrorist activity was spotted in the capital of Kabul. Travis held his M4A1 close as they drove through the desert. There was a Humvee in front of him and a few more behind him. Travis was enjoying a ride when he heard a friendly voice behind him.
"Heyo, Shaw, You think once we get to the city we will finally get a decent bite to eat?" Said Private Jones, Travis's friend. Travis looks at him and smiles.
"I hope so, been hearing a lot of good things about the Korma Chicken they sell in Kabul. Shit is supposed to knock your socks off." Travis responded.
"Aw, bullshit." Said Corporal Milligan. "I just want a steak for Christ's sake."
"We go home Milligan, I'll treat all you boys to a nice steak house, If the first round of drinks is on Shaw of course." Pvt. Jones laughed, which caused all in the car to laugh with him. Travis just rolls his eyes and soon joins in the laughter.
"We still have 3 months on our tour Jones. Don't get everyone's hopes up so soon." He warned before looking forward.
"Why, You think your gonna die out here Shaw?" Asked Milligan.
"Of course not. I'm gonna see my Ma and Pa again. Just don't want you bums too focused on counting down the days till we're outta here while we still gotta job to do." Travis responded, looking at Milligan through the center mirror.
"There you go being a stick in the mud, Shaw. Ruining the fun for everyone." Jones joked, nudging Travis in the back of his arm with his foot from the back seat. Travis turned his head to say something to Jones, but his first word wasn't able to come out, as a massive explosion came from directly in front of them. The Humvees screeched to a stop and Travis looked forward again to see the Humvee in front of them completely engulfed in a raging fire. It was totally destroyed.
"AMBUSH! Get the fuck out of the car!" Travis yelled out as he and the rest of the squad got out quickly. The other two Humvees had stopped too and their passengers got out as well. Soon gunfire began to light them up, coming from a single direction. Once they were able to get organized, they hid behind their Humvees for cover. Travis stood with Jones and Milligan as they tried to assess their situation.
"Gunfire is emanating at our 2 o'clock position, over that dune! They have the advantage over us!" Yelled Jones over the gunfire.
"Where is the sarge!?" Travis would ask, yelling just as loud.
"He was in the vehicle in front of us!" Milligan responded, pointing to the destroyed Humvee.
"Fuck! Godammit!" Travis cursed as a bullet struck the tire of the Humvee he was hiding behind. "We're sitting ducks out here, and I can't get a clear shot!"
The squad had nowhere to run as their only form of cover was the Humvees. They would take risks by peeking out and delivering some potshots. Few who dared peeked out were struck by enemy. But Travis stayed with both Milligan and Jones, both of whom took the risk of peeking out to deliver returning fire. The fight seemed to be a stalemate when a body soon dropped right in front of Travis. He rolled him over to see Milligan, clutching his chest where blood began to seep out.
"Milligan! Jones, Milligan's hit!" Travis would yell, kneeling down towards his friend. Jones quickly knelt to their fallen ally. That's when another explosion rocked both of them. They looked to the side to see the Humvee behind theirs had just exploded, killing the soldiers who were around it. Travis's eyes widened at a sudden realization.
"RPG!!! Jones get the fuck outta here!" Travis shoved Jones out and away from the Humvee, as it was no longer safe to hide behind. Travis then grabbed the collar of Milligan and began to pull him away from the Humvee. It was hard, as Milligan was heavy and provided no effort to help lessen his weight. A bright flash and a loud explosion knocked Travis Backwards. An RPG just hit the Humvee in front of him.
He was lying on his back, dazed and confused. His face felt warm, and he could feel an ever-growing pain in his left arm. He slowly looked down at it and tried to close his hand into a fist, but his fingers barely moved. It was then he could see a massive puddle of blood begin to seep from under his arm. His vision went dark, he swore he was dying, and then it all went dark.
MODERN DAY
Twilight was looking at Travis in complete devastation. Her hooves were covering her mouth and her eyes were watery as she listened to Travis's story. Travis on the other hand was now 5 shots in, and he was staring at a single corner of the room, unable to look at Twilight.
"I was told I woke up about 29 hours later. I was lying in a cot in an army hospital. My left arm was covered in a cast. I tried to sit up, but I was in so much pain that I yelped. Nurses came to my aid and kept me laying down... not soon after a Lieutenant came in to check on me and... and told me what happened." Travis took another shot. "I was dangerously close to the Humvee when it exploded, and I was hit with a lot of shrapnel. One piece was so big that when it hit me in the arm, it lodged itself in the bone. It was so deep, I nearly lost my whole fucking arm."
Travis lets out a hard sigh, placing the shot glass down to rub his left shoulder. Twilight watched him, where he was rubbing, she could see a large scar.
"I needed emergency surgery, It hit me high up on the arm, close to my shoulder joint. Because of how damaged the bone was... I needed shoulder replacement surgery. They had to cut off the ball socket and then drill a new metal one into place, then drill it into the socket... But I didn't give a shit. All I wanted to know about was where was Jones and Milligan..." He paused his eyes went distant and he left up his hand to cover his eyes. To try and hold back his tears. "Milligan got the brunt end of that explosion... it killed him damn near instantly... Jones... he's the reason I didn't die in that fucking sand trap... He pulled my ass away from the fight and... and was struck doing so... Never got the chance to thank him..."
By now, Twilight had begun to cry. Travis had lost his friends in the battle and nearly lost his own life. It was awful, more awful than she thought possible. She watches as Travis pulls his hand away from his face, his own tears now running down his face.
"Because of my injury, I was no longer fit for combat... so they sent me home. My arm didn't heal properly, so it still causes me issues today... I just... I just. When I first enlisted, I thought I was doing something that mattered. I felt like I was fighting terrorism and making the world safer... and now... All it did was fuck me up for the rest of my life. Physically and mentally... Sometimes... I feel like I should regret ever going." Travis feels himself beginning to break down. He didn't care if Twilight was there. His emotions were getting the better of him. That's when he feels a gentle touch on his arm. He looks down and sees Twilight's hoof over the scar on his arm. He looked up till their eyes met, both he and Twilight had tears running down their cheeks.
"Travis... I'm so... so sorry what you had to go through... I can't even begin imagining going through what you did... I may not fully understand it... but... I do know this... You shouldn't regret it. You are a brave man Travis... a brave soul who had given a major sacrifice... I saw on the computer what led up to your war... you were fighting against something truly evil, that wanted to destroy peace... What could be more noble and heroic than that?" She spoke from her heart, as she was inches from Travis. He watches her, his heart going into his throat. No one has called him a hero since coming home.
He choked up as he looked into her eyes, their faces inches away from each other. Her words gave him some comfort. Just hearing someone sympathize with him put away a lot of anxiety for him. He wanted to thank her, he wanted to. But those words, never came out, because his lips were busy. Instead, he leans forward and kisses her. Whether it was the booze or his feelings making him kiss her, at that moment he didn't care.
Twilight, however, was shocked. Not so much so to move away, but enough so to render her immobile. She felt a shiver go down her spine as his lips seemed to electrify her as they made contact with hers. His eyes close and he continues to kiss her. All this time living in the desert, alone, Travis feels a strong feeling towards Twilight. The feeling of having her this close to him, showing her some affection was addicting. The craving of feeling someone this close to him was even more intoxicating the the whiskey he was drinking. And instead of backing away from him, Twilight kisses him back. She didn't know why, but she couldn't help herself, it felt natural.
She presses into him as their kiss deepens. Travis, who offered his home to her out of the kindness of his heart, who has kept her fed, gave her a warm place to sleep... now kissing her. At that moment, she felt a strong attraction to him, and it didn't feel foreign. These feelings, felt familiar. She felt them when he was in the shower and she saw his...
"Oh Celestia..." Her eyes widen when she realized it. "Am... am I falling in love with him?"
She forces herself to pull away. Travis opens his eyes and looks at her. His eyes were puffy and seemed to be a bit red. She just stared at him, blushing hard. Her heart was pumping fast, and she felt her body begin to feel a bit warm. Travis however, began to look a bit tired, his eyelids drooping. She looks at the Whiskey bottle in his other hand, the alcohol had to of been hitting him pretty hard by now. She then uses her magic to levitate the bottle out of his hand. She gets off the couch and uses her magic to have Travis lie down on the couch. She puts him on his side and covers him up with a blanket he had been using to sleep with. She goes to the kitchen and puts his whiskey bottle away. She could already hear him beginning to snore. She looked at the laptop, it was still open. She closes it, grabs herself an apple, and a banana for dinner, and goes into the bedroom. When she closed the door, her face was still red.
"What the hell just happened?" She spoke as her heart began to race as she was panicking.
