//------------------------------//
// A New Day In The Life Of A Asphalt Cowboy 
// Story: Asphalt Cowboys 
// by bucking bronco 1968 
//------------------------------//

A white and red colt looked at the massive white building that sat in front of him. The building was surrounded by a massive fence, and a sign just above the building read, Equestrian International Trucking Company. It was at that moment, a fully loaded truck rumbled its way out of the lot closed off by a fence behind the massive warehouse.

The colt took a deep breath, “Come on Long Haul, you got this. It's just your first days . at what will hopefully be the job you have for the rest of your life. No pressure.”

With one more deep: breath Long Haul made his was toward the entrance. As he got close, he took notice of several older drivers standing in the main lobby, all staring at him. For a second, he contemplated turning away, but he set his resolve, and pushed open the door.

As he walked in, a few of the older drivers mumbled, and some bits exchanged hooves before they disappeared behind a set of doors into a warehouse like space. Long Haul stared at the door for a few moments before the mare behind the desk brought him back to reality. “Oh don't worry about them. They just like to make bets on how long the new drivers freak out before they walk in, if they do at all. Longest one we've had was 45 minutes.”

Long Haul stared at her for a second before mouthing a quiet, “Oh.”

The mare behind the desk chuckled, “Don't worry, you were only out there for five minutes, so you’re in the average. Anyways with that aside, I take it you're Long Haul, our newest hire?”

Long Haul nodded, “Yes ma’am.”

The mare nodded as she typed something into her computer, “So here is how things are gonna go Long Haul, since today is your first day. By company rules, we always have you tag along with another driver as your first run. So we’re going to have you ride shotgun with Mason Lighthooves. He's one of our best. You can find him out back in the yard, just head out those doors and go all the way to the back of the warehouse.” She said as she pointed to the doors the other drivers had disappeared through.

“Um, what truck am I looking for.” Long Haul asked as he looked at the doors.

“Just look for the truck that looks the most out of place. Trust me, you can’t miss Mason’s truck.” The mare said as she went back to work on her computer with a grin on her face. Long Haul looked at her for a second, before turning to the door, and walking through it.

It took him a minute to make it through the massive warehouse that made up the majority of the building. Being the second biggest warehouse the company owned, and the third largest in all of Equestria, had its pros and cons. But finally, Long Haul made it to the other side, and walked out into the main yard where trucks, loaded and unloaded, sat. It was the sight of these that made Long Haul gulp.

It wasn’t the fact that he didn’t know his way around this yard, even though he didn’t, it was the sheer number of trucks. He could count at least four dozen from where he was standing.

”How am I supposed to find one specific truck in all of this! And with no description on what I’m looking for! ‘Just look for the one that's the most out of place’, yeah that’s real helpful.” Taking a deep breath after his internal rant, Long Haul began to walk through the yard.

He looked back and forth, there were trucks of every color, mostly white though, and they all looked relatively the same. ”What classifies as out of place? Like seriously, what in Celestia am I looking fooooooo.”

Long Haul’s second mental rant was stopped as he clapped eyes on one truck that was sitting on the far side of the yard. ”Yep, that's out of place.”

The truck he was looking at was older that pretty much every other truck in the yard. The truck’s frame looked as if it had been extended, and it had three main axles. The truck was black, with blue flames extending from the grill over most of the hood, which then ended with white whips. The front of the truck was protected by a massive black bull bar, which had an oversized load sign hanging from the bottom, and dual orange warning lights sat on top of the truck’s sleeper cab. Behind the cab was what looked like a massive a massive gray box. Loaded on a massive 12 axle, dolly and spreader lowboy trailer behind the truck was a massive steam locomotive. If you were looking for the definition of out of place in the yard of mostly white truck hauling box trailers, this was it.

Long Haul began walking over to the truck, and as he got closer, he could hear someone on the other side of the trailer grunting as a strap was tightened. “Um, excuse me! Are you Mason Lighthooves?”

Long Haul called from his side of the trailer. The grunting stopped, and a voice called over from the other side, “Yep, that's me. You must be Long Haul, dispatch told me you'd be tagging along with me. Go ahead and hop up in the truck, I'll be ready to go in just a minute.”

Long Haul nodded, and walked over to the cab, before popping open the passenger door and pulling himself in. The cab was pretty clean considering it’s probable age. The lining of everything was black, with a steel chrome finished dashboard. He looked up front to see a chrome sun visor outside the truck coming down over the driver and passenger side of the truck, looking almost like a pair of fangs. Also sitting on either side of the truck were two license plates sitting in holders built into the dash. Long Haul picked up the one sitting in front of him, and turned it around, to find only four letters, M W T B. He put the plate back, and went to reach for the one on the drivers side, when Mason climbed into the cab. Long Haul was shocked to see a red and black maned terrestrial take his spot in the driver's seat.

He turned to Long Haul and smiled, his fangs showing, “Well nice to see you face to face Long Haul. You all ready to go?”

Long Haul nodded, unable to speak. Mason, still smiling, reach for the keys still sitting in the truck’s ignition. With a turn of the key, Long Haul expected the truck to shake and rumble into life, however that was not the case. The truck did shake, but it seemed like it was taking to long for the engine to turn over. In fact it didn't turn over. “Blasted worn out starter.” He heard Mason mumble under his breath as he twisted the key again, only for the truck to still not turn over. “Come on Luna, be good for me.” Mason mumbled under his breath. With the fourth attempt, the truck shook violently and roared to life, as twin clouds of solid black smoke billowed from the chrome stacks.

Long Haul was made speechless as it felt like an earthquake had hit when the engine turned over, even more so when he realized how loud the engine was at idle. Mason looked over at Long Haul, and smiled at his reaction to the truck starting. “Yeah, most ponies have that reaction the first time they experience Luna starting up.”

It took Long Haul a second to register what Mason called his truck, “Wait a minute, Luna? You named your truck after Princess Luna?”

Mason laughed, “Well, not exactly. Her real name is Luna Cursor, which means Moon Runner. I just call her Luna for short. The fact it refers to Princess Luna is purely coincidental” Mason said as he flicked a few switches on the dash, one of which turned one the orange warning lights on top of the truck. With a quick look at the gauges on his dash, Mason turned back to Long Haul, “Alright kid, you ready to go?”

“Yeah. Yeah I'm ready.” Long Haul said as he was still getting over how much the truck was shaking. Mason nodded, and reached for the gear shifter, which caused Long Haul to notice for the first time that the truck had two gear shifters. He turned to ask Mason why, when he saw the terrestrial look in his mirror.

“Son of a, give me a second kid, I forgot to check the last two straps on the back of the trailer.” Mason called as he threw his door open and rushed to the rear of the trailer. ”I see why they say he’s one of the best.”

Long Haul thought as he looked at the open door. As he waited for his driver to come back, Long Haul returned to looking at the two gear shifter set up. ”Two gear shifter? How the heck does that work?” Long Haul said to himself, he had never seen a twin stick, and didn't understand how it worked.

It didn't take long for Mason to return to the cab of the truck, “Alright, we’re good to go!” He said as he closed his door. He flicked on more switch on the dash, then hit the two air brakes, and grabbed the left of the two shifters.

It was at that point, Long Haul spoke up, “Um, Mason, I have a question.” “Shoot kid.” Mason said as he looked at the mirror while putting the truck in gear. Before Long Haul could reply, he felt the truck start to move, “Why do you have two shifter?”

Mason grinned, “I was wondering when you would ask, everyone always does. It's because the truck has a 20 speed twin stick transmission.”

“20 speed twin stick?”

“Yep.”

“How does that work?” Long Haul asked, still confused.

“Think of it like this. It's basically a four speed next to a five speed. The four speed is like the splitter and range selector that are on your normal 18 speed in a separate shifter. The left two positions are like the low range selection, right two are your high range, with the lower selection of the two acting like your splitter. So it’s like this, left top low; left bottom, low split; right top, high; right bottom, high split. And you shift it like it was a splitter too. So in first gear you start out left top; and then shift into second gear by going to left bottom; then for third, you shift the right stick into its second gear, and put the splitter up to the left top again, and continue like that until you get to tenth gear. After that, you go back to the first spot on the right stick, and put the left stick into right top, and there’s eleventh gear.” Mason explained all of this to Long Haul as he slowly drove the truck to the gate that left the yard and lead to the main road.

Long Haul was amazed at the complexity of the transmission. But as he thought about it, he actually liked the idea of having a separate gear shifter for the splitter and range selector.

Mason looked over at him and could see the gears turning in his head, “I can see what you’re thinking kid. While having a twin stick can be good in some situations, albeit few, it does take a lot to properly drive a truck with one. You gotta shift quick and always have a good idea what gear you’re in. Also, you know how you have to double clutch between shifts?” Long Haul was broken from his thoughts and nodded, “Yeah, what about it?” Mason grinned, “It’s not that simple in this truck. When I shift the splitter in one of your trucks, you just gotta let off the gas. Me however, I  have to clutch once, and I still have to double clutch when I shift the gear selector. So if I have to say go from second to third, which is a splitter and a gear selector shift, I have to triple clutch. Clutch, shift range, clutch, shift to neutral, clutch, shift into gear. Get’s real hairy going through cities with lots of traffic. Not all twin sticks are like that, but that’s what mine is like because I had it custom build and that’s just how it worked out. But trust me, when it comes to learning to drive a twin stick, especially this old girl, it’s not a matter of if you will stall, it’s a matter of when and how much.” Mason smiled slightly at the almost pained expression that crossed Long Haul face when he really thought about having to triple clutch and shift two sticks at the same time.

“I won’t lie to you Long Haul, twin sticking isn’t an easy. But, you learn how to drive a twin stick semi with a 53 foot trailer behind you through Canterlot, you can drive anything.”

Long Haul looked up to Mason, “You’ve driven this truck through Canterlot?”

“Multiple times.”

“How did that go?”

“It’s always very interesting to say the least.” Was all Mason said as he stopped his truck at the edge of the yard, part way through the gate.

“We clear your way kid?” Mason asked as he inspected the road to his left. Long Haul looked up the road, but it was completely vacant, “Yeah, we’re clear.”

“Perfect.” Mason said as he put the truck into gear again, and began to pull out onto the road. Mason watched both sets of mirrors as he slowly steered the massive rig into its lane, shifting into third gear along the way.

Once the whole rig was on the road and in its lane, Mason looked back over at Long Haul, “Hey kid, wanna see what happens when you mix 168 tons, 1692 horsepower, and fifth gear?”

Long Haul looked at Mason with a confused look, but didn’t get a chance to say anything before Mason quickly shifted the truck into fourth gear, and matted the throttle, and as the engine roared and black clouds billowed out of the stacks, the front end of the truck lifted off the ground and twisted, with the left side going higher.

“Holy shit!” Long Haul yelled as the truck continued down the road with the engine roaring, turbos howling, and two clouds of pure coal billowing from the stacks.

“Yee haw!” Mason yelled as he was nearly thrown from his seat. Faster than Long Haul thought was physically possible Mason banged the truck into sixth gear, before getting back on the gas. In the process of shifting, the front of the truck came back down and touched the road, before being shot back up again as Mason got back on the gas. It was almost like the truck never touched the ground. Finally, after holding the truck in the air again, Mason slowly let off the throttle and set the front of the truck back on the ground, before shifting into seventh gear. Mason just sat in his seat with a smile on his face as he continued to drive along normally like nothing had happened. Long Haul however, was gripping the sides of his seat, breathing like he had just surfaced a pool after holding his breath for a long time.

“What the hell.” was the first thing he was able to get out of his mouth after nearly two minutes. It was then Mason finally couldn’t hold his expression any longer, and burst out laughing.

“Sorry Long Haul, but it’s always fun to see how ponies react when I do that.”

“You’re crazy. You’re bucking crazy.”

“Aw, what are you talking about. That wasn’t crazy. Now doing that up a hill on the other hand, that’s debatable.”

“The front of your truck just lifted into the air! I couldn't see the road, so I know you couldn't! You could have crashed the truck! Or broken it! The hell were you thinking! How does the company let you get way with that shit!”

Mason burst out laughing at the end of Long Haul’s rant. “Easy kid, you'll blow a nerve going off the rails like that. As for everything you said, well I got answers for everything. The company doesn't let me get away with it. I do get yelled at for it, but I don't do it on every load. I only do it when they put a new colt like yourself in my passenger seat. It's fun to see their reaction. As for the truck lifting off the ground, your right, I couldn't see the road ahead of me, but I could still see the lane markers, so I knew where to steer. Also, I still had part control of the truck, the front axle may have been off the ground, but the first rear axle is a steering axle as well. It only has 15% steering lock in either directions, and dual wheels aren't the best for steering, but it means I can keep the truck cutting straight with the front in the air. As for the truck breaking, I doubt it. This only girl was built for drag racing, so she's built to handle the stresses of doing things like that.”

Long Haul couldn't believe some of what he had heard, but the last part was what got him the most. “Drag racing? What do you mean that this truck is built for drag racing?”

Mason looked at Long Haul with a somewhat shocked expression, “You don't know drag racing?”

“Well I know drag racing, but I've never heard of an 18 wheeler drag racing.”

“Oh semi drags are the best! Hook up a heavy trailer to the back of a massively powerful rig, line two up next to each other, and see who can shift the fastest over a piece of road. It is amazing. I should know, I used to drag race all the time before I came to work for E.I.T., this was the truck I used too. We built this truck from bone stock up to the monster it is now. Never was the fastest truck at the drags, but man was it fun.”

It was at this point Long Haul realised that they were about to turn onto the entrance for a highway. “Give me a sec here kid.” Mason said as he slowly turn the truck onto the ramp, making sure the trailer had plenty of room.

Long Haul watched as, by his count, Mason shifted into sixth gear before the trailer followed the truck onto the ramp proper. Long Haul then watched as Mason shifted once more, before he gave the truck some gas. He didn't beat the pedal into the floor like he had before, but Long Haul did still feel the truck lurch and watched smoke pour from the stacks as the truck climbed up the ramp.

Long Haul felt every shift Mason made as he pulled onto the highway and brought the massive rig up to speed. There weren't that many vehicles on the road at that time, as it was still just before seven in the morning. Mason was easily able to merge into the highway, and slowly started to fully bring the truck up to highway speeds.

“Took you longer than I thought to bring this up to speed.” Long Haul said as he watched Mason settle the truck in at 65mph.

“Well I'm not going to drive the truck like a drag truck all the time. I'm gonna drive it somewhat sensibly when what is on the line is, on the line.” Mason said as he set the truck’s cruise control.

“What do you mean?”

“Well this is how it is. I don't exactly work for E.I.T., I'm an independant contractor. If something happens to the load while it's in one of E.I.T.’s yard, the company would have to pay for the damage. But, the second I leave the yard, the load is completely my responsibility. If I was back in the yard and another truck backed into the trailer and damaged the load, E.I.T. would cover the damage because I was still in the yard. If I was out on the road and banged up the load, or Celestia forbid roll the truck, the damages would be coming out of my pocket. And I don't want to pay the insurance bill on that steam locomotive.”

“Why, how much is that thing worth?” Long Haul asked.

“I'd guess about nine million bits at least.”

“Nine million bits! Sweet Celestial!”

Nothing else was said as Long Haul sat in his seat and contemplated the idea of hauling a load worth as much as the one they were hauling right then. After a few minutes, Long Haul noticed a gauge on the dash slightly moving back and forth. Seconds later, Mason took notice of the gauge’s movements as well.

He leaned towards it and hmmed for a second, “Got a boost flutter on 4 again.” He said out loud, yet directed to no one.

“A what in what?” Long Haul asked. He was starting to think that Mason was purposefully trying to confuse him.

“A boost flutter in the fourth turbo. Means the boost level my turbo is producing is not staying consistent. But it's only going back and forth by half a pound, so it's not too worrying yet. Should be able to make it to Hoofington before having to worry about it.”

“What do you mean by boost flutter?” Long Haul asked, still completely confused.

“Oh it just means that the turbo isn't getting a constant supply of air. One of my hose clamps probably came loose again when I bunny hopped the truck. Nothing too much to worry about, happens all the time.”

Long Haul let the issue drop. Mason seemed to know what he was talking about when it came to the job, and if he wasn’t worried about whatever was happening, than it probably wasn’t a problem. With that in mind, Long Haul sat back in his seat, and let himself just go along for the ride.

About three hours later, Long Haul and Mason were talking back and forth like old friends as they carried on down the same highway. As Mason finished laughing at a story Long Haul was telling, he looked over at his mirror and took notice of something.

Long Haul looked over to see Mason with a smile on his face glancing at the mirror before he reached a hoof for the cb. “Is that a certain suicide jockey I see tail-grabbing my back door?”

Long Haul looked at Mason funny, but his gaze quickly shifted to the cb when a somewhat nazley voice came through, “That depends, is that a certain billy big rigger hauling a steam kettle off my right mirror?”

“Hey, I resent that statement! Either way, glad to see you again good buddy. It's been awhile since we've been able to meet up.”

“Since that last time back at HQ when you helped me put that new turbo in Midnight about a month back.”

“I remember that, was a hell of a time getting that thing in. I saw she’s still in the shop when I was last there, what’s the issue?”

“Oh my new pistons got backordered due to some manufacturing defect, so I'm just waiting on them.”

“Ah, sounds about right. That's the game you play when you buy custom.”

It was about then Mason turned to see the confused look on Long Haul’s face. “Hey give me a sec here Xenon, my shotgun rider needs some explaining.”

“Oh management put you with another greenhorn, nice. Seems like they're finally starting to figure out you should be the go to driver.” With that, Mason hung up the cb mic and turned to Long Haul, “Alright kid, fire away.”

“Alright, I only have three. Who is that you’re talking to, where is your HQ, and what the hell was with those words? Like steam kettle and back door and all that?”

Mason smiled, “Alright, I’ll answer those in reverse order. All those words are cb slang. Steam kettle is just what a lot of ponies call a steam engine, on your back door means I’m right behind you, and so on and so forth. You’ll pick up on all of them once you start driving. My HQ is back in my home town of Ponyville. My granddad owns the building and we share it with my buddy Ratchet who runs a mechanic shop out of it. It’s easily big enough for the both of us, as it used to be one of E. I. T.’s warehouses. And finally that.”

Mason motioned to his window. Long Haul looked past him, shocked to see the body of another truck pulling into view. Then, he was able to get a look into the cab, and was shocked to see a changeling. Changelings had become more and more present in Equestria, nearly nine years after the reformation of their race. But It was still a shock for Long Haul to see one.

“That’s Xenon. He’s a good friend of mine and we both work for my granddad’s company. He has been for about six years now.” Mason turned and waved to Xenon, who waved back before dropping back behind Mason’s truck.

Once the shock wore off again, Long Haul came up with another question, “Wait, you work for a company ran by your grandpa? But I thought you said you were and independent contractor?”

“I do and am. See whole trucking companies can be set up as independent contractors. Steel Wheel Trucking, my granddad’s company, is contracted by companies like E.I.T. for his drivers. They give him the load orders, he passes them onto us, we drive the loads, and E.I.T. isn't at fault for anything that happens to them.”

“Oh, that makes sense. So how many drivers work for your grandfather, just you and Xenon?”

“We’re up to seven now. But me and Xenon are the only ones who hold specialty licenses. I’m certified to pull heavy loads like the one we are now, while Xenon is certified for multiple trailers. Like right now, he’s pullin’ three tanker trailers, filled with diesel by my guess.” With that, the truck fell back to its normal level of silence.

A few minutes later, while Mason was talking on the cb with Xenon again, Long Haul heard something through the sounds of the turbos. It was almost like the sound of metal on metal, before the sound of the turbos seemed to dip somewhat.

Mason, who had been in the middle of a conversation with Xenon, who had fallen in behind the massive rig to form a two truck convoy, stopped speaking the second he heard the turbo sound change. He looked down at his turbo cluster, and gasped slightly. “Um Xenon, my right whistlers have lost their spin, something’s gone wrong.”

“Shit, 10-4. You got a plan?”

“There’s a rig town up the road about 8 miles up, I’m gonna pull in there and pop the hood.”

“10-4, I’ll follow you in.”

Mason went to hang up the cb mic, when he thought of something and brought it back to his mouth, “Hey, I’m gonna back it down a bit, try to keep any pieces from being pulled into the engine.”

“Alright, what am I shooting for.”

“I’m gonna give it the ol’ double nickle.”

“10-4”

Long Haul looked over at Mason, and saw the serious look written on his face. The truck was caked in silence for a few minutes longer, until the pull off for truck stop came into view. Mason pulled in and brought his rig to a stop in the largest open area in the place, Xenon pulling in next to him.

“You can chill in here kid, me and Xenon got this.” Mason said as he shut down his truck and climbed out of the cab before heading to the rear of the truck. About a minute later, he returned to the front of the truck with a tool bag and Xenon in tow.

The two of them quickly popped open the large black, blue, and white hood, exposing the custom built powerhouse of a diesel engine. The two leaned over the engine and got to work. Despite not being outside, Long Haul could easily hear them.

“So I know a hose clamp came loose earlier.”

“Yep, right there at the rear of the first turbo intake pipe.”

“Hey, where is that clamp?”

“I don’t know, it probably dropped under the truck when it came loose.”

“Xenon, that clamp is going to fall in front of a turbo pulling 40 psi of pressure. I got a sick feeling that it got sucked into the turbo.”

“But that doesn’t make sense. If the clamp got sucked into the turbo, wouldn’t you have lost turbo pressure the second the hose came off?”

“In theory, but not necessarily. You wanna do me a favor and just reach into the turbo fan with your magic.”

“Can do boss.” Long Haul watched as Xenon lit his horn and green magic enveloped the turbo the two had been huddled around. A few moments later, a few metal fragments came floating out of the turbo surrounded in the same green glow.

Mason looked at them for a second, before moaning and laying his head on the right front tire, “Well they’re the clamp, and part of my turbo fan. That means the turbo fan blew apart and most likely the pieces were sucked into the other one, shattered that one, and pulled turbo pieces into my engine. Great.”

“We don’t know you’re other turbo gave out.”

“I’m amazed at your optimism sometimes Xenon.”

“It comes with being a reformed member of a race ran by an evil queen who’s guts you hatted.”

“Fair enough.”

The two then set about taking the first turbo and its connecting pipe to the second, off the truck so the second could be looked at. As he sat there watching the two “ponies” working together, side by side, chatting back and forth and laughing as they bonded over a truck they loved, Long Haul realized something.

All across Equestria, even years upon years after either of their races did anything “evil” changelings and terrestrials were still seen as second class citizens, and even hated by some. Yet here the two were, friends, and friends with other regular ponies, and all because of their common bond of simply just driving trucks.

Long Haul had heard from several of his instructors in CDL training talk about how truckers were one big community, where everyone had each other's back as they slaved over the steering wheels of their rigs, and here he was seeing it first hoof. Long Haul sat back and smiled.

He was liking the idea of joining these few ponies on the roads of Equestria more and more.

After about fifteen minutes the diagnosis was given. While the second turbo had indeed be ruined, no pieces from either had made it into the engine block proper, much to Mason’s relief. It was about that time that Long Haul dozed for, with Mason and Xenon still working on repairs to Luna.

“Wake up kid!” Long Haul sat up and looked over to see Mason standing in the passenger door frame.

“How long was I out?”

“Bout half an hour by my guess. Come on, we’re gonna go grab some grub before taking of.” Mason said as he stepped down off the truck.

Long Haul looked to see that Xenon was gone, but not his truck, and the hood of Luna was closed up. “You replaced both of those turbos already?”

Mason laughed, “No we didn't get that crazy. I have a lot of spare parts in those tool boxes behind the cab, but a set of aircraft grade turbos ain't among them. We just installed a straight tube. We won't get as much power out of the motor, but she'll at least still be breathing clean air. Now come one, Xenon’s already inside.”

Long Haul nodded and climbed down out of the truck. The two then made their way over to the doors of the truck stop’s restaurant and went inside.

The atmosphere of the restaurant was lively as truckers and other travelers talked, ate, and laughed. Mason looked around for their multi colored friend, before spotting him near a set of pool tables near the back.

“Follow me kid.” He said as he took off toward the back of the restaurant. Long Haul followed behind, watching as Mason waved to a few friends as they passed through, before they wound up at the pool table.

“Well I’ll be.” Mason said with a smile, as he looked at the two ponies who were playing at the pool table closest to Xenon.

“Rusty, good to see you. And Fire I’m glad to see you’re finally out of Dodge Junction.”

The two ponies looked up with smiles of their own. “Ah, there he is! Xenon said you were outside working on Luna. Blow your turbos again did ya?” The brown and red one said as he circled around to give Mason a hoof bump.

“Ya, nice to see you again bats.” The orange and yellow one said right before he took a shot. “Ah nothing. Alright Rusty, you’re go.”

Mason turned back towards Long Haul, motioning for him to come closer, before he turned back to his two friends, “Rusty, Fire, this is the new greenhorn for E.I.T. that they put with me, Long Haul. Long Haul these are my two friends, and fellow Steel Wheels drivers, Rusty Nail and Fire Mission.” The two waved, and Long Haul waved back.

Mason then turned to Xenon, who was happily digging into the sandwich that he had ordered, “Didn’t order me anything?”

Xenon looked up before swallowing his mouthful, “Nope, that’s on you.” he said before turning back to his food.

Mason rolled his eyes before he turned back to Long Haul, “Hey kid, what do you want to eat?”

“Just a daisy club, thanks.”

Mason nodded before turning and walking toward the restaurant's bar. He watched as Rusty Nail and Fire Mission went back to their game of pool, before his eyes were pulled toward Xenon.

Before he knew what he was doing, Long Haul found himself walking toward the eating changeling.

“Oh hey kid.” He said as Long Haul showed up at the side of his table.

“Hey. Hey, I got a question for you.”

“Alright, hit me.”

“How did you and Mason meet? I know changelings are free to roam around Equestria all they want, but there has to be a story behind it.”

Xenon smiled, “In fact, there is. This was about, six-ish years ago I think. Back then I was basically just a hitch hiker, going from town to town working as much as I could, leaving when somepony chased me out. Us changeling still weren’t looked at too favored by most of the population back then. Anyways, I was at a truck stop just outside of Fillydelphia, it was where my last form of transport had dropped me. I had used what few bits I still had to buy some food and a drink, just something to hold me over for a while. I was keeping to myself and not bothering anyone, but this group of ponies walked up and started to give me trouble. I tried to ignore it best I could, until one of them threw a punch. Next thing I know I’m alone on the receiving end of a seven pony strong flank-whooping. I don’t know how long it lasted, felt like hours, but then out of the blue, they stopped and somepony landed in front of me. I look up and there’s a red and black maned terrestrial forcing the other ponies to back off. He turned and asked if I was alright, I nodded even though most of my body hurt badly. He then said that there was a black and blue truck just outside hauling an empty flatbed, he said that it was his and to get in and hide. I nodded again, I was a little uneasy, but I felt like I could trust him. He then told me to bolt for the door on three, and I did. Found his truck pretty easily, even back then you couldn’t mistake Luna for another rig. I got in and hid in the sleeper, waiting for him. Not to long after, he came charging out of the place, the seven ponies chasing after him, and flew into the driver’s seat of the truck. Without even thinking he started the truck and tore out of there, front end bouncing all over the place. We made it out of there and onto the highway without too much trouble, flying away from that truck stop at near 90 mph. It was only after about five minutes he turned around and asked if I had a truck back at that truck stop and if he’d have to double back for it. I explained my situation, which he completely sympathized with. He offered me a place to sleep back in Ponyville, over his grandfather’s shop. I was more than willing to agree and rode back with him. By the time we got to town two days later, we were like two old friends, and once he introduced me to his grandpa, and he offered me a job driving, the rest was history.”

One of the pool players smiled, “And what a great history it’s been. I’ve been driving since I got out of the military, around the same time Mason did actually. We were in the same unit believe it or not, were some of the best years of my life. Anyways I worked for four other companies before coming to work for Alexander Lighthooves, and all of them were real assholes. Then Mason talked me into coming to work for his grandfather, and it was the best decision of my life. Granddad Alex is the best pony you could work for, and one of the most forgiving. I learned that well recently.”

It was then Long Haul realized he was talking to Fire Mission, the pony Mason had hinted at being stuck in Dodge Junction. “Does it have anything to do with whatever happened in Dodge Junction?”

Rusty and Fire Mission both nodded, “That it was. I was hauling a normal box trailer out to Dodge Junction, completely stock standard delivery. However, only a few of the roads out there are paved. Most are just maintained roads of dirt or gravel. I was driving down one of those dirt roads on the way to my destination late at night. I didn’t know the roads well, I was tired, and it was hard to tell where the road ended and the shoulder and ditch began. At one point, a corner came up that I wasn’t expecting, and I only noticed it when it was far too late. Even still, I tried to make the turn, but my wheels just skidded on the loose dirt, and it only got worse when I locked up the brakes. I jumped off the road after partially making the turn, but of course it wasn’t enough. The left front of my truck hit the dirt first, causing my truck to torque, and my trailer to wipe around and hit my cab worse than any jack-knife I’ve ever seen. My trailer was thrown so hard, that it not only ripped apart my fifth wheel, when it slammed into my cab it dislocated it from the frame. I was relatively alright, still spent a couple nights in the hospital though. When I got out and got a look at my truck, and the repair bill for it considering the insurance company we had wanted to total it, I thought Alex was gonna write it off.”

“Alex, letting your truck get scrapped, come on Fire let’s be real. I think the thought of letting an original 2-stroke Detrot semi get destroyed would give Granddad a heart attack. He was more than happy to pay for the repairs to your truck.” Mason said, cutting into the conversation as he returned with his and Long Haul’s food.

Long Haul grabbed his food from Mason before Fire responded, “I know Gramps loves my classic 2-stroke diesel, but I still didn’t think that love was enough for him to shell out nearly 100,000 bits so it could get rebuilt.”

The food that Long Haul had been chewing soon found itself in back on the table he was sitting at as his mind tried to process what he just heard. The four friends who had been talking turned to the slightly choking earth pony, “Eh kid, you good?” Fire Mission called.

After regaining control of himself, Long Haul turned to the group, “Did you say 100,000 bits?”

Fire nodded, “Yep, that's how much the repairs were quoted to be.”

“Your grandfather actually paid for that?” Long Haul asked Mason, only receiving a nod.

As Long Haul turned back to his food contemplating what he just heard, the four friends went back to chatting.

It stayed like that for a while, until Fire looked up and noticed a team of ponies walk in.

“Shit.” He muttered to himself before turning to Mason, “ Mason, alpha hotel x-ray seven, front entrance.”

Mason’s eyes went wide before his head whipped towards the door. “Shit! Everyone down!” he hissed.

The four ponies ducked down behind the pool table, to the astonishment of Long Haul.

“What are you doing?” He asked.

“Those are the ponies who jumped Xenon, and they still have a chip on their shoulder towards us.” Mason whispered.

“Kid, head out to the truck and wait there for me. They don't know you, and they don't know you're with me, so you should be able to walk right past them.”

Long Haul, still confused, decided not to argue. He quickly finished off his sandwich before getting up and walking out.

Sure enough he walked past the group of ponies by the door and, once out, made a beeline for Mason’s truck. Without a second thought, he tore open to passenger door to the truck and hurled himself inside.

It was then he began to hear shouting from inside the restaurant. When he dared to look up, he noticed one of the ponies that had been by the door was walking toward the truck, looking straight at him.

He got there in no time at all and banged on the door, “Hey you!” He shouted before he reached out toward the door.

“You're coming with me.” He said as he opened the door and reach a hoof out towards Long Haul.

Long Haul, seeing this, did the only thing he could think to do, he kicked the offending pony in the face as hard as he could.

The other pony stumbled back, caught off guard by the kick. Once he regained himself, he looked back at Long Haul through the still open passenger door.

“I said you're coming with me!” He shouted before charging back towards the truck.

Long Haul grabbed the passenger door and swung it mostly closed, and when the pony grew close enough, he hit him with the heavy metal door.

As the pony stumbled back again, Long Haul fully shut the passenger door, and locked it. When the other pony charged up again, he yanked on the locked door.

When he realized what Long Haul had done, he turned around and grabbed sizable rock that had fallen off of a gravel truck that was sitting nearby.

Long Haul watched in fear as he wound up, preparing to throw the rock at the passenger window.

That was until he was tackled to the ground by a red, black, and gray blur. Long Haul watched as Mason wrestled with the other pony on the ground, “You don't get to mess with my truck, or hurt my greenhorn!” He heard him yell before Mason delivered one hard punch to the center of his forehead, knocking the other pony out cold.

Long Haul then turned to look at the restaurant to see Xenon, Fire, and Rusty charging out of the building and toward their respective rigs. Soon enough Mason rushed into the cab and started up the truck, the starter thankfully cooperating.

As Mason put the truck into gear, Long Haul looked back to the restaurant to see three of the other ponies from the group, being held back by some off the other patrons, look out the doors in time to see Mason and Xenon tear out of the truck stop side by side.

As they rejoined the highway, two other truck following, Mason turned to Long Haul, “You alright kid.”

Long Haul nodded, “Yeah, yeah I'm fine.”

Mason sighed, “Sorry you had to see that kid. I don't know what's the deal with those ponies, but they just don't give up.”

Long Haul only nodded as he silently settled back into his seat. It was quiet for a bit, before the cb cracked to life, “You two good up there?”

It was Rusty.

Mason picked up the cb’s mic, “Yeah we’re good, thanks for the help guys.”

“Anytime Mason. I'm really starting to get tired of those pricks.”

“Amen. But I'm gonna have to turn back when we reach hoofington, my load is still heading for Manehatten.” Fire said.

“And mine is due in Hoofington.” Xenon added in.

“Alright, Hoofington is where we’ll split. Rusty, you still gonna be following me up north?”

“Yep, all the way to Tall Tale.”

“10-4.”

For the next hour and a half, the convoy of four rolled along in silence. In the lead truck, Long Haul sat and contemplated what had happened that day.

He had a lot to think about.

The group broke up at an exit just outside Hoofington, a quick send off said between the four drivers before the convoy broke into two packs of two. It was sunrise before they reached the outskirts of Tall Tale, massive columns of steam and smoke rising from the rail yard dotted the sky.

Rusty exited the highway with a quick few words to Mason, as the two remaining ponies traveled on alone. After another four hours climbing through the Smokey Mountains, the yards of Vanhoover drew into sight, in all their steam filled glory.

Mason expertly navigated the tight confines of the city. Within no time at all they had made it onto the road pointed at the main railway yards, which made up the middle of the city.

In front of them was what Mason told Long Haul with main dispatch center for Vanhoover. As they grew closer to the building, Long Haul noticed a group of ponies standing out in front. Once again, Mason skillfully brought the long rig to a stop in front of the building, before setting the brakes and shutting down the truck.

Mason climbs out with a smile on his face, leaving the cab door open. “Stokes, Coal Dust good to see you two again!” He called as he walked up to the two ponies leading the group, shaking hooves with one, and giving a quick hug to the other.

“Good to see you to Mason.” The one Long Haul guessed was Stokes, said.

“So, what did you have me bring in this time?” Mason asked.

Stokes and Coal Dust walked up to the locomotive sat on the trailer, Mason following, “A Manehattan Central 4-6-2. They called us about a month ago saying that this engine needed it’s five year service. Since we’re the best in the business when it comes to five years, they asked if they could send it over to us, and we were all too happy agree.”

“Makes sense. So where do you want me to put it?” Mason asked.

The two other ponies looked over the engine, “By the looks of it, she’s still capable of rolling, but it looks like the brake lines are in pretty bad shape, just like we were told. What do you think Coal?”

The grey and blue maned pony looked the engine over, “I say we go with the original plan. Mason, you think you can get the big beast of a rig over to the shops.”

“On the wood road.”

“The one and only.”

Mason thought about it for a second, “It'll be a few tight turns, but I think I can handle it. You wanna spot me like last time? I'm really gonna need it.”

Coal Dust nodded, “You got it good buddy.” Mason laughed before making a beeline for the truck again and through himself through the open door. Coal Dust came around the front of the truck as Mason restarted the engine, before climbing up on the box step and hanging onto the mirror.

He glanced over at a dumbfounded Long Haul, giving him a quick nod and a grin, before Mason put the truck in gear and he directed his attention forward. Not too far up Long Haul could see a road of sorts made out of wood planks that crossed over the railway tracks. They were just wide enough to let two small cars pass with just barely any space, or one big rig with no room for another.

Mason rolled the truck over and stopped just at the beginning of the planks, where Coal Dust jumped off and ran toward the front. Mason rolled down his window and stuck his head out, “You good to go?”

“Yep, bring her to me!”

And so, very slowly, Mason began to roll the Long rig onto the wood. “Cut it towards me!”

“Do I really have the room?”

“You got about seven inches, and by the look of things, you’ll need every sixteenth of it you can get!”

“Right!” Mason cut his wheels right and continued to creep the truck forward.

“Hey kid, pop open your door and watch the front tire. I wanna get as close to the edge as possible.” Mason called as he kept his eyes fixed on Coal Dust.

“Dusty, watch the trailer! The kid will watch the tire!” Coal Dust nodded and moved over to the other side of the truck, watching the trailer make it’s turn. Long Haul, now realising that he was the only one who was watching to make sure the truck didn’t role of the makeshift road.

He opened up the door and leaned out, keeping his eyes on the slowly turning tire. “You got like, two inches left.” He called over to Mason. And so it went on like this, the three ponies working together to get the truck around the turn.

After about twenty minutes of slow back and forth travel, the long rig was finally, fully on the wooden road. Mason smiled, “Alright, hard part’s over.” He said as he put the truck into a higher gear, Coal Dust stepped back onto the truck, this time on the left side, as they made their way over to the works shops.

Two hours later, after helping hook up a massive rail bound crane to lift the engine onto the rails, then putting the trailer away in the railway’s E. I. T. yard, Mason dropped Long Haul off at one of the local Hotel’s nearby the yard.

“There you go kid. Sorry about how crazy the last two days have been, but you get used to it. You have the rest of the night to yourself, and someone from the company will get in contact with you tomorrow about where to go to get your truck and your first load.” He said as Long Haul climbed out of the now bobtailing truck.

It was then Mason reached for something in the door and handed it over the seat to him, “Here, take this.”

Long Haul did, surprised to find that it was a business card. Written in big letters on the top was Steel Wheels Trucking, along with information to contact the company. “What’s this for?”

Mason smiled, “We’re always looking for new drivers over at Steel Wheel, and I always keep some cards on me.”

Long Haul was shocked, “You want me to come drive for you.”

Again, Mason smiled, “Sure! Like I said, we always are open to new drivers, and there’s something about you kid that just gives me a good feeling. But take your time with that, it’s a big decision and all. Take a week, a month, heck, even a year, we’ll always have a spot open.”

Mason then reached down and started up his rig again, “Welp, it’s been good meeting you Long Haul, hope to catch you again down the road some time.”

Long Haul smiled, “Yeah, that sounds good to me. Take it easy Mason.”

Mason nodded as Long Haul closed the door. Long Haul stepped back and watched as Mason drove away in a cloud of smoke, off to get his next load from back east. Long Haul walked into the hotel, and after a few minutes ended up in the room he’d be spending the night in.

As he sat on his bed, he took out the business card and looked at it, thinking. It was a big decision, one that could affect the rest of his life, for better or worse. He then looked over at the phone that was sitting on a desk nearby.

With a small grin, he made his decision, as he got up.

……..

”Steel Wheel Trucking, this is Alex Lighthooves.”

“Hi Mr. Lighthooves, my name is Long Haul. I was given your card by your grandson and I was wondering if you had any positions open for a driver?”