//------------------------------// // From Asphalt to Marble // Story: Travis won't die in the end // by Blue dragon 116 //------------------------------// The lonesome stretch of highway was pitch black anywhere past the headlights of my truck as the engine rattled. The road was old, worn, and in dire need of repair as it caused the suspension to bounce. On either side of the road short brown grass that nearly folded completely with the light wind as it stretched as far as the eye could see providing little to ease a bored mind. And boredom was the thing easily visible on my face as the light from the small camcorder shone from the dash. "When you see this don't be bitchin at me sayin I should of went flyin with ya instead of drivin down some god forsaken road. I've been planin this trip for three years now it aint my fault all you guys decided to wussy out at the last second." I said as I flipped off the camcorder glancing at it as I drove down the road, looking for the illusive ghost lights that were supposed to travel up and down this stretch of road. As I silently cursed that plane flyin bastard who left me to do this all by myself. I let out a exasperated sigh and ran a hand absentmindedly through my shoulder length brown hair, with my ice blue eyes gazing out my windshield. And I stretched my six ft. one hundred fifty pound frame within the confines of my old ford truck with its one bench seat. "All right pedo bear, this will mark the end of the third night with no sign of the ghost lights so no I told you so's." I said as I reached over and powered off the camcorder and began to slow down, turn around, and head back to town. My head hung low in defeat, and I was in an all around sour mood after all this planning for nothing. I just completed the turn and began to go to town when, I was blinded by bright lights reflecting off my rear view mirror. "Turn off your bright's asshole." I yelled as my vision swam and I began to swerve all over the road in a attempt to get the lights out of my eyes. Then finally the lights dimed and I could see once more, granted with multicolored spots but I could see none the less. When my vision truly cleared I shot an angry glance at the asshole behind me only to double take and have my jaw drop to the floor. Their were two lights far enough apart to appear to be headlights, but then they both moved in opposite directions on the road in a serpentine manor. And continued to do so for a long while with my eyes locked on them, and somehow I stayed on the road. Then to add to my confusion a third light appeared between the first two brighter and pulsating. Then all three got brighter and brighter until it was like three suns were following me lighting up everything like it was high noon. And then as quickly as it came the light vanished as they all three shot past my truck, two going along the sides and the third going up and over the truck to join the others in a swirling circle in the middle of the road in front of me. "What the hell...." I said out loud absentmindedly as the lights stopped circling and formed a pyramid shape and then stopped. A wall of light building the closer I got to it and then all to late I realized their was something on the other side that shouldn't have been. Everything appeared to be indoors and brightly lit, like it was late morning or early afternoon and their appeared to be lots of movement on the other side. I quickly slammed on the brakes knowing I would never be able to stop, but I sure as hell tried none the less. "Good bye pedo bear, good bye cruel world" where my last thoughts before I was blinded by white, shocked by some unseen force, and deafened by shouts, screams, and curses accompanied by the sound of tires squealing on a hard surface. Everything was silent, save the echo of the motor and what sounded like shuffling feet, I began to strain my ears to try and pick up anything else and I was just about to open my eyes. When a strange sound came out of no where and their was a blinding light even from behind my eye lids. Slowly I inched my eyes open and had to wait for them to adjust to the brightness of my surroundings. I was inside my still running truck that was inside a rather large hall of sorts with a high ceiling and large stained glass windows running all along one wall. Then my eyes fell on the end of the hall where their were stairs leading up to a throne one occupied. I had to do a double take when I saw the thrones occupant, I recognized her long flowing mane and her magenta eyes. But what I saw wasn't right, she was tall, bipedal, anthro, and had tits, very large, very nice tits. "Now I know someone who would love this she has tits." I thought to myself as I stared up at Celestia Co ruler of Equestria, princess of the sun. Sister to Luna, maiden of the moon and co ruler of equestria, and needless to say this sight confused me. In my bewilderment I missed the other ponies in the room namely the royal guard until Celestia's eyes shifted from me to something to my left and growing wide with shock, making me look over in confusion. To see a guard charging my truck his sword drawn, blue eyes flashing with confidence, until he bounced off my truck and hit the floor with a resounding thud. I looked at said pony with a confused glare only to realize it was one shinning armor... and that he dented my driver side door. "What the hell was that for, why did you dent my truck?" I yelled throwing the door open and stepping out to examine the dent. Thankfully it was small and could be fixed by pounding on the door near the edge of the dent. With that fixed I got to take a good look at my truck and the havoc I caused upon my entry. The truck no longer looked its age and slightly rusted, now the paint looked new and all the minor missing parts were in place. And then half way down what I now realized was the throne room in canterlot, to where it currently sat were two long skid marks, that began randomly and marked the path I traveled before finally coming to a stop. And then I saw All the ponies in the room save Celestia were visibly on edge with weapons drawn or horns aglow eyeing me warily. Their came a loud groan from the floor behind me as Shining armor was coming back around from his failed attack. When he came fully back and opened his eyes I approached him slowly and reached my hand out to help him up, he took it with reluctance and I pulled him back to his feet and brushed the dust from his back. "So for future reference you don't run full steam ahead into a solid steel truck understand." I said Chuckling warmly as Shinning Armor stared at me confused his eye twitching randomly, as he stuttered and muttered in gibberish. I smiled and left him to lean against the side of my truck as I walked around to the front of it and bowed to Celestia saying. "Forgive my intrusion your majesty I don't mean you or your people any harm." Their was a long silence as Celestia stared down at me seeming to see into my very soul, and I did my best not to fidget or inadvertently insult any of those gathered here. "Very well what brings you to equestria" Celestia said her voice soft and motherly but containing a undertone of authority. "Well to be honest ma'am im not sure how I got here, one minute im cruising down the road and the next im skidding to a halt here." I said indicating my truck and then the room around me, which I now realized was the throne room in canterlot castle. Its beauty still hard to grasp as I stood within its walls. Celestia seemed to mull over what I said as she looked at me then, glanced in the direction of my truck and then back to me. Then as if she had made up her mind she stood and walked down to stand before me and began to inspect my truck. "What is this odd thing you arrived in, its like nothing ive ever seen before." She said as she came back around and gently rapped on the hood with her knuckles, producing a soft metallic ring that echoed dully. "This ma'am is my pride and joy, its basically a carriage that can move itself thanks to what's under here." I said as I taped the hood, hoping she understood. Thankfully when she looked at me she had a look of understanding, not confusion so I had done well enough. "Could you describe how to you came to be here?" Celestia asked still looking over my truck and giving me a unreadable glance every so often as she went. "Well their isn't much to tell." I said jumping on the hood and making myself comfortable before continuing. "I was driving down a desolate road searching for what the locals called Ghost lights. I had just turned around and was going back to town when the lights appeared behind me nearly blinding me. Then they started to behave in a odd manor and then a third appeared adding to my confusion. Their light grew in intensity until they all flew ahead of me swirled in a circle for a bit and then made a pyramid, that I came through and here was where I found myself." While I was speaking Celestia had found her way inside the cab and was nosing around through what little I had in their, a bag of clothes, some tools, and of course the shotgun hanging in the gun rack across my back window. It wasn't until I heard the clatter of Celestia nearly falling out of the truck did I realize she had been in their and worse what she was now staring down the barrel of, with her finger dangerously close to the trigger. "Uhh ma'am you should put that down, I mean you really should put that down." I said as I slid off the hood and quite quickly and calmly made my way to her and removed the gun from her possession. "What is that thing" Celestia said as I tried to get around her to put the gun where it belongs. Only to have her step in the way and make it clear she wont budge until I answered her. With a heavy sigh and mental note to pay more attention to these nosey ponies I said. "This ma'am is something I hope I never have to use, and you never need." Finally brushing past the princess I went to put the gun where it belongs only to have it glow a bright orange and float over my head and back out the door. "Dammit give that back" I yelled as I spun around actually startling Celestia to the point she lost concentration and dropped the gun. And as luck would have it the one in a million chance of the weapon misfiring had to happen now since it fired once it hit the floor. Their was a ear splitting scream and the sound of a few gasps as I dove into the truck for cover and then their was the sound of something hitting the floor and running feet. I turned around to see Celestia in a heap on the floor clutching a arm while multiple guards surrounded her. "Ar.....are you ok" I stammered out as I got out and leaned forward to try and get a better look at Celestia only to have one of the guards whirl around horn aglow, blasting me square in the chest and sending me flying across the room to slam into the far wall. When I hit the floor everything began to spin and I thought I saw Celestia making her way towards me before all faded to black. Slowly I began to become aware of my surroundings, first to return was my sense of hearing as I could hear what sounded like wheels rolling on a hard floor. Then I could see lights flashing behind my closed eye lids and then the distorted sounds of voices all around me. Slowly I peeled open my eyes, only to scrunch them shut in agony due to the bright lights. Then when my eyes adjusted I looked to my right to see a grey mane pink coat mare, and then a orange mane purple coat stallion on my right pushing me along on a gurney. But then just on the other side of the stallion was another gurney being pushed by a blond mane, brown coat mare, and a blue mane green coat stallion. I wasn't able to make out who or what was on the gurney as we came to a intersection of the hall with my gurney going right and the other going left, and then all faded to black once again. I was brought back to consciousness by the feeling of something poking me repeatedly, and the sound of shuffling feet. I opened my eyes to find a familiar purple pony poking me with a pencil and then jotting down something on a note pad she had. The sound of shuffling feet was coming from across the room where Celestia was shuffling awkwardly looking anywhere but at me, with my shotgun leaning against the wall across from her. Twilight continued to poke me annoyingly until Celestia said ever so softly still avoiding eye contact with me. " Twilight my faithful student I think you should stop poking him seeing as he is awake." Causing twilight to look up at my face and our eyes met for a split second, before she began to blush and step back and kind of hide behind her note pad. Their was a long drawn out silence as neither pony seemed to wish to make eye contact with me and I was rather unsure of what to do in this situation. So with neither pony showing any signs of starting a conversation i sat up In bed, doing my best to ignore the pain all down my back and head and said. "It might be a little overdue but my name is Travis what may I call you?" Twilight was the first to recover, it was either that or Celestia just didn't want to talk to me for some reason. "My name is Twilight Sparkle." Twilight said stepping forward her cheeks still faintly red from her blush. "And this is my mentor Princess Celestia." Motioning to Celestia who for the first time since I woke up made eye contact with me and nodded her head before she looked away again. "Well Miss Sparkle it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, the same goes for you princess." I said as I stretched and shifted on the hospital bed trying to relieve the pain in my back and the stiffness. Both were relieved almost instantaneously when I turned as far to the right as possible and heard a symphony of cracks, pops, and snaps coming from my back. When I turned to face my guests again both had a look of mild disturbance causing me to chuckle warmly earning a confused look from both the ponies. Celestia just opened her mouth to say something when the door opened and a unicorn stallion with a brown mane and tan coat in a doctors uniform walked in going over a clipboard in his hand. When he looked up at me he did a double take and gave Twilight and Celestia a quizzical look before looking back at me again. "So what's the diagnosis doc will I be ok?" I asked giving the doc a straight face causing him to look back at the princess and Twilight again. "Well given the fact you were blasted with magic across the throne room and into a solid stone wall you should have broken bones or fractures. But against all odds all you have is some minor bruising so I would say your going to be fine." He said going back over his clipboard and mumbling to himself as I sat their and pondered just how I got out of that one as well. "Well its time for the million dollar question" I said as I threw back the blanket and sat on the edge of the bed in nothing but a hospital gown. "Where are my cloths?" Both girls blushed profusely before Celestia stepped forward and dropped the duffel bag from my truck beside me saying. "When you were hit the magic destroyed most of your clothes and I found this in you truck was it?, I hope this helps." I opened the bag to reveal my duster and old west outfit complete with hat and boots inside and I couldn't help thinking to myself. I knew I packed these for a reason as I told Celestia it would do and they all left to let me change. I changed quickly and picked up my trusty weapon from the floor and looked it over to see if their was any damage. The gun itself wasn't much to look at a simple pump action twelve gauge, and it appeared to be relatively unscathed by the little mishap before with only a few scratches on the stock. Then I pumped the action and ejected the used shell and loaded a new one before looking it one last time. Satisfied that all was in order I threw on my boots and duster, putting the shotgun in the custom holster I commissioned across my back, dropping a black Stetson on my head last to finish the look. Then without a second thought I opened the door and stepped out to find Twilight and Celestia waiting for me just outside. "So how long was I out?" I asked as I stretched to rid my legs of the tense tired feeling that held them. "Two days you've been out and here in the canterlot hospital." Celestia said earning a shrug and a grunt in response from me while I stretched. "And since we don't know where you came from or how you got here we cant send you back home." Of course this gave me pause, I would never see my friends or family again but I would live in a land free from crime and overflowing with friendship. Granted I would probably be a little upset for a little while but I could live with this situation. All was silent as I thought over what I was told before I shrugged and said. "Well since it looks like I'm stuck here where would I be living" Walking as I spoke seeking the nearest exit only to be led the opposite direction by twilight as she spoke. "Well if the Princess says its ok you could stay with me or my friends in ponyvile, it would be a excellent chance to study how you interact with others." Leave it to Twilight to treat this like a science experiment I thought as we went through the city heading in the direction of the castle, Twilight giving me the basics on equestrian society and her friends as we went. Until we reached a courtyard near the palace gates to find my truck in all its glory just sitting their as Twilight and Celestia finished with their lectures. "So not that this hasn't been fun and all." I said walking over to my truck to give it a once over. "But can we go to ponyvile its been kind of a long day and I could use some sleep and time to think." Celestia got a sort of knowing look on her face and she nodded yes motioning for us to go with a warm smile before turning and heading back to the castle. "So is this thing safe?" Twilight said as she clambered into the truck and closed the door. "Why of course its safe." I said as I turned the key only to have the roar of the motor startle me as it started right away, and a bit louder and deeper than usual. "ohh yeah" I said a devilish grin spreading across my face as I looked over at Twilight and said. "You may want to put on your seat belt." "Wait my what... and why?" Twilight said her apprehension clear in her voice as she stared at me with a worried expression. I answered her by reeving up the engine with the same insane smile and yelled. "Cuss I got the need for speed." As I threw the truck in gear and floored it sending dirt and grass flying as the engine roared and we made our way to ponyvile Twilight screaming the whole way their.