//------------------------------// // Departure // Story: Nothing Left // by Captain Obvious //------------------------------// It was almost three in the morning when they pulled out of the Shell station. Tom filled the Tundra's gas tank while Bruce and Jenny went inside to get some cigarettes and coffee. Less than twenty minutes later, they left their home city of San Antonio, Texas, heading west on IH-10. Their destination was the Twin Buttes Reservoir, near San Angelo. Bruce was in the passenger's seat admiring Tom's new hatchet before placing it back in it's case and handing it behind him to Jenny. "That's real nice, how'd you get the money for something like that?" he asked. "Drugs. I sell drugs," she replied with a straight face. "Great, now you can help out with the bills," Tom said glancing at her in the rearview mirror. Jenny smiled. "Yeah, you wish." "You all set, Twilight?" Spike asked his friend. Twilight looked away from the telescope. "As ready as I'll ever be I suppose," she answered, nervously. Princess Luna stepped forward. "You realize that you do not have to do this. Nopony is forcing you to do anything." "Thank you, Princess, but I really want to do this. Sure, it might be just another ball of rock and ice, but then again, it might not be! And as Princess of Friendship, It is my duty to befriend whatever is out there," she stated proudly with a hoof on her chest. Spike threw his claws up. "That's what you're worried about? Space rocks?" Twilight looked down at her hooves. "No, I'm actually more worried about meeting new lifeforms. What do I say to them? What if they can't understand me?" Twilight started raising her voice and talking faster. "What if they don't like me? What if they eat ponies? What if-" "What if they don't?" Luna interrupted. Twilight smiled. "That's why I want to go!" "Very good, Twilight," Luna nodded. "Now, take your crystal." Twilight walked over the the bowl, which contained a few dozen of the crystals. After all, it never hurt to have extras, just in case. In case of what? I couldn't tell you. Still, better to have it and not need it... Grabbing one, she stood before Luna and Spike. "Wish me luck," she said nervously. "Good luck, Twilight," Luna said, proudly. Spike merely smiled. "Don't worry, you'll be fine!" Twilight got a determined look on her face, and instantly vanished. Only to suddenly reappear. "You were gone two seconds! What hap- Twilight, you okay?" Spike asked, concerned, as he noticed her wide eyes and heavy breathing. Twilight took a moment to calm herself as Luna asked, "Did you find something?" "I'm not sure. I panicked and smashed the crystal before I could get a good look at it" Luna levitated two crystals over to them She attached one to her hoof, and gave the other to Twilight. "Then let us go see what it was!" she said, smiling. Twilight grabbed a crystal,and allowed herself to be teleported by Luna to the planet seen through the telescope. Luna glanced around at the barren landscape, clearly unimpressed. "So, um Twilight? Do you see what spooked you?" she asked, raising a brow. "No, maybe it was in a different area," Twilight said, looking around. "Wait here a moment." she said before vanishing. She showed up again a few minutes later. "There's nothing here! It's just another ice ball! I teleported all over this planet and nothing!" Twilight smashed her crystal in frustration, sending her back to the castle in Canterlot. Luna smashed her crystal as well, following her back. Twilight let out a growl of frustration. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say I went to the wrong planet!" Luna's eyes widened at that. But her surprise quickly gave way to a fit of giggles. "You went to the wrong planet? How did you even do that?" "I don't know, and it's not funny!" By now, Luna was laughing hysterically. "Ha, you went to the wrong planet!" "Spike! Say goodbye to Princess Luna, we're going home!" Twilight said with a frustrated sigh before teleporting them to her castle in Ponyville, leaving Luna to laugh her flank off. Once at hope, Spike asked, "So, what did you see anyway?" "All I saw are these two really big bright lights, moving very fast, coming towards me." The large black pickup was cruising along the highway, as it had been for the last two hours. The road stretched ahead, with only the headlights cutting through the darkness. A small orange light appeared from the top of it's driver's side window, only to drop and be swept back behind the speeding vehicle. "Nice, Dad. Start a forest fire, why don't you?" "One cigarette butt isn't gonna start a fire," Tom replied, rolling his eyes while reaching for his now-cold coffee. "Well, it could. You don't know. It's happened before," Jenny retorted. Tom, only half listening, grimaced as he took a sip. Cold coffee tasted terrible. "Here, I'll make sure it goes out then," he stated as he tossed the cup out the window before rolling it back up. "Oh yeah, much better," Jenny said, sarcastically. "Open that back window. See if you can reach the cooler from there and grab me something, will ya?" "Sure, Daddy," she said, turning around. "You can't get it," Bruce spoke up. "It's back by the tailgate." "Oh," was Tom's reply. "Fuck it then." "Don't worry, I have some back here." Jenny reached forward between the two front seats with a bottle of coke in her hand. "Thanks. sweetie," Tom said. Jenny settled back into her seat with a smile. Bruce reached over and took the wheel as Tom opened his bottle. After a drink, he pulled out another cigarette and lit it before taking the wheel back and offering one to his brother. "Nah, I got my own." "Yeah, but your smokes are shit." "I like my shit, Tom," was Bruce's reply. "Okay, if you-SHIT!" Tom exclaimed as something appeared in the road, right in front of his truck. He spun the wheel to the right while slamming the brakes; the tires squealing. The thing on the road suddenly vanished, which engulfed the truck in a deep purple flash for a split second. Tom very quickly noticed that the road vanished as well. All he saw in his headlights were trees as the truck barreled downhill, its heavy weight preventing it from stopping quickly enough. Jenny gave a small shriek the truck suddenly lurched to the right, with it's left headlight shattered as it glanced off a tree trunk. Tom, slightly panicked, over-steered when trying to correct the vehicle's path. This caused the truck to slide sideways, and the heavy vehicle threatened to roll. Without warning, the truck came to a sudden stop. Jenny screamed, and Tom took advantage of the moment to put the truck in park and yank up the parking brake. All three passengers we breathing heavily. Bruce was the first to break the silence. "Anyone hurt?" The three looked themselves over, then looked each other over. Aside from a few bumps and bruises, they seemed to be fine. Bruce looked over to his brother, quite irritated. "What the hell was that?"