Book 1 - The Behemoth came to Canterlot

by Equimorto


If you don't mind, I'll sing a song

"It used to be a lullaby," the pony said, moments after he'd finished singing. "I always thought it was fitting here, but I hadn't had a chance to show it to anyone else yet."
Twilight nodded. Her eyes wandered over the scenery, the red and empty hills of dust underneath the burning crimson sky and the scorched, blackened and consumed ruins of what had once been a city far off in the distance. "Was this your home world?"
The stallion looked back at her. "It might have been. It might have not. I wouldn't tell you." He took a couple steps in her direction. "There are more practical reasons why I've brought you here. It's easier for me to send you back, and harder for you to track me." He reached Twilight, and stood in front of her. "Not that you would manage to find me anyway, but this should make it hard enough for you to decide against trying."
Twilight held his gaze. The smugness wasn't lost on her, but she knew it was deserved, if slightly annoying. "How do you navigate them so easily?" she asked, not for the first time.
Not for the first time, he answered, "Experience, and memory. And lots of time to get familiar with the system." He smirked. "Now, will you follow me back to Equestria?"
Twilight stared towards the horizon, contemplating. "Is there anyone here?"
He followed her eyes and turned towards what little was left of the city. "Not that I know of, but I haven't checked. Still, I doubt it."
Twilight nodded once, then shook her head. Of course, there wasn't much of a point in trying to look for survivors there and then, and he'd known that too when he'd chosen where to take her. She turned back to him. Still...
The look in Twilight's eyes gave away her intentions before her mouth had a chance to speak them, and he cut her off right as she was about to talk again. "No."
Twilight pursed her lips. "But it would be the right thing to do."
That just got him to shake his head and chuckle. "Honestly, I don't think there's anything right in this whole ordeal. But the point is, Twilight, that you have your own world to take care of. It's not your responsibility to help those living in other universes, and it shouldn't be."
"I choose who I want and don't want to help," Twilight replied. "I've been to different worlds and helped people there before. I won't stop just because you told me to."
"You need to draw a line, Twilight, or time will draw it for you." He stared at her again. "Where will you stop? Because I've seen a lot out here, and you're a smart mare, and we both know you can't get to the end, should there even be one. You can't save everyone. You can't even save most. There will always be more things to do than you have time for. So I suggest you spend that time on the world you're closest to, and accept that you can't save the rest. Otherwise, you risk losing everything instead."