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// Bringer of Pain - Part 2 
// Story: Book 1 - The Behemoth came to Canterlot 
// by Equimorto 
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Firecracker took a step back, clenching their teeth to stop their imminent clattering. "You wouldn't," they hissed.
"Oh, but I totally would," replied the stallion. "Trust me, Fire', I'm a creature of my word. So how about you calm down those feathers of yours, and we just have ourselves more of a chat, and no one down there gets hurt? Doesn't that just sound a whole lot better?"
Reluctantly, Firecracker straightened themself, but kept their eyes pinned to the stallion. "If I fly away from here, will you stop me?"
"I would have a hard time doing so, given my position." The stallion nodded towards the reins again. "And I don't exactly have anything to throw at you. Not that I have any interest in keeping you here, beyond simple company at least. Like I've said before, I'm prepared for news of my presence to spread out after this meeting of ours. Excited by the prospect, really. And by the meeting that I imagine will follow."
The pegasus relaxed, if only a little. "You said you were prepared to wait for decades. And I'm assuming you've been here all along. How?"
The stallion shrugged. "Lots of patience. To be completely fair it wasn't as boring as I make it out to be, I had things to watch." There was a pause, while he looked into the distance. "A lot of things to watch. You'd be surprised at how much there is to see."
Firecracker followed the direction of the stallion's gaze for a moment, only to confirm there was nothing there. They turned back towards him instead. "How much is there?" they asked.
The Charioteer snickered. "Oh, now, I can't just give you all the answers, can I? It would be much too easy that way." He looked at Firecracker for a moment, clicking his tongue. "I've said you're free to fly away from here, and I mean it. But something tells me you're going to fall off instead."
Firecracker tensed, but didn't react any further. "What are you here for?"
The stallion, once again, motioned to the reins wrapped around his forelegs. "There needs to be someone taking care of this. Trust me, really, it would have been a mess if it had been sent here by itself. You want someone steering it to where it's supposed to go."
Firecracker was very curious as to where, exactly, the Behemoth was supposed to go, and about who or what had sent it, from where, why, and a number of other things the stallion's words implied or appeared to. But at that moment something else took centre stage in their thoughts. "That would have been a mess?" they growled out. "Have you seen what this thing has done to Equestria?"
The stallion gave a mild shrug at that. "All buildings fall, sooner or later. If you knew what I know you'd consider being thankful that you still have an Equestria, and ponies living in it." The stallion clicked his tongue again. "For the time being, at least."