//------------------------------// // Awkn // Story: Book 1 - The Behemoth came to Canterlot // by Equimorto //------------------------------// Twilight looked back and forth between the Charioteer and the empty space beside her. "Is anyone else here?" she asked, coldly, her jaw clenched. The Charioteer opened his mouth to speak, but a moment later just sighed, and looked down. "How do I put this in a way that won't be misunderstood, but is still annoyingly cryptic to you?" He sat and rested his chin on a hoof, and Twilight couldn't tell if he was serious about it or merely playing it up for his own humour. "Never assume that someone might not be listening, Twilight, there are things in these worlds beyond your comprehension and beyond the scope of what you should care about. Most listeners tend not to interfere. That all said, there is a difference between merely listening in on a conversation and personally being there to spy on it." He looked straight at Twilight again. "I can assure you there is no one here but me and a purple alicorn princess," he said with a smile. Twilight, still unsure, tried to decipher his expression, and threw one last look beside her where he'd been staring at and still seemed to be looking towards at moments. "Back to our conversation then," she said, her tone still stiff. "I know you know all about our little incident at the castle. Does the thief in question know something I don't about how to use scales?" "Maybe they do." The Chariotter shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe they don't. Do you think there's someone out there who'd be able to figure out more than you have, in less time and with less resources?" Twilight gave a particularly intense exhale, but little else. "What exactly does this bond entail? Are there consequences for being close to a scale, or for being tied to it specifically?" The stallion pursed his lips. "Scales are kind of like buckets of water to the Behemoth's ocean. It's a lot harder to drown in the former. Effects might be there, but no worse than how simply standing in the light of the Sun means bathing in radiation. A pony can deal with it." A pause. "Unless, you know, you eat one." The faintest twitch coursed through Twilight's face. "Someone did, didn't they?" "You'll have liked him by today," the Charioteer replied. "Speaking of which, it's exciting not to know what's going on with that." Twilight gave a blank nod. "Anything else about the bond?" Another shrug. "Not really." "Not really. I see." Twilight took a deep breath. "Do you make less sense the more you go on, or is the Behemoth physically melting my brain? I knew I should have put extra shielding on the cerebral area." "Neither, actually." The Charioteer smiled in a way that oddly resembled a pout. "Anything else you wish to know, before the inevitable fight this conversation will end with?" "And you say I'm the one who makes assumptions," Twilight replied. "Is there any pattern I might be able to deduce about where scales will be found?"