//------------------------------//
// On Goes 
// Story: Book 1 - The Behemoth came to Canterlot 
// by Equimorto 
//------------------------------//

"Hmm." The Charioteer chewed on nothing for a moment, staring seemingly nowhere. "I might have overdone it a little."
Twilight finally managed to get back to her hooves. She stared at the stallion, unsure of what to say, still processing the potential consequences of what had just happened. "What did you do?" she screamed, more out of a nervous reaction than anything.
"I made the Behemoth move," the Charioteer replied, looking at her. "And I might have set the timeline mostly straight again, even going backwards a bit. Want me to do it again?"
Twilight was stunned, caught in the dissonance between the magnitude of what she'd just been a part of and the sheer casualness of the Charioteer's attitude. "You wouldn't dare," she hissed out, but she wasn't particularly convinced of that.
The Charioteer stared at her, and then he broke down laughing. "You're right, I'm not going to do it," he said, as soon as he'd regained enough composure. He then returned to a more serious expression and tone. "But if I did, what about it? You wouldn't be able to stop me."
Twilight had to bite down and hold herself back not to lunge at him, and she wasn't sure how much of it was her horn still being in pain. "What's so funny about all this destruction?" she growled out instead.
"Oh, nothing in particular about that," the Charioteer replied. "But this isn't about that. The consequences on the world down there are just that, consequences. This is about us. I said you couldn't stop me, and I proved that was the case. I won our little game, if you will."
At that point, Twilight was sure it was definitely the pain holding her back from blasting the stallion as hard as she could. He'd probably be able to take it anyway, she didn't have to worry about hurting him. "That's what all the lives of those down there are worth to you? Just consequences not to care about?"
"That is what I was saying there, yes," replied the Charioteer, nodding. "The point is, Twilight, that you can't stop me. Not here, not now, not alone. This is a battle you're bound to lose, and it's better for you not to fight it."
"Do you expect me to do nothing after this?" Twilight said, in what would have been a yell if her throat hadn't suddenly gone sore. "Do you expect me to just leave after what you did?"
The Charioteer shrugged. "It would be your choice, Twilight. Stay here for another futile attempt at stopping me, or go back and help those who need it while you have the time. Is revenge really more important to you?"
Twilight's horn had began to glow again, but she actually hesitated, considering the other's words.
The Charioteer spoke again. "It would be your choice. But I'm going to be nice, and take that responsibility away from you."
It happened somehow too quickly for Twilight to react to it, yet slowly enough for her to catch every detail. The reins around the stallion's front legs, with their same only half there nature as the Behemoth itself, suddenly became loose, and slid off of him. And they kept sliding away from his hooves, swinging away as they disappeared from view, their weight somehow noticeable even as they did so. The air seemed to visibly ripple around them as they moved through it, and then they were gone.
Smiling, the Charioteer looked at Twilight again. Then he spoke to her, his voice behind her, his body no longer where it had been up to that point. "Go take care of your country, Twilight. It needs you. I'll see you around."
Twilight turned fast enough to catch sight of him standing behind her. And once he finished speaking, he simply disappeared, nowhere to be seen.