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// Close Range Startracking 
// Story: Book 1 - The Behemoth came to Canterlot 
// by Equimorto 
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Celestia was walking down a street. It was a bright summer afternoon, the sky was clear, and she was still learning to enjoy having someone else be in charge of moving the Sun. A light breeze blew from the sea, carrying the smell of saltwater and a few droplets along the way. It was quite refreshing given the weather.
She felt it in her hooves first. A light tremor, a vibration in the earth. Too weak and too even to be from anything nearby, and initially she thought it might be an earthquake from somewhere a little farther away. Not an expected occurrence there, but it could always happen. Then it came again, a little stronger.
She shivered, and noticed the shadow that had fallen around her and over the whole town. It took one look at the sky to know it wasn't a passing cloud, a second towards Canterlot to realise what was casting it. Another quake came, and it split the road she was standing on.
She was in the air in an instant. In the back of her mind, a part of her was screaming about what she'd seen standing over the capital, caught in a whirlwind of questions and speculations over what could be happening. But on the front, she focused on taking care of what mattered there and then.
Ponies were already running out of their homes, she made sure none were left behind. She flew in and out of windows, flattened jutting chunks of rock that had emerged from the ground, broke holes into piles of rubble, and guided every creature she could find towards the few safe spots in the town where no harm could come to them.
The earth was done shaking long before she was done ensuring no one had gotten hurt. It bothered her not to be investigating what had happened right away, but she knew it would bother her far more if she didn't make sure everyone was well, as well as they could be given the circumstances.
One last look at the town, and a spell to ensure none of the buildings would be falling soon. Then her eyes joined those of everyone else in turning towards Canterlot, looking at the great beast that had taken residence there, its massive form barely seen.
She could feel something was different. A prickle of electricity running along her coat almost like it was coming from the air itself. In her hooves against the ground, in her feathers, in her horn, a familiar sensation she nevertheless was sure she'd never felt before. And a faint, barely felt hollowness in her core, like something had been cut away. With a deep breath she spread her wings, and took off towards Canterlot.