Book 1 - The Behemoth came to Canterlot

by Equimorto

Bringer of Pain - Part 1

Firecracker swallowed. They had indeed looked around while the stallion was speaking, though they still had their doubts about where exactly they were. Not so much doubts about where it was supposed to be, more so about actually being there. Still, he'd said to ask questions, and they'd listen to that advice. "Who are you?"

"Ah, yes, there's a good question." The stallion smiled. "I am the Charioteer. Or the Mahout, if you'd prefer." There was a pause. "I would have gestured, here, but you may notice my legs are a little tied at the moment." He lifted his front legs slightly, and Firecracker noticed straps wrapped around them that led off somewhere in front of him. They seemed to wane in and out of reality, in an all too familiar way.

There was a nervous twitch through the pegasus' body at the sight. Their mind jumped to the first question it could come up with, even if it wasn't what they'd wanted to. "Where are we?" asked Firecracker, their throat a little dry.

The stallion chuckled. "Come on now. You've figured it out already. Or do you really need to hear it?"

Firecracker swallowed. Did they want to hear it? They hesitated, and asked something else instead. "Why?"

"I've already answered that. Please don't ask questions I have already answered, don't indulge my chattiness beyond measure. Just because I get lonely up here. You'll have to leave at some point, I'd rather you spend the time we have asking questions you don't already know the answer to."

Firecrackers gave half a nod, their breath growing deeper. Sparks of lightning coursed along the tips of their feathers, but it was more of a nervous reaction than anything else. "How did I get here?" they asked.

"Your friend decided to lend you a hoof," replied the stallion. "She figured the risk of what could happen if she took you on would be better than the certainty of you flattened under a rock. And it looks like it was the right choice. Funny you'd end up here, but I suppose it makes sense."

Firecracker took a few seconds to reflect on that, taking in the information. "Where is she now?" they asked, worried, forgetting their situation for a moment.

"Oh, come on, just because I can see a lot of things from up here it doesn't mean I can see everyone and everything," said the Charioteer with a very blatantly faux offended tone. Then he smiled, and turned to have a look in front of himself. "She's looking for you right now. She seems pretty worried. She's close to here, actually, I imagine she'll get into town in a few minutes."

Their worries sedated, Firecracker focused back on the present. The stallion knew way too much to just be pretending, and they'd had enough time to accept and make sure they really were there. The feeling underneath their hooves wasn't getting any better, and they feared it would start to crawl up their legs at some point. "You brought this thing here."

Looking back towards the pegasus, the stallion frowned. "Not quite how I would say it went, no. But I suppose, in a way, if you want to put it like that. Really, I was more along for the ride."

"Take it away." Firecracker's tone was firm, and angry.

"Now, now. I can't just do that. But I can get it to move, if you really want me to." He smiled, and held up his front legs again, the reins around them growing more visible as he pulled on them. "Should I have it take another step?"

Comments

[FanOfMostEverything]

Oh. Oh. Didn't expect that. This guy definitely deserves a healthy level of respect, though his culpability in all of this is unclear. Still, moving the Behemoth seems... ill-advised at the moment. Who knows how much more damage it would cause in the process?

[Venerable Ro]

Huh, there's something to be said about the old adage of tiger riding.