Book 1 - The Behemoth came to Canterlot

by Equimorto

Passage

After a moment spent holding her breath, making sure she was still there and alive, Twilight opened her eyes. The first thing she did was look down. Not that there was anything to see in that direction, though she supposed that indeed confirmed she'd gotten the coordinates right. It did hit her at that moment just where, exactly, she was, and what she was doing, but she forced herself to push through it and looked around.

She was greeted before she even laid eyes on the stallion. "Hello," he said. "I've been waiting for you."

"The Charioteer, I presume?" asked Twilight, stepping closer to him. He looked just as Firecracker had described him, at least seen from behind.

"That would be me, yes." Still, the stallion didn't turn. "And you are Twilight... Twilight Sparkle. Just Twilight Sparkle. No Aurora here."

Twilight chose to ignore that last bit for the time being. "I only know you by your title. This doesn't seem all that fair." She got closer still, but not too close, and kept her horn ready.

"Would you rather I address you by your title as well? I don't think so. You get to choose what I call you by, allow me to do the same. But let's not waste time on this kind of matters."

Twilight bit her lower lip. "You know why I'm here, don't you?"

"Answers. The same thing most sapient creatures do just about anything that isn't tied to their survival for. That or having fun." The Charioteer turned to look at Twilight. "Start asking questions, then."

Twilight swallowed, as she studied the stallion's expression. She was in danger, and she knew it. And yet, faced with the possibility of everything she could learn, seemingly safe from harm until he decided otherwise, she could not help but indulge her own curiosity. "Is it really true that every world has its Behemoth? Its abomination, as I've heard them called?"

The Charioteer smiled. "Every world that matters. Every world you can reach. I don't know about others, if other worlds do exist beyond these. I do know you'll never reach them, should they be out there." He stood, and Twilight noticed the reins wrapped around his front legs. "Every world has its own, in time. Even the nightmare world you've found. Even that one."

A shudder ran through Twilight at those last words. She knew what the other meant with them. "Do they all have a Charioteer?" she asked.

The stallion kept on smiling. It seemed like a genuine thing, no traces of mockery in it. "This, I don't actually know. I never paid much attention to them, truly. Those I know of do have some form of guide, not quite like me yet not too greatly different. But others might not. I don't suggest you bother checking, though."

Twilight swallowed again. She could afford to be curious a while longer, she thought. "Where do you come from?"

"Someplace else." The stallion chuckled. "Then again, everyone does. From beyond this world, I suppose. I don't know if it has a name that would mean anything to you or to any of the worlds you might meet. To me it's simply the place I come from."

Comments

[FanOfMostEverything]

Well, Twilight seems to be asking the right sorts of questions. Maybe. Let's see how much longer the Charioteer's good humor lasts... and how long Twilight can endure the local conditions. Hopefully alicorns are made of sterner stuff in that regard.

[Saix]

"That would be me, yes." Still, the stallion didn't turn. "And you are Twilight... Twilight Sparkle. Just Twilight Sparkle. No Aurora here."

No idea what this is alluding to, bar maybe some other version of Twilight from another universe. I thought it might be some fanon joke I missed, but searching a little turned up nothing.

"Every world has its own, in time. Even the nightmare world you've found. Even that one."

Well, that should provide incentive for Nightmare Moon to at least not waste time with hostilities once she's told about the abominations, unless she's completely off her rocker.

"This, I don't actually know. I never paid much attention to them, truly. Those I know of do have some form of guide, not quite like me yet not too greatly different. But others might not. I don't suggest you bother checking, though."

This just makes me want to see them more.