Book 1 - The Behemoth came to Canterlot

by Equimorto

Density

"I've never seen anything like what you're describing, no. But did you have to drag me all the way here?"

Twilight made a sound that was a cross between a sigh and a chuckle. "You did it with me, I felt the need to return the experience." She stepped to the stallion's side and looked up at the Behemoth not too far away from them.

"I had my reasons," he replied. "This is just being playful. I hope you have other reasons for having called me here than simply telling me something you could have just written." He lowered his gaze and had a look around the ruined portion of Canterlot they were in, seeming almost worried that someone might see him there.

"Don't worry," said Twilight, "I do." Her horn flashed once, a pulse of magic emanating from it that coated both her and the stallion in a sheen of soft purple light that dissipated an instant later. Before he had time to ask or say anything, Twilight's horn shone again.

The two of them disappeared, to reappear somewhere else. While the stallion took stock of his situation and looked around in confusion and mild shock, Twilight explained, "I managed to get the data I needed on this spell while I was here, now I know it's good enough to protect both of us. I'll give you the details later. If all scale-type objects give the same readings, it might work with other abominations too."

The stallion was momentarily speechless, looking beneath himself at the almost translucent surface they were standing on. "Are we really..."

Twilight nodded. "And as you can see, we're alone. I'd honestly hoped he'd be back here, but I should have known he wouldn't be." She gave a look around, then a nod in a direction. "If we continued that way, we might actually find the reins still there. But Harmony knows how long it would actually take to get there."

The stallion looked at her, quizzically raising an eyebrow. "Do you mean... Is it different, this up close?"

"It's only a supposition," Twilight said. "But look at the clouds around us. We're much higher than this thing is supposed to be, and I don't think they're even really there. It might actually take days to reach the head from here. I don't know if it's really that big and it's warping space to fit in the world, or the other way around, but something is off about it. Something has always been off about it, I just didn't have the data to confirm it." She stared off into the distance, reminiscing. "I looked this thing in the eye the day it manifested itself, and yet its shadow reached all the way to Ponyville."

"Are you planning to explore it?" the stallion asked, walking up to her side.

"Maybe," said Twilight. "I'm not sure if I want to bother it."

"May I?" He looked at her, and she looked back at him.

"So long as it's not impeding the rest of your research."

Comments

[FanOfMostEverything]

Oh ho. Charting the Behemoth could definitely be interesting. And with a guaranteed ward against the nasty effects of proximity, it could prove quite enlightening, especially for a scholar of abominations. We'll see where this goes.