Book 1 - The Behemoth came to Canterlot

by Equimorto

Doreign

It had grown to the size of a dog, a medium size dog, though it did not look like a dog and was as a result far heavier than a dog, being far bulkier. It looked more like a hefty millipede, or a caterpillar, or a slightly longer and blockier pill-bug. Its shape and colour definitely evoked an insect, though its size was by then far past that of most of them. It would have looked wrong to any pony who may have laid eyes upon it, something dangerous to remove or inform someone more competent of, and for that reason it hid.

It hid in an attic, in an old but well kept house in Ponyville, one belonging to a single stallion who rarely received many visits. The house was not too big, but it was not small either. A good enough size for it to roam around when it needed to, though it mostly spent its time in the attic. Not at night, of course, at night it left the attic to feed itself. It needed food to grow, and more food the larger it grew. Getting it all from a single pony without rousing suspicion was a delicate balancing act, one it was not sure it could continue to pull off. It had been making plans to target the neighbours as well, supposing it would fail to bring any more ponies into the house for permanent residence.

It would need to move again once it grew again. A shame, as it liked the attic it was in, but a single pony would not be enough once it reached its next size. Already it knew it would need to keep the ponies it was feeding from permanently unconscious, feeding on a single one in those conditions would kill them. It of course did not care about the lives of its prey, but it cared about the availability of its food, and eliminating so quickly a source of nourishment that could last far longer if properly utilised would be counterproductive for a number of reasons. The need to find a replacement, the higher likelihood of being found, the risk of not finding sufficient food quickly enough.

Those were all issues it would need to worry about later, though. And although it was already scouting for its next housing every few nights, when the Moon was darkest or the sky filled with clouds, for the time being its main focus remained squarely on surviving within the house it was in. The pony there had remained oblivious to its presence, and would likely continue to be so, but only if it continued to be careful. It was a blessing that the trapdoor to the attic could be opened and closed from inside the way it could be, and that it was silent enough not to wake the stallion, far enough from the main entrance to be closed in time when he returned home. If he ever did decide to go look up there, not that there was much for him to find, it would slither to some dark corner and wait there. It hoped that would be enough to go unnoticed.

Comments

[Speckle]

Sounds like a Changeling larva. Wonder how they got there....and what they're up to?

[Saix]

Creepy. Is this the giant centipede thing that escaped from the dream?