//------------------------------//
// Chapter 14 
// Story: Ursae Majoris: Eternal Knight 
// by Draconaes 
//------------------------------//

Chapter 14
******

Anderson threw the book he was holding down in disgust. "Screw this! I ain't gonna sit here perusin' alien texts all day for some other alien!" Kelly looked up with a grin.

"Did you... man." Kelly was struggling to keep a straight face. "How long have you held onto that word just waiting for the most ambiguous place to use it? I seriously can't tell if you intended the actual or the colloquial meaning of "peruse"! I mean, are you really still on about me correcting your English?" At this he burst out laughing. Kuthrine rolled her eyes and returned to her book. After a few moments she stopped and looked into the distance, her eyes unfocused.

Anderson decided he had had enough of scholarly company for the time being, and decided to patrol the forest. As he was leaving, he heard Kuthrine exclaim "Wait a second! These are alien texts! How in the- How are we reading them?" If Kelly had a response, Anderson didn't hear it.

The forest felt even stranger now. By chance, he had read a book concerning the weather and nature of this planet. Apparently, this forest was an anomaly, if the author was to be trusted. Which wasn't a sure bet, honestly. One section had laid out a theory involving mad gods running loose, which was a fairly incredible claim. On the other hoof - er hand ('Damn, these silly words are rubbing off on me!') - there was a lot about this planet that was incredible already, so maybe it wasn't so farfetched.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw movement. He turned and readied his rifle: Tyr seemed to trust that they wouldn't kill him or Tiamat for no reason. He saw something reptilian disappear into the bushes. After half a minute, he heard a screech of some sort, almost like a bird getting attacked. He cautiously made his way forward until he spotted Tyr crouching in a tree. He stopped at the base and glanced at his face.

Tyr seemed to be staring at something. Anderson followed his "gaze" and blinked when he saw Tiamat in a clearing a few dozen feet from them, far enough that she wouldn't be able to hear them: Dras hearing wasn't known for being particularly sharp. She was hunched over something. "She's feeding on it. They have some magical ability apparently. Fairly dangerous, if you have eyes." Anderson looked back up at Tyr. "You abandoned your reading."

"I ain't gonna pore over some books all day. Kelly and Kuthrine are the scholars anyway. They'll probably be better over separatin' fact from fiction at any rate. Thanks for the random Hodge-podge, by the way." Tyr turned his attention on him. Anderson felt like he was being glared at, insofar that a Dras could glare. "Kuthrine figured something out, too. Why's it in English?"

Tyr started chuckling at that. "She doesn't know? I had assumed she was better than that. Perhaps those focusers are more powerful than I thought." Tyr returned to staring at Tiamat. "No. I doubt those books are in English. The organism I spoke to earlier certainly did not speak it. In fact, I haven't spoken English at all just now."

"What are you talking about, I understood every word comin' outta your mouth. Um, jewel-thing."

"Exactly. Part of the arcanfield of this planet is involved in translating intended meaning across species, to an extent. The weave of the magic is such that another human speaking another of your human languages would not translate to you, but would to me. I also think that code or other methods of obfuscation would not be rendered useless. It's a strange magic."

Anderson narrowed his eyes. "How do you know all this anyway?"

Tyr laughed sharply. "I am a Starborn. We sense magic. It's how we "see" anything. We detect the true structure of the reality around us, without the intermediary of bouncing photons or sound waves. I can feel what this magic is doing to my perceptions." He fell silent, continuing to stare at Tiamat.

Anderson shuffled his feet for a bit before asking. "Why are you stalking Tiamat anyway? Seems a bit creepy, at least by human standards."

Tyr growled. "I'm observing a Starborn hunting and feeding. This is an academic activity."

"Academic?"

"I wish to learn more about my species. Perhaps I can make better decisions, then."

"And you are confiding in me because...?"

"I wish to learn more about your species. Social interaction seems to be a good method."

Anderson just stared at him. "Man, I don't know much about aliens, but something sure seems to be eating you. That's an idiom, by the way."

"Assumptions. You humans seem to thrive on assumptions. They are usually always wrong."

"You said yourself you were assuming stuff about Kuthrine."

"It was a turn of phrase."

"Oh really?"

"Ye-" Tyr cut himself off. "Huh." It was the first time Anderson has seen a Dras nonplussed.

"Well, have fun with your thoughts. I'm gonna go drink my worries away. Maybe you should try it sometime."

Tyr watched him go before turning his attention back to Tiamat. By now, she had drained the cockatrice of magic and blood, and was cleaning herself up.

"Huh."

******

Twilight was currently enjoying tea with Fluttershy just outside her cottage, admiring the sunny afternoon. Or at least, she wanted to be enjoying tea and admiring the day. Instead, she found herself venting about the azure and silver problems in her life.

"I don't know, Fluttershy. It just seems like we can't interact without some problems happening. I mean, I managed to get her to agree to be more cooperative. But still. I guess it doesn't really help that I kind of shot myself in the hoof a few times yesterday. Ugh..." Twilight let her head fall to the table. Angel steadied his bowl and shot Twilight a glare before hopping off to someplace with fewer unicorn-head-induced quakes.

"Oh, well, um, it sounds like she doesn't hold it against you. Um. Too much. She did say she wouldn't."

"Yeah, that's great. She doesn't hate me, she just doesn't trust me or have any reason to like me at all. Problem solved."

"Oh..."

Twilight glanced up at Fluttershy's stricken face. "Oh no, I'm sorry Fluttershy. I didn't-" Fluttershy cut her off with a wave of her hoof.

"No no, I know you, um, didn't mean anything by it. You're just upset right now. It's alright, really."

"Ugh! What am I going to do? I want to help her but she won't open up to me!"

Fluttershy fidgeted. "Well, um, I don't really want to imply that you, uh, aren't a good friend, because you are! You're a great friend! One of the best friends I know! But, uh, even so, and I mean no one is perfect, not to imply that you are far from perfect! Far from it! Which is, er, far from far from perfect, which is to say that you are actually pretty close to-"

Twilight facehoofed. "Fluttershy. Please just say it."

"Oh, right. Um, sorry. Well, it's just, I don't think you have actually been trying very hard to, uh, befriend her." Fluttershy hid behind her hair and squeaked.

Twilight blinked. "Huh? What do you mean? I've tried talking to her about her problems several times. I've given her work and a place to stay, even if she somewhat forced me into it. How am I not being friendly?"

"Well, if you really want to know..." Fluttershy took a deep breath. Twilight braced herself for one of her rants. "You've been running away from her." Twilight blinked again. 'That was short.'

"Running away?"

"Well, yes. When she showed up, Pinkie says you left right away and didn't come back until you needed to. Applejack said you spent most of the next day with her until the party, only interacting with Trixie to drag her home. The day after that you apparently sent her out at the earliest opportunity, and after she returned and you patched her up you left to finish her job. The day after that, I heard from Rarity that you left her to wander Ponyville on her own, and once you had an excuse you left to talk to Rarity as well. After that, you spent the rest of the day at Sugarcube Corner, leaving her alone in the library. And today, you came to talk to me and left Trixie alone again."

Twilight gaped. She tried opening and closing her mouth several times, but nothing happened. Had she really done all that? Apparently, she had. She thought of several excuses: Trixie would have turned down company. She needed to recover from her injuries. She was busy reading some tome or other. Twilight needed to talk to her friends. Still, the fact remained: she had been avoiding Trixie a lot the past four days, intentionally or not.

"But... but..."

"I'm... I'm not saying you did the wrong thing, or that you didn't have reasons, but, uh, it isn't that hard to see why Trixie, maybe wouldn't see you as a friend, given the circumstances?"

Twilight sighed. "Yeah, I guess you're right Fluttershy. Thanks. I suppose I needed somepony to point that out to me."

"Don't feel bad, Twilight. You can still be friends with Trixie, I think. You just have to try spending more time with her."

"Hmph. Easier said than done. So doesn't seem very keen on socializing with me. Or anyone, for that matter. Unless it's a performance."

"Well, maybe you could try being nicer." Twilight raised an eyebrow. Fluttershy's smile was quickly replaced with horror. "Oh! I didn't mean to imply that you, um, weren't nice in the first place. I just meant, well, um, since she still doesn't trust you, that you might try even more, or, uh, keep trying. Maybe offer to help her with something, or, um, just having a nice conversation, or something." She trailed off with a quiet squeak.

Twilight rubbed her temples with her hooves. "Alright Fluttershy. Maybe you're right. I still wonder why I'm trying to be friends with her sometimes, but then I remember that-" Twilight suddenly froze. "Uh, never mind. I was just rambling! Haha! Thanks for the advice Fluttershy, and for listening to me rant. I suppose I should start right away with Trixie. Maybe I can help her with her research or something. I'll see you later." Twilight got up to leave.

"Bye Twilight Sparkle! I hope if all works out for you. And, uh, if you ever need my help, feel free to stop by!"

"I will. Thanks for the tea. Goodbye!"

Twilight started down the path back to Ponyville. Fluttershy had given her a lot to think about. She hadn't realized how she may have been treating Trixie. 'I hope this hasn't bothered her too much.' Still, it was a nice sunny day, and Twilight was now better equipped to handle Trixie, so it wasn't hard to feel a little optimistic. 'I'm sure everything will turn out fine.'