//------------------------------//
// Chapter 21 
// Story: Ursae Majoris: Eternal Knight 
// by Draconaes 
//------------------------------//

Chapter 21
******

"Alright, Trixie." Kelly looked the azure unicorn in the eye. "I don't really know you, and you don't really know me. In fact, this conversation right here is probably the first real pony/human interaction of any sort. I suppose I don't have any real vested interest in your well-being, aside from the fact that we are fellow captives."

Trixie looked at him quizzically. "What are you talking about? I agreed to help Tyr of my own free will! No one owns Trixie but Trixie herself!"

"And I suppose you weren't threatened or coerced whatsoever?" Tiamat sniggered. Trixie glanced at her, then lowered her gaze. "At any rate, that's not the point. The point is, is that for whatever reason, I don't feel comfortable letting you go into this blind. I want you to know what you are getting yourself into in regards to dealing with a dras."

Kelly shifted his weight to get more comfortable. "From what I understand, your culture isn't too different from ours. You seem to be a bit more cooperative and peaceful than us, but specific cultural details aside, we are both social species. We can understand each other on a fairly fundamental level."

"Dras are different. It's dangerous to deal with a creature that you don't understand, and that's especially true for them. Luckily, since Tiamat elected to stay, she can help us."

Tiamat chuckled. "I suppose I can disillusion her about her obsession."

Trixie tilted her head. "What are you referring to?"

Tiamat gestured at her costume. "I see you found inspiration from Tyr. You might not want to follow him blindly, even if you love his style of clothing."

Trixie blushed. "Trixie is no gullible idiot. She doesn't trust others without cause. That goes for you two as well, though. Tyr cautioned me against listening to you, and you warn me to be careful around Tyr. I'm not about to blindly trust either of you. You may continue your warning, however."

Kelly raised an eyebrow and glanced at Tiamat. "Tyr doesn't trust you? Aren't you friends, though?"

This time she let out a sharp laugh. "You think our relationship is friendship? I hesitate to consider what you would think of Tyr and Syn. We are tools, accessories to each other."

"Alright then." He turned back to Trixie. "Brief history then. I'll let Tiamat tell the Escape's version first, then I'll tell ours."

Tiamat grinned. "Basically, we were without government for most of our time as an intelligent species. We are loners by nature, and society by its very nature was a strange concept. That didn't stop small tribes from forming out of more... aberrant attitudes. I was informed that Nyx founded the Escape after her crippling, but I do not know the details. She gathered several others and created the High Instruction. They became known as the null-generation, dras who were hatched normally. They destroyed our home world, Death, and stripped the neighboring worlds, Tooth, Claw, Wing, and Mind, for materials. A nomadic fleet was formed, and we have assimilated any other civilizations we have come across, excluding the latest, humanity.

"We invaded Earth, but underestimated humanity. They managed to drive our forces away, killing several. It was one of the largest losses that we have ever suffered. They also acquired our warp drives from the exchange. They created the Empire in response, and a state of cold war has existed since."

Kelly sighed. "I can't really offer an opposing view of anything before the invasion, but past that point she's pretty much got it right, as far as brief summaries go. As for why we are here in the first place, we saw that your star was behaving erratically for a regular star and came to investigate. Tyr hijacked our expedition and freed Tiamat here, but I don't really know what he's after. He just said something or other about learning more about what he calls eternals."

"But, what about before now? Tyr said that his people had been here before! They were involved with the Nightmare Moon incident a thousand years ago!"

Tiamat spoke up. "He told me the story he told you. I feel no obligation to not point this out. He had said that "yes" was the correct answer to the question "were you involved?". He didn't say it was the truth."

Kelly sighed. "Which brings us to the next part of this discussion. Dras allegedly don't lie, or at least don't like to, but they are not above being misleading and letting others misinterpret them. Telling you that they are involved with major historical events is a bit of a bad habit for dras. There's something about them that I've grown to understand: they are cowards."

Tiamat hissed. "When I said I would not silence you, I did not anticipate petty insults!"

Kelly glared at her. "Oh don't you deny it. Think about it, Trixie. They aren't especially physically strong. They steal their technology from others. They aren't exactly skilled at interacting with other species socially. They are exceptionally weak, really, considering how much power they have. You wouldn't even know these weaknesses except that I just told you, and that is their strength. The appearance of power gives them real power. Tyr said that his answer was the correct answer because it was the answer that the Escape would want him to give. By appearing to be entangled in major historical events, the dras would appear to be powerful, and you would be less likely to resist them. They are parasitic bullies. Literally parasitic too, as a matter of fact."

"You act as though we are wrong to be this way. We survive, don't we? Your glorification of bravery and sacrifice isn't as noble as you seem to think." Tiamat summoned her blade. Kelly just looked at her coolly.

"Doesn't make your race less cowardly. In fact, I'm impressed you haven't run away yet."

She snarled. "Are you fond of generalization and gross simplification?"

"I'm a human, aren't I?"

Tiamat snarled again, and opened and closed her mouth a few times. After a few moments, she shot to her feet and ran off. Trixie watched the exchange with wide eyes. "What... was that about?"

Kelly sighed. "I implied that she was a hypocrite. It's fairly insulting for a dras. More than it is for a human, at least. They despise being inaccurate, so questioning their understanding of something really gets to them. Their preferred response to difficult situations is either acting threatening or running away. Usually they manage to pull off both."

Trixie glanced back at the ship, remembering her first encounter with Tyr. "They don't seem all that cowardly to me..."

"Well, yeah. They don't consider very many things a threat. That's usually because they tend to underestimate anything they come across. If you do manage to scare one, though, watch out."

"How do you know?"

"Personal experience. Same incident that led me to my "friendship" with Tiamat, in fact. Man, talk about a rocky relationship, though..."

Trixie thought about Twilight, and how she had last left her. Thinking back on it, she felt a little guilty. She had initially felt that Twilight was doubting her abilities and trying to hold her back. In retrospect, it was obvious that Twilight was only concerned for her safety, considering her perspective on the situation. And Trixie had responded by shouting her down, stealing form her, and running away. 'I really wish this situation didn't sound so familiar.' She couldn't afford to think about why. Not here. Not now.

"How... how did you and Tiamat become "friends"?" Kelly raised an eyebrow. She quickly amended her statement. "It might help me understand these star dragons a bit better, at least."

"Heh, alright, alright. I get it. Disinterested facade, right? Gotta keep up appearances and all that." Trixie blushed. "Well, it was a few days ago..."

******

Begin flashback!

Kelly was pretty bored. He almost wished Tyr would finally use them for what he wanted and then kill them. Waiting around for it with nothing to do was torture. At the moment, he was busying himself with observing the various flora that grew in the forest. He was examining an oddly colored flower when he heard a gasp. He stood and looked around. He heard it again, and managed to pinpoint where it was coming from.

A few dozen feet to his left, he found Tiamat in a tree, curled up and clinging to a branch. She was gasping strangely, as if she were having difficulty breathing. 'Do dras even breath?' It might have been crying but for the lack of tears. 'Duh, Kelly. They don't have tear ducts, or even eyes at all.'

"Hey." Tiamat's head shot up. "Are you alright?"

"Are you very unobservant, or is this meaningless banter?" Her translator's speech didn't convey very much emotion. He wondered if it even could.

"What's wrong?"

"We are flying. We are flying and Tyr wants to ground us. But Tyr says we are flying toward doom, and we must change course. So I am afraid. I am afraid that it will overtake us."

"What is it?"

"You have no word for it. Chaos, entropy, death, void, order, harmony, collapse. All of these and none of these would describe it. The Inevitability, where it consumes the universe and we are ended. I am terrified and there is nothing I can do. Inaction will change nothing, and action hastens our demise. So we choose action, in the hope that we might succeed. But there is nothing. It was always futile. I don't want to die, human. I don't want to die. I want to live and I understand now that you want to live and that nothing wants to die. We are not so separate, cousin. And it scares me. I think my mental faculties may be suffering. And that scares me, as well."

By this point Kelly had climbed the tree and sat on a branch next to her. He placed a hand on her shoulder. She tensed and flared her wings, but then relaxed, recognizing the intent of the gesture. "I didn't even know dras could have mental breakdowns. It seems like you're mostly upset about mortality. No one lives forever, though."

Tiamat flinched. "I am afraid you are correct. Nyx promises the immortality of the starborn, but we are still killed sometimes. Maybe it is impossible for us to live forever."

"Wait, you mean you guys don't die of old age?"

"Out bodies do age. We harvest replacements from omegas." Kelly blanched. "How do humans live with death?"

"Er, uh, well odd phrasing aside, there's not really one, singular method that I'm aware of. Personally? I think most of us just try to leave some sort of mark on the world, influencing future generations. Some of us consider that a form of immortality."

"...Yes. A mark. Thank you. Don't inform the others of my "breakdown". Especially not Tyr."

"Hey, what are friends for?"

"Are we friends?"

Kelly smiled. "Well, why not?"

Tiamat smiled back.

End flashback!

******

"It seems that, philosophically, they have an obsession with immortality and some weird hang up about the second law of thermodynamics or something. Which makes sense, I guess, in regards to the immortality thing. Their nation's long-term goals seem to boil down to "running from fate", basically. Keep that in mind when dealing with them."

"Immortality... huh. I just thought of something. I wonder if the goddesses know about these other worlds."

Kelly blinked. "You know, you are taking the whole "intelligent life from another world" thing pretty well, especially considering the level of tech this world seems to have."

"Well, you are different, of course, but I've dealt with other intelligent creatures before. It's not like you're a dragon or anything."

"Oh, right, I suppose living with other sentient species would make it easier to understand." He glanced behind him. Trixie followed his gaze and saw that Tiamat was returning. She didn't look happy. "Anyway, I'm not saying that you shouldn't help Tyr. It's your decision. Don't give him more power than you need to though, and be careful. I honestly shouldn't even be in this situation. My only goal is to survive this whole-"

Trixie felt a wave of pain hit her and collapsed. It felt like her horn was on fire. She saw Kelly slump over with a blank look on his face and his strange helmet giving off sparks. Her last thought before darkness took her was of her parents.