Ursae Majoris: Eternal Knight

by Draconaes

Chapter 17

Chapter 17
******

300 years ago...

Tyr stood in one of the many gardens aboard the Myopic. Nyx's flagship was odd like that. It was the smallest ship in the fleet, with two large, decorative wings; utterly useless. Tyr understood the aesthetic appeal, but he felt pragmatism had to be respected at some point. Fitted with gardens, arenas, and other recreational facilities. It didn't even have any weapons aside from a relatively low-powered laser. Even a simple kinetic weapon would be more useful, but Nyx apparently favored its "elegance".

So much about Nyx made so little sense. So much of it was what made him love and respect her. Unfortunately, the same was what made it abundantly clear that Aegis was right about her. She was not suited to leading the Escape, unofficial as it was.

Tyr looked down at his hands, flexing his claws. This was his fifth set. They hadn't even had to grind them down to fit him this time, having found a younger omega for the job. They had decided to replace a couple of his organs early, while they were at it. Maintenance was always a nuisance: he couldn't even leave the ship for a month so that Thanatos's team could be sure everything was in working order.

"Congratulations on the new claws. Very sharp."

Tyr quickly clenched his fists and turned to face the intruder, growling. "This is indec-" He stopped as he saw Aegis standing behind him. "...cent. Your mission was a success, then?"

"Exposed claws between the trusted is hardly indecent, Tyr. Do you trust me?" Tyr slowly unclenched his fists.

"...Yes. I trust you."

"Indeed. To answer your second query, no. My mission failed spectacularly, in the best way possible."

"I can see why Nyx hates you. Give me a straight response."

"You do not give orders to a High Instructor, Agent."

"I was under the impression that we were speaking of matters outside the Escape's... jurisdiction."

Aegis smiled and dipped her head. "Ah, I though I had been more subtle than that. It's a good thing you are on my side, then. The eternal was gone. Maybe if Nyx had captured warp drive technology before I departed, I would have caught him, and returned several hundred years earlier. But..." She turned and walked to a nearby alcove, beckoning Tyr to follow. She continued in a whisper. "I did find two others. One of them seems to have control over a star."

"But you didn't capture them?"

"No. They weren't always eternals, apparently. There is some method on their world to transform a being into one. We could use this. We wouldn't have to undergo maintenance anymore, ignoring any other power we might receive. This could be the key to saving the Escape!"

Tyr was stunned. This "revolution" was happening much sooner and much faster than he had expected. "When?"

"Not yet. We must be discreet. You will need another excuse to depart. It may yet take some time. Besides, apparently we are at war with a new species already. Humans, was it? Did you take part in the initial assault?"

Tyr hung his head. "No. I was removed from such tasks due to "excessive casualties"."

Aegis laughed. "I assumed as much. They would have been more successful otherwise."

"Nyx was fascinated enough by many of their gods that all, including those not in the invasion, were encouraged to adopt new names. Nyx personally assigned me the name "Tyr"."

"I like that one. I've already been informed, and have taken "Syn". Nyx and her naming obsession... I suppose it's best to play along. What does "Myopic" mean anyway? It is an odd name for a ship."

"It's a human word. Supposedly means "short-sighted". I understand the appeal, but I'm not sure if it is supposed to be a dual adjective or mean something else entirely. I guess she couldn't find a word meaning "Beautiful Vision"."

Syn chuckled. "I think she may be referring to her favorite agent. She is the only one that's less hulking than you are, and unlike her you still view the world around you."

Tyr sighed. "I know you love to dress insults as compliments, but must you also insist on the reverse? Besides, I'm not that... compact of size."

"You deserve more arrogance and less modesty, Agent. You are not Nyx's favored agent for naught. I'll leave you to your recovery. I shall inform you when our next move is ready."

******

300 years in the future...

'Void welcome this planet. Void welcome Tyr. Void welcome this heavy human! I don't care what species you are, someone this small should not weigh this much. If Tyr was worried about me pursuing a human, he need not any longer. They could easily fight me off, ignoring how unattractive this... massiveness is.' Panting, Tiamat stopped dragging Kelly and slumped against a tree.

Up until this point, both starborn had tried to avoid physical exertion. The Planet was uncomfortable enough as it was. Now however, Tiamat was truly feeling the full extent of the planets torment. 'The void would be refreshing after this. No sweltering heat. No crushing gravity. No viscous atmosphere. Just empty, eternal, peace.' Tiamat was soon asleep.

******

Trixie finally broke into the clearing, panting. The cart wasn't that heavy, but dragging through the forest hadn't been very easy. "Ta *pant* Tyr?! Where *pant* are you?" Looking around the clearing, she noticed a campfire near the metal airship. A campfire with two strange looking bipeds sitting next to it, staring are her. "Oh, uh... excuse me... whatever you are. Trixie must be in the wrong place. Silly me! Uh, no need to attack me, I'll just leave my cart here and go!"

"Wait! You're here to meet that lizard?" Trixie was a little surprised that it could speak.

"Uh... well, I suppose you could say meet."

The other one spoke this time. It sounded female. "So, you are his... contact, here?"

"Well, we've been in contact, I mean I'm not necessarily an ally of his..."

The female looked to the other one, then back at her. "Oh, wait, I get it. Don't worry. If you're with Tyr, then we're allies of yours, I suppose."

Trixie calmed down immediately. "Oh, haha! Yes, of course! Trixie should have guessed the he would have others with him. Ahem. Allow Trixie to properly introduce herself. I-" She struck a pose with her hoof to her chest. "-am The Great and Powerful Trixie!" She flared her cape dramatically. "Soon to be renowned traveling showmare and expert magician! Latest prodigy of the Night Clan! Vanquisher of the dread Star Dragon!"

The two creatures glanced at each other. "Star Dragon?"

Trixie's ears fell flat against her head. "Oh, uh, right. Never you mind that one. Anyway, I'm not really sure what you two are. You like like some sort of hairless ape."

The female started laughing, but the male looked a bit annoyed. "Well... I guess that's about right. We're called humans. And what are you, a small horse with a horn on its head?"

Trixie gasped. "How dare you! Hmph!"

"I think you may have offended it, Anderson. Hey, Trixie, we genuinely don't really know what you are. Ignore Anderson, he's not really a master of tact."

"Hmph. Fine. If you must know, I am a pony, a member of the unicorn tribe. "Horse", for your information, is a rather rude thing to call a modern pony. It's a bit complicated to explain if you don't already know. Just read some donkey history, if you can stomach it."

"So, there's multiple tribes then? I'm only aware of a single government."

"Well, yes, there's multiple tribes. But there's only one government. The unification of the tribes is ancient history, mostly myth by this point. Maybe I should tell some of what actually happened for a Hearth's Warming Eve special..." Trixie put a hoof to her chin.

The female coughed, bringing her attention back. "So, am I right that there are three tribes, then? Unicorn, Pegasus, and Earth?"

"Yes..." Trixie narrowed her eyes. "How do you know that?"

"Well, Tiamat brought us these books you see here, and Tyr ordered us to study them. The hard part was actually discerning fact from fiction. Usually it was obvious, but with a planet like this, well... you never know."

Trixie was barely paying attention at this point. She looked over the books, eyes wide. "W-Where did you get these from?"

The male, apparently named Anderson, spoke up. "Hell if I know. Tiamat just dumped them here."

"She and Kelly were actually going to get more tonight. I wonder why they aren't back yet."

Trixie was starting to panic. "No! Nonononononono! This is terrible! These are from Twilight's library! And Luna is with Twilight! And Twilight will noticed these are missing! And she will think I took them! And she will use a spell to track them down! And then they will find me and Luna will banish me and I'll be kicked out of the Night Clan and I'll never show those unicorns and my parents will stop loving me and Twilight will fire me and they'll probably kill or imprison all of you and then there won't be a grand adventure and my life will be ruuuuuined!" Trixie collapsed with her hooves over her head.

"...Wow, she actually threw in some concern for us."

"Don't be stupid, Anderson. She said only cares about us as some sort of "adventure".

"Well, what do we do now. We've got a wreck of a unicorn sitting here and no Tyr."

"Maybe we should go look for Kelly and Tiamat"

"How's that help the unicorn?"

"Who said anything about helping the unicorn?"

Before Anderson could respond, they heard movement just outside the camp. Turning, they saw Kelly half-carrying a wobbly-legged Tiamat into camp. "Hey guys. Can you help me out with Tiamat? I think I've spent enough time under her for one day."

Kuthrine started cracking up. Anderson just gaped. "What the hell happened?"

"She wore herself out. Too much physical exertion or something. Seriously, what's with the looks here?"

Kuthrine was trying to catch her breath. "Y-You! I can't, believe, I-I mean, all that joking around! And then, you come up, with her draped over your shoulders, and you say- bwahahahaha!"

Kelly blushed. "W-What? No! What?"

Tiamat looked up. "What... what is the female mage talking about."

"She's implying that we... you know... uh..."

"Just say it! "Reproduced"! Hahaha!"

Tiamat jerked he head. "What? Is he bleeding?"

"What? No, I'm not bleeding! How is that even relevant?"

"I don't know how... one could come... to such a conclusion then." Everyone just stared.

"That's..."

"Kinky?"

"I was gonna say disturbing, Kuthrine."

"Why would I need to be bleeding?"

"Well... obviously the incision to extract-"

"Never mind! I really do not want to know! The point is, she wore herself out dragging my unconscious body halfway through the forest. Thanks for that, by the way. I may not be bleeding but I'll probably find tons of bruises in the morning."

"Well... next time... don't react that way... when I touch you."

While Kuthrine was busy trying to contain herself, Anderson grabbed Tiamat's other arm and helped Kelly lead her over to the fire. She promptly hissed at them.

"Not... to the fire... too hot... as it is." They decided to lean her against the hull of the ship instead. "i see... the unicorn... brought the supplies."

"Yeah, and then she flipped out over the books and is currently a quivering mess. Said something about someone tracking her down through 'em."

"It is Tyr's problem... let him deal with it."

"Indeed." Tyr walked past them and crouched next to Trixie, who removed her hooves from her face upon hearing his voice. "Hello, Trixie. I am known as Tyr. I'm glad you could join us."