In Space, We Don't Abandon Innocence

by David Silver

24 - Fight Fight Fight

The scowling commander of the dragons stood near the center of the arena. Other dragons cheered and encouraged both combatants about as equally, as if they didn't care who won, just that it would be a show worth watching. Dawning stood on one end, clad in a comfortable orange-yellow leather with yellow straps around her body to hold things in place. The commander wore a black leather outfit with steel plates bolted onto it.

Twilight appeared in the center. "I will be acting as your referee today if neither of you have objections?"

Dawning stretched herself out, more catlike than dragonlike, rolling her head to crack her neck. "I don't mind."

The commander shrugged. "Whatever." He checked his metal plate armguards, making sure they were firmly in place.

Twilight tossed her hair back as she flared her wings wide. "Then the rules will be as follows. When one combatant concedes or loses consciousness, the fight will immediately end. Dragons, unlike humans, are built for fighting, so anything that isn't cheating is permitted. The fight will last until a decisive victor has been determined, or one of the previous conditions has been met. Please, no killing."

"Finally!" Dawning stomped towards the commander, her claws sliding from their sheaths with a grinding noise.

Twilight held up a hoof. "Wait." But there was no waiting, the two dragons lunging for one another.

Roger watched the conflict from the sidelines. "I am no expert in dragon anatomy, but most of them seem to have claws that don't move. Why can hers retract like that?"

"Good question." Twilight stood at his side as she watched the fight unfold. "The best guess I can provide is that it is a dragon-feline hybrid trait."

He snapped his fingers. "That makes sense. But how did she get any cat in her?"

Answers to that were not forthcoming as the two warriors clashed. The commander went for great smashes, but Dawning was as fast as the feline parts suggested. Dodging nimbly, she scraped, battered, and pelted the larger dragon. Barely avoiding a stabbing horn aimed for her eyes, she jumped back. The moment she landed, she kicked up sand towards his face, and surged forward to gouge his leg with her claws.

He howled with pain as the crowd jeered at his poor performance.

One of the dragons slammed the ground loud enough to get both their attentions. "Pathetic!" She pointed at the commander. "She is barely emerging from her egg and you're letting her take this long to crush? I move we need a new leader." She rose with a sneer. "And I say it's me."

Dawning faltered, glancing over at the sudden new voice.

The commander wasn't distracted by her, but he was by the interruption. "Hey! Shut up, dragonette. You're just here to watch."

That was an invitation to battle, and one the other dragon accepted with a sudden charging rush. They collided with slamming fists and fierce growls.

Dawning backed away slowly, her hands up. "Um. Why am I doing this again?"

Twilight reappeared nearby. "I believe this match has been cancelled." She inclined her head towards the two grown dragons fighting it out. "And a new one has begun. Dawning Star, I suggest you move to a safe distance."

Dawning hurried over to Roger's side. "Yeah, um, yeah, I'm with you."

Roger furrowed his brow as he watched the two dragons fighting. "Twilight, are they going to be all right?"

Twilight huffed softly. "I cannot be certain. If I had to select one, I would rather the new challenger win, as they are likely to not pursue Dawning Star further."

The fight didn't last much longer, with the dragonette holding down the other with a stomping foot. "The ship is mine, by rite of combat!" The crowd cheered for her victory.

Roger held up his hands to applaud politely, Dawning joined in after a moment of thought.

Twilight brought her hooves together. "May I introduce the new captain of this vessel, Shadow Slayer!"

The she dragon bowed in acceptance of the praise before kicking her defeated. "Back on your claws! We have work to do." Just like that, she led him and the rest of the crowd back towards her ship.

Dawning dashed over to her side. "Hey, maybe shouldn't ask, but what about me?"

"What about you?" Shadow Slayer rolled her eyes. "You have a good fight for a wyrmling. You do what you want to do. If someone tells you not to, slash their eyes out. That's all there is to it."

"Great." Dawning lowered her voice to a whisper. "And how do I get home?"

Shadow Slayer spread her wings as she gestured around. "You made friends with these ponies. Ask them to get you home." With a rough laugh, she moved on, and soon the ship was down to just one dragon again.

Roger looked over at Dawning Star. "So, that could have gone better, but also a lot worse." He patted her on the shoulder. "Welcome to the crew."

She bowed her head. "Thanks. But, uh, if you don't mind, I'm going to stay in my room for a bit."

Roger spread his hands as she stalked off. "You can always talk to me, Dawning. We're here for you, no matter what. Take care of yourself." He watched her go with a solemn sigh. "Twilight?"

Twilight appeared at her name being spoken. "Captain?"

"We have human specialists, and pony specialists." He turned towards her. "Who's qualified for dragon therapy?"

Twilight turned her head away as she rubbed at her chin. "I will send someone to talk with her, Captain. Dawning Star is unique among our crew, but not in all the universe. She has a mind, and it is not entirely alien to us. She is, at the least, an Equestrian." She vanished to see that done.

Roger headed back towards the bridge. "All things considered, could have been worse."

Casey fell into step with him. "Captain, we are being hailed by Shadow Slayer."

"What about?" Roger glanced at her, most of his attention on moving back towards the bridge.

"Mostly just wishing us a nice trip." Casey laughed at that. "Dragons have interesting ways of settling things."

"Mmhm." Roger checked out the front window before heading for his chair. "Bring it up."

Shadow Slayer sat with a wide smirk on her face. "Thanks for letting me try out your ship. Not as good as the one we're keeping though." She directed a finger at Roger. "But if you want a rematch, look us up." Her window blinked away, call ended.

Roger sank into his chair. "All right. You can say it. This wasn't my best day of leadership."

Tela put a hand on his shoulder. "Nobody could have predicted that kind of turnabout." She squeezed that shoulder. "But, next time, perhaps we don't allow a child to speak for us. I am glad it worked out this time."

Roger sat up in his seat. "Right. All's well that ends well. Hopefully there won't be any more drama today." He smiled over at Casey. "So, any other surprises out there?"

Casey ran her hands over her controls. "Let's see here. According to this, our course is clear."

He spread his hands. "Then we'll just enjoy the rest of the trip."

---

Dawning Star looked up as her door chimed. "Ugh, whatever. Who is it?"

A voice called through the door. "Hi, Dawning Star. Can I come in?"

She held her head in her hands as she responded. "You're already here, so sure. Can't make the day too much more awkward."

Sunset Shimmer came in with a hopeful smile. "Hey, uh, so I heard you were in a big fight. How'd it go?"

Dawning fell backwards onto her bed with a long sigh. "It was supposed to be easy! Win a fight, and I get to do what I want. I could have won that fight."

Sunset walked in far enough for the door to close behind her. She was a human at the time, hands held together. "You lost?"

"Worse." Dawning thumped her bed. "Some other dragon butted in and stole the fight from me. I didn't even have to lose to not get to fight!"

Sunset frowned softly. "Oof. So you feel like you don't even have a choice now?"

Dawning hugged herself with a long groan. "Look, I wanted to be here, but now, yeah, it's not because of what I'm doing." She huffed as she rolled onto her side. "It isn't fair."

Sunset sat down on the floor, crossing her legs. "Mmhm. It really doesn't sound fair at all." She reached over to pat Dawning on the arm. "I don't know how things are with dragons, but it's okay to be upset about that. I know the feeling. I have to fight to keep my boundaries all the dang time."

Dawning sat up sharply. "You? You're a human. You run this ship, besides the ponies."

"Yeah, about that." Sunset laughed tensely. "I'm a hologram, a program. All the other programs on this boat are ponies. I'm the one that's happy being human, so I get all kinds of flack."

Dawning hunched her shoulders as she rubbed at her arms. "I didn't know that. No one said anything."

Sunset shrugged as she sat there. "No reason to. Most people don't care. The humans that is. They're fine, one more than the others." She smiled at Dawning gently. "Feeling better? You look it."

"I do?" Dawning frowned with confusion. "I guess, maybe a little. You came in here just to cheer me up?"

Sunset shook her head once. "You didn't want to see anyone, and I get that. But, yeah. Twilight asked me to stop by and check up." She hiked a thumb at the door. "Just say the word and I'll get out of here. I'm not going to make you hang out if you're not up for it."

Dawning pursed her lips for a quiet moment as she slipped to the floor. "Could you stay? Just for a little while? We can talk or play games or something."

Sunset stood up with a smile. "Sure. I know how to get at the games they don't want you to find." With a dark chortle, she worked the remote to bring the wall viewer to life. "What kinds of games do you like?"

Dawning moved closer to see what was on offer. "Anything's fine with me." She leaned towards Sunset as she spoke. "Are you sure it's okay for me to be here?"

Sunset found a nice strategy game they could both enjoy, but kept the volume low so it didn't distract. "Captain said you're actually crew now, so why would it be odd for a crewmember to be on their ship?" She waved the remote at Dawning. "We're just two crewmembers enjoying some time off."

Dawning sank down into a seated position as the game started. "I didn't really think about it like that. This is all kind of sudden."

Sunset hiked her brows up at that. "Life can be like that. I got a girlfriend all of a sudden, and then a kid. One thing after the other with no breathing room in the middle. I'm just saying, I could use some game time too." She started the game in earnest, showing how to make moves and what the goal was.

A digital sprite on the screen exploded into pixels. Dawning nodded once. "Right, I can do that." She went for one of her pieces, only to lose it to an attack. "Whoa, wait, what happened? That wasn't fair!"

Sunset snickered. "You're new, it's alright. Learn, and get revenge."

Dawning sneered viciously. "Now you're talking my language." She moved one of her pieces, crunching Sunset's in return. "Ha, take that!"

Sunset put up a hand in feigned horror. "Oh no! Now you're getting it." She took her next move. "Let's have fun."

The game was played out with victories and losses, some that seemed to matter more than others. Neither kept score, but Dawning gave as good as she got. Their game was followed by another, and then they switched games entirely, a dance of actions and reactions, bickering and snark. Neither seemed to have any complaints about it as a whole.

Author's Note:

Dawning was hoping for more finality to that fight, ideally with her on the winning side.

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Comments

[Booster Spice]

I demand a remake. Origional Battlechess

[BestinDworld]

Hmm I dunno it would have been cool to play civ v for a strategy game sunset as Elizabeth the 2 and dawning as dragon lord ember

[Okie Brony]

He snapped his fingers. "That makes sense. But how did she get any cat in her?"

Ya see, when a cat and a dragon love each other very much...

I've always thought that the ponies were part feline, since they look and behave more like cats than like horses.

Casey ran her hands over her controls. "Let's see here. According to this, our course is clear."

He spread his hands. "Then we'll just enjoy the rest of the trip."

They just jinxed it! Now, I'm expecting something horrible to happen.