It had been several weeks since EVE and WALL-E had told Andrentureasu (or Anny for short) the story of how Auto had returned. Now she wanted to find out more about the bronze
dragon they had mentioned. The dragon who had claimed to be incredibly old, older than the universe had existed, older than, perhaps, Anny's parents, Celestia and Karantius…
There was going to be a meeting in a week between the humans, the Albatrians, and several other species that she hadn't been told about.
Anny was waiting not very far from WALL-E and EVE's trailer. They had been gone for several hours, longer than she thought they would be.
She was also tired, so she took a nap. She only got a few minutes of rest before a robots said, "Anny."
She instantly woke up. About three feet away from her was WALL-E and EVE, surrounded by their friends.
EVE said, "We think we should tell you a little more about one of the races that are coming to the meeting in a week. Of course, I know that you won't be satisfied with just an explanation of
the species."
Anny said, "You are correct. By the way, does this involve the bronze dragon?"
"Err, it does. How did you know?"
"I've been very curious about it."
"It's a long story, but we should have enough time to tell it and not have to rush."
"I feel another story coming. How long ago was it?"
"Not that long ago. In fact, we got back from it only two weeks before you guys came."
"Really?"
"Really. Now, here goes…"
Insert story breaker here
WALL-E and EVE slept peacefully in their trailer. Many had been surprised at how long they had remained together: 1,300 years. Even they had been somewhat surprised.
The night was peaceful. The full moon shone brightly, and there wasn't a cloud in the night sky. Crickets chirped contentedly and there was even the occasional hoot of an owl. It
seemed like nothing could disturb the peace.
Suddenly, everything went totally quiet. Even the soft howl of the wind had stopped. WALL-E and EVE woke up. They could sense that something was wrong. But it wasn't cold, and
there was no feeling of unnaturalness in the air.
The door to their trailer suddenly opened. The bronze dragon, who they had not seen for so long was standing there, looking exhausted.
EVE said, "You? What are you-?"
The dragon interrupted. "Look you two. We need to get going. There isn't any time for us to just stand around here. We need to move!"
The robots quickly obeyed. The dragon led them away from the city.
"The fate of an entire planet rest on your shoulders. It is imperative that we get moving and quickly!"
WALL-E said, "You mean Earth's in danger?"
"I said AN entire planet, not THE entire planet."
EVE said, "You're taking us to some random planet that needs help? Why can't you do it yourself?"
The dragon stopped at that. "I would if I could. And it isn't just some random planet. You both have been there before, but you don't remember." He resumed walking.
"What are you talking about?"
The dragon stopped in front of a strange rocket. He opened a hatch on the side and forced the robots inside. He then shut the hatch. Before either of them could do anything, they
felt a rumbling coming from the base of rocket. It took off quickly.
EVE shouted, "Why in the world is he doing this?"
Insert story breaker here
It felt like an eternity before WALL-E saw an orange dot in the distance through one of the windows. The dot got bigger until it became clear that it was a planet.
When EVE saw it, she said, "That's the planet he wants us to help? It doesn't look like it needs help."
WALL-E said, "Looks can be deceiving."
"That's true."
As they approached the planet, their rocket was pulled into a nearby docking station. When the rocket was completely inside, the hatch opened. They didn't move. Then they were
forced out by something. When they were out, the hatch closed. A set of doors opened on a nearby wall. They led to a clean, white hallway. With a degree of reluctance, they went
through. The moment they got through the doors, they closed and the airlock doors on the other side opened and the rocket took off with nobody inside. They both stared on in
dismay.
After the airlock doors had closed again, EVE said, "Great. Now we're stuck on some planet that we've never been to, we don't know where we are, and even if we did, we don't have any
way back."
WALL-E, having nothing else good to say, said, "Let's start by finding a way down to the planet."
"You're right."
It was easier than they initially thought. There were special pods that could take them to the surface without getting burned. The course was automated and there were no controls,
apparently to prevent somebody from trying to steal one.
When they were through the atmosphere, they could see the huge city they were heading for. The architecture somewhat resembled that of the humans' on Earth. They didn't have
much time to think about it when the pod docked at another station, this time on the ground. The robots quickly got off the pod and the station. They stared up in wonder at the half-
familiar, half-alien architecture. But there was something very faintly familiar about the alien part of it…
The robots suddenly heard something. EVE picked up WALL-E, preparing to dash off. Two red eyes appeared out of darkness, accompanied by a growl. It crept slowly towards them.
EVE immediately took off. The streets were completely empty, although street lamps were on.
EVE looked back…and panicked a little. The thing was following them at a slightly faster speed than them. Also, the lamps turned off as it got close, preventing them from seeing
exactly what it looked like.
EVE did several turns and twists, but it was always behind and a little bit faster. Finally, EVE decided to try going through an open manhole. Whatever it was, it was too big to follow
them through it. The robots came out at an open manhole quite some distance away. Just when they thought they were safe, all the street lamps nearby went out and the thing
came out of nowhere. But this time, it was in front of them. It let out a loud screech and struck them hard with its large, long, and sharp claws. They were knocked to the ground and
knocked EVE out. WALL-E heard the thing growl again. He then heard the fading sound of claws gently scratching the ground, as if it was running away from something. He was lying
on his side with the left side of his head on the ground. From this position, he could see that the street lamps had come back on. He heard a door open and a man said, "What was-
what the-?"
WALL-E didn't hear or see anything else, for then he went unconscious.
Insert story breaker here
WALL-E woke up slowly. The first thing he heard was the man saying, "Amazing…Earth has been fully restored. It looks better than I ever imagined!"
WALL-E heard a girl say, "I've never seen so much green in my life." Her voice didn't sound very human.
The man said, "I don't think you ever will again. Wait, I think the robot's waking up."
WALL-E opened his eyes and saw two people about ten feet away. A man was sitting at a large computer screen. A girl, whose skin was orange, was standing next to the man. Both
were looking at WALL-E.
The girl went up to WALL-E. He used the opportunity to get a closer look at her. Not only was her skin orange, she had only 4 fingers on each hand, her fingers looked a little too slim
to be human, her teeth had pointed ends, and her eyes were definitely not human. WALL-E looked at the man sitting at the computer. He was clearly human.
The man said, "Since you're probably wondering why the girl looks so strange, it's because she's an Elstrian, the native sentient species of this planet." WALL-E continued to look at
him.
The girl said, "We call this planet Alaria, after a wise and powerful former ruler."
The man said, "I never know what she's talking about, because I've never seen anything in the history books about an Elstrian named Alaria." The girl rolled her eyes.
WALL-E kept looking at the man.
The man said, "You're wondering how humans got here, aren't you?"
WALL-E nodded.
"Well, 2,000 years ago, humans had to evacuate Earth, as you probably already know. However, the engines of one ship malfunctioned during the hyperjump away from Earth, and it
ended up crashing into a planet very far away from Earth. Fortunately, nobody was killed, and humans could survive on that planet. They soon encountered the Elstrians, who were
tribal and, oddly, holding a mass funeral over the extinction of a species they call the Orona, apparently their beasts of burden." The instant he said that, the girl turned to look at
him. WALL-E got a glimpse of her expression. She was trying not to show her absolute disgust…and she wasn't doing very well at it.
The man didn't notice and continued. "The Elstrians were friendly and helped the passengers learn how to live and thrive on their planet. We have peacefully coexisted ever since."
The girl said, "You've never called them beasts of burden before."
"I'm just saying what I read in a history book."
"Well then, whoever made that book was quite…incorrect. The Orona were never beast of burden."
"You have access to books that I don't…" The man's eyes suddenly went wide. "Oh my god, I almost forgot about that other robot!"
The man quickly got up and went to another room. Just before he left, he said, "You had extensive damage to your exterior, so I had to replace basically all of it."
When he was gone, WALL-E looked at himself. From what he could see, he looked just like he had when he was first made. He then realized that he was lying on his back, on a
table.
The girl said, "My name is Zaera. Dr. Smith is a good man, but in my opinion, he can be disrespectful at times. But not as much as somebody else I once knew…"
WALL-E decided not to inquire as to who she was referring to.
He looked around the room some more. Bright sunlight was streaming through a window on a wall on the other side of the room. It was also noticeably warmer than on Earth.
Zaera said, "This is a desert planet. Because of their digging ability, the Orona were able to survive even when water on the surface wasn't present for 100 miles. We Elstrians
followed them and were able to survive because of them. In fact, if it hadn't been for the Orona, the Elstrians might not have existed. However, the Orona went extinct not long
before the humans arrived. Nobody knows why, though. Only an Orona that was there could answer that. I'm working with Dr. Smith to try to bring back the Orona. We've been very
successful so far. We already have 20. We used genetic engineering to do it. I'm sorry if I'm telling you too much, but I rather enjoy talking, even if nobody's really listening."
WALL-E heard claws gently scuffling the floor. A creature poked its head over the table WALL-E was on. It had light blue fur, short, brown claws, it seemed to have an opposable
thumb, and its face looked like a fox's. It also had large, yellow irises. WALL-E couldn't help but look at it. It looked back. As they just stared at each other, WALL-E couldn't help but
feel like he was in for something big.