Beneath the Surface

"Of course not, how could you be? You just duelled an extremely powerful love-fuelled changeling and survived. Only the fittest of the fit earth ponies could possibly do that." Ician pokes at her. "But, well, it's just that you're pushing my armour onto me. It's a little... uncomfortable."

She strips him and cuddles up against him. "How about no-?" She purred, before snoring, her head nestled in the nape of his neck.

[Night guys]

Ician nuzzles her. "I guess... we can sleep until it's time to leave. Good night."

((Good night))

---

Quimia stirs, slowly. She gets to her hooves out of pure reflex, and then she remembers where she is and what happened.

She looks around. She was in a tent of sorts. She trots out and looks around.

The encampment, darkened by the early night. So... it appears we achieved victory.

She moves around, looking for Griff or Storm, or anyone of Ician's friends, to talk to.

Griff is sitting in his own tent, looking at the armor he wore with slight curiosity.

Quimia peeks into his tent. "Griff. We defeated the changelings, I take it?" She swallows. "Are the others still alive?"

"Thank you." Storm says to the mage at the top of the rope. He sets off for the camp well behind the others. Griff's pain-killer not having a strong affect since he wasn't in much pain he was just very, very tired. He got to camp a long time after the others and went to the command tent to pick up his saddle bags. Part way there he sees Quimia wandering around. "I assume you were the one who healed me?" He asks her.

"Hm?" Quimia pulls her head out of Griff's tent. "Oh, yes indeed, I was. Are you feeling alright, now?"

"Yes, we defeated the changeling." Griff says. "As for the knights, most of them still are, I believe."

Quimia breathes a sigh of relief. "Yes, thank you, Griff." She turns back to Storm, awaiting his response.

"I'm not dead." He says, his voice showing nothing of his feelings on the matter. "How about you? you look like you took a bit of fire." He asked with concern in his voice.

"I... am fine." Quimia says. "My healing potions are nothing to be scoffed at."

She pauses momentarily, searching for something to say.

"... That was very brave of you earlier, to face that changeling commander by yourself." She eventually says.

"It was indeed." Griff says. "We all did. True I was the last one, but still." He says and starts looking at his borrowed sword. "I can't wait to see Sky Cog again.. I kinda like her.."

Quimia sighs. "All your bravery accomplished a noble end, at the very least. I tried, but I failed. It is somewhat... sobering."

"I only did what was asked of me." Storm says rubbing the back of his neck with a hoof. A bad idea considering this left all his weight on his sprained right forehoof. He promptly fell to the side as it gave out. "Well that should probably teach me something." He said as he stood back up. "You did your job." Storm said trying to reassure the zebra. "You aren't a warrior, you can barely even think of hurting others I'm glad you didn't succeed if only because it means you can stay the way you are."

"No..." Quimia sighs. "No matter the outcome, my intention was violence. I lost a part of me then. But I am just a little older and wiser now." She notices his leg and offers him a health potion. "Rub this on your leg. It ought to help."

"Thanks, but I prefer to let these things heal in their own time." He says shaking his head while smiling. "The scars they leave behind remind me of what I've done, the mistakes I made and lessons I've learnt." He stamps his left hind leg on the ground a few times to crack bits of ice off. "This is annoying me though, I can't just wait for it to melt."

Quimia smiles. "Alas, that will take time, I'm afraid. Or perhaps..." She fishes an incendiary potion out of her saddlebags, moves a distance away from the nearest flammable materials, and pours it on the ground. A small fire begins to burn on the spot.

"Warm yourself." She says.

"Much appreciated." Storm says as he hobbles over and lays his iced hoof down a couple of inches away from the fire. "I would do it myself. But I can't use my magic just yet." He apologises as he relaxes. "What a day." He sighs looking up into the darkening sky. "Can't help wondering who was right in all this, us for defending Equestria or Theria for trying to help her people?"

Quimia looks up into the sky and the emerging stars of the night. "Who can say? Certainly not I." She sighs. "All I know is that there is no black and white. Only shades of grey. Are we the lighter shade? I do not know." She shakes her head sadly. "That troubles me, sometimes."

Griff sighs. "Well, now we just wait... I wonder how many airships will come here.."

After two good hours and a half, a silhouette of a large airship appeared on the sky, slowly approaching the encampment.

"Hm?" Eclipse begins to hear the approaching airship. "Ah... she's here."

He strides out of his tent and calls, loudly, "Transport's here! All soldiers, prepare for immediate departure!"

Ician snaps awake in his tent, Divine still beside him. He prods her. "Mm. Wake up, Divine. Sky Cog came at last."

Quimia, in the meantime, looks up at the approaching airship. "This was your original mode of travel, was it not? A fascinating specimen." She stands up and hooks herself back up to her covered wagon that had been recovered from the pit. "Perhaps we should now leave."

When the airship gets closer and into the light of the encampment, everyone could see that it had quite a lot of holes in the wooden hull, which revealed almost untouched metal plating behind it. After a few minutes, it finally landed at the dock. Sky Cog was nowhere to be seen at this moment.

"Hold on..." Eclipse squints at the ship. "Is it... damaged?"

He sweeps around. "All troops, listen up? Half of you form a ring around the airship, facing outwards. The rest... follow me. And be prepared for anything."

Escorted by twenty-five mages and archers, Eclipse moves slowly and cautiously up to the airship. "Miss Cog? Are you there?"

The top deck of the ship was trashed, filled with pieces of wood, sails were filled with holes. The bridge seemed empty and everything was silent. After a few moments, there was a loud noise of a piece of metal hitting another from somewhere inside the ship.