Beneath the Surface

"Where is Queen Chrysalis?"

"I. Do. Not. Know." Theria punctuates each word for emphasis. "When I say that I do not know, I mean that I do not know. The Queen's whereabouts are a much more closely guarded secret then you seem to think. Precisely to avoid situations such as these."

"Wrong answer. But I shall continue. Where are the remaining changelings?"

Theria's eyes narrow. "You seem to think I know the answer to all these questions. I don't. I hardly know anything about anywhere except this. One. Base. Here. In the forest that you Equestrians just burnt down."

"A shame. Do changelings have bones?"

"Just an exoskeleton, I'm afraid." Theria smiles nastily at Arcane. "You're welcome to try and break it, if that's what you want."

"No." Eclipse snaps from beside her. "We need her alive. And we don't have many medical supplies to spare. The High Alchemist used most of hers to bring the army back up to full health."

"One last question. When was the last time you met Chrysalis, or one of her sub commanders?"

Theria scowls. "A... while ago. I can't quite remember. Half a year? Or maybe... eight months? Somewhere around that time period."

"Excellent." He stepped closer and took a long draught of the air around her. He stepped back and smiled. "Thank you very much."

Theria spits at him. "Get out of here, you backstabbing mercenary son-of-a-"

"Alright, let's go." Eclipse guides Arcane gently away from Theria and back to the ship.

Arcane side steps and smiles. "I backstabbed no one. Had you actually bothered to look at one of my contracts, you would note that I work for the highest bidder, and I do not work for those inprisoned."

"You never let me see any of your-"

"Quiet!" Eclipse orders. "Enough." And he leads Arcane back to the ship.

Arcane shrugs and leaves.

Eclipse blinks at his retreating form. He sighs, audibly, and heads back to the ship.

With a brief flap of his wings, he lands back on the top deck. He ambles over to Divine's and Ruby's room and touches an ear to it, seeing if they were still busy.

They were.

Eclipse backs away from the door slowly, and turns back to the top deck. He looks out over the remaining army, assembled in the nighttime desert, and sighs.

"It's okay... I don't even like the looks of him. I hope he won't be coming with us..." Sky says.

Ician nods. "He won't, I think. Hopefully."

((... Arianwyn?))

"Good." She says, silently sitting down in her comfortable chair.

((Just finished typing a post in the bar before posting here, automatically wrote Arianwyn. On the bright side, you have almost no chance of catching up with me in embarrassing mistakes >;D ))

Ician sighs. "So... I should thank you again, Sky. For all the help you've given us."

(( ))

"I somewhat wish I could've helped with more than just transport." Sky says, sipping her coffee. "And just where is the last passenger?"

"He is... on his way, I think." Ician looks out of the door, towards where he thinks Storm might be. "I think he's a been a bit hard on himself, for his role in the battle."

"Oh, okay." Sky says, looking at numerous devices on the bridge. Most of them were flashing.

"So, uh," Ician indicates the flashing devices, "does that mean something good, or something bad? Or just normal?"

"Just normal. Systems starting up, checking for malfunctions, and so on. Complicated mechanic things." She says, smiling at him.