Task Force Harmony

April 7th

"Your daughter?!"

Cipher winced slightly as he heard those words, fearing the incoming reaction.

The rest of the mission itself had proceeded smoothly and simply once Aurora returned, now accompanied by a number of the strongest fliers in the EDF. The injured ponies had been teleported straight to Los Pegasus for treatment while the remainder were flown to the nearest guard station in the city. The following days had passed quietly as Task Force Harmony remained in Los Pegasus, keeping a recovering Starlight Glimmer under military guard until they were cleared to transport her back to Canterlot. It wasn't all bad though. Pinkie Pie had hung around as well to, as Rainbow had found out while off-duty, both keep the spirits of the rescued ponies up (as well as those of the team, mostly through cake) and stick by her marefriend, Apple Bloom.

The team debriefing they were now in had waited until after they had returned to Canterlot and passed Starlight over to a Royal Guard unit that took her to a classified holding location. While overall, Operation Spellbreaker was a success with dozens of ponies rescued and one of Equestria's most wanted caught, the inability to get there in time to catch Sunset Shimmer had soured the mood slightly. At least, up until this moment where her connection to Cipher had been revealed. Now he had six ponies staring straight at him in shock and disbelief, and he had to try and defuse the situation before any of them did something rash in response.

"Yes," He sighed, leaning against the lone desk in the room. "I don't know what happened to cause this though. Between my work here keeping me busy and her place as Princess Celestia's pupil, I haven't been able to talk to her properly in years. I only learned she'd gone rogue from the princess herself, because we both knew there was a real chance I would have to spearhead an operation to capture her. I said I could do it at the time but...Honestly? I don't think I could have done much more than try to talk her down."

Cipher looked down slightly, not wanting to see the looks on the faces of his team. They had trusted him to keep them safe and he had betrayed that trust, potentially putting them at risk to try and protect the pony they were supposed to stop. After a few moment the scrape of a chair drew his attention and he looked up again to see Flash Sentry getting up and stepping closer.

"It's an understandable reaction," He told him simply. "I know how it feels to lose touch with your family like that, wanting a chance to just make everything right again."

"Yeah, nopony could hold it against you." Rainbow Dash added. Aurora, Healing Wave and Water Flare all sounded their agreement after her. Bulwark remained silent, though he didn't comment either way. Cipher watched them for a moment before realising that they genuinely were ok with his decision.

"Okay...Thanks, everypony," He told them, cracking a small smile. "Alright, Princess Luna wants us to remain here on standby for now, sounds like she may have something else in mind for us soon. In the meantime, everypony take some well-earned time to relax. Dismissed."

Two days later.

"How is she?" Water Flare asked Bulwark as the two of them stood at one of the scenic balconies built onto the north face of the EDF headquarters. Attached to a rec room on the top floor where ponies could come to unwind when need be, the view was especially calming today as a gentle spring morning spread over the plains and farmland away from Canterlot, punctuated by shimmering rainbows that came from the nearby presence of Cloudsdale.

"She's..." Bulwark sighed slightly and leaned against the railing, thinking back to the last time he'd seen Peace Walker. "Physically, she's alright. Mentally...She's been taken off active duty and is talking to psychologists at Canterlot Central Hospital."

"Oh. I'm sorry." Flare said softly, shifting slightly in place and looking away awkwardly.

"Wasn't your fault," He replied flatly. "It was Starlight Glimmer that messed her up back in the compound. I wish I knew what the bitch of Sombra did before we'd gone out there."

"Okay then," Flare took a step back at the cold look in his eye and glanced back toward the inside. "I err, don't think I'm able to help with this. I should probably get Cipher or Aurora."

"Sorry, I was just thinking out loud. I didn't mean to unnerve you," Bulwark sighed again, letting his emotion go with it, before looking back at her. "I just need to not dwell on it. Thanks though."

She nodded and the two of them made their way back inside. The rec room was large enough for over a dozen ponies to comfortably use at a time and there were several others making use of it. Furthest on the left from them was a ping pong table where Healing Wave was firmly engaged in a match against a magenta unicorn stallion with Aurora keeping score off to the side. The center of the room had a group of couches and coffee tables where ponies could chat and get a drink. Rainbow Dash was draped fully across one of the couches, though not napping for once. Instead she was occasionally chiming in on a conversation between Cipher, Flash Sentry and Gaia, who was looking a lot more relaxed than the last time she'd been around the team. The rest of her team were settled in a reading area that took up the remaining space on the right of the room.

Flare watched as Bulwark went over to the bookshelves set up, likely hoping to lose himself in some form of study for a few minutes at least. She decided he would probably do better without her hanging around and trotted over to where Rainbow was lying. On seeing her coming, Dash shifted upright to give her sitting space, space that was eagerly taken as Flare flopped down on her back, looking up at the ceiling. For several minutes nothing was said between them, both sensing that something was nagging at her and she needed to work out how to say it.

"Captain, can I ask you something?" She eventually said, sounding lost in thought and still looking up at the ceiling. Rainbow looked over at her friend, doing her best to hide the warning bells brought on by her choice of words. Water Flare heroine worshipped her, she'd never be so formal if she was actually thinking about it.

"Sure."

"You probably get this a lot but, how do you do it?" Flare rolled her head back so she could look at Rainbow clearly, if upside down. "Nightmare Moon, Discord, Dragons, Sombra, Chrysalis, Ahuizotl, Tirek, Starlight Glimmer. You've faced down more Equestria ending threats than many ponies know ever existed, but you're still as tough as you were twenty years ago. Meanwhile we face one that was already dealt with by the time we got there and half the task force is left mentally scarred. Seriously, what's your secret?"

The way Flare's voice slowly shifted back toward its more energetic norm told Rainbow that this wasn't just seeking advice or comfort. She was curious about how a pony she deeply respected was able to keep summoning the strength to stand and fight when the fate of the world was at stake. She thought for a minute before motioning for Flare to sit up straight and leaning back into her seat.

"Honestly? My secret wouldn't work for a lot of ponies, you included. I know you're still not brilliant under pressure," She admitted, waiting while Flare nodded and rubbed her leg. "But it doesn't make me any better than anypony here. I've been scared in those situations too, I've felt like I failed at a time when I couldn't afford to, I've had moments where I was literally fighting for my life. It's gonna sound really cheesy but, what kept me going through all was something that that you can do too, was thinking about everypony that mattered to me. In your case, your parents, your husband, your friends back home. Don't think of them counting on you succeeding, because odds are they'll never know what you're doing. They're still behind you though, subconciously giving you strength."

"Hmm," Flare looked down in thought again, though at least now she didn't look quite so down as before. "You know that those ponies include you, right?"

"Yeah, but I didn't want to sound arrogant by including myself. Besides, you just have to look at me for that reminder."

Flare nodded with a small smile, looking like she'd been reassured. Before she could respond though, a rapid knocking from the rec room door drew everypony's attention. Only messengers from the Logistics Branch knocked like that and sure enough, the door was opened by an auburn earth mare with a dark red mane, yellow eyes and an EDF sash running along her body marked with the logos of the defence force and logistics units.

"New orders from General Carbide and Supreme Commander Luna. Sniper Team, report to briefing room two. Task Force Harmony, to the contact chamber." The mare reported. Almost before she'd finished talking, eleven ponies were getting up and making their way out, Healing Wave at the back muttering about how close she'd been to winning her match.

The contact chamber was one of the oldest parts of the headquarters, constructed upon Princess Celestia's suggestion that Luna's troops have a way to contact her while she slept during the daylight hours. An underground quarters with a number of beds within it, each had been infused with Luna's magic so that ponies resting there would both sleep easier and be linked to Luna's dreams. It was a method that was used sparingly, typically only for top secret briefings or consultation with her generals, due to the extra strain on her magic and disruption to her rest. Cipher had never used it before, ponies below his rank typically didn't even know it existed. His team was an exception in this case though, considering they all had to be here.

"Alright everypony, just take a bed and relax." He said as they finished making their way into the chamber, taking in the domed design. There was no natural light down here, the room was illuminated by an ethereal glow that emanated from the ceiling, bathing a gentle blue light over everything. While nopony could say for sure, it was theorised by those that knew of the chamber that it sat beneath Luna's room in Canterlot Castle.

"Wow, shame you don't see beds like these more often." Aurora commented as he climbed into one of them, settling onto the exceptionally soft mattress. By the time he'd lay down the magic was taking effect and he came over drowsy before dropping into sleep quickly.

One by one the others did the same. Rainbow looked a lot more confident about doing this than anypony, which made sense considering she had been part of a linked dream before. Cipher waited until the others had all drifted off to sleep and made sure they were still alright before taking an empty bed and relaxing, following them almost instantly. For several moments, all was dark, then a gentle, pulsing sensation told him that everything was as it should be. As it faded, the world, or rather the dream world, came back into focus again. The rest of the team was standing with him, inside an environment that looked like the command center somewhere above them, though this one was much brighter and empty side from Princess Luna herself.

"Thank you for coming." Luna said, her voice stern and sharp as she approached them. Without her commander armour on, she looked as regular as an alicorn could, though nopony present would argue that she was any less in command of the situation.

"Of course, your highness." Cipher replied, bowing in respect, the others doing the same before straightening up quickly.

"The reason I asked for us to meet this way is because I believe your next assignment may include a danger to Equestria that has lingered over us for many decades. You and her have met before, Rainbow Dash."

"Who..." Rainbow started, thinking over all the major foes she had faced and how many of them were still at large today. She could only think of two, and one of them was a male, that only left..."Oh. I see, ma'am."

"You see, during the closing stages of Operation Spellbreaker," Luna's horn glowed and a lightly glowing illusion appeared alongside her that change as she continued, illustrating her points. "One of the ponies brought into Los Pegasus for hospital treatment displayed increasingly erratic behaviour. You were not witness to this as Starlight Gimmer was being held in a magic inflicted emergency ward and he was in a regular ward, but he repeatedly refused treatment despite multiple fractures and became increasingly agitated around unicorns. One of the nurses became suspicious that his behaviour was not just symptoms of his condition and requested local guards examine him. The stallion quickly broke under their questioning and revealed himself for what he was; a changeling."

Even within the more relaxed confines of a dream, the sudden tension of that statement was palpable. Despite the fact that the changelings hadn't been seen in force since their attempted invasion of Canterlot at the end of the Celestial Era, the Equestria Defence Force had been trained to stand against any further potential incursions. This had paid off after numerous changeling sightings in northern Equestria and the Crystal Empire were engaged and repelled over the last decade. While most of the team managed to keep their reactions in check, Aurora actually growled slightly, brow furrowed and eyes narrowed with a fire behind them.

"Easy kid, we don't know exactly what this means yet." Flash told him, holding a hoof on his shoulder.

"What else do you think it could be? It means Queen Chrysalis." Aurora replied through gritted teeth. Given his family's history with the changeling race, the others decided to let it be and waited a few seconds for him to compose himself again before Luna continued.

"It seems the changeling they encountered was both inexperienced and affected by its time under Starlight Glimmer. In a way, she interrogated it before we could," She said as she moved back to the map. "Despite repeated questioning and attempts to exchange help for information, it only ever expressed a desire to return to its home. Normally, this would have been a dead end, except for one time where it mentioned the Undiscovered West."

A few curious glances were exchanged at this piece of information. The Undiscovered West and the lands beyond it remained a mystery to ponies, a combination of marshy forests and mountain ranges rendering it virtually impassable to all but pegasus ponies. Exploration had been limited due to this, as the pegasi had little need for new land or resources when they had the sky to themselves. Luna stopped at the side of the map and let her illusions fade, focusing instead on marking the spot they would be heading to. The same black flag as before, this time placed at the the Barrier Mountains that stretched across the path between Equestria and the lands beyond, at a smaller one in the center of the range that left an easier point of passage for winged beings.

"Pegasi from the Recon Corps combed the area for several days and returned with something new. What had previously been passed over as a cave near the base of Mount Silvat contained a larger network of tunnels inside. Which they did not have the numbers to explore further, the tunnels they checked were both extensive and showed signs of recent use by pony-sized beings. It seems most likely that this is a major changeling site, possibly running throughout the entire mountain range. Your mission is to investigate this site, verify a changeling presence and return to Equestria. This will very likely be an extended operation, so your supplies will primarily be food and medical."

"Rules of engagement?" Cipher asked, studying the map.

"Avoid where possible. We have no intelligence on how many changelings may be present and backup is unavailable due to the remote location. The nearest outpost is in the Smokey Mountains and even our faster fliers would take several hours. If attacked, engagement in self defence is permitted but attempt to withdraw from the area immediately."

"Understood, your highness."

"Your team will deploy tomorrow. Good luck, and be careful."

Luna's horn glowed brightly, the shine enveloping everypony present. Each of them snapped awake at once, the contact chamber coming back into view around them. One by one they sat up and clambered out of their beds, shaking and stretching as required. Even though they had only been out for a few minutes, each of them felt somewhat refreshed.

"Well, that was an experience." Bulwark commented.

"Eh, we've been through worse." Rainbow replied as she stretched her hind legs out.

"Alright everypony, unwind while you can. I have a feeling tomorrow will be a long day." Cipher said, turning to head for the stairs. Something about their assignment felt off to him, but he couldn't place what. All he knew right now was that this was going to be one of the tougher duties he'd been given in his time. He trusted the ponies that followed him to do their duties though, they were all going to need each other in the days ahead.