Task Force Harmony

"You're sure this is the right way?" Aurora asked quietly. The lighting in the tunnel looked the same as at least the last dozen they had passed through already. The further they'd travelled, the less secure he felt without his face being protected anymore. If Ymir was still on course, he'd have appreciated the extra armour. If not...His magic lit up and he twisted a piece of metal on the broken latch as he moved his mouthplate back into place, hoping it would stay there once he hooked the broken part back up. It dug uncomfortably into his cut cheek, but held for now.

"Yes. Plant light on most used routes." Ymir replied simply, looking at one of the lichen on the wall next to her and seemingly not noticing what he was doing.

"Huh, I'd never actually thought about that." He commented, remembering that they hadn't encountered many of the luminescent plants since they'd entered the mountain. A small hint that they'd been looking in the wrong places all this time.

"Shame we didn't know that sooner, we could have been in and out by now." Flash Sentry commented from his position at the back of the three pony line.

"Sorry..." She looked down slightly and stopped in place, shutting her eyes and flinching slightly as they approached her.

"Well, you had no way of knowing." Flash affirmed, watching with curiosity as she slowly looked at him with a sense of confusion.

"No problem?"

"Of course not," Aurora told her gently. "Why would it be?"

"Queen," Ymir tapped at the ground and bared her fangs slightly, her voice getting more agitated with every word. "Always a problem for her, always fault of me, us small ones. Ideas, words, everything wrong if not from her. Gives less food when wrong. I...Not like, very much."

"You...Hate her?" Flash asked in surprise, almost surprised that changelings were capable of feeling the emotion toward each other.

As Ymir nodded in response, Aurora took a long look at her. From everything she had taught him about changelings, the idea that a being that needed love to survive only knowing a home that felt so hostile was just sad. Not only that, but from what he knew, and what he remembered of the one he'd killed, she had less light in her eyes, a lot of her actions had been more hesitant as if not wanting to waste energy, her size. He'd thought she was just a small example of her kind, but it was more than that. She looked, ill.

"That's..." He started before the well of emotion that arouse from the realisation became too much and he stepped forward quickly. Before she could react, he had his front hooves wrapped around her chest and the back of her neck, hugging the changeling. "It's ok, you have somepony who likes you right here.

Ymir didn't reply, caught off guard by the show of affection. She gave a small, pleasant sounding gasp a few moments later as she felt the extra effects and gently wrapped a hoof around his back in response, somewhat awkwardly as though she'd never done it before. When they finally broke it, she had a fresh look in her eyes, more of a shine in her expression. It was as though she'd gotten a good meal and a full nights rest all at once.

"Th...Thank you." She said softly, though her expression became more wary as she looked over at Flash, wondering what he was making of this behind his helmet.

"You know, I'm curious, how exactly does that feel?" Flash finally said, directing it at them both.

"To be honest, I don't really feel any different. If anything, I feel better for helping like this." Aurora remarked.

"I am not sure I can say how it feels," Ymir said as she rubbed her leg, momentarily snagging her hoof in one of the holes in the process. "Like, energy, energy in me appearing. Makes it all good."

"Hmm, good to know," Flash stepped in front of them on the path forward, not sounding disinterested but still wanting to keep moving. "Soul, is there anything about?"

"One second," The unicorn cast his magic to check, but stopped almost instantly. "Four in the tunnel ahead, coming our way fast."

"Errr...Plan?" Ymir asked nervously, backing up slightly.

"Ok, Flash, we're changelings who defeated us and took the armour. We'll either bluff our way past them or catch them by surprise. Understand?" Aurora whispered. Flash simply nodded and the three of them looked to the bend ahead.

Moments later, as expected, a group of changelings rounded the corner and stopped at the sight of them. Three males and a female, though one of the males was smaller than the others, only about the same size as Aurora, and sporting the same signs of being a younger changeling as Ymir did. The group stopped at the sight before them, caught off guard by the sight and giving the trio a moment to compose themselves. Ymir in particular relaxed slightly at the sight of the smaller male.

"Kalai, Marlos." She said to him. The male perked up slightly at the sight of her before one of the larger males put a hoof out and looked at them sternly.

"Ymir, expis io gaio?" They demanded.

"Noma nabba zee fort equis, wixo hi duske nous." Aurora said, silently praying that he was getting enough of it right to pass off as a transformed changeling.

"Dessak, melbos esse nabba na bosch noma nectal lo'sha hi poctros hin." Ymir followed up. Flash simply nodded in agreement and glanced back at Rainbow's helmet, knowing his inability to speak of a word of their language wouldn't help.

"Ka lugis..." The lead male said as he took a step forward. "Bosch cypi yon yees quave indevec?"

"Ho'chi snuss." Aurora replied simply.

"Heh, lucar." The female changeling commented with a wry smile.

"Dei, yees term zess kalla'no a nik latvern fo," The second male commented, flashing a dangerous grin at Ymir. "Hi rou yven ped ciddo cua bo'da remeni gaio."

"Mirai zel..." Ymir took a step back, starting to look worried as the three regular changelings starting to advance on her. Aurora glanced aside at Flash, not needing to tell him the malicious intent that was incoming. The pegasus glanced back at him and nodded.

"Now."

"Now."

The two of them lunged forward as one before the changeling group could react. Flash grabbed the broken helmet and threw it at the male on the left of the group. It smacked him square in the muzzle, leaving Flash an opening to grab him and smash his head against the tunnel wall. The changeling only had time to give a gasp of surprise before going limp, bleeding from around his right eye as it dropped. At the same time, Aurora's horn lit up as he rushed the female changeling, his magic wrapping around her hind left leg and swinging his hoof to knock her front legs out from under her. His magic yanked her hind leg out as he put his weight against her and tackled her down to the ground, following up with a sucker punch to the chest to counter any remaining resistance and a second to the head, knocking her out.

Two down, just the two on the right to go.

A bolt of green shot over Aurora's back and hit Flash in his right side. Though his armour mitigated the attack, the force behind it staggered him. The two of them were still moving to recover as the second male advanced, grinning darkly at a chance to avenge his comrades. Aurora looked up to see the changeling lunge at him, jaws opened, fangs bared and a full set of sharp teeth ready to tear into his exposed eyes. He didn't have time to react before the changeling lurched and his teeth snapped shut just an inch short of their target, close enough to feel the wind rush from the motion against him. The changeling looked back in anger, snarling as he saw the reason for the miss.

Ymir had her teeth clamped firmly around the changeling's tail, hooves dug in as she valiantly pulled against him. With the size difference between them though, it was never going to do more than that. The changeling swung round as she let go and advanced on her instead. Ymir folded her ears back, fear evident, yet she refused to back down this time. Instead she gritted her teeth and swung at him, the blow hitting nothing but air as the changeling simply tilted his head to avoid it.

"Kareo." He smirked before swinging his own hoof in an uppercut. Ymir gave a cry of pain as it hit her square in the bottom of her jaw and knocked her off her hooves, throwing her a few feet in the air before she came down hard on her side.

The changeling chuckled and turned back toward his original opponents, a fresh taunt coming to his lips. That taunt died as his world became blinding white before a magic blast hit him square in the chest, blowing him back into the wall with a loud crunch. The impact broke one of his rear legs and the changeling screamed in agony as they landed on the same leg, only continuing for a second longer before Aurora stomped down on his neck. The blow would have crushed a regular pony's windpipe, even the more durable changeling chitin cracked under the force of the attack. The extra pain pushed the changeling over the edge and he passed out.

"Bastard," Aurora muttered under his breath before looking back at Flash. "You alright?"

"Yeah, you two?"

Aurora turned to check on Ymir, only to tense up again. The small remaining male was standing over her, a hoof to her cheek. He ran up quickly, only to stop when he realised that he was checking her over. A quick check of his own confirmed that she hadn't taken any lasting damage.

"Marlos is a friend." Ymir told him simply before looking back at her kin. "Nin ganvel. Comaw hin cua hi safi, laki hi kallaxin dod erane io walls. Chrysalis belavi nectai."

"Na?" Marlos asked, looking over at Aurora and Flash before Ymir nodded. "Hi equiia? Fellaz, ka's laki na." He added before getting up and running back the way he'd come.

"Little changelings stick together." Ymir said to the others as she got up again and wiggled her lower jaw to check everything was still where it should be.

"If it means less trouble for us, I'll take it," Flash replied, looking at the three battered and bleeding changelings lying at their hooves. "We should hurry though, that skirmish was louder than I'd liked it to be."

"Good point." Aurora glanced round as if expecting something to be drawn to their position and turned to Ymir again. Before he could open his muzzle though, his ears twitched as his comms magic activated. Flash perking his ears indicated he'd heard the same.

"To anypony in range, this is Buddy. We heard fighting ahead of our position, does anypony read?" Cipher's voice came through to both of them. Aurora looked over at Flash, who glanced down slightly before motioning for him to reply. It made sense, Aurora and Cipher had more of a rapport with each other, plus it would be good to check if the magic in his mouthplate was still working after the beating it took.

"Hey buddy, still alive?" He replied, waiting several seconds before Cipher's voice came through again.

"Well my fillings are all still in, no thanks to you."

"Yeah, that's you alright." Aurora commented, chuckling slightly.

"Glad to hear your voice again. You're coming in a bit weak but right now it's better than nothing. I've got Wall and Stable with me. We've been together since the battle broke up, before you ask."

"Hey, kid." Wave's voice came through a moment after.

"Hey to you too. Zippy managed to find me as well, we managed to confirm it was each other before things got too rough."

"It's good to hear your voices." Flash interjected.

"Yours too. After what happened, I was worried we were going to lose you both." Bulwark's voice came through, sounding outright relieved.

"Yeah...One second," Aurora bit back the concern in his voice and his eyes lit up as he checked the area. While he could feel a lot of bodies ahead, more than he'd ever felt at the very edge of his magic further along the way they'd been heading, more important right now was the trio of figures he could sense in the tunnel behind them. "I think you're in the same area as us. If we're really lucky, that's you I can sense nearby."

"Here's hoping, we'll keep moving forward and try to find you."

"Oh, and be advised, we have a changeling with us. Don't rush in and attack her, it's under control."

The silence that followed that comment hung for far longer than any of the previous replies before Cipher spoke up again.

"...Say again?"

"Short version is, I met a changeling who wants to escape from Chrysalis' rule. She's saved my flank more than once already, so I trust her."

"I can vouch for that." Flash added.

"Well, you would know better than anypony, Soul," Cipher commented, sounding thoughtful. "Alright, sit tight and if we're not there within a minute, assume hostiles."

"Copy. See you soon, I hope."

Aurora gave a small sigh of relief and went to check on Ymir again. She was rubbing her chin pretty fiercely where she'd been hit but there weren't any signs of injury, though he decided to make sure she could be checked properly once this was over. A few seconds later, the sound of hoofsteps reached the trio shortly before the welcome sights of Cipher, Bulwark and Healing Wave approaching. While they were clearly hesitant due to the presence of a changeling with their friends, Aurora's words seemed to have them placated for now and they met up, everypony sharing a round of hoofbumps, the general sense of relief at having most of the team back together radiating around them.

"So, introductions," Aurora said, motioning to Ymir. "This is Ymir, my changeling friend. Like I said, she's been doing her best to help us. Ymir, gaio io Cipher, Bulwark bosch Healing Wave. Kecka li ae stratah."

"Hello. We have been teaching each other." Ymir greeted and explained to the others before they could question Aurora speaking changeling.

"Trust me, you couldn't separate those two at this point. I tried." Flash commented. Cipher looked them over before nodding and stepping forward.

"Well, I'll welcome the extra help, and if Aurora trusts you then I don't have much reason to doubt your intent either."

"Thank you," Ymir smiled and nodded before turning to continue down the tunnel. "We must move, hive is close."

"Yeah, Ymir's been leading us toward the changeling hive," Aurora explained. "Aside from fulfilling the mission. We think that either Rainbow Dash or Water Flare is there. If the changelings have their hooves on them..."

"That explains the bodies," Bulwark commented, looking down at the still incapacitated changelings lying around their hooves. "Good work on that, you two."

"All three of us." Flash corrected. Bulwark nodded to Ymir in response, conceding the point.

"Alright, let's keep moving then. The sooner we can find our friend, the sooner we can all get out of here." Cipher said, motioning for the team to advance again and they set off down the tunnel again, Flash taking a moment to pick up Rainbow's helmet again before moving to catch up.