Author's Note

I know, it's still Saturday, but I thought I could gift an extra chapter to hopefully entertain a few people and close out 2016 on a slightly higher note (Lord knows it needs it). At the same time, I want to thank every one of you who's checked my work out over the past twelve months, you all make it worth it!

And don't worry, normal service will be resumed tomorrow.

Chapter 7 - Team Talk

January 27th

'Another day, another round of getting my butt kicked. Almost surprised I'm not used to it.' Rainbow Dash thought to herself as she did her best not to wince while Healing Wave patched her up. It gave her a moment to reflect though, there was a time when she would have gone into a proper strop over losing a training fight against somepony, even one as tough as Bulwark. Now though, she just reflected that in a one-on-one, no-holds barred battle between a speedster like her and a strong defender like him, he held the advantage. It was like fighting a wall, a very durable wall that punched back. She had always been going to need some measure of luck and this time it hadn't been on her side this time, the hit that brought her down making her pay for it. Tough as she was, feeling her various cuts being magically sealed up stung more than she cared to admit.

"You doing ok?" Bulwark asked her as Wave finished up, trotting over and sitting with her.

"Ever had your cutie mark removed?" Rainbow countered, though her voice remained good natured. "Feels like your soul's being set on fire and torn in two at the same time. I can deal with small time stuff like this." Bulwark gave a low whistle and shook his head, conceding the point.

"I suppose when you've faced the end of the world on a regular basis, you can deal with a few scrapes. You're good to go, by the way." Healing Wave added, letting Rainbow get up and stretch.

"I just hope neither of you have any family here who might have to train against that." Rainbow commented, getting a chuckle out of Bulwark.

"Heh heh, no worries there. My wife serves in the Recon Corps so she doesn't have to fight that much. Besides, she's out on duty in the Crystal Empire right now."

Before anypony could comment on that, their attention was brought back to the training ground by a pained yelp. Cipher had Aurora down on his side and was holding the unicorn's front left leg in an arm lock while keeping his lower half held down with his hooves. A little twist further was enough to make Aurora tap out with his one free hoof. Cipher released the hold immediately and got up, leaving Aurora down and whimpering as he clutched his leg.

"I warned you. Move your leg too far from your body during an attack and it's wide open to counters if the strike misses. And you didn't even scratch me once." Cipher said flatly, not even looking at his beaten opponent.

"Sorry..." Aurora gasped, biting back a fresh whimper.

"You've got soul though, don't lose that and you'll be fine," Cipher trotted off the field at that, waiting until he was back with the others before sighing slightly. "Wave, check him over?"

"Fine." Wave muttered as she headed onto the field, leaving the rest of the team gathered with their leader.

"Wow...I've never seen you push the kid so hard. I mean I know you're the boss and you have to be a hardass sometimes but, it's like you're not yourself around him." Water Flare commented. To her surprise, Cipher looked down slightly at that.

"Well, given his background he needs a little extra pushing to keep up with everypony. I know he's not military but..."

"Aurora's tougher than he looks. I trust he'll be up to speed in no time." Rainbow commented, getting a backing nod from Flash Sentry. Cipher smiled a bit at that, until he looked back to see Wave helping a limping Aurora off the grounds.

"So, I heard rumors that the Crystal Empire was going through a bit of...Political instability. Know anything about that?" She asked, unable to hide a bit of a smirk as he glanced away and shifted awkwardly on his hooves.

"Please...Stop talking." Aurora replied quietly as he joined the others and sat himself down, poking at the ground.

"Alright!" Cipher announced to the team, glancing aside to see how low hanging the sun was and drawing everypony's attenion. "We're done for today. Aurora, don't be afraid to check in at the infirmary if you think you need to. Wave...My office, now. Everypony else, dismissed!"

Everypony saluted as Cipher turned and marched for the headquarters, his hoofsteps being heavier than usual the only hint of his mood. It was enough for Healing Wave to swallow nervously before following him. The rest of the team was left watching, staying in place until both of them had entered the building before relaxing. Bulwark helped Aurora up and let the younger unicorn lean against him as needed while the group started to make their way back inside.

"So, what's anypony feel up to?" Rainbow asked.

"I dunno, I'd be up for some dinner myself but...Aurora? What'd you think?" Flare commented, looking over at him. The others gave it a moment of thought before doing the same.

"Oh, err, I..." Aurora stammered, clearly not used to the others letting him make the decision. "Well, I'll take anything that keeps me off my hoof and, some food does sound good."

The others gave sounds of approval and made their way toward the mess hall, making sure to go slow enough for him to keep up. Before long they had reached the mess hall, Bulwark taking Aurora over to a table while the others went to get their meals. Compared to the style of cafeterias they'd been used to as fillies and colts, the modern layout was far more relaxed and social with circular tables instead of the rows of old. After a few minutes the others returned with a mix of salads and hay based dishes, Flash and Rainbow carrying them over on their wings. Once they had them set down in a spread and everypony was seated, the talk died down for a while as everypony divvied up their share and started eating.

"Ah...Shoot," Flash muttered to himself before looking back and calling out over the hall. "Does anypony have a spare newspaper?"

"I'm compelled to ask why. You miss your sports reports?" Water Flare said as a unicorn across the hall threw one over to their table in her magic.

"Thank you!" Flash called, sitting down and flicking it over to the back pages. "Yeah, actually. I just wanted to check the latest buckball results."

"Huh, didn't take you for the type." Bulwark remarked, watching as the pegasus stallion chewed a cabbage leaf thoughtfully as he browsed the results printed down the page.

"It's mostly a family connection, my brother actually plays for the Crystal City Imperials and I know he was set to start against the Vanhoover Icebergs yesterday so-"

"Wai-wai-wait," Rainbow interrupted. "Vortex is your brother? Wow, you two are nothing alike."

"Yeah...We're not that close," Flash admitted with a sigh. "He's never been the biggest fan of the princess if I'm honest. He followed me up to the Crystal Empire when I was transferred there and really bought into some of the more, nationalist types. When I joined the EDF, he actually questioned why I was putting Equestria ahead of the empire. He, also had his name on the Onyx Dawn petition that pushed for Princess Cadance to take the mantle of Queen thirteen years ago."

"So, Wave had a point out there?" Flare asked. Flash nodded solemnly at that, while Aurora looked away and quietly activated his magic, trying to relax in his own way.

"Let's keep the talk on friendlier topics, hmm?" Rainbow said as she swallowed a mouthful of oatcakes, glancing aside at Aurora and deciding not to bring it up to the others. "Bulwark, you said outside that your wife's serving as well?" The bulky stallion nodded and rested his forelegs on the table to get more comfy in response.

"Yeah, Peace Walker's not a brilliant fighter in all honestly, not that that's saying much since even the basics taught here could floor most ponies, so she's with recon so she can serve without getting in too much trouble. Right now she's up in the Crystal Empire tracking the movements of the creatures of the north. Hopefully I'll get a chance to see her when she returns in March."

"Everypony always talks about that like it's an easy duty," Flash interjected. "There are some creatures out there that you don't want to get within five miles of. Yetis are the worst of it, first time I ran into one of those, I got lucky. Very lucky," He didn't say it, but everypony present knew just what he was referring to, though Flare still glanced down at his flank. "I wouldn't worry though, Bulwark, we're a lot smarter about these sort of things these days."

"It's my job to worry about her," Bulwark replied with a small chuckle. "So what about you, Water Flare? Anypony waiting for you back home?"

"Yeah, up in Whinnyapolis," Flare replied, closing her eyes and blushing slightly. "His name's Plasma Flow, works as a coordinator for the city's fire service. He worked with me when I was a first responder, until he was nearly killed while we were at a rescue site."

"That's..." Rainbow tapped her hoof against the table a few times as she jogged her memory for the name. "He was the unicorn that you and Misty Fly pulled out, right? You hooked up with him after that?"

"What can I say? Adversity has a way of bringing ponies together." She replied simply, blushing more.

"Well if you've stayed together this long, good on you both." Rainbow said as she gave her a good natured nudge before turning back to Aurora, who by now was rather focused on the ceiling. "What about you, kid? Anypony caught your eye back in the empire?" She asked, waiting a minute while his magic faded and his brain caught up with his ears.

"Hmmm? Oh I..." Aurora shook himself back into focus and looked round at the others. They were all still doing their best to be patient with him. "What?"

"Feeling something interesting?" Flash asked with a small, teasing grin. Aurora jumped slightly at the question and winced as he knocked his bad leg against the table. Rainbow Dash quickly moved to check he was ok, though he waved a hoof to stop her before she could get up.

"I'm alright. To answer your question though, I was just trying to relax, more comfortable when I'm just out there, sensing. Then I felt a lot of anger from one of the floors above, way beyond the range I can normally feel emotion from. No idea who or why though."

"Huh, useful to know." Bulwark commented. Aurora blinked and looked at him before realising he hadn't been sarcastic about it.

"Come on, you didn't answer Rainbow," Flash continued. "Or what about you, Crash? Nopony holding sway over your heart?"

"Huh, never really given it much thought," Rainbow admitted. "I always thought that I had all my life goals covered with the Wonderbolts and my friends...Hmmm." She looked down slightly and started on some of her salad, looking thoughtful. Aurora rested his chin on his good hoof for a moment before deciding to try and fit in with the conversation.

"There was one mare," He commented, nudging his plate slightly and drawing the group's attention. "One of mom's assistants, white-ish unicorn by the name of Flurry Heart. She was pretty cute but a few years older than me."

"Nothing wrong with that." Cipher's voice came from behind him. Bulwark and Flare shifted aside to give him a space to sit down and have his own pick from the spread.

"Oh err, glad you're joining us, sir." Aurora said quickly, attempting to switch back to being professional.

"Hey, right now I'm your friend instead of your boss. Healing Wave decided to be alone with her thoughts so, she won't be joining us. I have to say, she's pretty stable under pressure...Might have to give her that for a nickname."

"Hmm," Aurora's horn lit up again and his eyes faded as he studied Cipher for a moment, stopping quickly. "Sorry, just settling something I was curious about."

"Right," Cipher shrugged it off and looked round at the rest of the team. "What were we talking about?"

"Loved ones waiting for us outside this unit, want to weight in?" Flare asked cheerfully, getting a few looks from the others. Cipher merely chuckled and nodded.

"Bright Carrier, my wife of thirty-two years. You may have heard of her," He replied, waiting for their inevitably confused reactions. "Nah, she's not really famous, but I love her to pieces none the less. She's in good with the nobles too, used to serve as a surrogate for a number of mares when she was younger. Lucky I enjoyed the sight as much as I did when she was carrying our daughter."

"...Are you suggesting what I think you are?" Flash asked slowly.

"Aw come on, we all have kinks like that." Cipher replied with a chuckle.

While each of the others made sounds somewhere between agreement and disgust, the conversation continued on soon afterward. Each pony present was getting used to the others by now, their quirks not as annoying or weird as they would have been when they first met the month before. Task Force Harmony was starting to properly come together now.