//------------------------------// // Rescue Operation // Story: Severance // by StealBox //------------------------------// After the Captain left, I had to take a few minutes to get my heart rate back under control. I'd never had to fight anything with magic of its own before, and I was never very confidant when it came to fighting to begin with. I couldn't get myself to fully calm down though... I wasn't out of the woods yet. For all I knew, there could still be an axe hanging over me. I couldn't think of any reason why Chrysalis wouldn't accept my help, but... relying on others to act rationally was usually a mistake. Always plan for the worst case... If it comes down to it, I'll need something to disable them fast... I don't know how effective stun spells will be, and they might put up some kind of defense while preparing to attack... I don't want to kill any of them, but... If I have to- "Relax," I heard, unexpectedly, nearly giving me a heart attack as my head snapped to the guard who had spoken. It was the one who'd gone to get the captain. "...The Queen will accept your sincerity, I know it," he said, flashing me a reassuring grin. "It's not our place to presume to know the Queen's will," the other guard said, frowning at his comrade. "...Besides, you shouldn't be talking to the prisoner." "Don't be such a stiff," the first replied, playfully knocking a hoof against the seconds armor. "It's not like he'll be a prisoner for much longer." "Hn," came an acknowledging grunt. He didn't sound too convinced. Thank goodness... Happy made it sound like they'd all be against me. I'm so glad that's not the case, I thought, his words helping a great deal to further calm my nerves. "Thank you for the vote of confidence," I said, smiling at him. "Mistakes happen, I... I get that," he said rubbing the back of his neck and suddenly sounding very somber. "Just... try not to make any more, okay?" "I won't", I said, hoping I could keep that promise. "Right," he said, smiling again, "I'm sure everything will work out in the end." "Optimist," the other guard said, darkly. "You always say that like it's an insult," he replied cheerily, to which the other just rolled his eyes. When the conversation didn't immediately continue after that, I assumed it was over, and that I would go back to waiting quietly until the captain returned... Until I remembered something. Names, names! I have to remember that more often! "Uh, you probably already know who I am, but, we haven't really been properly introduced yet. I'm Cotton, and you are?" I asked, extending a hoof. "I'm Shift," he introduced, accepting my hoofshake through the bars. It looked like he was about to say something else, when he suddenly stopped and turned to his friend. "...Think that's good or bad?" "Hm... hard to tell," he replied, the two of them looking towards the tunnel the captain had left through. "What's going on?" I asked. "The Captain's coming back," Shift started, turning back to me, "and he's not happy. Something's got him frustrated," he continued, voice lowered near to a whisper. The captain marched back into the room a few moments later, although he looked perfectly calm to me, the guards giving him a salute as he walked closer. "Open the cell," he said to the as-yet-unnamed changeling. "So... she's accepting my help?" I asked as the guard fired a thin green beam at the lock, liquefying the resin that had been sticking the latch in place. "The Queen has... deferred to my judgment on the matter," he said. Although there was something about the way he said the word 'deferred', that made him seem unhappy about it. "...And I plan on putting you to work immediately." "Alright, where am I going and what am I doing?" I asked excitedly as I walked out of the cell, happy that I was free and officially being given a chance. "You will be joining the rescue operation in the Whitetail Woods," he stated, motioning us to follow as he turned to leave the room. "There's already one happening?" I asked, wondering, again, just how long I was knocked out for. We fell in behind the captain with the two guards flanking me on either side. Taking a quick glance at Shift, the guard who was all smiles before, was suddenly completely stoic in the presence of his captain. Seeing this drastic change in behavior drained the small amount of comfort his support had given me as I was reminded that, only a few minutes earlier, he didn't protest or hesitate when it looked like the captain was going to kill me. "Yes," the captain replied, continuing to lead us down the sparsely lit tunnels, torches only burning at certain intersections. "...A contingent was sent out immediately after Happy delivered his report. We need to make the utmost use of this advantage while we still have it." "So what am I expected to do when I get there? I'm not exactly a soldier." "You'll be reporting to a changeling named Dour, he's the appointed field commander. You will assist him and the operation in any way possible... If that means fighting," he said, stopping momentarily to make eye contact, "then you fight." "R-right," I said, withering slightly under his gaze. So that's how it is, I thought once we started moving again. A trial-by-fire style test of my loyalty. They don't need me there for anything, he just wants to see if I'm willing to openly fight for them. From my perspective, these will be the best possible conditions to be in if I wanted to betray them and escape, since the fighting will probably keep everyone too occupied to keep an eye on me... While from his perspective, he must think that there will be enough changelings around to handle the situation and deal with me before I can escape, should I turn against them. "Switch, Shift," he addressed the two guards, turning to us after coming to a stop next to the torch of another intersection. "You will escort him to the Whitetail Woods, and then join the operation as well." "Sir!" They shouted in unison, giving him a solute. "You are dismissed. Good luck." With that he left, swiftly disappearing into another darkened tunnel as Shift, and the now named Switch, released their solutes. "Lets get moving," said Switch, grabbing the torch off the wall with a hoof before continuing on in what was presumably the direction of the surface. I followed him for about a minute, watching his slightly hobbling three-legged walk, before I decided to ask... "Why don't you just hold the torch with magic? Or even just use a light spell?" "...It's unnecessary," he said after a pause, like he was debating whether or not to ignore me. "Uhh, yeah I guess, but-" "We're in a very... precarious situation right now, Cotton," Shift said, cutting me off. "We can't afford to be wasting any magic on frivolous things, no matter how small they may seem to you." "Oh... right..." I hadn't considered that their situation was desperate enough that even something as effortless as a light spell needed to be conserved... The conversation ended for a time as we navigated the path to the surface. "...Hey," I started after a few minutes, "I've been thinking, and... how did the other changelings leave the forest without being spotted? There were patrol's going around last I saw." "At least one patrol was overwhelmed and replaced," Shift answered. "Several ponies were brought back not long after the contingent left." "Brought back? Isn't that risky? What if they escape?" "Not as risky as letting them go," Switch replied. "If they hadn't been replaced, we would have lost the element of surprise... And if they hadn't been detained, our infiltrators would have been revealed." "Imprisoning them was the only real choice at the time," Shift continued. "They're being kept in one of the other holding area's we've found. They're all restrained though, so don't worry about them escaping." "Alright..." I conceded. They probably already thought of everything anyway. They wouldn't keep them if they couldn't hold them. Shift and Switch both transformed into pagasi before we walked outside. Moonlight was shining through the trees, indicating that I was unconscious for several hours. We moved as quickly as we could towards the edge of the forest, sneaking out when we were sure no one would spot us. I used a feather-weight spell to make carrying me easier, and from there we flew towards the Whitetail Woods. We landed inside the treeline about twenty minutes later, Shift and Switch reassuming their changeling forms. The moon seemed to be especially bright tonight, although it was probably just my night adjusted eyes tricking me... Either way, it made navigating these far-less-dense woods even easier, and soon we met up with a few more changelings who, after a quick explanation for my presence, led us to the field commander. They were much harder to see in the dark due to their black chitin, but as we approached the rally point for this contingent, the woods quickly became alive with changelings. Dozens of them were in the bushes and trees, watching us as we walked by, and no doubt also keeping an eye out for any of the royal guard that could stumble onto their staging area. Soon we came into a small clearing with a group gathered together in the middle. "And what's this now?" A changeling asked, stepping away from a circle of several changelings examining a map drawn into the dirt. Presumably this was the field commander, but his armor was undecorated, and looked no different from anyone else's. "Sir," Shift started, stepping forward. "This is the pony, Cotton. He wishes to help us, and the Queen and Captain are giving him this opportunity to prove himself. He is at your disposal." "Is he now..." Dour said, scrutinizing me for a long moment. "Very well, I'll accept their judgement of you for now," he said, turning back to the map. "We could put a unicorn to good use here." "So... what's the situation? Where do you need me?" I asked, joining the circle around the map. Now that I could see it properly, it seemed to be the layout of a camp, likely the remains of their unpacked caravan. A location near the center was circled prominently, and was most likely where the captured changelings were being held. "The situation is... less than ideal," he started, motioning to the circle on the map. "...Our brothers are being held in the center of the encampment within a shield bubble. From what we've observed, it gradually fades in strength over the course of about an hour, but seemingly any unicorn in the camp can recharge it. We've never seen something like this before, and it's made finding and eliminating the castor virtually impossible." "An uncoupled shield? I've read about those," I interjected, putting all eyes on me. "They're notably weaker than normal shield spells, with their only real advantage being that it's maintenance isn't tied to the original castor. You don't even need to know how to cast the shield yourself to-" "How much weaker?" One of the other changelings interrupted. "I'm not sure," I shrugged, "it depends on how much power they're pumping into it... but if they need to recharge it every hour, it can't be too powerful... How many changelings do you have here? The shield's probably just strong enough to withstand the changelings inside it trying to escape, and not much more than that." "There are ninety-six changelings in our force," another member of the circle answered. "Ninety-six! How many royal guards are here!?" "We've counted around eighty royal guards present in the camp," someone replied. "We estimate that about half of them are asleep right now, according to our first scouts, who were able to observe them during the shift change before nightfall." Blink. "Wait, you outnumber them by that much? Why haven't you just stormed the camp already? You'd win before anypony could wake up, or even realize they were under attack!" "Because," Dour started after a short silence, "it would use up too much of our energy. An all out assault is open as our backup plan, but we're already in a bit of a crisis here, so we've been looking for a more... efficient way of doing it." "Alright... So what is the plan then?" There was a long, awkward silence in response to that question. Most of the changelings in the circle suddenly found the ground to be very interesting as they shifted their gaze away from me. "We... don't have one anymore," Dour finally said. "The plan we were working towards was to disable the shield by taking out its castor, but now... now we know that isn't possible... *Sigh* We're back at square one," he finished, voice filled with dejection and exhaustion as his head drooped. Looking around the clearing, most of the changelings I could clearly see looked so defeated with their heads held low, and the rest just looked tired. And now that I was looking closely enough, their chitin was dull and rough, unlike what I saw of Happy when he was... well fed, as it were. Many of the ones lying in the branches also seemed to be struggling just to keep their eyes open. They're all exhausted, I suddenly realized. Not just magically, but physically and mentally as well. I just had a nice long dirt nap, but none of these changelings even got to go to sleep last night before flying back out here. It felt really stupid of me that I hadn't realized that at any time before now. ...And only just before that, they had flown halfway across the country with all of their strength, with an army on their asses, after retreating from a fight that they lost... after only one nights rest from another fight that they lost... I'm surprised any of these guys are even still able to stand. I left the circle and sat down by a tree while they started trying to make a new strategy. This 'low energy' thing is getting real frickin' annoying, I mentally huffed. When we get back, I'm telling Chrysalis that she needs to send out a blitz of changelings to every city in Equestria to gather as much love as they can... Really make use of the advantage while we have it. "Hey, pony!" Came a yell from one of the strategizing changelings who wanted my attention. "Yeah?" I asked, looking up to see them all looking at me. "If we could get you close enough, would you be able to disable the shield?" "I... don't think so," I answered with some hesitation. "I'm not an expert on shield spells. I've read up on them, but I'm actually not very good with them at all. My specializations are in transfiguration and illusion magics... Sorry," I meekly concluded. With a sigh of frustration, the circle turned inward again. Fuck sake... I'm totally useless here. I don't fight, I'm no good with shields... my skill set isn't right for this situation... "*sigh* Oh, what to do, what to do, what to do," I whispered to myself, dragging my hooves down over my face, slightly stretching the skin before dropping my hooves back to the ground. I leaned back to rest my head against the tree trunk with my eye closed. We don't have enough strength to spare to subdue the entire camp, or to break down the shield and escape... We also don't have any way to bring the shield down without force. That means we'll need to keep anyone from recharging it for over an hour, which just isn't gunna fuckin' happen while there's even one unicorn left standing in that camp... Suddenly I bolted upright from my relaxed position as an idea hit me. What if there were no unicorns in the camp? Looking through the trees at the multitude of changelings, we have far more than enough to replace them all, I thought. No, no, no, wait, I interrupted myself before I could get too enthusiastic, It would be way too obvious and suspicious if suddenly no one was recharging the shield... And even if they still think that they know how to dispel a changelings disguise, they're bound to have some kind of system in place, like code words and such, just in case... The only way we could pull this off would be... to... Jumping to my hooves, I galloped back to the circle, barging my way into it. "I have an idea!" I loudly stated over the surprised outcries. Turning to face Dour, "what would be the feasibility of quickly and quietly subduing and replacing all of the guardsmen who are still awake?" "W-what!?" Was the universal reaction to that question. "That's ridiculous, there's no way we could do that!" "Why not?" I pointedly asked, making it clear I wanted a serious answer. "Well, for starters-" Dour started, sounding uncertain, likely put off balance by how assertive I was being. "-There are no patrols we've seen that go out into the forest. We would be attacking them in close quarters, where it would be almost impossible not to be seen by another group. They're also all wearing helmets and armor. Knocking them out in one quick blow would be impossible to do quietly-" "What if you could do it quietly?" I asked. This made him frown. "'What if' there was no shield in the first place," he derided. "Stop wasting our time with useless 'what-if' scenarios. We need to-" I interrupted him with a burst of magic, as suddenly all sound in the clearing ceased. I clapped my hooves together in front of his face a few times, to no effect, before ending the spell. "You can't use magic right now, but I still can. I can make your troops, and any clanking armor, completely silent. I can even make them invisible while they get into range." "...And this will be effective against the other unicorns?" Dour asked. "Like I said, illusion magic is my specialty. They'll never know what hit them," I assured. "...Okay," he finally said after several seconds of contemplation," ...so what's your plan?" "The plans quite simple, really," I said, motioning to the map. According to the scouting data gathered over the last several hours, the guard placements were all centered around the shield bubble, which itself was quite large, maybe thirty meters in diameter. Most of the tents from the caravan had been knocked down, and some were wrapped up and packed away into their carts. It looked like, at least during the day, that they were clearing everything up, probably in preparation to move it out of the forest. The only tents that hadn't been disturbed were the ones directly around the shield, which the sleeping guards were occupying. The night shift consisted of five clusters of guards sitting around camp fires spaced evenly around the shield. Every couple of minutes, two guards from each cluster would walk around to the next, doing a cursory inspection of the tents and any potential hiding places as they went. One of these two-pony patrols would serve as our infiltration point. Their inspections would take them out of sight from the main clusters for just long enough to be ambushed and replaced, without interrupting the patrol pattern. These infiltrators will then continue to the next cluster of guards while more changelings hide the unconscious guards for them. The bodies will need to be hidden so that I don't have to split my focus unnecessarily. The fewer things I need to worry about, the easier the whole situation will be to deal with. Once the infiltrators arrive at the first campfire, they will cause a distraction. With all eyes on them, and more importantly, all backs facing outward, a group of changelings will quickly move in, undetectable under my spells, and take down all of the ponies from behind with a single coordinated attack. They'll have to move quickly in order to hide the bodies in time for the next patrol. In between the tents on the way to the next guard cluster would be the best option, given that the patrols were never seen switching directions. Once the first cluster is taken over, it will only be a matter of time before all of them are. Once the next patrol is sent around, the same strategy will be used on each subsequent cluster. And while each patrol sent to the first cluster will be walking into a seemingly easy ambush, these, in fact, will present the most danger to the operation. As we move further around the shield, it will be progressively more difficult for me to accurately cast and maintain the illusion due to the increased distance, as well as the lack of a line of sight on the space I'm trying to cover. As such, the ability of those replacing the first cluster to take out each new pair of guards will be very important, as I may not be able to accurately center the spell on where the fight will take place. Then, once all of the ponies are out of the picture, and if everything goes well, all that will be left is to wait... The operation would begin once everyone was in position, which was taking a good while, and the waiting was making me anxious. Having the whole operation hinging on my performance wasn't helping either... even though that was entirely my idea... After explaining my plan to Dour, he assigned the required number of changelings, and arranged the rest into a readied strike force. They were currently waiting a short distance from the enemy camp, and would charge in the instant someone came back with bad news... Specifically, one of my two escorts. "Calm down," came the voice of Switch, to my right. "...If you're nervous, you'll mess up." "Yeah, just take a deep breath... all the anxiety you're giving off is gunna give me flaky chitin," said Shift, to my left. That statement confused me a bit. "Flaky chi-? Uh, sorry," I cut myself off, shaking my head, "it's just... this is a lot of pressure... I've never tried something like this before, and I have to get it perfect on the first try..." "Ah... Well, everyone gets nervous their first time out, you just need to find a way to cope with it," said Switch. "This... is a bit different to the first feeding," Shift countered. His comment was greeted with a pointed look. "-But I'm sure the same advice still applies," he quickly added. "Don't worry about what might happen if you fail. Think about what will happen, when you succeed," Switch stated, inspirationally. He's right. I can do this, I know it. "Thanks, I needed that-" "Done with your pep-talk?" Came a new voice, as two, seemingly identical, changelings walked up to us. Now, I'm not exactly well practiced with telling changelings apart, but these two looked like clones to my eye. "Everyone's in position. It's time to get started," said the other one. I could tell from the voices that they were female, and now that I could see both genders side by side, I was able to spot the small differences. It was colors, mostly. The females had dark green chitin on their backs instead of dark blue, and the... fin looking thing, coming out of the back of their necks, was dark green on the females, but dark grey on the males. Other than the color swap, the only difference I could see was that, just like with ponies, the females had visibly longer eyelashes. Unlike the queen, however, there was no colored band circling their barrels, and they didn't have a mane. "Ready when you are," I said. With that affirmation, we moved into our position. We had to get dangerously close to the camp in order to give ourselves the biggest possible window to take out the first two ponies. Once we were in position, we didn't have to wait long for the first patrol to come through. I cast two spells on the two female changelings, one of invisibility and another of silence. I kept up an active connection to the silent spell though, so that I could manipulate it on the fly, rather than casting it again on the patrolling guards. Through that connection, I felt when they bolted forward towards the unsuspecting ponies, and once they were right on top of them, I expanded the radius of silence to cover all four of them. We saw the two guards struggle, unheard, against their invisible assailants, and once they were down, I ended both spells, revealing two identical copies of the unconscious ponies, who continued on their way. So far so good, I thought, casting my spells on Shift and Switch, who ran in to hide the bodies, while I relocated to the first group of changelings. Just keep the momentum going... You can do this. I don't think I'll ever get used to this feeling, I thought, reflecting on the strange disconnect of feeling magically tired, while my body hadn't really done any work at all. I was sweating, and breathing heavy like I'd just run a marathon... but I felt none of the physical sensations normally associated with being tired. None of my joints hurt, none of my muscles were sore, my body didn't feel tense... and yet I had the feeling of needing to lie down and rest for a bit. Regardless, the mission was a success, with only a few hiccups. There were a few situations where a sleeping guard woke up for a midnight bathroom break, but they were taken care of. Now we just had to wait, and watch out for any more ponies waking up. "See? We knew you could do it!" Shift congratulated with an enormous grin, wrapping me in a one-legged hug while thumping my chest a few times with his other hoof. "*Huff* -Yeah... yeah I did..." "Good job," Switch pitched in, giving me a single pat on the back. "Come on, we need to report in," he continued, taking the lead as we walked. It didn't take us long to reach the staging area where the rest of the changelings were waiting. Soon enough, we parted the tall bushes, and were greeted by the sight of Dour standing in front of his small army. "Mission complete, Sir," Switch stated with a salute. A buzz of excitement rippled through the crowd of changelings as they quietly celebrated the news. Dour opened his mouth to announce something, when suddenly his eyes narrowed and the quiet celebrating halted. I had a few moments to be confused, before a changeling ran up behind us from the direction of the camp. "What's the bad news?" Dour asked before the changeling had even come to a full stop before him. "Sir, when the operation completed, we made contact with the hostages through the shield. They informed us that several captives were taken back to Canterlot yesterday for study by the ponies." Dour growled in anger at that news. letting out a sigh of frustration, he calmed himself down before issuing his orders, "bring me the Faint twins." "Sir!" The changeling replied, running back the way he came. "Alright, everyone else," he started in a raised voice. Not quite yelling, just loud enough so everyone could hear. "Stay quiet, and salvage what you can. Don't take more than you can carry, and only take what we need. We're not pulling any carts across open country." The crowd surged forward in an flurry, some flying, others running on the ground, but all of them maintaining an impressive amount of silence for the sheer number of them that were present. I stayed back, though, I wouldn't know what to take anyway. That last bit of news was definitely not good, but there was nothing I, or anyone, could have done about that. When I came back out of my head, I suddenly found myself standing there alone with Dour, who was just watching me. "So... what can I do to help..?" I awkwardly asked, not really sure what else to say, and unable to read any emotion from his straight face and featureless eyes. He continued to just stare at me for a few seconds, unblinking, before finally speaking. "You said transfiguration was your other specialty?" He asked, to which I nodded. "...Some saddlebags would help," he stated, simply. "Right. I can do that," I said with a nod, making my way after the others. "Cotton, was it?" He said, stopping me as I was about to part my way through the tall bushes. "Yes?" "...You have our thanks," he said after a moments contemplation. "I'll put a good word in for you with my brother." "The Captain's your brother?" I questioned, one eyebrow raised. "Yes," he nodded. "Now get back to work soldier, we still have a long night ahead of us." I gave him a loose salute in acknowledgment before turning back to the bushes. I was just about to walk through, when a pair of changelings burst through right in front of me. They were mere inches away, at full running speed, and I just barely had time to tense up in preparation for the collision... when they both nimbly weaved to either side, not even touching me as they kept going. "Feint/Faint reporting, Sir!" They spoke as one, giving Dour a perfectly synchronized solute the instant they stopped before him. Still a bit shocked at what had almost happened, I turned around to get a look at the pair that had nearly waylaid me... only to find that it was the same two changelings from the start of the operation. So they're twins? I thought they looked a little too similar... Not wanting to be accused of being nosy, I turned back around and left as Dour started giving them their orders, hearing little more than that they were to go to Canterlot. Now I have to make a whole shit-load of saddlebags... *Sigh* ...I hope Emulate wasn't one of the transferred captives. It's already been too long since the last time I saw her...