Humans Assemble!

by Mistershield

Operation: Tetra Blitz

Chapter 16- Operation: Tetra Blitz

Otacon turned away from the prisoner and then raised his left hand to the group. His plam was facing down with his fingers had been spread apart a bit, with the thumb pointing down. "Remember, Team Four, begin your operation in about an hour. This should give Teams One through Three enough time to prepare their strike attacks," the doctor said.

All of the changelings begun to take their assigned shapes. Team One all changed into copies of Fluttershy, save Spy Alpha. Alpha turned into a rather large bird, a vulture. Team Two tranformed into various collected earth ponies. Even Spy Beta. Team Three transformed into various pegasi- Save Spy Gama, who transformed into a large bird, an eagle. King Aurelius nodded to his changelings , giving them his informal blessings.

"Now comencing, Operation Tetra Blitz," Otacon said as he moved his outstreched hand back from the group. Those that could fly, took off into the air. The "fake" earth ponies turned away to begin running off. After a final nod to Otacon, King Aurelius left with his guards. This left the human engineer with two guards and Trixie left in the area. He guessed her had about maybe 3 hours at best to be alone.

"Alright, one guard, please secure the prisoner to the post. Keep her blindfolded to prevent her from using her magic. I need the other guard to talk to," the human said to walk away a bit. Trixie tried to struggle against her bonds for a moment before her eyes were covered with a peice of cloth cut from Otacon's parachute. Trixie knew better than to try magic when they were so many around. But now that she could not see, trying any magic would be pointless.

"The moment you try to remove your blindfold or perform any funny stuff, I will run my horn through you like a knife through butter," a guard said. Her bindings were being secured around her waist and bottom hooves. The other guard moved to Otacon, wondering what was to be discussed.

"Alright. How often do we feed the prisoner? How long between her water rations?" Otacon asked.

"She is fed at least twice a day. We have to make sure she is alive, or else she is no good to us. We give her water about... Maybe five times a day," the changeling said. Still, why did Otacon asked for the info?

"Good. This interrogation will take time. I am no good at physical torture, and I am guessing you already tried to get her to talk though physical harm. This only leaves mental games. With any luck, knowing her food habits will give me a way to get her to talk. Also, tell me how she got captured..." Otacon released a sigh. He wished Snake were here, he could easily make people talk.

"I see, that makes sense. Actually, she was not captured. We found the poor thing as we traveled from our home country," The changeling begun to explain. The black creatured turned to look as the other guard was making sure the ropes and post Trixie was tied too was secure. "She called herself a "traveling" magician. A bit down on her luck, our King managed to hire her as our guide. While we can mix in with the population, we still had no idea about this land."

"Smart move. I would have gone straight to a library. But having someone that actually traveled the land sounds better," Otacon said. He also turned to look at her.

"Thanks to her, we learned a lot. A few customs, culture, and roads. At the time, we had transformed as a group of donkeys. Being ponies and asking for a guide seemed a bit far off, so we said we were pilgrims and looking for a place to settle down. While certainly loud and obnoxious, she almost seemed... Glad to be traveling with company. It was sad, its almost like her attitude was hiding the loneliness," the changeling said to look back at Otacon.

"I see. This could be a clue to her personality. I hate Tsunderes," Otacon said with a frown.

"A sun what now?" Asked the changeling.

"Uh, its a metaphor. Do not worry about it. So how did she get up getting tied up then?" Asked Otacon to look back at the guard. He did not want to go into the whole explanation of what a tsundere is. (Hey, Otacon is Japanese Anime geek. Of course he knows what it is. You can look it up if you want to know what it means.)

"While traveling, one of us," The guard stopped talking, remembering what happened to that poor fool. "Changed form and she saw the whole thing. She immediately confronted us about it, though she should have gotten for help first. Or kept quiet and then slip out before anyone knew anything- In any case when the secret got out the King had her tied up. What were we supposed to to? Kill her?" The guard shrugged his shoulders.

"Yeah, I would not have killed her," Otacon said. He had a slight nervous twitch. Had that been him, he would have confronted the Changelings too. He would have also thought of them as friends and given them a chance to explain themselves. "Anything else you can tell me about her?"

"Urgh. She's nice if you can get past her arrogance. But do not challenge her, she can't help but try to show you up," the changeling shook his head to the sides.

"Good to know. You two can go get some food for the prisoner and myself. Also, take your time. Maybe even a break. I have a feeling she would be more willingly to talk if you guys are not around," Otacon said as he walked back to Trixie. The changeling nodded and then moved to take his partner away. Once they were gone, Otacon released a sigh. How was he going to do this.

"Who is there? I can hear you! If you think that getting an ugly hairless ape will scare me, then you do not know the Mighty and Powerful Trixie!"

Otacon moved his left hand to slap his forehead. To think he felt sorry for her. He was not ugly! Intimidating her was out of the question. He got down to his good knee and her faced her. Here we go. He moved his right hand to her blindfold and pulled it a bit over her eyes.

"What are you doing you-" Trixie immediately found her mouth shut as Otacon moved his hand down to shut it for her. His other hand moved to place his index figner over his lips.

"Keep it down, I don't know how much time we have!" Otacon said, looking around. "Most of the changelings are gone, even the King! I sent the guards to get us food, but I don't know how long they will gone for. I can't let you go now, but at least we can talk," Otacon said, drawing his face closer to her. He looked serious, at least Trixie thought so. He drew his hand mack from her and waited.

"Who are you?" She asked in a low voice to look around. It looked like the creature was telling the truth, she couldn't hear any nearby creatures. Trixie took a moment to narrow her eyes and inspect this ape. Awfully clothed for a creature, and the spectacles gave Otacon an allure of a intellectual. Maybe she could reason with this thing.

"My name's Hal, but you can call me Otacon. I'm a human, and I am not all too sure how I got here," the human said. He gave her a small smile, trying to appear friendly.

"If we are alone, shouldn't we make a break for it? Now is our best chance!" Trixie said, finally turning to look back at the doctor. From what he could tell, she looked ok. Some dirst and a few scrapes here and there. She also didn't look starved.

"And go where? We are in the middle of Everfree Forest. From what I been told, its a pretty dangerous place to be alone. And unless you been to this forest, I'm pretty sure we'll get lost," Otacon said as look around again with his eyes. So far so good. He was glad he could play good cop without a bad cop. Trixie frowned and lowered her head. Damn, he had a point. Few ponies could hope to navigate this place.

"Look, we don't have much time. I need info. With any luck, I can form a plan and get you free," Otacon said. While he doubted that the Changelings were lying to him, he had been around enough conspiracies and hidden agends to know there was always two sides to a story. He would at least give Trixie a chance before deciding to do anything with her.

"Why are you not a prisoner?" Trixie asked, moving her head up and down to look at the unbound apendages of the human.

"I'm sorta working for them. They saved my life. But I have no idea how much to trust them," Otacon said. That much was true. "Okay, I answered your questions. Answer some of mine. How much do you know about changelings?"

"Fine. But promise Trixie you will free her when you can," Trixie said, looking at Otacon's face.

"Are you serious? The third per- oh fine, I promise," Otacon said. Who in the world referes to themselves in the third person while captured? He'd wish she would drop the act.

"Alright. No idea what they told you, but Trixie doesn't know much either. Trixie is a traveling performer, so news about them was scare. Also, Trixie did not study about them in school," the light blue unicorn said. "I do know they plan to invade Equestria one town a time. Sneak in, take over the key government positions. Cowards," Trixie added, lowering her head a bit with her eyes closed. It looks like she was still dealing with feelings of betrayal.

"That's not much. Do you know how many of them are there?" Otacon said. He had to be careful. Ask too many questions about her may cast some suspicion, so he had to change the questions now and then. Try to at least look like he wanted to be against the Changelings.

"Well, the group Trixie was leading was about 15 or so. They avoided more populated towns, claiming they wanted a "quiet place to live." My guess its because it was easy to take over. I finally noticed something was wrong when the group grew in size. By the time I comfronted them, I saw over 30. It was almost as if they picked up more whenver we passed a town or city," Trixie said, lifting her head up. At least she was using "I" more at this point.

"Good... At least we know they are in other towns. By the way, Trixie? Are you okay? Have they been treating you well?" Otacon asked, deciding to mix up the line of questioning. His facial features soften, looking at the restraints on her hooves. She appeared to have burn marks, as if she had struggled.

"They have treated Trixie alright, given I am a prisoner," she said. This "human" appeared to be honest. All she could do was place her luck on him and roll the dice. "One or twice, they tried to feed of me."

"Feed off you?" Otacon asked, lifting an eyebrow.

"I thought it odd. When we traveled, they never ate with me and I never saw them take a bite. I saw one of them transform from a donkey and into that hideous black form. That is how I learned they feed of emotions," Trixie said, her nose twitched in disgust.

"Tell me everything," Otacon said. He reached into his notebook and begun to take some notes. He did find it odd, none of them ate with him, and none of them have eaten either. Something told him he did not want to know the truth.

_______________________________________

Team One landed in a small clearing next to a known manticore habitat. A stampede sounded harder to do, considering there was only an hour to work with. The plan was simple. All the changelings would antagonize the poor beast. A kick, taunt, jeering, and distraction. Since they would all be Fluttershy clones, they would lead him close to her house and let it take care of the rest.

Manticore were not truly nocturnal creatures, but they were certainly not early risers. They found the large lion chimera napping on a pile of rocks. The vulture changling picked up a rock to through it at its head and then take off to the air. The manticore raised its head, giving a small yawn. More confused by what caused it to wake up, it begun to look around. It then spotted a single Fluttershy clone, smiling at it.

The manticore blinked once, not sure what to make of the yellow pegasus. The clone walked up to the creature and then kicked it in its face. Thrown back more in surprise than in pain, the manticore moved its head back a bit before snapping it back to look at the creature that dared hit it. The clone simply waved a front hoof and took off, laughing at the manticore.

Still confused, the Manticore frowned and moved its scorpion tail to rub its face. It was too early to deal with this stuff. That was, until a second clone more to kick it from behind. Caught off guard, the chimera perked up its tail, wings, and eyes to look behind itself. That same yellow pegasus had managed to get behind it and laugh again. The clone kicked the manticore then and then took off, laughing again.

Oh, Hell to the No.

Pissed beyond belief, the manticore growled and then took off after that arrogant creature. Spy Alpha watched the scene from a dead tree before moving to the direction of the true Fluttershy's home.

_____________________________________________

Teams Two had a much more rough time. Although they were ponies, than had an hour to get to Ponyville and make a rockslide. They ran through the forest, taiking a route leading past Apple farm. Had they had a second to notice, they would have seen an orage pony thowing things at a nearly nude human was running around the farm. The Dovahkiin had been dodging apples left and right.

"Come back here and take your licks like a real colt!" Applejack said, throwing more apples. She even tossed an apple up and then kicked it with deadly force. Dovahkiin was lucky enough to dodge behind a tree, where the apple splattered against it.

"How was I supposed to know you wanted a kiss! How was I supposed to react when I see a pony staring at my face when I wake up!" Dovahkiin said, peeking out from behind the tree. How he wished he had a shield.

"I- I didn't want a kiss!" Applejack screamed, throwing more apples. "Its when you FUS RO DA me against the wall!"

"I said I'm sorry!" Dovahkiin yelled again. He used his telekenesis to prevent the apples from getting tossed at him. Spy Beta had to stop and look at the duo. There was instructions to study the humans. Still, the changeling rushed off to join the others after a moment.

"I'm gonna tan yer hide!" Applejack screamed, loosing her composure. Big Macintosh had grabbed hold of her sister from behind and give Dovahkiin a chance to run.

"ZUL MEY GUT!" Dovahkiin shouted, turning to run again. He owed the giant red pony one. Thanks to the dragon shout, his voice was carried away and towards the opposite direction. With any luck, his thrown voice would give Applejack the slip so he could go back and get some armor.

When Spy Beta reached his companions, they were already digging away at the ground beneath a large rock and boulder group on top of a hill. With little time left, Spy Beta joined in to dig and loosen the earth.

______________________________________________

Team Three landed on top of the dam the controlled the flow of water leading into Ponyville. One of them transformed into a long snake. Another pegasus grabbed hold of the end of the snake to lower it down along the outer wall. Using its tongue, the snake changeling begun to look for weak spots in the wall. Snake tongues posses powerful olfactory and other ways to sense things. It found a recently patched spot on the dam. With a nod, it was raised up.

One of the changelings was luckly enough to find a pick from a discarded mine in the Everfree Forest. It transformed into a gorilla and then begun to strike at the spot the snake mentioned. Another changeling changed into a Diamond Dog. It would clear the debris way for the pick, letting the gorilla chip away at the dam. Soon enough the patched spot had been moved away to expose a crack that let water slip slowly through.

Spy Gama nodded to the group and took off to take perch and get ready. All the other changeling changed back into birds and took off. Left next to the crack, a small set of c4 rigged by Otacon begun to count down.

10

9

8

7...

Comments

[Awesomedude17]

Let me, guess. Otacon soon realizes who he's working with and shoots the king.

[Dirty Bit]

I hate tsunderes myself. Yanderes are where it's at

[Howdidyouevenfindthis]

1471867 AGREED!

[Hyperion]

Otacon and travis....oh god i see it now

[BrackMadar]

the gig is up changelings

that scene with the dragon born and Applejack just made me laugh so hard

AM SERIOUS, ONE MORE CHAPTER AND THAT'S IT; I HAVE SAID

[Daedalus]

Otacon, when did you learn mind games like that? Also, why are you not bothering to find out anything about your hosts from an outside source?

[Rhavian]

Otacon managed to make C4 out of spare parts lying about the Everfree?
Well, no one ever said he lacked talent.

[Morex25]

Yes yes, you can make Otacon sound and act cool but for me he is still a wimp!

[ManWithThePan]

Otacon, Otaku...
You clever bastard

[Dustchu]

ooOooohohoho, this is getting nitty gritty! :D
Nicej ob!