Report of a changeling soldier

by Harasha the Gryphon

Day 15

Day 15

It’s been several days since my previous entry into this journal and once again an event of interest has prompted me to make a report. But before any of that, an update on my ambush trap. Ever since the cave in claimed the lives of my squad mates I’ve gone to work setting up this small cavern to use as an ambush base. My first order of business naturally was to use my bile to create solid slime pillars to shore up the cave against any further cave ins. I've also created a bile lamp, so I could see better but made the light dim enough so ponies wouldn't detect my hideout. Indeed, After I illuminated the alcove I discovered several other narrow tunnels all over the place that I didn't notice initially. I certainly picked my ambush base well.

My next order of business was to scout out the various small passageways branching out of the cave. I made sure to only check the passages with enough room for me to drag through any prisoners I capture. Once I finished scouting, I concluded that there were only three tunnels ponies would likely use in their escape attempts: A straight tunnel with a level floor made of crystal, a winding tunnel composed of a brown stone, and an enormous cavern with a waterfall emptying out into the darkness.

I set up specially crafted bile strands to alert me to the presence of anypony inside any of these three caves. In all sincerity, these bile traps are some of my most inspired creations yet. I started by laying small interwoven bile meshes on the floors of these caverns. They're small and thin enough to be hard to see by anyone without a careful look. I then connected them back to a single easy to repair bile thread that I ran back to the base. Any movement on the meshes in the cavern would cause a vibration on the main thread that I could easily detect. As an added bonus I hooked the meshes into my bed, so I could be feel the vibrations even if I was asleep.

Once I knew somepony was there I’d go through the tunnel and ambush the offending parties. If they’re civilians, I'll simply intimidate them into doubling back through the caves to be captured by any changelings hunting them. We never leave our food unguarded and any escaped civilians are almost certainly being missed by very hungry changelings. Guards on the other hand are far more likely to be remnant resistance fighters rather than an escaped meal. Cadrodia has made it abundantly clear to us that prisoners of military value are to be captured for further interrogation and potential counterintelligence.

There’s something unusual about these caves. Ever since I set up my base in here, I can’t help but notice my love reserves are draining much faster than normal. I consumed more than enough love to last me years back on the surface. Yet despite this I found myself starving again within a day or two. I strongly suspect the crystals in these caves possess magical properties that are causing me to burn through my energy far quicker than usual. Even with this acceleration in play, I’ll probably have more than enough food to last for several months. Not to mention there’s enough subterranean wildlife passing through the waterfall cavern to top off my reserves. Not an ideal food source but I’ll make due.

Still no sign of any contact with my changeling brethren on the surface. I went missing fifteen days ago and there’s no indication they realize I’m trapped. This undoubtedly only leads me to one of two assumptions about why I haven’t had any contact with the others. One, they don’t know where I am and are frantically searching for me. Or two, they require me to continue the mission but haven't found the time to inform me of this fact. For now though I’ll stay here, I’m not gonna head back to the surface for further orders until a month goes by. If they take that long to get to me for even a report than it likely means that they want me to come back up.

Either way I said I had something to report so it’s time to report it. As of today I got my first hit. I was awoken in the morning by the bile thread leading to the winding cave vibrating. The only way I can easily move through these tiny chutes is to shape shift into a small spider about half my size. It also doesn't help that the bile threads are also being damaged by the weird properties of this cave. So I had to repair the thread as I went.

When I emerged in the tunnel, I was thrilled to see three pony civilians were sitting in one of the passageway's curves. They were laughing and drinking what I assume are some kind of pony alcoholic beverages around a lantern. It was immediately obvious to me that these ponies were runaways from the invasion. They talked extensively about escaping the Canterlot authorities and being thankful they found this cave to hide out in. Unfortunately, for them, it’s time for me to completely ruin their party. Since they’re civilians, I knew I had to scare them back the way they came but I didn’t know which way that was right away. Fortunately, I set up the bile mesh in such a way as to dent when triggered. Despite the damage to the fine bile, I quickly ascertained the direction they came from and positioned myself in the other end of the tunnel.

With an almighty roar and a flash of shape shifting, I turned myself into a massive bug. I had to be intimidating in the moment to get them running. With the combined work of the echo of the cave and my massive form, these ponies were quick to cry out in terror of me. They cried out that a monster had found them and quickly grabbed their lantern and fled back in the direction they came from. I find it a bit odd though that they didn’t realize I was a changeling. Surely they must have seen our massive bug forms many times before. Well, there’s no accounting for the stupidity of civilians.

With the information of where they came from in hand, I repaired my fine bile trap and set up a proper changeling web in the opposite end of the cavern they came from. So that’s three civilians stopped from escaping with a job well done, I’m closing this entry in my report.

This is Corporal Cephalon, Commander of the fifth battalion signing out.

Comments

[shining paladin]

great chapter mate keep it up cant wait for the next chapter

[origami]

I get the feeling that Cephalon is gonna be like those Japanese soldiers that spent decades in the jungle fighting a war that's already over.

[Starcat5]

11712684
Yeah, that sounds about right.