Report of a changeling soldier

by Harasha the Gryphon

Day 27

Day 27

There’s been little to report on for the past few weeks. It’s getting pretty late into the month and still I’ve had absolutely no contact with anyling. I’m beginning to fear that perhaps they’ve forgotten about me all the way down here. NO! I’ll never believe it; General Pharynx would never let them leave a soldier behind. Although if the boy is correct… nah it’s too insane but I’m getting ahead of myself.

For some reason the wasting effect in this weird cave has only gotten worse since my last entry. I lose love energy more and more each day and my webs and traps are decaying more rapidly. It's requiring more and more bile to maintain them, and I'm rapidly running out. In terms of pure love energy though, I get plenty of energy from the frequent animals I catch in my traps. But the inflow of energy from those animals isn’t enough to keep ahead of how fast I’m burning through my bile. Damn, if only I hadn’t let that boy escape. My apologies I’m getting ahead of myself again.

It had been several days since my first positive hit with my trap. So imagine my shock when I woke up yesterday morning to discover a blinding light emanating from one of the tunnels. The seemed to be coming from the straight cavern with all of the crystals in it. I followed the light down through the chute to discover, once again the cave had damaged my bile thread. In fact, the thread was so badly damaged that the main thread had completely snapped halfway through.

When I got to the end of the tunnel, I discovered that somepony had strung up several crystalline lights on the walls. I have no idea how they were able to do this without me knowing. Then again, the bile line had been completely snapped. It had been at least two days since I had inspected that bile line in particular. I looked down both ways through the passage and saw the lights stretch out in both directions. While the how is a bit of a perplexing mystery, the why is patently obvious. These aren’t changeling lights they’re pony lights. My only guess is they’re laying the groundwork for a massive movement of ponies to escape through this tunnel.

They’re probably hoping that noling would notice what they were up but they’re unfortunately mistaken. The hive is always one step ahead of those who dare to go against it. I’ll stalk in the smaller tunnel tonight and wait for the mass movement to start, I can’t afford another bile failure. I must admit a degree of admiration for these ponies. These lights are very well built with deep moorings into the walls and the wires are all neat and tidy. It would probably take a changeling several weeks to do a similar job but these ponies got it done in a matter of days.

It took a while but eventually, my patience was at long last rewarded when a large group of ponies came into view. Like the first time a few days ago they were civilians but something was off about them. I would have expected them to be a bit more fearful of being caught, but they were comically carefree in their steps. In fact the lead pony was acting as if she were a tour guide for these caves and the ponies behind here were tourists. It was about time I showed them the error of their carefree attitude.

When they got close enough, I burst out of the hole to put myself between them and their exit. Like last time I shifted into my giant bug form. That form has always been good at intimidating small creatures and small minds. One of them cried out that I was the “bug monster of Canterlot cave.” They all shrieked and ran back the way they came; however, one filly stood right in front of me, pupils shrunken. Before I could take a swipe at her though she snapped a picture of me with her camera before fleeing. With that job well done, I returned to my alcove to wait for more ponies. There’s no way they’d go through all this trouble to set up this lighting system without expecting more ponies to come. I also made sure to spin a web up at the other end of the tunnel to make sure no stragglers could escape.

I waited up in the small tunnel entrance for several hours or what felt like several hours when at long last more ponies came. This time though I was greeted by a squad of guards. It was my first military hit in a month and I had too steel myself for a proper fight. They wouldn’t be as easily intimidated as those unarmed civilians had been. I waited carefully and when their back was turned I pounced on them. It took very little to subdue these guards. Once again the inferior quality of Canterlot's guards made it an easy fight; they’re nothing but common policemen who’ve never fought a war and these idiots were no exception. However, one guard was different. For some reason there was a blue gryphon guard among them and I could tell by combating him that the boy had seen war before.

Regrettably, I only succeeded in capturing the blue gryphon. He had stayed behind to cover the escape of his comrades, and that had sealed his fate. With the last bit of my bile, I incapacitated him and took him through the tunnel back to my hideout. After he had awoken, I started the interrogation. I quickly learned his name was Gallus, and he was investigating the monster spotted in the newly opened Canterlot caves tourist attraction. Or at least that’s what he claimed, he’s a good soldier and I suspect he’s lying to save his comrades. I interrogated him about his plans for the refugees and anything relevant to the resistance to our hive's invasion of Canterlot. What he said however convinced me beyond a shadow of a doubt he won't give up any information. He claimed the invasion of Canterlot failed on the first day. As much as I risk disciplinary action for saying this, I could believe that part of his story. It would at least explain why noling has come looking for me. But what he said next was completely insane. He claimed the invasion of Canterlot in fact had taken place close to twenty years ago. He also said that since then the changeling hive was reformed and friendly under the leadership of Thorax. He even claimed he married a changeling named Ocellus.

This just can’t be true, it’s only been a few weeks. If twenty years had gone by I’m confident I would have noticed. However, if his story is true that would certainly explain why my bile traps keep breaking down. No! I just can’t believe such a blatant lie. And then there’s that insane story he told me about Thorax being king. I knew Thorax well; there’s no way that he could dethrone our queen, he just doesn't have it in him. Also, he mentioned the hive “reforming”. What the buck does that even mean? Did this "king" redo how the hive rearranges itself. Come on man tell better lies. But what makes this whole thing just beyond parody is claiming he married my little sister Spiracle's nymph Ocellus. She's a sweet girl she’ll probably make a good spy someday. While the lies he's telling are fairly blatant the deep truth of who he is exists within those lies. He obviously knows changelings well otherwise he wouldn't know my niece and my general's brother. I strongly suspect he's part of a secret anti changeling task force that's been fighting our hive for a while. It would explain the war experience. I've fought off a few pony invaders skirmishing with the hive's forces in the past.

Unfortunately I can no longer report that I have this guard as a prisoner. I decided to keep him cocooned overnight too break his nerve but come the next morning I discovered he had escaped and was gone. I underestimated him and shouldn't have. That boy was the first guard that showed any war experience I’d seen and I didn’t secure him well enough. However, if he's been fighting the hive for a while in all likelihood, he's had training with breaking through bile. I won’t underestimate him again if I see him. Next time we meet boy I won’t let you slip through my hooves again.

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

Comments

[Wooden Wheel]

Well, I did not expect this! This story became much more interesting than I could anticipate. Good job, author, good job.

[shining paladin]

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

[origami]

Called it in the last chapter. Not surprised. The time skip was; didn't expect that much time to have passed.

[Starcat5]

When we got to the part with the Blue Gryphon, I had to pause and ponder what this meant. There was a big difference between Day 27 and Year 27 after all. So I continued reading and...

Gallus married Ocellus?!? I would have bet actual USD on Ocellus and Smolder being a thing, but Gallus? Anyway, it is clear that OMGWTFBBQ Wibbly Wobbly Timey Dilationy stuff is going down. Now I have to wonder if this is going to drag into G5.

[Harasha the Gryphon]

11713665

the reason that gallus and ocellus are together is because this fic shares continuity with other fics in my back library where Gallus and Smolder swap common shipping partners.