Fred stood on the platform with all the other inexperienced drones, waiting for the train to comer that would take them to camp. He still felt dizzy from his emergence from the pupa stage as a full adult, but not yet trained to be in the swarm. He looked around him. There were about 30 other Changelings standing on the platform. If he tried to talk to one of them, the inspector watching them as they traveled to camp would shout "SHUT THE BRAINS UP!", and that meant trouble. He didn't even know what training camp would be like, as he had spent his entire larval and pupal stages in the deep core of the hive with all the other larva, being cared for by Queen Chrysalis herself. Too bad all his memories were erased during the pupal stage.
"HOOOOOONK! HOOOOONK!" sounded the horn of the Diesel Engine as the train pulled into the station, pulling in with a loud screech.
"ALL RIGHT, GET YOUR ABS ON HERE, YOU DUMB DRONES!" shouted the train conductor. Fred walked into one of the grey, steel train cars. The inside of the car was nothing but whitewashed wooden walls and locked windows. There were no seats at all. Fred sat on the floor against the wall like all the other drones did. None of them were talking. The only one who was able to talk on the train was the inspector, who pretty much abused the ability to do so.
"ALL RIGHT YOU USELESS SCUMBAGS! YOU'RE KISSIN' YOUR LARVAL STAGE GOODBYE!" screamed the inspector at the top of his lungs, raising his forelegs up in the air. "IT'S TIME FOR YOU SQUIRTS TO LEARN TO BECOME A TRUE DRONE, ONE WHO IS ABLE TO FIGHT!"
"Yes, sir!" said all the Changelings in the train car. Fred could hear more of them say it in the car behind them as well.
"NOW I WANT YOU TO SHUT UP AND KEEP 'EM SHUT FOR THIS ENTIRE TRAIN RIDE!" screamed the inspector again. Fred, wondering about how long he was supposed to shut up, raised his hoof. "YES, YOU SLAB OF DEAD MEAT?" asked the inspector.
"How long is this ride again?" Fred asked.
"SIX HOURS! NOW SHUT UP!"
Fred urged himself not to talk the whole ride to camp. He could only watch the walls of the dark tunnel as the train sped through it. However, after a few minutes, the train emerged from the tunnel, giving Fred his first glimpse of the world outside the hive. "Wow" he whispered to himself as the train passed through the tall mountain range that separated the flat wastelands to the rest of the world. The train went over a high bridge, passing a huge waterfall that fell from the peak of a high cliff down to the river below. Forests of tall pine trees filled the lowlands below the barren mountains. He thought that this was the most awesome thing that he had ever seen.
After six long hours of riding, the train finally pulled into the camp complex. "TRAINING CAMP B" said the sign atop the entrance building. "ALL RIGHT, GET YOUR ABS OUT!" shouted the inspector. All the drones got off the train and walked in a single file line into the camp's gates. Fred was last in line, as he kept looking back at the train, the only way to leave the camp. Once everypony was inside the chain link, the closed with a slam.
"No turning back now." said Fred to himself as he watched the train pull out of the station.
"HEADS UP AND COMPOUND EYES FORWARD!" shouted a Changeling in armor, slightly taller than the other drones. "I AM LIEUTENANT SYREE, AND I AM THE MAIN COMMANDER OF THIS CAMP! NOW LET ME KNOW YOU ALL KNOW THAT!"
"You are Lieutenant Syree, and you are the main commander of this camp." said all the drones in a bored voice.
"NOW LISTEN UP, BEFORE YOU CHUMPS CAN GET INTO THIS CAMP, YOU MUST GO THROUGH A PRELIMINARY MEDICAL EXAMINATION! IF YOU FAIL TO PASS THE EXAMINATION, YOU WILL BE RETURNED TO THE HIVE AS A WORKER, WHERE THE QUEEN WILL SHOVE HER EGGS UP YOUR ASS!" screamed Syree, and all the drones walked towards another building within the fences of the facility. Fred looked around and saw that the chain link fences around the camp were ten feet tall and topped with barbed wire. Sandbags were piled up behind the fences, and watchtowers stood at the four corners of the large fence around the campus.
"And there's no way to escape." said Fred to himself again as he walked into the medical building, indicated by a red cross above the door. One by one, the drones were inspected by the camp nurse, who was a male.
"Hmmmm..." said the nurse, shining a light down Fred's throat. "Now, bend over." Fred bent over, but got a nasty surprise. The nurse shoved his hoof in his butt and moved it around, looking for an ovipositor that would mean that he was really a female who was mistaken for a male. However, the nurse felt nothing in there. "Ok, you're good."
After the medical inspection, the drones were directed to the dorm complex, which was the large building in the center of the camp. The inside of the dorm complex was also huge. Hundreds of honeycombs were gridded on the walls up to the ceiling, which was at least 25 feet above the floor. "ALL RIGHT!" said Syree, "THIS IS WHERE YOU WILL BE SLEEPING IN CAMP FOR THE NEXT FOUR YEARS! I DON'T WANT TO HEAR ANY COMPLAINTS ABOUT THAT, YOU HEAR? NONE!"
Fred turned to another Drone. "Isn't he annoying?" he asked. The other drone turned to him and put his hoof on Fred's mouth, meaning that he should be quiet and hope that Syree didn't hear him. Fred went back to standing straight with his compound eyes forward.
After a full tour of the camp, which included training fields, classrooms, a gymnasium, the guard quarters, and the library, there wasn't enough time to start training. All the drones were directed to the large dining hall. It smelled disgusting, as if they were cooking something Fred hadn't tasted yet. In fact, he had never even eaten anything before. In his early stages, Chrysalis would feed him by sharing her love with him. Now he actually had to eat something. Yeech.
"Hello, what's your name?" said one of the drones next to him. Fred turned to look and saw that he was standing next to a rather skinny drone.
"The queen didn't feed you enough, eh?" asked Fred. "Anyway, my name is Fred. How about you?"
"Oh, my name is Zark." said the drone, holding out his hoof and turning it into a human hand.
Fred turned his hoof into a hand, and they shook hands. "Nice to meet you, Zark." he said nervously.
"What do you think of training camp?"
"I don't know, it's only my first day, duh."
"Oh, that's fine. You know, I talk a little too much, and if you can't stand it, you can sit away from me." and with that, Fred sat up and moved to a different table and sat down. That's when a plate popped out of nowhere right in front of him. It was a big, green cube of transparent, floppy gelatin. Fred took a sniff. His nose almost ceased to function at the revolting smell of it. However, knowing that a Changeling must never reject his master's orders, he took a bite of it. Actually, it tasted sour, but with a little bit of sweet mixed in as well. However, if this what he was going to have every meal every day for the next four years, he wouldn't know how to feed on a pony's love.
After dinner, it was time to go to bed. All the drones went over to the dorm complex. They already had assigned combs; Fred was next to Zark. "Oh brother" complained Fred, rolling his eyes. He went over to his comb and lay down, closing his eyes.
"Hey there Freddie!" said Zark loudly, waking Fred back up.
"Shut up Zark, I'm trying to sleep!"
"Oh, ok, I'll shut up" said Zark.
"Good." said Fred.
"But what do you think tomorrow will be like? I think it will be so fun!" said Zark, clearly not listening to Fred's demands.
"SHUT UP!" screamed Fred in a multi-toned shriek. That's when Zark shut up and went into his comb. Now Fred was able to sleep until morning, when it was time for training to begin.
