To Be Determined

It's been years since peace has settled over all of Equestria. Most foals these days don't even know what it's like to have chaos show up one morning, or night instead of day, or even what a changeling can do. The desert hive just past the border of Equestria has watched all of this happen, and more. The Queen never interfered for her subjects' sake, unlike that Queen of green changelings with blue eyes.

Until she caught wind of the same foolish Queen attempting another invasion during this time of peace for most of the world. The first time she called on the warriors of her hive, every single changeling, young, old, it didn't matter, they all froze in fear and worry, the air heavy with the shared emotion.

I was among the very few who could guess what was going to happen.

"Axen, are those weapons ready yet?"

"Nearly!" I yell back, levitating the bundle of weapons over the half-wall between the extremely hot forge and the much cooler shop in the front. They clatter a bit when I set them on the table to be sorted out correctly, but I can barely hear everything else as I hammer out more spearheads and axeheads, fashioning tools of death in the middle of a buzzing pool full of life.

"Goran, hurry those things up! The warriors leave for the other hive soon, and the Queen wants them ready before they leave, not as they're marching out of the hive!"

"We're working on it! Axen's part of the group shading them, and he's gotta be gone well before them!"

"Just hurry up!"

"Axen??"

I click the last axehead into place, then levitate the last bundle out of the forge, dousing the fire at the same time as I step out of the forge part of the shop. "All done, Goran. I'm going to go get ready, and I've got the forge doused already."

"Good job, 'ling. Go on and get ready. First official scout assignment, eh?" Goran, one of the tallest regular changelings in our entire hive, gives me an amused smile and a strong feeling of smug amusement. In return, I let him feel a bit of my embarrassment that he's noticed my sneaking out at nights to follow the official scouts.

"Y-yeah, I suppose so, huh? The only patrol I'll have been on as far as they know. Hey, if something happens, make sure that Haxxon gets a chance in the scout training, would you? He's been asking me to do it for forever, but I haven't had the chance. It'd be easier for him to get in if they didn't already have an okay amount of scouts."

"You're really that willing to get him into the class that you'd let him take your place?"

Nodding, I slip on the bag I've heard ponies call saddlebags. Interesting name, but I won't argue. "Of course. He is the changeling I've been instructed to help out when possible. You know, like Cliffside for you."

Goran laughs a little at that. "Yeah, the only changeling with a slightly-pony-acceptable name is my buddy. It wasn't always the best thing to happen to you if you got a normal name, you know."

"I know, I know. He tells me that every time I have Haxxon over to study. As if sharing the cave with him wasn't enough." One last magical pull on the strap and I wave at Goran with one hoof. "I'll probably see you in a few months. Don't get into any trouble while I"m gone and let other 'lings help you out."

"Of course, I won't be so stubborn whenever someling wants to help out, but only so long as they're competent in forge work. Which is only you."

Sharing a feeling of amusement, I smile, shake my head, and walk out into the mess of other changelings walking, galloping, and flying around. The constant buzz of our insect-like wings will probably be the thing I miss most about being in the hive with everyling I've known all my life. But, taking a deep breath, I shake it off, shove all those anxious feelings below the surface so even I can't feel them, and take to the air, flying towards the scout lodgings.

The huge network of caves allows for our lodgings to be well hidden, and also to be nicely carved, if the right amount of work's been put into the design. Scout lodgings are an amazing example of desert changelings' carving skills. Ridges have been carved into the rock near the entrance, forming a smooth, curved opening to fly through, where guards posted in the hollowed-out ridges can magically check you. Then, further in just a bit, you come across the carved rendition of our hive's history. The oldest stories we know of, straight from the Queen herself, are at the very start of the long, uninterrupted stretch of hall, the most recent stories closer to the end. Even with the long history carved into the walls, there's still plenty more room for future tales of the heroes and villains of changelings. As I exit the hall, I take a moment to spin slowly in place, gazing at each intricately carved representation of some of the greatest changeling scouts in all history. They're lined up neatly, every scrap of detail lovingly carved into their likenesses, arching all the way up to the natural skylight. Looking down, into the chasm below, I know that, somewhere down there, sometime in my life, I want myself carved among these great and well-known heroes of the scout tales.

"Hey, Slip, daydreaming about being a statue again?" a joking voice calls out from across the Chamber of Greats. Spinning quickly, I spy the scoutmaster standing at the edge of the chasm, waiting for me to fly over. The tatters of his wings hang limply by his side as I hurry over, touching down lightly next to him. A hint of jealousy lightly brushes against my senses, but then it's squashed by the older changeling. "Well, anyways, it's about time you got here! We've been wondering if we should leave our prodigy behind after all!"

"Sorry, SkyBreak. I was finishing up at the forge with Goran. I had to finish up the weapons for the warriors to take along, remember? But I'm done now, and we can get going!"

He chuckles, this time letting his emotions slip through the barrier he always has up around the senior members. I sense strong amusement and faint happiness. "Nice to see you're still as enthusiastic as the day you joined the class, Little Prodigy. Everyling's waiting in the Room of Stories. Be there in ten."

"I'll be there in five, sir!" I say, giving him a quick salute and taking off for my section of lodging. Right now, I'm the only one there, but I don't mind. Just because I'm the only one out of my hatch-group that made it through preliminary training means that I'm better suited than all the others. It also means I don't have to stop and weave through anyling else as I head for my nest in the back of the cavern I call home during school. I dig through the small chest set near the top of my nest, and magically pull out my scout armor. Pulling it on in less than a minute is something everyling that's a scout has to be able to do, but I take several minutes examining it all carefully. It all seems good, so I pull it on in record time, then scoop up my small but thick book of maps and put it in my bag, pretty certain I wouldn't need it on a short trip to Queen Chrysalis's hive. How could I possibly get lost when following everyling else on such an important diplomatic trip? But, just to be sure, I pack in the compass I'd found on the ground in a pony town I'd recently stopped in during an unofficial outing. Map book and compass packed, I turn and fly as fast as I can to the Room of Stories, hoping I wasn't late.

"Aaaaaand there's our 'ling!"

As I land in a skid, I count all ten scouts sitting around, watching me as I struggle to stay upright. "I'm ready."

"And with a minute to spare. You really weren't kidding when you'd said you'd be here in five," SkyBreak says. Amusement wafts off all the scouts as their youngest recruit does something funny again. I can't help but feel a little left out of all of this. Maybe when I'm an official scout they'll let me join in on the jokes.

"Now, we all know why we're here, correct?"

A chorus of "Yes" echoes in the large cavern. My voice seems too high among all the fully-grown changelings.

"Good. We all know what it means to scout, so I expect you all to get out and do your duty to Queen Thistlebrush. Scout, return to her guards with any news she might need to know, even if it's as simple as a desert dog. She will need to be aware of everything, as the open desert can be deadly. Understood?"

"Yes, sir, SkyBreak!"

"Now go! Don't keep the warriors and the Queen waiting on you to tell them the coast's clear!"

With a rather loud hum, all eleven of us lift into the air, SkyBreak watching us go. I follow everyling out of the lodgings and out into the busy hive. The young hatchlings following their mothers stop and turn to watch the small band of armor-clad scouts leaving the hive. I know exactly what they're thinking, as I thought the same when I first saw SkyBreak, still able to fly, leading his group of twenty scouts out to battle desert dragons. Now, I'm part of the group leaving to help the hive, and SkyBreak is watching scouts fly away, while he's stuck on the ground. A stab of pity bursts my bubble of happiness at finally getting to go out of the hive on a real mission.

"Hey, Slip! Do you think you could fly around a bunch?"

I turn my head to look at the second-youngest scout, Upeck. His sandy brown fringe is split down the middle with a wedge shape, and his tail, too. His wings are a tan blur next to my own. "Well, yeah. I could fly for a long time."

"Good. You know about the runner, right?'

"The one that relays messages from the leader to the scattered scouts?"

"Right. D'you think you could do that for us? Noling else can do it, and you're the most energetic and youngest of us all."

With a nod that almost upsets my balance, I say, "Yeah, of course I could do that. Besides, at least I'll know where the Queen is all the time, unlike with normal runners."

"Yep! I'll go tell Gradeen that you said you could do it!" With that, Upeck speeds up to talk with the scout in charge of organizing all of us.

Noling else comes to talk to me, not even when we all slow down, nodding to the warriors gathered on the ground below the upward climb to the hot surface. Every single warrior looks anxious as we stop. Upeck is sending us up in pairs. I wait for everyling else to partner up, wanting to be the last one out, even though I'll be alone for my first daytime desert adventure.

"Come on up, Slip," I hear called down from the top. Taking a deep breath, I brace myself for blinding sunlight and a ridiculous amount of heat, which is probably much worse than the slight bit sinking down to burn my nose.

Popping my head out of the hive for the first time, I squint against the sun on the sand, and instantly feel uncomfortable in the heat. It's a different heat than in the forge, but not much hotter, just more... there, I guess.

"Now, everyling split up and start scouting, keep an ear and an eye out for danger, and for each other. Slip will be our runner, so make sure to keep another eye out for the little bugger."

There's some laughter. The mood's lifted and I feel less stifled.

"Let's get going! We've go the warriors and--"

Upeck is cut short by his lower half getting bit clean off by a sand snake.