In a darkened room there were a few young changelings that stood in line. They faced an equal number of poles on the opposite side of the room that wore crude copies of Equestrian guard helmets. On the side were three changelings, all of whom were much older. A single changeling with a helmet and armor stepped forward to speak.
"Listen up cadets! My name is drill sergeant Carapace! Today you will be firing magical bolts at the targets! I want to see power, precision, and control! Do you read me?" said the changeling with an authoritative tone.
"Sir yes sir!" responded the group of young changelings.
"Open fire!" The cadets began firing green magical bolts at the helmets. Most of the cadets managed to hit their targets while only missing a few shots. There was one changeling who couldn't even get anywhere close to hitting his target. "Cease fire!"
All the changelings stopped firing and Carapace went up to inspect the targets. He certainly wasn't impressed by what he saw. One helmet had taken a few hits and had a burn mark from the bolt. The second barely suffered at all mostly because the bolts had bounced off the rounder areas of the helmet. The other helmets were still in good condition except for a few burn marks here and there. The final helmet was the most disappointing sight. It was spotless without even a hint of a scratch, instead there was evidence that the bolts hit everything except the target.
Carapace called out, "Cadet Sclerite step forward!"
A single changeling that was smaller than the rest stepped forward.
"Cadet Sclerite, I thought we were training soldiers here! Are you trying to embarrass me?" barked Carapace.
Fear immediately took hold of Sclerite and he quickly responded unable to hide his fear, "No sir."
"You are by far the most incompetent soldier I have ever seen! Unless you can shoot properly you won't last a minute against Equestria! Now you will all report to the throne room tonight and next time I want to see proper shooting! The Queen herself is going to be there! If you fail this again you will be relieved of duty! Now dismissed!"
The changelings left and began to split in different directions. Sclerite was left with his own thoughts about Carapace's threats. Sclerite knew that had the added punishment of being banished from the Hive. How would he survive alone? Well one thing was sure. Sclerite wasn't going to just sit around and let it happen. He quickly took off and flew out of the hive.
Sclerite flew out of the hive and took note of the surrounding barren land before he flew off to the forest. It was risky to be out this far where Queen Chrysalis' anti magic throne couldn't protect him but it was also where no changelings would ever look find him. He landed just inside the forest and entered by hoof. As Sclerite trekked on he kept note of his surroundings to avoid getting lost and stranded. He finally stopped when he arrived at his personal hideout where he could do whatever he wanted without judgement.
Sclerite levitated a rock and placed it on top of a nearby boulder. He then shot a bolt of magic at it and aimed too high to hit anything. He shot again this time aiming too low. Frustration was growing in Sclerite as he aimed somewhere in the middle but the bolt went too far left.
"Come on!" Sclerite shouted at himself as he kept firing his bolts. After about ten misses Sclerite gave up and let himself collapse on the ground. "Why? Just why couldn't I have been more like the others? They were bigger and stronger. Why did I have to be the runt?" he asked out loud as if he expected somepony to answer him.
Suddenly out of nowhere as if on cue the sound of a massive explosion occurred and Sclerite looked up in surprise to see the sky suddenly filled with rainbow colors leaving behind a rainbow that felt comforting to look at. Taking this as a sign not to give up Sclerite once again prepared himself to fire at the rock he placed. This time he fired his horn and split the rock in half with a magic bolt. It took a moment for realization to take in. He did it, he hit the target. A sudden feeling of satisfaction and happiness took over as Sclerite prepared another rock this time he caused it to explode when he hit it. Sclerite spent the rest of the day shooting at rocks until sunset. He had greatly improved when he learned to take his time with his shots. When he returned he was determined not only pass but also to impress everypony. After all Queen Chrysalis herself was supposed to personally judge the cadets and determine who passed.
Sclerite reentered the Hive through the front entrance. His first stop were the cocoons filled with ponies where he took his daily rations from the ponies stuck in there. No doubt these ponies would run out of love soon and would have to be memory wiped before they got thrown back out. After filling up with whatever he was allowed to eat for that day Sclerite rushed to the throne room and was early. He noticed a X on the floor to mark where the cadets should be standing. On the other side of the room there was just a single pole this time it was wearing an actual Equestrian guard helmet. Off to the side there was a platform set up where Carapace and several other high ranking changeling officers sat. On their right was Queen Chrysalis sitting on her throne staring right at Sclerite.
"My Queen, that changeling is the incompetent cadet I told you about." Carapace said leaning over towards Queen Chrysalis.
Soon enough the other changelings had arrived and they got in line. Queen Chrysalis stood up from her throne to speak to her subjects before her. "My subjects! You have made it this far in your training! Now you must prove yourself worthy to be part of the Hive's military!" Chrysalis sat back down once she finished her speech and Carapace stood up.
"You will each fire ten shots into the target! Your goal is to hit the target as many times as possible and show that you can take down the enemy! First cadet step forward."
A changeling stepped forward and got onto the X. She fired her horn ten times only hitting the target seven times. Then she stepped back in line as Carapace called for the next cadet. Each cadet fired at the helmet and some managed to hit it all ten times but this helmet was a lot more durable than the earlier ones so it barely showed any signs of damage. Finally it was Sclerite's turn. He stepped onto the X and struggled with the urge to just run away and abandon the test right there.
One of the cadets whispered, "Time to watch the runt fail."
Sclerite charged up his horn with as much power as he could muster. He aimed and fired at the target. When the bolt hit the helmet it flew off the pole and landed on the floor. Everypony stared at the helmet in disbelief with their mouths hung open. Queen Chrysalis used her magic to levitate the helmet and brought it close to inspect it. It was dent and deformed where the bolt had hit, anypony wearing that helmet would have had their skull crushed.
Queen Chrysalis turned to look at Sclerite and began walking up to him. Sclerite tensed then respectfully bowed to the approaching Queen. She stopped just in front of him and put a hoof to his chin to lift it so he could look her in the eyes.
"You have power, but you don't understand it. You are by far the most powerful drone I have ever seen and I have no doubt you will become the most dangerous soldier in the Hive. I will teach you what a drill instructor cannot. Come back here tomorrow and fulfill your place as my apprentice." she said with a wicked smile before returning to her throne. Sclerite got up and went back in line with the others who seemed to have recovered from their shock.
Carapace got up and gave his closing speech to everypony in the room, "Before I dismiss you all. I want you to remember cadets there is no friendship in war. The only thing that matters is victory, at any cost."
When Sclerite exited the throne chambers he could hardly believe what just happened. He not only passed his final exam, he even got a compliment directly from the queen herself. In fact she was so impressed that she made him her personal apprentice. This was the best day of his life.