Wretched Hive 2: The Drooling Oasis

Chapters

Chapter 2: Reluctant Vacationing
Chapter 3: Greeting Blood and Pain
Chapter 4: Love is Blind but Wrath is Not
Chapter 5: Lost but Not Alone
Chapter 6: The Fangs Which Withhold the Truth
Chapter 7: Abandoning Hope
Chapter 8: Decadence of Spirits Torn
Chapter 1: Reaching for the Sun

Chapter 2: Reluctant Vacationing

The pale yellow unicorn hopped off the wagon to assess the situation. He had no supplies, no weapons, and a horribly destructible shelter. Looking around, there was nothing but sand as far as his eyes could see. A few rocks and a tall spire, eclipsing the moon in the distance, were all the landmarks the desert could afford. The unicorn looked up at the stars, and soon remembered he had no idea how to navigate by them.

The door to the carriage swung open. The unicorn quickly turned to the cart with a flashlight spell as defense. He blinded a green pegasus.

"Hey!" the stranger yelled. "Who is this and where are the guards?!"

The unicorn's spell relaxed. The pegasus squinted at him.

"There are no guards," the unicorn explained. "It was a trap. I don't know what wants us but it sounds like we need to get back to Appleloosa quick!"

"Wait..." the pegasus said, taking a step back. "Aren't you that troublemaker that's been terrorizing our town?!"

"We are in the middle of the desert!" the unicorn yelled. "There are giant bugs, vampires that can take the form of guards, mirages that aren't mirages, and that spire over there could easily be a fucking dragon roost!" He scoffed. "But sure, be upset that I'm the guy who has to steal shit to survive!"

"What's going on out there?" a lighter voice asked. A sky blue mare appeared at the door to the carriage. "Everything alright, Cloud?"

The pegasus turned back to her. "Not really, hon... I think we've been tricked!" He trotted up to the unicorn. "I don't know what you pulled to get us into this mess but take us home now!"

"You think I want to be out here in this wasteland?!" The unicorn resisted every urge to punch him. "I was kidnapped just like you guys!"

"So you're saying you have no idea how to go back home?"

The unicorn shrugged. "Not unless you can navigate by stars."

The pegasus sighed. "Alright. What's your name, son?"

The unicorn shrugged.

"You don't have a name?"

He shrugged again. "You gotta have parents who love you to get a name, and I didn't. So... No."

The pegasus exhaled. "Well, my name is Cloud. My wife and child are on that wagon, along with a couple other earth ponies."

"Maybe one of them knows how to get home?" Nameless asked.

"We can certainly hope so."

The ponies trotted back to the wagon and helped everypony outside. They tossed the earplugs into the dust and looked at one another.

"So," the brown, male earth pony said. "How exactly did we get out here? We should have been in the northern towns by now..."

Nameless's eyes widened. "If you all say that you took a nap on the ride here, and no one knows what directions they took... I might just start crying." He looked from one pony to the next, but only one could look him in the eye.

"Even if one of us stayed awake all night," the blue mare explained. "The carriage windows were impossible to see out of at night..."

Nameless let out a loud sigh. "Surely one of you knows where the nearest desert is to Appleloosa?"

"Well," the tan, female earth pony said. "Appleloosa is in the middle of one, so assumin' we didn't stop anywhere we're either North of town or South of it."

"And which is it? We could be trotting the exact opposite direction we need to go!"

"Everypony calm down!" Cloud said before tensions rose. "Everything will be just fine once we get our bearings. But first, we really need some proper introductions." He put a hoof on his green chest. "I'm Mr. Cloud." He pointed a hoof at the blue mare and the green pegasus that was two thirds their size, a foot shorter than Nameless. "This is Mrs. Cloud and Cloud Jr."

"Semi-anonymous, huh?" The brown stallion chuckled. "I can get behind that. You can call me Ranch. This is my wife, Starch."

They turned to Nameless. He shrugged.

"If you don't say something, I'll start calling you whatever I feel like," Ranch warned.

Nameless shrugged again.

Ranch thought for a moment. "Yep. I got nothing."

"How about a plan for getting back to town," the unicorn asked.

"We've got the wagon," Starch pointed out. "We adults can take shifts pulling it."

"But where do we even go?" Cloud asked. He looked around the wasteland. "We have no way of knowing where town is."

"Actually, I never felt the wagon turn," Mrs. Cloud pointed out. "It may very well be that way!" She gestured to the direction opposite of the front of the wagon.

"That's North!" Ranch said excitedly. He pointed up to the moon. "You can tell by the stars! Let's get out of here!"

"I'm afraid you're a bit late for that," a deep and crackly voice spoke from behind him.

Sitting on the driver's seat of the wagon was Foresight. It smiled and put its hoof to its mouth. It blew through the holes again, playing the same song. Everypony but Cloud Jr. was too stunned to react. Cloud Jr. simply bobbed his head back and forth, the words popping up in his head with each note:

"Rain rain go away...
Come again another day!" repeated over and over in the colt's head.

"Who the hell plays a song like that in the middle of the desert?!" Starch yelled at the intruder.

The song stopped. "Someone who knows what the hell is going on around here," Foresight answered. "Look around you! This is no desert. A desert has life built to stand tall in the heat! This is a wasteland. A desolate place where all forms of life struggle to maintain all levels of health." It smiled. "Water is not a blessing here. By the time rain fills these river beds and fertilizes these soils, all life that could populate them will have perished."

"So when the water comes, we die?" Nameless asked the bug.

Foresight chuckled and shook its head. "No... When the water comes, you have already died." It stamped the wagon with its hoof. "This bulky, wooden thing will not shield from fire or water. Best to hoof it, as they say." It half-shrugged. "Or not. You could all just climb inside and hug each other. All of you die at once and no one struggles." It shook its head. "No one grieves."

"And what should we do to survive?" Cloud asked.

The bug held its head back in laughter. The smile disappeared from its face when its eyes came back down to the serious pegasus. "That's easy. Just don't die!"

"And how do we do that?"

"You seemed like the optimistic type before you asked that," the bug said, devoid of emotion. "I wonder what happened. But a better question is... What are you willing to let happen?" A dark smirk creased the bug's snout.

Its wings lifted it into the air, and its hoof lifted to its mouth. The music resumed, but soon faded away as the changeling flew away.

"Those guards told Foresight to fuck off before they disappeared," Nameless said. "I kinda wish I had too..."

"That thing has a name?" Ranch asked aghast.

Nameless shrugged. "Apparently they're what live around here. Why wouldn't it have a name?"

Ranch scoffed, then smiled. "Same reason you don't would be my guess."

"Ha ha ha ha," Nameless laughed sarcastically. "Help me take apart the wagon, would ya?" He trotted up to the carriage.

"Now, your cutie mark is a palm tree?" the brown stallion noticed. "Wonder what kind of name would fit you?"

"Stop staring at my ass and take the wheels off, will ya?" Nameless growled, barely able to hold back a punch.

"Fine." He turned to his wife as he trotted toward the side of the carriage. "Starch, look around and see if you can find food or water. These bug things gotta be eating something..."

"Hey, what's that over there!" Mrs. Cloud said, gesturing to a dune that seemed to have water flowing around it.

"It's just a mirage!" Nameless called out.

"You're just a mirage!" Starch called back. "That there's gotta be some water!"

"Good comeback!" the unicorn yelled sarcastically to the mare as she galloped out toward the waves in the distance.

"Help your father, Junior," Mrs. Cloud told her son. She turned and galloped after Starch. "Hey, wait up! I'm thirsty too!"

The mares galloped together over the sand until the small pond was in sight. Its waters shined a lighter blue than Mrs. Cloud's coat, and the moon's reflection was so intense they couldn't see the bottom of the oasis.

"Think it's safe to drink?" Mrs. Cloud asked.

"Honey, ain't no thing as bad water. Whatcha gotta look out for is the bad things in the water!"

Starch reached into the pond and scooped up the water in her hooves. She passed it from one hoof to the other; it flowed without any hindering from rocks or debris. She sniffed it; there was no sign of stagnation. She took a reluctant sip. She licked her lips and turned toward Mrs. Cloud.

"This is some grade A spring water, Miss C!"

"Oh good, I am so thirsty." The pony bent down and drank from the pool. The cool, refreshing water rushed down her overheated and tired throat. She drank deep, enjoying every chill flow into her stomach. She finally stopped glugging the stuff down to take a breath. She exhaled in pure satisfaction.

Starch brought her head up from the pool too. "Geez, you sure drank a lot..." She looked down at the pool. "Ha. I'd expected this oasis to be a bit more shallow after all our drinkin'!" She looked closer at the edge of the pool. "Now that's really weird."

"What's up?"

"This sand here at the edge of the pond is bone dry..." She dipped her hoof back into the water. "Nope, that's definitely cold, real water." She shrugged it off. "Nature, right?"

"Mommy?" Junior called meekly from behind the mares.

"Junior, I thought I told you to help your father!"

"I was... I was thirsty..."

The blue mare rolled her eyes. "Oh, alright. Come here and have some of this fresh spring water!"

The little, green pegasus pranced happily up to the dry shore and took a gulp of water.

"Taste good?" she asked her son. He nodded excitedly. "Good. Go tell your dad it's here." She turned to Starch as the foal galloped off. "I think we could all use a water break."

Upon hearing the news, Ranch and Mr. Cloud trotted up for a refreshing sip. Nameless stayed back, taking the planks off the wagon and hoping he could create some form of weapon before Foresight could give him any more "advice."

Chapter 3: Greeting Blood and Pain

The nameless unicorn pulled the axle out from under the carriage. He carefully swung the pole around to test its potential. He shrugged and pulled at some of the splintered wood. The group needed weapons for this excursion, since the wagon offered so little protection. Cloud swatted the ground with a large plank.

"Any idea what we're up against?" Ranch asked, rubbing rocks together to sharpen them.

"Well, the bugs probably aren't the problem. We should probably expect something that looks like a pony, but isn't," Nameless replied.

"Actually," Foresight's voice called out from behind them. "The bugs are your biggest problem." The changeling smiled at the ponies.

"Don't you have some little song to play?" Ranch asked it.

The bug shook its head. "Nah, I only play that when there's someone to listen." It looked around, gesturing toward each of the stallions. "I count three. Where are the others?"

"Out getting water," Cloud said.

The bug took a step back and crooked its head. "Why must you ponies insist on surviving here?"

"You'd prefer we die here?"

It shook its head again. "You should be running. Running far away from here. Instead, every time I turn around you are trying something stupid."

"What do you care what happens to us?" Nameless asked, taking a couple steps toward the discarded axle.

"You remind me of ponies I used to know. Back when I was one..." It shook the sentiment off. "The greater point is I have retained a certain set of values. Long story short..." His jaws closed down on the thought. "It's none of your business."

"But why don't you help us?" Ranch asked the bug. "If you really were a pony, I'd expect you to know how important it is to help others..."

"I just happen to occupy a rather prestigious position in my hive. It took a lot of doing and it is precarious. So long as I do nothing more than talk, I will have plenty of deniability!"

"So why do you even bother?" Cloud asked, sick of the bug's disgusting voice.

"Good question." A dark smirked creased its fanged snout. "I could just do what is normal in the hive: Kill those whom we don't wish to see suffer."

Nameless lifted the pole off the ground with his magic, ready to swing.

"Calm down," the bug pleaded, taking a few steps back. "I don't kill ponies." It scoffed. "Can't promise that about the others, though..."

"Yeah? Why don't you just fuck off then?!" Cloud yelled at the freak.

Foresight looked into Nameless's eyes. "Do not fail to heed my warnings." It turned toward the other two and began trotting backwards. "I will make my leave for now." It shook its head as its wings began to buzz. "But do not think I won't return! If anything could stop me from going where I wanted, the Queen would have found it!" The bug cackled and flew out of sight.

Ranch turned to the others and smiled. "Apparently 'the Queen' hasn't tried swift blows to the legs," he joked. "Pretty sure that stops most things!"

"Nah," Nameless said with a smirk. "For that thing, you gotta go straight for the throat!"

The sun broke through the clouds, bathing the laughing stallions in orange. The mares and foal trotted back to the deconstructed wagon.

"We looked all over but we couldn't find any more supplies," Mrs. Cloud said.

"What about that oasis from earlier?" Ranch asked. "Ya got any of that water?"

Starch shook her head. "We couldn't find it a second time."

Ranch laughed. "Are ya serious?" He pointed toward a dune. "It's right over there! Easy."

"But we could see it from here last time," Mrs. Cloud observed. "I can't see it..."

Ranch sighed. "Then I guess we stallions gotta go get our own water..." He turned to Cloud and the unicorn. "Y'all want some?" They shook their heads. Ranch scoffed. "Fine, more for me!"

The brown earth pony trotted off into the distance. The others gathered around the broken wagon. The two stallions had finished their weapons; Cloud had fashioned a crude club, and Nameless had the axle by his side. The mares rested around the wagon and prepared for the long road ahead. Cloud and Junior had time to talk and play while Nameless searched the wagon for any scrap to reinforce his weapon.

Ranch returned from the dune, scratching his head. "I don't get it..."

"What's going on?" Nameless asked him, trying to hide his smirk.

"That oasis is gone. All of us took huge swigs and it didn't even dip... Now all the sand that way is dry as a bone and there ain't a drop of water or a cloud in the sky!"

Everypony looked up to confirm that the morning sky was pure orange and blue.

"Enough of this place!" Ranch yelled. "Everypony! Grab your stuff! We're heading North and we're going now!"

They trotted North, following the faintest tracks of the carriage. The tracks often veered left or right, only to rejoin the group further North; their kidnappers must taken the scenic route. After several minutes of walking, they had reached the rock that Nameless remembered from the night before.

Atop the rock sat the same changeling, whistling the same tune. The stallions glared at it, but neither party said anything. The bug glared at Mrs. Cloud, maintaining eye contact without missing any beats in the song. As she passed by, the song stopped for a moment.

"You are a strong mare," Foresight whispered.

"What?" Mrs. Cloud turned her head.

"In these desolate areas, there are two kinds of ponies: those that cry and those that don't."

"Oh, thank you?"

She turned her confusion away from Foresight and galloped to catch up to the rest of the ponies.

The changeling sighed in its loneliness. "Shame. I like it better when they catch on." It smirked and lifted its hoof back up to its mouth.

Mrs. Cloud found new strength in her hooves from the bug's compliment. She trotted back to her place in the small herd. The longer she trotted, the more sore her hooves became. In the distance, trees could be seen in the morning light.

The mare's heart skipped a beat. "I remember those!" she yelled to the others. "Appleloosa must be right on the other side of them!"

"Then let's get outta here!" Ranch screamed ecstatically.

The six galloped as fast as they could for the trees, but Mrs. Cloud couldn't keep up. The pain in her hooves shot up through her forelegs, and even her teeth began to hurt. She slowed down until her legs couldn't stand her weight. She collapsed and watched from the sand as her family and friends left her behind.

She called out to them. But her throat was filled with some kind of fluid, replacing her words with coughs. After several exhausting hacks, the mare opened her eyes to red staining the ground under her. Her head spun from the sight of blood.

Junior turned from the group, noticing mommy was missing. A light blue blob was in the distance behind him, so he galloped back that way. Sure enough, it was mommy. She looked very tired but happy to see him. Red dripped from her nose and mouth as she smiled.

"Mommy?! What happened?!" the little green pegasus said with a quivering lip.

"Oh... Hun..." the mare whispered. She reached an aching hoof to her son. He trotted closer. She stroked his cheek, embracing him and the pain. Tears dripped from her eyes, making the son uneasy. "I love you, son."

"You're gonna be alright, mom!" the colt whimpered. "Our house is right over there!" He shook in her embrace.

Mr. Cloud and the others neared the trees. They soon recognized this strange forest beyond the Appleloosan orchard acres. As the four stepped closer, four pairs of solid blue eyes peered out from the shade. Four bug monsters stepped out from the trees, hissing and laughing at the ponies. None of them were Foresight.

"Maple, run!" Ranch shouted toward his wife. The couple turned and galloped parallel to the trees, away from the others. Two of the bugs chased them.

Cloud turned to his wife and child and saw only Nameless. He dropped his weapon. The pegasus quickly turned and galloped in the other direction, toward a blob at the edge of his vision.

Nameless stood still. He lifted the axle with his magic and smirked at the changelings.

The laughing and hissing intensified.

He swung the pole around, smacking the bug on the right. It shook off the blow and charged at him. Nameless quickly abandoned the axle and his post. He galloped back toward the rock.

Nameless and Cloud soon found the wounded mare on the ground with her son. She looked up at her husband, blood dripping from her nose, mouth, and eyes. Her face reflected agony, sadness, and love.

"No!" Cloud shook his head. "No! NO!" He put a hoof on her shoulder. It was soft. "What happened?!"

The blue mare smiled. As she opened her mouth, Cloud could see that her teeth were all missing. The blood flowed out faster now. "I... I don't know," she said weakly. "Sometimes..." She took a breath. "It's just..." She took a labored breath. "Your time..."

"Fuck that!" Cloud yelled. "Please! You can't die on me! We're almost home! You can't--"

A bloody hoof touched his lips. "Cloud," she spoke through the pain. "I always... Loved... You..."

The family had one last embrace. Nameless looked behind to make sure they weren't followed. He could see the two bugs trotting toward them. He turned back to see Foresight behind the three ponies, a large frown creasing his face.

"What are you doing here?!" Nameless yelled at the changeling loud enough to break up the hug.

The green eyed changeling turned to the unicorn, its horn glowing. "What I can!"

It focused its energy and Mrs. Cloud felt strength returning to her limbs. The bleeding stopped. The mare slowly got to her feet. She looked down at her legs, amazed that the pain was gone.

"You need to keep off them for a while," Foresight told her, a hoof pushing her rump back down to the ground.

"No time!" Nameless interrupted. "Those bugs are still after us!"

The changeling pointed at Nameless, Mr. Cloud, and Junior. "You three, get out of here!" it commanded. "I'll keep them off of her!"

The unicorn and pegasus nodded. They grabbed the foal and galloped toward the rock in the distance.

"Why are you so nice?" the mare asked in an exhausted but painless voice.

Foresight kept his eyes on the approaching changelings. It sighed.

Finally, it turned to her. "I'm sorry."

"...about what?"

It turned from her and trotted away.

"Wait!" she yelled as loud as she could.

Foresight vanished into green smoke.

Chapter 4: Love is Blind but Wrath is Not

Mrs. Cloud cried out for help, but that only hastened the bugs' approach. The two changelings moved up to her, one hissing and the other snickering. She backed away from them and, feeling no pain, turned and galloped back toward her family. They flew overhead and appeared in front of her in two flashes of green. She quickly turned again.

The sharp pain returned. She faltered in agony, her ill legs collapsing beneath her weight. She shut her eyes to shield herself as her head plummeted to the sand. Now she only heard the laughing of the bugs as their hoofsteps heralded her demise.

Suddenly the laughing stopped, replaced with music. Not from a changeling whistling, but from something greater. A heavenly voice sang in a perfect harmony.

The mare opened her eyes to the sparkling waters of the oasis. The reunion dried her throat. She licked her sore gums and lips. The two changelings watched as she slowly dragged herself toward it. One of them trotted ahead of her, focused on investigating the spring. Its curious hoof touched the surface, finding it as hard and cold as ice. It chuckled and placed its other hoof on it. It took a step forward onto the solid pond.

Its hoof fell through. Its other hoof sank just as quickly, sending the bug face-first into the water. Its hind legs struggled in futility to pull their upper half out of the water. Pop by pop, the bug's last breaths died on the surface of the water. The other changeling rushed to its aid. It grabbed its friend's waist. It was too distracted to notice a third, larger changeling sneaking up behind it.

Foresight charged into the changeling's flank, knocking it into the water. Now both changelings struggled to find air. With a smirk, the green-eyed bug placed a hoof on the first changeling's rump and pushed it into the oasis.

The second changeling gasped for air, then sank like a stone. The bubbling water became still again within seconds.

The changeling stepped in front of the mare, who was clawing furiously at the sands in an effort to progress. It shook its head and trotted to her side. It grabbed her waist with its hooves and began pulling the pony away from the waters she craved. The music continued, pulling at the mare's will and causing her to punch and bite at the hairless hooves of her captor.

"Please!" she yelled at Foresight. "I'm so thirsty!"

The pond stirred. Waves formed on its small surface, crashing toward them. A few stray lines of water made their way toward the mare as though the world had turned on its side. Like a skeletal claw reaching from the underworld, the paths of the waters converged on the light blue pony.

"No!" Foresight yelled, pulling the pony away from the liquids. "This isn't how it works, Nine! She isn't one of them!" The water found her mouth and her tongue met their sweet taste. "She's a mother!"

Her body twitched furiously. She slipped from the bug's grasp. It tried to get a better grip. It failed. The mare's head twisted and looked back at Foresight, a mixture of blood and water dripping from her snout. She glared at it.

"I..." Foresight shook its head as it worked up the nerve. "I will stop you if I have to..."

Its horn glowed with a special spell. The mare groaned in agony as a strange hiss stirred from her throat. The skin around her stomach shifted and rose with a strange lump that pulsated with Foresight's nervous breath. Slowly, it began a bleed. The blood dripped down her side. The bug turned its attention to the mare's face, and used its magic to try to remove the water.

The blood hit the sands and pooled. It split into different streams from the puddle, like legs on a centipede. Each stream contracted, lifting the puddle up and skittering toward the changeling's hooves. With a leap, it climbed up the changeling's carapace. Foresight shook violently, trying to loosen the tips of the red centipede climbing up its body. Its hooves did nothing to slow the crawling blood. It continued to climb up the changeling's front, eventually finding its face.

The watery, blood red pincers snapped at the oversized bug's eyelid and pulled it away from the retina. Using the fixed pincers as leverage, the other end of the worm swung over the top of its head. With a subtle shake, the legs twisted around and a pincer-less head formed from the other end. With a twitch, it climbed into the pocket its pincers had made and let go. Foresight screamed as the creature burrowed into its eye from inside its own head.

The pincers chewed through the sensitive tissue as the sharpened legs poked into Foresight's eye over and over as the centipede crawled behind its eyelid. The changeling felt the parasite squeeze to the inner part of its eye. It began to chew behind the eye. With each sharp pain, Foresight lost part of its vision in that eye.

Then the pain stopped.

Feeling nothing but tears around the closed eye, Foresight opened it. That eye could see nothing. Its other eye watched the eyeball roll out of its socket with the red tears. It fell into the ever expanding pool of water and sank. The red tears on his face dripped in the wrong direction. Foresight's attempt at wiping them away only hastened the blood. They seeped into the other eyelid. Under Foresight's eye, the legs returned. The pincers chewed straight through this time, taking a more direct route. Foresight screamed and writhed in agony as it felt its sight being taken away bite by bite.

Then all was calm. And all was dark.

Foresight opened its other eye to feel the eyeball rolling out of its place and plopping into the water. Foresight felt the blood move from the socket to the tip of its snout. It expanded, sending a chill of cold into the changeling’s nostrils and mouth. It seeped up its face until it could feel sharp pains in its eye sockets again. Then a strong tug pulled Foresight down into the full embrace of the water. A brief moment later the pull stopped and it could feel water dripping off of itself. It opened its now free mouth to catch its breath. Then it heard water sloshing. Someone with an unfamiliar scent stood in front of the changeling now. The changeling felt a strange, ooze-like limb force its way into its mouth. Sharp claws clamped down on its tongue. Foresight howled in pain, muffled by whatever was in its mouth. It felt its own tongue get ripped from its open jaw and into oblivion. The blind changeling sat down in the ice cold water.

The ooze patted its shoulder with a cold claw. "Good boy..." a light, feminine voice whispered from all around. Foresight's head turned around, its eyeless gaze finding no source to the noise. A claw grabbed its wandering snout, numbing it with cold. "Don't struggle. You're still alive only because Advantage trusts you. But I can't abide your... Duties... anymore." A deep growl echoed from the tongueless snout. "You're not my leash. You're not my friend. What purpose could an insane, backstabbing wretcher possibly serve to us?" The growling continued. "A spotter? A crier?" The voice chuckled. "You can't be either anymore!"

The changeling roared at the voice. Its fangs snapped at the air around it. Then cold claws grabbed its throat, silencing it.

"Are you hungry?" the voice asked in its right ear. Foresight snapped at the breath and caught nothing.

The voice chuckled. "You're nothing more than a rabid animal, betrayer. Sin is your only companion."

Water filled Foresight’s lungs. The cold chill of the waters numbed the changeling to any movement. All at once the sensations were gone. It coughed up nothing. It sniffed the air. The reek of the Nine was gone. The voice was silent. It was alone.

Hoofsteps sounded from behind the changeling. Foresight sniffed the air again. Fear, anger, and sadness clouded the black air.

Cloud had Nameless keep Junior back. The pegasus stepped slowly around to get a look at the sitting changeling. Its eyes were missing. No blood or damaged flesh remained; it was as though the creature was born without them. Cloud covered his mouth and retreated to his son, shaking his head.

Nameless trotted up and smiled.

"So how'd it go?" he asked Foresight with a straight face.

The eye sockets turned to him. The mouth opened, no tongue within. A howl died in the back of its throat, echoing a deep and broken moan.

"Listen," Cloud started, trying his best to ignore the scarred changeling. "...unicorn. I'm taking my son and going North. We're gonna find our home beyond the trees." He lifted a green hoof to the pale yellow unicorn. "You can come with us."

Nameless smirked. "Go on without me." He turned to the changeling. "Whatever killed your wife and gouged this guy's eyes out is still out there." He tapped the changeling on the shoulder. "You know anything about what did this to you?"

Foresight nodded.

"Can it be killed?"

Foresight shrugged.

"Is there any perfect weapon against it?" The unicorn shrugged as the changeling crooked its head. "There's usually that one thing that can stop the monster, right? That's what it says in like, every story!"

Foresight rolled its entire head to make due. It shook its head.

"How do we stop it?!" Nameless finally yelled at the bug.

Foresight got up and dug at the sand with its hoof. Slowly, it dragged the hoof along a winding path that left a crude "S" on the ground.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Foresight sighed and dragged a line through the S, then put a "V" at the bottom of the clumsy "$."

"Money... Down?" Nameless crooked his head. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"No, wait..." Junior said, approaching the changeling without fear. The foal looked over the symbol. "This is pointing down, but this is just an 'S,'" he explained, gesturing to the crude $. "S was its own clue. Put together, they make 'South.'"

Foresight smiled and nodded.

"See?" Junior trotted closer. "Foresight knows a way to stop it, and it's to the south!"

"Junior!" Cloud put a hoof around the young colt and pulled him away. "This... This thing couldn't stop the changelings from taking your mother when he promised to!"

"But..."

Foresight waved in the general direction of the noise. Cloud pulled his son onward as the colt waved back.

"We're going home." He looked back at the unicorn as they trotted onward. "Last chance."

The unicorn put a hoof around the blind bug. "Nah, I'd rather go monster slaying."

Cloud scoffed. "Fine. Have fun getting heat stroke!" He turned from the two and focused on the path home. "Stupid thief," he muttered under his breath.

"Oh, I will," Nameless said to the changeling with a smirk. He patted it on the back. "C'mon, let's get this adventure started." The unicorn turned and trotted south. The blind changeling stumbled behind, following the sounds of his hoofsteps.

Foresight felt strange not having a tongue to bite. The hoofsteps it followed were from the only pony to heed its warning of the Oasis, but with the waters flowing so rampantly there would be no guarantee that the two would get help in time.

"Funny," the unicorn said to the bug stumbling behind him. "You, a blind bug, following an almost perfect stranger just because I want to kill that monster." He looked back to the forest on the horizon and sighed. "I almost wish I could say there was still something for me back in town." He shook his head. "But there isn't. I've been stealing to survive all my life and wondering when it'll get worse. And here we are! Slaying a water monster in a desert just because I want to feel what it's like."

Foresight crooked its head at the young male voice.

"So how much farther do we need to go here?"

The eyeless changeling stopped and drug its hoof around in a spiral. After a moment, it stopped and patted the ground off-center of the spiral to imprint a smaller but less crude circle.

"Oookay..." Nameless turned back slowly, completely confused. "I'm sure we'll see it when we get there, right?"

Foresight nodded behind the unicorn.

"You think those two are okay?" the unicorn asked, turning an eye to the blind creature behind him.

It shook its head.

"And the other two? You know... the couple?"

It shook its head again.

Nameless smirked. "And us two?"

It shook its head a third time.

The unicorn shook his head. "Dude, have you ever been positive about anything?"

Foresight nodded. It put its ear to the sand for a brief moment.

"Now what are you doing?"

Its head flew up and its eyeless gaze affixed itself to the southern horizon. It galloped forward, almost running over the unicorn in the process.

"Hey!" he yelled at the bug. "What the hell are you doing?!" Nameless galloped after the bug.

The sand they left behind melted into a blue mist. A feminine growl echoed from deep within the fog. Green lights flickered in the mists like lightning bugs. As the cloud turned to a puddle, the light melted into two boiling, green fountains in the center of the cold waters.

The Oasis hissed as their prey, blinded by their ignorance, galloped onward. The green bubbles popped over the water as the changeling's destination was divined.

"Sin follows you home; but whom do you follow, creep?"

The changeling turned toward the sound, but couldn't see anything. His follower turned as well, but the sands behind them were still dry and marked with their hoofprints.

Chapter 5: Lost but Not Alone

The woods that separated Appleloosa from the desert were as unnatural up close as Cloud and Junior expected. They trotted carefully between the trees, unsure what kind of monsters the creepy forest could support. The trail left by the wagon had been obscured by fallen leaves, and the overgrowth in general made it difficult to see, let alone devise a path. The colt clung to his father's side as the two crunched their way through the trail.

"Dad?" Junior said in a shaking voice. "How much longer til we get home?"

"I don't know, son," Cloud replied. "We won't know until we get to the other side."

"This place is so creepy." The rustling leaves scratched his sides as a cold wind blew by. "It's nothing like Whitetail Woods..."

Cloud patted him on the shoulder. "Son, when this over, we'll go hunting back there again." He looked around to check for predators. "Put some traps down and wait in the bushes, just like when you got your cutie mark."

Junior nodded. "That sounds nice."

"It will be."

As the father and son trotted into the deepest part of the forest, a pony eye watched them from the shade of the overgrowth. A bitten tongue wiped down a large fang in a pony snout, turning it from red to white. A bloodied hoof took a step toward the two ponies.

"What is that thing?!" Junior screamed as two bug-like eyes appeared in the distant shade ahead of them.

With a fluttering of wings, the eyes closed the distance more quickly than either of the ponies had expected. The creature looked like a large fly with giant eyes and small wings keeping its spherical body aloft.

Cloud chuckled. "Oh, calm down, Hunter! It's only a parasprite!"

The adorable bug landed on Junior's snout and chirped at the startled colt. He shook off the fear; the bug stayed in place unfazed.

Junior chuckled. "I think it likes me."

The parasprite looked between the two ponies.

"Sorry pal," Cloud said to the bug. "We don't have any food!"

It let out a cute sigh and flew toward the shade behind them. At the threshold of the darkness it suddenly turned back toward them.

Too late.

A ragged, light blue pony jaw slammed shut around the parasprite. The knife-like teeth severed the wings of the creature, and a quick swallow did away with the rest. A large fang not unlike the fangs of the changelings jutted out from the pony snout. The rest of the body was like that of a mangled pony corpse. Clear fluid leaked from its many lacerations, but never dripped to the ground. A familiar eye stared at them behind a filthy, unkempt mane. Its left eye was gone, replaced by a large, cyan slug that oozed down its cheek. The slug's typical eyestalks were replaced by a grotesque hole that leaked a clear fluid down her face. A hiss shook the slug while the pony's body smirked.

Cloud and Junior were frozen in fear.

The slug shrunk back into the monster's eye socket. The corpse's neck twitched and the head fell lopsided. "What's the matter?" it asked in a familiar, feminine pony voice deluded by an invisible tube filled with water. "Not happy to see mommy?"

Junior screamed.

"What the fuck are you?!" Cloud asked the monster wearing his wife's rotting flesh. He put a foreleg around his son, and they both started backing away.

The head realigned and the throat shook her body as a mangled chuckle sounded from behind the fangs. "I'm your wife, Cloud. Don't you recognize me?" She stumbled towards them, one crooked and unbalanced hoof at a time.

"You're dead!" he screamed at the zombie, shaking his head. "You can't be her! You can't!"

"I was so worried," the butchered voice said. "When you tried to leave without a word, in the middle of the night." A chuckle shook her body. Her head bobbed up and down. "That's something you should have done a long time ago!"

"Shut up!" Cloud demanded, holding back tears. "You shut up! I never regretted that night!" He held Junior closer.

"And you're trying to make up for that?" She shambled toward them as the slug poked out from her eye socket and hissed at them. "Of course... You had more cider in you back then."

The ponies backed away slightly faster.

"Fuck you!" Cloud screamed at his undead wife. "I didn't value that shit more than our family! I loved you, Gleam!" He panted as Junior kept backing away without him. "I still love..."

Gleam shambled toward him, then finally collapsed on top of her weak legs. She looked up at her husband and stretched one of her broken hooves out to him.

"Dad!" Junior yelled. "Mom is dead! I hate it as much as you do, but whatever that is can't replace her!"

"It is her, Hunter!" Cloud yelled at his son. "No monster could know about that night..." He trotted to his dead wife's side.

"Take my hoof," she said. "I've seen what lies beneath the water." The slug hissed at nopony in particular.

"We can get you better, I swear!" Cloud wrapped his foreleg around hers.

"No!" Gleam's uncorrupted voice rang out.

The ground shook beneath them as Cloud found his hoof stuck to hers by a strange, light blue ooze. A mist engulfed them.

"Dad!" Hunter screamed.

The mist turned to water. Dad and the zombie sank into the pool, both screaming. The bubbles stopped after a short moment. A feminine voice that wasn't Mom growled at Hunter. He turned and fled.

The green pegasus galloped through the rustling leaves towards the light between the trees. The growl resonated around him. A breeze lifted the hairs on his back. He looked behind him.

The wind blew calmly between the trees. The breeze tossed many of the dry leaves off the ground. Hunter caught his breath, turned, and galloped home.

Elsewhere, in the wasteland...

"I hope that colt dies," the unicorn said, once again leading the blind changeling deeper into the desert. "Does that make me a bad person?" He turned an eye to the eyeless.

Foresight nodded at the voice.

"Oh, what does a blind bug-monster know about Good or Bad?" the unicorn scoffed, waving the non-verbal comment off.

In the distance, the pony could see a spire towering over the rest of the wasteland. He turned back toward Foresight. The blind changeling kept trotting to the south, past the unicorn and toward the tower.

"So I take it that tower's where we're going?" the pony asked.

The bug shook its head.

"Then where?" The unicorn sighed and shook his head. "Is it beyond that tall thing?"

The bug nodded.

"Is it taller?"

Foresight stamped its hoof into the sand, as if digging a hole. It turned its snout toward the vague direction of the voice before shaking its head. The pony sighed, and hoofsteps led the way further south.

The pony kept moving forward, growing more anxious with each step. Movement drew his attention toward the tall spire. From a distance, a light gray earth pony galloped toward them.

"You!" the gray stallion screamed in a brash tone. "You're not like the others!" He breathed heavily in between sentences. "Maybe you'll listen!"

The unicorn took a step back. "Who the--?!"

"Shush!" the stallion interrupted. "No time! No place! Everything is falling apart! It's done!"

"What--?!"

"Shuuush! Don't interrupt! Or you'll be no different! You'll lose it like everyone else!"

The unicorn punched the stallion in the face. The force knocked the pony onto his side.

"Shut the fuck up already!" the unicorn screamed at him. "Nothing you're saying makes any sense!"

The stallion slowly got up from the dirt and shook it off. "Sorry..." His tone and breathing slowed to a more normal degree. "I just needed to tell someone about it. It has to be heard."

"What does?"

Foresight let out a loud sigh.

"Foresight?!" the stallion gasped. "What happened?!"

The gray pony galloped to the bug's side and inspected its scarred face. A hoof felt around the empty eye sockets. The changeling's snout snapped at the pony, snatching a mouthful of hair from his mane with its twisted fangs. It chewed as the stallion looked it over.

"Did the Oasis do this to you?!" he asked in a more excited tone.

Foresight nodded while chewing.

A large grin creased the pony's face. "I knew it! It's all coming together!"

The unicorn stepped in. "What exactly did you know?" he asked in a more threatening tone.

"Look around you!" the stallion said, excited as ever and with a smile. "You're in a vast wasteland! No food! No water!" He chuckled to himself. "An oasis here is just a mirage! And a desert mirage means death!" He took a step towards the pair. "But that's just it... The disappearances, the moving mirages, the mysterious songs in the wind... It's all connected! All of it!"

The unicorn crooked his head.

"She doesn't want you to know!" the white-maned earth pony yelled, pointing back toward the spire. "She wants to keep us all in line!" He stamped the hoof into the dirt. "But I figured it out!" He chuckled. "It's all there when you know where to look!" He sat up and rubbed his hooves together, then looked between the unicorn and the changeling. "It all started a thousand years ago..."

"Doesn't everything?" the unicorn asked with a smirk.

The pony ignored him. "Three... No. Two! Two changelings from outside the Hive came asking to join." He shook his head. "Impossible, but true! They were agents of a different hive entirely! She had them butchered for Her own amusement! Then She sent the Executioner out to find the rest of the little hive! With him, a small army! Total of fifteen soldiers! All armed to the teeth! Just one of them could turn you inside out in a second!" His breathing grew heavier. "Then only one returned... But he didn't! I asked Her over and over about it! She said he was exiled, but that doesn't make any sense! Then I realized... Not exiled. Escaped! It wasn't him! It was a changeling wearing another changeling's skin! Its body! Its soul!" He laughed. "It explains everything!"

The unicorn pulled his hoof back. "Don't be vague," he threatened.

The stallion flinched and nodded. "Right! The executions! So many! The crime sprees, the death of so many corrupt... But then I realized they weren't!" He flinched again. "Wretchers! All of them! Not honest changelings! Framed as criminals and murdered to hide the ugly truth!" He smiled. "Wretched corruption!" He shook his head. "We weren't declaring zero tolerance! We were declaring war!" He laughed. "A secret war!" He pointed to the eyeless changeling. "And you're one of our prisoners!"

It swallowed and nodded back at him.

"Whoa whoa whoa!" The unicorn raised a hoof in interjection. "You're a changeling?"

The bug-pony chuckled. "My name is Babylon, former Hive prince." He or it crooked his or its head. "What is your name?"

"Its name is Sin..." a feminine voice growled from all around before the unicorn could answer. "A fountain of wrath that would rival myself..."

The gray creature's blue eyes widened. "It's the Drooling Oasis!"

A haunting laugh echoed in their skulls as mist swirled around them, turning the sand behind them to water. And the water leaked out to welcome its prey.

Chapter 6: The Fangs Which Withhold the Truth

The Drooling Oasis formed behind the unicorn and the two changelings. Its waters reached out as its frigid claws converged on them.

"Run!" Babylon yelled.

The unicorn Sin galloped away from the rising tide. Foresight stumbled, its hoof caught in the waters. Babylon took a step toward it, only to be stopped by Sin. The unicorn shook his head and beckoned to the south. The pair galloped out of the Oasis's reach.

Foresight couldn't smell them anymore. All was darkness, fear, and despair around it. The changeling felt the cold claws of the Nine crawling up its legs. A song in another tongue eased its pains.

Babylon and Sin stopped and turned toward the music. The waters pulled away from their pursuit and collected in the pool surrounding Foresight. The song intensified as a figure rose behind the changeling. Long, jagged claws wrapped themselves around the blind changeling's throat. The claws themselves seemed to be made of water, as did the figure that wielded them.

The figure looked like a wingless dragon, but much too thin and without teeth. Green water sloshed and spurted inside the eye sockets. Its long, jagged, toothless jaw was left agape. The song, as well as several strands of thick drool, continued to flow from it. The saliva splashed down Foresight's back as the watery maw loomed over its head.

A set of claws pushed the blind changeling's head down. Slowly, the gaunt figure pushed the bug under its hungry waters.

"What the fuck is that thing?!" Babylon screamed as Sin pulled him away.

The Drooling Oasis glared at them. Its eyes spurted in a boil. The drool pulled its jaw more open. With a retch, a high pitched shriek shattered the two survivors' hearing.

Sin flinched, holding his head in pain. With a flash of green, a changeling looking like a taller Foresight appeared by his side. It put its torn hooves to the pony's ears. Sin opened his eyes to the Oasis retching and ringing in his ears. Babylon pulled him along.

The Drooling Oasis watched them gallop away. It melted back into its pool.

The ringing left Sin's ears, replaced by the feeling of something lodged inside them. His hoof reached for his ear, but was caught by the changeling's magic. It shook its head and gestured to its own ear, which sported an earplug. It nodded. Sin smirked and looked back at the silent waters.

Nothing was behind them but dry sand.

Sin gestured to the desert behind them. The changeling removed the pair's earplugs with its magic and returned to the gray pony form.

"Alright," Sin said to him. "What the hell are we dealing with here?"

Babylon looked around in a shocked stupor. His blue eyes checked each horizon. He took a breath and turned back to the pony. "I have no idea anymore. It was the blood of the innocents... I thought." He shook his head. "That lanky snake... claw... thing..." The shaking spread to his entire body. "It's not natural. It's not right."

"The blood of the..." Sin's voice trailed off in the middle of the question. He shook his head. "How is that any more natural?"

"Wretchers turn to blood as they die." Babylon shrugged and looked over his shoulder. "I thought it made sense..."

Sin exhaled. "Look, whether or not we know what this thing is... There's still that place Foresight was wanting to go."

"Where's that?" he asked with a crooked head and smile.

"All I know for sure is that it's south of here," Sin explained.

Babylon nodded. "I think I know where he wanted to go..." He squinted to the south. "It's a very long walk." He smiled and turned to Sin. "Want to fly there?"

"We can do that?" Sin asked in half-disbelief.

A flash of green flame turned Babylon into a bug with spread wings. It flew onto Sin's back and picked him up. The wings buzzed as the pair, now airborne, sped southward.

"You think we'll find something to kill the Oasis with there?" Sin yelled over the wind.

"I have no idea," the changeling chirped. "If you had asked me five minutes ago, I'd've said yes. But now that we know the Drooling Oasis is not a wretcher..." Its voice trailed off and it shook its head in the breeze.

"But aren't wretchers just another form of changelings?" Sin asked. "Shapeshifters. They could have just taken that form!"

Babylon shook its head. "We can't just make a form up! We wear masks based on the faces we see!"

"What if you go blind?"

It smirked. "Then unless you know a good healer... You die."

"Is that what's to the south then? A healer?"

It looked down. "Honestly, Sin, I really doubt that."

Meanwhile...

Ranch and Starch got up from the cold hard floor and looked around. Somehow, they were in a cave made of pure ice. The crystals shined light blue, illuminating the whole room. Somehow there were no entrances or exits.

"Ranch..." Starch said in a shaky voice.

"Yes, dear?" he replied, also feeling chill down his body.

They both stood silent and shaking, assuring one another that it was very cold, yet their breaths were still invisible.

"What happened?" she asked him.

"I don't know, Star..." He shook his head. "We were getting chased, then suddenly there was water..." He groaned as the memories gave him a headache. He lowered his head, only to hear drips of water in the silence.

He opened his eyes to a puddle of blood. The taste soured his mouth. Ranch turned to find Star's horrified face also bleeding from its snout. The two ponies embraced in the cold.

A small section of ice glowed behind them. They turned to find the icy wall slowly melting toward them. The lights flowed with the waves, pooling to either side of the triangular spill. The Drooling Oasis rose from the ice and looked over the shivering ponies.

“What the fuck are you?!” Ranch screamed.

“I quenched your thirst,” a voice whispered from all around them, like a draft from an invisible door. “I saved you from those disgusting changelings. Now I only ask you return the favor...”

“You’re not water!” Starch shouted at the dripping beast. “Water can’t talk!” She choked on the blood in her throat for a moment. “You’re in the water! What are you?!”

The Oasis stretched a liquid claw out to the couple. “I am the Oasis...” the whispers echoed.

“Bullshit!” Ranch said, coughing up some more blood. He wiped a red streak across his snout with a bloodied hoof.

A chuckle echoed through the chamber as the drooling jaw unhinged. It pulled the neck and body with it, creating a pony-sized hole leading inside the Oasis itself. More water flowed out in waves, and the sound of hooves sloshing through muck resonated from within the gullet of the beast. A large mass of bluish ooze rose up from the depths of the maw. As it stepped over the jaw, one of the liquid hooves was lifted up. Dragon claws sprouted from the hoof, unnaturally giving the limb a sharper edge. The claws dug into the mass, and rended the ooze from the creature underneath.

A glistening maw growled underneath, adorned with sharp fangs and a dragon-like eye. Strange wing-like structures replaced the creature’s ears and half of its head was a missing a chunk, as though something had taken a bite out of them. A green fluid, matching the intensity of the eye, bubbled and dripped from a strange gem of the same color, pooling into the scarred skin that was once half of a face. Its limbs also sported holes like bite marks, and even a few scars from either a large fang or a sharp horn. Its neck had several scars, as though something with sharp teeth had tried to rip the throat out. Everything below the front legs was still covered or consisted of the blue ooze. Nine large veins of green pulsated from her chest and swirled down into the floor.

Starch fainted. Ranch felt an icy chill sweep down his blood-clogged his throat.

“What’s the matter?” the creature asked in a feminine voice that defied her appearance. She lifted a hoof, the claws cracking along the bone as she beckoned them to dance around the outside of her hoof. “Scared?”

Ranch felt the blood in his throat grow thicker as his legs lost their strength. He fell to his knees, his mouth so full that he couldn’t move or feel his tongue anymore. His eyes twitched and teared up. The monster shook her head.

Ranch could only watch as his numb body was dragged by the currents toward the dragon's snout. Her icy claws grabbed his cheeks in a futile attempt to stop his panicked gaze. He could feel the blood slide down his throat, freeing his mouth.

"Let go of me, you..." he growled before running out of breath.

"Oh, if only it were so easy to let go..." a misplaced voice whispered from the waters.

"...what do you want from us?!" the pony pleaded.

The dragon leaned forward and turned her scars from him. She snarled at the pony's eyes. "I want you to look at yourself. You monsters always seem to forget what you have become."

"Why is my face numb?" the voice whispered. "It's too dark in here..."

Ranch's senses focused on the glowing ice that kept the room bright for a moment.

"Where are you, Ranch?" the voice echoed.

"Maple?!" he realized. His eyes grew wide and he struggled against the grip of the beast to turn around.

The Oasis giggled before finally relenting. Ranch jolted around only to see blood leaking from the eye sockets of his wife. Her eyes were gone. Blood continued to drop from her nose and mouth as she wandered the ice room in darkness.

"What the fuck did you do to her?!" he screamed at the monster. "What the FUCK did you do?!"

The dragon grin filled up with rows of fangs. "Look at yourself and tell me she's not better off..."

Ranch bit his lip. He glanced down toward his hooves.

They were missing.

“What have you done to me?!”

The beast rolled her eye. “Hardly my fault you ponies are so fragile... Not nearly as chewy as the changelings.”

Ranch turned from the beast, only to find his headless body slumped over. A red trail snaked across the ice to just below him. He felt a lump in his throat, then an icy chill filled his mouth.

The Oasis pulled the head back around with a watery claw. The pony watched the creature gesture with a stray, clenched claw, and the cold blood in his mouth complied with every twitch.

“So slow...” she said. Blood began to drip from his eyes. She shook her hand and both their heads. “So... stupid.”

Ranch heard his wife scream. His bloodied face could barely see the tidal wave coming. The room closed in on all three in a crashing wave. Two glowing lights floated to the top, shaping the way to the surface.

Outside the wretched hive...

Babylon dropped Sin to the ground just inches below his hooves. It landed and took its ponydom back. Ahead of them stood what looked to be a large hole in the ground. Upon closer inspection, it was a deep cavern not unlike a tunnel. It was too dark to see what could await deep inside. They nodded to one another and began their descent into the cavern.

With each step, the sunlight grew dimmer behind them. Then, just as the they arrived in the darkest heart of the caves, a blue light appeared at the far end of the tunnel.

"Who goes there?!" a crackly voice called out from the darkness.

"We mean no harm!" Babylon called out to it.

"What are you doing down here, changeling?" the voice asked.

"We are searching for answers!"

The light moved closer, then blinked. "Now that is something I can help with."

"You know how to kill the Drooling Oasis?!" Sin asked excitedly.

The voice either laughed or tried to cough its lungs out. The light looked Sin in the eye. "You can't kill what's already dead."

"It's a ghost?!" Babylon gasped.

"It's a zombie," Sin affirmed.

"No," the voice said. "It is a lake of blood and souls. There is nothing in those waters from beyond the grave."

"Where does such a thing come from?" Babylon asked it, shaking his head in half-disbelief of his own questions. "How many had to die for such... Such a monster to be born?"

The light dimmed as the blue eye squinted at him. "Now how do you know about the monster in the Oasis?"

"It ate our friend," Sin answered. "Drowned it in its waters."

"Your friend was an 'it?'"

Sin nodded.

"His name was Foresight," Babylon added. "He was a wretcher."

"She killed Foresight?!" the voice gasped.

"'She?'"

A deep chuckle echoed around them. The light, the changeling, and the pony all looked for a source among each other.

It stood behind them. It growled at them. They turned to find two dripping, green eyes sloshing back at them.

"Earplugs!" the changeling yelled, shedding his ponydom for a taste of magic. The green flicker cast four shadows on the wall for a split second.

The silhouettes appeared on the wall again. They stayed in place, painted by the glowing aura around Babylon's horn. Sin stood beside him. Where the light once was, a one-eyed, maimed changeling leaned on a single front leg. Across from him, an eyeless and sopping wet changeling sat in a pool of blood and souls. It was Foresight. Behind him, the apparition's eyes boiled, and constant drool assured he could never be dry. It wrapped a dripping claw around the wet changeling's neck.

"Now isn't that bad luck?" Foresight asked, lighting the tunnel with his own horn. He pulled the earplugs away from Babylon and dropped them into the Oasis. "Trying to stop the rain when you're inside?" The Oasis's claw crooked his head with a light snap and a couple twitches.

"What did you expect us to do?!" Babylon asked him.

The claw realigned his head. "Cover your face, wish it away," Foresight replied without emotion. Its hoof struggled to rise from the blood that flowed through the holes.

"Fuck your stupid nursery rhyme!" Sin screamed at him.

Foresight took a step back. Drool splashed onto his head from above, dampening his mane and sliding down his face. It pooled in the empty eye sockets. The others took a step back, repulsed. Sin smirked.

"Why do you return here, Drooling Oasis?" the maimed changeling asked the figure, trying to overlook the soaked victim underneath. "Haven't you killed enough of us?"

"Redemption..." Foresight said, "water" flowing out of his mouth with each syllable. "We still thirst."

Redemption shook his head trying to hide his fear. "The Perfect One stopped you when you brought his eyes, they'll stop you when you bring the whole thing."

"A wishful perception..." A crooked grin forced the water out the other side of his mouth. "They stopped her. They stopped the Nine." Foresight shook his head, splashing the drool about. Each droplet seemed to vanish into thin air before it could hit the dry ground. "They can't stop me."

The claw around his neck retreated to the waters. The Drooling Oasis bellowed in an almost scared tone. A green light flew past the two changelings and almost hit Sin. It impacted on Foresight's horn, ripping the top half of his eyeless head off. His upper jaw and everything above it flew into the air and turned to dust. The rest of his body collapsed, twitching, into the pit of drool and sank.

Behind them, Babylon and Sin found a shambling monstrosity. Its two heads on twin necks disgusted the changeling prince. Sin smiled as it came closer.

"Wishful perception indeed," the smiling, female head of Advantage said.

"Return them, Drooler!" the male head of Advantage yelled. "Bring us back our friends!"

The Drooling Oasis shrieked at the two-headed changeling queen. The pitch stunned their lessers. The waters rose to form a wave, and the snout guided it forwards. The two horns of Advantage lifted Redemption into the air. The claws flew from the wave.

And crashed down on Babylon and Sin.

The pair disappeared into the drool. Redemption dropped to the ground. Advantage fired upon the receding waters.

The snout and waves vanished. The cave dried. Advantage shambled back into the darkness.

Redemption looked around in fear of the water. Finally he turned around and called out to the darkness. "We just lost three!"

"Better than a few hundred..." the queen called back.

Redemption crooked his head in confusion. He looked back toward the dark, dry floor. "But we only have nine of us left..." he muttered to himself.

Chapter 7: Abandoning Hope

Sin opened his eyes. Everywhere he looked was ice crystals, blue like the mirages he had encountered earlier. His hooves stood upon thick, blue ice. The unicorn's body was almost numb with cold, yet he couldn't see his breath. Unfazed by any of this, Sin trotted around the perimeter looking for any exit he could find. He put his ear to the wall in places, but all he could ever hear was the sound of his own hoofsteps. All he could ever feel was a solid sheet of flat ice crystals.

Green light watched him from above. Pleased, the light flowed through the ice to a new chamber.

"SOMEBODY, HELP ME!" Babylon screamed.

The green ice watched as the changeling scrambled around the solid room in a panic. Slipping in places, he made his way to each set of etched ice and carved new lines in with his hooves.

"PLEASE! ANYONE?!" the changeling yelled to the ceiling before dragging his hooves down the wall.

Babylon shook his head as it reached the bottom. He whimpered and shook from the cold chill. His eyes searched all around but there was only the same, icy, and doorless prison walls. The whole place reeked of desolation and fear. Combined with his own claustrophobia, this ice felt like his coffin.

The eyes of the Oasis watched the cold changeling crawl into a corner. His whimpers turned to tears, and his tears turned to crying. Displeased, the lights disappeared back into the ice.

Sin tapped the wall with his hoof. The sound resonated around him. He shrugged and moved to the center of the chamber. He looked up at the ceiling. Unlike the plain walls, the ice crystals above formed shining stalactites that seemed to still be dripping. Not a drop could be heard or seen on the ground, though.

A drop fell on the back of his mane. It slid down his neck. Sin turned around. Another drop landed on the end of his snout. He looked up. The familiar green glow oozed down a larger stalactite. Water dripped down around him. Sin took a step back, only to see the Oasis emerge from the ice. He smirked as large claws rose from the floor.

Its head twitched as it descended, its eyes fixed on the unicorn. "Do you not fear me?" the almost harmonic voice growled from behind the drool.

Sin briefly crooked his head in thought. "Nah."

The edges of the watery snout lifted into a wet grin. "Good. There is a matter I wish to discuss." Its snout moved closer to his; drool splashed onto his hooves. "Fear has no place in my plan."

"Really? 'Cause that doesn't sound very fun..."

A claw surged toward his throat. Sin felt its cold grasp below his chin. It lifted his head up toward the Oasis's gaze.

The water spurted as it talked. "You are truly depraved, but not thoroughly corrupted. I need someone like you..."

Sin put a hoof up and tried to push the claw down. "Actually, I came here to kill you." The claw retreated to the ice.

The large snout threw water everywhere as it bellowed a chuckle. "Your 'courage' is amusing." It dripped closer. "Do you even know what I am?"

The unicorn's brown eyes looked from the green bubbling to the blue, floating mass of water that made up the dragon-like face and claws before him. "Well, you're a bitch... And you're made out of water, apparently."

The Oasis's scoff splattered on the ice. "I am the blood and souls of the blessed." It shook its head, sloshing the juices in and out of its mouth and eyes. "Not water."

Sin tapped on the ice before reaching for some of the drool and noting its consistency. "Sure about that?" As his voice left his maw, the water flowing off his hoof turned thicker. "Oh..."

The Drooling Oasis smiled as the liquid took a more solid form, splitting from the thick flow with tiny legs. Centipedes dripping with blood and enthusiasm crawled their way up his foreleg. Sin looked up at the Oasis, neither removing his hoof nor failing to smile. The bugs crawled onto his face. The unicorn remained stoic.

A sigh emanated from the drooling jaws. The bugs turned to water and fell into the ice. Sin removed his hoof from the water-like drool.

"So you can change the blood into whatever you want, huh?"

The Oasis smiled again. "I was beginning to think you were simply an idiot." The unicorn frowned. "That is just one of my divine abilities, mortal," it began to explain with a more relaxed tone. "I can see everything. From every sea, lake, pond, or tiny river. All water... All life flows through my veins." Its claws lifted to the ceiling and the crystals rose higher, stretching and melting the walls in the process. "There is no escaping my gaze. This scorched wasteland is only the first to be cleansed."

"So you're saying you're new to all this?" Sin scoffed.

It turned to him in scorn. "It is this land's corruption that summoned me! It beckoned me from the depths! It begged me for death!"

"Really? Somebody actually begged for all this?"

"Every creature in this wasteland has had complete disregard for my laws. Complete disrespect for me. They have forced me to take judgment."

"Gouging someone's eyes and ripping out their tongue is a funny way to judge ponies!"

"Surely you, of all monsters above, understand how much The Betrayer deserved it. How dangerous and psychotic and insane his tendencies are!"

Sin nodded. "Yeah, that's why I liked him!"

The Oasis chuckled. "I should have guessed." It shook its head. "But The Betrayer lacks the ambitions you have. The want... The need to murder. Bloodthirst. I need one with a heart as dark as yours. I need... A necessary evil."

"Am I murdering you?" Sin asked with a straight face.

"No."

"The little brat, then?"

"What?!" The Oasis had to stop and recollect. "Oh no... His life is guarded by the wayward souls of the parents." It shook its head again. "Their influences on my waters make it impossible to collect the child."

"Then can I go?"

"I need you to kill someone far more threatening than some little mother's boy..." It smiled at him. "If you can kill him, I will repay the favor."

"Really?" Sin said skeptically. It nodded toward him. "Can you make me an alicorn?"

A claw melted into the ice, creating a hole in the floor. It went down into the blood and souls that made up the floor. With a sudden surge, the arm rose back to the surface. Suspended in the claw was a familiar clump of green. The arm flailed, slamming the green into the ice. It stayed solid.

Sin trotted up to the green, and watched a mixture of feathers, bones, and tissue rise from the clump weakly. The rest of Cloud slumped on the ice. His eyes seemed weak and his mouth empty of teeth and words. Not a single drop of red blood could be found on or around the disheveled pegasus.

The claw pulled at one of the wing tips and the green head writhed on the ice, unable to scream. "If you must become an alicorn... I suppose we could recycle some old wings."

Sin looked over the broken and somehow not bloody wings. He smiled at the amount of bones and sinew jutting out from the shattered wing patterns. He turned toward the Oasis. "And I want new eye colors... I want my left to be purple and my right to be red. Like pony blood red. None of that girly pink stuff."

The claw slammed down on Cloud's writhing body. "Don't push it," the Oasis growled.

"You better not have just broken those wings..."

"You disturb me almost as much as those on the surface," it replied. "But be assured that this payment will be adequate for your services."

Sin chuckled and shook his head. "Oh no... These are just my upfront costs. You want me to kill someone? You give me wings and my eye colors before I do anything. Once your target is dead, I expect the head of that stupid kid."

"There will be no 'upfront' payment, Sin!" the Oasis yelled, its twisted voice rebounding off the crystal walls. Its claw dragged Cloud's body across the ice, away from the unicorn. "If you wish the child dead, you may have it. If you wish for wings, you may have them. But you cannot have both!"

"I'll take the kid then." He shrugged. "Wings were stupid anyways."

"For the sake of time and decency, mostly time, you won't be able to pursue the child until after your job is done." The Oasis glared down at the unicorn. "Is that clear?"

"Sure," Sin waved off. "Whatever kills him."

"Then we will see to your companion." The long, leaking snout turned from the unicorn and the claws joined it at the wall.

"Does he get a reward too?" Sin asked as the claws dug into the ice.

Water gushed from the cracks like an open wound, flooding the room with knee-high waves. The Oasis turned a boiling eye toward the pony. "Would you choose it?" it growled in rhythm with the crashing floor.

He waved off the threat. "Nah, I'm good."

The tide brought Babylon from the depths of his despair. A claw fished him from the waters and placed him with the unicorn. The changeling looked in all directions, still trying to get his bearings. Looking over the faces of Sin and the Drooling Oasis, he wasn't sure whose smile was more unnerving.

The snout sloshed toward them, closing the distance its own claw had made. The wall behind it continued to bleed, yet the waves never crashed above their knees. A hundred thoughts and a thousand fears coursed through the changeling's mind.

Sin nudged Babylon's shoulder. "Relax, you bug... It just wants us to kill somebody for it in exchange for whatever you want!" He giggled in excitement. "Awesome, right?"

"No!" his fanged jaw snapped at his companion. He turned to the oozing mound of blood. "You think we're just going to fall for this simple manipulation?" he chastised. "There's no way you can possibly give me what I want!" He scoffed at the Oasis's almost enthusiastic smile.

"Not only shall I give whatever you wish, Babylon," the chorus of retching and singing bellowed from the blood fountain. "I will even let you live!" Giggles echoed from behind the flames. "Neither of you are worthy of the blessings I bestow. But even filth like you may serve a purpose..."

"Really?" Babylon stepped forward with a smirk. "Anything I want, huh?"

"Name it and it is yours," the almost-voice explained with only the slightest tinge of frustration.

"I want to know how to stop you." Babylon held a hoof to the Oasis. "That is not my wish, only my intent." He smiled. "I wish to ask Foresight a few questions that only he may answer."

"The Betrayer?!"

"You invested a lot on the wretched hive queen's favor of him." He shook his head. "You wouldn't just throw him away after a minor setback, right?"

The Drooling Oasis sighed. "You may ask but a single question which he must answer. There will be no interruptions, no clarifications, and you will never see him again." She crooked her oozing gaze. "Do you understand that this is all I will ever give you for your services? You must kill whomever I ask upon his reply..."

"Get on with it!" Babylon demanded.

With another sigh, the claw reached into the depths once more. The sinkhole pulled Cloud's crushed remains back under again, while the two unclean stood without even a tug from the current. The claw pulled Foresight's body from the gore below and tossed it into the now still waters. It stood up on its own somehow, still missing everything above the lower jaw. The claw grabbed ahold of what was left of the head. The eye juices calmed, then saturated into the blood mound.

Foresight screamed.

The changeling's face had been reconstructed with the Oasis's claw. The eyes spurted the same liquid. After screaming and getting his bearings, Foresight simply sat and stared at Babylon.

"Well? Ask away." His voice sounded distorted as drool dripped from his snout. Luckily, he was still perfectly understandable.

Babylon took a breath and some time to get his words together. "How can we stop this monster, the Drooling Oasis, from reaping more lives?"

Foresight smiled. "Do you want the bad news, or the worse news first?"

Babylon put a hoof to the smiling pony next to him, then glared back at Foresight.

The eyes spurted in realization. "Oops, feedback is against their rules." He chuckled. "I suppose we'll start with the worst."

Chapter 8: Decadence of Spirits Torn

"You could not even bring your fellow changelings together in the Hive," Foresight chastised Babylon. "You were a Hive Prince: Chrysalis's Chosen!" He shook his head. "You have fallen too far with your foolish quest for the truth. The Truth!" He scoffed. "In the realm of liars! Ha!" The outburst calmed the boiling eyes of the drooling outcast. "There is no Truth in this wasteland. There is no killing the Drooling Oasis. You have failed completely."

Foresight sighed and his eyes stilled, as though he was drifting off into sleep. "That is the worst of the news." His head lowered and a smirk creased one side. "But the bad news is about whom you've already killed."

The eyes spurted and his head rose with fangs bared. The twisted fangs dripped with his own blood, dropping bright green into the blue that flowed from his mouth. A deep growl resonated behind the drool and flames.

"Your summoning of my corpse has splintered my soul," Foresight growled through the fluids. "My very spirit lashes out at this corrupted form. These replacements are tainted."

He shook his head. His liquid ears twitched with each wayward drop splashing into the pool of blood they all stood in. The growling tone relaxed as he continued.

"They call to me... The missing pieces." Foresight shook his head again. "But they are not mine. They are misplaced spirits torn from an ancient corpse." His voice began to quiver. "They are vengeful monsters driven by a harmonic wrath. They tear at my soul for sustenance. They seek their promised destruction."

He looked behind him. The massive mound of congealed blood still connected itself to his head with its arm. He shook his head violently. The juices spurted from his dormant eyes and a scream rang out from deep within his throat, rebounding off the walls. His hooves smashed against the ice below the waters.

His gaze settled on them as his throat quieted. He spoke plainly. "No redemption for what you have done. No redemption can fix your status. No redemption can save the ponies or the changelings from her wrath. It is already done. Mercy and Redemption go hoof in hoof, but neither trot these lands of the cursed. They shall swim in the waters of our sins, turning it to death. When the waters are pure and fertile, there will be nothing left." His throat quivered. His nose sniffed. The drool clogged his throat for a short moment. "Such is the error of our stubborn wills... That we do not cry until we are completely destroyed."

Foresight's hoof rose to his mouth, both dripping in blood. He retched. Blood flew through the holes of his hoof, hitting the pool in a disharmonic clamor. Through the splashing and sickness, Babylon and Sin could barely recognize a familiar tune.

The claw ripped itself from Foresight's neck. His body slumped into the waves and disappeared under them in silence. The Drooling Oasis opened its eyes to the pony and the changeling once again.

"Foresight never tells changelings what they need to hear," the Oasis said with a twisted smile. "Time for you two to fulfill your obligation to me."

"Who are we killing?" Sin asked excitedly while Babylon sulked in the water.

The smile grew more crooked. "They call it 'Redemption,' but it's really just a wretcher higher-up whose corruption would stain my beautiful waves." Babylon looked up as the Oasis continued. "When such a scar exists on this world, it is sadly beyond my waters to mend it." It shook its head. "Which is why you must destroy him for me."

Babylon crooked his head. "How do you expect us to recognize this 'Redemption?'"

"He was with you. One eye, broken limbs, and a broken wing... Any of that sound familiar?"

Babylon nodded. The nodding stopped suddenly as the familiar details rekindled an old memory in his mind. "Redemption sounds a lot like Carnal..."

"Who?" Sin asked.

The Drooling Oasis ignored the unicorn. "He may wear Carnal's soul as a mask. If Carnal you would come across, kill him."

"I see..." Babylon looked around the ice water cave. "So how do we get back to the desert?"

The Oasis chuckled before releasing a bellowing scream that melted the walls around them. The blood flooded the floor, engulfing Sin and Babylon in its waves. The Oasis disappeared, one with the liquids that now filled the room. Looking down, green lights sparkled from the depths. Babylon perceived nine pairs of eyes surrounding a triclopean-esque formation. Unlike triclopean wretchers, the third "eye" shined brighter than the others. Looking closer, he realized the shape was slightly off.

"A horn?" he mouthed in the lake of blood.

Sunlight cut through the water, shrouding the Oasis's eyes in glare and forcing Babylon's gaze upward. The changeling and pony swam to the surface, and the currents led their hooves back to the solid ground.

Babylon looked onward toward the direction of the wretched hive. Sin looked back toward the Oasis, whose waters slowly receded into nothingness.

The unicorn chuckled and turned toward the wretched hive, excited to get to work. The changeling shook his head and dragged himself along.

"There he is!" Sin yelled.

Babylon lifted his head in time to see a single blue eye disappear into the wretched hive. They chased after it, only to be greeted by two wretcher soldiers. Both were missing their left foreleg and green blood dripped from almost every hole in their bodies. Their jaws were held agape with a labored breath.

A watery claw crashed down and pulled the guards away. Their wretched screams clawed their echoes through Babylon's mind. Sin continued into the cavern with a smile.

There was no sign of Redemption inside, but his voice echoed from much deeper within. Sin charged after the sound. Babylon noted the blue waters carefully sliding along the walls of the cave.

Babylon listened carefully to the echo as the two moved deeper. It was a rallying call. "It's sent two now! Two pure minds who are now tainted by that monster's vengeful darkness! Now, my siblings, we must take action! Don't let them get close to the One! The Perfect One must survive their onslaught! I know it defies our beliefs, but these two must be stopped by any cost! I know you are hungry... I know you thirst. Our own oasis being taken over by this vengeance has cost more souls than it was ever meant to store! Some of you may resent me for introducing the Outcast... For letting her into our waters of life. It was never meant to be this way! Not even the Perfect One could console the Nine! And now they are fueling a terrible quest for unholy revenge! Siblings! This must stop here!"

Sin and Babylon turned a corner to find Redemption and five other wretchers glaring at them from the other side of a long stretch of cavern.

"Redemption's darkness is much too strong," the Oasis whispered into Babylon's ear. "Until he is dead, I can't save any of the others."

"I know what it is you seek!" Redemption yelled at them. "The blood on your hooves is evidence enough of your intentions." He shook his head. "But the Perfect One will remain out of your reach." He smiled. "Yours and the Oasis's."

Sin laughed and stepped toward the six wretchers. "We're not here for some 'Perfect One.'" He grimaced at them. "We're here for you!"

"Then take me," Redemption growled. His horn began to glow. "Take all of us."

A bolt of green magic surged into one of the other wretchers, killing it on impact. Redemption grinned as another blast from his horn reduced another sibling to a bubbling puddle of blood.

"Tried to starve us!" he screamed as another wretcher collapsed from his power. "No better than Chrysalis..." he growled as another wretcher, shaking, stepped away from the charred and oozing remains of its friends.

A final bolt sealed its fate. "But we wretchers are exalted. Immortal!" He stepped forward into the first puddle. "We are born by the blood, and we surge through the veins of countless worlds. For blood, like life, is inextinguishable."

Redemption bent down and drank the puddle. His head began to twitch and convulse. With a burst of green flame, both eyes opened bright blue. Another couple drinks restored his limbs. Then a fourth repaired his wing and fang. He beckoned the fifth toward him; it shook as it reached a hoof out to Babylon.

"The Oasis has tainted you with fear and hate," Redemption explained to the two intruders. He gestured to the shaking wretcher. "But our... 'water' is clean of such depravity. As the Perfect One would, I may forgive you and cleanse you of this atrocity."

"It actually chose me because I was fearless!" Sin boasted with a malicious grin.

The wretcher crooked his head. "And she asked you to kill just me?" Sin nodded. Redemption scratched his chin. "Then she is scared of me..."

"I grow tired of this..." the Drooling Oasis growled quietly into Babylon's ear. "Tell the one you know that the 'nine soldiers...'" Her voice trailed off as the liquids on the walls convulsed and a faint light glowed. "Tell 'it' that 'they' are... Alive." The waters receded, still faintly glowing from invisible sunlight.

Babylon thought for a short moment, trying to decipher the command. Finally he sighed, and began trotting past Sin toward the wretchers.

"Prove to me that this 'wretchedness' is immortality," Babylon told Redemption.

He beamed. "Take a bite from our friend and let it prove it to yourself!"

"I want to speak to Carnal." Babylon smirked. "If he's still alive in there, then I'll take a bite," he plainly bargained.

The shaking wretcher smiled and turned to Redemption.

Redemption sighed before letting his body convulse for a brief moment. The mouth drooled at Babylon as the eyes stared through him completely. As it spoke, Redemption's healthy throat retched out a broken voice:

"Do you want to hear a story? It's the only--"

"The other nine are alive!" Babylon yelled at Carnal mid sentence.

Redemption screamed and convulsed. Its head suddenly smashed into the other's neck, horn first. The wretcher collapsed into a fading scream and a bubbling mess. He slurped the remains with a feral look in his eye. As the last couple drops fell from his horn, Redemption glared at the changeling. His patience and meal were both exhausted.

"You almost killed him, you monster!" Redemption snapped. "For centuries I had ground the knowledge of the Nine out of his head! Do you have any idea the damage you have caused?!"

"So wretchers aren't immortal?" Babylon asked with a smirk.

“Maybe not...” Redemption admitted. He grinned at the changeling, his twisted fangs dripping in bright green blood. “But we’re a Hell of a lot harder to kill than you...”

It lunged toward the changeling and dug his fangs into the foreleg of his enemy. Sin charged into the monster’s flank, ripping his friend free. A hole that dwarfed the natural deformities scarred Babylon’s leg. Breathing to cope with the pain, the changeling turned to Sin and nodded. With a green flash, the unicorn found himself looking into his own eyes. They turned toward Redemption.

“You think a skin will save you?!” he chastised. The wretcher licked his fangs. “I’ve got your taste. I’ve got your scent!”

One Sin nudged the other forward.

“I don’t think so!” left Sin yelled back. Right Sin rolled his eyes.

“This is going to be really, really easy!” Redemption snarled. He charged the one on the right.

“Well, of course it won’t be that easy!” right Sin said, his horn glowing green. With a flash the two unicorns disappeared.

Redemption turned to find the identical pair behind him now, both looking equally confused about what spell put them there.

One whispered into the other’s ear.

Redemption charged the whisperer. The whisperer charged back. The wretcher leaped onto the unicorn, tearing into the raw foreleg again. The unicorn laughed.

The taste was strange. Redemption’s fangs were stuck. The other unicorn stood over him with a smirk. He put a hoof to the wretcher’s horn, suppressing any magic and pushing his head up slightly.

“Hey, man! That really hurts!” the real Sin complained, the fangs still embedded in his bloody foreleg.

“Just give me a second.” He said to the unicorn, almost mocking their shared predicament.

“What are you even doing?!”

“Well, feisty-fangs over here decided to brag about how he saved Carnal...” the false Sin explained with a glowing horn. “I’m going to see just how much he managed to save in there...”

“NO!” the helpless wretcher screamed through the blood. “No, this can’t happen! Advantage said--”

Babylon actually took a step back to let the wretcher explain. But Redemption stared into the darkness beyond. The two heads of his queen watched him struggle. They closed their eyes.

“Hurry up, he’s ripping my leg open with all this talking!” Sin demanded.

Redemption didn’t flinch as the magic overtook his head. Babylon used his royal magic to sift through the thoroughly chewed up memories of those swallowed by Redemption. Finally, he found “Carnal.” He smiled as the mind was put in charge. Ice cold claws ripped the hoof from the drooling changeling’s maw. Sin cringed in pain.

Waters flowed around Babylon's hooves. The Drooling Oasis rose from the ground and picked up Redemption with its oozing claws. The green, glowing bubbles on her snout inspected the body carefully.

The Oasis turned toward Advantage. "What is this?"

“Apparently, there was nothing left of Carnal after our treatment,” Babylon explained. He removed his “skin” and helped the real Sin back up onto three hooves.

The jaws of the Oasis curled up into a sinister grin, then her ice claw crushed Redemption's body into a huge puddle of goop. The waters grew thicker and stronger as her snout dipped into Redemption’s blood. She feasted upon the souls Redemption had kept.

"Hey!" the bleeding Sin yelled at the Oasis. "What about our deal?"

"Kill whom you will, my desert mirage..." The Oasis chuckled with her mouth full. "Good luck getting home!"

“Fuck that! I want my arm healed!”

With a hiss, a wave crashed into the unicorn and changeling. The tide pulled them away from their victory and threw them from the pit. It abandoned them in the dark wasteland. All around them was dry sand, and the moon was their only company. Babylon helped Sin up again, wincing at the sand in his open wound.

Large hooves interrupted the wretched siren’s meal. The two heads of Advantage looked over the gorging waters with disdain.

"They did as we hoped," male Advantage said to the distracted Oasis. The two heads winced.

"And what was--”

The Oasis turned to find Advantage's horns aglow. At first, their magic tickled her oceanic body. Slowly she felt the corruption spread, ripping her body apart.

"How... Did?" The Drooling Oasis's jaw failed to speak. The drool dwindled into a fine, green slime. The eyes calmed to a slow simmer, tears of green rolled down the sides of the sinking face.

"Carnal had to go somewhere," female Advantage eagerly explained before both heads winced again.
"Then we returned him!"

The Nine roared in the Oasis's head. "Stop!" she pleaded to them. "Help!" she pleaded to the two-headed wretcher. The waves muffled her cries to sparse bubbles on the surface.

Nine glowing, green orbs ripped the snout apart from the inside. The claws lost their form, falling into the pool that glowed brighter and brighter. Advantage watched the lake of blood slowly revert to green. They intervened only to scoop the pony flesh from it. The four sets of scraps fell to the ground bloodless, and boneless.

From the center of the lake flew the fallen Oasis, that changeling with such a passion for music and water. A strange gem shined from her forehead, replacing the horn. Strange fins adapted for water covered her exoskeleton. Her face was still scarred from their last interaction.

"Help!" she screamed in a harmonic key.

Green slime splattered the ground at Advantage's feet. More dripped from the sea-changeling's snout. The wretcher queen stared at the strange substance. Distracted, they did nothing about the nine hungry eel-like mouths that emerged from the waters. Advantage prodded the substance.

Tears and blood dripped down the changeling's cheek as the mouths moved to rip her apart. More slime spurted from her mouth as the changeling was seized by the Nine.

Advantage licked it off of their faces. It wasn't purely blood, but it was still good. They looked up to find nine mouths snapping towards them. Advantage smiled unafraid. The mouths stopped short of their snouts, then retreated to the waters.

Advantage used their magic to stir the waters around. Bubbles formed at the surface close to them. Advantage's female jaw bit them, finding something underneath. With swing of the neck, a changeling was thrown to the dry ground. He checked to make sure he was as fully intact as he felt before galloping away.

"Carnal!" nine voices yelled in a clamor.

"There are still others," Advantage said. Wince.
"Now is the time to let go." Wince.
"Not the time for songs."

A changeling hoof reached from the waters and pulled its fully restored face out. His green eyes took in the surroundings before he galloped off after Carnal.

Foresight stopped Carnal from leaving the cave with a hoof around his neck.

"There are still two out there!" Carnal yelled as they struggled.

Foresight shook his head. "They're not yours to worry about. I will see that they leave this wasteland alive." He patted Carnal on the back.

"But they're all I can remember..." the changeling admitted. "Why am I even alive?"

"Advantage saved you," Foresight explained. "The thing that ate us also ate your memories, but that means you have a chance to start fresh. Take it." Foresight galloped to the cave exit, then looked back. "Look after yourself, Carnal." He galloped into the darkness of night.

Carnal trotted back to Advantage for answers. As more wretchers were revived, the nine mouths grew more and more restless. Finally, about twenty wretchers stood around nine mouths stemming from the broken, dragon-shaped monster. Each mouth hissed and snapped at whatever came near. The beast underneath whimpered as her gaze darted around.

"What... What is that thing?" Carnal asked Advantage.

A royal hoof crushed the mouths into a large puddle of blood.

"It's adorable," Advantage replied as the waters continued to drown the creature underneath. Its labored breaths popped and died around Advantage's hoof. The female snout popped out of the wince with a smile. "I think we'll name her 'Bubbles.'"

"Sleep now, Bubbles. Sleep..."

Outside the Hive...

Babylon helped Sin along so they might outrun the watch of guards of the Queen’s Hive above. With any luck, whatever perimeter guard She replaced Foresight with wouldn’t see them.

Then a changeling hoof touched his back.

Babylon jumped away from the changeling. Sin smiled at it.

“Hey, Foresight.”

Foresight’s mutual smile faded when he saw the red dripping down his leg. “What happened to you?”

“What happened to him?!” Babylon said, unsure of his eyes. “Didn’t your head explode and your body get ‘ripped apart’ by the Oasis?!”

Foresight healed the bite wound with his healing spell. “Sorry if this hurts, haven’t had a lot of practice with ponies.” He looked up toward Babylon. “Until recently...”

“Well?”

“I got better,” he shrugged. “My teeth aren’t wretched anymore, and my eyes and even my legs feel better than ever!”

“What?!” he persisted in pure disbelief.

“We come from a strange and scary hive, Babylon,” he said in an exhausted stupor.

“And the Oasis?” Babylon asked, still confused.

“That reminds me...” Foresight chuckled to himself. “You followed my clues about how the mental juices react violently to repressed memories! Good for you.”

Babylon crooked his head, his jaw open but every thought dying inside his throat. He swallowed, shook it off, and just tried again. “And the Oasis?”

“What little is left of that monster belongs to Advantage now,” Foresight explained, turning from the two and back toward the Hive. “And if I don’t want to be beaten into a puddle myself, I’d better get back before they see I’m gone.”

“What about us?” Sin asked, still rubbing his newly healed foreleg.

Foresight threw his hoof in their direction. “Just keep going that way until you hit the town. Shouldn’t be a problem at night, when everything except the most ferocious monsters sleep.”

“Was that supposed to help?” Babylon asked.

“Oh, you sure did,” the tired changeling chuckled as it flew off. “You sure did.”

The two turned and walked in the light of the moon. A familiar tune echoed from the top of the Hive.

Foresight hit a flat note, snarled, and tore a larger hole in his foreleg before starting over again.

Chapter 1: Reaching for the Sun

The young, green pegasus was tucked away in his bed and the lullabies were sung. Now, only the quiet pervaded the household. The father finally returned to the bedroom, only to see his light blue, earth pony wife passed out under the covers. He smiled and turned from the doorway. He trotted out to the living room and looked out the window. Dusk bathed the streets of Appleloosa in a beautiful shade of blue. He made a quiet path to the front door and opened it gently. The house across the way opened as well, and a couple earth ponies stepped outside and made their way to the streets. Moving away from his own door, the dad's green hoof slipped and the door caught the wind, slamming behind him. He cringed at the sound and reluctantly put his ear to the door.

Silence.

Breathing a sigh of relief, he trotted to the edge of the street. A light shined at the far end of the street, and other families and ponies stood waiting. The news had spread through town all day, telling of a special sun-raising ceremony in the next town over. A large carriage was arriving any minute to take those few who could get tickets. As he watched the light loom closer and ponies disappear into the fog behind it, a familiar voice called out from behind him.

"Daddy?"

The father turned to find his son standing at the open door. The mother soon appeared at the threshold. He frowned and shook his head. "I'm sorry... I didn't mean to wake you."

"Where are you going, daddy?" the little one said, galloping up to his father.

He smiled and patted his son on the head. "I'm going on a long trip, but I'll be back tomorrow." His son gave him the big, brown puppy eyes. "I promise I'll be back tomorrow. Now go back to bed." The son latched onto his foreleg.

"Is it really that important, Cloud?" his wife asked from the door.

"It's Celestia raising the sun!" he explained. "I wish I could take you two with me!"

"Why not?" a voice called out from behind him.

Cloud turned to find the carriage behind him. Next to it, a unicorn royal guard outstretched his hoof and smiled at the family.

"There's plenty of room for the three of you! We've had to turn quite a few families away for being a bit too... Rowdy." His eyes went to the foal wrapped around the pegasus's leg. "Yours seems old enough to not be an issue." He looked back to the parents. "So? What do you say?"

"We get to meet Princess Celestia?" the mare asked.

"Of course!" the unicorn nodded. "She wishes to honor Appleton for being such a brave expansion of our glorious nation!"

Cloud crooked his head at the guard. "You mean Appleloosa, right?"

"Oh." The guard's head recoiled from the distinction. "Of course! I must apologize; it's been a long day."

The father nodded in understanding and bent down, allowing the little one onto his back. The child had grown almost too big for rides, but Cloud was determined to enjoy every day they had left. He hopped onto the carriage, his son taking a seat next to him. They motioned for the mother, who took her time to gently close the door before galloping to join them. The wagon's interior had two large seats that could comfort three rumps at a time. Cloud's family sat on one side, and soon the guard joined on the other side with the two earth ponies from across the street.

Once everyone was situated, they felt the wagon start to move. The guard reached under his seat and pulled out a box of earplugs.

"Our route takes us past a dragon infested mountain, I'm afraid," he warned. "It's best if you all wear these so the roars don't destroy your hearing!" He passed a pair out to each of the five ponies. "It also eliminates the sound of others snoring, so feel free to doze off on the way there if you wish!"

Everyone put their earplugs in just in time. The wagon came to a sudden stop. A unicorn colt had galloped a crossed the road right in front of the pony pulling the carriage. The bridled soldier shined a spotlight from his horn, stunning the knave.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" the guard with the glowing horn yelled.

"Fuck off, man!" the punk yelled back. "Maybe watch where you're going next time, asshole!"

"You can't talk to your elders like that!"

"Yeah? Why don't you just keep pulling that cart to the tapioca factory, grandpa!" The unicorn laughed. "Is that better, you dipshit?"

The unicorn guard's horn stopped glowing as he unstrapped himself from the wagon. He trotted quickly after the unicorn.

"You're going to learn some respect, you little runt!" he growled.

"And how do you expect to catch me with those arthritis legs?" The unicorn laughed and his horn glowed a bright yellow.

Green goop struck the horn. Its stickiness resisted his head movements; its thickness prevented him from using magic. The unicorn looked down from his goopy horn to see the guard smiling with vampiric fangs, strands of ooze dripping from the edges of his snout.

"What the he--"

The guard's hoof cut the sentence short. The punch knocked the suppressed unicorn unconscious. The false unicorn attached the real one's legs together with the ooze. It picked him up and placed him on the back of the wagon, where a driver would sit if they had needed one.

They started moving again. The inside guard poked his head out and used his magic to equip the outer guard with some earplugs. With the windows of the carriage darkened and the cargo deafened, none of the ponies could tell when the wagon turned around to head north.

It never did.

A few moments later the young unicorn woke up, unable to move his legs on the driver's seat of the wagon. His horn didn't work either, not that he knew any spells that could get himself back to Appleloosa. His eyes witnessed a desert surrounding the wagon in the darkness, but his ears kept his gaze from resting. It was music. A familiar, almost nostalgic tune was being whistled in the distance.

Then he saw it. Atop a rock to the right, the monster sat there. Its bug-like limbs, wings, and horn were covered in holes. It had a bluish mane and tail, ragged and unkempt. Its green, reptilian eyes stared down, watching the wagon with every breath. Long, twisted fangs were covered by its hoof as it blew air and a green fluid through the holes to play its song.

The whistling was the tune of Rain Rain Go Away. The monster continued to play those 12 notes over and over again. The carriage moved on; the unicorn crooked his head at the oblivious guard carrying them forward with unwavering focus.

Then the song stopped. The bug-like creature trotted up next to the guard's right flank.

"Fuck off, Foresight!" the guard snarled without moving his head. "You may have the Queen fooled, but I know you're the one behind the disappearances!"

Foresight the bug shrugged and shook its head. It jumped over the guard with a flutter of its wings and tapped on his left shoulder. The guard rolled his eyes and his head as he turned to see what the bug wanted. It pointed off into the distance toward a mirage. It looked as though waves rolled across the dunes like an ocean. The guard stopped the carriage and squinted into the distance to try to figure out what it really was.

The bug raised its hoof and the wind blew beautiful notes through them. It was like an actual song. The captive unicorn could hear a charming, feminine voice in the distance. Foresight lowered its hoof and moved behind the distracted guard. It subtly unlatched him from the wagon as its twisted horn glowed bright green.

"Ow!" the guard yelled, feeling his earplugs being forcefully pulled out. The growling face could not turn all the way around before his gaze was dragged to the mirage. His ears picked up the song, beckoning him away. He galloped from his station, away from the ponies, the wagon, and Foresight.

The bug chuckled as it turned back to the wagon. Its green eyes met the browns of the bound unicorn. It hopped up next to him and sat down.

"What?" it asked his terrified expression in a deep yet crackly voice. "Never seen a changeling before?"

Green magic pulled Foresight off the wagon. The other guard stood over it, still deaf to the wind's song.

"I knew you were behind this!" the guard yelled, barely passing a glance at the empty harness. "Where is he?!"

"O come on!" the changeling screamed. "I have nothing to do with--"

The guard punched the bug's underbelly. "You have any idea how much clearance I needed just for me and my cocoonist?! Where is he?!"

Foresight pointed toward the mirage and shook its head.

The guard squinted into the distance before lifting the changeling's head to his mouth with his hoof. "If he's not there, I'm coming back here and I will kill you!" He threw the bug's head to the ground and galloped off into the distance.

Foresight laughed from the ground. "If he's not there..." he mocked. It shook its head and got up on all fours again. "If he's not there," it said in a more serious tone, turning its head to look back at the mirage. "...you're not coming back!" It chuckled again and jumped up onto the seat with the unicorn.

"What's... What's over there?" the unicorn asked.

"Nothing that concerns you, pony." It scoffed. Foresight turned its head away from the pony and murmured to itself. "How that bitch of a changeling queen can order the capture of ponies while wretchers still stalk her kin is beyond me."

But the unicorn could still hear it. "...wretchers?"

Foresight turned a shocked eye to the unicorn. Its gaze wandered for any other place to be, but could find none. "They're like changelings, but glowing all green in the worst ways." It smiled at him, its twisted fangs dripping a green and strangely glowing liquid. "You know your way back home by chance?" it asked him, crooking its head.

"Does it look like I can fucking move?" the unicorn snarled, struggling under the goop. Foresight grinned and brought its fangs close to his hooves.

A quick bite closed the distance. Its fangs ripped the green from the pale yellow unicorn's hooves, one after the other. One final bite collected the goop from his horn.

The unicorn shook the numbness off of his hooves as Foresight continued to chew. The goop was like gum in its mouth; it even took the time to blow a bubble as the unicorn looked around. The sands were bathed in moonlight all around. He could see the rock that Foresight had been whistling from, and the dune where the mirage was still moving. The song had been replaced by the stale sound of wind now, and a split second later the strange ripples on the edge of the dune disappeared as well.

He turned to the changeling. "I thought mirages didn't disappear until you got close."

"Yep." Foresight patted him on the shoulder and made its way off the seat. "I need to get going now. Good luck getting back home!" It turned and waved for a fleeting moment before trotting away.

"Really? You're just leaving me here!" the unicorn shouted after the changeling.

"I've given you at least 15 minutes of a head start against the things that want to kill you out here!" It stopped and crooked its head back toward him. "What more do you want? Advice?"

"That'd..." His voice trailed off as he nodded. "Yeah!"

"Water is like hope, unicorn!" It chuckled. "There is none in this wasteland! Get out while you can."

The bug's wings spread and it flew beyond the horizon, disappearing into the morning light.