Wretched Hive 2: The Drooling Oasis

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.