Wretched Hive 3: The Gray Pony

The changeling opened his eyes to find himself standing at the entrance of Chrysalis’s hive. He peered into the entrance and Foresight glared back at him.

“What the fuck?!” the changeling backed away from the dreamwalker. “What are you doing here?”

“Well, I don’t know if you cared to remember,” Foresight explained in an almost sarcastic tone. “But Chrysalis doesn’t take kindly to her soldiers disappearing.”

“Hardly my fault,” the changeling scoffed. “We’re all starving out here, Foresight!”

Foresight scoffed back. “The point is that I can’t rightly leave the physical hive right now.”

“Don’t you usually have someone else to bother in the dream world?”

“Not this time,” Foresight said with a smirk. “It just so happens that a rather clumsy dreamwalker managed to visit all the wretchers last night.” The smirk grew to a bigger smile. “Tracking their rather large hoofprints led me to this rather... ideal hive. And now that I know it’s you, well... I can’t just keep trotting on now, can I?”

The changeling sighed. “The Oasis.”

Foresight crooked his head with genuine shock. “What?”

“Everyone in the hive dreamt of the Oasis.” He shrugged. “So I guess that’s our dreamwalker.”

The dreamwalker shook his head. “The Oasis can’t dreamwalk. When I was eaten, she sifted through my head and dwelt only on physical things, not magic tricks. Especially not ones concerning the trivial rest for the ‘wicked.’” The smile came back. “Even then, she didn’t like me enough to probe very deep.”

“Spare me,” the changeling growled, waving off Foresight’s ramblings. “Who then?”

Foresight shrugged. “I’ll be honest. I don’t care.” He shook his head. “I just need your help here.”

“Wow, Foresight is asking me for help!” the changeling said snarkily.

“There’s a job in this for you,” Foresight added.

“I already have a--”

“In Chrysalis’s Hive!” the walker finished.

Both changelings smiled at each other now. “Go on...”

“That one you took... The three-legged one. Get his head into your stomach. His knowledge of the Hive will get you your entry into the Hive.”

“I can’t kill him!” the changeling argued. “His fate is still undecided.”

“It is now. I believe we have an obligation.” Foresight chuckled as he stepped toward the changeling. The sky and hive began to pulsate rhythmically. “You’re torn between three groups. And I don’t think that dragoness is going to--” The rhythm cut Foresight short as the sky fell into the dreamer’s gut and pulled him into reality.

Compassion opened his eyes to a shaking Kernel.

“I had a nightmare...”

The changeling tried to shake off the weariness. “You and me both.” He crooked his head. “What was yours about?”

Kernel’s memory retrieved only that final image. “I... I saw the Oasis.” His voice shook from fear. “What about you?”

Compassion chuckled. “Lucky. I saw the dreamwalker Foresight in mine.” He glanced toward the direction of the inner sanctum. “He wants me to betray Advantage.”

“Really?” Kernel asked, almost scared to know the answer.

Compassion solemnly nodded. “He betrayed my perception of him.” Kernel crooked his head. “I mean... That's how dreams work. If you meet someone you know, they're going to behave and look exactly how you expect them to look. That's called your ‘perception’ of that person.” Compassion lowered his head. “The only exceptions are twists brought on by some underlying stress or urges.” He shook his head. “I don't want to believe that I would betray Advantage.”

Kernel scoffed. “You couldn't possibly betray her after all your services! You kept me from gnawing on that leg, heck you even arranged that whole pickup because Advantage wanted it done!”

Compassion reluctantly nodded. “Sure, I've done those twins some favors, but that doesn't mean I really belong here.” He put a hoof to Kernel. “You just stay here and get some more rest.” He got up and turned toward the inner sanctum. “I'm going to talk to Advantage and hope that my dreams can involve them a bit more.”

“Have you seen Advantage in your dreams before?”

Compassion nodded. “They're always so happy. Or killing whatever made them unhappy.”

He trotted away before Kernel could ask anything else.

Inside the inner sanctum, Advantage paced rhythmically as though waiting for something. A dragon appeared at the edge of their vision. It walked into their presence, its eyes focused on the newest member: the three-legged changeling that was still unconscious in the corner. Advantage stayed still, watching the dragon pick up the creature’s head from the floor, as though it might wake up. The dragon barely glanced at the wretcher queen but when they caught the corner of its eye, it dropped the head to the ground; the lower jaw smacked against the stone.

“Oh, Advantage!” the dragon once called Compassion said in a gasp. “You’re awake!”

“What were you doing?” Advantage asked him with their male head, trying to keep frowns from wrinkling their snouts.

“Foresight,” he explained with a trembling voice. He gulped it down. “Foresight told me he’d be able to get me into Chrysalis’s hive with this guy’s memories.” He licked his reptilian snout. “I mean, I’d have to eat him, but...”

“You would kill him to gain worth?” the female head asked.

The dragon scoffed. “No, Advantage, that’s not what I...” Their gaze stuck another gulp down his throat. “I mean... it’s a better place, isn’t it? For me, I mean...” They kept staring. “Don’t look at me like that!” He shook his head. “It’s just one changeling! No one’s gonna... no one’s gonna miss him.” He shrugged. “That’s why, I guess... I didn’t think you cared if I left.”

“A life for a life,” the male head said. Advantage stared through him.

“Look, Advantage, I guess what I’m trying to say is... Thank you.” He backed away from them, toward the unconscious victim. “I mean, he’s going back to his hive. He didn’t like it here and you know that!”

“Don’t ask what he knows...” the male head said.

The dragon let out a scared chuckle. He shed his form and looked over his fellow changeling with an appetite commanding his snout.

“Why wear a suit of armor?” the female head asked on the whim of fleeting hope.

It was wasted on him. He ignored them and bit into the changeling’s neck for a quick kill. Advantage’s horns glowed, seeking a part of him that needed rekindling. The changeling devoured the unconscious creature without a second thought, and sifted through the memories. He closed his eyes to focus.

The changeling opened his eyes to the void. A whirlwind pushed against his carapace and he turned to see two unfamiliar faces. They smiled menacingly at him. Unsettled, he didn’t see the spear coming. It impaled him through the back. An unseen hoof pulled it out, and the changeling turned into a dragon to stop the attacker. But the winds were too strong, and the flesh was ripped from his wings. The scales flew off of his body, replaced only by a cold pain. A changeling brandishing a bloody spear stood over him. It shook its head, merely watching as the winds pulled the very flesh from the dragon, until it was nothing but bones.

Then the bones turned to ash, and scattered to the whirlwind.

The changeling looked toward a figure not unlike Chrysalis in the distance. It called out to him, but the winds were too strong to make out what she was saying.

“...act of being... over... you... Compass... home... soon.”

The changeling woke up in the middle of the wasteland. His home, Chrysalis’s hive was a short walk away. Delighted, he jumped on all fours. His head hurt from the strange dream he had. He looked back to make sure he had all his limbs. For some reason, it took him a second to remember his own name.

“It was just a bad dream, Compass,” he whispered to himself. “Let’s get back to those new recruits. Those cocoons are due to hatch any moment.”