Wretched Hive 3: The Gray Pony

The changeling opened his eyes to the familiar darkness of the hive interior. He shook subtly on his rock-like bed, unsure what the chain of dreams he just had could be trying to convey. Kernel... Carnal shook his head out of the stupor and tried to get a grip on reality. Large hooves stamped around in the darkness beyond him. He trudged through the dark to find the source. Advantage paced in the dark before, as if sensing his weariness, turning toward him.

“Carnal? You’re awake?” the male head asked him.

Carnal breathed a sigh of relief. “I sure hope so.” He shook more of the creeping feeling off. “I had one heck of a nightmare...”

“A nightmare?” the female head chuckled. “Seriously?”
“That’s impossible!” the male head laughed.

Carnal looked between them, the faces of Advantage stayed in sync with one another in a skeptical stance. “It was a terrifying nightmare with shadows, and monsters, and Bubbles was there... that unicorn was there... Foresight was there...”

“Foresight was in there?!” Advantage interrupted with a growling, male head.

“He’s a dreamwalker, Carnal,” the other head added.

“It would explain it.”

Carnal looked between them again. “And... umm... what is a ‘dreamwalker’ again?”

Advantage gave him patient smiles. “He can traverse dreams.”
“And even change their meanings!”
“Almost brainwashing.”

“So he just decided to step into my dream to give me a nightmare? Why? I thought he was our friend?”

Advantage’s patience stretched their cheeks a bit more. “Yes, he is our friend.”
“But we have become distanced.”
“By more than mere feet. He might not like you.”
“At least, not what you've become."
"He has some issues."

The changeling looked around the cave. "So should I be worried? Because that nightmare was really intense..."

“Don’t worry yourself,” Advantage said.
“Help will come with compassion.”
“Go find compassion.”

Turned away by a waving hoof, Carnal turned and trotted out of their end of the cave. He trotted past the beds and toward the dim light and the edge of the caves. Maybe if he could get some sunlight, he could feel better about all of these nightmares.

A shadow stirred in the distance, moving toward the changeling. The familiar sound of wings flapping shook his spine. Soon it loomed over Carnal.

“Did they call for compassion?” a deep voice roared.

The changeling was snout to snout with a dragon. The realization scared his words back into his chest.

“Did they say compassion?” the maw repeated.

With his shaky snout sealed, Carnal nodded his head.

“Why?” it growled. Smoke gently rose from the reptile’s nose. It glared at the shaking mass. “Well?!”

“I've been having nightmares,” Carnal meekly admitted, raising a shaky hoof in an attempt to gesture toward himself.

A claw reached toward him. The changeling hid behind his front hooves. Nothing happened.

“What's your name?” the dragon asked.

The hooves lowered, revealing the suspended claw beckoning him. The changeling smiled shyly as he put his hoof into the claw.

“I'm... Carnal.”

“Kernel, huh?” the dragon asked as it gently shook his hoof. It smiled as Kernel weakly nodded, too fearful to correct it. “They call me Compassion.”

The changeling looked up with wider eyes. The claw pulled its new friend back toward the light. In the light of day, a slender, brown dragon at a teenage height stood before him. It looked over the changeling with its yellow eyes.

“So... Nightmares, huh?”

The changeling looked over the dragon with its blue eyes. “You supposed to be some kind of expert on them?”

The dragon shrugged. “You could say that. Nightmares are just your minds way of getting back on the path of destiny, usually.” Compassion smiled. “Just gotta figure out who you are and it'll sort itself out!” He crooked his head toward the changeling.

Kernel blinked twice. “Oh... I'm honestly not sure...” He rubbed the back of his neck. “I haven't really been myself for...”

The dragon shook his claws at him. “Don't worry about that. Tell me about what your dreams were about.”

Kernel took a step back. “Could you... Not use such a scary voice?”

“Dragon in your dream?”

“Yep.”

“Got it.”

With a flash of green, a fellow changeling now stood before Kernel. “Better?” he chirped.

Kernel nodded happily.

“Good.” He turned and trotted out into the hot sun. “C’mon, we’ll talk on the way.”

“The way where?”

Compassion glanced back at him. “Did you dream about Chrysalis’s hive?”

“No...”

He smiled and pranced into the dust. “Good. Come on, then. You want me to help you, then you're going to help me!”

Kernel galloped from the comforts of the cave to catch up to the changeling. “What exactly are we doing?”

Compassion didn't slow down as he explained. “The Oasis’s job... Since, you know, she kinda lost it and destroyed all the food stores.” He turned his head toward the shaking changeling. “You dream of her?”

Kernel shyly nodded. “She was the dragon at first then a weird creature later. There was lots of blood and she said something about being whatever she wanted.”

“She said that to you?”

Kernel shook his head. “Chrysalis, I think. It looked kinda like that queen but made creepy screeching noises.”

“Do you remember where that happened?” Compassion’s happy snout drooped lower with each question.

“It was outside somewhere...” He shook his head. “I can't remember.”

“Then we'll sleep together tonight. In the morning, you can tell me everything you dreamt of.” Compassion put a hoof up to the happy changeling. “But you still have to help me today.”

Looking up from his hooves, Kernel realized they had trotted across the wasteland to Chrysalis's hive. They could hear yelling at the top, where the entrance was fiercely guarded. Overlapping voices kept the two wretchers from understanding any of the commotion.

“My leg!” a single, changeling voice screamed out above. Something fell from the spire as the voices reignited.

Compassion reached out and caught the changeling leg that had been “dropped.” Then his horn caught the rest of the screaming changeling.

The changeling flailed wildly beneath the green, glowing net. “Knock him out while I've got him, Kernel... Quick!”

Kernel shook and looked desperately around for a rock. Compassion sighed and tossed him the leg.

“Never mind...” With a swing of Compassion’s head, the snared changeling flew headfirst into the side of the spire, silencing its cries.

“Good enough for one day,” Compassion said with a smile. “Let's get home.”

“Yeah!” Foresight’s voice cried out, unseen, from above. “Who else wants some?! I'm still out here!”

“C’mon, Kernel,” Compassion prodded. “Let's go!”