Wretched Hive 3: The Gray Pony

The changeling lifted his eyes to the moon on the horizon. Still trotting back home, Kernel turned to his companion, the prisoner lying motionless on his back. An emptiness shook his stomach. He turned from the body and looked at the leg balanced on his own back.

“You know the rules, Kernel,” Compassion growled. “Keep your fangs to yourself until our new friend wakes up.”

“But he’s probably already given the leg up for lost...”

Compassion glared at him. “Fine. But Advantage will know where to look for a replacement if he hasn’t.”

Kernel sighed in defeat. He looked back toward the wretched hive to find a couple wretchers waiting for them.

“Compassion!” one of them shouted to the passing changelings. “The Perfect One’s been calling for you all day!”

“I’m on duty today!” he called back, shrugging a gesture toward the prisoner. “They were the ones to assign it anyways.” He waved a hoof toward Kernel. “And this guy is the only one to help with that, so... tough luck guys!” He chuckled, only for the pair of wretchers blocking their path.

“We’re all having nightmares, Compassion!” one said, snarling.

“Get out of my way,” he commanded. “Don’t make me bring a nightmare to life!” He exhaled through his nose, created a couple pillars of smoke.

“You don’t understand!” the other one said, stepping between the two. “It’s the Oasis. We’re all having nightmares about the Oasis.”

“Didn’t the Oasis get destroyed?” Kernel asked the two rather twitchy wretchers.

“The drooling part didn’t!” It shuddered at the word. “The drooler appeared in all of our nightmares!”

Compassion laughed. “Well, duh! We were all swallowed by that thing, remember?” He shook his head at the two wretchers. “You’re going to have nightmares for a few days.” He shrugged. “It’s just the way things have to be for a while.”

“Didn’t you dream about that monster?” the shaking wretcher asked him.

“Well, yeah...” Compassion shrugged off. “It was just the waking world seeping in. Don't take it so personally!”

“Well...” the one started as its companion trotted away. “Advantage is still calling for you. Whether or not you think it’s important, it’s important to them.”

“I understand,” Compassion replied calmly. The wretcher nodded back and went on its way.

The two changelings trotted to the inner sanctum of the hive, where Advantage paced rhythmically. The two-headed wretcher greeted them with smiles. Compassion placed the unconscious changeling down, then nudged Kernel to drop the leg.

“His head is scratched here,” the male head noticed.

Compassion shrugged. “Yeah, we can talk about how we miss Dredge another time.”

“Dredge?” Kernel asked.

“He left with Foresight. But when he was here, he could render any changeling unconscious without hurting them.”

Kernel nodded and understanding as the two turned back toward Advantage. A large hoof prodded the fallen changeling, then a glowing horn lifted it up onto its three remaining legs.

It was still unconscious.

Advantage shook it a little with its aura. The hooves began to tremble. The head moved on its own as the glow disappeared around it. The changeling opened its eyes to the sight of the two-headed creature before it.

Extra limbs twitched at the sides of the monster. Extra wings withered and shook from a draft. And it couldn’t feel its hind leg anymore. It looked back, only to find it was missing. It slowly faced the abomination again.

Advantage smiled.

The changeling shook subtly.

“You seem to have hit your head...” the female head screeched in a twisted form of Chrysalis’s beautiful voice.

It reached a hoof out to him.

The changeling fainted.

“I think you hit him too hard back there, Compassion,” Kernel said.

Compassion chuckled. “Maybe.”

The male head of Advantage shined its horn upon the, once again, unconscious changeling. “This one’s full of fear.”

“What else is new?”

Advantage’s brows furrowed at his tone.

He smiled. “What?”

“You’re not helping here.” Both heads looked to Kernel and back.
“Did you translate his dreams yet?”

“He hasn’t,” Kernel said.

“Then leave us alone.”

Compassion let out an irritated sigh, then prodded Kernel. “Come on, let’s get ready for bed.” He turned and trotted back into the darkness of the hive.

“Isn’t it a bit soon?” Kernel asked him as he caught up.

“Well, you don’t remember anything about your old dreams, so you’re gonna need to make some new ones.”

“I do too remember things about my nightmare!” the changeling corrected, galloping past Compassion and blocking the way. “You never told me what seeing a dragon in my dream meant!”

Compassion sighed. “All right. Fair enough.” He cleared his throat. “A dragon in your dream is either a literal dragon, or exemplifies passion... particularly passion that’s fiery and lacking in all forms of self-control. The kind of scales that make someone say ‘I can do whatever I want!’”

“Woah...” More memories sparked curiosities inside Kernel’s head. “And what if it’s pink?”

“Do you like pink?” Compassion asked.

Kernel rubbed his chin. “Should I?”

Compassion shrugged. “Well, assuming you do, it represents either the wide array of emotions that normal changelings devour... or an inherent weakness. But I guess that’s more of a pony thing.”

“So it was like a passion for passion.” The changeling smiled as the pieces came together. “What’s up with the library I saw it in?”

“A library?” the translator asked, almost shocked. “Well, libraries usually represent your knowledge. Like... All of it.”

Kernel looked over the pieces and found no connection. “Really?”

“Like I said, sometimes it’s just literal. Maybe it was an actual library.”

“It had infinite floors. The dragon was on the fifth one...”

This notion confused Compassion for a moment. He shook himself out of it. “Did you count the floors? To get to the fifth, I mean...”

Kernel shook his head. “There was a sign near the stairs.” His head began to hurt. “Was it just ‘5’ or ‘05?’” he wondered aloud.

“Doesn’t really matter,” Compassion said. “I don’t do numbers. And in an instance like this the sign’s probably literal.” He shrugged. “You’re best bet is to go to sleep and hope you see something again.”

Kernel nodded and trotted toward his bed. Then something made him glance back at the changeling. “What if it was gray?”

“Probably literal.”

“But... What if I see a complete stranger?”

“There’s no such thing in dreams, Carnal. Every snout is pulled from your library!” Compassion laughed. “What?” he asked the silent changeling. “Don’t you think that’s cool?”

Kernel shook his head and tried to get some rest.