You come in the next day, dressed more for a hike in the woods than for nursing. Nick was with you. You were both going to the same place. "This'll cut down on a few things." That he was working out the budget seemed obvious enough. "Thanks."

"Not really a cost." You had to go there anyway. "They want something special out of me today."

"Like what?" He gesticulated in the air. "Special set of gum balls?"

His inability to focus on the changeling part of things was... trying at times. "Probably not that." You pull in at the parking lot and you both climb out of the car. "Maybe a field trip?"

"You're dressed for it." He goes in for a parting kiss, leaving you a little warm in the cheeks as he jogs off to work. "Have fun!"

He's vanished behind the counter to get ready for the day, while you head into the back. You flip on your Changeling Vision™️ to get through the door the right way, stepping not quite forwards into the realm of dreams of another world entirely.

"There you are." There was your boss, the viscountess. Her eyes dart to a clicking clock in the hallway. "Just on time, I like that. You ready to move?" She comes directly in for you, pausing when she gets close. "You... smell like horses."

"I took a shower!" Sheesh, you shouldn't be smelling of anything but the soap, right?

"I have a keen eye. And someone gave me a reason to be alert for horse smells." She smiles at you in a wry way. "Did I get in the way of a herd thing? Whatever, not my business. You're going with them today. You won't be doing any of the hunting yourself, not your specialty. You keep them intact and together and you did your part."

You remember your first patient, bit by... something? "Where does this hunting take place?"

"Describing it would be a challenge, but it's not on any map you've seen before." She points off. "It's past the hold itself, into the dreaming. Dangerous. Fortunately for you, I'm not sending a little cute pony in by herself to be torn apart by the local wildlife. That would be mean." She strokes her chin. "Also a bad management style. No. You'll be with trained hunters. Ideally, you'll be bored, but we're rarely that lucky."

"M'lady." The satyr, Renaldo, you had met, bitten, before was coming up with his troll friend, Jimmy. "Knowing you'll be at our side, my confidence swells."

The Viscountess suddenly swats you across the back, sending you falling to all fours with a clop. "There you are. No point even pretending to be what you aren't right now. Take care of her." She was looking at the two hunters. "If she doesn't get back here, you may as well hope you don't make the trip either." Cold words, devoid of any sense that she's playing around.

Jimmy salutes sharply. "I will see to her safety, as she sees to mine, ma'am."

The Viscountess nods. "Knew I could trust you. Alright, have a fun trip. I'd tell you where the armory is, but you don't strike me as the sort that'd get anything out of it, and they already know the way."

Renaldo does a more elequent bow than is stricly required at you. "Let us be off. Stay behind us and we'll take care of the way."

"Something jumps out, you get behind us," agreed Jimmy, hand at his blade's handle. He had one of those, worn, and ready to use.

They lead you to the back of the hold. "Now this." Renaldo gestures at the door. "This leads where few prodigals get to go. Welcome back home." He thrusts his hands against the door, which proves to be heavier than a swat allows for. He has to push like he means it to get it to slide open with the creak of a massive metal door. "Welcome..."

You all emerge into... Well, it was like being in a story book in a way. If the artist had completely taken leave of any artistic direction. Things fanciful, and dreadful, just existed there like it was their home. One supposed it was exactly that.

Jimmy shrugs as he pulls the door shut behind you all. "I would suggest horses, but how a pony would ride one... Can you?"

"I never tried before." You have only just learned to get along with your own hooves. "Am I slowing you down?"

Renaldo waves that away. "Perish the thought! You at our side bouys my heart." He sets down a trail, a wide one that winds away from the castle you were leaving. "Today, we'll hunt closer at hand. Worth it to get you up to speed, m'lady."

Jimmy leans in. "If he aggravates you, ma'am, just let me know."

"I can hear that," musically informs Renaldo, his eyes forward. "Now, we're entering dangerous places, so, much as I regret it, we should speak less and look more."

"Stop being distracted by her," came a melodious female voice. To the right, up ahead lounges three buxom ladies on pillows, batting their lashes at Renaldo. "We can give a much better time.

"Or does she want to play, too?" asks another. They weren't human ladies. Humanoid, you guess. Two arms, two legs, hands, all that, but covered in a pelt of soft fur, with ears atop their heads and tails that lead to round bottoms. "That's an option."

Jimmy draws his blade without hesitation, just the ring of metal. "We are not interested. We have come to hunt. Unless you mean to be our target, you would be well-advised to keep away."

Renaldo chuckles at the sight. "As chimeric beasts go, I'd be alright with them being of this variety..."

One, a fox lady, sneers at Renaldo. "A beast? How unkind. But if you like playing that way..." She drags a claw along the ground, leaving a furrow. "I can be a beast..."

"I don't think they're nice." Sheesh! When did he get there? Bright Spark was looking at the shapely animal ladies warily. "I don't think they want to play any fun games."

They have a dragon, a dragon lady with breasts far too large for a dragon to reasonably need. "Don't be like that. You're a cutie. Come on over and let me add you to my treasure collection."

Bright Spark ducks behind you with no interest in taking up the offer.

Renaldo sighs as he draws free a rapier. "I do not want to draw steel at such fine ladies, but this isn't the time. Last warning."

You have no idea what's going on, but a guess says that going over for hugs is probably a bad idea. Besides, you have a plus one already. "What do you actually want?" you ask with a nervous smile.

The fox inclines her head at you. "You're serious."

The dragon pokes her. "You mean that?"

"I mean that." The fox stands properly, arms crossed under her chest, lifting it in the process. "Not often someone asks what we want, and means it."

The last, a feline, purrs loud enough for everyone to hear it. "What a treat! Well, since you're asking. What I'd really like is for someone to listen to a story I've wanted to share, without wanting anything in return."

The dragon shudders, wings on her back fluttering. "Ooo, that would be nice. Most people want things from us. Or... with us, I guess is appropriate."

Is that all they want? You dare to take a step towards them. "I can listen. What sort of story?"

Renaldo moves as if to get in the way, but Jimmy thrusts out an arm, blocking him.

The fox throws an arm over each of her companions. "It's a story about all of us, and the dream we came from. Will you listen? No hugs. No kisses. Not even a touch."

"Not even a touch," you promise. They're attractive enough in their exagerated way, but you're not looking for that. "Just ears." You reach up and flick at one furry ear.

"Such large ears you have!" The feline's ears quiver in sympathy. "Good for listening. Alright. There was this boy..."

They begin to tell the story of a young man, struggling to find himself and make sense of confusing new feelings, isolation, and the animals he had invented, or found, to fill in that gap.

"We are him," announced the fox.

"At different times," adds the dragon.

"Depending on his whims," completes the cat. "Sometimes female, sometimes male. We are all him."

"And he is us," loops around the fox. "And he feared admitting it."

But they had admitted it, and they looked satisfied for doing so. So satisfied they simply stopped being, released with a gentle sigh. Left behind was a tail with a loop.

Renaldo advanced on where the ladies had been. "Huh... Sometimes a little kind act is all it takes." He takes the tail and waggles it back at you all, like a cat's tail. "And, for our trouble, a cat tail?" He pulled at the loop that was attached. "I think it's something you can wear.

Jimmy huffs at that. "Something to bring back. At least we aren't empty handed today, and without injury in exchange. Good going, ma'am."

"Are we done?" Dare it be that simple?!

Renaldo swats you on the back. "We still have most of the day ahead of us, and we've barely gone anywhere. A grand start, but hardly the end."

Most chimeric creatures are not so easily talked into ending themselves. Animals, magical critters, and other things come to threaten your... knights? Are they knights? They didn't seem to have titles, like that first knight you'd met. But they fought without complaint, mostly. Renaldo might have put it on a little thick when it was time for you to tend to him, but he waded into each battle with vigor, standing at Jimmy's side and fighting without hesitation.

He just happened to like the pony hugs that came with any injuries. A little bonus prize that made the hurts worth it.

Bright Spark remains at your side, a stalwart defender without having to be asked. "Leave her alone!" He swatted a strange rabbit with enormous teeth that had been daring to approach. The others were on it, but he'd been there to act first. "You alright?"

Bright has kept you safe from harm without a single request. "Thanks, Bright." He accepts headpats with a happy trill. "What exactly are we hunting... for? Half the things you finish with, you have nothing to show for it." Normal hunting made more sense. You killed a thing, you got a body. That body could have all kinds of uses, starting with eating it. These were not being eaten, clearly.

Jimmy sheaths his blade, resuming his hike with the rest of you. "For one, it makes this part of things safer for people who aren't hunting and just want to get past."

"For two." Renaldo slides up to your side, facing away from it though as if danger could appear at any moment. "The bits that they do surrender at times? That has a value. Probably not to you, little pony."

"Dangerous, even to us." Jimmy draws his sword free. "Dross. To use it is to court madness itself, but, desperate times..."

Renaldo advances to join Jimmy for the battle ahead. "Desperate measures. Some folk say dross should be left well alone, each a work of art. Destroying them? A tiny act of banality." The two engaged with an alligator that had too many teeth and moved far too quickly for such a thing not even in water. You have a good feeling your services will be needed.

"What about," you dare to ask as the fight goes. "When you get a body?" Sometimes that happened, a chimeric beast just slumping over and dying normally.

Jimmy kicks the beast away with a grunt. "Same deal. Dangerous, but food. I avoid it."

"Not everyone else does." Renaldo jumps back a moment before great gator teeth could chomp him, giving a chance for him to thrust his thinner blade into the eye of the creature, blood spraying. "But it's not our job to think about that."

Author's Note

Thanks for voting. A call for help was the top vote. Logical enough. No strong consensus on what sort of help is needed. Let's go!

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