How to train your hoglin

Travel

Techno walked through the nether, Phil on his back. Philza was sharpening his longsword.
Techno spotted a soulsand valley. This would be a pain. He snorted, and Phil looked up.
"Oh well that's great. Soulsand. My favorite thing." He sighed. "Well, it will take too long to go around. We need to go through. Alright, big guy?"
Techno nodded, but he wasn't so sure. He'd seen hoglins get stuck in soulsand. They got stuck, and then they became easy prey for a wandering ghast. Techno was much larger than those hoglins, but he would still prefer to avoid becoming ghast food.
In between them and the valley was another lava lake. Techno backed up and galloped as fast as he could. Phil yelped and grabbed onto his fur.
Techno leaped into the air and soared across the gap, landing on the other side, sprawling over. He groaned and stood up slowly.
"Um..a warning next time?" Phil asked.
Techno snorted, laughing inwardly.
"It's not funny." Phil protested.
Techno shook his head and turned to look at the soulsand valley. He gingerly put a hoof on the sand and started across.
The sand sucked and pulled at his hooves, slowing him down. He trudged through the sand, wishing with every bone in his body that he still had his soulspeed boots.
Phil stood up carefully on his back and beat his feathery wings, floating into the air.
"I'll make sure nothing attacks you." He said, flapping away.
Techno sighed. He didn't want Phil to get into danger without him. Of course he knew Phil could take care of himself, but he didn't want a baby zombie creeping up behind his old friend.

I've been talking to a hoglin for the past couple days. I must really be going crazy.
The hoglin seemed like it understood Philza. Whenever he wanted to do a quick scout around, it continued on it's way, albeit a little more slowly. It waited for him, it followed his instructions, and sometimes, when he asked it a question, he could swear it nodded or shook its head.
It was unlike any other hoglin he'd ever seen or heard of. And for some reason, it was friendly.
It also ate everything. Philza had thought that he'd gathered plenty of mushrooms, but they ran out quickly. So it started eating any plants it could find, and snatching at Phil's bread, carrots, steak, potatoes, even rotten flesh. And it didn't seem like there were any bad side effects.
Philza circled around, scanning for anything dangerous. Nothing he could see nearby, but was that a fortress in the distance? Phil didn't remember any fortresses on the way to the Arctic.
A little ways away was the end of the soulsand valley. Finally.
He flew back towards the hoglin.
He heard grunts and roars. Oh no.
Skeletons surrounded his new friend shooting arrows into its leathery skin. Philza dove, drawing his sword.
The hoglin smashed a skeleton into pieces with his head as Philza landed on another, driving his sword through its skull.
Together, they made quick work of the skeletons, although the hoglin was quickly covered in arrows.
"I need to get those out." Phil told the giant boar, who promptly shook it's head and started forwards again.
"You want to get out of the valley first? I guess that makes sense. It ends pretty soon, but those arrows will hurt."
The piglins grunted and continued.
"Alright, but once we're out, I need to remove those arrows."

The hoglin was surprisingly good. Once they were back in a crimson forest, it lay down and looked expectantly at Phil.
"I'm sorry, but this might hurt." Philza said regretfully.
He pulled the first arrow out. The hoglin didn't make a peep. Soon, the hoglin was arrow free.
"Well, thanks for not impaling me or anything." Phil said. "I suppose we should get some rest."
He laid back against the hoglin's side, stretching his wings and dumping a pile of assorted food in front of the giant pig.
It snorted and dug in, gobbling up the food.
"You remind me of Techno." Phil laughed. "Don't forget to breathe."
The hoglin huffed in laughter.
The furry beast shifted, feathery tail flicking Phil's hat off his head.
"Hey!" Phil yelped.
He scrambled over and put his hat back on his head.
The furry tail danced back and forth.
"No, no, don't you dare." Philza said sternly.
He grabbed onto his hat just in time to stop the tail from whisking it off his head.
"Stop!" Phil protested. "We're supposed to be resting."
The hoglin whuffed and snorted in laughter.
"Oh, shut up." Phil laughed good naturedly.
The hoglin snorted and returned to it's food.
Philza tipped his hat over his eyes and snuggled into the beast's fur, quickly falling asleep. As long as the hoglin was there, he knew the monsters of the nether couldn't hurt him. Well, aside from the one he was using as a pillow.

The hoglin stared at him, dark eyes glinting in the light. It opened its mouth, baring tusks and teeth, and spoke. "Philza. We need to get to the Arctic."
"No, we need to find Techno." Philza told it. "He could be in danger."
The hoglin shook its head. Philza reached out to pat its snout, but the moment his hand touched its fur, it lunged forwards, jaws open, about to clamp its teeth down on his neck.
Philza startled awake. He shook his head weakly and turned to look at his new companion. The hoglin was awake, snuffling through the plants nearby.
It raised its head and looked at him, somehow appearing concerned.
"It's nothing, fella. Just a bad dream."
The hoglin snorted and stood up, before bending one leg, offering for Philza to climb into its back.
Philza hesitated for a moment, remembering the sharp teeth of the monster in his dreams, before climbing on. This hoglin wouldn't hurt him... right?