--Chapter 8--
Story Of A Joiner
Abuyin led Falcon, Shaw and the Elements through the hospital hallways. “Have something happened? What did he said?” Twilight begun to question the taller mare.
“All he said was that he wants to talk with you all, and specifically said not to tell Princess Celestia. We haven’t noticed anything odd about him so far, but he haven’t said a word to anyone since then.” She replied.
Twilight seemed very eager to question the changeling, while Applejack looked to be deep in thought for some reason. Falcon was also planning on questioning the changeling, but not in the same way Twilight did. He intended to find out more about the invasion and the reason for him turning sides. The rest of the group wasn't as interested in the meeting, but they were still quite exited (especially Pinkie, but it’s nothing surprising).
Knowing their way around the hospital, they quickly reached the right room. Abuyin opened the door and they all slowly entered. Upon seeing them, the doctor who was standing next to the changeling walked out. The changeling in question looked almost the same way he did before. He was still covered with dark-orange fur and chitin plates on his back and shoulders, his mane and tail were still light red. The only difference was that his eyes turned back into blue empty orbs, though for some reason they seemed more alive.
"I am glad you have come." He stated the moment they came in.
"Hello, I am Twilight Sparkle-"
"Princess Celestia's pupil, The bearer of The Element of Magic and a librarian. Yes I know who you are. I know who all of you are. Except for you two of course." He pointed at the clones.
"I am Commander Falcon. My friend here is Sergeant Shaw" Falcon stated. "And who are you?"
For a moment he remained silent. "That is not important right now. I have called for you to give you a warning.” This got everyone’s attention. “Two months ago my Hive has sent me to infiltrate the Hive that attacked you two days ago. As a Joiner I was able to take place of one of drones and spy on Chrysalis.”
“What’s a ‘Joiner’?” Twilight asked.
“Joiners are non-changelings accepted into the Kind. Long term exposure to our pheromones connects the mind of a Joiner to the Hive, and causes multiple modifications to the body. Including the ability to shape shift.”
“Is this why you look like that? You are a pony that lives among changelings?” He nodded. “How does that work? And for that matter how many ponies are Joiners like you? How have you become a Joiner?”
Shaw decided to stop Twilight from questioning the Joiner, at least for now. “He will answer later, now tell us about that danger you want to warn us about.”
The Joiner nodded again. “Chrysalis will not give up that easily.” He said. “She has put too much effort into this to simply accept defeat. You can expect her to keep attacking until either she dies, or Equestria falls.”
Falcon nodded at that and immediately begun to think. This was yet another reason why those ponies need help and if he won’t do anything, they might as well give up. And after what he saw during Chrysalis’ first attack, he doubted she would stop at just taking over Equestria. “You called Chrysalis ‘traitor’, why?” Falcon asked.
“She killed all of the Joiners in her Hive, and proceeded to kill Joiners in other Hives.” He answered simply. “For the Kind, those who are willing to join are treated as equals of any other changeling. We are all part of the Hive, we are all equals, and we all feel the rest. When Chrysalis took over her Hive, she betrayed all that the Hive should be, and when she attacked other Hives, she betrayed the Kind itself.”
“I see. Should we expect help in fighting Chrysalis when she comes back? Because as you might have noticed, Equestrian military isn’t among the best in the world.”
He stayed silent for the moment. “Yes. The hive agreed to help.” He answered after a while.
“That’s good, but tell me, are Joiners forced to join, or do they join on their own?” Twilight asked.
“It is rare that a Joiner becomes part of the Kind, we usually stay hidden from the other Kinds, but sometimes we are discovered by travelers and ponies from towns nearby the Hives. We live in peace with those towns, and sometimes ponies decide to join. We never force the Joining. It is a beautiful thing, but when forced it can be the opposite. Though in my case, it was different.”
“Different how?”
He spent another moment in silence. “It was twelve years ago, when me and my wife were on our way to the town of Baltimare…”
The wooden cart moved across the empty road, pulled by two ponies in front of it. A orange furred stallion with red mane tied in a small ponytail, and a mare who's fur was deep red and her mane long and deep blond. The two walked leaning against each other, with mare's head pressed against stallion's neck. "Can't we go any faster?" The mare asked.
"We would be there already if you didn't want to stop for a 'rest'." He replied smiling, following his answer with a kiss on mare's forehead. "Not that I'm complaining or anything..."
"Hmmmm..." She purred as she rubbed her head against stallion's neck. "Let's get this delivery done fast, Ah wanna go back to kids."
"You know you could have just leave this delivery to me, right?"
"Ah may be pregnant, but Ah'm not invalid, you know." She smiled as she planted a kiss on stallion's cheek. "Besides, somepony had to keep you company, you get grouchy when you're alone."
He smiled as he returned the kiss. "Okay then, we'll get this done as fast as we can and in few days we'll be back home." The two doubled their speed as they walked forward. The path led them to the sea line, where they walked on the road next to the cliff.
They could see their target appearing before them. The town of Baltimare. Some say it's the most magnificent place in Equestria, others say it's the worst place to live. The pair pushing the card knew only one for sure. It wasn't their home, and they wanted to get this delivery done as fast as they could. "We're almost there. Come on, let's go!"The mare smiled and increased her pace.
Stallion did the same and they continued to walk on the road with big smiles on their faces. But not everything was going to go as smooth as either of them thought...
"...the cliff begun to slide off when we were passing. We ended up falling along with the cart. The cliff wasn't very high, but the bottom was filled with hard rocks and when we fell, we got broken up badly. We tried to call for help, but nopony came. We passed out from exhaustion and wounds... and the next thing I remember was waking up in the Hive..."
The stallion's head felt like it was being treated with a jackhammer as he begun to open his eyes. He suddenly became aware of some liquid filling his lungs, but he felt no need to push it out of his system.
His eyes opened wider and he realized that he was within some kind of cocoon, but he couldn't get out. The cocoon was filled with some green liquid that made it hard to see through, but he was able to move his body a bit.
He immediately felt that something was wrong. It felt like something hard was attached to his back and legs, he also noticed that when he tried to move his back, something else moved as well, something that felt like wings. His head felt strange too, not only did he have something stickling out of his forehead, but his eyes were different too. It might have been the green liquid from the cocoon, but it seemed like he was looking through a crystal goggles.
Suddenly, he felt something pulling him out of the cocoon. The moment he was pulled out he begun to cough violently, coughing the liquid out of his lungs and stomach. "Don't worry, you are safe now." A voice came from seemingly nowhere. He didn't hear it, it was almost as if it was coming straight from his head. What was strange about it, was that it didn't sound like just one voice. It sounded as if hundreds of voices spoke in union.
“W-where are you?” He said, but his voice sounded different.
"We are the Hive. We found you and your love dying on the shore two months ago, and brought you here to heal you. However…”
“…However, I was changed. The healing process has partially turned me into a Joiner. I am not as strongly connected to the Hive –that’s why I was able to infiltrate Chrysalis’ hive- but I am still a Joiner, a part of the Kind. My wife has met the same fate, but she is still asleep since the accident.”
“What about the child? The one your wife was carrying.” Abuyin asked.
“She is alright. She is living within the Hive, but she is not a Joiner. The Hive decided to give her time to make a decision on her own.”
“That’s good, but there are more questions I have. How-“ Twilight didn’t finish her question, as she suddenly became aware of light sobbing coming from the back of the room. She turned around, everyone else in the room doing the same. Almost everyone, as the one who was sobbing was Applejack. The farmer had her eyes closed and her face was down. “A-Applejack? Is everything alright?”
For a moment she said nothing, but soon enough she opened her eyes and looked at the Joiner in front of her” W-what… what was in that cart?” She said, tears still pouring from her eyes.
The joiner also stayed silent for a moment. “Apples. Golden Delicious.” He answered simply.
That answer made Applejack tears to return tenfold. “D-dad?”