The Brainwashing of My Father · 7:23am Jul 15th, 2023
My name is Zanzil. I am a Changeling. This is as much my story as it is the story of my father, a proud member of the Changeling race, and a hero of Equestria. His name was Dorsa, and he was bigger than life itself. Even now, I can remember him looking down upon me as a mere spawn and smiling as he told me about my people and our history.
“Remember, son, all that we have suffered at the hands of ponies. Remember that they may bask in the light, surrounded by love, and we who starve for it may have none.”
From that tender, young age I was taught what it meant to be a Changeling - what it meant to be one of the outcast, the hidden, the shadows of the ponies of Equestria. His angular, black jaw could almost cut as he spoke words from it. Yet his words, like nourishment, fed me and provided sustenance.
A Changeling must never forget that he is an outcast, and a victim of those who spend their lives in the light of love. A Changeling must always remember the ponies are never sinless in the oppression of our kind. A changeling must always take what he is owed by the filthy, love-drugged ones who gave us nothing but contempt, isolation, and death. A Changeling must always deceive, for it is our very nature, and take what should have been rightfully ours from those accused souls who know nothing of suffering and hardship.
A Changeling must never become attached to his prey.
A proud member of the Black Guard within the Order of Ismara, my father was a Changeling soldier of the most elite order. He had been hoof-chosen by the Black Queen herself to serve as a commander on the front lines of the upcoming invasion of Canterlot. I, too, was a member of the Changeling Martial Forces, just as he had been before me. I considered it an honor to serve my kind and bring about the end of pony superiority, ushering in the Age of Changelings.
“This is it, boy!” he shouted, gripping his spear and smashing the butt against the stone beneath his hooves. “This shall be our most glorious moment! We will storm the pony capitol and take from them everything they have stolen from us! All of their wealth, power, and love will be ours!”
He had just been visited by the Queen herself, a beautiful Changeling who had worked tirelessly for years to infiltrate the pony royalty and find the perfect moment for our uprising.
“I want you there at the spear tip of the invasion, Dorsa! The foolish ponies will be so distracted by all of the pomp and circumstance that they will never see your forces amassing at their borders! I will take the pony prince, Shining Armor, as my husband, and strike down the accursed Elements of Harmony in a single stroke! Your division will be my first wave, striking down any feeble resistance these soft creatures dare to offer!”
My father looked elated. His eyes glowed as I had never seen them as the Queen laid bare her plans before him. He was practically drooling at the thought of all the carnage and collection of love energy he would be in command of.
“Queen Chrysalis, it will be my honor, no, my duty to do this! As you command, your loyal servant will do,” he said, his eyes narrowing and locking with hers. “The bastards have it coming, and I will give them all they so rightly deserve.”
Queen Chrysalis turned her gaze to me but for a moment, sizing me up. “Your son?” she asked, turning back to my father.
“Aye, and a mighty warrior both with the spear and with the dark arts!” he praised me. “The child will be a fine addition to your forces, I assure you. His ability to move unseen and break free from any trap or hold is beyond any I have trained in the forces. He is truly a Changeling to be reckoned with.”
She glanced at me again and seemed to chuckle slightly, nearly smiling. “Dark arts, you say? My own daughter is a savant, herself. They will both do well in holding onto what we take in the coming months. I want him to report to Vitra immediately.”
This was my first introduction to Princess Vitra. This was the single moment that set in motion the next stage of my life. My father had taught me all he believed, and I held these beliefs to be true.
I never imagined my beliefs would be shattered. Even if I had, I never would have imagined the very princess whom I was assigned to protect would be shattering them, let alone a bubbly, laughing pink pony!
It lives!
Looking forward to seeing the continuation of one of my favorite stories on this site. I was afraid to read more of it due to how long it had sat without an update, but it's good to see you're still hammering away at it.
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Thanks, I hope to be back at it, I am feeling inspired lately and I miss the story. This little piece is something I wrote over a year ago when I watched the documentary of the same name as this blog's title. It made me laugh because when you think about it, the changelings stormed the capitol under false pretenses, at least a lot of them in my fic did, while the ones truly behind the invasion had ulterior motives. I was like HMM that sounds familiar, and I would love to have a father character on the changeling side who starts out as a normal and well-adjusted guy and ends up being a willing front line participant. So I hope to go into details about Zanzil and Dorsa, and show that Dorsa was more peaceful at first. It's a lot more interesting than my original plan of just making a militaristic family.
One of the great things about having ideas for a story and writing and releasing as you go is you can tweak things as you go, as well.
Whoa. This is an unexpected, but welcome, resurfacing!