Emotivores · 4:08am Jun 5th, 2017
First off, I gotta see if there's a group just for the emotivores in Equestria, since there are apparently four freaking species of them.
Second, I'm just thinking about how the dynamic between all of them might have been when they were in Equestria at the same time. I mean, the Changelings clearly weren't originally in Equestria (since Chrysalis has traveled far and wide to find the place), so they must have traveled there. The Windigos must have had a place to stay before descending upon the place, so they were likely in the mountains since they cause cold. The Sirens most likely came from the sea (because where the fuck else would they come from?). The Umbrum... I have no damn clue, maybe they were the ones to originate in Equestria.
Anyway, It's just interesting thinking about how all of them might have established territory in Equestria at one point. Like, the Umbrum choose the area where the Crystal Empire would soon come to be. Chrysalis I can see choosing the Ponyville area. The Sirens would no doubt prefer the areas around Canterlot and, since the Windigos also feed off of hatred and animosity, I can imagine Adagio employing them as servants or slaves to do some of her bidding in return for the Dazzlings increasing their food supply.
Of course, things turn a bit interesting considering Changelings effectively drain completely those they feed from while there's no indication of any of the other species doing the same. (side note: why the fuck do the changelings do that? their food source is likely to diminish even faster because of that. That's just a stupid thing to include that I might just veto in every changeling story I write because it's fucking stupid.) So, Chrysalis would no doubt try leading an attack on the other territories in order to gain access to more food supply.
Unfortunately, she and Adagio going head-to-head while Adagio has her magic is a bad idea considering Changelings might have heightened immunity to the Sirens' songs thanks to their feeding habits, but not complete immunity. Adagio, I imagine, would banish the Changelings for as long as she pleases simply for Chrysalis attempting to defy her. However, because of Chrysalis' cunning nature, she has drones set up in Equestria that report on everything happening with the Sirens and would report to her when the Dazzlings eventually get banished.
I just kinda wonder about an underground political split of Equestria that the Princesses and Star Swirl had yet to find out about.
I may or may not have another story in the planning stages...
The key distinction between sirens and changelings in that context is that sirens feed on discord to power their magic, while changelings feed on love to sustain them as actual food.
So the changelings’ feeding process drains a target because it’s literally absorbing their energy as a resource. Food is a pretty concrete thing, it can’t just come from a bottomless supply somewhere. Whereas magical energy to fuel a magical voice is a bit more nebulous, so there’s a bit more wiggle room.
If the sirens also took their food from the negative energy they absorbed (which some people take as their headcanon - The Friend I Couldn’t Be being a great example - but I think the implication from what Twilight says in Rainbow Rocks is that it’s for magical voice power only) then I imagine that would leave targets drained too. And I suspect that if changeling love absorption was just to fuel changeling magic, it wouldn’t drain the target either.
4562048 But a lot of food sources are replenishable with a bit of time. How OFTEN do the changelings need to feed that they can't wait for the love to build back up? Love, as an emotion, is bottomless. It just stays there (unless real life happens in which fights and breakups and shit goes down). Feeding the way they do, they'd drain every pony in equestria and be without a vital food source. A vital food source that Chrysalis herself said was most plentiful in this one place. It just doesn't make sense.
4562276 I always got the impression that love levels did build back up, over time, according to changeling physiology.
I would suggest that the effect one feels if being fed upon by a changeling is akin to that ‘real life happening’ - so one feeding session would be the equivalent of losing, say, the same amount of love you would over the course of one screaming argument with someone. It should replenish with time (and, ponies generally being nice, I think it would recharge quicker with them than with humans or other FIM species, and I think that ties into what Chrysalis means about Equestria holding so much love).
That’s the way I always saw it, and I think that fits with Shining Armor being practically a zombie standing at the altar, from having a lot of his passion drained several times in a row, but it’s ultimately extrapolation of what we know into headcanon, so it’s not right or wrong. I think it’s a good fit with the facts, but that’s me.
4562327 Okay. That... makes a little more sense actually. I was just remembering how Chrysalis said Shining Armor was growing weaker, making love an energy source for ponies somehow. It just didn't sit right at the time. I've got a few headcanons that might help, but I'll have to rewatch To Where and Back Again to make sure I'm not missing something.
4562341 I think A Canterlot Wedding makes the changelings sound a lot more reasonable, where To Where And Back Again did whatever it wanted to turn Chryssi into a one-note villain to be stopped
4562396 Guh, the amount of anger I felt the first time watching To Where and Back Again... The episode was fine, don’t get me wrong. If Chrysalis is there, it’s always a good time. It’s just... I feel like Chrysalis wouldn’t have sold Starlight so short, you know? We’re talking about the Queen that managed to infiltrate Canterlot, fell Celestia, drive Twilight Sparkle into a rage and very nearly succeeded in her plans. I don’t think she would have missed how close Starlight was to Twilight and therefore how important she was. (I also have the smallest nitpick about how Chrysalis’ voice changed, but that’s just me being a pouty baby.)
4562502 Yeah, no one liked her new voice, the guys in charge said it was done so she was a bit easier to understand.
I agree about her selling Starlight unrealistically short, especially given how powerful a magic user she’s shown to be again and again.
It was a good episode until the last ten or fifteen minutes, I’d say, when everything broke
But then you’ve read my thoughts on it in story form, so 
4564121
Easier to understand for who? Most of us could understand her just fine! She sounded scary! Alright, I’m pouting, so I’ll just drop it. When I begin my fanfiction readings, I’m adding the dual-tone back though. It made her sound scary and it was awesome.
Look... the last ten or fifteen minutes... I saw someone comment about some kind of OC generator? I don’t know what that is, but if it’s what created the new look, they need to throw it away.