//------------------------------// // Information // Story: A Change of Scenery // by CrowR //------------------------------//         After the rather awkward introduction, Lavion and ZAM told each other about their respective homes. ZAM mostly told about basic facts about humans and how their ingenuity shaped their advancements, while Lavion told about the different pony races and how they lived in harmony. Needless to say, they were both fascinated by this information! It was like reading a book on a culture long since forgotten. Things went well until the human decided to ask a question. “So,what are changelings like?”, he asked out of curiosity,”You didn’t really say much about them when talking about the pony races.” The smaller being hesitated for a moment, considering his options before answering, ”Changelings are...different from ponies-in more ways than one.” The human raised an eyebrow, ”I’m guessing they don’t have the best reputation.” “Yeah...in fact,you could say we’re the complete opposite of normal ponies.”, he sighed before continuing, ”While they have different special talents,changelings are born with the goal of serving our queen,Chrysalis.We all live to serve her,she provides for us.We feed upon love and use it to strengthen ourselves.We take the form of other ponies to drain it from the ones who care about them.I used to be that way,but I broke away from the hive to find a better way of living.” ZAM didn’t know what to say. So much information was just thrown at him in that moment, and it made him think more about changelings. It  was obvious that they were evil, as feeding on love would be questionable. Adding to that was Lavion’s affirmation of his species having a bad reputation. What made him think the most was the mentality that was described: all changelings were born to serve their queen. A way to describe it would be a civilization of people praying to a god for guidance. While not exactly a good analogy, it was good enough for the information given to him. “Wow…”, the human said after gathering his thoughts, “that’s...a lot to take in.What happened before you ended up here?” “I managed to get to a town called Ponyville,it’s close to the capital of Equestria.Unfortunately,I was spotted by a few guards and they attacked me.The last thing I remember is defending myself against a magic blast and blacking out.” The human nodded in understanding, “Well,I don’t think there’s a way for you to get back to Equestria from here.Humans only know so much about the world,and dimensional travel isn’t in that book.” “It’s alright.The chances of a changeling fitting in with pony society were rather slim to begin with, seeing as we invaded a royal wedding.”, Lavion said chuckling slightly. ZAM chuckled as well, “You’re welcome to stay here if you’d like.Humans aren’t the friendliest of creatures.They tend to go with the mentality of ‘take things apart and find out what makes them tick’-and it sometimes applies to living things as well.” The changeling shuddered involuntarily at that, knowing firsthand that some beings aren’t as friendly as others. At least ponies were lenient and would most likely take him prisoner, but even so he didn’t like that idea. With ZAM’s statement, though, he briefly thought about staying back and letting himself get caught in Equestria. It would be preferred as opposed to being most-definitely killed and studied. His thoughts were broken by a very audible growl from his midsection, making him look away out of embarrassment. ZAM just smiled, “You said changelings feed on love, but do you eat anything else?” “Not that I know of...love is a really strong magic in Equestria,so it’s a primary food source for changelings.” The human nodded with a thoughtful expression, ”Since you’re an insect,I’d assume you have a wide range of foods.Then again,you mostly feed on love based on what you told me.Hmm…how about a salad?” “Sure.”         Moonlight glowed through the windows of the large room, the only other source of light being small candles burning at the throne. Three equine figures bowed at the bottom of it, a pair of blue eyes scanning a parchment floating in a dark blue glow. After a while, the parchment was set aside and the eyes looked to the three in slight disappointment. “You say it disappeared when you tried attacking?”, an authoritative voice inquired. “Yes, when it tried deflecting my blast, it disappeared in a flash of light.”,a voice answered. “I see...we will have to launch an investigation. We cannot let it be loose around ponies.”