Not Alike

by SaintAbsol

Chapter 1

We are not the same as your kind.

That is not a generalization, we are fundamentally different than ponies, or things like ponies, or even from dragons. Truly, we are closer to the Windigos than anything else in Equestria. We feed on what they feed on, the emotions of ponies; but the Windigos were foals, only focusing on one emotion of the spectrum; and one that was doomed to either fade in time, or destroy the source that spawned it.

No, we are not the same as them; just because we prefer to feed on love does not mean is the only thing we feed upon. We can feed off Friendship, Affection, Appreciation, I have even sampled Happiness; positive emotions are a much more abundant food source and more stable than hatred.

Yes, I referred to myself and not the hive as a whole. We have individuality, we have personality, there is more to us than just the mind of the queen guiding our every move as though we are an extension of her. We are organized, that is true, it sometimes appears as though we move with one mind, but ponies can do the same thing with enough training. And we have been raised since birth to move and swarm with efficiency; how could we not excel at it?

Yes, we are raised to fight; we have to be raised to fight. Our disguises will not always be enough to hide us from ponies who grow suspicious, we need to be able to defend ourselves and our hive. We are many, that is true, but ponies are many as well; bring enough of them to Canterlot, and it would be as if we had returned, most likely with greater numbers. It is only because we are all so similar that it appears as though we are without individuality.

I am aware of the contradiction; I have spent the last few moments talking about how similar we are to ponies, yet I started by saying that we are not similar. Fine, I will acknowledge there is a certain measure of similarity between our kinds, but that does not make us close to what they are.

You will hear others, ones who are stupid, talk about how we were mistreated, how the princesses kicked out things that they could have helped. They do not understand the differences that lie between us. I will not lie, we still live among ponies; we have for so long that even we no longer remember where we come from. Her Majesty may know, but we do not ask; she has more important things to worry about than our petty questions. However, the simple fact is, we drain ponies of something that they hold valuable in a way that leaves them physically affected.

It is not that we enjoy it... usually, it is something that we simply must do. While we can still taste some of the foods that Ponies and other things eat, we do not gain sustenance from them; we must devour the emotions of what is around us to live.

Do not take us for a plague! We have lived alongside ponies for too long for us to merely be overgrown paraspites. We may drain ponies, but we do not kill unless we have to; it is pointless to destroy a food source after all. We can even live among them long term without any danger to them; I've even heard of some Changlings expressing affection for some of the ponies that they feed off of. Yes, as shocking as it is, we can feel our own emotions; no, we can not feed off of our own emotions. Some have tried, in an effort to stop hurting the ones they've come to appreciate, it did not end well for them.

I am aware that our queen is cruel; all of us are. I make no excuse for her, I will not say that she does not have one, but I do not know if there is one; but she has never taken out her cruelty on us, only on non-Changlings. Maybe she just hates that which is not us, maybe she once held affection for something that was not one of us and suffered for it some way; as I said, I do not know the reason she enjoys the suffering that she causes, if there is one. I only know that to us, she has always been fair and just.

No, that is not the norm, but it is close. Though not as bad as her, many of us only view ponies as a source of emotions to feed upon, with some of us emulating our queen and enjoying the suffering that we can sometimes cause them. The ones I mentioned that feel affection for a pony are the very small exception to a very widespread rule. And before you question, I am not one of them. I do not hold any hatred for ponies in my being, nor do I feel affection for any one pony; I am merely accepting that you are something different than me and that is unchangeable.

The simple truth is that we are predators, though what we hunt is emotion instead of another animal. Ponies are, for lack of a better term for it, are our prey; there is no other way to really phrase it, it is the relationship between our two species and there is no amount of magic in the world to change that.

That is what makes us so different. We are predator, you are prey; that is why all who claim we were treated unfairly are stupid. What those two ponies did to us was simply prey defending from a predator; it is as natural as what we do to capture you to feed. As you can see by my presence here, it did not destroy us, we are still around Equestria and will continue to feed as we always have done. We just will not attempt another take over like what we foalishly decided to do in Canterlot; it was not a smart move and even the queen is admitting it now. She is also fuming over the fact that she was defeated by the very thing that she was feeding upon, seeking for some sort of spell that she could somehow use to emulate the strength of the spell that beat her.

Some of those ones that feel affection for ponies have said that it isn't a spell that the alicorn performed on the unicorn, that it was the love itself that let them do that. I can not say I understand their meaning, but I can say that- having fed on love many times- I have felt how strong it can it can be between two ponies. So there may be something to their words.

Comments

[Samusbot]

Excellent!

[Venlin]

This I can see how the Changling is. Good story.

[Brony103]

Very interesting, this is favorite worthy!

[Silver Sea]

Checked it out, and it was good!

[Morphile]

perfect! now i don't have to use the magically-altered/hybrid abomination excuse!

[SaintAbsol]

512491

I didn't even know that WAS an excuse. I must not be up on the fanon for changelings.

[Morphile]

512522 i think in fanfic format. i rationalize my uber-changeling with it.

[Perteks]

Pretty good one, atleast somebody write about "common" view of changeling

[CanterlotGuardian]

I liked it, but I feel it's too short as is. I'd like to see more.

[Darkswirl]

Not a single tag? Really?

[Honey Mead]

Very well thought out.

[TheGuyWithTheFace]

mlkshk.com/r/1M8

[Alex Warlorn]

A brilliant work on an alien mentality that isn't a cliche black and white baddie but at the same time is a genuine threat.

[Alex Warlorn]

I wonder how this changeling would feel about fanon changelings who live a symbiotic relationship with ponies, like Bonbon and Lyra.

[SaintAbsol]

3235931 He'd lump them into the ones that feel affection for those they feed upon, likely with a line about how he doesn't believe that such an arrangement could last long term.

[Nyerguds]

Kinda nice, but in the end, it's just a headcanon infodump, and not a real story. Even just making it into a kind of interview or whatever could've given this more substance.

Also, I thoroughly dislike the use of the word "foals" instead of "fools". It changes the meaning to saying they're "little kids", really

[Insane]

3236094 wow,think all premist that wish change system but never do.

Well you can't change thing without trying

[DarthSonic66]

3236094

I hope you, as an author, do not think lesser of those who do enjoy such stories, writing and reading them.

[SaintAbsol]

3362997 I'm going to leave a reply that you likely don't want to hear and, for that, I am legitimately sorry. However, I feel I should make my position as clear as I possibly can.

Yes, I do hold a certain amount of disdain for stories that involve changeling couplings.

Now, let me clarify this before I incite too much hate and ire. I do like to pride myself on sticking as close to canon as I can with my stories, even if I don't always agree with what the show canon leaves us to work with. Changelings, in both show and comics canon, are very deplorable creatures without anything to suggest even a token amount of empathy for the other races. When I see fanfics that deal with changelings in a sympathetic light, these characteristics are either poorly justified, or flat-out ignored in favor of attempting to engender sympathy with some story of over the top racism against them. These are all various things that grate on my nerves: Ignoring canon just because you don't like it, poor attempts at explaining why the character in question is somehow different than is shown and use of the 'race card', as it were, to milk sympathy from readers who don't want to come across as racists themselves.

Now, on the flip-side, there are examples of what you're referring to that I think are done well. Alex Warlorn, the person my comment was originally in reply to, frequently mentions a changeling named Moth who is in such a situation; she struggles with the inherent biological and psychological differences between herself and ponies but also tries desperately to fit in among them. This is an example of a sympathetic changeling done right. One of my favorite fics on here, 'The Irony of Applejack', has a very large deviation from canon as its central plot device, but the writer makes every effort to justify it and explore the potential issues it could present, as well as doing a fairly good job of explaining away why the changelings in that fic act differently than the ones we saw in A Canterlot Wedding.

The reason I take so much issue with changeling romances is because, FAR more often than not, they are poorly written wish-fulfillment without any real attempt at building upon what could be a potentially interesting and engaging story. While I am as guilty as the next writer of creating personal wish-fulfillment, I also don't consider my ideas in any way better than the show canon and don't expect anyone else to share my ideas; conversely, I don't seek out stories and concepts that I don't like solely to downvote them as leave a hurtful remark regarding it.

Bottom line: As a writer: No, I don't think less of you for enjoying or writing these types of stories, you are entitled to have your own opinion. I just simply don't agree with it.

[Eclipse LunarSol]

In the cover art, I think I see the General...

[Super Trampoline]

A Parallel to Not Alike

So, I just finished reading and enjoying your story Not Alike, and found your "rant" (for lack of a better word) in the comments about how you do not like it when people paint changelings as cute and cuddly misunderstood love bugs. I would be very interested in seeing your opinion on my own short changeling story White Spaces. I found it cool how similar our stories are, right down to both having a monologuing changelins discuss the predator-prey relationship in an unaffected unemotional fashion.

Congrats on getting on EQD, and have a great day!

[Lazy_]

3364722
I feel that some people need to pay a little more attention to the comics before they start writing about changelings. I did a small article on sympathy for them on a thread. Yes, they are hated by pretty much everybody and that makes you feel sorry for them. But they've spent their entire existence acting hostile towards other races, even if it was indirect. So it's not surprising.

I believe that changelings are the victims of a cruel evolutionary process that pushed them to isolate themselves. Because they believed that if they were found out and their location was revealed, then they would be destroyed, causing them to be hostile and secretive.

But Chrysalis is their main problem. She pretty much defeats the entire point of having to be secretive and screwed up the lives of her own subjects. I don't feel sorry for them because they're hated, they brought that upon themselves. However I do feel sorry for them because they were born into a dangerous position and there is nothing they can do about it. And also because they have a leader who is willing to compromise her people's lives for her own benefit. She's a dictator who has used the undying trust of her people to bring her power. And I hope that one day the changelings rebel and show her what it feels like to be used, mistreated and bullied.

[SaintAbsol]

5404185
I just wish people would stop trying to play racism and prejudice card with them. It's very, very, rarely well done and often portrays characters from the show as intolerant bigots in ways that are cartoonishly overblown ways. Shining Armor is often the victim here, and Princess Celestia isn't very far behind, with a bit of Cadance-bashing thrown in for 'good' measure.

Hell, I'm not even totally against the idea of portraying changelings in a sympathetic light. I've dabbled in it myself and have plans to actually write about a changeling/pony coupling at some point. I just wish that people would stop for a moment and consider all the implications of their actions in the show and possibly the comics before they start writing. Even aside from my love of maintaining canon, there is incredible potential for storytelling in doing so, and there's just enough information that one can work with just about any interpretation of their species and abilities without breaking anything established.

I'm rambling again, sorry.

[Lazy_]

5404271 Here are some things our example writers often don't consider.

1) Equestrian guard is going to think the pony in the relationship is either a changeling themselves, being manipulated or a traitor. This could get nasty.
2) I don't know about some, but if I was in a relationship with a creature that could feed on my emotions to an extent that could cause me physical damage, I would be a little paranoid. Just saying.
3)Chrysalis has a grudge against all ponies, she wouldn't be happy about the relationship if she found out. Being as secretive as they are, she could think the changeling would reveal important information about her. Things she doesn't want anyone to know...
4)With both sides hunting them it could get really bad, really fast.

[SaintAbsol]

5404301 This is where the lack of established information mixes well with canon in my opinion. If I may, allow me to address each of those points with a few justifications. Admittedly, these are all off the top of my head, so they may not hold up to close scrutiny. They may make decent starting points, though.

1.) Yes, the royal guard would undoubtedly be suspicious of both parties, they may even make snap decisions and panic when the information comes to light. However, there is very little evidence that ponies -- as a whole -- are inherently violent or fanatically paranoid, meaning that serious harm is unlikely to come to them. Capture, sure, and likely imprisonment if they are, but I doubt things would be lethal unless someone purposefully escalated the situation. Plus, the brainwashing of even Chrysalis (who it can be reasonably assumed would be the most powerful changeling) is shown to be breakable, so they could easily rule out that, and a lack of evidence for treason would mitigate the second possibility.

2.) The only times we've seen changelings consume emotions were when they were simply looking to get a meal, or actively trying to physically effect the one in question. Chrysalis drained Shining Armor so as to weaken his shield spell and allow the changeling swarm access to the city. And the Luvcats (as I think they're referred to) were consumed to make a new kingdom for the changelings and to replenish their depleted energy from the attack. It's difficult to say where the cut-off would be here, but it's entirely possible that a single changeling of average power, who isn't actively trying to weaken their love source, may be able to feed without causing any serious physical harm.

3&4.) I put these together because they both touch on a similar idea in my mind. Given what we've seen of Chrysalis, I concede the first point to you entirely. She is shown to be a genuinely deplorable individual with very little in the way of redeeming qualities. Hell, I'd argue she'd kill any changeling in a legitimate relationship out of pure spite for succeeding where she failed. This, however, leads me to the next point. Yes, it would absolutely get interesting with both sides after the couple. And 'interesting' is exactly what a story should strive to be; I not only concede this point to you, I fully embrace it!

Again, these are merely ideas that I came up in about five minutes, so they're still very flawed and unpolished. Take them as you will.

[Lazy_]

5404356

Again, these are merely ideas that I came up in about five minutes, so they're still very flawed and unpolished. Take them as you will.

Your points are perfectly fine, and your reasoning too.