>>81863>>81863>Native to the wastelands North East of the Crystal Empire"Technically false, but I can see why you would think that"
>capable of sustaining their bodies without food or water"Not
entirely true, and certainly not true for developing hatch-lings, but neither is it wholly false"
>I studied it for the sake of immitating it myself one day"Why would
anyone want to suffer the life of a Changeling?"
> Hive members fly far out into Equestrian territory to collect love for their queen and her offspring, the same way bees collect nectar from flowers"Indeed."
>all members of the hive unconditionally love their queen"That I can tell you is false. The Equestrian government even sheltered defectors prior to the War."
>Despite this, the hive is able to live on because Changelings give their unconditional love to their queen: their mother. Changelings obey their mothers with utmost loyalty, following her commands precisely, all individuallity stripped away by the necessity of the hive to share enough love"It is true that a Queen like queen Chrysalis is a queen in the sense that that is her biological sex, and it is true that Changelings have a devotion to their mother, their brothers, and their sisters. However, Changeling collective loyality is more abstract than that. They are perfectly capable of following a queen that is not their personal mother. That is how Chrysalis became queen not just of the hive she is the mother of, but off all of the hives on this continent. Really, Changeling collectivism is like pony collectivism, only stronger."
>war-battered ponies grow paranoid, bitter, and vengeful, making it all the more difficult for the parasitic Changelings to extract enough love to bring back to their queen"This is not necessarily true. A combatant in action often fights to defend those he loves, and the country he loves. Indeed, it is a very strong form of love. Besides, the intent is not eternal love, it is to bring about peace under a changeling hegemony, which means ponies will go back to a sort of uneasy normalcy. What Chrysalis believes is that even if the ponies are less loving and more fearful under Changeling domination, then at least the Changelings can suck their love directly, which she thinks would be more efficient than sending 'honey bees'. Whether she is right of course, well, remains to be seen."
>Ecological collapse"I... don't know. If it doesn't happen, do you think she would be content with what she has?"
>>81864>A predator"She is simply following the pattern of Colonialism taken up by other species. After all, it is how the Equestrians have dealt with the Buffalo and their own fellow ponies in the Crystal Empire and the Dominion. Changelings like to mimic the behavior of others, after all"
>she is not a competent ruler"She defeated Celestia and the elements twice. Do not dismiss that offhand"
>She only continues laying at increasingly monstrous rates"That I am... not..."
>She'd gladly sacrifice a hundred swarms for a mere tactical victory"And a hundred swarms would gladly sacrifice themselves for their hives. When a bee stings, it pulls out its intestines along with its stinger. It sacrifices itself to defend the hive"
>all the while their armies die off by the swarm in battles that slowly but surely destroy their tribe's only supply off food"It remains to be seen just how strong or weakened they will be in the war to come. But I will tell you this right now: you never, ever, win a war just by assuming that your enemy is weak and a pushover"
>They've taken up the niche of a swarm of locusts"My dear, please stop for a moment to look at it from their perspective. They believe that they are engaging in Animal Husbandry. You raise cows for milk, don't you? And sheep for wool. That is what they think they are doing. Raising ponies like sheep and fleecing them, or like cows for milk. They are doing to ponies what ponies do to the other animals of the land."
>The state of the Changeling empire is more than just a threat to ponies and their livelihoods. It supercede politics, for it has the potential to become an existential threat to all life in this world"Just so long as that means you are willing to cooperate with the Blackhooves"
>>81865"No. Imagine a pony having its life force slowly drained from it forever. That is the future you face."
>>81875>>81874*narrows eyes*