Changeling Treaty

Thorax kind of proved that they could be self reliant, they just had to pass an internal barrier.
And considering Celesita witnessed the Changelings transforming herself, I don't think it's going to be a treaty, she has a powerful ally now.
Sure there needs to be talks between the species, but they are all on good terms.
As far as feeding goes, I think they can self sustain now, but making friends is like a bonus to them without draining the friends they have.

>>29605843
The show-horned pastel solution is all well and good, but I mean this to be from the perspective that not all of the hives might want to get zip bang boom friendshipified, nor that it might even be that simple.
some of them might be incapable of it to some degree, and thus wouldn't be accepted.

Also, this was an idea I was kicking around long before the throw neon paint and antler solution came around.
Most of us choose to ignore the shoe-horned BS in favor of more contemporary solutions, and this is my offering in that vein.

this idea is also meant to mesh with worlds that aren't up to the point where the thorax shit happens.

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this thread died inordinately fast

>>29605921
indeed

page 10
rip

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>>29605820
oh boy, a chance to whore myself out with a story about this very topic
http://pastebin.com/VDeQCPv6

>>29607587
>http://pastebin.com/VDeQCPv6
OP here, I'm around 600 lines in and 100% percent invested, thanks based writefag

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>>29607712
y-you too

>>29607649

>>29609068
thanks for keeping it alive for me, I only just got back from work

>>29607740
I really hope this story isn't going where I think it is, because bug is for hug, not fug, and anon shouldn't give in to the gay thoughts

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>>29611387
guess youll find out eventually.
id also love any feedback anyone reading it would like to give.

>>29611720
I finished it, and I do have a few points to make
the ending was fairly rushed and it felt kind of phoned in.
The queen did a 180 of personality and willingness to concede to kale's ideas near the end, leading me to be thrown off-balance by her rapid shift from "I will find a way to use this an excuse to invade" to "poking fun at the silly pony princesses as though being in direct center of their castle, surrounded by guards doesn't make me feel as though insinuating I raped her stallion might get me killed despite two direct attacks from her"

Additionally, the ending just sprinted past, which was uncomfortable, considering anon was held captive for around a month, and celestia even tried to break him out at one point. To have it rapidly go from no communication at all to them standing directly in her throne room with no prior appointment being discussed, and even all of the pretty pony princesses being there with no prior notice for them to come all the way there seemed odd, to say the least.

It might have benefited from a small sit down, a luncheon of sorts where they bantered back and forth across a table, trading points regarding the treaty and bickering about various things while slowly coming to terms with each other's presence. A round robin treaty, not unlike a semi-casual board meeting where the heads of state discuss the affairs over numerous meetings and discuss the way their new relations could benefit each other.

Outside of the bitchiness and formalities, the ending boils down to nothing more than "call me queen. hello queen, release your captives. MEH! okay, fine. We want to be sovereign! No, we will give you our land for you to squat on. aww... alright. also, this one you tortured and your diplomat seduced is our new representative."

cue the queen hitting on anon, with no follow-up and some random adventure clip and microscopic slice of life, roll credits

Can you see why that didn't settle right?

>>29611720
>>29611859
Additionally, at over 70 thousand words, it comes to an end in my eyes when they run into the long range patrol, prior to entering canterlot.
Here's the kicker, the whole ending, including the epilogue, is LESS than 2500 words
The ending starting from
>"Royal Canterlot guards heading straight towards us." and stopping at "The End" is less than 2200 words
Barely a chapter in what should have been one of the most suspenseful sections of the story, as all of the work anon has put in up to this point: breaking out a prisoner, aiding and abetting in his escape, confronting a foreign ruler who seeks the blood of those he represnts, being enslaved to be used for his love, being set free so he can guide said ruler to the capital, and finally bringing the rulers together end with nothing more than a "stop being bad!' "Oh, okay" in less than what could pass for a single chapter.

I greatly enjoyed it, and would read it again, It just felt you ran out of steam at the end and wrapped it up fairly quickly.

>>29605820
So there are a couple of big hangups to a treaty/ceasefire situation, which would have to be ironed out if it's going to hold.

The first is the whole 'needing to feed' issue. Changelings gotta have something to seat, and while there's no evidence that it's 100% always actively damaging to the victim, there's no evidence it can be done without weakening the victim either. At the very least it's unpleasant, and there really may not be enough volunteering ponies around to feed every changeling.

But the real issue is the trust issue: Changelings are a species that literally live on deceit, and it's going to be a truly huge undertaking to convince ponies place trust in a changeling (especially as ponies seem to be very subject to emotional actions and mob mentality/groupthink).

They could allow changelings to try and integrate under a disguise, but that risks feeding back into the "they're only parasites who can only succeed by lying to us" mentality. Leaving them un-disguised presents another issue though, which is that changelings are visually difficult to distinguish (compared to ponies, with their bright colors and cutie marks). Establishing trust could be even more problematic if ponies cannot be sure they are dealing with the same 'ling today as they were yesterday.

>>29611885
>It just felt you ran out of steam at the end and wrapped it up fairly quickly.
you felt correctly. after i failed to complete confined after a couple years i was just excited that for the first time id actually complete a long story. i do agree wholeheartedly with all your points looking back on it now. it was getting to the point where it just felt like it was never going to end. every new section brought a giant story of its own and i just wanted to finally complete it. youre also not the first anon to tell me the ending didnt satisfy and i doubt youll be the last.

perhaps if i ever get around to rewriting it in prose for fimfiction ill edit some parts and extend the ending to something more deserving of all the buildup. thanks for reading and the feedback.

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>>29611900
I assumed the best solution to fear-mongering was to start small. We know that ponies tend to have a herd mentality and movements tend to start small and snow-ball. Small villages like ponyville or appleloosa seem like brilliant places to start, especially when the hometown of the elements is used as a springboard. Think back to when we first met zecora, she was widely feared, but that stigma vanished almost overnight when trusted public figures endorsed her. I'm not implying it would be anywhere near that simple, of course, but if they were to host a small handful of changelings without issue, then the rest of equestria might slowly move towards accepting them. It also might make intergration easier if they adopt VERY obvious, but similarly themed disguises to their hosts, much like a foreign student exchange program, where certain pre-selected hosts have them stay with them to show that they are harmless and also benefit pony society. The other, less acceptable solution is to give them an emblem to wear, but that sounds a bit too WWII for my taste, and would likely only be used in areas where the fear is still high or they have yet to really integrate well.

As for the feeding issue, if we make the huige leap to assume that if the love drain is tempered to not damage them, and leads to exhaustion or temporary apathy in the subject, then the best solution would be an area with nice bedding for those who donate in case they want or need a nap. The whole treaty hinges on it not being remarkably dangerous, as Celestia would reject them outright if it actually harmed the subject.
As for the supply/demand issue, seemingly the best solution, as I suggested earlier would be for them to be spread out across the major cities to prevent any area from being too heavily saturated and causing a famine of sorts. Naturally at the start, most ponies will want no part of this, and only those most dedicated will volunteer, and celestia might ask her guards to help

>>29611900
>>29611967
the other point was making towards the end of my post was that a handful of dedicated ponies, and possibly the guard might have to try and help the changelings feed in shifts, at least until there is a large enough base of volunteers such that most of the changelings could just barely avoid starvation.
It will fucking suck for them, but they likely won't starve if there is enough effort put into micro-management and love rationing

I feel like if the multi-century, highly respected SUN-RAISING god-princess of the country asked, many of her subjects would step up to help their new allies despite their fears.

This is merely speculation, of course, but it seems sound enough at first glance.

>>29611921
More than happy to help, and if you ever get around to it, I would love to see a revised ending that gives a better feeling of how the peace talks might occur in real-time rather than a summary of sorts.

>>29611967
> Think back to when we first met zecora, she was widely feared, but that stigma vanished almost overnight when trusted public figures endorsed her.
The difference being, of course, that Zebras do not (as best we know) have an actual proven history of harming ponies.

> Small villages like ponyville or appleloosa seem like brilliant places to start, especially when the hometown of the elements is used as a springboard. ... It also might make intergration easier if they adopt VERY obvious, but similarly themed disguises to their hosts, much like a foreign student exchange program, where certain pre-selected hosts have them stay with them to show that they are harmless and also benefit pony society.
Agree, this is probably the most stable way.

>give them an emblem to wear
I was considering that, but dropped mentioning it for the same reasons you did.

I suppose a huge portion of how successful a treaty and integration would be is just how pervasive and damaging you headcanon changeling infiltration to have been: The show portrays them as dropping in all at once and not actually doing any lasting harm before being banished (plus being kind of fucking awful at infiltrating to begin with) but I've always assumed we're seeing the kid-friendly version of events: In 'reality', Changeling infiltration would have been a serious and ongoing issue; many ponies and towns would have lost a friend, family, or resident to Changelings in recent memory and struggle to let go of that.

That of course plays back into the 'telling them apart' problem: Sure, you can be told that the treatied Changelings are different, aren't predatory anymore. Maybe even assured they weren't actually involved in causing anyone you knew harm. But on a base emotional level, it'd be hard to detach your reaction.

>>29612056
it seems to be down to a simple question, then.
Was is an invasion or a siege?

If it was one attack, repelled in a single day, then it might not be an issue.

However, if it was a series of guerrilla assaults where they would snatch and replace ponies to feed by over however long it took for this treaty to come into play, then it might be a blood-feud they would have to work around.

Either way, it's up to the writefags to decide which path they wish to use, and how it would play out.

>>29612099
I've always assumed Changelings operated on a two-part plan: Scouts/infiltrators regularly try and establish themselves, reporting on defenses and feeding opportunities to the main bulk of the Changelings. Periodically, larger raids (up to the entire swarm deploying for an assault on a major target) would be undertaken when an opportunity presented itself.

Most affected ponies and towns would be more familiar with losing individuals to scouting operations, but there'd be the occasional place where a raid would be remembered as well.

>>29610780

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>>29612144
With digits like those, I'm pretty excited to see what kind of green you might make.

>>29613339
thanks, have some cute