A changeling's visit to Skyrim

Fenora finally slowed her pace once they reached the edge of town, and allowed Stross to get his feet on the ground again. Taking a moment to make sure they weren’t followed, she began to breathe normally again.

“Will you warn me the next time you’re going to do that?” Stross asked as he popped his shoulder back into its socket.

“Sorry about that, but I’m not too keen on getting a Viking crew cut.” Fenora reminded him “Let’s just get to Whiterun, it should be in that direction.” she said, pointing down a cobblestone path.

“How do you know that? I thought you weren’t from here.”

Fenora simply pointed at a wooden sign that had directional arrows for Whiterun, Riverwood, and Bleak falls barrow among others.

“Oh” Stross said, his ears drooping slightly.

“So I’ve been meaning to ask you, where are you from anyway?” Fenora asked as they walked around the mountainside “Back in Helgen you mentioned Duna-mar and Equestria, but I've never seen or heard of those places, even on the old maps.”

“You could say I’m not from around here.”Stross replied as he struggled to keep up “I’m not really sure how far that spell took me when it misfired. I haven’t had much chance to get my bearings yet.”

“So a spell brought you here?” Fenora inquired “You’re a mage?”

“Not a very skilled one, but I can use magic. In Equestria, everyone’s born with at least a little.”

“What about alchemy? Does anyone practice that where you’re from?” Fenora seemed a bit more enthused about this topic.

“Well, not most ponies I’ve met, but zebras seem to study it quite a bit.”

“What’s a zebra?”

“They’re like ponies, but with more stripes and… awkward wordplay.” Stross tried his best to explain.

“So then… what are you?”Fenora looked to him and slowed her pace.

“I’m a changeling.” he said before he could stop himself. “Why did I just tell her that? Darn it, those eyes of hers are hypnotic!”

“You mean like the fairy people that kidnap children and swap them with their own?” Fenora chuckled “My mother would tell me those stories when I was young; said they’d take me away if I was bad.” she laughed.

“You’re not actually a child stealer, are you?” Fenora asked, her tone becoming more serious.

“I guess I should tell her, just so she doesn’t misunderstand…”

“No, I don’t steal kids. Changelings are more like shape-shifters than anything else.” he explained “We take the form of someone else in order to blend in. People don’t like us too much because of how we feed.”

“Why, do you drink blood like vampires?” Fenora eyed his fangs.

“Actually, we eat love.” he said matter-of-factly. "What's a vampire?"

“Love? How does that work?”

“Well, you see it’s not just love, strictly speaking.” Stross began “Really, any living being capable of thought produces energy just by being alive; energy that changelings use to sustain ourselves. Most of us just call it ‘love’ because more of this energy is produced during moments of intimacy.” You could practically see Stross putting on a teachers cap and pulling down a chalkboard at this point. “However, we’re feared for this because it’s seen by most as devouring the souls of our victims. Though this is not true, there are harmful side-effects when we forcefully syphon the energy out of our targets, which is why this method is in fact discouraged and even frowned upon by most changelings for the unnecessary pain caused to our prey.” he took a deep inhale “Furthermore-

“Okay, changeling magic, got it.” Fenora interrupted. “Let’s keep moving, we’re almost there.”

“But I haven’t even gone over the extent of the harmful side-effect, and the differences in feeding, and the-

“NEEEEERRRRD!”

Within a few minutes the path came to a curve and over a bridge which the river flowed under. From the top of the hill they could see across the plains in the early afternoon light. Before them lay several small farms surrounding a tiered city of wood and stone; the palace of Dragonsreach visible from where they stood, looking over all from atop its’ perch atop the village below. This was Rohan, home of the horse lords Whiterun, domain of Jarl Balgruuf.

“I’m guessing that’s Whiterun;” Fenora gazed out at the city “quite a sight isn’t it?”

Stross looked out at the city as well, but for him it didn’t hold so much wonder as it did dread. Most if not all his time spent in the cities of Equestria, he had been in disguise. Even in this new place that fear meant something. He had gotten lucky back in Riverwood with his new cloak to conceal him while the people were distracted by the talk of dragons, but he was more than reasonably nervous about going into any kind of large city without any power left to transform, to hide himself or even run away if need be.

“Stross, are you okay? You look a little pale.” Fenora asked as she moved over to him, mildly concerned. “And you’ve been having a hard time keeping up too.”

“Hmm? Yeah, I’ll be fine. I just haven’t eaten in a few days, that’s all.” Stross finished his sentence only to find Fenora hastily stuffing a salmon steak into his mouth.

“Mphf!” he yelled through bits of fried fish before Fenora finally ceased her assault “What are you doing?!” he yelled, pieces of food still clinging to his fangs.

“What do you mean what am I doing? I’m trying to feed you!” Fenora responded indignantly “‘A few days is WAY too long for anyone to go without eating; I’m surprised you can even walk!”

“Did you even pay attention to what I told you about the whole ‘changelings survive off love’ thing? It’s the only thing that can truly sustain us; anything else we ingest just gets turned to resin in our guts.” Stross explained as he wiped his mouth clean with the corner of his cloak. “Besides, I’ve gone longer than this without feeding, I’ll be fine.”

“Yeah, a whole two minutes longer.”

“I still feel like I should help you, if there's a way to give you some love.” Fenora told him.

Stross eyes widened at this, then the same smirk Fenora gave him a while back now crossed his face.

“N- not like that!” she quickly defended “I’m not even sure if I could.” a light blush covered her cheeks and she averted her gaze “I mean, I think you’re alright, but… we literally just met and-”

Fenora was interrupted when she felt something smooth brush against her face. She looked up to see Stross standing much closer to her now, one hand brushing the hair out of her eyes, the other on her waist. She felt her heart begin to beat faster as he smiled up at her, staring into her being with his aqua blue eyes.

“Are you sure you don't have feelings for me?” he softly whispered as he pulled her closer. "That there isn’t something more?"

“I… I think I…” Fenora stuttered, trying to find the right words as her face got even redder.

“M’aiq hopes he is not interrupting.” a voice to their right said before Fenora could finish.

They looked up to see a cat-person in a yellow robe staring blankly at them. Stross and Fenora quickly sprang apart, glaring at their newfound distraction.

“M’aiq apologizes, but M’aiq could not help but overhear.” he said in a purr-ish voice “M’aiq says that love is like a polaroid picture; it takes time to develop, but will always become clear.”

“What does that even-

“M’aiq is tired now, goodbye.” he finished the conversation before disappearing behind a tree.

Stross and Fenora simply stood there a while before they exchanged a glance.

“To Whiterun?”

“To Whiterun.”

They followed the road past a pair of buildings; “Honningbrew – finest mead in all of Skyrim” read a sign outside.

Now that she knew of the exhaustion Stross suffered from, Fenora slowed her pace significantly as they walked. However, a lack of nourishment wasn’t the only reason Stross had slowed down, for he was also lost in thought.

“What was that back there? At first I was just joking around, but then I… I just lost myself. And Fenora…

“She thought that was real. She barely knows me, yet those feelings were there, and they were strong too; I could practically feel it the whole time. But why? And I wasn’t even disguised as someone she knows. Is that a good thing? I mean, is that even possible; to love a changeling?

“And if I’m going to feed off anyone, and I will need to eat before long, it might as well be from someone who’s willing.

“But the only reason her feelings emerged was because I forced them out. If it wasn’t real... I don’t want to hurt her by mistake. She might have felt love for me without me having to fool her. Not only that, but she could have left me behind or even killed me at any point, but she didn’t. She trusts me.

“Maybe that’s what that cat was talking about; if I earn her love for real, I’ll never have to worry about starving as long as I have her with me.

“But would that even be love? I might need it to survive, but even if I earn it it’d still just be because I don’t want to die; I’d essentially be farming her feelings for me. Isn’t using someone like that wrong?

“Argh! This is why I could never have invaded Canterlot, I’m too soft! I could never see anyone as ‘just food’. Why can’t I-

Before Stross could continue, his thoughts were interrupted by a thunderous crash from a field nearby. He would have to continue his confusion and self-loathing later.