Journey for acceptance

The Everfree forest was one of the most dangerous places in Equestria,

but I didn't have a choice.

My name is Zauron, and I'm a changeling. Now, I know what you're thinking, "a changeling, he's gonna steal love and cause havoc in Equestria". Well I'm gonna have to tell you that you're wrong.

Yes, I am a changeling, but there is so much more about me than that. To explain, let's start from the beginning.

I was hatched in the hive just like every other changeling. No surprise there. I quickly matured and became a normal, every-day changeling drone. Well, minus a few differences. First off, I'm red. Now that may not seem like such a big deal, but let me tell you; in the hive, equality is everything. In order to have a formidable army, Queen Chrysalis spawns her drones the same exact way, so they all look and think alike. It helps keep order, and makes us easier to control, especially when connected to the hive mind. There's another key phrase, the hive mind. I never really fit into the hive mind. Whenever I tried to connect to it, all hell broke loose. Every-pony connected at the time was hit with agonizing migraines, and many drones went insane, some banging their heads on walls, cracking their chitin, in an attempt to rid themselves of the noise. So, I remained independent. It wasn't easy. Trying to think on my own, without the hive mind... changelings aren't built for that. So I slept. I hibernated for Celestia knows how long, before finally being awoken and thrown out. Apparently, the queen deemed me useless, so she kicked me out and left me to die. If ever I were to come near the hive again, I would be killed on sight. So I fled.

And that's where I was, alone in the Everfree forest. Hiding from monsters, avoiding every plant I saw, because you never know what might be sentient and violent. It wasn't long before starvation kicked in. I tried eating like a regular pony, but that only satisfied temporarily. I needed emotion, preferably love, to survive. The thing is, I never really liked the whole "steal love from ponies" idea. I knew that I wouldn't be accepted into Equestrian society because, well, I'm a changeling; and that limited my options dramatically. If I was going to fit into society, I'd have to become a pony. I'd have to adapt to the new environment, and learn the culture.

Of course, there was the simple path; kidnap or kill somepony, take their form, and feed off of the love others had for that pony.

But I wasn't like that.

No, I'd have to find another way. The more difficult path would be to make up my own alias and give him a backstory and, obviously, appearance. It looked like that was my only option.

Unfortunately, things didn't work out as planned. I ended up living a double-life, one alias being Slipstream, a pegasus pony from Manehatten, and the other being Andre, a blank-flank unicorn colt. How I got to this point is a long story; so sit back, relax, and prepare to be bored.