Vanilla here, as... interesting as my sister's questions have been they have brought up something I have become qurious about... why Do changelings have holes in there legs?
I have absolutely no idea. We just do.
((Topaz here for this one! Actually, I’ve got several theories, the biggest problem is that I only have Idol to study and… well. Whatever the holes are, they’re very sensitive and although he can touch them, for a pony or something he isn’t directly controlling to do so, it’s a combination of extremely disconcerting and, in my opinion, ticklish.
Anyways! Theories! As evidenced by his lack of interest in things like breathing when he’s underwater, I believe he may have spiracles in the holes, which assists him if he can’t clear his mouth. A sort of redundant system to keep him alive, maybe. For all intents and purposes, it seems when he seals himself in jelly in one of his cocoons, he ‘breathes’ just fine. Not sure how to explain that yet, but working on it.
The other idea is that they act like filters for emotion. He’s tried to explain that pulling in emotion happens passively and actively, and I think the passive filters are those holes, whereas active draining is mostly in the head; through horn and mouth mostly. Passive seems enough to sustain him in crowds and keep up his disguise, but that’s about it. A good deep breath while ‘drawing’ at those emotions is better, but he needs time to do it and to be nearby. I think if he were walking through a crowd of ponies on say, hearts and hooves day, he’d get enough passively to last much longer.
But, those are just theories, and without some means of tracking emotional energy, I’m a little lost. They could be a means of distributing weight, emotional sensory organs, or some crazy infection that they get while they’re young that leaves sensitive scars. Without a few dozen more to study, and… well, one or two to dissect, I can’t really be sure. Frankly, it’s a little hard to work with Idol because he knows so little about himself, so we’re sort of just… blindly wandering.
Still, he’s a friend, and I want to see him succeed and be the best pony he can be, and if all I ever do is compile a document of what he is, where he’s going, and what he does to get there, well, that’s fantastic too. It’ll be fantastic to have some proof that, for as weird as he is, we can overcome those differences and build better futures for pony and changeling.))