@TexasUberAlles
 
Interesting, headcanon accepted.

@TheMadMan  
Also, whatever the substance is that Aliens excrete. :j

@Background Pony #19D9
 
Not in the same way we excrete it. Think of it more like spider webbing.

@YenaMuffin  
So you’re saying that they’re made out of poo?
 
Oh my wow, gross.

What if they eat food in order to make the resin/goo they use to make cocoons/structures/etc?

@team blueplant  
What you said. I think food to them is like junk food to us, we don’t need it, but we DO enjoy it.

I think they CAN eat normal food, but it just doesn’t work. I think it’s like in Attack On Titans. They eat, but it has no reason. I Xenoverse 2 they say Namekians can eat normal food too, but this is nothing more than luxury.

@TexasUberAlles  
Ooh, that actually makes me think of a few ways they could write about underground defectors in various cities including Canterlot, and upon hearing the news of Chrysalis’ defeat reveal themselves and decide to become beetles (I am The Walrus.) :3

It seems kinda obvious to me that “made with love and care” isn’t a metaphor in Equestria, and a Changeling could still gain sustenance from the love that went into making food even if they more or less just IF/THEN GOTO the actual physical substance of it out the other end. I have entire elaborate headcanons about Changeling spies in Ponyville during Season 2 and 6 having particular bakeries and tea shops and what have you that they prefer because the proprietors proudly prepare their products with prodigious love.

Because if they couldn’t eat food, it would be a dead giveaway and cause every changeling to be revealed easily.

@Background Pony #19D9  
I wouldn’t go as far as to call it stupid, but the answer to your question is almost painfully obvious. Just because a species needs a certain type of food or nutrient to survive, doesn’t mean they don’t have the capability to ingest other edible material. Humans and junk food would be a similar comparison.

i think they can eat for pleasure, but they dont need it to survive

I can eat hay, but it’s not like my body would actually digest it :P

@Background Pony #8CEF  
Tell me then what exactly is stupid here.

Because they power their magic through love. Different from regular hunger.

@Background Pony #19D9  
Or maybe people recognize stupidity when they see it. But yeah, everyone else is the problem.

Honestly I think Lings can subsist on normal food, but it’s very unhealthy and will lead to obesity and so forth. Like junk food.

Are you honestly asking why the species that sustains itself by pretending to be other species can safely eat the food that those species might eat?

Also, now I know how triggerhappy people can be with their downvote button if you dare ask a question in the form of an image.

@Background Pony #19D9  
It’s not hard for some people to swallow something like liver without tasting it. :3

How can Changeling food be real if mirrors aren’t?  
/music plays

@thps48  
But she also swallowed the bite she took.

Chrys did toss it in a bin after Applejack turned her back. :j

You’re basically asking; If humans can eat McDonalds, why do we need vegetables and real food?
 
Hell, we can eat dirt and bits of metal too. We just can’t live on that. It’s almost as unhealthy as a McDonalds-only diet.

They empty their matter gizzards when nopony’s looking. It isn’t pretty.