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Changelings: How do they work?


ChangelingPhilosophy

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(edited)

Ever wonder how changelings work? Ever had your headcanons about how? Want your information and other's to be mixed and merged into one big study? Here's the thread for you! Here we discuss changeling biology, society, history and other topics having to do with changelings!

 

Discuss below all about changelings, how you think they work, and what their society would be like.

Edited by ChangelingPhilosophy
  • Brohoof 2
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You should go get Nios from the Queen Chrysalis Fan Club thread; His headcanons are probably the most detailed & interesting to read & have. I use it whenever anyone asks me about the Changeling race, because I feel it is probably the strongest overall

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Obviously changelings DON'T work.  They cruise on our welfare, corrupt our fillies and undermine our Celestia-fearing values!

I propose driving them out of town in an ironically ignorant and violent fashion!  'QUESTRIA!

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I propose driving them out of town in an ironically ignorant and violent fashion! 'QUESTRIA!

lol, I spy historical insight! :P

 

Well, it seems to me changelings are nomadic, since they go around feeding on the love of different peoples/ponies, it would make sense. Kinda like locus eating fields of crops. theyre even bug-like.

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Am I the only one who thinks changelings are basically ponified succubus?

In a sense yes. Of a more ahem family friendly shape shifting variety though.

Seeing as if they were what succubi are usually known for it'd be a totally different story. ;)

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Am I the only one who thinks changelings are basically ponified succubus?

I had a good answer for this question, but unfortunately I assume the forums are pg-rated at least

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I think the changelings don't actually change form, but have a bit of power over others perceptions, and are able to change the visual stimuli that is processed in the pony's brain to resemble visual stimuli that disguises them and indicates something else. Perhaps their power can even reach beyond disguising their own body, they are able to cause hallucinations or blindness in ponies.

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It'll be cool if they're more closer to how certain insects work in real live, with a hive mind caste of brains (the queen, for instance), the rest working their duty of harvesting love. Strangely, i think this only reflects on how much love there is in Equestria, to have a species evolve that depends on the consumption of it.

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Well, if we're talking about Changeling society, I tend to view the so-called "Changeling Kingdom" as less of a hive than and more of a tyrannical society built around the idea of species supremacy over all others; especially ponies. Probably not THAT different from Nazi Germany, though many not as extreme. At a young age, most are drafted into the military service, are drilled into the basics of military function, and as time goes on they slowly lose their individuality and become much more monstrous.

 

As for their changing ability...I would think that it is based off of sight and sound; so therefore, they can easily transform into someone else, minus their personality.

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  • 2 years later...

   I have given an awful lot of thought to the topic, since I was trying with my ponysona to make him a special breed of them.

 

 

 

As for their changing ability...I would think that it is based off of sight and sound;

  I cannot really speak as to how their shapechanging outright works. After all, we know its not restricted solely towards mimicing other living things as we've seen... uh... Wossnames, that friend of Spikes from that one episode, turn into a rock. And if this were a common thing, you'd think it'd be even easier to infiltrate pony cities as lamposts or street planters.

  As I haven't seen this supposedly newer one about their reformation, I cannot attest to whatever changes happen there, but I'll go off what their physiology appears to be. Magical capabilities can be broken or made depending on actions taken in the show whether in serious attempt to make them seem a threat or for whimsy of the moment as what can be blatantly exemplified by a certain pink party pone. I feel we can glean quite an awful lot purely by logic & appearance.

 

  Let's start off with something that I can hopefully dance around with scientific terms. Mating functionality, or more properly put, genetics. Many have seemingly themed Changelings (and that's Equestrian species, not what you typically find in fantasy genres) towards a more incubi/succubi idea. Considering the show's portrayal as them being rather leechlike, that does seem appropriate. Though I cannot accept that Love is their only emotion to feed on. That's sort of like a species evolving to just eat one species of leaf... and yes, I know there are actual animal parallels to that example, but I don't think any of them are known to be particularly widespread & succesful. I headcannon that any changeling can feed off of any emotion, just with the way the culture of the dominant species on the planet is so heavily invested in that one emotion, Love is much more readily found & easier to harvest.

  A true Incubi/Succubi of mythology is supposed to be more of a nightmare-feasting demon that torments you through your dreams. Basically, a demon that eats your 'essence' rather than just having relations with their victim. Basically a soul-eater. One could say that emotions are what we form our personality & therefore our 'essence' with. Since magic in Equestria seems to derive itself from emotions such as hope or friendship, and that magic seems so integral to your average pony, that likely means that in Equestria, your soul, emotions & magic are closer to the surface and easier to drain out with the right magic/capability. This can be best exemplified by Tirek's actions. He drained the magic out of ponies & left them listless & energy-less but still alive. So, aye, Changelings are Incubi. But then so is Tirek.

 

 

   We have had shots in the show of an actual hive structure where the Changelings live en masse. So I think that rules out a nomadic lifestyle. In fact, seeing as we've seen them supposedly use giant Matrix-like pods to trap their victims, that seems to imply a habit of keeping stores of the energy they live off of which would impede a lifestyle of constant flying around. Any stories of having to keep moving, like we see in the comics, is probably due to Chrysalis being a wanted criminal.

   From this, I feel I can safely deduce that like most of the communal insects that Changelings are based on, they can grow into different classes or sects. Perhaps due to animation errors that seem common in this fanchise, we do seem to have a history of Changelings being shown without wings, horns or varying combinations. There's three forms: The Queen form we see exemplified by Chrysalis herself (and I think, since this new episode supposedly alludes to the act of someone new changing form and metamorphosing to fit her rank in order to challenge her reign, that this & perhaps all of them are just as interchangeable as even gender tends to be in carapaced creatures) ,the "Scout" form we see for the flying minions that are likely the mainstay for infiltrating & finding new prey to leech emotions out of, and a form both wingless & hornless, the "Drone" class that primarily stays in the hive to build new structures. We have seen mass egg-laying be a trait in Changeling society without it being shown that Chrysalis actualling laying the eggs, but overseeing their hatching at least. Since this is also a trait in communal insects, it can probably also be said that the Queen can also manipulate the growth of her subjects, something that also befits the tyrannical rule we see Chrysalis embodying.

 

   Though this does beg the question of whether the Changelings are physically compatible with Ponykind. Judging by their different body structure & drastically different magic it can be said that they can't naturally. But there is that magic though. But simply turning into something with the same... uh, parts doesn't mean that the genetics line up appropriately. The species may not match up, but through that magic there is a theoretical bond to be formed there.

   I do see/hear of a fair amount of "half-changelings" that seem to inherit so much of their changeling parent's traits that they effectively are full breeds. But I'm willing to cut slack there.

   I theorize that a disguised changeling's genes holds precedence over the pony parent species, irregardless of gender. Effectively cloning the Changeling parent through a host species. Not unlike certain horror movie monsters some of you may have seen. This does also seem to strike me as something real life insects do as well.

   However! If there's the rarer case of the pony parent knowing full well that their mate is a Changeling & the... uh, mixing of genetic material happens without the usage of shapeshifting then the natural unstable genetics of a shapeshifter then takes a backseat to the more stable, dominant pony genes resulting in an offspring more like a pony, with likely only a few recessive Changeling genes & nothing quite so drastic as full shapeshifting capabilities.

 

 

    Do think I ought be right in surmising that Changelings are primarily insectoid. They've been known to hiss in a rattling manner which also shows of a rather tubular tongue that seems to resemble a sort of proboscis. So too their eyes seem to be glassy as if they were supposed to be compound. I do also theorize that Changeling "manes" are more of fine, thin strands of fin membrane.

    Though..... these two last major points do leave me wondering how a mare would react to giving birth to a little grub.

 

   I do also have to wonder just how far their shapeshifting capabilities extend. Like, if you wound up stabbing a changeling while they were still transformed, would they bleed like a changeling despite looking like a pony? For that matter, what color are Changelings' blood?

 

  I still also feel like any Changeling still can eat regular food like any pony, but due to them never having the experience or developed taste it would sort of be like a human trying to eat wood pulp or bamboo. There's the teeth and digestive track there, just none of the capability.

Edited by Widdershins
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