Would it be out of the realm of possibility for Chrysalis to plan ahead?

[ManaMinori 4,145]

Perhaps consider a backup if her plans to take over Canterlot had failed. Now, I don't endorse consummation of a marriage before the marriage, but would Hasbro approve of a twist, saying Chryssi and Shining had a little grub, that led back to the events of "A Canterlot Wedding", and that it her last attempt at rebuilding her hive? Would she have conceived by now, if that had been true?

[Thrond 3,263]

I think if that had occurred she might have brought it up by now, even considering that this is a kids' show. I mean, Shining already has a kid with Cadance, after all, and there's evidence to suggest multiple years have passed since the wedding. 

I don't think Chrysalis would have done that as a contingency plan, though. She, ah, doesn't seem like the kind of person who would plan that far ahead. 

[heavens-champion 1,905]

On 12/5/2018 at 4:29 PM, AlexanderThrond said:

I don't think Chrysalis would have done that as a contingency plan, though. She, ah, doesn't seem like the kind of person who would plan that far ahead. 

No, she is not. She's so incompetent, it's a miracle she wasn't kicked out of the hive a long time ago.

[ManaMinori 4,145]

5 hours ago, heavens-champion said:

No, she is not. She's so incompetent, it's a miracle she wasn't kicked out of the hive a long time ago.

if she was all that incompetent, she wouldn't have been able to take over Canterlot, get rid of Cadence, nearly succeed in getting rid of Twilight, and draining Shining completely. Nor would she have been able to capture all of the Princesses, Spike, and the Mane 6 the second time, for Starlight to step up.

[Sondash Studios 4,853]

It sounds really interesting, but that would creep the living hell out of me...

[qwerE 96]

While it does sound like a clever plan for Chrysalis, I'm not sure if that would be possible in the first place.

Interspecies hybrids are almost impossible to get without applying advanced biological tricks. Considering the vast difference between changelings and ponies, I don't think Chrysalis could have conceived a child even if she tried. I don't think there has been any example of a interspecies character in FiM before, and that backs up this theory. (Unicorns, Pegasi, and Earth ponies are of the same species, just different race. So a unicorn-earth pony marriage wouldn't be a counterexample, although I can't even think of any interracial couples in FiM as well)

Aside from the possibility itself, I think Chrysalis is competent enough to come up with that plan. She managed to kidnap almost everypony in Equestria in the finale of season 6, after all.

Edited December 8, 2018 by qwerE

[Thrond 3,263]

12 hours ago, heavens-champion said:

No, she is not. She's so incompetent, it's a miracle she wasn't kicked out of the hive a long time ago.

She’s competent enough that her plan A is usually pretty successful, but she’s too arrogant and egotistical to think she could fail.

[heavens-champion 1,905]

2 hours ago, AlexanderThrond said:

She’s competent enough that her plan A is usually pretty successful, but she’s too arrogant and egotistical to think she could fail.

Which is exactly why she does fail.

[Black Sabbath 2,486]

On 12/3/2018 at 4:17 PM, Nightmare Muffin said:

but would Hasbro approve of a twist, saying Chryssi and Shining had a little grub, that led back to the events of "A Canterlot Wedding", and that it her last attempt at rebuilding her hive?

No, mostly because it heavily implies that they had sexual relations without Shining's consent. 

[heavens-champion 1,905]

On 12/7/2018 at 9:10 PM, Nightmare Muffin said:

if she was all that incompetent, she wouldn't have been able to take over Canterlot, get rid of Cadence, nearly succeed in getting rid of Twilight, and draining Shining completely. Nor would she have been able to capture all of the Princesses, Spike, and the Mane 6 the second time, for Starlight to step up.

She was incompetent enough to not consider Starlight a threat. And to not restrain Twilight before she could free Cadance, thus allowing Cadance to break the spell that Shining Armor was under, and to not restrain Cadance and Shining Armor.

Edited December 9, 2018 by heavens-champion

[BornAgainBrony 2,398]

It's not necessary, and is also a VERY bad idea.

Even just going by the word, "Changeling." Changelings in mythology are babies belonging to faeries that have been sneakily placed into the hands of human parents, and the real child, stolen away. This sets up a pretty big conspiracy theory about who/what Flurryheart really is.

But also, taking Changeling behavior to the sexual level hits on something that even cartoons aimed at teens would be hesitant to touch. Changelings disguise themselves to "steal" the love that one has for a significant other.  In other words, the victim has no idea who they are actually giving their love to. Just think of episode 100. That changeling being at the wedding, drawn to the 'scent' of love, was waiting for the opportunity to replace the bride or the groom. What comes immediately after a wedding? A honeymoon. Where typically, lots of intense romantic  "activities" take place. But if you don't know the one you're with isn't actually the one you have chosen, the love cannot be consensual. In short, Changelings are analogous to rapists who use drugs for seduction, and that's some pretty dark territory to get into.

Finally, why is this really needed? That isn't how other queen insects work. They have sex ONCE, the male dies shortly after, and that one encounter is enough for a queen to lay tens of thousands of fertile eggs. Unless there's something we haven't seen happen yet, the fact that she hasn't built a new hive, suggests that Chrysalis might now be barren. This kind of makes sense too, since she's the only villain who hasn't shown interest in trying a different way of life. She could actually be the oldest villain character in the entire series, so sure of her ways that she can't even think of adapting.

Edited December 9, 2018 by BornAgainBrony

[Will Guide 21,362]

23 hours ago, BornAgainBrony said:

It's not necessary, and is also a VERY bad idea.

Even just going by the word, "Changeling." Changelings in mythology are babies belonging to faeries that have been sneakily placed into the hands of human parents, and the real child, stolen away. This sets up a pretty big conspiracy theory about who/what Flurryheart really is.

But also, taking Changeling behavior to the sexual level hits on something that even cartoons aimed at teens would be hesitant to touch. Changelings disguise themselves to "steal" the love that one has for a significant other.  In other words, the victim has no idea who they are actually giving their love to. Just think of episode 100. That changeling being at the wedding, drawn to the 'scent' of love, was waiting for the opportunity to replace the bride or the groom. 

Just because that's how Changelings work in mythology, that doesn't necessarily apply to the ones in the show.

Technically, the Changeling at the 100 episode wedding was a friend of Matilda being on his best behavior, according to a tweet from the staff. Just as long as you don't take that moment serious, it's actually a funny joke that the foals keep their distance and the Ling simply doesn't mind.

 

As for my thoughts on Chrysalis, the main reason she failed in both Season Finales is that she doesn't know what True, Mutual Love is. At the Canterlot Wedding, She saw Shining Armor as a pawn to get what she wants. But when the real Candace returned, the true mutual love S.A. and P.C have for each other made Shining Armor's protection spell 10 times as strong; strong enough to send the Changelings flying.

As for S6 Finale, it's revealed that Changelings are constantly hungry until one Changeling named Thorax made friends causing the hunger to go away. In confronting Chrysalis, Starlight pointed out how they don't have to starve anymore if they learn to share love than steal it. And like hungry caterpillars becoming butterflies, a more beautiful form of the Changelings was revealed.  Chrysalis even implied very strongly that she never really cared that her subjects were starving.

She's like Maleficent. Doesn't know anything about love or kindness or the joy of helping others

[BornAgainBrony 2,398]

29 minutes ago, Will Guide said:

Just because that's how Changelings work in mythology, that doesn't necessarily apply to the ones in the show.

Technically, the Changeling at the 100 episode wedding was a friend of Matilda being on his best behavior, according to a tweet from the staff. Just as long as you don't take that moment serious, it's actually a funny joke that the foals keep their distance and the Ling simply doesn't mind.

Yeah, that always seemed like an odd thing to me. Even with how goofy that episode got which was pushing the envelope in every way imaginable. A changeling present easily could've caused a panic on the level of screaming "BOMB!" in a crowded place. Now I just want to know the backstory behind this friendship. That could easily be as interesting, perhaps even more interesting than Thorax.

 

29 minutes ago, Will Guide said:

As for S6 Finale, it's revealed that Changelings are constantly hungry until one Changeling named Thorax made friends causing the hunger to go away. In confronting Chrysalis, Starlight pointed out how they don't have to starve anymore if they learn to share love than steal it. And like hungry caterpillars becoming butterflies, a more beautiful form of the Changelings was revealed.  Chrysalis even implied very strongly that she never really cared that her subjects were starving.

She's like Maleficent. Doesn't know anything about love or kindness or the joy of helping others

I'm still up in the air about the nature of the Changeling physiology. There's two ways it could go. The creepy black creatures could be a larval stage of the creatures we only get to see later on. Changelings are also inherently capable of shifting into anything though, so it's just as easily possible that their internal nature can easily manifest itself in physical form. Could a 'bugmoose' be corrupted and revert back to the classic Changeling? Quite possible.

And yes, I'm also of the opinion that love-stealing isn't instinctive, and is the result of some kind of shift in the social order of the hive. She more or less forced a deviant way of life upon her subjects, which might be completely contrary to how they behave naturally. Really hoping this gets explored at some point. She must have a very troubled past, and the mess that went on in the beginning of the live action Maleficent is probably a pretty good estimate. Just imagining what was going through Chryssy's head when she slapped that hoof away now. Gosh...

Random tangent: another odd thing about the nature of hive insect reproduction. Queens will beget new queens. Those newborns will leave their home and set up a new hive elsewhere. So, logically we should see other changeling hives across the landscape. There are two possible reasons this isn't the case. One is that the changelings are a tragic creature within a dead-end system caused by mutation or some other happenstance (there never has, nor will there ever be, another queen). The alternative is that Chrysalis went on the warpath and wiped out all the other hives (join us or die), which given her ferocious obsession with pushing her approach to life, seems easily possible.

 

Edited December 10, 2018 by BornAgainBrony