| Gittonsxv #1318058 2 months ago |
that was fast.... |
| YouKnowMe #1318130 2 months ago |
So begins the Changeling OC mary sues. |
| Ananonymous #1318133 2 months ago |
holey flutter pony king |
| Anonymous #1318149 2 months ago |
This is just some speculation of Changeling biology and society. A tl;dr will be provided at the very end.
Overanalyzing is fun. One thing we know is that Changelings are not from Equestria (Chrysalis: "Equestria has more love than any place I've ever encountered".) Another thing we know is that the Changelings have insectoid qualities (translucent insectoid wings and eyes, the name Chrysalis, cocoon-like secretions, what seems to be a carapace of some sort). From this and the fact that there seems to be a Changeling Queen, we can deduce that Changeling society is similar to that of other insect societies, like bees or ants. So far, so good. However, one integral difference between insects and Changelings are that rather than feeding off of legitimate food, Changelings feed off of love (in Cadance's words: "She takes the form of somepony you love and gains power by feeding off your love for them"). This means that, in order to survive and thrive, Changelings must live within the vicinity of a species that is able to love. This requires an animal species with higher-order emotions like love. Changelings cannot simply feed off of grass or worms or such. They must feed off of intelligent or at the very least emotional species. Therefore, Changelings are rather parasitic. We can conclude that Changeling society is a parasitic adaptation of an insectoid society. Good. So in insectoid societies, there is usually division of labor and several social classes. At the top we have the Queen; our Chrysalis. In insectoid societies, the role of the Queen is to lay eggs. However, Chrysalis describes her role as the head provider ("as queen of the changelings, it is up to me to find food for my subjects"). She was also the primary soldier in the Changeling operation, infiltrating Canterlot and allowing the rest of the Changelings in. So what the hell is she? Well, if we view her as an insectoid queen, it would be rather foolish to send her in as the first line of attack against the ponies, because her death would mean the death of the queen. However, her cunning, intelligence and power are indispensable. One most assume that Chrysalis is either powerful enough to be very hard to kill, or there is always a Changeling queen at any given time. If Chrysalis dies, a Changeling turns into Chrysalis or a new Chrysalis is born, effectively rendering Chrysalis immortal (or as immortal as the Changeling race itself). Therefore, the queen of the Changeling "hive" or "nest" - Chrysalis - does not act like a traditional queen. Rather, she is the political and military head of the Changelings as well as its primary soldier. The other social classes in insectoid societies are drones and workers and such. However, we know that the queen (Chrysalis) does not lay eggs (if she did, she would basically have to produce many eggs a minute, but we never see her do this), which makes the drone theory rather ineffectual. Therefore, I propose the following novel theory of Changeling reproduction and society. There is not only a Queen of the Changelings, but a King. The Queen is the boss, and the King is the male equivalent of a queen bee. The King does not have the Queen's leadership, ability, or skills; rather, he stays at home, impregnating females. Every female (except possibly the Queen?) has the ability to lay eggs. These eggs are then fertilized by the king bee. Fertilization is his only role. Yeah, he eats and fucks every single girl all day at home. Every male's dream. The reason we did not see the king was that he was at home (at the "nest", as it were) and was not part of the invasion force. Much like in chess, the Queen is the most powerful figure while the King plays an important but not offensive role. The Queen still calls all the shots. The King just has sex. The existence of a King also means that every, or most every, other Changeling is female. The soldiers should be mostly female. But the system of food further complicates the insectoid theory of Changeling society. Love cannot be stored in the same way traditional food can be stored. This means that every single Changeling, in order for them to survive as individuals, must feed off of love. They must actively go out and feed off of love themselves, otherwise they will die. This, in effect, renders every single member of Changeling society besides the King and the Queen a soldier. Food cannot be delivered; food must be found and "eaten" on the spot. Therefore, if a Changeling is unable to be a “soldier” - i.e. infiltrate other species and feed off of love or be part of an attacking force to feed off of love – they will die. Sick Changelings will die. Crippled Changelings will die. There is no room for weakness in this society. Well then. If the King stays in his nest all day, how can he survive? Easy. The love between him and whatever Changeling he's fucking. He feeds off of it. He has a constant source of food while providing for his colony. As long as there are always more Changeling soldiers to have sex with, his hunger will always be sated. The Changeling soldiers themselves only experience this love once when having sex with the King. Otherwise, they have to go out and leech off some other species's love. So what happens inf the King dies? A king is necessary for the continuation of the species, so, much like the queen, if the King dies, either a new one is born and is immediately or very quickly brought to sexual maturity or an existing Changeling turns into the King. However, the former seems more likely, as turning from female to male is arousing but rather difficult. In summation, we have the Queen, the King, and the female soldiers. There are no other classes. The soldiers are also the farmers, workers, and gatherers. We good so far? Good. So. Where do these Changelings live? Well, we've seen them capable of creating some sort of green slime that is presumably very tough (Celestia couldn't escape from it). Therefore, we can infer that this is their construction material. Presumably, Changelings themselves are immune to the impeding effects of green slime. They could build a massive nest, with slime cells and slime walls and things. This would also deter would-be predators or invaders because the slime impedes their movement. Lovely. But the biggest question is, obviously, how do they change? I'm going to avoid answering this question because are you really still reading this? This is long as shit. I can't believe you're actually reading this. If you can read this you're awesome. I'm going to avoid answering this question because I can't think of a biology that would allow complex, intelligent multicellular animals to transform physically into other complex intelligent multicellular animals. Topic avoided. Another topic. How intelligent are Changelings? Well, we've seen them organize (they ambushed the Mane Six at the room where they kept the Elements of Harmony). The one that confronted Pinkie Pie rolled its eyes, conveying exasperation, a very high-order emotion. Chrysalis fooled Celestia and all of the Canterlot ponies except Twilight. Clearly, Changelings are very organized and intelligent creatures, perhaps equaling the intelligence of sentient races like the ponies themselves. But how do they communicate? We never see any of them talk except Chrysalis. I have several hypotheses on this topic. One is a hive mind, controlled by the Queen Changeling. Another is some form of complex movement communication, similar to bees' waggle dancing. I don't know. However, they are very intelligent and organized, meaning that some form of communication is a potential in their race. I might post more things as they come. For now I'm too lazy to speculate any more. Changeling Queen = leader Changeling King = sex machine Queen and King are essentially immortal Changeling soldiers = female, survive parasitically by feeding off of other species's love Nests of slime Changelings are intelligent |
| Anonymous #1318159 2 months ago |
What did Voltaire ever do to you? No seriously why name him after Voltaire |
| Anonymous #1318209 2 months ago |
@149
We've seen changeling soldiers using magic, and they all have horns. Plus, they feed on love, which, like friendship, appears to be a kind of magic. There is no biological basis in their transformations because it's a magical effect. Also, the changelings that copied Twilight were mimicking her speech, so I doubt communication would be a problem for them. |
| Glord #1318553 2 months ago |
Yeah, how can you assume that they can't magically store "love"?
Maybe changelings have a way of converting the raw energy of love into a tangible form that can be stored? I propose a theory. A changeling absorbs love through their horn. Through some method I don't feel like thinking about currently they can convert it into some kind of nectar or something that can be stored. |
| DreihornKing #1318961 2 months ago |
@Anon159: Apparently, this character was inspired by this piece here: >>173043 According to the artist who made it,
"When I first saw Chrysali's true form, *ding* Voltaire's Black Unicorn. Voltaire is a music band, who have a song about a black unicorn, and the album cover shows it too. The full title is: "Riding a Black Unicorn Down the Side of and Erupting Volcano" (I know... I spelled "erupting" wrong, but too late now -.-) Aaand in Adventure Quest Worlds, the Black Unicorn was the guest of Friday 13th event... so I know him very well. He don't have name, except "Black Unicorn" so I call him Voltaire, after the music band. That's why he's called Voltaire. Personally, I'd rather he have a name fitting the Chrysalis/Insect theme of the changelings (then again, I kind of wish he had a larger role than "sex machine" but that's me). |
| Anonymous #1319038 2 months ago |
^Huh, When I hear Voltaire I always think of the French Philosopher. |
| DreihornKing #1319175 2 months ago |
@Anon038:
That's for knowing who the original Voltaire was! |