Other Changeling Swarms
Changeling Relatives

Changelings are herbivorous/emovoric Equine mammals that are closely related to ponies and are capable of magic, flight, and shape-shifting. they feed on various plants and positive emotions, though like all equines, they can eat meat. their myriad insect-like features tend to lead to many misconceptions, such as that they are insects, have a hive mind, or that the queen is the mother of every changeling in the Swarm. these beliefs are all wrong. A changeling can change into any animal or being roughly their size for a maximum limit of three days.

Changelings are found everywhere except the far north and the Crystalline Raj (not to be confused with the Crystal Empire)

they come in several distinct body shapes, divided into two Mega groupings: Royal and Common. Royals have long lifespans, whereas a commoner has an lifespan similar to that of an earth pony.

Normal
under most circumstances, changelings of both body types will have eyes of green, blue, or purple.

Goldmanes
a royal-specific type, these changelings have fluffy golden manes, gold eyes and wings, and can absorb 10 times more love than normal.
Goldmanes tend to work as advisors or scholars.

Grounders
a Common-specific type, Grounders have purple eyes and no wings. they tend to be maintenance workers

Vanishers
red-eyed changelings capable of becoming invisible. Common vanishers often make up the royal bodyguard or are assassins. Royal vanishers tend to be military leaders

Bruiser
a specific type of common changeling that specializes in demolition. What that translates into is a changeling who had the same build as Big Macintosh, but is about a foot taller, with orange eyes and a particularly sharp-looking set of fangs. they also tend to be surprisingly intelligent.

Longfangs
Common changelings with yellowish-green eyes and foot-long fangs who dig tunnels. they tend to be less intelligent than normal, and tend to speak inarticulately (Me good digger)

Albinos
pretty much that. just white changelings with red or pink eyes. However, they are able to create and feed on fear

SOCIETY

Changelings do not live in hives. a changeling castle is usually a stone construction on the levels of Canterlot in complexity, with myriad tunnels underneath. a changeling castle is actually more like a small city, full of businesses, separate houses, libraries, and of course sports arenas and the castle itself. a group of changelings is called a Swarm, though the large, organized civilizations are known as kingdoms, as with ponies.

though the majority of a changeling is furry, the shell on their back is a hard keratin.

the hierarchy is similar to that of ponies, with a few exceptions. there is the working class, who run businesses, grow food, and manage profit. above them are the soldiers, the royal guards, bodyguards, and assassins. then there is the "upper crust," the advisers and the council of seven. at the top is the royal family.

the Swarms themselves have an organization. each country has several Great Swarms, among which is the High Swarm, which rules the others. there are other lesser Swarms scattered about. Chrysalis is the current High Queen of the Swarms of Equestria.

Soldier Ranking in order from least to greatest
cadet, soldier, commander, Captain first-class, Captain second-class, General, High-General

The Council of Seven
Essentially changeling Parliament. the ruler turns to them when the advisor cannot help, and they are in charge of ceremonies and executions.

Country Relations and Monetary Units
Changelings are actually relatively peaceful (the attack on Canterlot being the result of Chrysalis succumbing to Emotion Sickness, which can cause temporary insanity and is caused by changelings feeding on too much of one emotion), and tend to seek trading agreements rather than battle. they currently hold peace with Equestria (following the events of the alicorn Nyx's short-lived reign), Camelu, Tarandoland, the Crystal Empire, and most other countries.

the Quid is a small obsidian coin worth several hundred bits, but the yen is more commonly seen.

***
QUEEN CHRYSALIS- HIGH SWARM (emerald)

My dear mother and Queen of the High Swarm, Chrysalis mainly spends her time... honestly not doing much. sure, there are a few proclamations to be signed here and there, but mostly life is simple. Before the peace, her Swarm used the old "infiltrate" method. sneak in, get some love, sneak out.

the actual seat of power for the High Swarm is in the Imperial City in Neighpon, Chrysalis simply has an additional castle in Equestria

MAJOR EQUESTRIA SWARMS

QUEEN OVI- MANTIS SWARM (pink)

Fun-loving, Queen Ovi has her home in Las Pegasus, close to the Antlion Swarm. Jovial and very promiscuous, her Swarm obtains love by means of running the local bathhouse/brothel.

KING REFRACTION- ROACH SWARM (blue)

My grandpa, known for his quick decisions, pinstripe suit, and fedora, runs the Organization, a group which has deals with the Equestrian Mafia in Manehattan, trading weapons... er, I mean he runs a pet store. his Swarm runs the Alicorn Hotel, one of the best hotels in Manehattan.

QUEEN VESPA- LOCUST SWARM

Actually Chrysalis' older sister, Vespa declined the offer of taking the throne from her mother, wishing to found her own kingdom in Equestria. Her swarm is located near Dodge Junction

QUEEN MYRRH- ANTLION SWARM (orange)

Myrrh is a normally kind queen, with her underground castle situated in the Neighave desert. thousands of years of her ancestors living in these conditions has led to Myrrh and her Swarm to their pointed hoof structure (helps with burrowing in the sand) and common changelings having more pincer like teeth. They would often pose as tour guides within the nearby cities and towns, and lead caravans astray towards the hive. They would also use their magic to create hallucinations of oasis' to lure in singular, lost, and weary travelers.

QUEEN MIASMA- MIASMA SWARM (purple)

a small nomadic swarm that is fond of the sewers of large cities. Miasma herself is a very vain and snobby queen who tries to appear better than she is. She has two changelings follow her around with incense burners wherever she goes and douses herself in perfume as often as possible. One wonders what is worse, the rotten smell of the Swarm, or the overwhelming stench of sweet perfume contrasting with it.
Although trying to appear noble and sophisticated, the queen has a very bad temper and can turn from sweet to sour in mere seconds.
She also has very bad table manners (and taste), and won't even stop short of literally rolling around in her food. It's not helped by the fact that she has holes in her cheeks so you can see her chewing even if she has her mouth closed. The Swarm's old method of gathering victims wasn't very sophisticated, ranging from cries of help from out of a gully to simply waiting for somepony to get stuck in their secretions while drunkenly wandering about at night.

QUEEN CALLIPHORA- NEKROPOLIS SWARM (rose)

The Nekropolis Swarm and its queen Calliphora is probably one of the most elusive and least explored Swarm in all of Equestria. They make their home in graveyards, feeding off ponies’ love by posing as ghosts of dead relatives and loved ones. Usually they move into already existing family graves and crypts and only set up rudimentary constructions and decorations. They have little to no contact with other Swarms and are actually often purposely avoided by them, for the simple fact that, even if it sounds unbelievable, even other changelings are creeped out by them. Beside their macabre living conditions, the biggest reason for this are their appearance and their general behavior. While they appear even more “perforated" than other changelings, with colors reminding of dead leaves and decaying matter, their most distinguishing and disturbing feature is what appears to be a second set of eyelids that they can close vertically and, while see-through, allows them to block out most light. This is important because the Swarm is almost exclusively nocturnal and thus reacts pretty badly to bright lights. Their general behavior has so far been described as “sort of otherworldly". They tend to buzz around with their second set of eyelids closed, seemingly without direction, or huddled in dark corners, humming quietly, as if listening to some inner voice. Perhaps this stems from the fungi they consume and the various gases present in a graveyard. Nevertheless the Swarm never falls into ruin or disarray. When an intruder appears, the hive is immediately at full alert and goes into attack mode without so much as a whisper. Many a pony has already found themselves thinking they just walked into a zombie pony attack when the coffin lid next to them flew off with a loud hiss. One should take special precautions when a full moon is out. For some reason, it sends the Swarm into even more of a trance and a strange sort of dancing motion above the graveyard it currently resides in. Any intruder is immediately killed on sight, but one can usually tell and avoid these events by keeping a lookout for red eyes dancing in the sky like fireflies.

QUEEN MYXINE- HAGFISH SWARM (sapphire)

Myxine is somewhat strict. This Swarm lives in hollowed out caves along the shore. Usually they would either play the drowning to be saved, or save the drowning, as they mostly do now. Sometimes they would build sharp spires underwater and try to navigate ships into them. Sometimes they’re lazy and just simulate a shark attack by swimming with their horn looking up over the water like a shark fin. They are a pretty small Swarm as ponies aren't all that big on seafaring. Overall they’re pretty pragmatic and a direct contrast to the Honeycomb Swarm’s song and dance.

QUEEN AMBROSIA- HONEYCOMB SWARM (yellow)

The Honeycomb Swarm is known to prefer hot and humid areas of the Everfree. In contrast to other Swarms they don’t necessarily build their lair as a city, but may simply hollow out trees. Their favorite method of trapping ponies and other intruders was to disguise themselves as dancing females and to lure males into their sticky traps. They usually waited for their target to weaken inside the trap, so they can more easily apply hypnosis spells. If they are not outside dancing and creature walks into a trap all by its own, it may take a worker weeks to notice it, which usually leaves a lot of creatures to die in the humid heat. Their queen, Ambrosia, is quite curious and rather playful, but often will harm her victims that way cause she has no concept of, and doesn't care about their natural limits. Some ponies say she is rather beautiful - for a changeling.

Holidays
Changelings tend to adopt local holidays and put their own twist on them, such as Equestrian changeling's Hearth's Warming traditions of placing holly branches and salt on windowsills to ward off draugrs (the Windigo king Red Rimefrost's elite guard of 30 ash-grey windigos) and scattering quids to appease the Krampus.

Shadow Eve is a global holiday that takes place three days before the Equestrian holiday of Nightmare Night, and is celebrated with scary stories.

the Festival of Lights is celebrated by all changelings, and bears many similarities to similar celebrations in Neighpon and the Hidden Kingdom. the mares don long colorful robes, while stallions partake in displays of swordplay. paper lanterns are hung around the castle, and music is played. it takes place on the same night as the Equestrian Winter Moon Festival.

Shape-shifting and other abilities
a changeling's shape-changing is limited to them turning into any four-limbed organism roughly their size. they can hold any shape for a limit of three days before needing to change back. similarly, a changeling with a broken leg will have a broken leg no matter what shape it takes.

Changelings, along with gorgons, nagas, and lamias, have the highest poison tolerance of all equines. Their highly efficient livers and kidneys allow them to eat Black Morrigan, a relative of poison joke that contains a mixture of various toxins which can kill a pony in under an hour.

While enough positive emotions can heal minor injuries, a changeling that loses a body part can never re-grow it.

the Shi no arīna
The Arena of Death ( Originally the Settō yori mo haruka ni akka shi, shinkokuna hanzai de yūzai to sorera o ōkina kemono to tatakawa sa rete iru basho, literally, “place in which those found guilty of serious crimes much worse than thievery are pitted against a large beast”) is a large part of the life of all non-nomadic Swarms. all changeling castles have this large covered amphitheater, which is used for both executions and simple sport. each Swarm has their own arena beast which makes its home in the arena.
Black Azog, a Kryyshhshh (Thunder Serpent), the arena beast of Chrysalis's Swarm. she likes to be scratched under her chin.

Breeding behavior and Foal-rearing.
as with most sapient beings, changeling mating habits are a private matter.

Changelings are doting parents, always taking good care of their foals. while the foal is carried for the normal 11 months, they are nursed for roughly 5 years.

Illnesses
Changeling Flu: a simple disease that causes a changeling to change shape with every sneeze.

Emotion Sickness: caused by feeding on only one positive emotion, as opposed to a mixture. This disease causes symptoms similar to Megalomania, Superiority Complex, and partial insanity. thankfully, it is easily cured by cutting off the flow of said emotion.

Form Lock: when a changeling cannot turn back to normal for some reason. cured by plenty of bedrest.

Shift Fever: a disease which causes the changeling affected to undergo a strange and nonsensical transformation, with certain individuals sprouting purple feathers, and others changing shape every time they sneezed. It is fatal unless cured within forty-eight hours by means of a potion consisting of Black Morrigan, Golden Joke (a very rare poison joke relative that changes the species of those who touch it and is cured by eating the flower of the same plant that affected them), cockatrice scales, timberwolf bark, and manticore venom.

Crops, Livestock, and royal pets

LIVESTOCK
Kirripi
a small and fast breed of chicken distinguished by its black plumage, roadrunner-like build, and clutches of 12 eggs per hen.

Golden Salmon
used for caviar, this fish is a beautiful gold color and can grow up to three feet.

CROPS
Changeling Melon
a large and very sweet citrus fruit that can grow up to 2 feet in diameter.

Corn
Changelings have developed 16 separate strains of corn, all of varying ear sizes and colors.

ROYAL PETS
Certain rulers have pets that show their high standing and act as symbols of power.

Storm

Chrysalis's pet thunderbird, Storm is essentially the "family heirloom" of the High Swarm, originally belonging to Metamorphosis himself.

Grimalkin
Refraction's pet Kneazle, a magical feline with a lion-like tail

Digger
Ovi's pet Niffler, a small mole-like beast with a penchant for finding gold.

Marriage

Changeling marriages are simple things. the bride is led up the aisle by her father, brother, or occasionally oldest son. the bride and groom exchange vows, and kiss.

however, that is just the ceremony.

before the wedding, the groom must meet with the bride's father to exchange a "bride price," essentially, "what can I give you and what can you give me?"

gold, jewels, fruit, and animals are common gifts. in the event of a divorce, both parties are repaid the full amount or a rough equivalent

Funerals

Changeling funerals are solemn things. the deceased are lain on an alter and cremated. as this happens, the members of the Swarm light their horns to help guide the spirit into the afterlife. after the burning, the bones are collected. most will be buried, but rulers get their skulls stored in the catacombs beneath the Swarm's castle.

Taking the Throne

future rulers are trained from an early age, but not as strictly as in other races. the elite of a changeling Swarm do not consider themselves better than the common class, and they freely mingle.

each ruler creates their own spell, which the next ruler learns. in this way, the High Swarm's ruler would for example, know every spell from Metamorphosis's advanced forging spell to my mother's improved hypnosis spell. I am currently working on my own creation, a mix of a Fear spell combined with the Hellfire spell.

the ceremony is grand, but short. the future ruler dons purple robes, ascends to the throne, and places on their crown. the previous ruler will take their blade and tap their successor's shoulders, then step down from the throne as the new ruler takes their stead.

THE FLITTERWINGS

Changelings are part of a larger group of insect-winged pony types, known as Flitterwings. all share the same taste in food.

GLAMOURLINGS

Close relatives of the changelings, glamourlings are narcissistic creatures who tend to value their well-being over all others. They are more 'beautiful' than changelings; with lithe and sleek white bodies. What sets them the most apart is their abilities. While Changelings can change their own forms, the glamourlings use 'illusions' to project hallucinations over those they have a grudge against, confounding them in their memories and tormenting them without ever getting their hooves dirty. their leader is known as the Shahbanu, or "Queen of queens." (pictured)

They also are huge lovers of 'mirrors', hence their affinity for crystals and polished rocks and sparkling minerals. The 'Crystalline Raj' is an isolationist nation and has thus far been keen to avoid entangling itself with much of Equestria.

MERROW

the Merrow, or sea changelings, are less adept shape-shifters than their land-dwelling cousins, and cannot truly fly, though their wings give them a gliding distance of up to a mile.

Merrow are found in the Emerald Waters, near the country of Concordia, and are ruled by Queen Pistol (shown)

BUMBLEPUFF

Small members of the changeling family (a little smaller than a normal pony foal), Bumblepuffs are more closely related to changelings than their similarly-sized (but still smaller) relatives, the breezies.

If Breezies are considered "cute", Bumblepuffs are downright ADORABLE. Primarily pacifists, Bumblepuffs collect love & affection via nuzzling and snuggling against "targets". Bumblepuffs also breed and raise bees to collect honey.

Like changelings, Bumblepuffs organize themselves into monarchies under a single ruler. Unlike the Breezies, Bumblepuffs are sedentary, and their stocky bodies are more cold-resistant than the average Breezy's. While omnivorous, they lean more towards a herbivorous diet when not collecting positive emotions.

KISHI

Natives of Zebrican mountain forests, the kishi live in nomadic, tribal communities. they are typical of changeling relatives, changing shape, taking a little love, and moving on.

HULDRE

found throughout northern Stirrope and southern Mustikk, the Huldre cannot shape-shift, but can turn invisible. "Common" Huldre cannot fly.

BORI

Bori are native to Zebrica. they are imperfect shape-shifters, as their eyes always stay the same.

DOPPELGANGER

Flightless, the Doppelgangers are mostly nocturnal, and change shape without the flashy effects most shape-changing equines have.

PSEUDOCHANGELING

Compare wasps to honeybees and you have a relatively good idea on what these beings are compared to normal changelings.

They form groups called Nests of roughly 100-strong underground, led by a queen, usually next to a town or small city, in order to feed off love and positive emotions, such as joy. They stand about roughly the height of a pony, and they have clear, dragonfly-like wings on their backs. However, instead of a shell on the back, they have moth or bumblebee-like hair.

There are four roles in a pseudochangeling Nest: guards, workers, gatherers, and queens; all of which are important to the security of the hive.

Gatherers are the most numerous in a Nest, generally amounting to about half of the population. They go out into the world and transform themselves into ponies to gather positive emotions, usually choosing to gather emotional radiation rather than drain others by force, like most modern changeling Swarms. They usually gather their emotions by seeking employment in a career that would normally elicit joy, love, or gratitude; psychologist, baker, and nanny are all examples of the jobs they take. In order to make themselves more believable as ponies, each one practices a special talent from a young age, sometimes even posing as fillies and colts when young to attend school!

Workers are responsible for the upkeep and expansion of the Nest, in addition to ensuring the safe and proper storage of collected love. They are generally bulkier than either workers or soldiers, because they are the main source of physical labor in the Nest. The workers are also responsible for distilling the emotions that the gatherers bring into concentrated emotional essence. Some clever queens capitalize on this; they sell any excess essence they have on the market to earn money, as the liquified feelings magnify the effectiveness of certain potions.

Every member of a pseudochangeling Nest occasionally has to do guard duty over the vital areas of the Nest. Those whose main career is guarding, though, amount to roughly 10% the population. These individuals act as the leaders in combat, being the field commanders of the Nest.

Pseudochangeling queens are the leaders, responsible for overseeing every aspect of the Nest. They possess power roughly equivalent to a gifted unicorn or pegasus, they are not quite as physically or magically able as other queens. The queen, though, is generally much smarter than the rest of the others in her Nest, and possesses an IQ of roughly 30 above average; in addition to towering over her subjects. There is only one ruling queen in a Nest at any given time.
Transforming is also harder to do, requiring more energy to maintain and form a disguise, although they have the unique trait of being able to hold a disguise after being forcibly knocked out. In addition, it also is not uncommon for these creatures to live away from the hive and only return to give up their emotional payload.

Desert Pseudochangeling

Located in the deserts of Equestria, these secretive and odd equines comes out at dusk, rarely coming out during the day. An average worker of the Nest does not have any wings and thus cannot fly or transform into a Pegasus; rather, in place of a carapace they have a storage area to store water and emotional energy, regurgitating the water to gain the gratitude of a dehydrated and delirious pony, or the energy to aid another starving pseudochangeling. They have a secondary membrane to protect their sensitive eyes from dust and sand. The old “desert oasis with beautiful mares” illusion is a favorite trick of theirs.

They make Nests located deep underground, with sub-branches located all around the desert. Within each Nest is a complex system of drainage tracts and water mains, with the sole purpose of collecting water in the rare event of a rainstorm. The high concentration of moisture generally makes it possible to grow crops more easily near the Nest.

SHADOW DOPPELGANGER

Native to Neighpon, these changeling relatives (also known as Harionago, Hashihime, Betobeto-san, Kubikajiri, Kuchisake-onna, Nurarihyon, Obake, Shikome, Yomotsu-shikome, or Yōsei) are expert shapeshifters, perhaps the best within the changeling family. This, coupled with their vocal mimicry, means that it is nearly impossible to distinguish one when disguised.

They are fond of pranks, but are otherwise enigmatic and mysterious.

The Breezies are coming

2634537

Minor question, would changelings do anything to differentiate themselves among their own kind, or are differences between their natural forms within the same swarm more pronounced than they appear to non-changelings?

3014601 more pronounced, and ponies/others who spend a lot of time around them begin to notice them

3014703

What happens to "victims" lured to a hive, for swarms using that method?

Are they made to hallucinate and confer positive emotions to the changelings?

How effective is that method, and are they typically released afterwards, or do they not survive?

3015507 hallucinations for aggressive subjects, simple explanation for calm subjects, release for polite ones who say "no thanks".

the actual feeding process doesn't drain life energy, and a little goes a long way. a cup of love is enough to sustain a changeling for about 3 days.

3015543

How does the feeding process work exactly?

It seems unlikely for most ponies to bear a strong love for a stranger who had a hand in deceiving them: is the feeling somehow induced, or does it access love they hold for other things?
____________________________________

Are any Changelings more open about who they are among other races, or is it a firm tradition to keep true identities secret outside the swarm?

For that matter, how many other communities knowingly accept Changelings?
____________________________________

What do Changelings and Psuedochangelings think of each other, and how are public relations between the swarms?
____________________________________

Do any Changelings actively hunt Enslavers?

Do Changelings have a way of detecting another Changeling, such as an Enslaver, masquerading as a member of their swarm short of a Queen?

3015749 It's magic. changelings absorb positive emotions from the air.

the love doesn't have to be towards the changeling itself. often, conversation about loved ones is the method used.

Changelings tend to be open to those who know about them

Ponyville, Manehattan, Cloudsdale, Las Pegasus, and several others.

pseudos and changelings get along well, and as for changeling Swarms...

Okay, basically, Chrysalis controls an Empire consisting of several swarms. the Kuwagata Swarm controls a smaller empire, and the rest, like the three northern swarms, aren't really affiliated.

no, and changelings realize not all Enslavers are evil

and not short of a spell/interrogation

3015906

On Enslavers, I was just wondering about what efforts would be made after the signs of an Enslaver attack are spotted.

2965067

Looking forward to Breezies information.

3015970 efforts are made to find and incarcerate the Enslaver. therapy is applied to the "Slaves", and they eventually recover. the enslaver is either let off with a warning, kept indefinitely in the dungeons, or is put in a public execution, usually via a large arena beast

See that link to "Changeling relatives"?

3016056
Do towns for symbiotic relations with local changeling settlements? Protection for love? If so, what's the history that made it happen?

3163094 A good example would be in my Fic Peace at Last, where, following a period of nearly an entire year, a changeling settlement managed to successfully integrate outside Ponyville's outskirts.

Ponyville, not having an organized defense force, gets a portion of the royal changeling army, and the changelings get a free supply of ambient positive emotions, along with a good supply Apple Family Cider.

Usually such agreements happen in large cities, however.

This is a typical changeling family residing in Six Points, Manehattan. they aren't affiliated with any Swarm, and live fairly normal lives.

An entry on changeling cults and subfactions?

3812000 Changeling religion is uniform, and the few who don't worship Kami are atheist. they have subfactions in the same way ponies do.

3812221 I still think changelings that are passionate about shapeshifting is a good idea

3812244 of course! changeling theater is very common in their homeland of Neighpon.

3812353 one more question: what do you envision the council of seven to be like? Are they a council of elders, elected officials or more along the lines of the paragons of the klaxxi?

3813110 elected except for the head of the council, who serves for life

3813112 so is head of the council inherited or is it a spiritual calling?

3815005 spiritual

3815167

I see that the ability to create cocoons or chrysalises (chrysali? Eh...) has not been explained here. What, exactly, does it do to the "inhabitants," (aside from keep them asleep/comatose,) and how are they generated? For curiosity's sake. (Caldoric would ask, himself, but he's a little busy repairing one of the partical accelerators on sub-level three after the thaumic paintball incident...)

5176952 eh, the cocoons are made of changeling "goo", which is basically a type of magic. it has no real effect other than varying levels of stickiness, and the cocoons are normally used as last-minute sleeping bags more than anything else

5176959

Ah. 'K. I read a fic on here where some stallion named "Caramel" joined a hive, (Like, literally became a changeling, sorta,) and the goop the cocoon was made of was secreted from glands in the forelegs.

PS, Caldoric doesn't like folks asking him about changelings. Seems he had a bad run-in with a bunch a while back, on Terra-1, and he keeps muttering something about visorak being involved.

5176959

Ok, I just showed him said fic, and he had a major nervous breakdown. Last I saw, he was running pell-mell towards the Gate Room. Better go disable the self-destruct before he does anything stupid...