On Times They are a Changeling · 6:25am Aug 21st, 2016
Well being a writer of changeling fanfiction I figured a little review/discussion of the new episode would be well, fun to do heh. So here are my thoughts and the like on it. So WARNING: Spoilers are obviously ahead so if you haven't seen the episode yet, ye have been warned.
First- CHANGELINGS HATCH FROM EGGS IS NOW CANON! So yay for that. :D And aren't the little hatchlings just sooooo cute! 
Might not be exactly how I imagined for my own Long Live the Queen story headcanon (mine being more ponylike when hatched than caterpillar like) but not a huge break from my fanon. Still SOOOO ADORABLE! 
And WOW were they ever TINY compared to our dear Changeling Queen.
Second- I like how the voices aren't all the 'double-voice' kind of thing we see Queen Chrysalis having as that fits with my fanon. (I haven't really 'said' it, but basically her voice we hear in the Canterlot Wedding episode, where it has that echoing like thing going? I count that as being what her voice sounds like when both 'souls/spirits/entities/what have you' are 'speaking' at the same time, and pretty much being the only time the 'old' one can be heard by others. So YAY for that!
Third- We have now seen that Changelings can take the form of other creatures besides ponies, (or at least dragons, but one can assume if they can change into ponies AND dragons, they can change into pretty much anything. Baby dragons (or at least Spike) being around the same size as Ponies sticking with some of my own theories too. As in, things around the same size a changeling is they have little to no problem becoming, while bigger things, like manticores/buffalo/yaks/griffons/dragons take a lot more love energy. (And since this hasn't been proven wrong yet, it still works! 
Fourth- Love=Food now canon as well. We have no confirmation yet if they need regular food to survive as well, but perhaps that will come in time. (Or if not could always just say they eat regular food to blend in or they like the taste.)
Fifth- From the looks of things, things are being confirmed against there being such a thing for them as a hive mind or telepathy. Nothing fully confirmed yet, but the evidence seems to be growing. (Or it could just be Thorax having left the hive just doesn't have the connection anymore.) Though I am happy to see that they all seem able to have their own personalities and not just be tied to what their Queen wants them to think/do.
Sixth- Well we still don't know much about the changeling gender ratio or if Queen Chrysalis is the only female/only one able to lay eggs (but it would seem from the flashback that Thorax and his clutchmates are likely all her children). Being Thorax is obviously male, all the drones could possibly be male but until this is confirmed it doesn't break my fanon! (So good old Phengaris, Nemoria, Acronicta and all my other female changelings are safe. ) For now at least, hopefully we can learn more in future episodes, especially if Thorax becomes a recurring character. (I really REALLY hope he does!)
Seventh- Guess this kind of goes with the they can change into anything one but eh making it one of its own. So it seems Thorax was the rock after all. Hmm crazy coincidence but hey works I guess. Just brings up so many possibilities and heh being a Pokemon fan reminds me of Ditto. (Of course) guess changelings are the Ditto's of the Pony world. (Though it seems they do it 'better' than what has been seen of Ditto changing into inanimate objects. This raises a whole load of interesting opportunities for stories, both good and bad. *I can see a number of 'actually changing into a sex toy' kind of clop-fics popping up for one. *cough* though no, I don't think I will go that way with any future clopfics I might do. No matter how... interesting? it might be? 
*cough*)
Eighth- Wow I have a lot of points to make heh. Well anyway, it would seem the idea of a 'changeling detection spell' could be debunked, since nopony used one on Twilight/Spike/Starlight to see if they were who they said they were, but used Cadence and Twilight's little dance to prove it. Of course, this could just be that they didn't want to use the spell on Twilight as it can hurt the pony it is cast on as it tries to change a changeling back, but I would assume the former more so than the latter. Thankfully, this doesn't change 'too' much of what I have planned for the future of LLtQ. A few minor details but I can work with that. Unless one counts the goo Zecora uses in the alternate timeline, but that doesn't necessarily exist in the normal timeline.
Ninth- With how Thorax reacted, talking of his feralness, it seems the ability to feed on love by ambient means can now be canon. This still hasn't changed anything in LLtQ either, as this very thing will come up later on why none of my changelings seem to be able to do so. (Probably MUCH later, but it will come up!) But it is an interesting way to go about it. And makes one wonder why it suddenly stopped later on in the episode? Did he somehow gain enough love to be able to control it? Seems doubtful as right after being 'forced' from his disguise by the love surrounding Flurry Heart he was ultimately rejected, even by Spike, who was his only friend.
So, does this change anything for my own fanon? Possibly. I might go back and have Citheronia be born more of a pupa as well as her hatchmates. But if not well, I don't feel it is a huge enough thing to have to worry about. After all, that is where creativity comes in right? That and that part being written before this episode aired well... it could go either way. What would you all like to see with it? Should I go back and fix it to be more canon? Probably wouldn't change much, heh maybe Shiny would find her even cuter that way than as basically a tiny changeling like my baby changelings are now. It 'could' change a possible side story/sub-plot I have planned for her though in the future, either in LLtQ or the eventual sequel.
Reading some comments from others in other posts about the episode though, I am now thinking of a way to make what I already have work, in basically the caste of the changeling egg would determine what it looks like upon birth, and of course, how long it takes to actually hatch. The higher the caste, such as Royal, Royal guard, Infiltrators and the like have a longer gestation period and thus skip the 'pupa' form and go straight to 'nymph' which is basically the changeling equivalent of a pony foal. But yeah with this episode my ideas for hatchlings are changing and I will be going about fixing little bits and pieces of this I believe. (Not sure when that will happen though, as I am going CRAZY wanting Shiny, Chryssy and the gang to get to Canterlot already. 
)
BUT now I think I should talk about what I thought of the episode overall, and not just how it affects my fanon. Overall I enjoyed it, certainly was not as disappointed with it as I was with 'Newbie Dash' and all the hype the fandom had for that episode. It was rushed, especially near the end, (I could see it have being done better if allowed to be a two part episode) and the fact that everypony went right out and agreed with Spike after his song(LOVED the song by the way. Glad to hear Spike finally getting his own song and not just being a back-up voice) was not really believable? Twilight sure as she trusts Spike, maybe Cadence as she seems to be able to see a pony's(or Changeling in this case) heart and how they really are, but not so much Shining Armor especially with how much hatred he was still showing earlier in the episode over the mind control spell Chrysalis had on him. I really don't see him being so forgiving so quickly, even if it was just for a 'random changeling' and not Chrysalis. The poor stallion was pretty messed up by what happened to him, and to just forgive and forget about all that over one song? I mean sure it fits with the show, being it is meant as a 'show for young girls' and they would want to promote the idea of friendship and not promote the idea of specism/racism between the two types of equine, but seeing Shining struggle more with the idea would have made it fit his character more.
Then about our little Thorax- even though he seems to be from Chrysalis's hive, there is so much different about him from the others *cough* other than the him being 'nice' part *cough* For one, his colors are slightly different shades of blue, his backplate being more of a dark teal compared to the dark blue of the others, then his changeling magic being blue instead of green, wherein before all changelings have seemed to have green magic. This certainly brings up interesting ideas for me. Do 'good' changelings develop a different color of magic? Something to separate them from the others? Kind of like how red is usually seen as an 'evil' color and 'blue' as a good/neutral color? Though the going into a kind of feral state around so much love was cute. (Hey, it's me we are talking about here, I guess you can say I just think changelings are cute in general and the things they do are cute? (well maaaybe not the whole 'draining a pony of all their love and leaving them a husk' kind of thing, but eh... a lot of the rest? 
)
Also, yay the changeling kingdom is called changeling kingdom... heh... so that works! *cough* okay so one more thing with my story. *cough*
Spike- I really loved how Spike was portrayed in this episode. Proves he can have a good episode where he is one of the main characters. It shows a good mix of fears and courage that overall? I feel is authentically Spike. I think the best example of showing his strengths and weaknesses was when he had trouble standing up to his friends for Thorax, but later was able to get over these fears and stand up for his friend, which was quite the brave move considering how changelings are viewed by ponies!
One more thing I never noticed until now (maybe it is new?) it seems some crystal ponies have different 'eye shine' shapes, example:
And others are just the regular oval:
Could this be a sign of who are the 'natural/born/real' crystal ponies, while ones with oval eye shine shapes are ponies that have moved there since the Crystal Empire came back? I MUST KNOW! (And now feels like she should go back to the Season three premiere to re-watch it and see if her theory is correct and if they had them back then or not...)
Aaand went back and they WERE a different shape:
HOW DID I NOT NOTICE THIS BEFORE???? 
Okay I think that is enough of my rambling about the episode heh. I want to hear what YOU all think now!
Nice... I need to see the episode, though!
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Well I hope you get a chance to see it soon! It is on youtube for now if you watch things on there.
Just saw it!
That voice for Thorax, though... it sounds familiar. Don't know why, though. And I did NOT expect Thorax to sound like that... he sounds like he's sick, in my opinion...
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eeeeh well it could be said he is, since he is starving after all.... but anyway yeah the voice is familiar, forget the voice actor though, All I know is he does a lot of one shot kind of shows?
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True.
And the actor that plays Thorax (he is now on par with Luna for me) is Kyle Rideout...
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Woah, he is the voice of Vinnie in LPS! Both sooo different... (think that is the only other thing I have heard him in) Oooh and The Girl who Leapt Through time.
Hmm is that good, being on Par with Luna?
You just now saw the hexometric shine? XD
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no idea why I never noticed it before, maybe I just wasn't looking close enough at any of the crystal ponies? (Or being he was in disguise I was looking for something odd? ) Either way I can't believe the Crystal Empire's been back for over three seasons and I only just noticed it. I feel so silly for it having taken so long.
Yeeeeeah pretty much.
So have to agree with you on Shinning's getting over his prejudice, also glad to see you get why he is so much, seen a few people who have called him racist just because he is being racist when he does have a very good reason for it.
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Of course. Sure I'm a big changeling fan and of Chrysalis in particular, but I can admit she really messed up poor Shining. He does have good reason to not like changelings and find it a lot harder to forgive and forget than others.
4163072 heybso am I, always been pro changeling and the Queen is best villian hands down so I am glad though you actually look at what happens and down just say he is being an asshole for no reason.
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Yep I'm better than that lol. (And even though this was my first "episode review" kind of thing I wanted to make sure to see things from both sides of the positions?) But yeah she totally is hooves down best villain!
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They're both very cute and lovable, so yeah...
LET THE SHIPPING COMMENCE!
4162936 Remember they also have a shine going on their whole body...
4163198
heh guess I just need to pay better attention to some littler details. :P
Hmmm Thorax and Luna huh? *nods* I can ship that.
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True, that part I did notice,
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LPS?
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Heh Littlest Pet Shop.
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Ah.
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Yep another show I grew up with and was a fan of the original, so when they rebooted it I watched it. Not as good as MLP but still a cute little show.
The really interesting thing is that when Thorax turns into a rock, spike doesn't bump into the air near the rock, he seems to be stopped by the rock with the same force we could expect if he hit a very heavy object (ie the rock doesn't move). This means that not only can changelings become inanimate objects if they want, but their transformation is not an illusion. They are really actually becoming what they transform into.
I like how this episode basically confirmed all of my fannon, and debunked none of it ^^ Heck, Thorax even calls Chrysalis "a evil queen" Implying two things. One, there are multiple queens, two, there are at least three of them, and three there is more than one evil queen (otherwise he would have said the evil queen.).
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And I LOVE that part! I might not have had anyling turn into an inanimate object (yet) but knowing their transformation is real and not just an illusion fits with my theories too! This brings SO many possibilities into play for future stories!
Isn't that awesome? Pretty much the only one it 'kind of' debunked for me is the hatchlings being pupa rather than nymphs or like tiny changelings when born. (Well and how the eggs are taken care of....) Saying kind of as we don't know if all changelings are like that or just drones or what have you. Maybe royals or those of a higher caste are born differently. (Which is what I am going with.) And as for multiple queens, you know I was planning on working that in, so should still work. (Don't ya just love how much fans take from single lines/words/phrases the characters say? Makes things so awesome!) But yesss.... hmmm so there could be one WORSE than Chrysalis! Oooo this brings in a whole new ballgame.
4184821 "What? Evil? I thought I was fairly kind for a changeling Queen. Girls? Hey, girls!? Did we change moral standards for our species again?"
"Oh darn, Sorry Cryss forgot to mail you the update pamphlet."
"I thought so. Sorry pony, I'll work on that."
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Alas poor Chryssy! Thy sisters forgot thee again!