World Building part 3, inspiration · 5:23pm Mar 29th, 2020
Real life happened... and is still happening.
oh well
So I was on the group about changelings and Chrysalis and I was struck with inspiration on how to set my world up. The things I want is ponyfinder changelings to be mlpfim changelings and a reason for the ponies to be where they are and in the reduced numbers I envision. I feel I have just what I need...
What did I have?
Much like Equestria, in its founding, they were running from an apocalypse. Four sister princesses (each representing a season) led a group of ponies up to the current land they are in and founded a kingdom. At this singular city the princesses would take turns sitting on the throne, one per season. When they weren't ruling they had a small 'summer home' that they would go to that was maybe a days walk/fly.
Mechanics
For those of you who play Dungeons and Dragons (or my preferred pathfinder) it is farther than you think. A normal human can only go 30ft per move action. The average pony can go 40ft per round, those that can't can typically fly or swim. In Pathfinder the core rulebook states that a human can travel about twenty four miles a day which is about two hexes in length. Of course this was before hex maps became a thing so lets instead go to Ultimate Campaign exploration rules (which still requires some input from core rule book).
The exploration ruleset states that a creature that moves at 30ft can move through a hex in five hours which means that a human is going to have two hours or forced march each day to travel two hexes. This would normally add up but they applied a modifier for exploration being trackless which is an easy to fix loophole. Which means they are moving 2.25 miles an hour instead of the default 3 miles an hour. Still some rounding in there by the developers but the math checks out better than before.
What does this mean? That a pony can still go two hexes in a day and anything that flies can do the same over flat terrain. A single empty hex between each of the population centers from the capital. A barbarian pegasi with dashing flyer feat and the proper archetype can make the trip in under two and a half hours; Faster still if they hustle. For the record at the start it is a central 'village' with four 'thorps' around it.
What was this mysterious calamity? I don't know. Yep, a mystery even for me. That can do if we never interact with anything from the target site. But that wasn't to be for I had the Changelings being created from that and harassing the ponies out of hunger and primal need. I needed something better than that with a central conflict revolving around it.
And I have that better thing... 
First thing I need to do is define changelings.
Back in season 2 what did we know? That they are black with a withered form. They could change shape. Used a strange green gunk to trap ponies. Could feed on emotions. Was it really love? Or did they just call it that knowing no other word that could fit? Why does Chrysalis look the most like a pony out of all of them? So many questions and so much unknown has led to a great many early changeling fics going to bizarre directions now that some of these answers are given.
But lets try and quantify them for Pathfinder
For that we need their origin. But we are not given such a thing in the show and thus falling back onto the comics won't invalidate the show's cannon. In My Little Pony: FIENDship is Magic Issue #5 we get that and more. The wiki sums it up; It is also revealed that the original changelings were born from a carnivorous plant that grew from a rotten acorn that fell into a magic pond under a cemetery. They were inadvertently released by Star Swirl the Bearded, who nailed a warning sign to the plant to keep others away, only to create a crack from which the changelings emerged.
so... "A wizard did it" 
What that short description doesn't tell you is that her crown is not a physical part of her head. She created it from another crown. Also one ruler took her manipulation too far and treated her like a marefriend even as she drained him... and called her "Snookums". It is heavily implied that she came from that tree. We never see her exit the tree but someling with her style of eyes was depicted looking out the tree. She, and her hive, are imprisoned in a volcano. No food, no nest, and no eggs.
(of course some of this is told by Chrysalis so inaccurate narrator might be to blame)
What do we have?
- That changelings are partially undead (vampires manage bearing children all the time, nothing new about half undead)
- That changelings will never die of old age or are capable of out living normal ponies by a really large margin. (still not unusual for part undead to be this way. With their raider mentality they are likely breeding to replace loses and not to continue the race. A thing they didn't need to do if they had no casualties.)
Their form stems from the bugs the plant ate. I did not see any graves so I do not see where the cemetery comes from but if a pony corpse was in the pond that would be why they are pony bugs.
So far so good... building on that...
- Their transformation into the 'glitterbugs' is them getting rid of the necromantic energies and becoming living creatures in every sense of the word. More or less you could say they are revived.
- Their method of feeding is not love so much as "positive energy" which is something most undead also do. Now that they are alive they share love in the same way as anyone else. Their biology (and mortality) coming fully back online.
- Cadence would still technically be 'princess of love'. In the bible it is once said that "hatred is murder of/in the heart" which means that love = life (or positive energy) and hatred = death (or negative energy)
All that and I still have not invalidated the cannon (it just requires more thinking that Hasbro figured the target demograph couldn't do) and helped quantify changelings in a role playing game.
So we have necromatic bugs. I'll release their race build today or tomorrow along with Alicorns.
Back to the setting and where the inspiration took me...
The calamity was Grogar! 
The details are not set but he happened and the Queen, mother of the other four alicorns, sent her daughters south with some refugees. Great battle ensues. Mother dies (guess what she got turned into?) and Grogar is not seen again by the living and the old kingdom has become a Necropolis of Ice and death. Windigoes, changelings and other more evil things now walk the old lands. Ponies are scattered in every direction but those going south will still have the protection of the crown.
What happened to Grogar? I will not say.
Autumn and Winter (the two warrior-ish princesses) are readying the kingdom for when Grogar comes to the south to finish the job.
I am thinking a ten year gap. Between Grogar attacking and the start of any story and/or campaign.
