Young Nictis had one dream: to serve his hive by becoming an Infiltrator, the most vital and vaunted role a changeling could aspire to. To hide in plain sight among the other species, blending in, while gathering the vital emotional energies that fueled his people. Few were deemed worthy of the dangerous job. He was one of the few nymphs selected for training, in the hopes that one of them would develop the skills needed to be entrusted with such a treacherous task.

But when a training expedition ends in tragedy, Nictis finds himself thrust into the role not to serve his hive and people, but to preserve his own life. Separated from the hive, alone, he must put what little training he has to the test. He must blend in with the hive's greatest source of food, and its most dangerous enemy: the ponies of Equestria.

(This story takes place in the same continuity as Fragments, but stands on its own. Reading that story isn't necessary for this one.)

TV Tropes page

Book cover art by viwrastupr

You remember Canterlot. You remember the taste of victory. Across a thousand years and a hundred lives, it was the greatest joy you had ever felt.

And then, in a flash of heat and unbearable light, it ended.

Now you are alone. The rest of your kind are dead or scattered, and you cannot hear their thoughts.

There is a void inside you. A gnawing, endless hunger you cannot escape. It is killing you.

You need love to survive, but there is none of that here. Not for you. You can only steal it from them, these ponies for whom we are hungry.

[My entry in and winner of the "Most Dangerous Game" contest."]

While out on a cutie mark crusade, the Crusaders happen upon a lone changeling on the edges of the Everfree Forest. After a scuffle the changeling finds itself injured and trapped in Ponyville. Seeing an opportunity to earn their cutie marks the girls take the changeling in, planning to teach it about Equestria.

However what they don't know is the changeling is actually the Commander to the Changeling Empire, and he has his own plans in mind.

But soon events play out for the four as they endure the aftermath of the Canterlot Invasion, and perhaps toughest of all: Each other. Lessons are learned and stories are shared between one another, leading the changeling to question its motives, and itself. Leading it to ask the biggest question of all:

"Can creatures that's special talent is to change its appearance, change in other ways...?"

Novel Tale is an author that's been living in Canterlot for about ten years now. That's a pretty good track record for a changeling. He's even included a changeling character in his latest book, and his fans have been loving his take on such an obscure mythological creature, especially his biggest fan, Twilight Sparkle. Things are looking up!

Then an army of changelings from another hive attacks Canterlot.

Now all of ponykind knows that changelings are real, and his readers are sure to realize that the changeling in his book was too similar to the real thing to have just been based on a myth...

earlier chapters have been revised as of 7/19/13 to be more inline quality wise with the later chapters.

Featured on EQD 10/5/13!

Let it be known that there will be extensive changeling world building in the chapters to come.

cover image courtesy of ackdari.

Much thanks to Nyerguds for proofreading and to all my fellow tropers on the TvTropes pony fanfiction thread for helping me develop this from a vague idea into an actual story.

Four days after the invasion three changelings strive to survive in the sewers of Canterlot. Their kind is gone, and they have no idea how, or whether there are any changelings left from their army. With the likely possibility that their hive now tries to select its new leader in a vicious battle, the trio of drones decide to stay away from home for a while. They plan to return when they have a higher chance of survival in their own home, than in Equestria, where they are surrounded by enemies. But for now the changelings’ chance to stay alive lies in a quiet little village near the great city of Canterlot.

Cover art by the Great and Powerful Fantos
Some of the chapters were pre-read byBeerforce, goddamnAnimalPlanet and Zenith042.

One month has passed since Queen Chrysalis and the changelings made peace with the ponies of Equestria, but all is far from well. Hatred and suspicion run high on both sides, and several groups of ponies have begun to organize themselves in order to drive the changelings out of Equestria and back into the Badlands. Add in the return of an old enemy looking to break the fragile harmony by any means necessary, and the two races find themselves trapped between a rock and a hard place with no easy way out.

All Mirror wants is for the hatred to end. As a single changeling, she knows that she cannot change anything on her own and must rely on her Queen, swarm, and friends to help change Equestria for the better. But with so many factors working to ruin any chance of harmony and friendship between the two races, is peace truly meant to last?

A sequel story to Smoke and Mirrors. Many thanks to Amethyst Hope for the amazing cover art!

The changeling invasion of Ponyville and the events preceding it were witnessed by many. However, how and why did it happen? Who were the key players involved? Through the eyes of General Carbon, High-General Double, and even Queen Chrysalis herself, these questions and more shall be answered in a series of tales that go as far back as the first changelings and the tragedy that created them...

A side-story compilation companion to Smoke and Mirrors.

"I stood before the doors to Princess Celestia’s private chambers, just as I had so many times before, and waited. I’ve always been a nervous mare before our meetings, wondering if what I had done measured up to her expectations. But I had never before entered those rooms with the blood of another being on my hooves. I swallowed, dreading what I would discover behind those doors."

Twilight faces more than she bargained for when a resort island turns out very different from her expectations, and she must make a decision that will forever change how she sees herself.

In the middle of the night, Princess Cadence and her husband are woken by the news that a Changeling drone has been captured. The creature is alone and unaggressive, showing no wish to attack or change shape. Its fate is decided without much difficulty--as an obvious reject of the Swarm and a threat to Cadence's people, it must be destroyed.
But this is no ordinary drone. It can speak, and appears to be separate from the hive mind of the Swarm. It claims to have been sent as an ambassador--Chrysalis, queen of the Changelings, wants to forge an alliance with Cadence's kingdom.
But why now? Why send this strangely intelligent drone? And how will Cadence's people react to learning that their rulers are harboring a Changeling?

WARNING: Contains an OC, much headcanon speculation, and possibly violence/gore further in.

(Image courtesy of the talented Hero, my good friend and artist.)

Meet Cyr. He's one of the last of his breed: A Changeling Behemoth, living battering rams that are selected and mutated from the worker caste of the Hive. Aged from centuries of labor and service to his Queen, he grows disgusted and weary of the Changeling's plots and malevolent attempts to feed on love, especially after his capture during the Canterlot wedding. Thus begins a new (and possibly more enjoyable) chapter of his existence.