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// Bonus Chapter 2: Changelings 
// Story: Zombies to Ponies in Ten Seconds Flat 
// by 8r0ny 
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Did you know that a changelings size is based on how much responsibility they have?  Yep, the more important they are to the hive, the bigger they are.  That’s ignoring age obviously, a baby queen is smaller than an adult drone.  But something within the changeling physiology made it so they get bigger with importance.  This is why the queen is big, the queens guards are bigger than normal guards, and diggers, medics, and spies are smaller.  There are more accurate names for the changelings but I like the labels I made up.  Lets delve into the levels of the changeling have shall we?

Drones are the most basic of changelings.  When a queen is low on love, just starting her hive, or just wants an abundance of changelings for various tasks, she will lay drones.  They are a jack of all trades, but master of none.  While they require little love, they aren’t great at anything.  They need to be walked through every step of their current task...every time.  There is no instinct in a drone other than ‘protect queen’.  This doesn't mean they can't be upgraded though.  A queen can take a drone and put it in a cocoon like enclosure where, with enough love and time, they can transform into a builder, guard, healer, or infiltrator.  Once transformed, or alternatively born, into their roles, they poses instincts to help them succeed in their tasks.

Builders have two subdivisions, tunneler and constructor.  The names are pretty self explanatory but I’ll expand anyhow.  A tunneler is best at digging and tunneling, so great for underground hives or gathering resources.  They have sharper and harder hooves along with better hearing.  Tunnelers are smaller than the average drone, helping them tunnel around.  A builder has the innards of a concrete mixer, they eat rocks...literally.  These fuckers eat rocks and after a few minutes they spit out black shit that dries to be harder than iron.  It's oddly satisfying to watch.  They construct the hives above ground and sure up the tunnels of underground hives.  They are larger than tunnelers but smaller than guards.  Probably because they swallowed a jackhammer or something.

Guards guard things.  They are organized much like any other military...but any superior officer is replaced with the queen, and they only protect the queen.  There are Royal Guards, they protect the queen the most, and other guards that also protect the queen but from further away.  Everything revolves around the queen if you haven't noticed.  Guards are the largest of the types of changelings and this mostly has to do with their thick armor.

Healers are the doctors of the changelings.  But only go to them if you’re missing a limb, or if you’re the queen.  All changelings possess the ability to make a chemical that heals small wounds, but healers actually utilize magic.  Yah, the horns on their heads are more than decorative.  There are royal healers, reserved for the queen, and other healers that heal normal changelings...and sometimes the queen.  They are the same size as drones, but their horns are more ornate and slightly larger.

Finally we have infiltrators.  They are the most taxing to lay and feed.  And that's weird because without them it’s really hard to get love to feed the hive.  So you kinda need a jump start or you will be controlling a drone to get love.  These guys have the most going on cognitively because they are dealing with ponies.  They can't seem like zombies, so they are almost like talking with a normal person.  But most of their intelligence comes from mimicry.  So like wine, they get better with age.  They are also the same size as an average drone as well as a pony.

Now while you think this is all of the categories, it isn’t.  The next one cost even more to maintain and are reserved for a queen with an abundance of love.  There are specialty changelings that are born to do one specific task.  These range from cooks, to cleaners, to changelings holding big fan leafs and fanning the queen.  The possibilities are endless.

Now we thought this was it, but apparently there is one more, newly discovered, changeling.  A super drone.  Turns out this is what Chloris has, a group of em.  They are completely cognitive changelings with as much personality and free will as a pony.  They are fiercely loyal though, so there aren’t any changelings leaving the hive or disobeying the queen.  We aren’t sure how you get them, or why they aren't eating all the love ever, but that's what we’re dealing with.  Quite frankly, I like em like this.  They can learn how to be diggers and guards and whatnot, but they retain their changeling-ity?  They keep their personalities is what I’m trying to say.

Back to this whole size thing.  Chloris keeps growing as she matures...but I’m also growing.  She always stays just a few inches shorter than me.  My looks are changing as well, I’m getting more...hot?  No that's not it, I just look more muscular even though I don’t work out, sleeker even though I don’t eat differently, my eyes have changed into the same style as Chloris’, and my horn has grown.  I guess her making me king put my changeling parts into overdrive.  This doesn't affect my human form obviously, because that's just a facade, but it’s interesting all the same.