Here it is - the first official story post for this group. The following are contained within:

• The broad timeline, which all authors involved must adhere to. These are the events that happen no matter what.
• More specific details, things that will help answer any questions, as well as hopefully give authors something to work with.
• Extra notes on certain things, basically anything that I don't feel is explained well enough, or plain not explained at all.

This thread shall also become the hub for all things pertaining to Changeling Prologue, Part I. Questions, comments, concerns about anything at all should be posted here. So, without further ado, let's get this party started.

Broad Timeline of Events

Wednesday, January 2nd, 1007
Queen Pharondynt, ruler of the Mephisto Hive, passes away at the age of 116

Thursday, January 3rd, 1007
Chrysalis, Pharondynt's only offspring, officially becomes the new queen of the Mephisto Hive.

Saturday, January 12th, 1007 — Tuesday, January 15th, 1007
• Some Changelings begin to question how Chrysalis truly came to power, but the still-grieving queen is quick to silence them, planning to make examples out of their deaths.
• As the executions occur, a small group of Changelings band together, calling themselves the Changeling Warriors for the Future of Mephisto (C.W.F.M.), and vowing to one day end Chrysalis' rule before she winds up killing them all.

Wednesday, February 6th, 1007
Seeking to ensure further control and stability within her hive, Chrysalis goes about separating all of Mephisto's population into castes, which are as follows: the Eta, the Gamma, the Zeta, and the Alpha.

Throughout the rest of the year, Chrysalis settles into her new position, maintaining order within her hive. Meanwhile though, in secret, the C.W.F.M. are amassing followers and stockpiling supplies, all the while plotting the young queen's demise.

More In-Depth Timeline:

Chrysalis, early in the year 1007 of the New Equestrain Age, became the newest ruler of the Mephisto Hive, which layed hidden some thirty miles off the edge of the great nation of Equestria. Control of Mephisto passed to her after the unfortunate passing of her mother, Queen Phandorynt, at the age of one-hundred and sixteen. Although the new queen would take some time to mourn her loss (as any child would their parent), she knew then that her sole duty and responsibility was now the continuation of her ever-expanding hive.

First, Queen Chrysalis sought to bring order back to Mephisto, for every creature seemed to be reeling after the sudden loss of Phandorynt. Some would blame Chrysalis herself, speculating that she had finally become fed up with the length of her mother's rule, and had decided to take the throne by force; the most outspoken of these thinkers were, of course, executed publicly, serving as nothing more than an example that such awful thinking would not be accepted under her rule. (This would, however, prove to be a mistake for the queen, as some would come to view this as an act of over-aggression towards those opposed to her rule, which would eventually lead to a small underground group of rebels).

Secondly, after seemingly securing the trust and respect of Mephisto, she then needed to figure out a way to keep her hive in check, and, eventually, the queen believed that she had figured things out. As such, she set about enacting the first of several waves of changes to the inner-workings of Mephisto.

Chrysalis would first seek out the most intelligent amongst her many people, dubbing them the Eta. Within them, she would bestow the all important task of gathering any and all information Mephisto currently had, compiling it, and then seeking out more, stating that a hive with its head truly buried in the dirt would not be able to survive for long on its own. Then she gathered the strongest, dubbing them the Gamma, and giving them the task of protecting the most important sections of the hive, such as the entrance (thankfully though, it would appear to be non-existent to most every outsider), or her private chambers. After that would come the rest of Mephisto, the majority of the hive, whom the queen declared were the Zeta, and would fill any occupation not already filled by either the Eta or Gamma.

Finally though, at the end of everything else, Chrysalis would get to work in finding a single Changeling able enough to take up what she figured would be the most important and tasking occupation of them all: being her second-in-command. She set out, searching for the smartest Gamma, the strongest Eta, and the most fiercely loyal Zeta, finally coming across a perfect specimen - the purest mix of all three castes. Dubbed "Alpha One", this special Changeling would answer only to the queen herself.

Extra Notes:

Changeling Lifespan

In this story, at least, an average Changeling can live for around sixty to seventy years; this can, however, potentially double if a Changeling is able to tap in to a good, strong source of love and energy.

Just to Clarify:

The year 1007 is very much Chrysalis settling into her role as a leader. For example, these castes that she creates are very much early ideas, rough sketches of what they could one day be. Also, though C.W.F.M. are less active than they will be in 1008, they are still very much a presence in the background.

And there you all have it, some information regarding the first section of this collaborative story. This section in particular could serve as a very good starting point for anybody that might want to follow a character throughout the conflict as a whole, or simply for somebody who wishes to implement their own ways of keeping a large population in check.

Please, again, keep all discussion related to this section of the story in this thread, and don't hesitate to ask me to clarify or answer anything. So now let's all get to writing, and remember to have fun doing it!

Also, I know this is not a whole lot to start with, but trust me - it will get bigger as we go on.

EDIT 12-15-15: Please shoot me a quick synopsis of what you are writing. I will add it to a new section of this post so other people can see and hopefully not steal that same perfect idea.

4919684 Alright, this seems interesting. I think I already have an idea for my branch of this story. Hopefully I can make it something interesting for this story.

4921937

I'm positive that whatever you put forward will be interesting, man.

4922238 thanks. Should we tell you what our story is about so no one else does the same thing?

4922396

Actually, yeah. That sounds like a pretty good idea. Then I'll update the main post with that information, too.

4923245 Cool. Should we tell you our ideas in this forum post or are you gonna make another one or are you going to ask via pm?

4923496

If you'd like to send it through a PM, that's fine by me. Please just do it however you'd like/prefer.

4923796 hey, did you get my story idea pm? I'm curious as to what you think of it?