• Published 29th Dec 2012
  • 996 Views, 154 Comments

Development of the Changeling Territories - MoldyShishkabob



What happened before and after the Battle of Canterlot? How has changeling societies changed of the year that followed? How about I answer these questions.

  • ...
5
 154
 996

Colonies

Chapter II: Colonies in Equestria and Beyond

Throughout the entirety of Equestria, us changelings hide from ponies; our colonies are in pretty much every corner of the map that is shown. There are also a couple colonies that even take refuge in the Gryphon Empire across the eastern sea (going south into dragon claimed areas is a terrible idea, let's face it). There a total of six Equestrian colonies and the two in Terra Grypium (eastern continent of the Gryphons), Emerald Grove in the Hayseed Swamps, Ruby Oasis in the San Palomino Desert, Amethyst Cliffs in Galloping Gorge, Diamond Palace in the Frozen North, Aquamarine Domain in Neighagra Falls, and Sapphire Peak on Foal Mountain. (I still can't believe we use the pony's names. I mean, what's wrong with Flankfurt Falls?* It's an appropriate name right?)

Because we have already discussed our colony (Emerald Grove), it would be kinda pointless to talk about it again. However we shall discuss the Hayseed Swamps instead. The Hayseed Swamps are composed of two main areas, the entrance, which is a lush forested area, and the swamps, which are home to many large predators such as hydras. The entrance is home to many species common to the rest of Equestria, such as oaks, maples, rabbits, and deer. It is a beautiful sight to behold from the outside and ponies prefer to preserve such a naturally fabulous forest. However, like a bright coloration on a poisonous frog, it is a warning to outsiders of the swamps that are beyond the forest. The swamps are, as stated before, home to many dangerous predators. The vegetation are difficult to find and are either under the murky waters or are high above in the trees. There are also several large clusters of "gemstone trees" that are scattered around the waters. It has been theorized that the predators are drawn to the powerful magics that are stored these trees. I think that the predators think that the trees are "precious". At least, that's what I think they would say…

The trees are actually artifacts from long ago when a tribe of unicorns were banished to these swamps. They decided to worship false gods (rather than Lauren Faust, what silly fillies…) and stored magical energy inside trees every day. Each individual had one tree which was to be used only by them; to store your energy in another's tree was punishable by death. How do we changelings know this? Apparently, they thought ahead and wrote manuscripts concerning their practices (how come most ancient civilizations never do that…?) and what they mean. I wish that I could go back in time to shake their hooves for making my job easier, but that's just me.

The Ruby Oasis is ruled by King Starshine, a proud, and respected warrior among all changelings. The Oasis's structure is mainly militaristic and built to optimize defense and sacrifices appearance for practicality. Every changeling in the city has military experience and is a capable warrior willing to take up arms when a fight breaks out. The King himself leads every battle and watches over every business meeting in the city. The entire colony works as one huge being with every changeling having multiple important purposes within the system. It is the closest example to the pony's rumors of changeling society (or supposed lack thereof). Imagine that, a rumor was actually a half-truth!

The San Palomino is a huge, dry biome known for it's notorious heat and giant scorpios. Few vegetation are capable of growing in the challenging temperatures of the area, but those that manage to have deep root systems to collect as much cool water and minerals as possible. They also have very few leaves (is sunlight hard to find in a desert?) and usually keep their stomata closed during the day to conserve as much water as possible; they preform all necessary actions during the night to maximize lifespan.

Very few animals live in the San Palomino, and those that do have very distinct niches to compensate for the treacherous conditions. Horseshoe geckos, named for their small size, make their homes between crevices and rocks around the area during the scorching day, and hunt for small bugs and plants during the cool night for meals. Giant Scorpios, immense constellation creatures, are the keystone predators of the area. To give an idea of their size, they could swallow a changeling whole is a single swallow! Yikes… Scorpios also appear to have some sort of "system" for territory patrol: many border the outside areas of the San Palomino to attack anything (or anyone) stupid enough to venture into the desert while few patrol the insides of the sands. Thankfully, the ancestors of the changelings in the oasis were capable enough that they established dominance over the Scorpios and keep an unspoken truce with them.

The Amethyst Cliffs is governed by a cabinet composed similarly to the Council of Emerald Grove but without the King or Queen. Physical structure of the Cliffs are constructed inside Galloping Gorge's rocky walls. The colony's social structure is also structured similarly to Emerald Grove, but construction is changed to accommodate for the darker tunnels. Enchanted gemstones line the walls and provide similar artificial lighting to torches, but without the need for ventilation. The main source of income in the city are mined exports. Dozens of mines line the inside of the city, each one with a few dozen workers ready to chip away at the rock or ready to put support beams to prevent cave-ins. The majority of metals and gems seen throughout the Changeling Territories come from the earth surrounding the Cliffs.

Galloping Gorge itself does not have much to offer; a small selection of species roam the edges of the gorge and a very few trees grow. Most of the support beams that the miners use come from nearby forests that surround the area or from emergency tree farms inside the colony that grow trees with magically created sunlight. Due to the lack of resources surrounding the gorge, defense is rarely needed for the colony because the only visitors that come there are merchants that roam Equestria to gain as much profit as possible and traders from other colonies that are sharing food in exchange for minerals.

The Diamond Palace is ruled and protected by Queen Lapis and King Lazuli, two changelings of the royal bloodline. These two are probably the only living changelings that come from royal bloodlines. Some think that Queen Chrysalis and King Starshine have royal blood, but they were actually faithful servants to their former respective rulers that were gifted their position before said rulers had retired. The Diamond Palace is built into one of the mountains in the Frozen North and the colony is one huge palace. Inside the Palace, there are sections for everything: food, tools, materials, nymph-care, military, and the Throne Room. It is tradition for courts to be held in the Palace's throne room for the rulers to discuss problems with nobles and citizens. Anyling wanting to know how large the Palace is? The entire thing is as large as Canterlot, both the castle and the actual city combined. Anyling wanting to know about the Frozen North? Go look in one of the ponies books, because they just want to know everything. We just learn everything they learn! HAHAA!

The Aquamarine Domain has no "ruler", and no, I am not joking. The main building of the colony is The Axiary, which functions as an area for everyling to come together and address problems and complaints. Most of them are complaints. The only differences between each changeling is their occupation, which is pretty much anything between farmer to soldier. It's just like any colony except there is a significant lack of political changelings, and everyling has a voice in every problem.

The colony's physical structure is the wackiest of all the colonies: it is a combination of a typical Pegasus cloud city and crazy-town-floating-on-the-water/lake/sea/ocean. While most are ground-based for the nymphs, this colony has caretakers and nymphs on the lake right above Neighagra Falls and all the non-parenting things like military stuff and farming thingys. The caretakers (usually older changelings and volunteers) help the nymphs in learning everything needed, especially flying. This thought brings us to the next topic concerning the changelings of the Domain: their extraordinary flying capabilities. Because they fly most the time in the cloud section, most of the changelings there are more dexterous and aerial than average. Even their combat strategies are centered around flying! When the Domain's aerial soldiers and the Peak's scientists (I'll get to that in a bit…) had attempted to combine ideas, they came up with one of the most common tactic for changeling warriors. This technique involves using magic to coat the individual with a protective barrier that would resist damage when colliding with a solid object. When slamming into said object, a small shockwave caused by the magic would be released. When molded together with an elemental enchantment (such as fire), striking said solid object would produce a shockwave comprised of said element. When this is combined with a dive into the ground, the shockwave would damage and/or knockdown groups of foes! Pretty cool huh?

Before I forget, Neighagra Falls is a pretty quiet place, that is, if you get used to the constant sound of the numerous waterfalls. Very few predators roam the area and the forests prevents most outsiders who don't know their way around from coming into the colony nestled comfortably at the top. Despite the few predators, many of the plants in the area are poisonous and can cause debilitating sicknesses in creatures just from touch. This causes most of the animals to herd together into places free from most of said plants. It is rumored that many of the plants are distant relatives of Poison Joke…

And last but not least, the Sapphire Peak is a… thing with a "President" that is elected by vote… needless to say, it is the oddball of the group and gets poked fun of frequently. I mean, who would think of such a CRAZY idea? Huh…? Oh, I appear to have forgotten that I am supposed to inform you of this colony… The President of Sapphire Peak is President Shade, a natural leader and role model for all businesslings. He was once the CEO of Sharp Objects Inc, the largest chain of smithing and sharp objects in all the territories. President Shade transformed Sapphire Peaks into the perfect commercial city; pretty much every HQ for every large business is located here (It's like, the Los Pegasus of the changeling world!). Let me tell you, he's got one of the brightest minds any normal changeling could possibly have.

The Foal Mountains have very few notable characteristics, the most notable is the high altitude. Because of this, very few changelings from the Peak are very good at flying. However, because they spend less time learning how to fly correctly, many changelings from the area are more adept at magic than average. The majority of general magical research is centered there as well, but not all the research takes place there.

The Foal Mountains themselves are filled with hundreds of thousands of trees covering every visible area. Many predators lurk in the darker areas, waiting to snack on unsuspecting prey on the ground level. Said prey mainly take refuge in small clearings dotted around the landscape, but are forced to move to another clearing when food starts to diminish. Higher up, the trees start to diminish in number and the animals start to thin out. This lack of life provides a perfect natural defense for the colony and lets all the work be put into mental labor rather than physical.

Now that the colonies were discussed, we shall move onto other things… What other things you may ask? Well I'm not going to spoil it for you because that would be too easy. Readers dismissed!

Author's Note:

Picture is taken from the FiM wiki
Remember folks, if you have any suggestions (changeling diet, recreation, etc.) don't be afraid to ask.

Credit for King Starshine and Prez Shade are given to Mare in the Moon
The Axiary: This suggestion is brought to you by DivideByZero (although it was slightly changed by me… :twilightsheepish:

* I didn't reference anything…

Comments ( 101 )

:pinkiehappy: A secret equvilent of Canterlot! Very interesting indeed.

1920181 I always manage to be late. :applejackunsure:
Not fashionably late, but extremely late. :rainbowwild:

hello there may i add this to my group Villains of Equestria

1954131 It depends if you think they're villains or misunderstood. :twilightsmile:
Do as you want!

misunderstood. but sadly they are classified as villains by almost everyone . but they did it to survive and the queen is just a caring mother trieing to provide for her children

1954414 I say you could.
It could be a nice twist to the group (Chrysalis just being a ruler and not the mother/queen of all changelings)

1954430 there are stories like that in the group would you like to join

2062197 :pinkiegasp:
Did me shameless plug work!?

Oni

1872397 you've written something... GOD DAMN YOU! *shakes fist angrily, and walks away muttering unintelligibly*

2075023 Thank goodness for shameless plugs. :trollestia:

Oni

2075025 KILL IT, KILL IT WITH FIRE

2075033 I like shameless plugs and my story, so I shall not do such an action. :moustache:

Hmm... how about changeling diet for the next chapter?

2370186 I thought about that as one of my ideas, but I'm glad somebody else actually made a suggestion… :applejackconfused:

Thanks for the idea. :eeyup:

I like the story, but is there going to be another chapter? Just asking..

2518732 There's not going to be a chapter in the process for a little over a week… :fluttershyouch:

Finals is next week. :fluttershbad:

2518867 Finals...don't ask me what i think of finals.

2518894 Both finals I have are simple if studied for well, but the problem is the studying, not the exam. :applejackunsure:

2518906 Still...finals can take hours.

2518917 They usually take an hour at most for me… :trixieshiftleft:
One is a music one that only takes ten minutes.

It's just playing pieces. :trollestia:

Unfortunately for me, one of the professors traded a final for a presentation… and mine's due tomorrow… :raritydespair:

I bid thee farewell, good night, and a welcome internet hug to Fimfiction. :pinkiehappy:
24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m5xi53qJdR1r9cgubo1_1280.jpg

2518951 I love hugs. :twilightsmile:

2527218 College. :moustache:
Finals on Wednesday and Friday though. :fluttershbad:

2527233 Won't be telling.

I keep personal info out of the internet.




Shady… :trixieshiftleft:

(Ex: I could be any age from 12 - 35 or something. I've never said.)

Art thou ever gonna continue this? :fluttercry:

2558857 Now that the semester is over, definitely.

However, I would appreciate suggestions on changeling diet, as that appears to be my next objective.

2558865
ಠ╭╮ಠ
They feed on love from ponies, ya crazy hippie.

2558872 Other than that. :ajbemused:

Quick example, why do they have enlarged canines? :trixieshiftright:

2558876
To look eeeevil. Maybe self-defense? I dunno lol.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯

2558890 They can't always go after lovey-dovey creatures, can they? :trixieshiftright:

They should have an alternate food source in trying times.




Desperate times call for desperate measures.

2558900
My headcanon is that normal food can keep them sustained, but without love, they get weak 'n' stuff.

2558910 :moustache:
I think that large amounts of food can sustain their high energy illusions, but love supports their magic the best.

2558916
ಠ╭╮ಠ
If you already had ideas, why'd you ask me for some?

2558926 Because not all of the ideas needed for a solid chapter could be provided by the small base that is my current thoughts.

2558930
k. Well, if you need ideas, continue to pester me if you so desire :moustache:

2558935 Don't worry, mate, I'm a-pesterin' everypwn. :moustache:

2558946
kk
Oh, maybe you could incorporate my idea: So, there's this uber-changeling who controls everything, but noling noes. He's like, all-powerful and even controls the Queen. But noling noes.

2558957 :rainbowderp:
That…

Could be arranged for a different… story…? :twilightsheepish:


I dunno. I'm derpin' around on Minceraft. :derpytongue2:

2558974
ᕦ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)ᕤ

Comment posted by Beyonder deleted May 20th, 2013

OMG!!!!1!!! ppl lik u r y dis site sux!!!!1!!! luk at da titl!!!! it dusnt evn rime! U suk! i wil snd a cumplaynt abut u!!! u hav da wurst stry evr!! git a lyf nd stp makeing strys on dis site n00b!!

2880760 Thank you for your kind words, young gentleman.

I will file these away shortly.

Login or register to comment