Development of the Changeling Territories

by MoldyShishkabob

Rating: everyone
Tags: Alternate Universe, Changelings, Queen Chrysalis, Slice of Life, Original Character, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Length: 3769

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.

It has been a whole year since the Battle of Canterlot, where Princess Mi Amore Cadenza (commonly known as Princess Cadence) and Captain Shining Armor were married. Ponies all across Equestria have created many hypotheses on why Queen Chrysalis had gloriously crashed the royal wedding, and hypotheses on what changelings were also sprang into being.
Ponies have been completely clueless about changelings ever since the fateful day many years before…

But I'm not a pony now am I?
And I am here to answer every question that everyling has. Whether they are a nymph or an adult, it doesn't matter!

And how about I stop summarizing and get to the point instead?
This is a book describing everything that has changed to our society following that eventful day.

My name is Copycat, and I will be your guide for this journey through history.

Cover art by Roobles.

Published 2012-12-29 21:30:01 UTC
Last updated 2013-01-06 02:05:45 UTC

Overview

Development of the Changeling Territories

Dr. “Mellow” Copycat, PhD.

In honor of HRM Queen Chrysalis

And in memory of that scumbag once now known as, simply, “the King”

Chapter I: Overview

It has been a whole year since the tragic battle of Canterlot, and I have been requested by Queen Chrysalis to write a summary over what has changed over that year. For all the nymphs who are unaware of how the battle came to be, I shall give a brief summary: The late King was a greedy bug who thought that it would be wise to gather enough love for the colony by crashing Princess Cadence’s wedding. Queen Chrysalis, being the great ruler she is, rejected the idea because it would cause an even bigger rift between the changelings and the ponies. However, as time went on, the King managed to slowly stress this idea on our Queen until she cracked under the pressure. The Battle of Canterlot ensued, and the changelings were banished out of Equestria. The King was promptly executed for his crimes against the colony and we set to rebuilding our society.

During the Battle of Canterlot, our Queen used the magical network to send orders to our warriors and capture as many ponies as possible. Because of the coordination of our troops, ponies came up with the hypothesis that we, changelings, acted like insects that worked as a collective hive with the Queen being the only “free” being that would use a hive mind to command her “drones”. Judging by the fact that I have a PhD in changeling mentalities, the fact that I wrote this, and the fact that you are reading this, means that the ponies are wrong.

After a few months, our society took a sudden turn for the better. We were capable of feeding everyling, everyling had a warm home, noling was left in the streets to fend for themselves, and we even had protection against the wild! Thankfully, over the months leading up to current times, our society is slowly becoming as prosperous as the times of Queen Cocoon, a time when changelings thrived with almost limitless love. The only thing that was missing was an abundance of love; with the suspicion that the ponies now possess and the griffon’s unwillingness to help, we are left with only a few sources of love left for the colony.

Now that the nymphs know everything they need to know about the aftermath, without further ado, I shall summarize how our society has evolved.

Oh! Before I forget, my name is Copycat. My distinguishing title is “Mellow”, for my overall laid-back personality. If anyling doesn’t like how I don’t write completely professionally, then I frankly do not care in the slightest. I always end up doing that anyway. Now, back to the summary!

Let’s start from outside the colony, the surroundings of our home are very lush with many trees, rabbits, flowers, and pretty much any plant or animal you could think of. The surrounding of the colony have always been this way, and if things stay on track, they always will. The thick surrounding walls are made from dried mud taken from the nearby swamp and large chunks of stone taken from what is now the underside of the city. Wooden walkways have been built for guards to rest their wings and take cover if needed, and a circular metal gate was constructed at the entrance. Because of it’s bizarre structure, it has been commonly nicknamed “the waffle”, a food borrowed from the ponies that is commonly eaten with honey or jam. Yummy… Anyways, there are several towers dotted around the perimeter that store military supplies and many other things that are to be kept from civilian eyes.

Moving on to the houses, the most common household is constructed out of dried mud, wood, and stone fireplaces. Ever since the technique of glass was learned from ponies, changelings had loved windows and every room (barring bedrooms and bathrooms, Cocoon forbid they had more than one) had at least three windows. Skylights and glass doors also started getting more popular, and by the time modern times have come around? The housing market started looking like cheese! Windows were everywhere and the window industry skyrocketed. Then there was that one changeling who made his house look like an apple… I’ll admit, it looked nice, but it didn’t seem to fit in with all the cheese-like houses. But I digress, the houses usually contained three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a kitchen, a dining room, a living room, and a couple of rooms for more specific needs. It was common custom to always have a bath and a warm bed ready in case a lone changeling needed help, despite the fact that only two changelings actually needed help…

Entering the realm of the more important people in society, house structure increases proportionally to wealth. The more chits (that’s our currency, little ones) one has, the more rooms and the larger the windows of the house are. They usually included one more bedroom and bathroom, a billiard room, and even an indoor or outdoor pool when compared to average homes. When compared to pony society, our nobles are a lot less snobbish too! Most pony higher-ups tend to keep to themselves, while most changeling nobles constantly make donations to the less fortunate colony members. Unlike those filthy pony nobles, nobles in changeling society are based upon activity within the community and care for others. When Queen Cocoon commanded that social status be determined upon help for others, it fleshed out the “bad” and moved in those who genuinely cared for what was beneficial for the colony. It’s a shame ponies had to be “equal” in their ways, how can you “love and tolerate” when your politicians can’t even follow that saying? Moving past that, with the knowledge that those higher in society give more help to those lower in society, the conclusion that more bedrooms, more bathrooms, and more entertainment are to be used for those who require shelter from the elements.

Before we head on to the highest positions of society, we will move onto businesses. Most businesses also double as households for their owners. As a matter of fact, it would be more accurate to say that businesses are houses with a stand outside and a sign stating what the business specializes in. Businesses carry at least two types of sales material, one that is cheap and common, and one that is expensive but a necessity. As an example, my grandfather was responsible for selling strawberries and silverware. Strawberries are a common emergency food when love is not available because of the similar sweet taste they share; they represent the less expensive, more abundant, and very popular material. Silverware is something only new changelings would need when they are being polite while eating physical foods; they represent the more expensive, less abundant, yet necessary material.

Now we move onto one of the most important topics, The Council. The Council is a group of changeling representatives hoofpicked by the Queen herself to discuss and solve problems. The Council is comprised of: The Banker, who’s job is to manage monies; The Tactician, who’s job is to organize the military; The Mayor, who’s job is to report and take care of problems within the colony; The Voice, who’s job is to be the Queen’s speaker when she is busy; and The Queen, who has the most important job of maintaing order throughout the entire hive using magical networks to make important messages. Magical networks connect to everyling’s mind and relay a message for everyling to hear; they require a large amount of magic to use and are only used in emergencies. Each member of the Council has a specific area of society to manage, and whenever they meet, they lay out their problems and work together to solve the problems. There is another member of the Council that is currently not there, The King, who works alongside the Queen and is almost identical to the Queen in every way. However, The King has more to do with planning and less to do with public speaking than the Queen.

The Queen also has the highest position of power in The Council, having control over even The King. However, The Queen’s position depends solely on her citizen’s faith in her. In the Battle of Canterlot, when she absorbed the captain’s love, our stockpiles of love where so large, that we had absolute faith in her and that the battle was already won; but massive increase in magical strength was too sudden and the power influenced her thoughts and she became arrogant. Remember young nymphs, emotions and magical strength are directly linked and can change your mindset entirely. It is important that emotions are kept in check when casting spells, or the spell’s effects might be drastically changed. I once tried to cast a simple ember spell to start a fire in the fireplace when my niece accidentally tripped over the family dog. Needless to say, they both yelped in shock, I jumped in surprise, and the firewood got incinerated by a flare! So yeah, emotions go hoof in hoof with spell casting… What was I talking about again? Ah, never mind, I’ll just move on…

This is a basic summary of our wonderful colony, Emerald Grove. In the later chapters, I shall summarize the other colonies and how they function differently, how changelings are named, what our diet is composed of, and how we fit into pony societies! I shall see you in the next chapter! Which is on the next page if you were wondering…

Author's Note

Hello there reader.
This is, as you might have guessed, my first story.
If you have any criticism or suggestions then please leave a comment!

I am open to anything to help make this story better.
(Remember, if you are going to dislike this story, please leave why you did so that I would not make the same mistake twice.)
EDIT: I forgot to give credit to TinCan for the currency idea! (chits)

Thank you and I hope to please! :twilightsmile:

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…