ToT
 
wHY, poor changeling, “the soldier side”

@Mephia  
Well, the fact that the show in canon went with the colored “reformed” look, so that’s one thing.

@TheHappySpaceman  
How’s that unpopular?

Unpopular opinion: I actually far prefer this changeling design over what we later got in canon.

@Prometheus labs CEO  
All I got out from that was a renewed interest in a Fallout mod being made with ponies, and Cesar’s Legion being the changelings and one of the games endings could be where you beat up Chrysalis and reform the changelings. :p

The changeling empire being a jingoist nation with a policy towards aggressive expansionism makes perfect sense

“Hailing and marching, marching and hailing, Carapace grows up. In him is planted no seed of hope, laughter, tolerance or mercy. For him, only marching and haling, haling and marching as the years grind on…
 
Adulthood finds him still hailing and marching. But the grim years of regimentation have done their work; now he’s a ‘good’ Changeling. He sees nothing but what the Queen wants him to see, he says nothing but what the Queen wants him to say, and he does no more than what the Queen wants him to do.
 
And so, he marches on with his thousands of comrades, trampling on the rights of others… for now his education is complete.
 
His education… for death.”

Eh, I’m glad that transformed changelings from s06 finale don’t have pony eyes.

@HJSDGCE  
Super mega old comment, but I’m pretty sure that it’s the natural progression of what happens to him, and those who encounter tyricannical / information block. They actually BELIEVE it, heart mind and soul.
 
So it’s, from left to right, what becomes of him.

@Lawful Girly More like this you mean, ey?

@HJSDGCE  
Recruiting, not kidnapping, as appropriate as the latter would be.

So, Chrysalis personally visits families to steal their children?
 
Plus, I like how at the last panel there’s a changeling who regrets his current situation in life.  
There’s still a hint of innocence and individual identity in him.  
That’s probably Doomie.

@Sgtnolisten  
Because that’s exactly what it’s meant to be (See the DA description)

Changeling version of Disney’s Education for Death.
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l14WDZCnz-w
 
At least, that’s what I immediately thought of.

@Background Pony #33D2  
It’s not just about where they live. It’s about their intentional insectoid appearance and biology, the presence of a queen among countless drones, pod formation, etc. The material in the comics just add fuel to the fire.

@Millennial Dan  
Not really easy to say- the only actual dwelling we’ve seen for the Changelings themselves is that gothic palace Chryssie has in the comic, which could’ve been appropriated from someone else, or built by slaves taken by the swarm.

Ahhh, Doomie how I wish you were a official canonical character that was not evil but a nice and good Changling that we could have feels for and want to relate to and see him have a happy ending.  
… Or something like that, but yea Doomie is a cool Changling. :D

D8….is this gonna be a series?

@Magic Man  
I fucking knew it. I saw thi school scene and i was like. Nazi germany… XDD

They have manes… they just shave them to look like soulless stormtroopers.
 
Headcanon reluctantly accepted.

@Magic Man  
Oh hi. Really love your changeling ideas and stories.

Also, this is something a friend of mine on Deviantart wrote:
 
Marching and hailing, hailing and marching, Hopper grows up.
 
In him was planted no seed of laughter, hope, tolerance or mercy. For him: Only hailing and marching, marching and hailing as the years grind on.
 
Adulthood finds him still hailing and marching, but the grim years of regimentation had done their work. Now he is a good Changeling: He sees no more than the Queen wants him to, he says nothing but what the Queen wants him to say, and he does nothing but what the Queen wants him to do!
 
And so he marches on, with his millions of comrades, trampling on the rights of others. For now, his education is complete!
 
An education… for DEATH.

@Millennial Dan  
Well, I don’t know friend, I mean, I’ve never once heard the terms ‘hive’, ‘drone’, ‘my children’ or anything similar in the show or comics. Sure, I can understand the logic and reasoning behind it, though I’m not sure how strictly the show even follows biology or evolution, considering it features ponies with a pretty much human-like civilization. With Changelings, I do think there is a somewhat ambiguity; I mean, I don’t see them as solely insects, there is definitely some pony/equine in there, or demon even (heck, the official guidebook even refers to changelings as a type of ‘pony’).
 
What makes the changelings so interesting for me is how shrouded they are in mystery and how we are then left to fill in the blanks for ourselves. They can be anything we want them to be: you want a feral hive society following one queen who is their mother? You got changelings. You want just a rival nation of individuals? You got changelings.
 
Again, if many fans choose to see them as the former, then I really can understand why and respect it. I guess it’s just part of the reason why I commissioned this piece is, besides to tell the story of a colt whose innocence and individuality is beaten out of him by a ruthless militaristic society, to offer a different take on changelings and their society. Still, to each his own, right?

@Magic Man  
I’m pretty sure the hive thing isn’t so much “fanon” as it is a simple observation of the facts.

@Magic Man  
magic man! what happened to you? you use to be a cool guy!