#cadalis

AU Notes:

Changelings in my AU are more closely related to dragons than they are to ponies, and they share a lot in their biology (molting, hard outer scales, specialized diets, claws, etc). In times of plenty, changeling hives can be hubs of artistic skill, diplomacy, and bright cheerful colors! These are my version of ‘reformed’ changelings. They collect love and with the help of their queen, they can synthesize it into an edible substance much like honey! This substance is a valuable ingredient in potions and spells (and more importantly, is the only thing changelings can digest). Without a Queen, they have no way to take love from its source and turn it into this food.

Starved changelings lose their color, they become irritable and desperate, they may become emaciated and their wounds may stop healing. Wings and tails will tear and shred like paper.

Chrysalis’s hive is an example of advanced starvation, which I’ll get into when I straighten out my Flurry Heart/Crystal empire lore! The only thing keeping them alive is Chrysalis and her love for the swarm.

Design Notes:

- Her body shape is based on a praying mantis, especially because her “reformed” version in the gameloft app seems to be aiming for some kind of mantis green?

-The body plan I gave her is quite frankly a mess, but I really wanted to lean into the ‘mimic’ aspect. She’s… horse-like. In some ways. Just enough that she can get close to ponies without shapeshifting, if she needs to!

- First set of limbs: grabbing claws, complete with spines that (when in horse mode) mimic feathering from a distance

- Second set of limbs: thin, flexible legs that fold up and tuck against her chest, giving her stick-thin body the illusion of normal pony bulk. The forelegs are light enough to match her tail and mimic a counter shaded ‘underbelly’.

-Technically, she counts as a pseudo-alicorn! However, she has no magic of her own other than typical changeling-type magics. These are poorly understood by pony society, which has been shown in g4 to be… self absorbed at times.

- She’s a little smaller than she looks, here- she lines up right above Cadence, who’s small for an alicorn. Without her swarm she isn’t very physically imposing, as all of her size is in her height. Cadence could lift her with almost no effort if need be

Ok anyways the bonus content for the funniest dynamic the Crystal crew could possibly have:

(Chrysalis considers Cadence to be fun to mess with in a villain way, Cadence sees Chrysalis as her nemesis, Cadence and Shining are married+best friends+life partners, Chrysalis and Cadence are slooooooow burn enemies to lovers, Chrysalis and Shining treat each other with tactical respect and mutual recognition. Also they are all co-parenting a million bugs. I will elaborate on this eventually)