Changelings are an insectoid race, native to the savana and deserts south of Equestria, sharing territory with the zebras.
 
Unlike most other sentient races, changelings are a eusocial race. They reside in gigantic hives, all individuals there being the offspring of a queen, who also rules over them.
 
The life cycle of the changelings is also unlike any of the other sentient races. Unlike ponys, where the gender of a child is random chance, in changelings it’s controled by the fertilization of the egg. Similarly to ants, unfertilized eggs will produce males, while fertilized eggs will produce females. and, also like those insects, the changelings experience a metamorphosis during their life, being borns as grubs before reaching their adult form after changing their form within a cocoon.
 
Unlike ants, however, the vast majority of a hive’s population is male. the reason for this is because, while normal females are sterile, any of them can become a fertile queen under the right conditions. to prevent the apearance of multiple queens and out of control reproduction, the fertilization of eggs is extremely controled, to the point where females make less than 5% of a hive’s population.
 
That, however, shouldn’t be interpreted as females being in a disadvantage. in fact, with the exception of population, females outrank males in every other aspect. not only are they bigger and stronger, but also have a considerably higher position within the hive. Their main fuction is to act as the right hoof of the queen, comanding the workers under the orders of the queen. aside from that, they also have the function of backup queen, in case something happens to the current one, the dominant female elite can enter a chrysalis state, after wich she will come out as a new queen.
 
however, females can also choose to leave the hive in order to create their own, although this is considered quite a dificult feat, and not many choose that fate.
 
While males have a hard exoskeleton all over their bodies, females poses a soft stretchy stomach. while some ponys think the reason for it is to allow the consumption of large prey, this is, in fact, a reproductive adaptation. when queens enter egg laying mode, their internal reproductive organs grow to several times their normal size, and the flexible skin prevents them from bursting from the inside. while males stomachs aren’t nearly as flexible, the space between the exoskeleton plates is stretchy, allowing it to expand to carry liquids or hard to transport substances, similar to an ant’s abdomen.
 
considering that sexual reproduction weirdly happens, and when it does is externally, changeling reproduction is not hormone based. they don’t feel a necesity to perform it, and will only do it when females are needed. this also means that they don’t have that type of sentimental attachments, wich brings us to the next point.
 
There’s a myth that changelings feed on love. this is only partially true. in reality, they are atracted to a hormone produced in most sentient races when they feel love. this is not their actual diet, but more similar to a drug to them, having a very strong abstinence syndrome if they don’t consume it. since they themselfs don’t naturally produce this hormone, they need other sentient races to obtain it.
 
Their actual diet is exclusively carnivore, rellying on numbers to hunt big creatures that can feed the hive for a good amount of time.
 
Another belive is that they can change form, but this is just a myth created from a lack of information. Their magic specializes on ilusions, at the cost of being unable to use pretty much any other type of magic. these ilusions are more than simple visual tricks, since they will affect all five senses of the observer. not only the changeling will look like a diferent creature, but it will sound, smell and even feel like it. not only that, but the magic of a queen has an indoctrination effect on it’s victims. after being exposed to it for enough time, the will of the observer will begin to break, being more and more susceptible to the command of the queen.
 
Both males and female elites have quite short lifespans, among the shortest of any sentient race, rarely reaching 30 years. queens, on the other hand, have considerably longer lifespans, normally living over a 100 years.