Friendship is Card Games: The Times They Are A Changeling · 11:45am Aug 21st, 2016
One of the hazards of posting reaction blogs shortly after the episode is that they capture volatile opinions that may mellow over time and rewatching the episode. “28 Pranks Later” is a lot better on the second watch, when you know how long scenes will last when before they seemed interminable. (I’m looking at you, Pernicious Prank Polka.) At leafst, that’s how it felt for me.
Furthermore, part of my disappointment likely stemmed from an ill-advised preview clip spoiling the climax. (Ill-advised both in my watching it and in that site putting it up in the first place.) As such, in the name of scientific rigor, I’ve tried to avoid as many spoilers as I can with this episode. Yes, I’m aware that a number of other variables shifted, and I still came into this one with a basic idea of the premise. Still, hopefully I’d be flying a bit more blind than last week. Let’s find out.
I have to find it odd that Twilight refers to her sister-in-law by her official title.
They’re the only ones on the train? I guess the novelty of the Empire has worn off to the point where any initial surge of curiosity-induced tourism has tapered off.
Aw, Spike brought his Rarity plushie.
Huh. Are there crystal eagles? If not, what made the ominous screech to underscore the emptiness? For that matter, are there crystal tumbleweeds?
Paranoia makes everypony act like the Flower Trio. Makes sense; we’ve seen similar behavior all the way back during “Bridal Gossip.” That said, unless a swarm came a-calling before Sombra banished the Empire, I wouldn't think that the crystal ponies had any firsthoof experience with changelings. Is this fear going entirely off of what the royal couple’s told them, or was there an encounter we didn’t get to see?
Also, I have to say, I wasn’t expecting the payoff of that teaser at the end of the premiere so soon. I doubt anyone was until we started seeing Spike defending Thorax in commercials. I wonder if this is setup for the finale.
I am a little disappointed that the Crystal Ponies dropped the “Great and Honorable” part of Spike’s title. I suppose it was a bit of a mouthful, but I love the grandiosity of the full epithet.
Wow. Even when he’s the official royal nanny, Sunburst still can’t comb his mane. Or maybe that’s a sign of how Flurry Heart isn’t always as perfectly behaved as when Aunt Twilight comes to visit.
Also, given how the responsibilities of crystaller seem to extend beyond the ceremony, I have to wonder how they were going to coordinate the position’s responsibilities with Twilight’s schedule. Or maybe the two positions aren’t actually one and the same, or weren’t before a Cadenzan decree.
Odd that they still use the sunshine dance as a security measure. It does a good job of showing that there’s no better changeling detection mechanism—likely so the writers can keep "X was actually a changeling" in their arsenal—but I’m scratching my head over why this would work when Twilight did it in front of Chrysalis. Of course, that assumes she’d bother to remember some random unicorn shaking her rear.
Hmm. Those don’t appear to be crystal pegasi. I guess they bought into the Spike hype after the Equestria Games.
Also, nice cover on the NCO’s part to make Spike sound like he knows what he’s talking about when they ask for changeling tips.
I was half-expecting Spike to get stuck to that rock when he kissed it. I was also half-expecting a wampa, or at least something like the creature that swiped off Pinkie’s forelock in “Party Pooped.”
Huh. They can turn into dragons. Small ones, anyway.
Both the dragon and the changeling seem to be handling cold temperatures very well. Spike I can understand, but I have to wonder what the mammal-to-insect ratio is in Thorax’s biology.
Also, look carefully. When Thorax blinks, his eyelids go from the medial to the proximal edges of his eyes. (That is, out from the axis of symmetry.) Can’t recall if changelings did that in “A Canterlot Wedding,” but it’s a nicely alien touch.
Wow. Very impressive catch, especially considering how Thorax manages to avoid impaling Spike with his fangs.
A wealth of changeling information to be had here. They have independent thought capabilities, egg and larval stages, and no apparent hive mind, since Thorax was able to keep his dissenting thoughts to himself. Or he's some kind of mutant, though Chrysalis probably would've culled him if that were the case. A sizable headcanon massacre, though my only real disappointment is that they went with an insect naming theme rather than an emotion-based one.
Spike qualifies as “somepony” in his own mind. This will be important later.
I do like Spike’s Sun Tzu-like attitude. The most glorious victory is the battle not fought.
Wow. Not even the Great and Honorable Spike the Brave and Glorious is able to overcome the prejudice. I can certainly understand Shining’s attitude, but the guards laughing at a national hero feels off.
Thorax seriously never thought of blending in? That’s what changelings do… though I suppose that may be why he never thought of it. He could've associated the behavior with the aspects of his species he was trying to avoid.
So, no one’s going to comment on the crystal pony no one’s ever seen before? It’s not like there are very many of them, though that may be an artifact of compressing the Empire for the show.
Also, how long did that montage take if the guards are already gossiping about Crystal Hoof soon afterwards?
Spike refusing to back up Thorax upon the latter’s reveal is sad, but understandable. Peer pressure’s a powerful force, especially when celebrity status is on the line, and all the more especially when so many people Spike highly regards stand against him.
That said, the reveal itself feels more than a little contrived. I can only assume that the uncontrollable snarling and dropped disguise are due to Thorax’s incredible hunger and aren’t standard changeling reactions. Otherwise, it seems self-defeating.
And they can become inanimate objects. Neat.
The resolution is very nicely done, because Spike is living support for his own argument. After all, on paper, a dragon is far more dangerous than any single changeling ever could be, yet Spike peacefully exists with ponies because of the philosophy of friendship and acceptance he learned from them. This is a non-pony telling ponies to embrace the strengths he admires in them, and it really does work… though it would’ve been nice if they could’ve worked that angle a bit more directly. And Shining’s turnaround in particular feels a bit too quick, even for one of the most forgiving species in fiction.
In all, the biggest fault with this episode is that fanfics have been exploring this concept for years, and have often done it better and in greater depth than a twenty-two minute episode of the show could hope to. I can’t help but draw comparisons and note the lack of consideration given to aspects like the possibility of mind control or exploiting sympathy a la Star Trek: Beyond. Still, that kind of suspicion and paranoia is precisely what the episode and the series as a whole are meant to dispute. This is an idealistic take on the subject because Friendship is Magic is an idealistic show, and that is by no means a bad thing.
That said, it would’ve been kind of funny to have Thorax snarl at the end, especially if Flurry giggled and booped him.
So yeah, I'm pretty sure avoiding spoilers helped me enjoy this one. I really shouldn't be surprised. On to the cards:
Heighten Security 1W
Instant
Cast Heighten Security only during your turn.
If a creature would enter the battlefield under an opponent’s control this turn, exile it instead.
The Crystal Heart’s light casts long shadows in the minds of its defenders.
Talk of the Town 1W
Creature — Pony Citizen
When Talk of the Town enters the battlefield, you gain 1 life for each other creature you control.
Crystal ponies resonate with each other’s moods, refracting the joy brought by a single social luminary across the Empire.
2/2
Trauma-Induced Prejudice 1WW
Instant
Destroy target creature that dealt damage to you this turn and each other creature that shares a creature type with it.
”There’s no such thing as a good changeling.”
—Shining Armor
Amassed Admirers 3W
Creature — Pony Citizen
Amassed Admirers’s power and toughness are each equal to the number of creatures you control plus the number of legendary creatures you control.
Crystal ponies hail from an age of heroes and great deeds. There, they find something familiar in the modern day.
*/*
Bugwatcher Patrol 4W
Creature — Pegasus Soldier
Flying, vigilance
If a creature would enter the battlefield under an opponent’s control and it has the same name as a creature you control, exile it instead.
Census in hoof, they look for anypony already accounted for.
2/4
Changeling Grubs UU
Creature — Shapeshifter
When Changeling Grubs dies, put a token that’s a copy of target creature onto the battlefield.
”The strong grow fat on the weak, whether here in the hatching chamber or out in the world.”
—Queen Chrysalis
1/1
Dissenting Opinion 1U
Instant
Counter target spell unless each opponent pays 2.
A single opposing view is all that lies between blind orthodoxy and diverse perspectives.
Flawless Imitator 1UU
Creature — Shapeshifter
Whenever Flawless Imitator blocks or becomes blocked by a creature, you may have Flawless Imitator become a copy of that creature until end of turn.
Thorax immediately realized that the proper response to ”Looking good, Spike” wasn’t “Thanks.”
0/3
“A Changeling Can Change” 2U
Enchantment — Song
At the beginning of your upkeep, put a verse counter on “A Changeling Can Change”.
1U, Sacrifice “A Changeling Can Change”: Exile up to X target creatures, then return them to the battlefield under their owners’ control, where X is the number of verse counters on “A Changeling Can Change”.
Into the Crevasse 2U
Snow Instant
Return target nonland permanent to its owner’s hand. If S was spent to cast Into the Crevasse, put that permanent on top of its owner’s library instead. (S can be paid with one mana from a snow source.)
Skittish Tendencies 2U
Enchantment
Whenever you cast a creature spell, you may pay 1. If you do, target player returns a creature he or she controls to its owner’s hand.
Even rumors of a changeling can send paranoia sweeping through a community, making them suspicious of any newcomers.
Focused Spotlight 3U
Instant
Change the targets of any number of target spells to target creature. All other creatures gain shroud until end of turn. (They can’t be the targets of spells or abilities.)
The Crystal Palace has not only a form of sentience but a sense of drama.
Starving Snarl 1B
Sorcery
Target creature gets +2/+0 and gains menace until end of turn.
Whenever an opponent gains life, you may return Starving Snarl from your graveyard to your hand.
”I’m not me when I’m hungry.”
—Thorax, changeling outcast
Clear the Streets 2R
Enchantment
Whenever a creature enters the battlefield under your control, target creature can’t block this turn.
Lessons learned during Sombra’s reign came to the fore: Stay quiet. Stay hidden. Pray to whatever you still believed in that the menace would pass you by.
Dramatic Tumbleweed G
Enchantment
At the beginning of each upkeep, if you control no creatures, put a 0/1 green Plant creature token onto the battlefield.
”That’s odd,” thought the conductor. “The tumbleweed usually gets off at Dodge Junction.”
Irresistible Allure 2GG
Enchantment — Aura
Enchant creature
All creatures able to block enchanted creature do so.
Whenever enchanted creature becomes blocked, you gain 2 life for each creature blocking it.
To ponies, adorable. To changelings, delectable.
Disguise Kit 3
Artifact — Equipment
3: Equipped creature becomes a copy of target creature until end of turn.
Equip 2
”It’s certainly creative, but maybe you should disguise yourself as something from this universe.”
—Princess Twilight Sparkle
Desperate Ruse UR
Instant
Flip a coin. If you win the flip, counter target spell. Otherwise, draw a card.
”Very nice to meet you, Princess.”
—Crystal Hoof, a normal crystal pony who definitely isn’t Thorax, changeling outcast
Changeling Outcast 1WU
Creature — Shapeshifter Rogue
You may have Changeling Outcast enter the battlefield as a copy of any creature on the battlefield except it gains defender and lifelink.
Guilty of the crime of compassion.
0/0
Utter Absurdity 1UB
Instant
Counter target spell. Its controller discards a card.
”Spend long enough around Pinkie Pie and your brain starts to form protective calluses.”
—Princess Twilight Sparkle
Justified Strike 1RW
Instant
Justified Strike deals damage to target opponent equal to the damage dealt to you this turn by sources that player controlled.
”I deserved that.”
—Spike
Sweep the Area 2(rw)(rw)
Sorcery
Creatures you control gain melee until end of turn. (Whenever a creature with melee attacks, it gets +1/+1 until end of turn for each player you attacked with a creature this combat.)
“Spread out! It can’t have gotten far!”
—Shining Armor
Refractive Cavern
Snow Land
T: Add C to your mana pool.
1, T: Add one mana of any color to your mana pool.
Though thick, the ice splits light rather than block it, creating beautiful displays on the Frozen North’s rare clear days.
That or it's a private train.
"Finale"?
It is neat if you're a changeling, but I really don't like it from a story perspective. I had always assumed that changelings are pony-shaped because they are pony mimics. And really, that's all they need to be. Unless Maud Pie is the greatest untapped wellspring of love in Equestria, there is no reason that they should need to imitate rocks. Giving them a "change into anything" ability feels like lazy writing to me.
So until the show contradicts me, I'm going to assume that this is just a special trick that Thorax can do. His changeling magic color is different after all.
Imagine if this episode had come before "28 Pranks Later". I'm sure when Rainbow Dash hears that changelings can be friends, she will spot the potential for epic pranks.
I now want a changeling invasion final episode with Special Agent Sweetie Drops.
4162781
Possible, but if that were the case, I'd expect the Crystal Express from "Three's a Crowd." (Well, more accurately, I would personally want the Crystal Express.) Though maybe that one's reserved for Cadence.
Whoops, bit of a crossed wire there. Now fixed. Thanks.
I was wondering why Twilight didn't tell Cadence about Zecora's Changeling-detecting body paint.
Also, I wasn't sure whether or not the guards were crystal pegasi or regular pegasi – they appeared to have crystalized manes but “normal” eyes and coats. I guess it's more likely that they're standard pegasi who styled their manes to fit in with the local culture.
Are earth ponies (crystal and otherwise) banned from combat positions, or do most of them prefer not to enlist? The only time we saw earth pony soldiers was in the Sombra AU, so they're probably not banned, but maybe they only choose to fight in desperate times.
As for the Changelings, I actually don't have a strong headcanon about them. I was surprised that they can change into inanimate objects, but still, there was nothing earth-shattering for me.
And yes, avoiding spoilers is best. I try to avoid watching the promos and I'm disappointed that they released about 10 minutes of “Legends of the Everfree.” That's like 10% of the movie!
4162823 Eh, I look at it as it having made more sense to take the regular Friendship Express since it makes more sense to take a train that was already there instead of sending the royal pimp train to Ponyville. Or they just didn't care.
4162825 I keep seeing people bringing up the changeling revealing salve from the alternate timeline, without considering that there may be no reason for it to even exist in the normal timeline, or that maybe Zecora would be subject to the same scrutiny and suspicion as everypony else who enters the Crystal Empire while they're on high alert.
In Siege of the Crystal Empire, Chrysalis claims to have been around when the umbrums (Sombra's species) were still in power around those parts.
Precisely my problem as well. I think my particular biggest issue is that we spent so much of the episode on just finding the changeling and Spike working up the courage to admit that he'd found it. In most reformed changeling fics, this is a first act conflict at best, and the meat of the story is either the changeling learning to integrate, or the characters in the know learning about his species through him, or possibly both. We didn't really get much of that here, and what we did get was incidental, no matter how appreciated. I really do get what they were going for, but for me, everything between Spike backing down against Shining Armor and the end of the song felt like a waste of time.
And there were little things which annoyed me as well, such as ponies not having changeling detection spells already, nobody taking Spike seriously even when he's supposedly a legendary hero in the Empire, the song being so sappy, and Spike's singing voice itself, which sounded so weird and different than his usual one that I'm still convinced it can't be the same VA, no matter what the wiki says.
Concept counts for a lot with me when it comes to a story, so I don't hate it. Call it a 7/10. But I won't lie; I was disappointed.
I loved this episode, though once again I am keenly aware that if I wanted to, I could easily find lots of things wrong with it. But I don't want to
There was much to love about it as well.
I like to think the Mirror Game is something young changelings play to hone their skills, like fox cubs play-hunting each other.
4162836 4162823
There's a challenge for the locomotive builders of Equestria: design a train fit for the Princess of Friendship. Got to keep up with the sister in law.
That is the problem with a fandom this huge and one of the things that frightens me about the movie. By this point, we in the fandom have done EVERYTHING that the show writers can think of and even better. Season 5 finale? Oh, I can name several fics that do those episodes already. 28 pranks later has been done and I can name some that hav had actual zombie ponies (Although I wish the writer who did one would come back.) I worry about the movie because once we get there, what can they produce that we havent done by now?
Post Apoclyaspe? Fallot Equestria
War with Celestia's and Luna's dad? Immortal game
Alternate world with insane versions of themselves? Crisis Equestria
One of the mane six adopting the reincarnation of one of their villians? Past Sins
Finding a cure for an ailment? I's a dangerous business.
Hell, even Rainbow rocks was just Sunset Shimmer's version of Getting back on Her Hooves, just with Sirens instead of Azula.
4162840
HEy, its ok. I do that a lot too
Dramatic Tumbleweed has the best flavor text yet.
4162821 So, there's no reason to ever evolve the handy-dandy ability to transform into a rock so that the search party runs right past you? There's no advantage to being able to take a form nopony's expecting after you've been exposed as a changeling and they're going to be detaining and questioning every pony they find? And what about ponies like Fluttershy and Tree Hugger, who love some aspects of nature so much they'll rub their love-filled bodies all over that timber?
Frankly, it would almost be stupid for changelings not to have this power.
4162866
That's actually my interpretation of Cadance's 180 on Thorax. Can't be seen in public to be outdone by the juniormost of the princesses.
So many cards are hilarious this week, especially Starving Snarl and Desperate Ruse.
Okay..I'd ask for some fic recommendations about the changeling thing, but honestly, I think I wouldn't like them more than I did the episode. Mainly because the episode is the first thing I saw related to the concept, and I'd probably be comparing all of them with a skewed point if view.
4162953
Oh, I agree it is a good power if you happen to be a changeling. When I say that pony mimicry is all they need, I mean that that one ability serves their purpose for the kinds of beings that they are - love feeders.
Sure, it's a great benefit to them that they can transform into absolutely anything, but it makes them less interesting, I think. Now they don't need to use cunning, any psychological tricks, or misdirection. They can just... turn into a rock, or a bird, or something.
It reminds of that bit in... one of the Transformers movies, can't remember which one, where we discover that Decepticons can perfectly mimic human beings. That is a game-changer. That should have caused every single character who deals with transformers to re-evaluate everything. But, because it's a Michael Bay movie, it's played for idiotic laughs and then never comes up again.
Making the changelings omni-changeable feels like that, like the power hasn't really been thought through but someone just said "Oh, they change into things" and left it at that because it's a kid's show and doesn't need to make sense. I'm not saying that's what happened, but that's what it feels like. And MLP is usually better with its concepts than that (although I feel like it has been slipping as the seasons have gone on).
And heck, the ability to change into a rocks and baby dragons wasn't even needed for this story, really. They were for gags. All he needed to be was a pony.
4163016 Honestly, the 'should be a game-changer' problem you bring up is only a problem if the show going forward never mentions this diversity again. If either Thorax's ability is verified as mutant, or if it's brought up in changeling detection strategy, then it has changed the game.
Or, you could look at it from a horror angle. Changelings can be literally anything.
4162821
4162953 does raise a good point. Whether shapeshifting or illusion, using changeling magic for camouflage seems like a natural extension of its capabilities. Of course, one could always say that there are some steep costs for turning into something with no sense organs. Thorax may have willingly put himself in a state of near-total sensory deprivation. Heck, he may have resigned himself to starving to death... which would make two characters who tried to orchestrate their own deaths this season.
4162822
That would be all kinds of awesome. Unlikely, but awesome.
4162825
It wouldn't exactly be helpful:
"You know, Cadence, my friend Zecora made a salve that could detect changelings."
"Do you have any with you?
"Well, no. I mean, I wasn't expecting any changelings, and even if I was, she actually made it in another timeline where Chrysalis successfully invaded Canterlot. I'm not sure if she's even devised the recipe in this timeline."
Meanwhile, Starlight dies a little inside. Especially since Sunburst is right freaking there.
There is a marked lack of military earth ponies, which I personally find deeply disappointing.
At least it's the first ten minutes.
4162839
Which, when given both the FIENDship is Magic mini-series and the Reflections arc, raises questions about precisely how long Star Swirl was alive.
And yeah, the pacing could've used some work.
4162840
Headcanon accepted. Mostly because the mental image is freaking adorable, even with all the hissing and oozing that would likely take place during the play.
4162866
Made a bit more challenging because the Ponyville-Canterlot line is already called the Friendship Express. Maybe call it the Harmony Line?
4162880
My stance on this sort of thing is always wait and see. They may yet surprise us. (Though I can't help but note that the upcoming Legend of Everfree does seem to have a few parallels with my own Oversaturation...)
4162918
>can't think of anything
>make a Simpsons reference
>"best flavor text yet"
I'm not sure how to feel about this.
4162958
I figured it was because this was Twilight's personal domain. She is the Princess of Friendship, and made a decree as such. She might have even known what she was doing. Just as Celestia defers to Luna in matters of the dreamscape, Cadence bows to Twilight here.
Or, you know, because her little sister-in-law's making her look bad. One of the two.
4163038 Yeah, I guess the knowledge of Zecora's magic wouldn't be helpful in the moment, but perhaps Twilight could give Cadence Zecora's contact information in case the bad Changelings invade.
"It's a tree house in the Everfree Forest. You can't miss it . . . Well, I guess you can . . . I'll just forward any of your questions to Zecora, all right?"
Anyway, yeah, it would be cool to see at least a token earth pony soldier armed with a crossbow or canon.
I wouldn't know - I only watched one of the 3-minute clips.
4163038
I actually disagree. (And I'm sorry for being so disagreeable, but my laptop is broken and I don't have anything else to do
). I think the reason I'm finding it so objectionable is because changeling shapeshifting was originally presented like a glamor. They're these flimsy, corrupted, not-quite-ponies that put on a thin layer of illusion and suddenly, you have a Rainbow Dash who is 100% indistinguishable from the real deal. When they changed, it was like slipping into a new skin. Aside from maybe a bit of compression, they were still the same being underneath and didn't just *poof* Merlin-style into a dragon. I liked that subtlety.
Inanimate transformation is a fun ability and I'm sure that they can do clever and funny things with it (and I look forward to seeing what authors come up with ^^), but it just doesn't feel to me like the changelings that we were introduced to in season 2.
4163038
Well, according to all canonical sources, he was old when Equestria was founded, de-aged himself by accident in the course of inventing time travel, lived all through Discord's reign, was still "young" in some sense when he befriended Scorpan and helped defeat Tirek, and then grew old again in time for him to defeat the Sirens, accidentally cause the birth of Chrysalis, and travel with Celestia to document the existence of multiple parallel universes, that being the last we ever heard of him.
..."Star Swirl did it" must be a depressingly common phrase in Equestria. A pony could spend thirty years of their life working to cure cancer, and it would turn out that Star Swirl already did it a thousand years ago, shortly before he made first contact with an alien species, but after he definitively proved that the gods were real. It's just that ponies forgot he did that because of an invasion of memory-eating brain slugs, which Star Swirl also stopped.
4162982
Regardless, I will still recommend you The Changeling of the Guard. I've read a lot of changeling stories, and it's by far the best IMO.
4163136
I still remember when, back in season two, Star Swirl the Bearded was basically "that obscure 'amniomorphic' wizard only nerds like Twilight would know anything about". Four seasons later, he's been invoked so often it seems you'd have to live in a cave to have no idea who he is.
4163080
I second that. Having a reasonable limit makes conflict with them that much more interesting because it relies more on careful thinking and tailoring one's tactics. Having them be multipurpose shapeshifters just makes me wonder why they haven't taken over already. Plus, it's so unnecessary that it just smacks of careless writing.
4163016 In This Platinum Crown, different changeling hives have different abilities. Greens imitate quadrupeds, Reds turn invisible if stationary, Purples imitate the dead, and one hive are tiny parasites that enslave gargantuan underground worms by living in their mouths.
Having Thorax being able to imitate Spike and a rock, as well as a pony, is a bit of a bummer.
4163283
Well, Thorax does seem to be a curiously "blue" type of changeling...
”Spend long enough around Pinkie Pie and your brain starts to form protective callouses.” -- calluses
And there is nothing that protects your brain from Pinkie Pie.
There is no headcanon murder in this episode.
What are you on about? It's all pleasantly vague and rife with unreliable narrators.
4163052 Huh
Must have missed that episode.
Just a little thing, but Dramatic Tumbleweed's flavour text is missing a "t" at the end of "thought"
4163016
I can definitely understand where you're coming from. Fortunately, as 4163035 noted, the widespread applicability is left vague. Thorax is clearly a very unusual changeling; even his magic is a different color than the rest of the hive. His incredible shapeshifting flexibility might be why he wasn't reprocessed when he was a grub. That would make locating him a high priority for Chrysalis if she ever got wind of him still being alive...
4163059
Canon or cannon? Either way, Pinkie could definitely help. And I like the idea of fighting with continuity itself. "You don't officially exist!"
4163136
This kind of thing is why I think Star Swirl is still bouncing about the timestream, running maintenance to keep ponykind from retroactively going extinct. The more he does, the better known he becomes in the future. This also does a handy job of explaining the bizarre continuity hiccups so prevalent in the show. Not only did a wizard do it, he's still doing it as they speak.
4163299
Thorax is clearly a Clever Impersonator.
4163480
Independent thought, speech in natural form, a loveless society, oviposition, larval stages, and transforming into nonequinoid forms are all confirmed for changelings. Changeling detection spells don't canonically exist. This devastates quite a few continuities. I'm all for finding wiggle room in canon, but "unreliable narrator" only takes you so far when it's right there onscreen, often with no narrator.
4163550
One of the Treehouses of Horror, the one with the parody of The Shining.
4164525
Headcanon accepted
When I clicked on that link, my Android phone auto-detected that it was a Gatherer URL, and offered to go straight to the card's entry in the MTG Familiar app. I love technology!
4164525 That explains it. I've only seen clips of that one...
4163178 This is the same society that completely forgot about one of its goddesses over the course of a thousand years, doesn't recognize its most active national heroes in the street, and is so bad at diplomatic relations that they don't know about the ruin of Griffonstone, and also know literally nothing about zebras. Frankly, it's a miracle there's even any evidence left of Starswirl's existence.
Remember the Starswirl Travelling Museum that came through town in Season 4? Bet you fifteen bucks it's being funded by Luna in the hopes that the masses will educate themselves about the greatest hero of all time.
An ep I enjoyed.
4163080
4163178
4164525
Actually having them being able to change into Inanimate objects doesn't really remove the biggest limit of their powers. Allow me to explain. Changeling shape-shifting does not seem to make a 100% indistinguishable copy of the pony changed into. In fact it seems to be a surface level change only. The Changeling does not get any memories, knowledge or special abilities of the target they change into. Things like RD's speed, AJ's strength or something like Pinkie Pie's party abilities would not be transferred over. If the copy is a dragon like Spike I'm sure they couldn't take a lava bath either. And judging how Thorax didn't have a false name or explanation ready, and Chrysalis didn't have any memory of Twilight's behavior, things like accent's like AJ's or Rarity's and Pinkie's knowledge of everyone in Ponyville would be a problem. It may also explain why no drone speaks while disguised.
Inanimate shifting, In fact depending on if changeling shape-shifting is a glamor or a actual psychical change, it would have the same limits. A changeling shifted to look like a rock, would still just be a living thing and not a rock. The only reason I could think of to have this ability would be to A) Escape in the wilds and B) to stalk and maybe ambush prey in urban environments.
4163038
My favorite explanation is that the military earth ponies are mostly ninjas, and that's why we've never seen them.
4182621
Hmm. My headcanon does make them black in their uniform colors, and I do have an inordinate fondness for Equestrian shadow government (cf. Octaviassassin.) Headcanon considered.
It amuses me that Trauma-Induced Prejudice hoses the board if you target anything with the actual Changeling creature type.