Bevendre

Very plausible.  Changeling nymphs have an instinctive knowledge of how to change their form, though many don’t do so until they’ve matured to a point comparable to a young colt.  Outcast ponies would be more likely to accept a changeling than a typical pony, and so travelers or hermits would work well with taking in an orphaned changeling.

Though obedience to a Queen tends to be ingrained in a changeling from birth, if their natural Queen is killed that connection is broken, and a surrogate connection can and generally is established with the closest being to the orphaned nymph.

This is how I run Papi, for the most part.  Being similar to arthropods, changelings work somewhat like lobsters.  So long as they maintain a steady supply of food they do not age past maturity and do not die of age alone.  Instead they remain as they are, only getting stronger in body, and perhaps somewhat more feeble in the mind.

Another great headcanon to work with, and one that makes me want to see more non-contemporary changeling stories take place.

While changeling chitin armor would be effective, it would not be nearly as resilient, nor as flexible, as the armor worn by ponies traditionally namely that of steel and gilded metals.  Changeling hide, within Papi canon, is harder than pony hide, but it is still soft and pliable in comparison to steel.  It is kept soft by the changeling’s body, its fluids and its heat.  After death, a changeling’s hide will harden and become very stiff.  At this point it does work well for strength, but not for motion as it does not flex, and it is not as easy to mesh pieces of the flesh together into plate or mail as it is with metal.

Now, depending on the canon of someone’s story changelings can predate metallurgy in Equestria very easily, they are insect like after all, and this hints at a long history.  Within Papi’s canon however, they are relatively recent being around only slightly longer than the Alicorns which came about shortly after the end of the wars of the three pony tribes.  As such, metallurgy was already well established and a fairly prominent aspect of both Unicorn and Pegasus society, making changeling armor completely inadequate for either of the races.  This of course leaves Earth ponies.

Earth ponies would arguably benefit the most from changeling armor, being naturally stronger and more resilient than their winged and horned counterparts.  Still, it would be easier for the race to trade foodstuffs for metal than it would be to fashion usable armor out of changeling hide.

Depending on the canon one works with with changeling social structures, conversion means and interspecies relations, this is very doable.  It doesn’t fit with Papi’s canon for a few reasons, namely that conversion can only be done by a Queen and through immediate proximity (In a more violent hive, should a pony be taken forcibly and converted, only to have the process fail then the pony would be eliminated, or possibly eaten), and that changeling hives are hidden by design.

Changelings, in Papi’s canon, are extremely loathe to show themselves because of a long history of prejudice, and attempted genocide of their race by ponies who see them as monsters and demons.  In this regard, a hive invasion force would be a fitting construct, but first the hive would need to be discovered at which point it would be easier and faster to completely destroy the structure than it would to infiltrate it.

Being immune to conversion, a process that overrides the physiological aspects of the being in question and alters them to a changeling form, though possibly through a random genetic anomaly that resists mutation of the organism, would most likely be a hereditary product stemming from being the offspring or direct relation to a converted drone.  However, this could work the other way, making the individual more susceptible to conversion, assuming that they are whole and functional enough to reach that point.

It’s a good idea, and one that works well in many headcanons and plots, but doesn’t sit well within Papi’s canon.

A fair headcanon.  Cockatrice would be a delicacy only in that it is EXTREMELY dangerous to hunt them due to the whole petrifying thing.

azula-griffon:

bevendre:

I do believe that that is up for debate good sir, as azula-griffon’s is better and has been around much longer.

*cough cough*

No coughing, only acceptance.  You have great gryphons, in design and execution.

It is true that changelings can eat meat, and while converted drones are often loathe to try it, many do develop a taste for it.  Papi is one such example having developed a taste for rabbit while constructing her hive.

Changelings can digest most organic matter, though wood fiber is beyond their capabilities, making Timberwolves natural predators to changelings.

I do believe that that is up for debate good sir, as azula-griffon’s is better and has been around much longer.