@PonyPon  
It sure did come far.

@moonlightaveger  
Welcome to the show.

@Ihhh  
Yeah… Right.

@moonlightaveger  
A lot of that seems to be based on your personal interpretations. Much of that was never stated in the show.

@Ihhh  
@Daneasaur  
I just don’t like it. The changelings were initially introduced as the kind of creature that would infiltrate and exploit, that is why it made sense that they would disguise themselves. It’s a cool power and one very fitting for a villain in the show. But when they started changing into creatures that are stronger than their ‘prey’, say, the bugbear, the cragadile, an ursa… It makes it cheap. Limitations are a good thing for characters and it’s good to keep them consistent.
 
At the same time, though, I also think that it would make complete sense that they could change into other creatures so that they could feed from those creatures, like Chrysalis does in this episode. But then, Thorax changed into a bugbear to fight. They changed into other creatures to benefit from their abilities/strength. It feels like a weird departure from their original concept that muddles the whole point of what they were and how they operate without a particularly good reason to do it.
 
Then there is the idea that the changelings simply kidnapped everyone in the season six finale. How did they do it? Did they charm their way through, did they just transform into something strong and forced their way? How do these ideas connect? Now it seems like they don’t need to charm someone first, to feed from them, so, what is the point of disguising? The season 2 finale said that is how Chrysalis managed to become so powerful: by feeding off Shining Armor’s love for Cadance. What is the point of that now?
 
There doesn’t seem to be a clear line of thought on how the changelings work.

@moonlightaveger  
Objects other than ponies/people was confirmed as early as Times are a changeling when Thorax became Spike, and then became a rock. It’s just been elaborated on since then.

@moonlightaveger  
Why not? It doesn’t make any sense that the wouldn’t be able to.

I’m not a fan of the concept of changelings turning into other creatures besides ponies, griffons… You know, ‘people’…
 
But Chrysalis looks damn good doing it.

@Daneasaur  
The cold never bothered her anyway.

Just to break the ice.

@laofuzi  
Crocodiles are. Craigadiles might be molten lava in their core. Who knows, but clearly cold doesn’t bother them.

Wait—aren’t crocodiles cold-blooded creatures?