Swift Dawn

Swift Dawn is a male changeling of average stature and build by pony standards. He is a young adult with a messy blue mane and tail and dark gray, soft chitin. On occasion, his normally soft chitin can be replaced by a short, soft fur coat. On his back is an affixed plate of dark blue chitin, slightly harder than the rest of his body's chitin. Two translucent light blue wings sprout from this back plating. The wings are surprisingly durable and flexible despite their fragile appearance, but can still tear under stress. His underbelly has long, grooved black plating about as soft as the rest of his chitin, wrapping from one side of his back plating, across his belly, and up the other side. He has blue eyes and fangs that remain visible behind closed lips. Like other changelings, he has holes in his front and back legs and a curved horn atop his head. Unlike most changelings, he has pony-like ears and a full mane and tail of blue hair. His horn emits a soft neon-green glow when he uses magic.

Swift was found and adopted by the Dawn bat pony family at a very young age and grew up in Canterlot. He never knew his biological family but is perfectly content with his adoptive one. He grew up with his sister, Mythic Dawn, and eventually shared a townhouse with her in Canterlot's middle-class district. Swift learned to transform from a young age and never grew hungry because of the familial love he received. He never developed a link with his biological hive's hive mind, presumably because of the distance. Swift works as a civil engineer for the Royal Canterlot Engineering Guild, adopting the persona of a cyan pegasus with a blue mane as a cover identity. Though changelings later became more widely accepted, Swift was accustomed to hiding his identity—a task that became more difficult after Chrysalis's attack on the city.

Swift has a relaxed, laid-back outlook on life and takes things one day at a time. He follows a “forgive and forget” philosophy and sometimes fails to take matters as seriously as he should. He is mostly a pacifist and is happy to let others do the fighting. He has no allegiance to any faction but will follow his sister's lead if push comes to shove. Swift has never been especially interested in serious dating or finding a soulmate, though he has his share of fun with other ponies, often patrons of the local bar. Familial love sustains him, but other kinds—from romantic love to lust—have different and appealing tastes. He also enjoys long walks through the city, spending time with friends, and reading a good novel; Daring Do is right up his alley.