//------------------------------//
// The birth of the banished 
// Story: Exiled 
// by EquestrianBros 
//------------------------------//

	"Whats a Blacky?" Sweety said re-reading the signature over and over again.

"Maybe it's a nickname someone gave Shadow?" Apple Bloom suggested.

"I don't know it still seems kinda weird."

"Girls!" That was a voice none of them wanted to hear at that moment, the voice of reason incarnate. The voice of Twilight. "What are you doing here! It's dangerous and you could get hurt." The last part was more in a softer voice, because she was dealing with fillies after all.

"We just wanted to earn our cutie marks." Sweety said in a sadden tone now that they have been caught.

"How many time have I told you not to come into here. It's dangerous and there's a changeling on the loose." At the word changeling the three fillies curled together and looked all worried.

"We-e did-dn't kno-ow." Apple Bloom says looking like she was about to cry. Sad puppy dog eyes for the win.

"*sigh* Ok here's the deal. I'll teleport you girls to the library and won't tell your sisters, but only because there's a changeling nearby and I don't want you guys to get hurt or for your sisters to get distracted, but mark my words. When we get back we will have a discussion about this." The three little fillies all let out the breath they didn't know they were hanging onto. Next thing they noticed was a bright flash and they were back in the library again. The walls were basically bare, due to a particularly small dragon rearranging all the books in order based on date, because that's how Twilight wanted it.

Spike had been mumbling,"Rearrange all the books she said. It'll be fun she said." under his breath but the CMC caught it, but deciding to ignore it and go to more pressing matters.

"Well this sucks. Now we won't get our cutie marks." Apple Bloom said slouching on the floor.

"Did you guys forget already?!" Scootaloo said snickering a bit.

"Forget what?" The others said in unison, already showing promis that this was going to be good.

"We have a persons journal, and he gave us free reign to read it." The others gasp and this peaks spikes interest.

"Watcha guy doin over there?" He said inching closer. Anything to get away from those damn books.

"Reading this guys journal, and he's even allowing us too, so its not wrong or anything." Sweety Bell said, looking at spike with a stare that matched his own when he watched Rarity.

"Stop chit-er chattering and lets read it already!" Scoots said, again with her inpatients being her best trait right now. They all gathered round Apple Bloom as she opened the book to the first entry and read aloud.


Entry #0

Silence was all that was heard through out the night, as the creatures of the day wind down. That doesn't mean that the night is any less lively. Different assortments of creature live and thrive during the night, such as the timber wolves or changelings. These however kept quiet and hidden during the night, because they aren't just predators. They're also prey, prey to one of the most blood thirsty creatures out there. The Jackles. A Jackle is a humanoid looking wolf like creature. Claws sharp enough to easily shred through changelings chitin armor. Eyes so soul-less they can stare down a pack of timber wolves. Teeth so sharp that only gems and steel can withstand a bit from it. 
They are however unlike Diamond Dogs, because diamond dogs at least care for their young. Jackles leave them to fend for themselves and often fight with each other over the pettiest of things, but that doesn't mean that they cant work together. Actually, Jackles working together is one of the few things that I fear. For a fully functioning Jackle team could wipe our my den with little effort. Luckily, Jackles were mostly aggressive by nature and rarely worked together, even if just in groups of two. Only a large magical fluctuation could case the Jackles mind to be altered enough to trust each other.
However the previous day had been one of extraordinary magical influxes. Apparently, a sonic rain-boom was created, but that was only the pebble entering the water, the ripples caused the most magical effects. These ripples happen to be caused by a little unicorn, whose test to hatch a dragon was failing, until a wave of energy from the rain-boom broke the limiter in her magical essence allowing, not infinite energy, but all the magical energy within the area to be used. This sudden drain and reimbursement of magical energy cause the minds of the Jackles to become unified, even if it was just for the day. There was little I could do, and I tried my hardest to fend them off, but they were unstoppable. They made their way to the hatchery, and started smashing all the young ones. 
You and the rest you are with were among them, and had gotten ripped from your shells one way or another. By some miracle however, you survived the raid and remained unscathed. This isn't a good thing though. As you may know, or actually may not due to your stage of development, it is a right of passage to break free of your own shell without assistance. It proves you are ready to face the hardships of the world, but you however didn't break free on your own. It is with great sadness that I have to banish you, from the hive. It has been tradition for many millennial and shall be for many more. 
I have set you, within a safe part of the Everfree, in hope that you may survive. Again I am so sorry for not being able to protect you from them. Take care my children.

-Queen Chrysalis

End Of Chapter---------------------------------------------------
The next couple of paragraphs will help you understand the stages of development for changelings. 

While in the egg a changeling goes through growth phases of the body as well as the mind. This helps them be prepared for the world when they hatch. I'll explain in stages:

Stage One:
The egg is fertilized(hopefully everyone here is smart enough to know how) and then layed withing the green slime that the queen and her drones create. This helps keep the egg at the right temperature and provides nutrients to the egg. Yes some people are going to be saying "But the egg has the required nutrients to live, why does it need those." well to answer that my dear friend you will have to wait until stage 3.

Stage Two:
The embryo starts to take shape into a changeling. First the head, then the torso, followed by the legs. The wings, horn, and chitin exoskeleton are not grown in this stage however. So in lamens terms, its like a normal earth pony at this point.

Stage Three:
This stage can happen during the end phase of stage two, while it may not be completely over. This is where the extra nutrition comes in handy. See changelings are mostly female drones, so the need to be able to work as soon as possible is required. This speeds brain development at around roughly x24 times the normal speed. This doesn't actually cause them to be self aware in the egg, or even develop personality at this point. Now they will develop personality, just not in the egg. With the increasing brain size, the brood mothers come in daily and recite lessons, starting with speech and writing, then to useful skills needed to survive. This is retained inside the changelings primary auditory cortex then spread out to other regions within the brain. This stage never ends, but does slow down near the end.

Stage Four:
This stage is when the changeling start to grow its wings and horn. Now the wings are a thin membrane, so their not hard to grow. When the horn is growing, it stunts all the other growth of the body, not development but just stops it temporarily, so it can grown the new bone protruding from the head. Once the bone is the proper length for the proportion of the body, growth resumes. Now the green slime is also slightly magical, so it acts as a feed for the changeling to get its magic reserves started. Now in a unicorn, the direct link to the body via umbilical cord, gives it a direct power supply, were as the changelings the green slime is needed. 

Stage Five:
This happens once the wings and horns have grown in. The only thing left is to grow the exoskeleton. Now they do have an endoskeleton, but this exoskeleton is like a natural armor and protects them from many dangers. This process is similar to that of keratinization of skin, but instead of being a thin layer, it grows to be a 'shell' per say. 

Stage Six:
This is when the changelings actually gain conscience and break from their shells. Most are ready for basic work, and will learn more along the way.


Now in the story, the eggs got destroyed in around the middle of stage four. So the changelings are going to have a more normally shaped horn, less magical powers, shorter K9's, and a much softer exoskeleton. They also only know speech, writing, emotions, and a few edible plants and animals, but because they never finished their learning, they have no idea what they are.