My name is Twilight Sparkle, and I'm a pony. Sixteen years ago, I somehow got turned into a baby and restarted life with no memories or anything. I grew up in a hive of insectoid shape-shifters known as changelings. I'm a hunter, one of the hive's best alongside my two best friends: Jade and Swift. I'm also the mother of the first ever pony/changeling hybrid. Her name is Kara, and she's my everything. A few days after her sixth birthday, she decided to join the hive navy. I had always thought she'd become a hunter like myself, but she has to be able to make her own choices. And to be honest, I should've seen it coming since she enjoyed being on ships, and has always been really into our hive's military history. She's done good for herself as well, and I'm very proud of her.

Enough backstory for now. Today, I'll be headed out to Equestria to try and talk the two princesses into starting up an alliance with my hive. I insisted on going alone as I feared having hivemates would only work against me in the long run, but mother wouldn't have any of it. I'll be taking with me Jade and Swift as guards. They agreed to stay in their pony forms and blend into the background, so there's that at least. I really hoped this wouldn't backfire.

We'll be flying in on a hunter transport. With all of my fellow changelings disguised as ponies, and me as an actual pony, it should get us in with ease. Why not just walk, you ask? It's too damn far! Canterlot is at least a months walk from the hive, and that's if we don't stop for ANYTHING. Flying like a pegasus is out of the question since I'm a unicorn. This boat is all we've got as a conventional means of transport.

The boat itself isn't impressive. It's slightly bigger than one of the navy's troop transports. It's not very spacious, but it'll do. After saying good bye to my mate, Fenrir, and Kara, I boarded and we took off not long after. As I watched the hive get smaller, I realized something: this is really happening. I'll be interacting with other real ponies for the first time in this life... and it kinda scared me a little. Soon, we breached the occlusion barrier and suddenly, the hive just vanished. Onward now to Equestria.

It didn't take long at all to reach our destination. Travel by air boat is very nice. It's how we get to and from our hunting grounds so easily. Anyway, after getting clearance to dock, we did so at the closest dock to the castle. It'd be nice if we could dock at the castle itself, but we don't have the means to get that kind of clearance. Oh well, it's only a few miles walk from here.

Good grief, Canterlot sure is pretty. The hive back home is nice and everything, but this place... just... there's no words to describe it. Everything is made of marble, and it's amazing. As we walk through the streets, I have to try really hard to resist the urge to go in every single store I see. First time I tried, Swift quickly cut me off and reminded me of what I was supposed to be doing. Oh well, maybe later, then.

As soon as we reached the castle, I was blown away. I thought the city looked nice, but this... just... holy crap. First of all, the towards stand on in impossible ways, and I have to question the reality of physics. Other than that, though, everything about this place is mind blowingly beautiful. At the front gate, I'm scanned for some reason. Afterwards, I'm cleared for entry. Not only that, but the guards bowed to me after scanning me... and started to me feel really uneasy. I didn't show it, though, and just walked past.

Jade and Swift weren't so lucky. After I entered the insanely huge entrance hallway, I heard the guards outside call out the word "changeling". Well, shit. I had a feeling this was going to backfire, and I was right. Over the hivemind, I basically begged them to cooperate, and they agreed. As I kept walking, I saw them being escorted towards where I could only imagine is the dungeon. Now, I needed to get this done as quickly as possible so I can get them set free.

"Twilight, is everything alright?" Mother asked.

"Jade and Swift just got caught," I explained, "I told you taking guards would end poorly. I'm gonna try and get these negotiations out of the way quickly so I set them free".

"Good luck, Twilight," Mother said, "And don't worry about Jade and Swift. They are more than capable of handling themselves".

I know that already. I hunt with them, so I know what they're capable of. I just hate that they had to get captured like that.

I reached the throne room before too long, and it was very easy to find. Just follow the red carpet and you'll find royalty. As I entered, I tensed up. I could feel an insane amount of power in the room, pretty obvious who it was coming from, and it terrified me to no end. But I had to be brave, I couldn't show fear. I gathered up every bit of courage I had and pushed forward. Sitting upon the throne was a very tall, white unicorn decked out in gold regalia. I could only assume this unicorn was princess Celestia. As soon as her eyes fell upon me, she literally leapt from her throne and flew over to me. Right, the princesses are alicorns... gotta remember that. After reaching me, she pulled me into a tight embrace.

"It's so good to see you again, Twilight," She said as her wings wrapped around me.

"Good to see you too, Princess," I said, "It's been way too long".

"Indeed it has," She said, letting me go slightly, "Where have you been?"

"Long story, and I'd rather not talk about it in public like this," I said.

She nodded and then turned and halted whatever it was she was in the middle of. As soon as everyone was gone, and the room was empty again safe for a few guards, she walked back over. However, she stopped short and got a really serious look on her face that made me want to crawl into a small hole and stay there for a very long time.

"Twilight, what happened to your wings?" She asked.

Wings? Hold up, I'm supposed to have wings!? Oh dear...

"Mother, we have a big problem here," I said.

"What's happened?" Mother asked, worried.

"I'm supposed to be an alicorn," I explained.

Silence... scary, scary silence.

The princess's voice brought me back to Equestria.

"I'm only going to ask you one more time," The princess growled, "Who are you, and what have you done with Twilight?"

I could faintly hear mother saying something, but couldn't make out what it was. I was terrified. Things had gone from good to bad to really bad. I had to give an answer, and quick, so I gave the only answer I could. Oh well, she was about to find out anyway.

"I am the real Twilight," Was all I could say before the princess's horn flared up. I blacked out within seconds.

Author's Note

Doesn't look too promising for Twi right now, but I'm sure she'll find a way out of this bad situation. How will she do it, though? Check back in the next chapter to find out.

And in case you're curious, green text indicates communication via the hivemind. I felt it best to color code that so it doesn't get confused with regular, verbal communication.