After the changelings' failed invasion of Canterlot, Twilight tries to soothe some of Ponyville's rampant paranoia by casting a spell to prove there are no imposters hiding in the town. But her spell leaves her in an alien body, facing a mob of angry ponies who just don't believe her when she says she is Twilight Sparkle.

Or, at least, she was Twilight Sparkle, anyway...

Featured on Equestria Daily, 2/17/13
Cover art is by the awesome and amazing Conicer

Celestia likes her routine. Tax reforms, grants, laws and construction projects are all a princess needs to be content.

It's just her luck that for Pinkie Pie, "content" is not nearly enough.

Echo is a high ranking changeling officer. The Canterlot invasion was going perfectly, and her battalion had personally defeated the Elements of Harmony. Suddenly, she finds herself far flung from Canterlot, crashing into the Everfree forest. Now she is faced with a difficult reality - her hive, the only family she's ever known, no longer exists, and she must adapt to life as a pony. What she finds out about herself, though, will surprise her.

Rated Teen for occasional suggestiveness and language, tagged gore for brief violence, particularly in later chapters.

Dark because later chapters get pretty ... well, dark.

---

Addendum 5/29/2018

This story is now, as of this addendum, five years old. It is getting more attention as I put out new chapters on the sequel.

I recognize that this story has problems, and that some of them by their nature carry over to the sequel; please remember that when I started writing this, I was not yet even old enough to legally drink in the US. A lot has happened and a lot has changed, and there are many things about this story I regret including, but which it is now too late to change. Some of those things I have simply done my best to ignore and make irrelevant, but some of them are errors from a 19 year old me that will haunt me until the sequel is finished.

In short, please be gentle.

Lyra Heartstrings and four of her friends have been burdened with the astronomical task of keeping Equestria's most powerful unicorn from causing a global disaster by posing as her best friends and maintaining the illusion that five of the Element Bearers never lost their lives in a tragic event.

Ponyville faced an ordinary day, but then night came, and with it a massive gateway into another world. It closes before any action can be taken, but now the Mane Six and Canterlot nobility are tasked with finding out what they can about the gateway. Who created it? Where did it lead to?

And most importantly, did anything come through?

Takes place after Season 2
Now 20% cooler with a TVTropes page!

Celestia finds herself in a predicament when she finds a bright red dot, and decides to give chase. Will she ever catch the dot, and where is the dot coming from?

Comments and criticism are appreciated.

We all know the story of how the Princess’ young student and five friends defeated Nightmare Moon and brought Princess Luna back to our lands. But what if the tale were false? What if the young Twilight Sparkle on the event of her entrance exam had not been rescued by Princess Celestia, but instead lost her mind among the power of her youthful surge and had to be sent away, far away before she could destroy all of Canterlot with her newfound power. Now the feral unicorn prowling the Everfree Forest only vaguely remembers her past, slipping away from constant terrifying attempts to capture her.

And she is beginning to remember what true power felt like.

Editors include: Peter, Justin, Featherprop, Mitch H, and Bad Horse
Featured on Equestria Daily
Reviewed by Chris on One Man's Pony Ramblings and by Paul Asaran on his review blog
Now with a TV Tropes page

Physical books are available on Lulu.com
Monster in the Twilight (Paperback) 272 pages
Monster in the Twilight (Hardback)

When Twilight was young, she used to sit on the balcony and look down at the statues in the royal garden. At the strange creatures of fur and armour and feathers and horns, and just...wonder on them.
And out of all of them, out of the unique draconequus and the rare Cyclops and the terrifying Invention Monkey, one particular statue always caught her eye.
Four...blocky, for lack of a better word, knights. Frozen in perfect formation, their heads hidden deep within the confines of their helmets. Each one stuck in the same pose, for as long as she'd known them.
And beneath them, engraved into the stone they were a part of, was a simple message.
"Wake us when something fun happens or Celestia stops being a bitch, whichever comes first."

Now with tropes page, all thanks to Eyeshield. Good work, buddy.

Cheer up, Twilight. It's not every day somepony changes species. In fact, no pony has ever changed species. It's something new and you like discovering new things. Granted, Equestrians don't like new things, especially things that fundamentally alter their government. So maybe there is reason not to be happy after all.

Twilight Sparkle has always admired Princess Celestia. Her fortitude, her wisdom, her eternal grace and love for all her subjects. Twilight has often fantasized about what it would be like to be in Princess Celestia's horseshoes. She never imagined those fantasies would come true.

---
Events take place a short time after the Crystal Empire's return (early S3).
Proofreading from chapter three-onward provided by Daemon of Decay.
Cover image used with permission from TexasUberAlles, thanks!
Inspiration for Sunny Skies from PhantomFox.