"Ugh.... Can't Twilight quiet down about that thief?" I asked, slowly getting out of bed. It's been three weeks since I sent her that journal and only one since her coronation. "She has things to learn this dusk before-"

I was interrupted by a cloaked figure bursting into the room. The figure glanced my way then ran for the bathroom, followed closely by Twilight. I groaned and put my hand on my face. "Twilight?"

The purple princess paused and turned to me and said, "She stole my-"

"Yes, I know. You've been yelling that louder than the Royal Canterlot Voice for the past five minutes as you chased her through the castle. Calm down." I waited for a moment and composed myself a bit, realizing that I had no clothes on. "First, I need clothes. Then we deal with that thief."

"But-"

"She ran into the mirror in my bathroom, I know where she's gone." I walked over to my closet and opened the doors.

"Well then-"

I turned to Twilight and pulled her to me. "No. The crown can be replaced, same as the gem in it."

She stepped away, horror on her face. "The Elements aren't important? What about everything my friends and I have done together?"

I knelt down and wrapped my arm around her, pulling her to me again. "The crown and necklaces are nothing more than a joke. You and your friends hold their power inside. I was going to tell you guys at the wedding, but apparently I didn't plan on the portal opening between now and then."

"Wait, what?"

"Yeah, Luna never felt the Harmonic Power of the Elements come from the crown or necklaces when they were in the vault -- and no, that wasn't because of the enchantments. Look, I have never felt the power of the Elements unless you or one of your friends were around."

Twilight looked down in thought, trying to process what I just implied. Finally she said, "But that can't be, We've never used the Elements without the necklaces and crown."

I squeezed her a little before going back to finding something to wear. "That's just because you think you need them. If you focused enough on the bonds between you girls, you'd be able to use that power whenever you wanted to. Hell, you might even be able to use it individually."

"So.... Just let the thief go?"

I finally gave up and reached for my regalia, pulling it on as I said, "Oh heavens no! I'm just saying think things through before you jump in blindly. I'd rather not have to replace something with that much Elementium in it." Once I was dressed we walked into the bathroom to discover that the thief had already went through the mirror. I gestured to the mirror and said, "Well, looks like we have to go through ourselves."

"Through what? They obviously teleported away using a rune inscribed on a hoof sized rock," Spike said as he finally showed up, the rest of the Elements following right behind.

"Heh, Twilight, I think you need to explain how teleporting works to him again." My smile faded as I noticed Twilight's non-reaction to Spike's suggestion. "Wait, you can actually do that?" I shook my head, putting that on the back burner. "Never mind for now. No, Spike. My mirror is a portal to a different universe every two and a half years. Where it opens is a universe where everyone is a human like me and no, Twilight and I are the only ones going."

"Why leave my friends behind? Wouldn't it be better to have them to back us up?" Twilight asked.

"It'll be easier to keep track of who's who if only the two of us go," I explained. "Plus there's a lot of things to get distracted by over there and we have only a forty-eight hour window to get the crown and get back before the portal closes. Or we could spend a few months studying the portal so we can open and close it when we want, but that would mean leaving your crown over there."

"Well, the thief did leave this fake crown...."

I gave her a deadpan look. "I was joking. "

"But-"

"No buts or I'm gonna smack your flank every time you say it." I said as I walked back into the bathroom, now fully dressed.

Twilight joined me a minute later and asked, "This won't hurt, will it?"

"Only as much as going through a wormhole through the fabric of space and time and landing on stone." With that I jumped in shouting, "Allonsy, Alonso!"

When I came to I noticed that I was laying on my back under a naked human Twilight. I ran my hands down her sides, admiring her curves and her silky smooth skin until I realized that we were laying on the ground in front of a school.

Just then a shadow fell over the both of us and a very familiar voice said, "And what are the two of you doing laying here naked?"

She- I looked up, my eyes widening in surprise.

"Well?"

I finally find my voice as my vision blurs and say, "C-Celestia?"