"My crown! She's got my crown!"

Even through the echoing halls of the Crystal Empire's castle, Shining Armor couldn't fail to hear her little sister's cry of distress. She looked up at Cadance in a panic, and then between Celestia and Luna.

"Go. Quickly." Cadance saw the panic so like her husband solidify into decision at her words. "We will follow."

Shining Armor couldn't even think straight, and using Twilight's own instincts—thanks to Shining still wearing her form—she teleported as close to where her little sister was as she could. Purple magic, disguised love energy, let out Twilight's trademark POMF sound, and Shining was suddenly in a dimly lit room. Something flew over her head, but it was the two mares struggling on the floor that had her attention. "Guards!"

Instead of guards, Twilight's friends from Ponyville piled into the room and stared at the situation. "Which one's the real Twilight?" Pinkie Pie looked between Shining and his sister.

"Ah don't care, but somepony needs to help stop that unicorn!" Applejack pointed at the orange unicorn that one of the "Twilights" had tackled.

Sunset Shimmer, resplendent in her amber fur and red/yellow hair, froze in momentary confusion and stared between Twilight Sparkle and the disguised-as-Twilight Shining Armor. When the crown went bouncing through the portal, Sunset grinned. "Sorry it had to be this way." She energized her horn and teleported—with a sharp snapping sound—behind Shining Armor. She took a step towards the mirror portal before something knocked the flame-themed unicorn away from it.

Shining's hooves lowered from where she had employed them to buck Sunset away from the mirror. "What are you doing here?" Her disguise dropped in the rush of adrenaline that was carrying her. She stood over Sunset and stomped a hoof to cow the rousing unicorn. "Guards! Where are my—"

"Sir!" Gleaming Shine galloped into the room, having to dodge Twilight's friends to reach Shining. She could clearly see that her "Prince" was trying to detain a unicorn, and reached under her armor with a hoof to pull out the special restraints.

Grabbing hold of Sunset's horn, Shining pulled her head back while Gleaming Shine pushed the bridle up and over her head. It pulled tight around her muzzle and cheeks, tugged past her ears and with a loud click, Gleaming fastened the lock on the back. "Got her."

Staring in shock at the turn of events, Sunset tried to channel magic only to feel the bridle around her head grow warm. Her heart sank as the teleportation spell she tried to cast failed to manifest.

"BBBFF!" Twilight rushed forward to grab her brother in a tight grip. "You got her! You're really are the best… but my crown!" In the panic she had forgotten what they had been chasing the thief for. "Where did it go?"

"Prince Shining Armor," Rarity bowed exactly as deep as was socially required of her, "I can only assume you were in some sort of disguise just now for a reason, and by the sound of hooves rushing towards us you really should—" She cut off her words as Shining burned with fire to become a second Twilight Sparkle again. "Darling, not to contradict you, but you might want to choose a more unique form." She gestured to the real Twilight Sparkle.

Panicking still, Shining's thoughts raced and settled on another pony she remembered recently that she knew wasn't in the Crystal Empire. Green fire swirled around her as the large form of a changeling queen was replaced with a blue unicorn in Guard armor. As three alicorns charged into the room, Shining raised her voice. "The Great and Powerful Trixie has captured the thief!"

Keeping her voice low, Gleaming Shine turned her head to Shining. "Overdoing it. Leave it to me." She rolled her eyes and stepped past Shining Armor, and pointed at Sunset Shimmer. "We captured the thief. She has been secured."

"Has anypony seen my crown?!" Twilight was rushing around the room, remembering seeing the Element of Magic collide with multiple things before disappearing.

Pinkie Pie pronked up to her manic friend. "That's easy. It went in here!" She poked her foreleg through the mirror portal. "I can go get it if…" She trailed off as she was levitated back from the mirror by cobalt magic. "Aww…"

"This," Luna stepped up to the mirror, and her eyes drifted back to Shining as she gave her explanation, "is no ordinary mirror. It is a gateway to another world." She turned to look at the assembled ponies. "A gateway that opens once every thirty moons."

Twilight cut in on the explanation, an urgent feeling rising in her. "Then I will just—"

"I cannot allow that." The eyes of all the ponies in the room turned to Gleaming Shine as she cut off the youngest princess. "Your Highness," she looked to Cadance, doing her best to ignore Shining Armor at her side, "please allow me to go and retrieve the crown. I am sure that it shouldn't take long."

"She could be a changeling too!" Dropper stomped up and squeezed into the room behind Princess Celestia. "Your Highness," he turned to face only Celestia, "I request to be sent to retrieve the crown!"

"I can assure you, Dropper, neither Princess Cadance nor Guard Gleaming Shine, are changelings. Moving the mirror here might have been a mistake, but this is Princess Cadance and Prince Shining Armor's realm to govern," she added some steel to her voice and stared down Dropper, "and protect."

Cadance's heart skipped a beat at the admission by Celestia that the Crystal Empire was truly its own sovreign entity. "Gleaming Shine, is there anypony you would like to take with you?" She knew full well that Trixie was in Ponyville, and deductive reasoning narrowed down who the "Trixie" present was.

"Me." Rainbow Dash stepped forward, looking between Shining Armor, Cadance, and Gleaming Shine. "You know having a fast flier would be the best to team up with a unicorn. I am the fastest flier there is!"

"Take her." Shining nudged Gleaming in the side. "She isn't boasting… this time." She kept her voice as low as she could, but she could tell that the others could hear it. "The Great and Powerful Trixie has worked with Rainbow Dash before," Shining used the superior half-smile that Trixie Lulamoon was known for, "she will be adequate."

"Your Highness, I would have Rainbow Dash with me on this," Gleaming looked at the small and lithe pegasus, "if you allow it?" She got only a nod from Cadance.

"You have three days, and when the moon rises on the third day," Luna gestured to the portal, "it will close again for thirty more cycles. Be quick."

Gleaming turned and looked at Rainbow Dash. "If I could get you some fitting armor on short notice I would." She lifted her hoof and offered it to Rainbow.

"Pfft, I fly fast enough that nothing can catch me." Rainbow returned the gesture with a clop of her hoof. "But this is really important, huh?" She flicked her wings and dropped to the ground before the mirror. "Last one through's a rotten egg!" Not hesitating in the slightest, Rainbow Dash jumped forward.

"I am starting to regret my—" Gleaming Shine trotted up and stepped through the portal. The world didn't so much turn as spin, spiraling their elongated bodies further and further. "I. Hate. Magic. Portals!"

Rainbow Dash fell out on the ground, and coughed a few times. "Ugh, what was—" Honed instincts caused her to roll to the side in a body that wasn't quite moving right. A heavy thud sounded as Gleaming Shine hit the ground beside her.

"What is this, rock?" Gleaming pushed what she thought was a foreleg down and froze. "Rainbow Dash?"

"Yeah, I see it too." Rainbow picked up the slight measure of panic in Gleaming's voice and knew from the wiggly fingers where her hooves should be, that something was wrong. "But it's okay, I'll fly up and…" Her eyes narrowed down to pinpricks. "M-M-M-My wings?"

Gleaming sympathized with Rainbow, feeling not a trace of magic. "We look strange, a little like minotaurs, or strange dragons. And what is up with all this clothing?" She remembered back to the minotaur she had once seen and tried to stand up on her "back legs."

"What are you doing? This is no time for… oh." Rainbow Dash mimicked Gleaming and stood up. Unlike her companion, Rainbow had a much better sense of balance and awareness, and managed to stay standing without grabbing on to the statue behind them. "This is pretty cool, takes some getting used to though. Is that our way home?" Rainbow pointed at the square base of the statue.

Close enough to reach her "foreleg" out, Gleaming pushed her limb into the portal, and could see her pony limb as a glowing ghost image. "Right, we have our way back and three days to—"

"Hey, what's this?" A nasally voice got both Equestrian "diplomats' " attention.

"That isn't yours!" Rainbow Dash was quicker than Gleaming to spot the lanky, upright creature grabbing her best friend's crown. "Give that back!" Running before she could walk would have been impossible for any creature except for Rainbow Dash. Her legs started pounding and she was off after the creature taking the crown.

Looking at the creature Rainbow was charging, Gleaming started to walk after them as well. "Stop in the name of the Guard!" The creature yelled and ran from them.

"It's the cops!" The nasally creature was trying to run, and had it been anyone but Rainbow Dash they might have gotten away with it. "I found it! I ain't done nothin'!"

Rainbow Dash dove and grabbed the legs of the fleeing thief. "Gotcha!" She grabbed hold of their waist and held on as best she could while help arrived.

"Why don't you just calm down there." Gleaming was still a little shaky on her feet, but she hid it well by putting on her best glare. "Let me see it." She got a definite vibe of "young adult" from the creature. "And what's your name?"

"Spot." Spot glared up at Gleaming's blue uniform. "I found it fair and square!" Pulling the golden crown closer to his body, he folded his arms around it.

"That belongs to somepony else." Gleaming reached down with her hand, holding it open. "And I am going to take it back to her." She saw stubbornness in Spot's eyes, but it was fading by the moment in the face of her confident air of authority.

"It's not fair! I just wanted something for me!" Spot slowly unfolded his arms to reveal the bright gold crown. "I—" He gasped as the crown glowed brightly then let off a pulse of light.

"That's it, let's get out of here." Rainbow let go of Spot and grabbed the crown. "There's no reason we have to hang around here any longer!" She got to her feet and brushed the dirt from her dress.

"Yeah, you're right." Turning around with Rainbow at her side, Gleaming Shine froze as she found herself staring at her own double. "Huh, well I didn't expect this…"

"Hold it right there!" Sergeant Shine held one hand up to her doppelganger, while the other reached for her microphone. Before she pressed the PTT switch, she took a deep breath. "Explain this in a way that won't have me seeing a psych' tomorrow, or I am dragging all of you down to the station."

"G-G-Gleaming?" Rainbow looked between the two identical humans, and of course both turned to face her. "Okay, explanation, got it. We are from another world, and were sent here to recover this crown. We will just be leaving and nothing will bother you or your princesses here." She started to take a step but had a restraining hand put on her shoulder by both Gleamings.

"You can't expect a Guard to accept that, Rainbow." Gleaming turned to look at her human-world duplicate. "This is going to take a lot more explaining; can we sit down somewhere and talk about it?"

"What about me?" Spot shrank back from the glare of two people from different worlds who shared a great deal in terms of their tolerance of thieves. "Got it; run again." Putting one foot in front of the other, he took off as fast as he could go.

"He runs a lot faster to get away from you two than from me…" Rainbow tried to shrug off the grip on her shoulder. "Look, relax, I am not going to run back to Equestria without you."

"Glad to hear it." Gleaming Shine gave a sigh. "So where are we going to tell you this grand story?"

"Come on back to my cruiser, I know a great place that is open all night." Sergeant Shine pointed to her police car, and turned to head for it. Part of her really hoped the unexplainable two—and their very expensive-looking crown—were gone by the time she walked all the way back to her car, but unfortunately they were still there. "Get in."

Gleaming stared at the odd chariot. Reaching for the door that was outlined in the side, she pulled at the obvious handle. "Huh, this is pretty well made." She climbed into the front seat beside her clone. Rainbow Dash climbed in the back and both of them pulled their doors shut. "Where do you hitch up—"

Sergeant Shine started the engine and turned on her lights. "Seat-belts on, please." She was getting a vibe from the two strangers like they didn't know how things worked, so she demonstrated by pulling her own belt on. Once each had copied her to her satisfaction, she checked if it was safe and drove off.

"Whoa…" Rainbow Dash watched as the world suddenly sped past faster than she had been able to run. "This is totally cool!"

"I believe what my friend is trying to say is, 'Why yes, we really aren't from around here and you should be really suspicious of us.' " Gleaming used her best deadpan voice, and rolled her eyes at the Sergeant. "Not that I don't find this pretty amazing as well, but you know how it is…"

"Yeah. Everything can seem like magic until you see that it is just the same old stuff we have everywhere." Sergeant Shine turned a corner and pulled her cruiser up at the all night diner. "This is the place. You might want to leave that crown in the car."

"I'll take it, if you don't mind." Gleaming reached out a hand for the crown and took it when Rainbow passed it to her. She tried to use her magic to hide it, before realizing how stupid it was. "Actually, I might take you up on that offer. This… this chariot is safe?"

Sergeant Shine barked a laugh. "No one is going to steal my cruiser, don't worry."

Author's Notes:

Cadance: How would you cope with being a changeling?

"I believe I am completely within my right to say that one changeling in the family is enough." Princess Cadance took a deep breath and let it out. "That said, could you imagine what we would get up to in the bedroom? Not even Damaged could possibly keep up with our games." She winked and trotted off.

~~~~~+++++~~~~~

So I do this "Ask x" thing, x can be any pony within the story. You can ask them anything and I they will definitely hopefully reply. Keep the questions appropriate to the age-rating of the stories and of course, I they will answer the best question(s) in the author notes of the next chapter. The more votes a comment has the more likely I will get it to the right pony to answer, try and keep it to one answer per post! I They will pick one question per chapter.

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