A Diplomatic Visit

"So Sugarcube, when were y'all sayin' they'd come?" Applejack asked, righting her hat upon her head as she lead the small group of ponies and one dragon towards the single changeling standing in Ponyville's Town Square alongside three fillies.

Roseluck, who, up to this point, had been gazing up at the sky, a hole filled hoof above her eyes so as to not be blinded by the sun, turned around upon hearing her voice. "Ah there you are. I was just about to send Scootaloo off to look for you." She turned to the three fillies who had been waiting alongside her. "Do you three want to wait until they've left or do you want to go ahead to the house now?"

"About that, darling," Rarity chimed in, a look of concern clear across her features. "are you certain you're okay with watching the crusaders while were in the Crystal Empire? They're sweet fillies, but they can be, well ... a hoofful."

"Hey! We're not that bad, sis!" the indignant voice of Sweetie Belle piped up from beside the changeling.

"Ah dunno, Sweets. We do have a bit of a track record."

"Yeah, our crusading does tend to attract disaster ... and tree sap. But there is no way I'm leaving here before Rainbow Dash shows up." Scootaloo piped in enthusiastically. "How much longer, mom?"

At these words rose turned her gaze back upwards. "Oh don't worry, dear. They're here already. And Rainbow can't wait to see you again."

"They're here? Where? Where?!" Pinkie almost shouted, her constant bouncing somehow not affecting her speech at all.

"Right there Pinkie." Rose pointed a hoof at the sky above the Golden Oak Library.

"I don't see noth- ... -in, uhh." Applejack's comment died on her lips as the air above the library-tree warped, revealing the large brass-colored form of an airship hovering in midair.

"Stripped Gear's airships can cloak, remember? The Column of Spring is going to transport you and the queen to the Crystal Empire." Just as Rose turned away from the airship to face the five friends, a prismatic blur shot out from it's top cargo bay, landing behind her seconds later.

"Hey Girls!" Rainbow jovially approached her friends. "Hey Scoots," she added towards the orange blur that had been standing next to Rose a second earlier, stretching out a hoof which was immediately bumped by the enthusiastic filly.

"Hey Rainbow Dash!" Scootallo greeted her idol quickly followed by the rest of the Crusaders and the other 4 Element Bearers plus Spike. With Rainbow distracting everyone only Roseluck noticed the shuttle approaching them from the airship until it's engines roared out to slow it's descent as it pulled in to land.

As the hatch opened it revealed a changeling of tall stature, lavender coat, long, purple mane with a small stripe of orange and deep red gossamer wings. As soon as she had pried Pinkie Pie of her neck, who had somehow managed to hug her before the hatch had even fully opened, it was revealed that she had deep purple eyes with slitted, reptilian pupils.

"My Queen" Rose bowed deeply as soon as Twilight had pacified the enthusiastic baker.

"Now Rose you know that I'm not a queen yet."

"Of course, but your development is complete. Technicalities aside you are a queen in all but title, sister." Rose pointed out as she rose from her bow.

"Well, I suppose." Twilight nodded before turning towards her friends while the CMCs bounded past her to investigate the shuttle. "Hi Girls, it's been too long" she greeted happily only to find herself embraced in a group hug. While she jovially caught up with her friends she quickly messaged the shuttle pilot to keep watch to make sure the CMCs wouldn't hurt themselves in exploring the shuttle.

"Gotta say, Twi, them airships o' yours sure are somethin'." Applejack remarked as the spires of the Crystal Empire came into view.

"Indeed." Rarity agreed "The train would have taken all day and this ship, well, it's been barely two hours, hasn't it?"

The five ponies and one dragon had joined Twilight in coming to the bridge after she had told them they would be reaching the empire soon. Applejack, Rarity and Spike, still new to the sensations of flying, were intently looking out of the large windows in the Q-ship's bridge while Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy were casually chatting with Twilight who had sat down in the small throne behind the captain's chair. Pinkie was bounding all over the bridge, seemingly more interested in the airship itself than the sensation of flying.

"One hour and 53 minutes actually. We'll be there before we reach two hours." Twilight pointed out while silently placating the annoyed bridge crew by sending them resigned pragmatism over the hive mind. She was well used to Pinkie’s antics, after all.

<My Queen, the Shuttle is ready,> a drone in the cargo bay notified the young royal.

After sending the engineer her thanks Twilight turned to her friends. "Come girls, we should get to the shuttle." She rose from the throne and quickly left the bridge followed by her friends.

"Her Majesty, Queen Twilight Sparkle." A golden coated pegasus guardspony announced to the sound of a horn fanfare the moment Twilight opened the door to the throne room.

"Twilight!" Princess Cadance gleefully greeted her sister in law "It's been far too long"

"True, I really need to visit more often. The Jungle is just so far away."

"I’m so glad you could come, Twilight," Princess Celestia spoke up, "the same goes for your friends, of course."

"Great to see you again, Twily," Shining Armor joined the greetings, hugging his sister but ending up in a somewhat awkward position, unused to hugging somepony taller than him. "Oh my, looks like you're the big sibling now."

"It's good either way, Shiny" Twilight slowly said, getting a bit dizzy from all the love she was receiving.

"Twilight Sparkle," Princess Luna piped in as everypony started gathering around to talk properly, "how are things in the jungle?"

"Luna!" Twilight exclaimed happily, "Things have been quiet recently, at least in our area. Some smaller conflicts between other queens but nothing that would affect us."

"Say, Princess Cadence," Spike spoke up from his position on Twilight's back, "why were all the crystal ponies looking at me so much?"

"Well Spike, it seems that they were quite impressed by your actions to save the Crystal Heart earlier this year." Cadence explained jovially, "You seem to have become somewhat of a national hero in the empire."

"Oh, so that's why. Sweet."

"Nice going, Spike." Rainbow winked.

In the early morning hours of the next day, a hooded figure was sneaking through the hallways of the Crystal Spire. Avoiding the guards, the intruder slowly made their way to the room Queen Twilight Sparkle and Spike were bedding in for the night. The tall double door to the chamber lit up a greenish blue and opened with a soft creak. A pair of cyan eyes glanced across the room: the basket where Spike was sound asleep, the bed where the large form of the changeling queen was hidden beneath the covers, and the bedside table where the gleaming magenta crystal and golden tiara of the element of magic were glistening in the moonlight that came shining through the window.

A malicious smile danced across a muzzle of golden yellow and the horn poking out from the hood lit up once more as a saddlebag hidden under the unicorn's hood opened and a second tiara was revealed, looking very similar to the first but made of brass and glass instead of gold and raw, crystallized magic. The glow of the unicorn's magic engulfed the Element of Harmony and quickly replaced it with the tiara that had been brought along.

Satisfied, the unicorn turned to leave, narrowly avoiding detection as Spike turned in his sleep and moved his tail where their hoof would have been a second later. Softly releasing a breath that had been held in a moment of panic, the hooded intruder sidestepped the dragon's tail and quietly trotted out of the room.

At the ceiling of the chamber a grey furred form with an orange mane pinged her sleeping queen, light blue glowing eyes still pinned to the door the unicorn had left open to avoid waking the room's occupants with a creak or the bang of a door falling shut faster than intended.

As soon as Twilight Sparkle stirred under her covers the repeated pings over the hive mind were replaced with a coherent message. <My Queen, an intruder has taken the Element of Magic.>

Before the last echoes of the message had left the back of her mind, Twilight Sparkle was wide awake, sitting upright in bed staring at the open door where the hooded figure could be seen turning a corner. <Have the other Sentries been informed?>

<Yes my Queen, they're trailing the intruder as we speak. A messenger is informing the highest ranking Crystal Guard on duty.>

Twilight rose from her bed and flew out of the room followed by the drone, a quick sound muffling spell hiding the buzz of their gossamer wings. <Good work, Gilded Shield, let's see what they're up to.> Turning her head, Twilight gave her a kind nod before speaking to the local hive mind. <Sentries, follow the intruder, keep me posted of their position and any suspicious behavior... Aside from stealing my crown,> she quickly added. Gilded's snicker went unheard in the muffling spell.

Sunset Shimmer was rather happy with the situation. She had successfully replaced the Element of Magic with the stolen Fall Formal crown without being detected. Why the two looked so similar she couldn't begin to guess, but she decided to simply add it to the long list of strange parallels between Equestria and her current home. The little dragon had almost ruined everything but she had managed to sidestep him at the last moment. Crisis averted.

She turned from the last staircase and into another crystal hallway that looked exactly like all the others. Sparing a glance at the tiara that was still floating beside her she studied the intricate details of the gold and the otherworldly sheen of the central gem. She turned her head back forward as she approached her destination.

Turning a corner through a door, Sunset only had a second to stare up at the large mirror that held the portal to another world before she was pulled from her thoughts as a powerful magical aura wrested control over the Element from her. To add insult to injury the same aura also pulled away her cloak, leaving her extremely recognizable combination of coat, mane and cutiemark visible for all to see.

"Not so fast."

Following Gilded's command three of the small squad of changeling guards that had been assigned to escort Twilight to the summit had followed the trail of open doors the mysterious intruder had left in their wake. They easily found the room with the large mirror standing on a pedestal at the center of the back wall. At Twilight's command they had attached themselves to the ceiling, waiting in ambush.

Now, Twilight and Gilded joined by two more sentry drones were flying close behind the unicorn that had the Element of Magic still floating alongside her. As she turned to enter the room with the portal, momentarily stopping to gaze at the crystalline frame and reflective surface, beautifully framed by Luna's night sky in the windows behind it, Twilight landed behind her, the guards following her lead. With a strong pulse of telekinesis she took the Element from the unicorn’s magic aura and removed the dark grey cloak to reveal an amber unicorn mare with a wavy mane of the same color with strands of bright crimson and a cutie mark of a stylized sun half in yellow half in red with the center colors swapped.

"Not so fast." she announced, quickly cutting out the muffling spell, as the mare spun around. "Who are you? And why are you trying to steal my crown?"

The panic on the unicorn's face was quickly replaced, first with bright hot anger, then with cold hate. With a pulse of telekinesis she pulled the element away from Twilight, underestimating her own strength and pulling to fast. As she tried to stop the tiara from flying into the mirror behind her, Twilights aura wrapped back around it interfering with hers as they fought for control over the headdress. In their struggle neither mare could stop the artifact from flying in a high arc across the room and leaving nothing but a soft ripple as it flew into the mirror.

Whirling back around to face the mirror, Sunset saw three more drones like the ones behind the Changeling Queen landing between her and the mirror, their wings threateningly buzzing and horns trained at her, glowing orange. Behind them Sunset saw a band of orange growing on the horizon. With a final gaze at the mirror she closed her eyes and focused.

Everypony else in the room and Twilight at the door were blinded a second later by the sunrise rebounding between the reflective walls of the castle before the enchantments to suppress that very effect could react. They heard a crackle of magic, a deep whooshing sound, and by the time they could see again, the mysterious unicorn was gone.

Another World

Sitting on her haunches on the eastern balcony of the Crystal Spire, Princess Celestia had just finished raising the sun when she heard the distinctive buzz of changeling wings approaching. She turned around to see Twilight and five of Cadista's drones landing behind her, in the room just beyond the balcony door.

"Princess Celestia," Twilight exclaimed hastily, "a unicorn just entered the castle and stole the element of magic. Then she left through the magical mirror on the eleventh floor."

Taking only a moment to note that despite having practiced to just call her 'Celestia' outside of formal situations, Twilight still relapsed to calling her 'Princess' when she got panicked, Celestia was quick to put two and two together. "Can you describe this unicorn?"

"Yes. Yellow coat, wavy red and yellow mane and a cutie mark with a red and yellow sun of sorts. Why? Do you know her?" Twilight quickly answered, lighting her horn to project an illusory image of the unicorn in question in the space between her and Celestia.

Celestia took one look at the image, barely listening to the description, and sighed quietly. "I'm afraid yes, I'll explain in a bit. Inform Queen Cadista of what happened, then go wake Spike and your friends. I'll fetch Luna, Cadance and your brother. Meet us in the throne room." With that she turned back around and took off to fly around the spire to the opposite balcony, where she knew Luna would still be sitting after raising the moon. Twilight silently dismissed the drones to return to their posts, leaving only Gilded Shield at her side as guarding her was the post she had been assigned, before pinging Cadista to inform her of the situation whilst taking off towards the hallway that led to the chambers her friends and Spike were likely still sleeping in.

Gilded took only a split second to marvel at the multitasking ability the young queen displayed before taking off to follow her.

15 minutes later, everyone was gathered in the throne room. Both Cadence and Rarity could only be brought to leave their rooms after their manes had been tamed with a generous helping of magic form Celestia and Twilight respectively. Both silently envied Applejack and Fluttershy whose manes were miraculously behaving after just one shake of their respective heads. Only Rainbow sported a sizeable bedhead that Rarity's magic was idly fiddling with. The pegasus had given up telling her to stop five minutes ago.

"The unicorn you encountered, Twilight," Celestia spoke up, "is Sunset Shimmer." Cadance's eyes widened slightly at the name, but nopony else showed any sign of recognition.

"She was my personal student and protégé before you and left only a few months before your entrance exam. She was a lot like you once: curious, talented, eager to learn and, after some training, a very skilled sorceress. But where you were isolated and sometimes picked on, she chose the opposite path, she became cold and controlling, and her heart turned dark. After she left, I could have sealed the mirror, but I chose to leave it open, hoping for her to see the light in the world beyond and one day return to seek forgiveness. It seems that now she has returned. But for a different reason."

At this point Celestia fell silent and Luna seamlessly took over. "You must retrieve your crown from this other world. Without it the other Elements are powerless and Equestria is vulnerable."

"Not to mention," Celestia took over once more, "the consequences of taking such a powerful magical artifact into another world. We know little of this other world but we can assume that introducing the element there, perhaps even without using it as Sunset Shimmer undoubtedly plans to do, would have equally dire consequences as removing it here."

The group of ponies and the one dragon riding atop one changeling had slowly been walking through the spire and were now coming to a stop in the mirror room.

"I must warn you, Twilight Sparkle," Luna spoke up while rolling her eyes as she magically removed Pinkie's forehoof from the mirror's surface, "this mirror only opens for three days once every 30 moons. As it opened tonight that means you only have until midnight two days from now before it closes again."

"Well? What are we waiting for? Let's go!" Rainbow spoke up

Pinkie bounced gleefully "Ohh this is gonna be great, a whole other world to explore."

"I'm afraid not" Celestia interrupted, casually ignoring Pinkie stopping mid-bounce to hover in the air. "The Element's presence is disruptive enough, sending all of you could offset the balance further."

"Don't worry girls," Twilight addressed her friends, "I'll be back soon." With those words she took a deep breath, stood up straight, and stepped through the mirror. The last thing she heard were encouraging words from her friends followed by gasps and the clicking of tiny claws on the crystal floor.

When Twilight's head stopped spinning she opened her eyes and saw ...

Stone.

Once her sense of balance decided to respond again she realized that she was staring at the floor. Well, that would account for the pavement. So far so good.

"Twilight, are you okay?" The voice of Spike shook her from her contemplations. Looking up to where the voice had come from she saw a dog. A purple dog with green ears and a tuft of green fur on the top of it's head.

"Spike?"

"Yup."

"Are you a dog?"

"Seems so. I have no idea what you are, though."

"What do you mean?" Twilight lifted her forehooves to find, that she no longer had forehooves. Instead she found strange claw like appendages, but without talons. The shape seemed remotely familiar, but she couldn't place where she had seen it before. As she tried to move the strange appendages, only to find that she could, her mind started to lock up in panic.

As she was about to start screaming she felt her panic suddenly falling away, together with the gentle touch of Queen Cadista on her mind. <Calm, Twilight, I assume you're in a complicated situation but panic won't get you anywhere.>

<Cadista?>

<Yes. It seems that the portal you used can serve as a conduit for the hive mind, we're still connected.>

<Well that's at least something>

<Indeed. Now if you want to find your crown you will need to fit in wherever you have ended up. Look around, what do you see?>

Looking around Twilight saw a large building of red brick forming what seemed to be a U-shape with large doors right in the center and a dome above them. Approaching the doors from all directions and entering the building were many tall, slender creatures that, to her surprise, seemed to be walking on two legs. Looking closer, she noticed that they had the same appendages that had replaced her forehooves.

"Okay so I have these forehoof thingies that they have" she muttered to herself "Spike, does the rest of me also look like one of those?" she asked, pointing at a few of the strange creatures ahead.

"Looks like it. Now that I think about it, they remind me of these 'Human' creatures Lyra keeps going on about."

"Right, Lyra. That's why these things seem so familiar." she motioned to her altered forehooves, "These are hands, she showed me a drawing of them once. Well if I want to fit in, I suppose I should try figuring out how to walk on two legs." Slowly standing up, she wobbled for a moment before stabilizing on her unfamiliarly long legs. So far, so good. Turning around, she saw a tall statue on a tall pedestal with pillars framing polished stone. The surface she was facing had a sheen of magic to it and when she tried touching it she felt her new hands submerge into it like water.

"Well, this looks to be the way back to Equestria. Now to find the crown."

Still slightly unstable, she approached the large brick building. By now the humans from earlier seemed to be inside with only a few still coming in here and there. She walked up to the doors instinctively trying to have them swing open with her magic only to feel nothing. She might have been able to stop in time were it not for her unfamiliarity with her new legs. As such, she crashed into the glass of the doors, feeling a jolt of pain from her strangely shortened muzzle.

"Uhh Twilight I don't think you can use magic here. You don't exactly have your horn."

"Wait, what?" She tried to look up but couldn't see any trace of a horn. Then an idea struck her. If I'm still connected to the hive mind that must mean that my psychic powers are intact and I don't focus those through my horn. "Hold on, I'm going to try something." She focused her mind on the door tried to use her psychic powers to replicate the effects of her telekinesis. After a short moment of trying different ways to focus, the air around the doors seemed to warp slightly and the doors swung open.

"Whoa, how'd you do that?" Spike asked, staring from the door to Twilight and back.

"Psychic power," Twilight explained with a smirk. "as Yumia put it: 'It's good to be the Queen.',"

"So that's something changeling queens can do?"

"Yes, although simply using magic for something like this is usually easier." Now that she had cleared her mind she realized that she was starting to pick up emotions around her. Mainly there was a background aura of mostly boredom with a bit of frustration which, Twilight had found - to her great surprise - seemed to be commonly found in and around schools, but there was also something else coming from her left. Two sources, one giving off anger, the other giving off fear. "Come Spike, I think something is happening."

As they approached a corner, they slowed down, stopping next to the edge. Peeking around the corner Twilight saw two girls, both with yellow skin. The closer one had her back turned towards her. Despite that, her golden yellow skin and wavy red and yellow hair were easily visible, Twilight found her to be the source of the anger. The source of fear seemed to be another girl with pale yellow skin and equally pale pink hair. Despite facing towards the corner she was watching from Twilight couldn't see her facial features as they were largely hidden behind her long hair.

As she watched, the second girl spoke up in a quiet voice that Twilight found to be eerily familiar, "Oh, I'm really sorry. I-I just found it, and-and I thought I should give it to her. I didn't know you had dropped it. "

"Well, I did!" The first girl closer girl answered in a voice Twilight was certain she had never heard before. "And I was about to get it before you swooped in and ruined everything! You shouldn't pick up things that don't belong to you."

"It ... doesn't really belong to you, either." The quiet girl answered in an even lower voice than before but Twilight could feel a trace of determination mixing into her fear.

"Excuse me?!" The other interrupted incredulously, her anger now tinged with surprise.

"N-n-nothing..."

"That's what I thought. It's as good as mine, and you know it. You really are pathetic. It's no wonder your best friends are all stray animals." Twilight had heard enough. She leaned back before stepping around the corner and raising her voice.

"How dare you speak to her that way!"

"What did you say?" This time there was a clear note of surprise. Twilight felt the bully's anger shift towards her but her determination was stronger.

"I said, 'How dare you speak to her that way?'!"

"You must be new here. I can speak to anyone any way I want." Throwing closed the locker Twilight only now noticed they had been standing before, the hot headed girl strutted off towards a staircase at the other end of the corridor.

Twilight sensed the quiet girl's fear giving way to relief, confusion and a touch of admiration. "I can't believe you did that!"

"I couldn't just stand there."

"Well, it's just that nobody ever stands up to Sunset Shimmer." Her admiration only seemed to grow at Twilight's apparent lack of fear towards Sunset.

"Sunset Shimmer!?" So that's how she looks here. Of course, the hair, coat - no wait, not coat, skin - I should have guessed.

"You've heard of her?"

You can say that again, she's the reason I'm here. "Sort of..."

"I don't think I've seen you around before. Did you just transfer to Canterlot High from another school?"

So it is a school! "... yes! Another... heh, school! My name's Twilight." The other girl gave a quiet sound that Twilight could guess were words but couldn't hear well enough to understand. "Sorry, what was that?" After an even quieter repetition Twilight was getting a sense of deja-vu, "It sounds like you're saying Fluttershy, but how can that...?" In that moment Spike followed Twilight around the corner from where he had still been watching.

"Oh, my goodness! Who's this sweet little guy?" The girl exclaimed, her shyness suddenly gone, a wave of joy almost knocking Twilight off balance.

"That's Spike! My, uh ... dog!" Twilight explained, still unused to Spike's new species. Fluttershy, meanwhile, picked up Spike in one arm while reaching for her bag with the other grabbing some dog treats from a side pocket.

"Oh, he's so cute! Go on, eat up, little pup!" Spike was still confused by the whole situation but wouldn't deny getting free food. "Oh, wouldn't you just give anything to know what they're really thinking?"

"He usually just tells me." Twilight replied, confused.

"Oh, w-what do you mean?" Fluttershy's confused reaction and a bark from Spike reminded Twilight that dogs couldn't usually talk.

"Oh, uh, nothing! Never mind. Sunset Shimmer said you picked something up. Something that belonged to her. It wasn't a crown, was it?"

"How did you know?"

"Uh, lucky guess? Do you still have it?" Fluttershy shook her head "But you know what happened to it." A nod.

"I didn't want anything to happen to it, so I gave it to Principal Celestia"

"Principal Celestia? She's the ruler here?"

"You could say that. Technically, I guess she and Vice Principal Luna do make the rules."

"Where is she now?"

"Probably in her office. Third door on your left." Fluttershy pointed out an unassuming door a few meters down the hallway.

"Thank you!" Twilight turned towards the door, while Fluttershy's gaze followed her for a short moment before settling on Spike.

"Oh, wait! You're not really supposed to have pets on school grounds." Twilight turned around, confused. "Might wanna tuck him into your backpack. That's what I do." As Fluttershy's backpack opened a snow-white cat, a small red bird and a very familiar looking white rabbit hopped out. "They just get so lonely when I'm in school all day." As Twilight took in the scene, there was one thought on her mind.

Same old Fluttershy. Even if she's from another world.

Twilight gave the shy girl a genuine smile, the task of not scaring her made much easier by the fact that she didn't currently possess fangs. "Oh, okay! Thank you!" As she got to the significant task of practicing to control her new hands to take off the backpack that had appeared along with the clothing she now wore, the loud ringing of a bell filled the hall for a short moment.

"Oh, no! I'm late for class!" Fluttershy gave a worried frown before swinging her backpack low to the floor, scooping up her animals in it and placing it on her back. As she ran off towards the end of the hallway Twilight could make out two white paws pulling the backpack closed.

Of Principles and Princesses

Principal Celestia loved her job. Well, most of it at least. She loved taking care of her students, the young minds she and her colleagues had been entrusted to shape. But while every job had things to like, things to love even, every job also had less pleasant parts to it, the mountain of paperwork a highschool principal had to deal with, despite her sister's frequent help, was one of these unpleasant parts.

So it happened that when, there was a knock on her door, she didn't even look up from the especially long form she was currently in the process of dealing with. "Come in." She made sure to let none of her annoyance at her paperwork seep into her calm voice. As she heard the door open, she added, "How may I help you?" Still focused on her paperwork she didn't notice that the door closed on its own behind her visitor.

"Uhm, hello." Hearing a voice she didn't recognize the principal finally looked up to see a teenage girl with lavender skin and purple hair with a streak of orange, wearing a pale lavender blouse and one of the short skirts that were 'In fashion this season', she'd never understand trends. On the skirt was the symbol of a six-pointed star on the backdrop of an orange starburst surrounded by five white stars. "I'm Twilight Sparkle," the girl continued with a respectful nod which Celestia instinctively reciprocated.

"I'm new here," Twilight went on to explain. A year earlier she'd have been nervous at giving such an explanation, but being a changeling queen for a year and mother to thousands had a tendency to strengthen one’s character. "I understand that Fluttershy found a crown this morning and gave it to you."

Celestia remembered well how the shy girl had come to her early this morning holding the crown in her hands, she had no idea how it ended up on the front lawn, but since Luna had said that the safe was empty when she put it back, she hadn't thought much of it. Luna had also scolded her that it wasn't a good idea to leave the keys for a safe underneath said safe, a point which, with the benefit of hindsight, Celestia had to concede. "Yes. I've had Vice Principal Luna put it somewhere for safekeeping. No idea how it ended up on the front lawn. Were you interested in running for Princess of the Fall Formal this year?" Despite the fact that she had never seen the girl before she almost hoped that she would be interested, Sunset Shimmer had gone unopposed for three years in a row.

"Uh, no. Not exactly. The truth is... Well, the truth is I... You see, the crown is actually... Princess of the Fall Formal?" Celestia watched with a hint of amusement as an expression of confusion settled on the girl's face.

"It's Canterlot High's big Fall dance."

"Like the Grand Galloping Gala." Twilight muttered, more to herself than the woman sitting before her.

"Uh, Grand Galloping Gala?" Now it was the principal's turn to be confused.

"Oh, uh, it was a big deal at my old school."

"And was there a princess?"

"Yes, but she wasn't exactly a student." Twilight chose not to mention that said princess was the principal’s magical pony counterpart.

"Here at Canterlot High, the students select one of their peers to represent them. She receives a crown at the Fall Formal."

Twilight thought the matter over, giving a contemplative hum. She didn't know where the crown was being kept and this Celestia seemed to be almost as good as her Equestrian counterpart when it came to hiding her emotions, even from an empath, so she was unlikely to get a clue from her. At this point it seemed that the easiest way to get her crown back was to simply win it. "You asked me if I was interested in running for Princess. Can anyone run?"

"Yes. You just need to let the head of the Fall Formal planning committee know you'd like to be on the ballot. Was there anything else?"

After a short moment’s thought Twilight shook her head, "Um, nope! That was it!"

"Well, if you do need anything else, my door is always open," Celestia called after her as she left, the door closing behind her.

I'll never get used to these automatic door-closer-things, she thought to herself as she turned back to her paperwork. After a moment she stopped, sure her memory was playing a trick on her. She could have sworn that her door was scheduled to receive one of those devices next week.

With a hint of trepidation she looked back up to the door. Her memory had not been tricking her. No such device was found anywhere on the door frame.

Suddenly her paperwork seemed very enticing.

In the throne room of the Crystal Spire Princess Celestia sat with Princess Cadence, Shining Armor and the remaining element bearers – Princess Luna had retired for the day – as well as Steel Gaze the second of the two queens-guard Twilight had brought along from Stripped Gear. Gilded Shield had retired after her night shift was over. Steel was keeping everyone else informed about anything his queen told the link about this other world.

"It seems this other world, at least in the area around the Portal is inhabited by bipedal creatures my queen calls 'humans'. Many of them seem to be equivalents of ponies living in Equestria. She is currently in a place called 'Canterlot High School' which seems to be ruled by counterparts to yourself and your sister, your Highness." Celestia gave a contemplative nod, a hoof beneath her chin. "She has already come across a counterpart to you, Dame Fluttershy."

"Oh my, is she much like me?"

"From what my queen says, there are obvious physical differences, given she is of another species, but her personality is strikingly similar. It seems the crown Sunset Shimmer brought here was used for a ceremony called the 'Fall Formal'. Where the students would vote on a representative who would then be crowned Princess of the Fall Formal."

"A voted princess?" Rarity chimed in, "now there's a strange concept." Both Princesses in the room silently decided not to mention certain events in Equestrian history.

"Certainly. It seems that due to their striking resemblance the Element of Magic was mistaken for the Fall Formal Crown and is currently being kept by Vice Principal Luna. My Queen has decided that the easiest way to get it back would be to simply win it." With that Steel finished his explanation.

"I knew Twilight would keep a cool head," Cadence remarked. Steel remembered Twilights initial panic as she learned of her transformation but chose not to mention it, though he was sure at least Celestia had noticed the amused smirk that momentarily played across his lips. If she did, however, Celestia didn't mention it either.

"It seems like a reasonable plan,” she admitted, “is there much competition?"

After a short inquiry, Steel shrugged. "We don't know yet."

"So has Twilight come across any of us besides Fluttershy?" Rainbow piped in with a friendly glance at Steel. She had taken a liking to the drone during her stay in the hive. He was one of the few who could almost keep up with her.

Almost.

"Not so far," Steel answered, returning the smile.

"Now Dash, let's not forget that Twi's been there for barely an hour. If there are counterparts of all of us, ah'm sure she'll let us know." Applejack chided

"Huh, guess you're right"

"Indeed, but I have one question. What is a 'Human'?" Rarity asked looking around at everyone.

Steel was about to give a closer explanation when Pinkie interrupted. "They're the things Lyra keeps talking about."

A round of 'Ohh's ran through the assorted Ponyvilleans leaving two Princesses and a former guard captain to share confused glances.

Looking for Fluttershy, Twilight spotted her entering a large room that seemed to be some sort of dining hall. A sign on the door read 'Cafeteria'. Following her inside, Twilight found her at the end of a line of students along a counter at the other side of which there was an elder woman wearing a yellow top and a red and white apron as well as gloves. Twilight caught up to Fluttershy and they soon got into conversation.

"I know we've just met, but I was wondering if you might be able to help me with something."

"Of course!"

"I've decided to run for Princess of the Fall Formal, and–" Twilight recoiled at the wave of utter shock that erupted from Fluttershy, which was fortunate as it allowed her to avoid Fluttershy's salad landing on her blouse as it's owner dropped it.

The stunned look on Fluttershy's face quickly became apologetic before switching to confusion as she didn't hear the plastic bowl hit the ground. As she looked down it was sitting there, perfectly upright and all its contents safely inside.
"Oh! Oh, gosh! Sorry. It's just, oh, running for Fall Formal Princess is a really bad idea."

"Why?"

"Sunset Shimmer wants to be Fall Formal Princess, and when she wants something, she gets it! She'll make life awful for anyone who stands in her way. Just ask the girl who ran against her for Princess of the Spring Fling."

Though she was taken aback by this revelation, Twilight's determination didn't waver. "I have to try!"

"Oh, I don't think you understand. You'd have to convince everyone here to vote for you instead of her: the athletes, the fashionistas, the dramas, the eco-kids, the techies, the rockers..."

"Why is everypony–" Twilight interrupted herself as a purple furred paw shot out from her backpack and hit the side of her head. "Uh, everybody separated this way?"

As they walked together to one of the tables after getting their food, Twilight sensed a wave of resignation from Fluttershy. "Maybe it was different at your old school, but at CHS, everybody sticks to their own kind. One thing that they do have in common is that they know Sunset Shimmer is gonna rule the school until we graduate."

"Not if I can help it!" Twilight exclaimed around the apple hovering in front of her before taking a bite, "So, uh-" At Fluttershy's confused look she quickly released her psychic grip and caught the apple in a hand, putting on a placating smile. "-where would I find the head of the party planning committee?"

Steel Gaze's eyes shot open as he received an update from Twilight. "Ah, it seems the only other candidate running for Princess of the Fall Formal is Sunset Shimmer herself."

"Hmm, how popular is Sunset Shimmer?" Celestia asked, looking up from watching Shining Armor lose a game of chess to Rarity.

"It seems she is more feared than popular." Shield answered contemplatively.

"Good, then the other Students will likely support another option if it is sufficiently well represented." Cadence replied.

"Yay, Twilight's gonna be a princess and a queen!" came the inevitable outburst from the ever enthusiastic Pinkie.

"Well darling, I don't know how much power it would afford to be a princess at a school in another world. Though it would still carry a certain glamour." Rarity conceded.

"Incoming!" After she had opened the door to a large hall and walked in a few steps Twilight ducked at the words only to find strips of paper raining down on her. Looking up she saw a pink skinned girl bearing an uncontrolled mane of even more vibrant pink hair. The girl seemed extremely familiar.

"Hello, my name is Twilight Sparkle and ..." She stopped dead in her tracks as the girl before her looked up from her balloon. The moment her purple eyes meet these sky blue ones, realisation struck her. "Pinkie Pie?!"

At Twilight's words the party planner lost her grip on the balloon she was inflating resulting in all the air once more being set free. Rather suddenly. In the general direction of Pinkie's face. Once she had quelled the stream of air, the girl let out a gasp as she turned to Twilight. "Are you psychic?!"

"Uhm, well, yes, actually. I don't get what that has to do with this but, sure." came Twilight's confused reply.

"Thought so." Pinkie stated with a broad grin. "Anyway what brings you here?"

As Pinkie started to inflate another balloon Twilight sent Steel gaze a status update stating that she had found another duplicate, before explaining. "Fluttershy said this is where I'd find the head of the Fall Formal planning committee."

At her words, Pinkie turned away from her and started tying the ballon closed "Fluttershy, huh? Don't let the whole 'shy' thing fool you. She can be a real meanie."

Twilight's face was a mask of confusion as she clearly picked up a wave of resentment towards the shy girl coming from the party planner. She walked over to inquire further. "You two aren't friends?"

Ignoring her question Pinkie twirled around holding a hand out to her in an inviting gesture. "Waited a bit to get your name on the ballot, huh? Dance is the day after tomorrow."

Letting the topic go for the moment the transformed queen explained. "I'm brand new here."

At these words realisation flashed across Pinkie's face in a comedically over the top manner that reminded Twilight of her Equestrian counterpart. "Oooh! I thought you didn't look familiar." After a moment however Pinkie started staring intently at the new 'student'. "Though, now that I'm really lookin' at you ... Do you have a twin sister who lives in the city, has a pet dog named Spike that looks just like that one?" She pointed at Spike who had left Twilight's backpack and was enjoying himself with one of the balloons strewn across the floor.

So we have counterparts here too. Guess I should have expected that. "Uh, maybe?"

At her words, Pinkie's face was immediately freed from any hint of suspicion that was there before. And she spoke up, cheerful as ever. "Thought so. Anyhoo, just need to fill this out and you are officially up for the coveted Princess of the Fall Formal crown." At these words she held out a pen and a clipboard she had pulled from her hair.

A brief bout of enthusiasm shot through Twilight's mind as she laid eyes upon the official looking list of participants. The list was little more than a bold printed title above a frame with lines on which to put names. There was only one name in a pointy looking font that seemed to Twilight like a loose imitation of Princess Celestia's hornwriting: 'Sunset Shimmer'.

Within a brief moment of mental focus the pen slid form Pinkie’s fingers and added a second name to the list. Written in a smooth curly font the new entry read: 'Twilight Sparkle'. All the while Pinkie's smile never faded, as if floating pens were nothing new for her.

For all Twilight knew, they might not be. Once could never quite know with Pinkie Pie.

As soon as she finished, Pinkie turned the clipboard back around and snatched the pen out of midair before giving an approving nod. There was a moment of silence before the clicking of a door latch and a pair of squeaking hinges indicated that someone was opening the door. Before Twilight could turn around she heard that someone speak up with a very familiar voice.

"Somebody order a dozen cases of fizzy apple cider?"

At these words Pinkie looked up, once more breaking into one of her trademark smiles. "Oh! Oh! Me, me-me-me, me," As she bounced over to the new arrival she earned herself a sceptical look from the girl. She gave an awkward laugh before settling down a little "yeah, ha-ha, me!"

Twilight turned around to the new arrival and instantly recognized several features. First of all, there was a very familiar looking light brown stetson hat, currently held in the girl's hands as she was wiping the sweat off her brow. Her hair was long and straw blond, held together at the bottom by a simple red ribbon. She was wearing a white shirt with a green section from her chest up to the neckline, a blue jeans skirt with two prominent pockets and, to round of the cowgirl look, two tall boots of brown leather. Smiling, the girl turned to the door where a tall, muscular boy with blonde hair and rosy skin, wearing a red T-shirt and long jeans, had entered after her. Most of his form, however, was obscured by three cases of the aforementioned cider he was carrying. As he put them down, the girl, whom Twilight was rather sure was Applejack's counterpart, spoke up.

"Can you bring in the rest?"

The simple nod and the reassuring "Eeyup" he gave all but confirmed Twilight's suspicions that this was indeed this world's counterpart to Big Macintosh, the eldest of the Apple siblings, whom now turned to leave the gym once more.

As she looked up Applejack spotted Twilight and a look of recognition came to her face as she spoke up. "Hey, I know you."

"You do?" Between these further human counterparts and now this unexpected statement Twilight's mind was in a state of utter confusion.

"Sure. You're the new girl who gave Sunset Shimmer the what fer today." Applejack explained with a somewhat proud smile before taking a large gulp of cider from a bottle she had fished from the case she had just brought in.

"Twilight Sparkle here is gonna run against Sunset Shimmer for Princess of the Fall Formal." Pinkie explained cheerfully leading to Applejack spitting out her drink and turning to Twilight with a distraught expression.

"I'd think twice about that." She stated simply before turning around to the table and grabbing two balloons. As she turned back around she revealed them: a yellow one with a crude drawing of Twilight's face as well as a red, heart shaped one with an equally crude drawing of Sunset's face, bearing a wide smile. "Oh, sure, she'll probably approach you all friendly like..." She had the red balloon bounce towards the yellow one to mimic walking, before continuing in an impression of Sunset's voice "I sure am lookin' forward to some friendly competition." She wiggled the red balloon for a moment to show speaking before doing the same with the yellow one and continuing in an impression of Twilight's voice. "That's so good to hear." She finally returned to her normal voice. "But then, here comes the backstabbin'." As she said that she moved the red balloon towards the yellow one poking a fingernail out until the yellow balloon finally popped.

She let the red balloon fall to the floor, from where Pinkie quickly snatched it up, before she continued. "About the only girl in this school you can trust less than Sunset Shimmer is Rainbow Dash."

Twilight gave her a sceptical glance. "Rainbow Dash?"

"She's the captain of, like, every team at Canterlot High." Pinkie chimed in, idly popping the balloon with Sunset's face on it.

"She's also the captain of sayin' she's gonna do somethin' for ya, and then turnin' around and not even botherin' to show up." Applejack warned, a sour look on her face and, once more Twilight felt a wave of resentment directed at someone who was not present

"Thanks for the advice, Applejack, but this is something I really need to do."

The farmgirl gave her a confused look. "Huh, suit yourself, but how'd you know my name is Applejack?"

Twilight, realizing her mistake, scolded herself for letting her guard down before swiftly speaking up to cover her tracks. "Huh, didn't you say your name was Applejack?"

A resounding "Nnnope." came from the door, where Big Mac had just deposited two further cases of cider.

"Huh, strange, well, call it intuition then. Anyways, it sure was nice meeting you both. I'm sure I'll be seeing you around."

Picking her bag up from the floor and letting Spike jump in, she left the gym. Leaving a confused Applejack in her wake.

"Don't worry about it, she's Psychic!" Pinkie explained, which – as far as that was possible – only served to confuse Applejack further. She had little time to worry about that, however, as moments later the main doors to the gym opened to reveal Sunset Shimmer flanked by two younger boys whom Pinkie and Applejack immediately recognized as Snips and Snails.

"This looks terrible!" She spat. "There should be more streamers near the stage and fewer balloons." She used a long fingernail to pop one of the various balloons around the large hall.

"Yeah, streamers!" Snips exclaimed holding up a short piece of one he had found on the floor.

"And fewer balloons!" Snails added picking up a balloon and trying to pop it. However, as he soon found out, hugging it was not conducive towards that goal, and the balloon soon slipped from his arms, sending him tumbling to the floor.

Sunset, meanwhile, walked over to the cases of cider that Applejack and her brother had delivered earlier. "Fizzy apple cider?" She let out a grunt of disgust. "This is my coronation, not a hoedown."

"Well, now, it ain't necessarily gonna be your coronation this time around." Applejack pointed out. Sunset turned around.

"Oh, is that so? You country folk really aren't that bright. Must be why the other students say such awful things about you." She grabbed Applejack's hat and rammed it onto her face. Muffled grumbling noises could be heard from underneath it.

"Obviously it's gonna be my coronation. I'm running unopposed." She explained as she struck a pose for no particular reason.

"Not this time. The new girl just signed up!" Pinkie chimed in with a grin that seemed completely out of place in this tense situation, holding the clipboard out for her to see.

"What?!" Sunset spun towards her snatching the clipboard for herself to read the name of her competitor. "Where is this Twilight Sparkle?" she mumbled to herself before turning to Applejack and Pinkie Pie, and letting out a laugh that fooled no one."I'm looking forward to meeting the competition!"