"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.