With Flash Sentry on his side, Shining proceeded to retrieve his dimensional double, only to find the sac empty.

"Flash, did you see a white stallion leave the room?"

"Uhm, no sir, I'm sorry,"

"Then you will need a lot of training before I'll let you guard my sister's life."

"Uhm, did you see it sir?" asked the pegasus, uncertainty in his voice.

"I couldn't have, could I? I had my back towards the sac and the door."

"Yes, of course. What now sir?"

"Now," said Shining with calm "We go and find him before my conspicuously absent sister finds us."

While Shining Armor was starting to search for his human double and said double was following Ashley through Ponyville, in the human world somebody else had noticed that a certain blue haired policeman had disappeared and was moving to find him.
Dean Cadence was known to be a kind woman, dedicated to her students at Crystal Prep Academy, always ready to find the good in everyone. All of this was true, except for the woman sitting in front of her in her study: detective Chrysalis, fellow alumni and Shining's ex-girlfriend.
The two women had never met eye to eye on anything, especially since Chrysalis had repeatedly tried to steal Shiny away from her. Anything, except their caring for the policeman's wellbeing.

"Look," said Cadence with an heavy sigh breaking the tense silence "I don't like you and you don't like me, that's fine, I don't care."

"You called me over for this? Really Cadenza?"

"No, I didn't. I called you because I need you."

"Oh? And what can you possibly need from little old me?"

Cadence hated that sugar coated smile that Chrysalis was flashing her, it was just fake as it looked. She was also sure that, knowing the woman's acting skills, it was purposely fake.

"Shiny has disappeared."

Three words and Chrysalis transformed: gone the fake niceness and the annoying behavior, replaced by a calculating gaze and cold calmness.

"When an where?"

"What, no snide remarks?" asked Cadence actually surprised.

"If you willingly called me, then it's serious enough not to waste precious time, Cadenza"

"Ok... There are no notices of him since earlier this morning, during his round at the market."

"I'll call you later, ok?" said the black skinned woman getting up.

"Chrysalis?"

"Yes?"

"I have a bad feeling."

They shared a look for a long moment before Chrysalis simply nodded and left the room.

Ashley's house was a nice two story affair with thatched roof and wall painted in white, pretty much identical to the nearby buildings.
But if the outside was absolutely ordinary, it was the inside that revealed all of the owner's originality: everything was either black or ash gray, from the paint to the furniture, except for the veritable jungle of potted plants that occupied pretty much every available surface, leaving only enough space to navigate the rooms on set paths.
The two of them reached what was probably the living room and took a seat on the black couches, positioned so that they faced each other. As he took place, Shining noticed that a nearby red flower closed its petals and slithered away, as if scared.

"Don't mind it, my flowers are a tad timid around strangers," said Ashley taking a potted cactus in her front hooves.

"The flowers are timid?"

"Why, yes," she said as she petted the cactus like one would do with a cat "And terribly so."

Shining could have sworn he had heard the cactus purr.
And, as if the world wanted to prove him that what he had seen this far was merely the tip of the iceberg of weirdness, the mare spontaneously combusted into green flames. And then the fire went out and she was okay, if turning into something that looked like the horrendous progeny of an insect, a horse and an alien counted as being okay. And just to add to the poor stallion confusion, the cactus was perfectly fine. And still purring.
Shining Armor, twenty-six years old, policeman, shrieked like a school filly.

"Oh, come on!" said Ashley rolling her now reptilian eyes "You're married to my sister, for Father's sake, I cannot believe you got scared of me dropping my disguise."

Shining answer came in the form of holding an orchid in front of him as an improvised shield. It is worth of notice that the orchid was apparently as scared as him, but obviously for a different reason.
Ashley's retort died on her lips. During her attack on the Crystal Empire, Shining Armor had faced her without fear, despite knowing full well what a changeling queen could do. This stallion instead was terrified, his fear was sweet and sour to her. Yet, short of Lyra and a changeling, nopony could have wore another pony's appearance, and she could see through a changeling's disguise, while her 'cousin' was hardly that good.

"Who are you?" she asked with the outmost calm.

"I'm Shining Armor. What are you?"

"A florist," replied her without missing a beat "Shining Armor is one of the bravest stallion I know, and yet you're cowering in fear. Who are you?"

"I told you, I'm Shining Armor, a police officer in Canterlot, and until I woke up earlier I wasn't even a stallion."

"Wait, what?" stuttered the ex-changeling queen, her calm facade breaking as her brain pulled the emergency brakes "You're a mare?"

"What? No! I was a man, a human male!"

Ashley, who at some point had stood up, sat back and started scratching absent-mindedly a small coconut tree's trunk like one would do with a dog's belly. The tree waved his leaves happily.

"If I didn't know better, I'd say you were Lyra pulling a fast one on me," commented the mare "But I remember her saying something about a magical mirror the local princess had that was a portal to a world populated by humans where there was a double of every one of us. You must be that world Shining Armor. Moreover, ther's only a hooffull of ponies that know what a human is."

"Uhm, maybe? Probably? There was this stallion that looked just what I look like now earlier... He was one of my kidnappers."

At those worlds, the changeling scoffed "Kidnapper? Him? Nah, must have been a disguised changeling... Anyway, here's what we're going to do."

"We?" said Shining cutting her short.

"Well, I cannot exactly send you out alone, no? Celestia only knows what Lyra would do if she gets her human-obsessed hooves on you..." explained Ashley shivering "Anyway, we will go to the castle, find the real Shining Armor, this world one I mean, or maybe his sister, princess Twilight Sparkle and sort this mess out, any question?"

"Did you say princess Twilight Sparkle?"

"Yes, why?"

"Just wait till I tell my sister that there is a double of her that is a magical horse princess..." chuckled the human-turned-stallion.

"Pony, the correct term is pony."

"Even better."

Nine mares tumbled out of the portal mirror, an action largely due to the fact that the majority of the was used to walking on two legs.

"Urg, that was horrible..." groaned Rainbow Dash before addressing what was in front of her "Rares, can you pull your tail away from my face?"

"Oh my! I'm naked!" shrieked the now white unicorn trying fruitlessly to untangle herself from the others.

The vast majority of those mares were also used to wearing clothes, apparently.
Moments later, they were all floating in an acidic green aura minus the two at the bottom.

"Much better," commented Chrysalis getting on her hooves and dusting herself before helping Cadence up "I don't know how you all stand walking on two legs all the time... It's so uncomfortable... And I finally have my lovely voice back."

"Put them down Chryssy, no need to get snippy," commented said pink alicorn snickering behind a hoof before sobering up "We've also got more important things to do right now."

In a brief moment they were all standing, except for Rarity, who was trying to cover herself with a tablecloth.

"You know, it's actually kinda comfy to stand on four legs..." commented Pinkie Pie while inspecting one of her forehooves.

"Now that we're all here," said Twilight taking the reins of the group "We need to find Shining Armor... He should look like a white unicorn with blue mane."

"Like the one down there?" asked Rainbow pointing to the nearby window "I think I saw him while Chrysalis was... Whatever it is that she was doing."

"We have a hunch, great! Me, Sunset, Cadence and Chrysalis will go down there and look for him, you six meanwhile search the castle, in case the one Rainbow saw was my brother and not the human one. If you see a purple baby dragon, he's Spike, he'll help you for sure. Let's go!"

Meanwhile Big Macintosh wasn't having a great day. First Flash went looking for agent Armor, then his sister came with her friends and two unknown ladies looking for the very same man, and now the same two ladies, albeit differntly dressed, were asking him again if he had seen Shining Armor. It was all a bit disconcerting and, a rapid glance to the clock assured him of it, was making him late to his date with Cheerilee.

"Look madam, Ah already told ya what Ah know when ya were here with mah sis and her friends earlier: Ah directed Flash Sentry and his new friend, who looked like agent Armor Ah reckon, to the agent usual area. Nothing more nothing less."

The black skinned woman kept her acid green eyes trained on him for a while longer before nodding and saying: "I hope for you it's all the truth, because things will get remarkably unpleasant if it isn't."

"Come on Chrysalis, there's no need to intimidate the boy," said Cadence before turning to Big Mac "Thank you for your time young man, we'll be on our way now."

With that, the two women left.

Author's Note

Ok, I'm sure you're wondering why there are two chapters in one update.
The truth is that even with a working idea I can't seem to fight this writer's block I'm facing, so I've decided to upload what I produced since the start of the hiatus and then leave this story as what it is.
Maybe, someday, I'll find it in myself to finish it, or maybe one of you wants to do it for me, so I'll leave it all posted, but don't expect any update soon.
Sorry.

P.S.: if you want to try your hand/hoof/appendage at concluding this, pm me and I'll send you all the notes I still have