The Crystal Empire

Guest Chamber Passageway

Though it was night in the Crystal Empire, the Guards assigned to visitors in the Palace never slept. Especially since Twilight Sparkle and her friends were visiting their Prince and Princess. Two Guards stood in front of the door to Twilight's guest room, and despite their appearances, were ready for any threat.

Soon, unexpected hoofsteps could be heard, approaching fast and methodically.

"Who's there?" One guard asked, lowering his lance into a combat position.

His reply was a stunning spell directly to the face. As the other guard tried to rush the attacker, another stun spell put him on the ground, out cold. As the attacker approached the door, she opened it without a word.

The moonlight revealed the sleeping form of Twilight Sparkle, and her crown and Element of Magic resting on her nightstand. Now that the moon was visible through the window, the attacker was revealed to be a mare with a flaming orange coat, and a sun-like mane.

As she approached the Element of Magic, a loose floorboard creaked under her hoof. She froze, searching for any sign of disturbance from the Princess.

To her relief, there was none. As she reached again for the Element of Magic, she heard the sound of running water, and a door opening. Light streamed into the room, revealing or causing multiple things.

One, Spike the Dragon, who had been using the bathroom until that moment.

Two, Twilight's eyes opened at the interruption of her sleep, and they immediately flared upon seeing the thief clutching the Element of Magic.

Both Pony and Dragon screamed as one, and Twilight charged the thief.

"Give that back! Stop, Thief!" she cried, as the two of them began to wrestle.

"As if!" the mare retorted. "This should've been mine! You stole it from me!"

"I'm not even going to dignify that with a response!" Twilight yelled as she reached for the crown. The mare growled "I don't think so!" and fired a beam of magic that sent Twilight into the wall.

Seizing her chance, the thief ran out towards the exit, only for Twilight to take flight and pursue.

====

As Twilight chased the thief towards the main spire, and soon up a staircase, the mare seemed to show no sign of slowing down. She was throwing magical blasts over her shoulder, and Twilight sent blasts of her own right back.

However, the mare may have been fast, but Twilight was faster. She was taught to fly by Rainbow Dash, after all. As Twilight tackled the mare, the Element of Magic loosed itself from the thief's grip. As both ponies' eyes followed it, it bounced once and towards a strange mirror-like object in the middle of the room.

Then a white vortex appeared, and both mares screamed. As they both lunged for the Element, their struggle forced the two of them inside the vortex. As it began to close, a small part of Twilight's mane was clipped by the closing void.

Then, there was a pulse of energy, then silence as the vortex ceased to exist, leaving no trace behind, except for a cut of magenta hair.

====
Lumiose City, Kalos Region

Centrico Plaza

As Twilight's eyes opened slowly, she immediately identified a few things.

One, the Element of Magic was on the floor, next to her and the thief.

Two, they were not in the Crystal Empire anymore.

Three, she had changed. Instead of her equine form, she was now more bipedal and wearing a set of strange clothes.

As she struggled to get upright, the thief roused herself as well. Both eyes immediately turned to the Element of Magic, which lay astray on the ground. Their hands both went for it, and a vicious struggle soon began.

"Give it back!" Twilight groaned.

"Never!" the thief replied. "It was supposed to be mine!"

As they continued to grapple, Twilight tried to focus her magic for a stunning spell. However, she quickly realized that her horn and wings were absent, and the magical energy that could be felt all over Equis was not present here. As she widened her eyes, the thief took her chance. One hand punched her hand in the gut, and she took off with the Element. Before Twilight could cry out, something happened that Twilight did not expect.

A leg shot out from the shadows, tripping the thief and sending her sprawling to the ground. Then a hand grabbed the Element from the terrain. As both Twilight and the thief looked up, both sets of eyes widened.

Three humans, two males and a female, stood above them. One, wearing a blue shirt and jacket, black pants, gray sneakers, and a red cap atop brown hair cocked an eyebrow.

"I really don't know what's going on here…" he said. "But I don't like it one bit."

Hey, that's mine!" the thief cried, lunging for the Element, which was in the hands of the female. The female sidestepped the move and again, she sprawled out on the ground.

"Really?" the female said with a dubious tone. "We saw your little game of tug-of-war. I really don't think you should have this right now, judging from that."

Twilight stood up shakily, and walked over.

"If you're giving the Element back to anypony, it should be me." she said. "She stole it from me in the middle of the night."

"Fine." the boy said, crossing his arms. "One question."

"Shoot."

"Did you say...anypony?" he asked. "Don't you mean anyone?"

Twilight gulped, realizing that she had just revealed who she was.

"I can explain in private." she sighed. "Just…can I have my Element back?"

"Later." another boy said, this one wearing a mix of red, black, and green clothing. "I think I want to hear both sides of the story first before we're giving anything to anyone. What's your name, by the way? We'll start with that."

"I'm Twilight. Twilight Sparkle." she said.

"I'm Riley." the boy said. "That's Kyle and Emma. Right now, I think we should get moving. We're drawing a crowd."

True to Riley's word, a crowd of humans was forming. Twilight nodded, pulled the thief to her feet, and they set off into the city. All the while, the Element of Harmony glowed like a lantern, like a premonition of things to come.

Author's Note

My (hopefully) final Pokemon story. I hope you like the concept.