It was a calm, quiet evening in the Crystal Empire, and though the streets near the Palace were still and undisturbed, two Crystal Guards stood fast outside the Palace gates. Their lances were held high, and though it was late…they both knew what their job was and exactly how to do it.

Most Crystal Guards assigned to night watch duties slept during the day in order to remain awake at their posts during the night. That way, when the Guards who woke in the morning came to switch posts, it would be a timely exchange. That was how Prince Shining Armor set everything up after the Changeling attack on Canterlot, during his wedding to Princess Cadance.

However, even as the Guards stood at attention, their eyes alert and scanning for any threats, an invisible form slowly moved down the street to the left of the Guards. The unicorn mare, even with her potent invisibility spell, saw the Guards blocking the main gate, and knew she had to either distract them or take them out of commission long enough to get inside and claim what was rightfully hers.

She had been in the Empire for a week now, memorizing the Guard's patrol rotations and their timing, thanks to a schedule she swiped from the Guards' barracks three days ago, and the servant's roster she also similarly procured two days before that. In case of trouble, she did have her magic, and a police baton she had enchanted to electrocute any unfortunate pony she struck with it. It wouldn't be a fatal shock, just a small jolt to knock unconscious.

Hopefully, it wouldn't be necessary, the unicorn thought. She was here for one thing and one thing only.

The Element of Magic, now in the hooves of Twilight Sparkle, the fourth alicorn, Princess Celestia's faithful student, and the Princess of Magic.

Princess of Magic, the unicorn mare growled scornfully. She had been Celestia's prized student before, and all because of one small mistake, she thought, her tutelage had been cut off, she had been cast out of the School for Gifted Unicorns, and banished from Celestia's presence.

"All because of one mistake. It was an accident, a total fluke", she thought bitterly. "All because I wanted what should have been mine."

She shook her head, clearing her mind. If she hoped to succeed on this night, she would have to concentrate on the task at hand. Right now, that task was getting into the Palace.

She quietly moved behind both Guards, and took out her baton. With two quick strikes, the Guards fell, knocked out cold. She dragged their forms to a garden nearby, hiding them behind some thick bushes. After retrieving their gate key, she swiftly unlocked the door and headed inside.

====
Prince Shining Armor hadn't learned his lesson, she thought amusedly, as there were no Guards on patrol inside the palace. She decloaked, and rendered herself visible again, as she approached the guest chambers. She knew that Princess Twilight disliked having personal guards, and she chuckled slightly at thinking of how this would change her mind going forward.

She cut the door open with her magic and slowly entered Princess Twilight's bedroom. To her glee, the Element of Magic lay on her bedside table, right in the open. She tentatively reached for it, and quick as a flash, swiped it and stowed it in her sidebag.

After checking that the Princess was still asleep, she headed for the door as quickly and quietly as she had come…except she didn't notice that while her back was turned while she stole the Element, the lights in the hallway had come on, and hoofsteps could be heard approaching.

Sunset quickly hid herself by turning invisible again, and as she hid behind a cabinet, she saw Prince Shining Armor, two Crystal Guards, and Spike the dragon enter the room, deep in conversation. Spike walked past the hidden unicorn, heading for his own chambers. The two Guards soon departed, leaving only the Prince in the room.

As Shining looked around to check if all was well…he noticed that something was missing from atop Twilight's nightstand.

"Twily! Get up!" the Prince shook the sleeping form of his sister. "Your Element's gone!"

As Twilight slowly roused herself, and yelped at seeing that her Crown was missing, Shining magically amplified his voice and yelled out "GUARDS! I NEED YOU IN THE GUEST CHAMBERS NOW!"

The unicorn mare, realizing she was trapped as hoofsteps echoed in the hallway, moved towards the door. Only, the light from the hallway shone through her invisibility at the same time that Princess Twilight got out of bed and moved towards the door.

The next thing the unicorn mare knew, she had been trapped in the Prince's magical grip, and her cloak was torn off, dispelling her invisibility. She was pulled towards Shining Armor, who glared at her fiercely.

"Nice try." he growled. "I don't know what you were thinking, going after my sister's Element, but I'm sure we'll find out. I think it's safe to say you're under arrest."

"Like Tartarus I am!" Sunset growled, smacking Shining with her baton. The good news was that the Prince was knocked unconscious, and she was freed from his magic. The bad news was that the Guards had arrived and had all witnessed this act.

The Crystal Guards roared "GET HER!" as one, and Sunset was quickly tackled, with her shock baton knocked out of her hoof. Sunset snarled as she struggled fiercely in an attempt to escape before she could be restrained. She began charging her magic into a large burst, and as a pair of hoof cuffs were about to be placed on her, she unleashed the ensuing pulse of energy.

The Guards were thrown in all directions, and though Twilight shielded herself, the Element was still in the thief's possession. She galloped for the door and out into the hallway, with Twilight and Spike in hot pursuit. The thief slung spell after spell at Twilight, with the alicorn either dodging or shielding herself each time.

"Get back here!" Twilight yelled now having taken to using her wings to catch up with the thief. Though Twilight wasn't as good of a flier, she knew that flying straight and fast was easy enough to do in her case.

The thief panted as she continued to sprint, as she did not have the advantage of flight to speed her pace. She was unable to concentrate enough to teleport, and her sidebag was coming loose from its strap. She needed to escape, right now.

For the thief, it was a race against time, and a very pissed off Alicorn. All races must come to an end, though, and as the thief tore down a hallway that led to the main gates, her eyes flared as she saw the Guards had set up a roadblock at the end of the corridor. At the center was an azure crystal mirror, and the thief slung a spell that would shatter the glass and allow her an opening.

However, neither the thief, the Princess, or Spike could have assumed what would happen next. The mirror began to glow a bright white, and a portal of some kind opened inside the frame. The thief tried to come to a halt, but her attempt was foiled by her being tackled by Princess Twilight and Spike.

As they rolled across the floor and straight into the portal, there was a blast of light, and the portal closed just as Prince Shining Armor and Princess Cadance turned the corner. The last thing all three saw of Equestria was the horrified looks of the assembled Guards and the rulers of the Empire.

Then everything went dark.

====

As the eyes of all three Equestrians opened, they both immediately locked onto the Element of Magic, which lay in between them. But before they could lunge for it, Twilight called out "Wait! Hold on, what just happened to us? Where are we?"

All three could see they were in an alleyway between stone and wooden buildings, and a large plaza lay outside the alley behind them. They could hear a numerous amount of voices speaking, both male and female, and young and old. Wherever they were now, it certainly wasn't in the Crystal Empire.

The thief stretched out her front legs, and to her shock, saw that she was no longer bearing an equine leg and hoof but a pair of arms and hands, much like a minotaur's, only slimmer and far less muscular. Their back legs had also changed, as they now had feet like a dragon. And they could see that their faces had changed as well. Suffice to say, they weren't Equestrian anymore. They were also now wearing a set of clothing, consisting of a white shirt, tan pants, a pair of boots, and a sidebag. On the other hand, Spike was very relieved to see that he was unchanged, and he dove for the Element of Magic. Sunset moved to intercept the baby dragon, and Twilight moved to stop her.

Only, their new bodies were still uncoordinated, and they all crashed into each other, and the Element flew out of their hands and into an open area. They both lunged again for the Element of Magic, drawing the attention of the crowd. As it would turn out, the plaza was hosting an open-air market, and as both of them fought to claim the Element, the murmurs from the crowd suddenly quieted.

And a voice called out, full of authority, one that made the thief, Spike, and Twilight freeze in place.

"Hey! You two had best stop that, right now. Otherwise…you might not like what happens if you don't."

The three turned to see the crowd had parted, and eight bipedal beings wearing blue cloth, steel armor and helmets, and bearing a mark of two wings around a teardrop-shape, came towards them, with lances at the ready. They were all male, judging by their stature, and though they were obviously curious or confused, they had their weapons set in case of trouble. The leader of the soldiers, who wore a gray command sash, motioned for them both to stand up.

Before either the thief, Spike or Twilight could begin speaking, a second voice spoke up.

"Well, this is interesting. What do we have here Captain?"

The lead soldier stepped aside and bowed to a new being who stepped out of the crowd. He was tall, and wore a combination of blue and white robes with silver armor and a cape bearing the same teardrop symbol as the soldiers done in gold markings. A sword with a circular hilt lay at his waist, and his messy blue hair, handsome and sharp face, and air of authority immediately made clear that he was in a position of ruling or great influence.

"Exalt," the lead soldier said. "With all honesty, we're not sure. We heard noises and signs of a struggle and came to investigate. I do know that this crown is most likely the reason behind the disturbance."

The "Exalt" was handed the Element of Magic, and after he looked it over, he then glanced at the stunned trio. Then he stretched out both of his hands after securing the Element to his belt. Twilight and the thief grasped them, and they were pulled to their feet. As Spike walked over and Twilight picked him up, the Exalt gave the dragon a curious glance before sighing.

"You three certainly are strange." he murmured. "Anyway, you are coming with me back to the Palace. I do want an explanation as to how this scuffle broke out, but this is not the place to hear it. Come quietly, and I'll hear you both out. Until then, this crown stays with me."

"Am I understood?"

The three quickly nodded in affirmation.

"Good." the Exalt replied. "Who are you, anyway? What are your names?"

"I'm…Twilight. This is Spike." Twilight said, deciding against using her full name. The thief shrugged, and added that her name was Sunset Shimmer.

"Well, alright then. An odd choice of names, but I'm not one to judge." the man said, before replying, "I'm Chrom. The Exalt and ruling King of the Halidom of Ylisse. Captain, I'll be taking these three back to the palace for questioning. In the meantime, see if you can find out any information about where these three may have come from."

"As you command, Exalt!" the lead soldier replied, and as the three were escorted through the streets towards an elevated section of the city, Sunset and Twilight's feelings of mistrust and anger towards the other was replaced with curiosity, unease, and trepidation.

After all, there was no telling what would happen next to any of them going forward.

Author's Note

This was a doozy to get moving on. Despite that I think I've rewritten this story four or five times now, I think I could never settle on a plotline that I could actually develop into a proper story beyond the first ten chapters.

This time, I think I managed to succeed in that regard. Just as a heads-up, there's no equivalent of Canterlot High in this, so for now, Twilight, Spike, and Sunset are the only Equestrians in Ylisse.

In the next chapter, Twilight, Sunset, and Spike are questioned by Chrom, and must stay with the Shepherds until the Exalt decides what to do with them. Back in Equestria, the aftermath of the break-in and the accident unfolds...