"A Crystal Castle. Gotta admit Twilight, you live in style," Tails said with approval.
"You remember those caverns where we found the Chaos Emerald, Tails? The one Eggman was mining?" Sally asked.
"Oh yeah, I remember that. Yeah, this place really does look like it."
"I'm glad that you like le chateau, but this is where I'd like you to look next," Twilight instructed. Tails, Sally and Rotor walked over to a large table with a crystal map in the center of it, a map that housed all of Equestria on it. "This is a map of Equestria. It shifts and moves according to what is currently happening in the land."
"I can see that," Rotor muttered, bending over and noticing the crystals had created a tiny version oft he Sky Patrol that was crashed not too far from the castle. "So how does it update and how often?"
"The crystals are magic, allowing them to bend and shift as the map demands. And they update every couple minutes or so, that way I can be constantly up to date on what's going on in the land," Twilight explained. "It doesn't show me citizens or anything like that, but if a mountain goes missing I'll know immediately. As you can see, it's already adjusted for the mix and match that both of our worlds have become."
"Hmm, that sounds handy. Can I make one of these for the Sky Patrol?" Rotor asked.
"Um, even I'm not sure how the map was made. It kinda...came with the castle," Twilight admitted. "But we're getting a bit off track. Princess, Eggman is your villain and you probably know him better than anypony. Do you know where he might have taken refuge and if it would be on this map?"
"Hmm...I've known Eggman a long time and I know a lot about him, but I don't see anywhere on this map where he would be hiding," Sally said. She scanned the map again and shook her head. "Sorry, but Eggman isn't subtle. If he was on this map, it would be in some giant fortress or floating base that would stick out like a Swatbot in a forest."
"Yeah, the last base he had was the giant egg that had his face on it. And it flew!" Tails added on.
"Well I would definitely see that on the map then," Twilight muttered.
"What about Sombra? Maybe they're hiding in one of his old bases?" Rotor put forward.
"No, Sombra...is odd. If he hasn't take over a kingdom to use as a base, he hides in the shadows. Literally. It's something only he can do and I don't believe that he can drag anypony else into the darkness with him," Twilight explained. "So either they're very well hidden or that they aren't in Equestria. Great, I'm going to have to send some letters to the other kingdoms to ask them if they've seen anything."
"Are the other nations that much of a problem?" Sally asked.
"Oh yeah. They all have stubborn leaders who barely talk with us, let alone like working together with us," Twilight grumbled. "How about you? Do you have issues with other nations?"
"Not really, but that's because there are so few other nations left," Sally replied. Twilight's eyes widened and Sally smiled bitterly in response. "Eggman, for lack of a better term, is the world's ruler. He's conquered maybe ninety percent of it during his first go, but over the years we've pushed him back to fifty. But there was no one to take his place once he left. Those places are now lands of drifters and outlaws. Not even close to the civilizations they once housed..."
"You'll fix it. I have no doubt in that," Twilight said. Sally flashed a grateful smile before they returned their attention back to the map. "What about the emeralds or the elements? Any idea where any of them could be on here? I don't want to rely on just the princesses and Discord."
"Sure. Just look for the most dangerous, soul crushing places that no sane person should go to. That's where they'll be," Rotor said with a smirk. "Give Tails and I some time to look over the map and maybe we can come up with something. I've been putting together a chaos scanner after getting a look at Discord's magic. I think I might be able to get us close to one."
"If that's the case, then I'm going to Pinkie's. She promised me sweets and I want to try them all!" Tails said before flying out of the castle.
"Then go ahead and do that," Sally said. She then looked over at Twilight. "Can I speak to you for a moment, Twilight?"
"Sure." Twilight nodded towards the balcony and the pair of princesses walked out onto it. Sally took a moment to look over the land, from the small town down below to the beautiful farmlands in the distance, to the rolling hills. Even with the worlds mashed together, this section of Equestria's vibrated peace and harmony. "What did you want to talk about?"
"How do you do it?" Sally asked. Twilight raised an eyebrow in response. "How do you rule your world and keep fighting the forces of darkness?"
"To be fair, I've only been ruling on my own for about a week before all this happened," Twilight admitted.
"But you've never had ponies questioning your rule. Neither did Celestia or Luna. Or any of the princesses before them. All of them managed to keep their subjects happy while fighting off evil every other day. I can barely keep fighting Eggman, let alone attend to my royal duties. It has...caused some of the people of Mobius to lose faith in the royal family. That perhaps...we can't rule or protect them."
"Do you believe that?" Twilight asked.
"Somedays...I do. That maybe it would be better if I devoted all of my time to fighting evil or ruling the kingdom, instead of splitting my time," Sally admitted. "And that we haven't done a good job of protecting them. Yeah, we manage to save the day, but what good is saving the day if the next day is just as bad or even worse? And without Sonic or my friends...I just...feel like I've let everyone down."
"I've been there, believe me," Twilight replied. Then she smiled. "Sally, do you want to know the secret to why us princesses have always managed to defeat the evil foes that constantly attack our world?"
"How?"
"Because we've had a lot of practice," Twilight revealed. "I've been fighting evil since I was a teenager. Celestia and Luna fought evil since they were teenagers tens of thousands of years ago. And the princesses before them. And before even them. It's as much of a princess tradition as balls, meetings and negotiations. And after all that time, we've gotten really good at it. So of course, each former princess trains the new one or ones on how to defend the land, how to overcome those evils. That's what I have over you. A long line of experience."
"I've been trained..."
"But not to constantly be ready for evil. To have to battle it every day like I have. From what you told me, Eggman's attack on your world came out of the blue. So of course you weren't ready for it. And with all that tech and firepower, of course he managed to conquer so much of the world. Not because you were a bad ruler or anything, but because none of you, even your former rulers, thought such a day would come."
"And yet you managed to keep Eggman from winning. You held onto that last bastion of hope that fought back against him. And like you said, he now only owns fifty percent of your world when at a time he used to rule it all. And you did that without your former rulers, without magical artifacts designed for such foes and you did it without millennia worth of training. So tell me, does somepony who did all that sound like a failure to you?"
"Alright, alright, I get it," Sally smirked. Then that smirked turned to a genuine smile. "Thanks Twilight. I guess you're right. We've both made the best of what we've been given. I'd thought I'd ask you for some ruling advice since you've prevented your world from falling to chaos."
"Be firm but fair in meetings. Don't let those you're negotiatng with think that you're weak, but don't given the impression that you're made of stone. Also, imprisioning enemies in stone is a great way to get rid of them for thousands of years at a time. Believe me, we've done it to most of our foes."
"You trap them in stone for that long?"
"It's either that, send them to Tartarus or destroy them completely," Twilight said. Sally gave her a look and Twilight raised an eyebrow. "What?"
"For a leader who preaches forgiveness and give others chances..."
"I've given plenty foes numerous chances. But after refusing my offers to help them time and time again, you have to find a way to deal with them so they don't hurt others. Some We trap in stone. Some we manage to convert. Sombra, we destroy. Constantly."
"You've killed Sombra more than once?"
"Three times. At this point it's not really killing him, it's just getting rid of him for a bit," Twilight chuckled.
"Geez, at least with Eggman if he were to be destroyed, he'd stay dead. I think," Sally said. Then she narrowed her eyes and noticed two extremely fast blurs coming towards them. "And from the looks of that, it seems that Sonic and Rainbow Dash have something to tell us. Well, let's go meet them."
Sally and Twilight returned to the map to find Sonic and Rainbow Dash already there, looking over the map while Rotor waved the princesses over. "We've got bad news. Eggman got to the Crystal Empire and kidnapped the entire royal family," Sonic revealed. Twilight froze dead in her tracks while Rainbow slapped Sonic with her wing.
"Nice. You're as tactful as a sledgehammer," Sally sighed.
"Just telling it like it is," Sonic replied, but there was no sarcasm or cockiness in his voice. "I'm sorry that it happened, Twilight. Had I been just a bit faster..."
"I should have been there, Twilight," Rainbow Dash said. "Sombra always goes after our loved ones, I should have known that he'd do so again. If there's anypony that you should blame, it's..."
"We'll save them. We'll save all of them," Twilight whispered. Then she looked over at Rotor. "Yes Rotor, what have you been wanting to say?"
"I think I may have found one," Rotor said. "In the Tundra Zone. Not the one where my father works, but more of a mix between your world and ours. Anyway, I think one of the emeralds ended up there."
"Then that's where we're going. The sooner we find all the emeralds and elements, the sooner we can save those kidnapped by Eggman," Twilight snarled. Rotor and Sally shared a look, one that wasn't lost on Sonic. "Rotor, I want you to send a message to the princesses...er, Celestia and Luna. Let them know what we're doing."
"Got it, but how...?"
"In my room in the back of a castle you'll find an owl. Write the letter, attach it to him and he'll fly it to the princesses," Twilight said. "As for the rest of us, Sally, Sonic, Rainbow and I will go after this emerald now. Unless any of you object?"
"Not wasting any time and jumping straight into the action? I think I misjudged you princess," Sonic said. "See Sal, why can't you be more like her?"
"Because then there'd be no one left to stop you," Sally replied. "I'm ready to go whenever Twilight."
"Same here."
"Always," Rainbow nodded.
"I'll tell the princesses. But be careful in the Tundra, all of you. It's not a forgiving place and Eggman and Sombra will most likely try to get the emerald from you," Rotor warned.
"Thanks Rotor. Hold onto your lunches everypony," Twilight warned. Then, in a flash of light, they were gone.