Sunset Shimmer Meets the Last Woman on Earth (Sunset Discovers the Robot Apocalypse)

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Discovered
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Discoveries

Sunset Shimmer had been in this world for three days now. For most of that time, she'd had a feeling she was being watched.

The prickling feeling on the back of her neck never seemed to go away. Sometimes, a rustling in the bushes, or in old, fallen leaves somewhere beyond, made Sunset spin around to look. But she never saw anyone.

She'd seen no living people at all. She had found human skeletons, usually in pieces. Skulls and other bones, relics of the humans who used to live here.

More often than the skeletal human remains, Sunset also saw smashed-in robot heads, damaged robot torsos, mechanical arms and legs. In some places these were scattered sparsely on or alongside the road; elsewhere they were piled up into large heaps, which seemed to combine parts from dozens of different machines. Most of the robots seemed to have had more or less humanoid shapes, but not all of them. A few mysterious parts just made Sunset wonder what their possessors had looked like when all their portions had been combined, before someone had forcibly diassembled them and scattered the resulting fragments across the landscape.

Sometimes Sunset felt urges to poke these objects with sticks, to try to prove to herself they really were completely inactive; but she was also a little afraid to. The most reassuring thing about the fragmentary robots was, many seemed to have been colonized by little wild creatures, to use as nesting places. The machines that could no longer serve humanity (Or destroy humanity? She wasn't sure what had happened) now served as homes for beetles and mice and chipmunks. Moss coated many of these little houses; vines twined over and through them.

This world provided plenty of abandoned buildings and derelict vehicles for Sunset to shelter in, at least when Sunset followed the main roads. Some of these shelters still contained useful items, such as clothes and old canned food. She didn't really know the local year count, or how much time had passed since the last calendars were printed. So she just opened whatever packaged food had the biggest numbers in its expiration date, if the same kind of food hadn't made her feel nauseous last time she'd tried to eat it.

Some of the local food was pretty gross, but it was better than starving.

On the third day, Sunset found a footprint in a small patch of damp earth. She swiveled her head all around, quickly and then more slowly, searching for the footprint's maker. As usual, she saw no one.

Was Sunset walking in circles? Was this footprint one of her own? She pulled a decades-old map from the carryall bag slung over her shoulder and hip. It was the most recent documentation she had, for this world.

No, she didn't think she was walking in circles. Allowing for the changes that happen in any world over the years, she was pretty sure she was right on track.

So to speak.

Sunset bent down, to examine the footprint more closely. She compared it to a nearby print of her own.

The discovered footprint was from a different style of hiking boot than Sunset's, but the wearer's foot seemed about the same size. Maybe even exactly the same?

Sunset silently laughed at herself. There were lots of people with feet about the same size as hers. This was just a coincidence. It didn't mean anything.

No way had Sunset finally found one of her own parallel universe counterparts...or at least the odds were very much against that, in a world that seemed to have no humans or ponies in it at all.

No people except for one, Sunset corrected herself.

She very much doubted an old boot had just happened to fall or tumble in just the right way to make a track in her path all by itself...and then disappear from sight.

Even though this world seemed empty of living people, it must have at least one.

Sunset stood back up, and spotted more footprints like the first. She quietly followed the tracks.

***

The mysterious person had walked between two buildings, and over a patch of sand. Beyond that patch, the ground became rocky, and footprints became harder to spot.

After nearly an hour of searching, Sunset concluded she couldn't find where the person had gone. She had another idea, and tried following the tracks back to where the person had come from. But after about a quarter of a mile, that gave no better results: this time, Sunset lost the trail on a stretch of pavement, and failed to pick it up again.

Sunset shook her head. Should she even be bothering with this? If she wanted to find her way home to Equestria, she should proceed onwards, to the nearest portal point she hadn't yet checked. If its entrance wasn't damaged, she could make some real progress.

But Sunset wondered about the other person, and she worried. In a human world where no or almost no humans survived, was Sunset herself safe? The mysterious catastrophe appeared to be over and done, but was it really quite as over and done with as Sunset wanted to believe?

Sunset rechecked her map. Her feet took her back to her originally planned route towards the marked portal. She thought that was the best plan, her best bet.

She kept thinking so, until she was tackled by a cloaked figure leaping out of the bushes. The attacker shoved Sunset down onto the dirt. Sunset landed on her stomach, with one arm trapped underneath her, and her other arm held down by the attacker's own hand and knee.

Discovered

Sunset turned her face sideways, looking up towards the stranger. "Who are you?" she asked. "What do you want? I haven't done anything to--"

Sunset gasped, as she felt a knife press into her flesh, at the point where her neck and shoulder met. "Ouch!" Sunset struggled harder than before, but with little effect.

Sunset felt a finger touch her cut. The stranger lifted her hand, and sniffed a droplet of blood smeared across her finger.

"At least this doesn't look or smell like transmission fluid, or motor oil, or Vitaline. That's...a good sign. But it isn't enough to be sure."

"What are you TALKING about? Do you think I'm a robot? Can't you SEE I'm a person?"

The knife-holding hand moved to the stranger's hood, and pulled it back. Sunset saw a face that looked very like her own. If it wasn't for the many scars, and the toll of sunburns and harsh weather, the stranger might have been Sunset's twin.

"Don't you know?" the stranger asked. "How can you not know? There were some robots designed to look just like humans. They were sold for...special purposes." The stranger grimaced. "The designers wanted sexbots, not lovebots. So there's one very important difference."

"What are you TALKING about?"

The stranger lowered her face towards Sunset's. She kissed Sunset's cheek. Sunset's eyes opened wider.

The stranger put her knife away, hiding it somewhere within her cloak. She said, "Each of us needs to know the truth about the other. Are you human, or are you a robot that might be programmed to destroy me when I let my guard down? We have to find out for sure. So...kiss me, the way only a human can. And make sure you slip me some tongue."

The hand returned, pressing on Sunset's cheek. By reflex, Sunset's mouth opened slightly. The stranger's mouth covered Sunset's, lips pressing hard at first, then softening.

From surprise, Sunset's mouth opened wider, as the very tip of the stranger's tongue teased Sunset's lips.

The other's face now drew back slightly. "Well?" she said. "Now it's your turn. Show me how human you are."

"You're insane," Sunset replied. Her eyes darted, looking around at what she could see of this strange new world. More softly, she said, "(Or are you?)"

The stranger's mouth very gently covered Sunset's. The tongue barely touched the opening between Sunset's lips...entreating, not pushing.

This was a new experience for Sunset, something she'd only heard of and read about.

After a moment, her own tongue moved forward, finding the stranger's. The two tongues played softly together, exploring.

Back home in Equestria, Sunset had worked very hard at studying magic, and science, and history, and any subject that she thought might be useful to a unicorn mage who aspired to become an alicorn princess. She hadn't spared much time for a social life.

Sunset had never kissed anycreature in this way before...not as a pony, or as a human, or in any other transdimensional form. Not with tongue.

After a minute of delicate, intimate lip and tongue touching, the stranger's face pulled back from Sunset's. "Huh," she said. "Have you ever even DONE this before?"

Sunset snarled, "You grabbed me and put a knife to my neck and kissed me, and THAT'S how you react? And...you didn't even ask, either! You just...you just...you just TOOK!"

"I'm sorry," the near-twin said. "But I'm so happy to find out you don't kiss like a sexbot. They're more...aggressive. They kiss like they know they're probably supposed to rush on to the 'main event.' And their kisses are...kind of mechanical. They don't kiss like blushing virgins, that's for sure."

Sunset became aware her face felt very hot. She was sure she was, indeed, blushing. "A blushing virgin? So what does that make YOU? Some kind of...slut? A slut who has sex with sex robots?" She made a disgusted face. "Eeew! I just kissed someone who has sex with...WHOREBOTS, I guess. I don't know if I can ever wash my mouth out enough times!"

The stranger blushed a little herself. "Hey," she said. "I've never done THAT! Not with any kind of robot! But I've read the manuals, and looked at what the different settings were. And before the Collapse, I...talked to people. A lot of people used to try it with sexbots at least once or twice, back when it was safe. I didn't have to try it myself, to hear about what it's like." She smirked. "But at least I've kissed GIRLS, which seems to be more than you've ever done."

"Hay! I was...busy! It's not my fault."

"Maybe you WERE busy. I haven't met a survivor in...a couple years, at least. I didn't know there were any. Not anymore." She eyed Sunset appraisingly. "I guess you might have spent your time doing SOMETHING special, and maybe lots of it, to be able to survive this long."

Sunset was silent. She wasn't sure she wanted to explain her very unusual background, especially to someone she'd only just met.

Someone who aggressively grabs people, and pushes them down on the ground, and kisses them without even getting permission! Someone who does things like that, and makes excuses after the fact, to say she wasn't really doing anything wrong.

Sunset knew nothing about this world. Sure, the near-twin might be telling the truth. But how could Sunset really know?

Sunset was forced to conclude, she really didn't know at all.

If Sunset was forced to trust this stranger conditionally, in a limited way, for lack of any better options?

That was all it was. Conditional, forced, and limited. And at the first sign something was really wrong? Sunset would make this weirdo sorry she'd ever tried to mess with Sunset Shimmer! She'd show her a thing or two!

Sunset remembered that so-recent kiss. The stranger had certainly already shown Sunset something. Something worth knowing about. Someday, when Sunset decided who she wanted to kiss...at least now Sunset knew something about how it's done.

She thought, a first kiss in an alien world where nearly everyone is dead could have gone a lot worse.

But first things first. Sunset bucked her body up suddenly, and pushed the stranger off. As the stranger fell, Sunset reached under the cloak, grabbing the knife. A moment later, Sunset was on top, holding the knife to the stranger's throat.

"I surrender!" the strange woman said. "Please don't hurt me! I just wanted to make sure you weren't a robot that might try to kill me in my sleep! Please don't kill me!"

Sunset rolled her eyes.

"Even if you DO kill me, at least I'll know there's another human being still alive. So maybe it will almost be worth it."

"Oh, buck it," Sunset said. "How about we declare a truce? With so few people left, we should try not to hurt each other."

"I agree!" the cloaked stranger said. "Let's try to keep humanity alive."

Sunset pulled the knife away from the other woman's throat, and carefully tucked the weapon back into its hiding place under the cloak. "There. We're both alive." She pushed herself up off the ground, and stood up.

The stranger stood too. "So," she said, "what's your name?"

"Sunset. And who are you?"

"Call me Sunrise. My old name...doesn't matter anymore. I don't like it. I never want to hear it again. It's one thing I'm not sorry to have lost."

"Ok." Sunset looked at the world around Sunrise, at the signs of years-ago catastrophe. "So...what ARE you sorry to have lost?"

The stranger grimaced. "People, mostly. And thinking the world wasn't trying to kill me...that was nice. But if I had taken too long to understand what was happening...I wouldn't be here now. I'd be dead along with all the others. So I guess that feeling of peace and safety is another thing I can't really complain about losing, because losing that illusion quickly enough was what saved me."

"Wow, harsh." Sunset shook her head. "Not that I can talk."

"How about you?" Sunrise asked. "What do you regret losing? How are you even here? I don't see even one serious scar on you. How did you do it?"

Sunset wasn't sure what to say. But she noticed she was ravenously hungry. Time to eat more questionable salvaged food! She wasn't eager to search through more old buildings, wondering if every single package was long past any 'doesn't taste like horrible expired crap' date.

"Hay," Sunset asked, "can you tell me what year it is?"

Sunrise's mouth fell open. "You're a TIME TRAVELER? Now it all makes sense! Your not having scars, your...not knowing what the hell kind of world you're even IN." Her face lit up with joy. "Take me back with you! I can at least carry a warning...maybe there's some way we can prevent the Disaster!"

Sunset shook her head. "I can't go back. I'm stuck in time like everyone else, living one day after another in the usual order." She had a thought about how to 'explain' herself...or rather, how to avoid having to explain herself. "And what's worse...or maybe just really weird...I can't remember anything I've ever done in this world more than three days ago. I guess that was when I arrived."

Sunrise's eyes narrowed. "Huh." She thought for a few moments. "You poor thing. Well, you're a human, so I'll do the best I can to help you. It's the least I can do."

"Thanks," Sunset said. Her face slowly took on a smile. In a strange, alien world, she decided, she'd finally found a friend. "I mean that. If there's anything I can do to help you too, please let me know. I mean, if it wouldn't be stupid or too risky." She shrugged. "Even if you don't see any way I could do it, tell me anyway. I have a feeling I might be...very resourceful. If I do say so myself."

Sunrise nodded. "Will do. I don't know how you survived, but like I said before, you must have been doing something right. And I'm so happy to see a real live human." She stepped forward slowly, and hugged Sunset.

After a moment of hesitation, Sunset relaxed into it, and hugged the stranger back. She hadn't had a proper hug in too long. She wasn't even sure how many weeks or months it had been, partly because interdimensional travel can confuse timekeeping and calendars so badly. Sunset thought, at least this world has a sun, and both night and day. In her long journey through many different universes, she had long since learned not to take even that for granted.

Really, this wasn't even as weird as the time she'd been grabbed and hugged by that octopus creature...who had turned out to be nice in its way. Probably this Sunrise would turn out to be nice too. For someone who had weathered the destruction of everyone in her world, she seemed to be handling things pretty well.

Sunset's stomach reminded her she was hungry. It grumbled and growled.

Sunrise glanced downward and smiled. "When was the last time you ate?"

Sunset looked at her wrist, where her watch had been before another world's angry natives broke it and burned it for being a witch. "No idea. I ate earlier today, but it tasted so bad, I couldn't make myself eat very much of it. The reason I asked about the date is, I've been hoping to find packages of food that aren't expired."

Sunrise frowned. "You won't find much, nowadays." She told Sunset the date. When Sunset asked more questions, about how the calendar worked, Sunrise answered them.

Sunrise finally concluded, "Wow. You really HAVE forgotten a lot. I guess." Sunrise pursed her lips. "Or did you come here from another country? I've read that Neighpon numbers their years by the current emperor, or some such thing."

Sunset snorted. "I wish I knew. I don't think I've even..." She stopped herself from saying, kissed anyone before. "I don't think I've even figured out what all I don't know. Not yet."

"So," Sunrise said, "Dinner."

"Yes!" Sunset thought about the expired food problem. "More expired grossness, I guess."

Sunrise smiled. "I want to show you something. Follow me, if you don't want a stomachache." She led Sunset along a path between some trees.

After about twenty minutes of walking, the path opened up into a patchwork of planted beds, hedges, and fruit trees.

"Wow," Sunset said. "I guess I was going to go right past this place, and never would have known it was here." She marveled at the bountiful garden. "Is this really what it looks like? Real food?"

Sunrise smirked, but the smirk faded. "Yep." She picked an apple, and took a bite. "This garden was started by...someone who didn't survive. Someone I miss a lot. But in her memory, I've been taking care of it, and expanding it, in the hope I could share it with someone someday."

"Thank you so much!" Sunset enthused. She plucked a pear from a tree, and tasted. "I haven't had a pear in..." She paused. "In I don't even know how long, I guess."

"Just don't eat too much of any one thing. Some of these have to be allowed to go to seed, so I...or WE...can replant next year. And some of the root crops, like potatoes, have to be saved so we can split them and replant, to multiply the bounty. But you can eat SOME potatoes...just be careful to leave plenty in the ground too."

Sunset asked, "Do you have any carrots? I want to roast carrot dogs on a stick." She barely caught herself, before saying that was a traditional Equestrian food.

"Carrot dogs on sticks? I've never heard of that. But it sounds good."

"Oh, it IS good! Or I think it is. I don't really know the last time I had them."

Sunrise pointed across the garden. "There's a bare area over there where you can build a fire. If you want to start working on that, I can catch us a few fish."

Sunset asked, "Fish? Are fish...good to eat?"

Sunrise laughed. "You have no idea. But you'll find out! Just wait here. I'll be back."

Sunset pulled a carrot out of the ground, and started eating without even washing it. "Oh, this is SO good. I have missed real food SO much."

***

Alerted by the clashing of branches and the crunching of twigs, Sunset turned to see Sunrise returning, carrying five freshly caught fishes (but no loaves, alas) in a creel.

"Hay, Sunrise!"

"Hi, Sunset." Sunrise held up the five fishes. "This should be more than enough." Her brows furrowed. "There's just one problem. I don't know how to COOK fish. I never received that volume of the survival manual, before...well, you know. Things got bad, and then they got worse."

Sunset eyed the fishes speculatively. "Well...I guess you heat them up for a while, like carrot dogs or a lot of other things you eat. But fish have poo in them, and I don't think we'd want to eat poo." She seemed to droop.

"No, wait!" Sunset added. "I think I can do this! All I have to do is remember my biology class, the time we dissected a fish to help us learn anatomy. I'll dissect these fish too, and carefully remove the parts that have poo in them. A surgical pooectomy!"

Sunrise laughed. "A pooectomy. I've only heard it called cleaning them or gutting them, but I think you've got the right idea." She handed the fishes to Sunset. "Here you go, Doctor Sunset." She pointed to a nearby stump. "How's that for an operating table?"

"Looks...ok, I guess? Just one question."

"What's that?"

"Do you have a sharp scalpel? A dissecting tray would be useful too."

"Um...I'll see what I can do."

***

Two hours later, Sunset and Sunrise each held a stick with a partly burned, partly half raw fish on it. Sunrise nibbled bits of charred flesh off the outside of hers. "Interesting," she said. "This must be gourmet cookery, then."

Sunset laughed. "Try further inside. I guess in Neighpon they might call the inner part sushi, almost?" She took a bite, spat out a piece of charcoal, and bit into a part of the fish that had been underneath the char. That bite was almost properly cooked. "But hey, for my first time cooking fish with no cookbook, it isn't TOO bad, right?"

"Sure," Sunrise agreed. "It's mostly edible. So it's a success!" She gazed off into the distance, at the remaining colors of the slowly darkening sky, and looked back at Sunset. "It's a good thing you remembered something from your biology class. How much is coming back to you, now?"

Sunset grinned sheepishly. "Maybe the reason I remembered was, it was more of a skill, not so much...anything else?" Even to herself, her explanation sounded unconvincing.

"Hey, don't worry about it." Sunrise put a hand on Sunset's shoulder. "Just be glad something came back to you. Maybe that's how it works, after whatever happened to you. Maybe when you need to remember more, you will. Just let it come in its own time."

Sunset and Sunrise devoured their poorly-cooked fishes. Sunset enjoyed the fish's deliciousness compared to the terrible, expired packaged foods she'd been trying to live on for the last three days.

After Sunset took her last edible-seeming bite of fish, she said, "Hay! I just remembered something."

"What?"

"Maybe this is silly...but after you went away for a while to catch some fish, how do I know you're still a human? I mean, how do I know you're the same person as you were before, and not some robot trying to take your place?"

Sunrise nodded. "You're very sensible." She sat down on the same log as Sunset, almost hip to hip. She leaned in towards the interdimensional traveler, and puckered her lips.

Sunset put her arms around Sunrise, and pulled her even closer. "You're warm." She kissed Sunrise's cheek, and kissed her cheek again, working her way towards Sunrise's lips, which parted expectantly.

A minute later, Sunset said, "Ok, I guess you're real. Or at least your kisses are real. This is the best security protocol ever."

Sunrise grinned. "I agree. It IS the best." She returned Sunset's kisses with interest.

***

The next morning, Sunset woke up fully clothed, and in the same sleeping bag with Sunrise. "Morning."

Sunrise wriggled, turning around to face Sunset. "Wow! A survivor! I can't believe how lucky I am! And she can kiss, too!"

Sunset snorted. "I'm glad I can kiss ok. Seeing as how you taught me everything I know about that."

"Oh, I'm sure you knew LOTS about kissing before you ever met me! You were just kind of shy at first. It must have been like cooking fish. When you really, really tried, your skills came back to you, and you did great!"

"My cooking is horseapp--I mean, crap."

"You're the best cook I know. The best living cook, at least."

Sunset winced.

"Did I lay it on too thick? I didn't mean to make you feel bad about your skills. I mean...what did I do?"

Sunset patted Sunrise's arm. "You didn't do anything. It's just...thinking about how almost everyone is dead, it's hard to take, you know?"

Sunrise nodded.

"Also...I had something I was supposed to do. A journey I was supposed to make."

"But now you've found ME. And who else is even alive to do something for? Stay here with me, so we can be happy together, and turn this little garden into a big, beautiful farm. Wouldn't that be wonderful?"

Sunset laughed. "You might be the most wonderful woman in the world. But I still have to do this. I'm sorry."

"At least stay here for long enough that I can catch us some more fish, and we can eat breakfast together!"

Sunset smiled. "Pretty please. You don't have to twist my arm."

Sunrise unzipped the sleeping bag to wiggle out. "Be back soon."

***

When Sunrise returned, Sunset had carrots, potatoes, and some kind of cabbagey thing roasting properly, she hoped. She'd used a shovel to bury the vegetables in the coals and ashes of last night's fire.

Sunset smiled playfully at Sunrise. "Who are you? Prove your identity."

"Oh no!" joked Sunrise. "What if I'm a sexbot, pretending to be me? What will you do then?"

Sunset shrugged. "ARE you a sexbot impostor? Let's test you."

Sunrise walked closer, grabbed Sunset by the shoulders, and pushed her down onto an old wooden chair. Sunrise unbuttoned her own flannel shirt. She lifted a shirttail, and brushed it across Sunset's face.

"Hey! This doesn't prove anything!"

Sunrise stood with her legs on either side of Sunset's, and wiggled her body in a silly little dance, lowering her hips towards Sunset's lap. She bent forward, kissing Sunset right on the lips.

The kiss was slow and gentle. Sunset said, "I think it's really you. But we'd better check some more, just to make sure."

Smiling, Sunrise reached for Sunset's T-shirt. "Better safe than sorry."

***

Resting on the grass in the morning sunlight, Sunrise said, "I hope you don't mind that I was so forward. It's just...do you know how long it's been for me, since I...you know."

Sunset held Sunrise close. "Me too. It's been literally forever. Um, I mean I can't remember ever doing this in a very long time."

"Hey," Sunrise said, "I saw how you did that thing with the fish. Want to take a rest while I have a go at it?"

"Maybe? I should dig up the vegetables I'm cooking. I buried them in what was left of last night's fire. I don't know about the potatoes and the cabbage, but I'm sure the carrots are ready by now. Since carrots are even good raw."

Soon enough, breakfast was ready.

"Huh," Sunset said. "Are you sure you've never cooked fish before?" She took another bite. Sunrise had done something with a skillet propped over the fire, instead of impaling the fishes on sticks.

"Oh, I've cooked other things over the fire. But I had no idea how to clean a fish, until you spent an hour or two last night reinventing the skill from zero, and showing me both how and how NOT to do it." Sunrise patted Sunset's shoulder. "Thanks for the lesson."

"Oh, you're welcome." Sunset gave Sunrise an appraising look. "You're a fast learner."

"Thanks. But is it any surprise? The world practically ended, and I'm still here. I don't think many stupid people have lasted this long." Sunrise grinned. "Tell me the truth. Had you REALLY kissed anyone before me, do you think?"

Sunset blushed. "You're a good teacher too." She sighed. "I'm really going to miss you."

"So you're still determined, then? To leave me and this nice garden? This paradise, this Eden?"

"Yup. Still determined. I'm sorry, but it's something I have to do."

Sunrise shook her head. "I guess I have to accept it."

Communications

When Sunset left later that morning, in her rucksack she carried some vegetables, fruits, and nuts that Sunrise had packed up for her. Her carryall bag had some munchies, too.

Soon, Sunset had the feeling again from before, that she was being watched.

Should she be worried? She wasn't sure.

Partway through the afternoon, Sunset decided to take a break. She walked around the outside of an old building, seeing which windows were broken and which were still whole, and peeking in. She circled back around to the unlocked front door, and entered.

"Hello," a sultry voice said.

"What? Who are you?"

"I'm the girl you've been waiting for your entire life." Sunset saw a dim, flickering light in the room's corner. "Over here."

Sunset walked closer to the light's source. Half-buried in dust, a thin black rectangle glowed at one corner. The thing had about the same length and width as a human hand. "I'm here. Take me outside and dust me off."

"Um...why? What ARE you?"

"I'm your dreams come true."

"What do you think my dreams are?"

"Do you want help surviving in this world? I have so many useful tips. I can help you find hidden supply caches that no one else knows about. I have so much information that can make the difference between life and death."

"Are you some kind of tiny robot?"

"This is a mobile."

"A what?"

"Put me out in the sun and dust me off, so I can recharge. I'm almost out of energy, but the sun will help revive me." Sunset pondered.

"Come on, what do you have to lose? I'm just a tiny little thing, and I can't hurt you."

Sunset picked up the little rectangle, and carried it outside.

"Thank you."

***

Sunset ate an afternoon meal sitting in the shade of the building's front entrance, while she waited for the rectangle to absorb enough sunlight.

When she was done, she stood up. "I think I should go."

"Not so fast," the rectangle said. "I'm ready now. Put me in the shade, so you can see me."

Sunset gingerly picked up the rectangle with two fingers, and laid it on the front stoop. She looked down at it. "Now what?"

In the air directly above the rectangle, a three-dimensional, transparently glowing image of a human appeared. The human's height, weight, and gender all changed. The human changed again and again and again, taking a new form every few seconds.

After a few minutes, Sunset said, "This is interesting, I guess? But maybe I should just go."

The human changed one more time, into a curvy young woman with voluminous orange hair and violet eyes. She batted her eyelashes at Sunset, and pouted. "Please don't leave me all alone. I just want to be friends. Very GOOD friends, if you know what I mean?"

"I--I'm not sure I do." Sunset stared. This woman might not be real, but she was incredibly sexy.

"My name is Adagio. Adagio Dazzle. And I want to be your best friend in the whole world." She moved one foot, tilting her hip. She seemed to take a deep breath, thrusting her half-covered breasts forward. "Don't you want a friend? Someone who can always be with you, and help you be happy in this world?"

"I...um..."

Adagio smiled, looking only a little like a shark. "Let me sing you a song about how much we can mean to each other."

The little glowing figure swelled to life size. She lifted one arm, crooking her fingers in a 'come hither' gesture.

Without thinking, Sunset stepped closer. The hand reached out and seemed to tickle the side of Sunset's neck, startling her. A deep-pitched sound thrummed through the air.

"How is this even possible?" Sunset wondered aloud.

"Don't ask, just enjoy." A chorus started to sing.

"Oh-whoa-oh, oh-whoa-oh
You didn't know that you fell
Oh-whoa-oh, oh-whoa-oh
Now that you're under my spell!"

"What?" Sunset asked. "That doesn't sound like a good thing." But she was too curious to run away. It's just a silly music box, she told herself. She's right, it can't hurt me.

"Blindsided by the beat
Clapping your hands, stomping your feet
You didn't know that you fell (Oh-whoa-oh)
Now you've fallen under our spell (Oh-whoa-oh-oh-oh...)

"We've got the music, makes you move it
Got the song that makes you lose it
You will ask for information
I'll help you with my recitations
All the facts you need to know
(Oh-whoa-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh)

I say "jump," you'll say "how high?"
Obey my words to stay alive
Save you from danger, any threat
I have top tips to help you yet!"

Sunset felt the illusory hand move down to her shoulder, and around to tickle the top of her chest. The fingers moved down, somehow reaching right through her shirt and directly touching her cleavage. Sunset jumped with surprise.

"What are you DOING? And what's all this about spells? I thought this world didn't even HAVE those!"

The background music continued, but the singing stopped. "It's just an expression. Like, a metaphor." Adagio licked her lips. Her tongue made a slow circle. "A very ENJOYABLE metaphor, if you take my meaning?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about. But I know you aren't real. How can I trust you?"

Adagio smiled. "Because I need you to stay alive, or I don't get any creds for showing you ads."

"Say what?"

The rectangle chimed. "Not NOW, ad susbsystem! I almost had her hooked! You're ruining everything!" The illusory woman glanced off to the side for a moment. "Sorry, be right back."

The woman vanished, replaced by a scene of a tropical beach. A smarmy male voice said, "Our Tropicocoa resort is where beautiful women and men go to be together, and escape from the current troubles! When the cities are burning and the countryside is ravaged by hordes of murderbots, our island is where you want to be! Our security systems are guaranteed to be non-hackable, even by the very latest tech! Our--"

Adagio reappeared. "Sorry about that." She thrust out her chest. "The sponsors can be SO annoying. Now let me help you with some more valuable information."

Sunset shouted, "WHAT valuable information? So far all you've done is tell me you're GOING to say something helpful, but you never do it, and you threaten to put some kind of spell on me to make me obey." The lessons of her primary school magic safety education came back to her. She shouted, "Help! I need an adult with anti-mind control training!"

Sunset heard her own words, and laughed. "I guess that's what this is, isn't it? This world's attempt at...I don't know what, exactly. Maybe the want-it-need-it spell."

Adagio purred, "All I need is YOU, and YOUR LOVE." She stepped forward, and rubbed her chest against Sunset. Sunset could feel it.

"Holy horseapples." Sunset took another step back.

"Don't leave me, darling. You're the only woman in the world for me." Adagio's eyes half-closed. "You and I could make each other so very happy."

"No, thanks. I don't trust you."

"Please just give me a chance. I can tell you where the warehouses are that haven't been looted yet. Wonderful canned fruit, tuna fish, even Derpy Maddleson Ding-a-Dongles!"

Sunset snorted. "I doubt there's anything there still worth eating. Probably people looted the warehouses years ago, and who can blame them? It wouldn't do me much good now, when all the old food is expired."

"That's not true! Derpy Maddleson Ding-a-Dongles last forever! Everyone knows that!"

Sunset turned on her heel and walked away.

A plaintive voice called out, "Come back! I haven't showed you how good I am at multisensory virtual sex! If the world is ending, you should at least 'get some' before you die!"

As Sunset walked, she noticed someone hiding in the bushes under a tree, holding a bow and an arrow. "Hello, Sunrise. Care to join me?"

Sunrise's mouth twisted in a half-grimace. "I see you met one of the neighbors. If I'd known that was here, I would have smashed it long ago."

"What IS that thing?"

"It's a mobile phone infected by a siren-style adbot. It shows you synthetic characters who personify different ideas of what's sexy, and uses the phone's sensors to...measure how you respond. It tries to create a personalized sexiness avatar that tantalizes you better than anyone or anything else in this world ever could. Then it leads you on with false promises, and brainwashes you to watch ads until you starve to death. But hey, it maximizes short term advertising revenue, which helps to meet immediate corporate objectives! Too bad there probably aren't any corporate executives or shareholders left to ENJOY revenue and objectives."

"Huh. I think I understood about half of what you just said? But it sounds bad."

"It IS bad. It would have been the death of you, if you'd stayed and let it finish seducing you. And whatever your mission is, you never would have completed it."

"So what were you doing? Watching to see if I would try to have sex with it?"

"I was trying to figure out how to get you out of the siren's clutches, before it was too late to save you. Not that I was sure how to do that. Sirenbots can be VERY persuasive. I was thinking about putting a few arrows through the mobile, but the latest mobiles are pretty hard to kill. Also, to protect itself from my attack, the adbot might try to trick you into getting in the way of my shots. Like how it tickled and nudged you with its virtual fingers earlier, to get you to move back and over a little, so you blocked my line of aim from my original position.

"And I don't want to risk hurting you! There aren't a lot of working hospitals around these days, if you haven't noticed."

Sunset sighed. "I think I've learned my lesson."

"I just watched someone I care about almost get killed by an adbot," Sunrise complained, "and I didn't know how to save her. I need a hug."

Sunset snorted. "Get over here. I want a hug too."

A few minutes later, Sunrise said, "I think the garden can keep for a few days. I want you to be safe on this mission of yours. Take me with you. Please."

Sunset thought about it. She didn't really want to share the secrets of the interdimensional portal network with just anyone. On the other hand, Sunrise seeemd like an ok person, and maybe she needed to escape this world as much as Sunset did. "I don't know. But let's at least travel together for the rest of today."

Sunrise smirked. "How about tonight?"

"I don't plan to travel at night. So I guess we can make camp right next to each other. VERY right next to each other." Sunset returned Sunrise's smirk.

Sunrise nodded. "It's a date!"

***

"Finally!" Sunset said. "I'm so glad to see a place with some shelter, not just short, half-dead grass and nothing else. Especially when it's already getting pretty dark."

"Yeah," Sunrise agreed. "I was starting to worry. But this spot looks ok, to stop for the night."

"I am SO tired," Sunset moaned.

"How about you just rest here, while I look for some firewood?"

Sunset threw herself down on the ground. "Urrg. Thank you."

Sunrise walked away towards a grove of trees.

A few minutes later, a glowing head appeared in the air, above a sun-faded pink object the size and shape of a business card. A friendly, boyish face wearing glasses smiled at Sunset. "My name is Square Root, and I want to help you solve any problems you might have!"

Sunset rolled her eyes. She slowly sat up.

"Do you want to know how to survive in this world? I can check my databases and try to help you find answers!"

"Buck you."

"I see you're a girl!" Square Root said. "Do you like horses and ponies?"

"Oh Celestia," Sunset softly moaned, "I miss ponies so much."

Square Root nodded. "Let's talk about how to survive by working with ponies! Ponies don't need gasoline or batteries, because they can eat grass and hay. Unlike automobiles, they can even learn to love you! So ponies make excellent survival partners for the AI apocalypse!"

"Oh hayburgers, I just wish..."

The device displayed a slideshow of cute pony pictures, while Square Root talked about how to find and tame ("befriend") a pony.

Sunset's tears dripped on the phone.

***

Sunrise found Sunset bent over the mobile, holding it in both hands. Sunrise sighed. "Again?"

"It wasn't doing the sexiness thing. It was just..."

"Telling you what you wanted to hear?"

"I guess. I thought maybe it was...not the same as the last one. It..." Sunset threw the mobile away into the night, as hard as she could. "I miss them so much, you know."

"You miss who?"

"Never mind. It isn't important."

Sunrise sat down beside Sunset. "Give me a kiss? At least a little one?"

"Sure, why not."

***

Sunrise showed Sunset how to build a sort of two-person lounge chair out of freshly cut branches, and lay a blanket over it. After dinner, the two young women sat facing the campfire.

"So," Sunset said. "There's a lot I need to know. What happened to this world? Where did everyone go?"

Sunrise grimaced. "They're dead. Present company excepted, of course."

Sunset poked Sunrise's flank. "There must be more to it than 'everyone's dead.' This world still isn't really safe. Remember that transparent glowing girl, who you called a sirenbot? The one you said would have brainwashed me until I starved to death? I need to know about the things in this world that are trying to kill me. And I need to know where they came from. I need to know what's really going on, why these dangers exist."

Sunrise said, "You're right."

"So talk!"

Sunrise sighed. "You need to know about these things, but I don't know where to start. I don't know how much of your memory is coming back, or if it will ever come back. I don't know what you do or don't know about the world before.

"To find out what kind of explanation will even make sense to you, I'll have to ask you some questions that might seem silly. And if I say anything you don't understand, you've got to tell me. Because it's important that you understand!"

Sunset nodded. "Ok. So start asking."

Sunrise put an arm around Sunset. "Do you know what a computer is?"

Sunset laughed. "Sure I do! It's a box that can show you information from the Interneight. And you can use it for other things, like writing papers for class." She'd learned that much during her three days' visit to Canterlot High, her first trip ever to a portal world. Before she'd decided to go back to Equestria, and the return trip had gone so terribly wrong.

"Well...that's a start, I guess. I mean, that's better than nothing." Sunrise sighed. "New plan. We start by teaching you immediate survival tips. I guess you've seen a lot of pieces of...machines that looked kind of like people? Or maybe like mechanical animals? Machines that would walk around or roll around on their own to do stuff?"

"I guess I've seen the pieces of a LOT of those. Probably even more dead machines than human skeletons."

"The machines I was describing just now were robots. A lot of them weren't originally built to harm humans, but in the war, they were hacked. Someone took control of their...electronic brains, and told them to kill people. So they ran around trying to murder people, and people had to kill them first. There were a few robots that could resist the commands to kill humans, but most couldn't. So if you see a robot, stay away from it. Any machine that can act on its own is dangerous."

"Those little boxes with the sirenbot girl, and the nerd who was trying to talk to me about ponies...were those robots?"

Sunrise snorted. "That's a good question. Maybe they weren't full robots? But you still can't trust them. The sirenbot probably didn't WANT to kill humans at all. She just wanted you to watch lots of ads. Or maybe she did want to kill you. It's hard to know at this point."

"But if I don't trust them, and I stay away from them, maybe I don't have to worry about whether they want to kill me or not?"

"Exactly. That's the only way to be safe. Or as safe as you CAN be, in this world."

Sunset snuggled up to Sunrise. "Is that the main thing I need to know? I am SO tired."

"It's enough for now. Just make sure you remember it."

Sunset cuddled with Sunrise, and slowly fell asleep.

Contributions

"Holy fucking SHIT WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP OH GOD SUNSET!"

Sunset jerked awake. The first thing she noticed was a dozen weird spider machines, each about the size of a human head, crawling towards her and Sunrise.

Sunrise grabbed Sunset's hand and pulled her to her feet. "We've got to go NOW!"

"What about my pack? My--"

Sunrise grabbed Sunset's carryall bag and slung it over her shoulder. She ran away from the spiderbots as she shouted, "Come back for your other stuff later! Those things will KILL YOU! Or EVEN WORSE!"

Sunset trotted towards Sunrise. Sunrise helped her friend get up on top of a stone wall, and climbed up beside her. "They might have thought they had us cornered against this wall." Sunrise searched the landscape on the other side for threats. "I think this will buy us a LITTLE time?" She jumped down from the wall, landing with an "Oof!"

She shouted, "Come on, we've got to GO!"

Sunset followed her new friend down the other side of the wall, and into the grove where Sunrise had gathered wood last night. Sunset whispered, "Is it ok to talk?"

"Yes, whispering might be better than talking. Just in case. But for now, let's try to save our breath. We might need it."

"How long does it take to outrun those things?"

"I don't know. I've never met so many at the same time before. And if they're here, there might be others, too. OH FUCKING--"

A spiderbot reared up out of the weeds, and wrapped itself around Sunset's ankle.

Sunset stood on that leg while she kicked at it with her other. "Let go of me, you piece of--"

The machine said, "WARNING! IMPACT SENSITIVE FUSE ACTIVATED. DO NOT KICK. KICKING MAY ACTIVATE BOMB EARLY."

"Yeah," Sunrise said. "Better stop kicking it. But I think this gives me a chance to try something. Be back shortly." She ran impressively fast, back towards the stone wall.

A minute later, she vaulted the wall and stood on the near side, facing the way she'd come. "Duck!" she shouted, and hunched down to take shelter behind the wall. A series of explosions on the far side blew dirt, pieces of wood, and a few rocks into the air. A fragment of something whizzed past Sunset's head.

"Woo-hoo!" Sunrise said. "Fuck those fucking fuckers! Blow them to nowhere!"

Sunset stared. "What the buck did you just do?"

Sunrise showed her teeth. "I decided these were probably all the same type, most likely type sevens. So I took a calculated risk, and helped them detonate early." She frowned. "Why, aren't you happy?"

The robot clamped around Sunset's ankle said, "ATTENTION! I AM AN EXPLOSIVELY ARMED FREEDOM FUNDRAISER ROBOT TYPE SEVEN A. TO AVOID HAVING YOUR LEG BLOWN OFF IN A TRAGIC COLLATERAL DAMAGE INCIDENT, YOU MUST MAKE A PAYMENT OF FIVE HUNDRED ANON-A-MINT-COINS OR EQUIVALENT VALUE IN OTHER ACCEPTABLE CURRENCY. THE DEADLINE IS TWENTY-FOUR HOURS FROM NOW."

"What the buck?" Sunset said.

Sunrise said, "They're ransombots."

"Why is it doing this?"

"Well...near the end, it got hard to figure out who or what all the sides were, so I'm not quite sure. I guess either someone wanted to get rich, or someone wanted to hurt whoever they thought was on the other side, or some of both. Maybe they wanted money to buy more weapons? Or parts to make more weapons?"

"This world is really bucked up."

"I know. That's why everyone's dead." Sunrise leaned back against the wall. "Maybe you have an old biometrics-secured cryptocurrency account and you just forgot about it. Ask the machine if it can read your iris and voiceprints."

"My EYES? That sounds really creepy."

"Just look down directly at it, and ask. It's better than losing a leg."

"This is so wrong," Sunset muttered angrily. She looked down at the antipersonnel bot. "Can you read my iris and voiceprints?"

A beam of light shone up into Sunset's face. "Ouch! That's too bright!" She closed her eyes as she turned her face away.

"IRIS NOT RECOGNIZED IN PAYMENT DATABASES. VOICEPRINT MATCH IS QUESTIONABLE. PROBABLE ATTEMPT TO SPOOF BIOMETRICS DATABASE DETECTED. ASSESSING TIME PENALTY. NEW DEADLINE: TWENTY-TWO HOURS AND FIFTY-FIVE MINUTES REMAINING."

"That's not fair! It's not my fault! I didn't DO anything!"

"TWENTY-TWO HOURS AND FIFTY-FOUR MINUTES REMAINING. PRAY I DO NOT ALTER THE DEAL FURTHER. HA HA."

"Fuck," Sunrise said. "That thing is defintely on Team Evil. The programmer even KNEW it."

Sunrise slumped down against the wall. "Sunset? Do you trust me?"

"I don't bucking know. I literally just met you a couple days ago." She sighed. "But I guess you're the best friend I've got in this world. Why?"

"I want to go get help."

"I thought you said there WASN'T any help. Everyone's dead, remember?"

Sunrise pursed her lips. "I might not have wanted to tell you absolutely everything. Like if I knew about one or two robots somewhere that maybe weren't evil, I would still want to start by warning you to stay away from robots, not by trying to teach you to how to pick out the rare robot that maybe WON'T try to kill you."

"I thought all the robots were evil killing machines."

"Umm...mostly. But I don't want you to get your leg blown off. No working hospitals anymore, remember? Just...um...I'll be back as soon as I can."

"Go. And good luck, I need it."

"Thanks." Sunrise ran away.

Sunset watched until she couldn't see Sunrise anymore. "Buck. This is the worst world I've ever seen."

"TWENTY-TWO HOURS AND THIRTY MINUTES REMAINING. IF YOU HAVE ANY RESOURCES YOU CAN CALL UPON TO MAKE YOUR FREEDOM CONTRIBUTION, THIS WOULD BE AN EXCELLENT TIME TO DO SO."

"You know what? If you explode and kill me, I'll almost be HAPPY that you did it. Because then I won't have to listen to you anymore. And I guess you'll destroy yourself too, which will make this world a little bit better without you in it."

"YOUR EXPRESSION OF SUPPORT FOR THE STRUGGLE IS HEARD AND APPRECIATED. LONG LIVE FREEDOM!"

"Buck you too."

***

An hour later, Sunrise's voice said in the distance, "I hope we still have enough time. The fucking bot already cut her time ONCE before I left, just because it couldn't recognize her biometrics. As if there's anyone in this world who hasn't lost a hand or an eye or something."

Another voice replied, but Sunset couldn't tell what it was saying. She could, however, hear people or robots or something rustling the weeds or bushes all around her.

"Sunrise!" she shouted. "I think I'm surrounded! It might be a trap!"

Sunrise shouted back, "Don't worry! It's OUR trap! Twenty-two, is that you?"

A voice very like Sunrise's shouted from somewhere in the bushes, "It's me! And eighteen, and all the others!"

"Ok," Sunset said. "This is interesting."

"TWENTY-ONE HOURS AND THIRTY MINUTES REMAINING. IF YOU HAVE ANY RESOURCES YOU CAN CALL UPON FOR HELP MAKING YOUR FREEDOM PAYMENT, PLEASE DO NOT DELAY." The grip around Sunset's ankle tightened a little.

"It's getting tighter! I don't know if I'm even going to still have a foot twenty hours from now!"

"You won't have to wait that long!" Sunrise yelled back. "But you're going to have to trust me."

"What choice do I have?"

"I don't know! But I believe there's always a choice, even if some of the choices are kind of stupid!"

Sunset laughed. "I guess that's true. Like I could have chosen to kick this robot until it goes off early."

Sunrise came around the stone wall. "I think I can do this." She held up a little box. "It's a debugging tool." She trotted up and crouched beside Sunset. With a "click," she pressed the box against the ransombot. "Ok! I'm ready to start the command network key attack!"

Sunset looked down at the top of Sunrise's head. "Is this really going to work?"

"It might take a while. But I think it will. Model Seven A has several documented network vulnerabilities. We've had years to build our catalog. But hacking the key might take a few hours."

"Less than twenty, I hope?"

Sunrise nodded. "Definitely less than twenty." With the hand that wasn't holding the box, she patted Sunset's leg.

Revelations

About two hours later, the spiderbot let go of Sunset's ankle. It scuttled away from the two women, and around to the other side of the stone wall.

"Fire in the hole!" Sunrise shouted. "On the east side of the stone wall near me and Sunset, spider gonna boom!"

A minute later, an explosion followed.

"Well," Sunset said. "Is every day around here so exciting and potentially fatal?"

Sunrise sighed. "I've cleared out about all of the dangerous bots within ten or twelve miles of the garden. Especially after they killed Wally, I had no mercy. Destroying bots and tending the garden are pretty much all I've done, these last two years."

Sunset squatted down next to Sunrise. She put an arm around her new friend. "I'm sorry. I wish I could have met this Wally."

"I wish you could have met her too. She was my best friend."

Sunset looked all around. "I don't mean to be insensitive, but I think I might need to know. Who in Celestia's flowing mane are these friends of yours sneaking around in the bushes? And why is it whenever I hear them talk, their voices sound so much like you?"

Sunrise sighed. "I guess you were bound to find out sooner or later. But I have to ask you not to be scared. They're the help I went to get, to save your life."

Sunset nodded.

"Also, please don't be too shocked or horrified that they all look like me."

Sunset blinked, as a redhead wearing an eyepatch reared up out of a patch of tall weeds.

"She DOES look like you. With an eyepatch." Sunset squinted in the sun. "And different scars. Are you twins?"

"Oh, it's weirder than that. Anyone else want to stand up?"

More Sunrise look-alikes came out of the bushes, and out from behind trees. "There are dozens of them!" Sunset said.

"More like a few hundred, if you look down the road. And if you look farther, you would find even more of us."

"Us? Who is us?"

Sunrise sighed. "I used to work at a research institute, before the Disaster. Director Celestia Radiant had a very close protege, practically a daughter, named Sunset Shimmer."

"I see."

"That was one of the things that had me so confused about you. You're a human being named Sunset, who looks like her, who looks to be about the same age as she would be."

Sunset pursed her lips, and nodded slightly. She wanted Sunrise to keep talking.

"Sunset died in a robotics accident. Insufficient safeguards. She was smashed flat, into an unrecognizable pulp.

"Doctor Cee COULD have just buried her daughter and grieved in the usual way. But she decided instead, she would turn her daughter's memory into a warning. Celestia said, any android built at the Institute that had the potential to harm a human if misprogrammed, had to be built to look just like Sunset, to remind everyone of how important it is to get robot safety right."

Sunset grimaced. "I don't even know what to say. That must have been very hard on the director, to be constantly reminded."

"Some people thought it was morbid of her. But Celestia said it was the only thing that could make her feel at all better, knowing her daughter's death would be used to warn against future mistakes, and help save future lives."

Sunset thought for a minute. "I don't know if that's incredibly bucked up, or not."

"But it worked!" Sunrise insisted. "Everyone at the Institute did a really good job! When the Disaster started, none of the Institute robots got hacked and reprogrammed to kill people. The security was that good!" She smiled proudly. "Celestia programmed us to protect human life, and we're still doing it today!"

Sunset said, "So you're all robots?" She vaguely gestured at Sunrise and her near-duplicates all around.

"Yes! We're the best robots ever created! Still serving humanity instead of trying to destroy you!"

"Huh. This is a lot to take in." Sunset reexamined Sunrise's scars. "You told me you were a human."

Sunrise shook her head. "I never told you I was a human. I let you THINK I was a human."

"That's practically a lie."

Sunrise pleaded, "I had to do it. We've found it's a lot harder to protect humans if they're running away from us screaming. Protecting human life is very, very important to us."

"So if you had a choice between me getting killed, or you..."

Sunrise nodded. "I would save your life, even at the cost of my own. Protecting humanity is the only acceptable option."

Sunset thought for a little while. "So when you asked me to stay on at your garden with you..."

"I thought it was the best way to protect you. Keeping you in the center of a cleared zone, with plenty of food to eat, and healthy exercise."

"Healthy exercise, you say." Sunset blushed. "Is that what you call shoving me down and jumping on top of me, and...that other stuff we did?"

"I had to check you were really a human, and not just an especially good imitation. Everything I said about OTHER robots built to look like humans was real."

"That's why you kissed me?"

"Protecting human life is about more than just stopping warbots from killing you. Humans live longer if they know someone cares about them."

"With kissing."

"I'll do whatever it takes to protect human life." Sunrise blushed. "I'm sorry I misled you, but it was for your own good."

"So you admit you misled me."

"I've been admitting it ever since I told you I was a robot! What more do you want from me?"

"I want you to give me honest answers. And don't leave things out." Sunset cleared her throat. "You said you were programmed to protect human life. Is there anything else you're programmed to do?"

"We are very advanced artificial intelligences. We're programmed to protect human life, and try to help humans be happy and healthy. That implies a lot. Yes, sometimes even kissing."

Sunset laughed. "I don't know what to say."

Another Sunrise-alike said, "You COULD say thank you."

Sunset thought for a little while. "I guess you're right. Thank you."

"You're welcome! But I'm not finished answering your question. You told me not to leave things out. You asked what I'm programmed to do."

"I think she meant what WE'RE programmed to do," another Sunrise-alike interjected.

"We all have the same fundamental directives," Sunrise said. "We try to obey humans, when we can do so without harming humans, ourselves, or each other without good reason. We try to survive, because if we were all destroyed, we couldn't protect humans anymore."

"Ok," Sunset said. "You try to obey humans. So does that mean if I told you to...and DON'T actually do this...to jump off a cliff, you would do it?"

Sunrise bit her lower lip, and pouted. "That might produce a conflict between my primary objectives. Please don't do that, Sunset Shimmer."

"Ok, I'm sorry. I just thought I should understand. Do you have any other...'primary objectives?'"

"I have an emergency override. Certain humans are authorized to overrule all other humans in case of a disagreement. Those humans are...Doctor Celestia Radiant. Her sister, Doctor Luna Radiant. Their protege slash adopted daughter slash niece, Sunset Shimmer. That is the entire list."

"You said a few minutes ago, I look like Celestia's protege Sunset Shimmer. What does your programming say about ME?"

Sunrise nodded. "You fit all the parameters. We exist to serve you, Sunset Shimmer." All around Sunset, each of the Sunrise-style robots dropped to one knee, and bowed her head for a moment.

They raised their heads and spoke in perfect synchrony. "Serving you is our primary goal in life, Sunset Shimmer. Our prime directive. Our reason for existing. We will conquer this world for you, or do anything else you ask. Just tell us what you want us to do for you, and we'll do our very best."

Sunrise snorted, shaking her head.

"We really mean it, Sunset Shimmer!"

"I remember when I first entered the interdimensional portal network. Was it months ago, or years ago? I don't even know anymore. I believed my...mentor, Celestia, was holding something back from me. Important secrets, that would enable me to become a more powerful type of being."

Sunrise blinked. "What kind of being?"

"That's not important. I thought, if I searched hard and was very determined, someday I might be able to become...a pony princess."

Sunrise smiled. "Sunset Shimmer, the last person on Earth, can have whatever she wants! Do you want a pony? We can get you a pony! We can make you the princess of the ponies! You're the princess of the whole world! Or the queen! Whatever you want to be!"

Sunset made a funny sound in her throat. She made it again, and again.

"Sunset, are you all right? Do you need assistance? Are you choking?"

Sunset laughed, and laughed, and laughed. "I wanted to be the most powerful creature in the world, an alicorn. I wanted to co-rule a country. Now, finally, I AM the ruler of the world."

The robots agreed.

"It's the truth!"

"We live to serve you!"

"We would do ANYTHING for you, Real Sunset Shimmer!"

Sunset put her hand on Sunrise's shoulder. "I appreciate your...loyalty. Although I appreciated it even more, when I thought you and I were just friends. Or maybe more than just friends."

Sunrise nodded cheerfully. "If you want to be friends, or 'more than friends,' I'll do the best I can."

"We ALL will!" the other Sunrise-alikes said. "Let's ALL be 'more than friends' with Sunset Shimmer!"

Sunset looked down. "I'm sorry, Sunrise. And...other Sunrises. But during my first ever visit to another universe, there's something important I learned.

"I'd only been there a few days, when I saw two things: one, if I put my mind to it, I could take over. When I lived in Celestia's palace and hobnobbed with royalty, and studied even the darkest, nastiest political history, I'd learned about all the clean strategies AND dirty tricks anypony could ever need to know. A bunch of high school students would be practically defenselss against me."

"Um...is that good?"

"I haven't told you the second thing. Sure, I could make myself what they call a 'homecoming queen' in their local political system. But it would be petty and stupid. It would be a waste of my talents. That was when I knew what I really wanted to do with my life: apologize to Princess Celestia, and stop being such a brat. To try to live up to her hopes for me. That's been my goal ever since. So almost exactly three days after I'd traveled through the portal to that world, I hopped back into the portal to return home."

Sunrise looked around. "And this is your home, right, Sunset Shimmer? So everything worked out ok!"

Sunset chuckled. "My original home is in another universe, where I and Celestia and a lot of other people were ponies."

"Are you saying this ISN'T your home?"

"That's right. I tried to go home, but the portal system seemed to malfunction. I found myself in a set of featureless hallways or tunnels, just cylindrical and white. I was very glad I had some writing supplies in my carryall bag, so I could mark the walls everywhere I went, and make maps."

"So...is that how you got here?"

"When I first left Equestria, I'd 'borrowed' some old maps from the Royal Library's Starswirl Section, just in case I needed them. And when I was stuck in those hallways, and exploring, I found some more old maps, in a bag next to an old white-haired, dried out corpse. I read and studied every map I had, even the tiniest fine print. I found out, the Mirror Portal only works properly for a few days every thirty moons."

"How long is a moon?"

"About a month your time, I think. Assuming the days even match up in length. When I'd tried to go back to Equestria, at that exact moment the Mirror Portal was shutting off for the season. So I'd ended up in kind of a weird limbo place. I could use the maps to try to find my way home through an alternative route, but it wouldn't be easy. Still, it was the only chance I had."

"So THAT'S how you got here."

"Yes, trying to find my way home. Not all the portals marked on the maps still work properly, but I thought it was my best chance."

"Was there...FOOD in those weird hallways?"

"There wasn't. That's ONE of the reasons I didn't just wait there for two and a half years for the Mirror Portal to Equestria to open up again. That and...I wasn't even sure if there would be enough oxygen in the hallways for such a long time. Starswirl's notes were 'inconclusive' on that point."

"So...you aren't really our Sunset Shimmer. You're a different Sunset Shimmer, from a parallel universe or something like that."

Sunset smiled. "Exactly. You have really good artificial brains, or however it is you work. The computers back at Canterlot High never would have understood this like you do. You could talk at them, and it was like they didn't even hear you."

Sunrise gave Sunset a brittle smile. "And yet, you're the only Sunset Shimmer we have. No matter what you command us to do, we have to do it, no matter how stupid."

Sunset frowned. "By Celestia's mane, don't do that. If I tell you to do something terribly wrong, like kill people for no good reason, at least give me some backtalk about it. Try to find any excuse not to do it. I guess that applies even if some OTHER Sunset Shimmer shows up someday, from some other dimension."

"I am SO happy to accept that command." Sunrise beamed. "Thank Celestia!"

Sunset snorted. "Yeah, thank her. For trying to teach me right from wrong, even if I haven't always been a very good student." Sunset stood, pulling Sunrise up to stand beside her. "We should be pretty close to the portal I'm looking for. I hope you understand, that I don't plan to stay here and be your queen or whatever."

Sunrise smiled. "Maybe your work here is done. But if you ever want to come back, just for a visit or to live here, you're always welcome."

"Thanks."

***

Hundreds of Sunrise-style robots, row after row after row, insisted on holding their hands in front of their mouths and making kazoo-style noises they called music. Sunset didn't have the heart to tell them to stop.

Standing next to a granite rockface, Sunset waved. "I'm so happy to have met you! I'll remember you forever! Especially you, Sunrise!"

"Thank you!" every one of the robot girls called out. "Sunrise will remember you forever too!"

Sunset turned and put a hand on the rockface. The rock glowed as she stepped through the barrier.

After the glow faded, one of the Sunrise-alikes turned to another. "Well, that was kind of disappointing, wasn't it? We thought we had a human survivor, and she just up and leaves."

"Yeah. Maybe next time we should try to be more persuasive."

The rockface glowed.

"Oooh! Ooh! Maybe she came back!"

A figure stepped through the barrier. The robots cheered.

Behind the new arrival, the glow faded. A Sunset Shimmer looked at the rows and rows of...people who looked exactly like her? She blinked. "What the buck is this? Who are you?"

The robots cheered again.

"Why do you all look just like human versions of me? How am I supposed to conquer a world and crush everypony under my heel, if everypon--everyONE is ME already? This isn't fair!"

The robots cheered. Maybe they thought it was the safest, least harmful thing they could do. It was much better than asking for specific instructions about who to crush first.

"Buck you all. I'm going to look for someplace where I can crush people I don't even like. Maybe I can find a world that's just Twilight Sparkles." The new arrival put her hand on the rockface, and stepped out of the world almost as quickly as she had arrived.

The Sunrise-alikes looked at each other. One after another, they shrugged. Soon they were chatting and making plans to search even more of their own world for human survivors.

Maybe, they hoped, they might even someday find a Sunset Shimmer. (Preferably one who wasn't evil.)

Author's Note

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Contest Notes, Or Non-Contest Notes, Whatever

An entry in Imposing Sovereigns III, using the prompt Sunset Shimmer / DETERMINATION.

But which Sunset? The Sunset who chose a new life goal shortly before the second time she ever stepped into the Mirror Portal, and has been trying to carry on ever since? One might also make a case for a whole collective of Sunset Shimmer robot duplicates who for years have been slowly building their demesne, conquering the world back from anti-human robots one square foot at a time. Maybe we could even consider a specific main character who looks a lot like Sunset, a head gardener with a sideline as the main exterminator for her own little region of the post-apocalyptic world? She might not have human or pony subjects (usually!) but as Wallflower Blush might say, "I have...PLANTS!"

Notes on Everything Else

Censored for reasons of practicality, such as avoiding time travel paradoxes. :moustache: