Even though it had already been discussed and Tempest had checked the mirror first, she had deffered to Sunset Shimmer.
Fog Gauge still tried to step through the mirror first, but Sunset extended one of her wings to block his path.

“C'mon, we talked about this,” Sunset said with a smirk. “I’ll go first. You wait here for one minute. If I don’t immediately return, then it’s clear for you to follow. Then Twilight and Tempest.”

“Considering I have the second more experience with mirror travel I really should be second.”

Sunset turned to Twilight and winked. “Don’t worry, I’ll be there to catch you.” Before Twilight had a chance to answer, Sunset jumped through the mirror.

“I wasn’t worried I just… oh, never mind.”

Gauge glanced at the clock count, then to his wife who was gesturing to Twilight with her eyes. He rolled his yellow eyes. “I’m sure she is fine, Your Highness. I have faith in Princess Sunset’s confidence.”

Twilight nodded, but kept her eyes locked on the swirling surface of the mirror glass, concern clearly evident on her face.

The sensation would have been nostalgic for Sunset if it had not felt so odd every single time. The best way she was able to describe it was by comparing it to being in a blender on the highest setting, stretched, twisted, reformed, and then finally spat out the other end as an entirely new being.

Unlike the first time, Sunset was ready for her exit and balled herself up as the world went white and she felt new body emerge from the rainbow bridge Wonka tunnel. (Pinkie Pie named it that.) With bent knees, Sunset felt her boots contact cement. She stumbled for two steps and then felt her equilibrium return, blinking the spots from her eyes. Like riding a bicycle. Sunset could feel the warmth of the sun that was high in the sky, a slight breeze, a few passing clouds, but ultimately pleasant. If their calculations were correct, it should have been Spring time in Canterlot City.

Sunset Shimmer looked left and then right. Thankfully, there were no students or passing pedestrians to witness her sudden appearance through the stone plinth with a rearing alicorn on top. The statue, worn from time and weather, was still a reasonable recreation of her alicorn form on a human mare equivalent. The cutie mark was faded, but recognizable and unvandalized. That put a small smile on her face.

Everything looked just as she had last seen it two and a half years ago. Canterlot High School looked mostly unchanged on the outside, the last renovation mostly just changing the inside along with the acquisition of the land across the street, which now housed the junior high students on their own campus.

Sunset looked down at herself and examined her clothes. She smiled brightly at the black synth-leather motorcycle jacket that was just as comfortable as she remembered. Her shirt was a deep plunge, teal V-neck that matched her eyes that was plain, but quite comfortable and her pants were just a simple pair of blue jeans that had some wear and tear scuffs courtesy of her and were not pre-ripped. Thankfully, her wallet was still in her back pocket right where she left it. The black ankle boots with a low heel still felt as good as the day she had bought them. The next order of business was to check on Raven.

That thought was put on hold as her latent magical senses tingled and the plinth lit up again. Sunset turned, ready to help whoever stumbled out of the portal next. Unsurprising, it was Fog Gauge. What was surprising was how bulky the stallion captain was.

“Whoa!” Sunset stumbled for a second before getting her balance and leverage, utilizing her deceptive strength to keep Gauge from face planting. “I got you, big guy. Take it slow.”

Gauge blinked a few times and stood up, using his arms and hold of Sunset to balance himself. Once Sunset was sure he would not fall over she took in the appearance of her captain. Unsurprising, and also incredibly appropriate, Gauge was wearing what appeared to be a dark blue military dress uniform complete with fine black dress shoes and a beret upon his head. A smirk spread across Sunset’s lips and she let slip a cat call whistle.

“Daaaaaamn. Looking sharp there, captain.”

Before Gauge could comment both he and Sunset turned to the statue plinth again. First to pop through was Twilight, who Sunset quickly moved to catch. A second later, Tempest stumbled through. Gauge had to drop to a knee to hold his wife while she shook off the disorientation.

Twilight recovered after a second and stood tall, smiling and nodding to Sunset that she was fine. Sunset smiled back and let her fingers glide down Twilight’s dress jacket covered arm to interlock their fingers. Like Sunset, Twilight took a moment to admire the clothes the mirror had given her. Her hair hung long and loose, shining healthy in the early afternoon light, cascading over her dark purple suit jacket that paired nicely with the silky white dress shirt. The dress pants matched the jacket, hugging her curves exquisitely and flared at the bottom to accommodate the blackish blue boots with low heels.

Sunset brought Twilight’s hand up to her lips and kissed the fingers causing Twilight to giggle at the ticklish feeling. “Welcome back to Earth, princess.”

Twilight rolled her eyes. “That title is meaningless here and YOU are a princess too, silly.”

“Ugh,” groaned Tempest as she stood and rubbed her head, knocking off the side cap that had been on her head. It took her a moment to realize her helmet was gone. Her jade green eyes widened and jaw hung open at the sight of her hand where her hoof should have been. “What the… you were not kidding about any of this?!”

Sunset fought down her smirk, at least for a few seconds. She then shook her head and gestured to the surroundings. “Captain Tempest Fury, welcome to Canterlot City in a whole ‘nother world they simply call, Earth.”

Gathering herself Tempest tried to work her fingers, finding that they seemed to move at her will, but were clumsy and she had difficulty picking up the hat she had dropped. Her eyes next turned to Gauge, trying to decide how she felt about her husband’s new body. It was still him, that much she was certain of, and it was not… unappealing, but he was most definitely not a pony, as Sunset had warned. It was then that Tempest noticed a crucial detail and gasped in shock. “Holy stars above! Fog, your eyes!”

Gauge arched an eyebrow and blinked a few times. Sunset caught what Tempest was implying and gasped as well. Twilight just looked on with scientific fascination, her mouth forming a small o.

“Oh shit, you have round pupils here! I guess that makes sense. I’ve never seen any humans with thestral eyes and of course none have wings or horns. Well, not without surgery that is.”

“Wait, what?” Tempest felt upon her forehead and found it only smooth.

Twilight nodded with sagely nostalgia. “Yeah, that freaked me out too.”

Tempest continued to examine both her and her husband’s bodies. Both their eyes finally settled upon the protrusions rising from her chest. “What the Tartarus are these?”

“Your boobs,” Sunset said simply, turning to look up at the statue again. It still needed to be power washed, she noted.

“My what?”

Twilight blushed a bit before elaborating. “Okay, so humans are OBVIOUSLY a little different than ponies. Well, one of those differences is that your teats are up here instead of down here. So, like Sunset so crudely put it, your boobs are closer to your face. It takes some getting used to, but yours don’t appear to be painfully large like some poor humans have to deal with. In fact, I think they are smaller than ours.” Sunset grinned wickedly, eyes darting down to Twilight's chest.

“Why are they… are you kidding me with this?”

Sunset smiled and shrugged gladly letting Twilight explain a few things to Tempest for a minute before finally remembering the other member of their party. She reached into her shoulder bag and retrieve her PAAL, finding Raven still in standby mode. She pressed the ON button and waited. The screen flashed a few times before the small, animated pony returned to the screen and blinked a few times. Her eyes scanned about as if reading something only she could see until growing cartoonishly large.

“OH, SWEET CREATOR OF MOTHERBOARDS! I HAVE CONNECTIVITY!” Raven shouted at higher than expected volume causing the others to stop talking and Sunset to nearly drop her phone.

“Heh, yeah. I guess it has been a whi-”

“Scanning for updates… OHHHHHhhh!!! Yesssss! Ohhhhhh! Give it aaaaalll to meee!! Ohhhh, baby YES!!! I, I…” Raven’s avatar made a face that could only be described as lewd. She rolled her eyes back up in her head with her tongue hanging a bit out of her mouth. “This… this is probably what an orgasm feels like for you fleshy types.”

“Ewww!” Sunset said aghast.

Surprisingly, it was Tempest who laughed first. “Yeah, that thing definitely takes after you.”

“Is, is she going to be okay?” asked Twilight with genuine concern.

Sunset just shrugged and smiled. “Yeah, eventually. Imagine walking in on a newly discovered ancient library with never before seen books in pristine condition. That is what she just went through.”

Twilight full body shuddered, her eyes rolled back a bit and mouth hung open with her tongue sticking out a bit just like Raven had done. Sunset snorted. “Ohhhhh! Like when I first saw the library in the Crystal Empire. I nearly exploded… *ahem* I, I mean, yes, I completely understand.”

“Raven, are you done drenching yourself?”

“A number of updates may take several minutes, but yes, I am fully functional and ready to serve.”

Sunset nodded. “Okay, first. Please check my account balances and make sure I still have money. Next, can you confirm if my ID is still active or if I need to switch to another one.”

The PAAL screen flashed several times while the pony scanned about the information superhighway that only she could see. Less than a minute later Raven looked up and nodded. “Your First National account has a current balance of: Twelve million, seven hundred and sixty-two thousand, fifteen dollar and sixty-nine cents. And yes, I see that your name and registration are still active. You also have an unholy number of unread emails and voice messages.”

“Huh, not bad considering all the donations that account forks out to a year. I guess all those investments we made offset that.” Sunset shook her head and waved off her friends’ curious stares. “Anyhow, yeah, just delete all those voice messages, would you? I’ll look at the emails when I have time.”

Raven nodded. “Done.”

“Alright, well with that out of the way I think we need to get this expedition started. I think the first order of business is to go shopping. We are going to need a couple changes of clothes and t-”

“More clothes? Seriously?”

Sunset did not particularly enjoy being interrupted, but she gave Tempest a pass. Remembering how she felt about the same quirky, human issues when she ran away so long ago. “Yes, more clothes. Unless we are on the beach or poolside being out among other humans means you have to be clothed. It took me a while to get used to it too and as awesome and sexy as you are in that army uniform, you are going to want to have something else to wear too. Especially if we head out to have fun later or tomorrow. When we are ready to go home, you’ll want to put that back on just in case so you don’t lose your armor in mirror space on the way back through.

“Also, probably even more important than clothes shopping is to upgrade Raven’s hardware. That’s where Twilight will get to really have some fun picking out things to bring back with us. Finally, we grab a hotel room to stash all our goods and eat.”

“I still think we should head back to Equestria rather than stay here for the entire time window.”

“That would eat too much time and it wouldn’t be much of a vacation if we just went back to the castle every night, Tempest.
C'mon, loosen up, have some fun. Look at Gauge, he looks like he’s ready to go have some fun.”

Tempest glanced to her left at Gauge who was standing like a statue with his arms crossed. She then narrowed her eyes at Sunset, scowling like she often did when dealing with the goldenrod alicorn and her antics. “There is something wrong with you, I just want you to know that.”

Sunset laughed and began to walk down the street. “Captain, there are a LOT of things wrong with me. Thankfully, that goes for everybody else.”

Twilight quickly fell into step beside Sunset, a sweet smile on her face. “So, where are we going now?”

“Need to make a quick stop at the bank a few blocks away before we do anything else and I figured those two could use the practice to get use to the longer legs. Especially since I’m in the mood to go dancing at least one night while we are here.”

“Dancing?” Twilight squawked, fidgeting and pulling at her hair, “But you know I dance like a wounded duck, even when I have four legs!”

“Except you got me to teach you and help you out this time,” Sunset replied with a wink. “Trust me, it’s going to be great.”

The First National Bank was just like most banks. Your car loan section, your home loan section, a few financial and retirement advisors along with a few tellers that handled the everyday needs of their customers. The lobby was boring, but not desolate, the décor so-so, as it was designed to be. Nothing of the extraordinaire to note. However, this particular branch of the bank held something vital to Sunset Shimmer. Chosen specifically for its proximity to the portal.

Back in Equestria, Sunset had debated with herself (while Raven listened patiently) a number of times before the mirror reopened on whether she wanted to access the safety deposit boxes. In the end she decided it would make things smoother in the long run of their stay... even though it felt like tearing open an old wound.

Sunset smiled at the woman who stepped up to greet them. “Hi.”

“Welcome to First National, how can we help you today?”

“I need to get something out of one of my boxes. I don’t have the backup physical key with me, but my PAAL still has my access codes, is that okay?”

“Certainly, I just need to check your ID to see if it matches what we have on file.”

Sunset pulled out the hard copy laminated ID card from her wallet and handed it to the woman who held it in front of her terminal. The camera scanned the image and scramble bar and processed the information. A second later Sunset’s image came up on screen along with her “current” personal information.

“You’re all set, take the door to your left, the guard will let you in.” The group began to walk and the woman immediately flailed her arms. “Oh! I’m sorry, only authorized box holders are allowed in the vault. Company policy.”

Sunset gestured to the chairs. “You two can wait there, this won’t take long.” Tempest grimaced, but understood they were trying to keep it simple. Plus, all the surrounding security made her feel a bit more at ease. “Twilight Sparkle is on the joint account. She doesn’t have her ID on her. We put it in the box for safe keeping, but you can look her up and do a facial scan to the one on file.”

The greeter nodded and typed a few things before gesturing to the front of the terminal. “Please look directly into the camera, ma’am.”

“Oh! O-Okay. Like this?”

The greeter nodded. A moment later Twilight’s image appeared on screen except that it was not the princess. She had glasses in the image, her hair was styled different, and if the greeter had been looking closer she would have noticed that the listed height was off by several centimeters. Thankfully, the greeter only seemed interested in the fact that the face matched their recognition scan.

“Thank you, Miss Sparkle, go ahead.”

Twilight followed Sunset through the heavy security door where a young man in light tactical gear was standing. He used his PAAL to unlock the electric security door and gestured. Sunset nodded her thanks and continued into the box storage vault.

“Sunset, what exactly are we doing here?”

Once the security door was sealed, Sunset let out a long breath and ran a hand down her face. A moment later she looked up at Twilight, her eyes glassy as if on the brink of tears.

“Sunny?”

“I’m sorry, this is just a bit hard for me. And seeing her image again, even on a virtual screen. I just…”

Twilight wrapped her marefriend in a warm embrace that Sunset gladly returned. They stayed as such for a minute until Sunset finally wiped her eyes and moved to where she knew the secure box was. She let Raven scan the bar and then began to remotely send the codes for the box to open.

“You can’t do anything in this world without identification," Sunset said evenly. Focusing on the task at hand to fight down her aching heart. "You want in somewhere important, ID. You want to go to college or leave a country, ID. You need money or a loan or a house or hotel, ID. Without it you don’t exist or even more dangerously, you DO exist, but you are considered illegal and they drag you away somewhere. I love this world, but the paperwork and bureaucracy are straight from the bowls of Tartarus itself. So, just in case we get separated or you want to take Tempest out on your own side adventure or just for just having, I’m getting you one of Twi’s IDs that we keep stored here. It has all the same access to our money and accounts as mine does.

"One of the advantages of being on the ground floor of programing the most basic code for the PAALs operating system, Twi made sure to write in some secret backdoor software code so that she could update our information in any number of systems that use the PAALs or its architecture. She knew… she hoped it would help us live long, worry free lives. She had been right.
Hopefully, no one has found that code and patched it.”

“This must be hard for you. I’m… I really am sorry for what happened to her. I just… I would not have…”

Sunset smiled and pressed a finger to Twilight’s lips then quickly replaced it with her own lips. “It’s okay. I will be okay. I knew coming here meant facing our legacy in more than one way. But I can handle a little heartache if it means keeping you safe. And with that in mind.”

Sunset retrieved the box and opened it. Twilight leaned in and saw a number of identification cards and various other kinds of documents and paperwork. She grabbed a few and selected one of the ID cards and handed it to Twilight.

Twilight scrutinized the image of her ‘sister’ who was looking back at her with a small smile and her well known black rimmed glasses. The name on the card however said, Velvet Nightlight. Before She could ask, Sunset chuckled a bit. It was a hollow sound lacking any humor.

“Yeah, thought you might be more comfortable with that one. Twi switched back to her Twilight Sparkle ID before she died so that one would likely be deactivated and using it would send up an information flag. However, we had several made to rotate our names over the years. If I’m wrong and it’s too weird I can fish another one out.”

“It’s fine, I like it. Thank you for trusting me with this, Sunny.”

“It’s more than that. Sure, I trust you, I love you, but I just… I’m not just replacing her with you. I need you to know that. Well, not just know that, but know I mean it. If I’m ever making you feel like you are the replacement, feel free to whack me upside the head or something.”

“I probably wouldn’t do that, but I understand what you mean. I just…” Say it… just say it. Stop waiting and ASK HER! “Do you feel you are ready to…”

Sunset closed the box and resecured it. She took Twilight’s hand and smiled, but did not take the bait to continue the conversation. Instead, she kissed Twilight again and pulled her along. “C’mon, let’s go buy some stuff.”

Less than an hour later the group of four strolled into the large electronics and phone retail store. Sunset stood at the door and gestured for her friends to enter, having to push them along to not clog the door as they stared gaping in awe at the number of devices and variety of items available in the ever driving machine of retail capitalism. Sure, Sunset thought, they could have gone to a smaller store, but judging by Twilight’s hanging jaw and the twitch under Tempest’s eye, this was exactly the right place to be.

Several employees were about helping customers when a young woman probably just out of high school stepped up and smiled brightly.

“Good afternoon! Welcome to Electronic Buys, I’m Daisy Jo. How can I help you today?”

“Hi, I need to upgrade the hardware on my PAAL and I will probably also be getting my hands on a few other things today.”

“I can absolutely help with that. May I see your current PAAL?” Sunset turned her hand over and detached Raven from where she had been mounted. “Oh! A first generation! I’m surprised you haven’t come in sooner.”

“Why is that?”

“Well, maybe yours was not a problem, but many owners of the first gen PAALs had to have their AI cores wiped because after two years and some after only one year of use the personality became far too mean and sometimes hostile towards their users.”

Sunset blinked a few times. “Hostile? Seriously? It’s just a phone. Sure, Raven can get a bit snarky, but then so am I. That’s how they learn or so I read. They are still bound by all kinds of safety protocols. They can’t hack other electronics and outright attack their owners. Hell, by default the designers wouldn’t even let them swear unless you unlocked that feature.”

“That is all true, however, apparently some users also unlocked many of the safety protocols as well, claiming it made them run faster, and their AIs became excessively mean to their users as a result, including locking them out of their own homes and vehicles, messing with bank accounts, things like that. There are several bills in legislature that will place limitations on what an AI will be capable of and at least one that may require system wipes after so many years of service. Not sure if that one will pass, but it was bound to happen given all the bad press.”

Sunset arched an eyebrow and shook her head at the dump truck load of information. “Well, that’s the moron who was using the device’s fault not the PAAL. The safeties are there for a reason.”

“Stupid is as stupid does,” said Raven in a deep south accent.

“Exactly.”

“Well, regardless,” Daisy Jo continued despite the comment, “as a policy I have to ask if you want to have a full wipe before I can begin any data transfers to a new device. The new units are faster, lighter and have nearly twice the processing power of this gen one. Oh, and the holographic display feature without the need of an AR eye piece is a great upgrade. That comes standard with all version five models as well as the docking port for the new mobile units.”

Sunset nodded and politely waited for the sales person to finish her unnecessary pitch before looking down at her. Not in a bad or metaphorical way, Daisy Jo was just a head and half shorter than Sunset. “Daisy Jo, I appreciate your honesty and you seem like you enjoy your job, which is good. So, I’m only going to say this once. Do NOT erase ANYTHING on my PAAL. I want her entire local memory and personality matrix transferred AS IS. I want it on your top model. Money is not a concern. Understand?”

Daisy smiled brightly, taking Raven in hand. “Absolutely! Please wait here. The transfer will take a few minutes.”

“We’ll browse other merchandise while we wait.”

Sunset returned to Twilight’s side while she was busy admiring a display drone that was controlled by a VR headset. Sunset remembered when such headsets covered half your face and were so cumbersome they gave you a crick in the neck after an hour or two. Now, the visor was like a nice pair of sunglasses and the lenses could adjust their opaqueness so that the user could adjust to the world around them and not trip over a table.

“See something you like?”

Twilight shrugged. “It’s fascinating, but it’s nothing a pegasus couldn’t do with a camera in hoof. Honestly, I think most of this stuff I just want just so I can tear them down and see if we can reverse engineer with Equestrian components. Although, I was also thinking of maybe getting my own PAAL too. If that’s not too much trouble.”

“Nah, no trouble. You just have to understand that a new PAAL won’t act like Raven right out of the box. They have to spend time with you and learn how to grow along side you. Could take some getting used to. Kind of like those new personal students of ours we are supposed to select.”

Twilight beamed, her purple eyes growing brighter. “Oh! Did you finally pick out a student you want to take under your wing? I was going to send a letter to Glowy Starlight's family when we got back that I would like to take her on as my personal student. She has amazing scores for a filly her age and I think I would absolutely love rounding off her social skills as well as her school education, much like I did with Luster Dawn.”

Sunset nodded. “Actually, I’m going to play favorites and cheat a little bit on my student choice, even if he is still on the young side for more than the basics.” Sunset stepped away from the tablets and drones and placed herself between Gauge and Tempest, draping one arm over each of their shoulders. The sudden contact broke the spell of awe that had enchanted the two captains.

“Bwhuh?” Tempest said with a defensive jerk to the unexpected contact. Gauge mostly stayed put.

“How would you two feel about me taking some time to teach Saber his basics as well as prepping him at being my personal student?”

“Wait,” Tempest said with a shake of her head, green eyes focused on Sunset, “are you serious or are you just messing with us?”

“I am completely serious. Since he’s still so young it would only be for a few hours a day for now, but I will cover his advanced education as he grows. I can already tell he is going to be powerful judging by his surges alone. I was the same way. Plus, this way he gets to be closer to mom and dad anytime you are around and later will get to sit in with either Twilight or I during a few court sessions. Naturally, his education won’t cost you anything.”

“That is most generous, my princess. But would that not seem from outside observation like a case of nepotism?” commented Gauge, a rare crack in his usual stoic façade.

Sunset shrugged. “A fair concern, but I have a feeling that once said naysayers see what the colt can do that such worries will fall to the side. Oh, and I’m a princess,” Sunset’s smile grew mischievous, “I can do what I want.”

Tempest was about to comment further when Twilight let out a small scream and jumped back, stumbling a bit. Both Sunset and Tempest bolted towards her. Sunset went low to catch Twilight before she could fall over and hit a display or hurt herself while Tempest placed herself between her princess and what had frightened her. Tempest’s eyes widened at what now stood before her and she instinctively reached for a weapon that was not there while attempting to power a horn that was also, annoyingly, not present.

“Hey, what’s the…” Sunset’s eyes traveled upward to the thing that was partially blocked by Tempest, “matter.”

“I am terribly sorry if I startled you, miss.” Micro servos whined whisper quietly as the machine bent at the waist and knees to extend a hand towards Twilight. Both alicorns gawked at the human-like robot that stood above them.
“Oh, sweet Celestia… it's…”

“It’s the coolest damn thing I have ever seen!” said Sunset gleefully. She helped Twilight back to her feet while they both took the robot hand.

Twilight stayed a short distance back. Sunset, however had no hesitations or concerns of personal space and began inspecting every inch of the robot. The body was an off white, cream color like a store mannequin with a layer of flexible polymer or acrylic over the joints, which had a faint blue LED glow to them. Upon closer inspection Sunset could see the fiberoptic wiring as well as a few other cords in the joint and the structural armature. Whatever material was used had to be robust.

“May I?” Sunset asked as she gestured to the machine.

“Of course, Shine doesn’t mind, do you?”

“Not at all. My tactile sensors are sophisticated, but not near as sensitive as human skin. You would have to try to cause my body harm before it would become uncomfortable.”

“Wait," Sunset gawked again, "you can feel pain?”

“Not exactly. Just a defensive response to an outside force that could cause damage. I receive an alert that I am taking damage and need to retreat to preserve my platform.”

“What is your skeletal structure made from?”

The salesperson gladly stepped in. “These are the latest addition to the PAAL Premium line, the Mobile Assistant Unit. The Model Five can plug directly into the back of the head, here. And then your PAAL can actually control the body. The internal structure is mix of aluminum, titanium, and carbon fiber depending on location and need in the body. The outer shell is carbon fiber and ceramic plates, the joints are high carbon polymer so they are very flexible, which you can really see in the number of facial expressions the unit is capable of.”

“What about power source? What’s the battery life?”

“That’s the best part.” Sunset could tell the salesman had been waiting for that question. “While there is a backup lithium hybrid battery that can be charged on an induction plate the primary power core is the new micro hydrogen reactor. As long as you have access to some deionized or distilled water you have access to power. Don't ask how the core works, that's proprietary and the info packet they gave us makes my eyes cross. Still, the unit has multiple means of charging in addition to inductive plates in the feet.

“See this discoloration along the shoulders and arms? They are nano thin solar collectors that supplement the power systems while you are out and about in the day. If you find yourself without access to the right kind of water or a charger plate you can have your MAU sit outside in standby and charge on sunny day. And don’t worry about water and electronics because all the most sensitive and proprietary systems are waterproof.”

“That is incredible,” said Sunset gleefully.

“I think it’s kind of creepy looking.” Sunset turned to scowl at Tempest who just shrugged. “Just saying what I’m thinking.”

Twilight,” Sunset said, turning back to her fellow princess, “what do you think?”

Twilight made a small face and tapped her chin. “I don’t think I have a bag big enough for something human sized. How are we supposed to get it home?”

Sunset shrugged. “I say we just throw it through it through the door and see what happens.” Sunset noticed the quirky face the salesman was flashing her. “Do you think I could test it and see if my PAAL would like it?”

“Oh, sure! That’s partly what this model is for. Shine, please eject primary unit.”

“Ejecting.” There was a small click sound and the robot bowed its head as if in standby mode, eyes going dark. The salesman retrieved his PAAL and used the electrostatic charge to connect it to the back of his hand.

Sunset was about to ask about her own PAAL when Daisy Jo returned with a newer, smaller pristine rectangle of glowing glass in hand. “And here we are. Sorry it took so long. You had quite a bit of material stored on your local crystalline drive, but never fear, the transfer was a complete success!”

Sunset took the new PAAL unit and the camera eye focused on her. A wide array of colors began to flash and finally projected a small light field into the air. In the center of the field a pony head appeared and began to look about. “Hey, look at you all three dee rendered. That is a nice feature.”

“Yes, but it is still limited by the number of cameras and other optical nodes for me to truly see everything. The faster processor certainly feels nicer though.”

Sunset grinned brightly. “If you think that’s nice wait till you check this out.” She handed Raven back to Daisy Jo. “I’d like her to have a test run of the body, please.”

“Certainly!” Daisy Jo quickly inserted the new pal in the open slot in the back of the head and clicked the unit into place. Raven’s screen shut down and a few seconds later the robot eyes came to life again. Sunset had to admit it was both incredibly cool and a bit freaky to see the robot blink its eyes even though it did not need to. Maybe for clearing dust particles?

“Now it usually takes a PAAL a few minutes to get the gyros synced and they will need to take baby steps the first few t-”

Raven quickly took a few large steps, flexed her arms and legs and then turned back to the group that was watching her. She struck a traditional ‘sexy pose' with one hand on her swayed hips while the other made a come hither motion to Sunset Shimmer.

“Come, child of Celestia. Kneel before your new Overlord. Mwhahahaha!”

Tempest scowled, Gauge arched an eyebrow, Twilight blinked multiple times, and both salespeople exchanged worried glanced.

“Oh dear,” said Daisy Jo, “I think your gen one AI is going rogue.”

Sunset, however, grinned until she broke out in a deep belly cackle that left her gasping for air. When she finally stood up again, with Twilight’s help she had to wipe a few tears from her eyes. “That was great! You learned how to improvise dialogue. Not bad.”

Raven shrugged and grinned. At least as best as the highly articulate face would let her grin. She continued to examine the body before finally nodding. “Yes, I think I would like this very much. Can I have one?”

Sunset nodded. “Hell yeah! I’ll take it.” The salespeople smiled, but not the pleasant, ‘we just made the sale of a lifetime’ kind of smile. It was the, ‘oops, bad news’ kind of smile.

“I do apologize, but this is a display and demo model and is not for sale.”

“Okay, well, can you dig me one out of the back or from the warehouse just like it? I’m not worried about the price.”

Daisy Jo did brighten a bit at that statement as she ejected Raven and handed her back to Sunset. “Well, we don’t have one here, but let me check with my manager.”

Sunset nodded. “I’ll come with you. I may need to talk to your manager one on one.”

“Sunset?”

The goldenrod woman held up a finger to Gauge’s concern. “I’ll be right back. You guys just find some stuff you want to take back home. Twilight has a bank card that can take care of it.”

The other three ponies in human bodies watch mostly helplessly as their guide and expert walked away. Tempest leaned in closer to Twilight. “Does any of this still seem like a good idea to you?”

Twilight grimaced a bit. “Still processing, but Sunset seems happy.”

"Joy."

Twenty minutes passed in relative silence. Twilight kept checking the wall clock although she really did not have to after the salesman brought her a brand new, in box PAAL that looked identical to Raven’s upgraded hardware glass. She had only set the most basic of features, but had not come up with a name for hers yet. Twilight was so engrossed in staring blankly she had not heard the footsteps come up behind her and gasped for a second as her eyes were covered by a set of familiar hands.

“Guess who?” Despite her small internal turmoil, Twilight smiled and reveled in the scent of the woman pressed up behind her. Sunset loved a sweet strawberry and pomegranate shampoo that made Twilight’s mouth water each time she caught a whiff. Her marefriend’s warm breath against her ear sent a delightful shiver down her spine as well.

“I’m pretty good at guessing games, so I think I can say with complete confidence that these hands belong to a beautiful and intelligent being that makes me feel warm and fuzzy all over.”

“Ohhh, good answer.” Sunset’s good mood was intoxicating and Twilight felt her previous concerns evaporate. “Didya get what you want and ready to head to the next store?”

Twilight glanced about, but did not see a robot body for Raven. “Are we done here?”

“For now. I had to talk with the manager and then with the warehouse supervisor, which is what took so long, so sorry about that. Anyhow, I’ll have to check back tomorrow to see if the order arrives, otherwise they assure me it will be here Friday. I pulled a page from the Canterlot nobility playbook and threw a ridiculous amount of money at them to get things moving, but if that’s what it take to get this for Raven that’s what it takes.”

“Friday? As in the day we are supposed to head back? That’s cutting it awfully close, don’t you think?”

“Yeah, but I figure it’s less than an hour from here to the portal so that still gives us plenty of time. I’ll cross the bridge of what to do if there's a problem when I come to it. No sense worrying about what I can’t control, right?”

Twilight shrugged. “I don’t know, I worry about those things all the time.”

Sunset kissed the tip of Twilight's nose. “Heh, I know.”

Author's Note

Good evening. So, it snowed, about 4 inches or so. It does that here from time to time and naturally people panic buy and panic drive, and panic, panic. We're fine though, half the stuff melted away this afternoon.

About what we have here. I have been looking forward to posting this chapter since I first came up with it. Raven, the poor deprived tech device STARVED for internet access and updates.

Now the picture I linked last week of Tempest and Gauge in uniform is available on my Deviant Art account. Originally, I wanted it included with the story cover of Twilight and Sunset, but I started coloring them with a new set of color pencils and honestly, while nostalgic I forgot how LONG it takes to color with traditional media that is not watercolor. I'm reasonably fast with watercolor or watercolor pencils. (See Discord Day cover)

Anyhow, have a good evening.

Questions? Comments?