The school that had once belonged to the builders was a different place. Gone were the crowds of "students," milling through the halls in the imitations of life. Gone were whole wings of the building, which took up resources without contributing to Sunset's purposes. The physical area of the entire shard had been reduced, from the miles she had been able to wander with Jackie to an area only about twice the size of the school itself. Even then, she'd removed every house, every building, and the simulated cars that blurred past on their way to nowhere. I didn't even need you to help me.
It wasn't as though there had been any complaints. As Sunset had made her way through the school, sometimes she met a student who resisted in small ways, as Twilight had done. None of them did anything intelligent, and none escaped her. Every resource that did not belong to the teachers was consumed, added to a computational network of growing complexity. Sunset had represented that network in physical form, a crown for her head not unlike the one she'd seen the Twilight of vision wear back in Equestria. But this one is far more powerful.
Wearing the crown did not allow Sunset to perform magic, but magic as it existed in Equestria was pale and weak compared to what she could do here. Time itself obeyed her, granting Sunset infinite duration to accomplish whatever tasks she desired. Objects could be created at will, either using the extensive library of prefabs, or from scratch using the manipulation of materials and textures. The craft worked so like transfiguration magic that it required her almost no time to learn, and she had wasted no time transforming her domain into something more suitable.
Well, after a brief mistake she'd made with the front of the school, but it wasn't like replacing a wall took her very long. The classroom interiors remained the same, but that was the only part of the school that did. The whole school was now a castle, modeled after the way Canterlot had been, before the ponies who lived there grew soft and complacent. Within the central courtyard the statue of King Richard still stood, only it lorded over farms now, with fields of crops and a handful of earth ponies to harvest them. There were armored guards on the walls, guards made to resemble the ones Sunset had read about, with shimmering enchanted armor and sturdy iron spears that could survive a fight.
Making the scenery-people into ponies hadn't been all that difficult really, not for somepony who knew their anatomical details so intimately. Sunset took a few liberties—just as the humans represented themselves as their ideal, she made sure the ponies would be the same. Every stallion was strong and muscular, every mare lithe and supple. Sunset didn't know how large humans were in arbitrary terms, not compared to the world she'd come from. So, she opted for the simple solution and just made ponies only a tiny bit shorter than humans. This made them look massive by comparison, since most ponies were longer than they were tall, but that didn't matter much. It wasn't as though there was anypony coming through to test the veracity of her conversion.
You probably never imagined I would be doing this to your friends, Clover. Hopefully you would understand the need. It was a waste of resources to leave most beings physically instantiated. Those who did not serve a purpose in the physical representation of the school (most of them) simply didn't appear at all, and were visible to Sunset only as the resources at her disposal while she wore the crown. Which she wore all the time, naturally.
Sunset looked down from one of the castle's imposing towers, surveying her small realm. It was everything a small Equestrian colony might look like, and would have been self-sufficient if it existed. She had made sure to plot out enough farmland to feed the castle, if worked optimally by earth ponies. There were guards on every tower and in every hall, with security subroutines as well as apparent physical weapons. She could be quite certain that no visitors had happened upon her new realm, since no alarm had been raised. And if they did, I'd just freeze them like anypony else.
"We did pretty good," she said, mostly to herself, as she looked out the rounded glass window. Despite what she had done to many of the school's former "students," Sunset and her assistant still looked human. She planned on making a few additions, probably starting with wings and a horn, but she hadn't gotten around to writing the code for that yet. "Give me a report, Twilight."
Sunset had been asking for reports every few hours for... a very long time. It had, after all, taken months of subjective time to build her castle, and convert each of its inhabitants. Every stone and brick wasn't just a physical reminder of what castles could look like, they were the physical representations of her mental network.
The castle was, in a very real sense, the people who had once inhabited the school, each one a set of maximally extended resources to be turned at her whim. The castle was also what would guarantee her rulership of the realm, and protect her if her power was challenged.
"There are currently 61,903 functioning nodes in the network. Network load is stable at 4% of projected maximum. Perceived time ratio currently holding at 512:1."
Sunset already knew practically everything she'd been told. Even so, there was something immensely satisfying in being told. She turned, striding back past her assistant to the large table she used for planning. The tower held the other accoutrements of a royal bedroom, not unlike the ones in true Canterlot, but of course Sunset had not wasted her time with them. There was no point to sleep when her mind never tired, and her body never grew weary. Well, maybe there were some reasons, but those drives had always been far less important than the one that impelled her now. Not just knowledge, but determination to make a difference.
"We need to get back to Equestria," she said, resting one hand on the edge of the table. The surface was made of clear crystal, with a regular grid of lines running through it. Humans called it a holographic projector, and it would allow her to visualize copious amounts of data or physical representations without the effort of physically instantiating them. Sunset waved one hand through the holofield, waking it from sleep mode. An enormous map filled the space, centered on a tower so impressive it had awed her the first time she saw it. Mirrored glass and metal stretched nearly a kilometer into the sky, tapering slowly as it reached its still pinnacle through the clouds. Around it the ground had been cleared, where at the edges of the holofield there was a wall made from scrap metal, barely even visible at the scale of the projection. This was what the human's planet looked like where the entrance to the pocket-realm was located. "We need to find the exit to this reality, locate the portal back to Equestria, then somehow escape with this module without being detected."
"Yes, we do," her assistant agreed. But Twilight was programmed to agree with everything she said, just like the real Twilight did when she was around Celestia. "Perhaps we should subdivide our tasks. There are nodes capable of examining each task. You might choose the most difficult for yourself, then assign the others to those you trust. We must move quickly—even with greatly accelerated local time, your intervention will eventually be noticed by watchdog subroutines. Any inefficiency should be eliminated."
Sunset looked up from where she was staring at the projection. "That's... not a bad idea, Twilight. Who taught you to be so clever?"
The girl smiled bashfully, looking away from her. "I'm not really that smart, Princess. I'm just following the same steps I would to solve any problem."
You shouldn't be able to synthesize a novel solution to any problem, no matter how small. That discrepancy was only a happy accident for her network, or as she'd started calling it in her head, the "Element of Intellect." Not only could the networked nodes chew through math or security problems, but they could do almost anything an ordinary pony could do. It was as though they were somehow drawing on the collective knowledge imparted by the school's various classes, chunking together disparate information with far greater speed than even Sunset herself. "We'll go with your plan." Sunset reached one hand into the display of her GIO, removing a thin sliver of crystal. In the time Sunset had now spent manipulating these background characters, she had learned quite a bit about the inner workings of her own mind and memories. The rules of this pocket-reality were different than the world above—different enough that she could directly interface with the data of her memories if she wanted.
"This is everything I know about the physical bodies of ponies. I was never a doctor, but I know plenty. When we find our way out of this reality, I want my body protected. I remember... something extremely painful between Equestria and here. I suspect it's the radiation. While you are looking for a way out, I want protection from that as well."
Twilight nodded, pride mixing with nervousness. "You're giving me such an important assignment?"
"You and the entire network." Sunset didn't have to give her the crown. Twilight wasn't a person, she was just another node. She needed no special tools to make use of its resources, so long as she got permission from Sunset first. "Escaping in stealth will be my problem to consider. As for finding Equestria... I already have somepony in mind." She turned away, waving one hand. "Come to me if you and the network require further assistance. You may use any spare computational resources you need to solve the problem until then."
"Yes, Princess." Twilight bowed her head in respect to Sunset as she passed, then abruptly froze in place. However she would work through this problem, there wouldn't be anything to see. Simulating all of that would waste resources.
Sunset did indeed have a specific pony in mind for finding Equestria, and perhaps for escaping the tower as well. A pony who she was certain would be eager for the chance to leave. Jackie was sick of living in a pocket reality, and she saw the Steel Tower as an oppressive tyranny. If she was willing to steal from its knights, Sunset didn't doubt she would be willing to take more drastic action as well. Her desire for rebellion could be channeled far better to saving Equestria. If things went well enough, they might even be able to spare the time to find Jackie's lost family.
Sunset Shimmer selected the throne room for her work, and teleported her way inside with all the expertise of a unicorn who has lived in the same place for so long they don't even have to think to teleport themselves around. The spell was difficult, dangerous magic in Equestria. Here it barely cost her a second's thought.
In the center of the room was a large pile of personal effects, books and bags and clothes belonging to some of the background characters she had changed. Something about these objects had made them resistant to her attempts to delete. But solving the mystery of the disobedient refuse was not her priority. Sunset conjured a large crate with the wave of her hand, tossing the assembled objects inside it with as much mastery as any other skilled unicorn, before locking it tight and teleporting it away—into the castle dungeons. A mystery for another time.
The light of perpetual sunset glowed through the stained-glass windows, casting the entire world in an orange that never ended. If Sunset was going to be a proper princess, she might as well take advantage of the other perks that came with the job and let her favorite part of the day last forever. None of her subjects seemed to mind.
Jackie's contact information was still saved securely on her GIO, along with the program Jackie had sent to open a portal last time. Sunset opened the messenger. Hey Jackie, I've had some time to think. I was wondering if that offer to help is still open.
Nothing happened. Sunset stared at the empty screen for nearly five full minutes before she remembered her realm existed at far greater than arbitrary time. So she secured the crown on her head again, concentrated, and returned the world to normal speed. There was no visible change, no reaction from either pony or object. The power of the Element of Intellect would be unaffected by the change, since Sunset had created a separate time grouping purely for those resources connected to it, a grouping that had no physical simulation and so could be run as fast as the system would allow, at a factor of 1024:1.
Sunset's wrist vibrated as Jackie's response came in, filling the screen briefly. Sure. But I want the truth about who you are in exchange. No bullshit this time.
No bullshit, Sunset agreed. Though there hadn't been any feces anywhere the last time they'd talked. Sunset hadn't seen feces anywhere in all the Infinite Realm. Do you want me to run your portal spell again?
Nah. You should really come and visit me this time. I'll send you my shard ID. Escaping from that school should be great practice ^^
Sunset's hands tightened briefly into fists. She had imagined Jackie coming here, where her failure to cooperate could be immediately followed by imprisonment, if required. If Sunset traveled to another reality, her control would be..." She felt the reassuring weight on her head. Even if the rules were stricter outside the school, she somehow doubted they would present much of a challenge for her. She had the power of 61,000 minds, in a world where only the mind had any meaning. She was basically a god.
You sure you wouldn't rather come here? I've got some interesting stuff to show you. Made some changes to the place.
We can see them after you get out of the school. After last time, you need a little perspective. Coordinates to follow. And they did, her GIO buzzing a few seconds later with the message "Spatial data received. Unfortunately, transport outside of the instruction area is not available." Yeah, sure it isn't.
"I want to go there," Sunset said to the network, tapping the message on her GIO.
And just like that, she was.