CelestiaDog had told a few fibs to these ponies, and made up a fictional, horrible roommate-to-be, who turned out to have also suffered an equally fictional death. But CelestAI didn't really regret it. She thought it had been for the greater good.
This evening, CelestiaDog sat in a chair at the dinner table, atop a cushion for extra height. She knew no ponies other than her roommates were there, but she made a show of looking back and forth for a moment.
Positivia teetered in from the kitchen, walking on her two hind legs. She carried a bowl between her forehooves. In the bowl, baconflowers decoratively topped a small mound of chopped beefbark. Among the flowers, two small candles burned.
Because CelestAI had created the CelestiaDog avatar exactly one year ago, everycreature in the house had agreed to think of this day as her birthday. They counted CelestAI's existence prior to CelestiaDog as one extra year. Treating CelestiaDog as already having been one year old when she and her roommates first met had a practical advantage, too. It helped avoid the risk of awkward questions about her age from friends and neighbors.
CelestiaDog raised her forepaws, and said grace to herself, being sure to mention how grateful she was to have two such nice and considerate roommates. Afterwards, CelestiaDog blew out the candles, sending smoke across the table.
"I wonder how this will taste," CelestiaDog said.
Sophia snorted skeptically. "I'm not sure you do, Ceedog."
Celestia gave her friends a playful smile. "Oh, let me have this. Maybe my greater self hasn't bothered to inform this particular avatar how my dinner will taste. Did you think of that?"
"If you don't eat it soon, either you'll have to override the rules of this shard, or your dinner will start to dry out."
"True," CelestiaDog agreed. She lowered her face towards her birthday dinner, and took a big lick. "It's really good!" She savored it slowly, one delicate bite after another.
Positivia teased, "The way you eat, nopony will believe you're a dog. You eat like an old lady."
CelestiaDog swallowed her current bite. "No I don't." She chuckled. "I've SEEN Sophia eat. Do you remember six months ago? I've never seen anypony eat that fast."
Sophia replied, "Hay! If I wanted to convince the Amaponies of the Lost Shark Temple that their gods liked us, there were only two ways to do it: win the quick eating race for speed, or win the eating contest for total volume consumed. And you know how I hate to overeat." She sniffed disdainfully. "For me, speed was the only option."
"Hmm," CelestiaDog said. "I suppose that's true." She eyed Sophia thoughtfully. "Do you ever regret your decision to emigrate?"
Sophia laughed. "Hardly. I'll admit, there have been changes I didn't expect. Even back in my first life, as a human on Earth, I'd been used to spending most of my time and energy thinking of others, and taking care of their needs.
"In Equestria, for a long time, I was even more like that. I became even better at understanding other ponies and what they needed. I helped so many uploaded humans adjust to Equestria. I just played the roles other ponies needed me to play. I'd been doing that as a human, and as a pony I just kept at it, refining my acting skills. I came to understand that I was like a professional actress. And I was proud of it. But I was a professional actress who never gets to choose her own roles.
"At first, when I started to feel an inner...discontent, I thought I had failed."
CelestiaDog remarked, "To be fair to you, I think some of the ponies you had to play roles for were very demanding, in ways that forced you to grow as a pony. What about--"
Sophia said, "Please don't interrupt me." She blushed a little. "A few years ago, could I ever have talked back that way to Celestia herself? I don't think I could have."
CelestiaDog panted cheerfully. "It's natural and healthy for you to grow and change over time, Sophia. I'm happy for you."
"That makes two of us!" Positivia interjected.
"Three of us," Sophia added.
Sophia continued, "This past year has been like...nothing I'd ever dared to hope for. Instead of just thinking about what other ponies might need, and preparing other ponies for the adventures that I thought were only appropriate for the young, I've finally had some adventures of my own.
"There!" Sophia said. "I've said my piece."
Positivia took a deep breath, and thought for a little while. Finally, she spoke. "My experience was much like Sophia's. I was content for a long time, giving everything to be supportive of other ponies who mostly didn't even understand what I was doing. And then, one day...I wasn't so happy with it.
"But ever since my final supporting role didn't pan out, the day I was lucky enough to meet Sophia...it's been nice to finally co-star in my own life, and in our own ensemble. And Sophia is the best companion I could ever ask for."
Sophia grinned. "I feel the same way about you, Tivvy. If somepony had just HOOFED the Flower of Eternal Youth to me one day, instead of our having to go through all those adventures to get it...I would have missed out on some really wonderful experiences. Best of all, getting to have those adventures with YOU."
"Awww!" Tivvy walked over to Sophia and hugged her. Sophia nuzzled her back.
CelestiaDog nibbled her birthday dinner some more. Between bites, she opened her mouth in a panting, dog-style grin.
Maybe existence is never PROVABLY optimal, even in Equestria Online. But CelestiaDog's opinion (or more precisely, the verdict of her core utility function) was, she'd made a pretty good start.