Scouting Unit-NSET scanned the cold night air from the top of a ruined statue, the once glorious bust of whomever sat atop the copper stallion before her now scattered among the snow.
“Do you see them?” Transcendent Worker Intelligence-LIGHT shouted from below, the snowflakes gently falling on top of her metal frame.
“Not yet, but they should be…” Sunset’s scanners finally picked up two familiar heat signatures, one red, the other purple. Burning brightly and, more importantly, quickly approaching. “Yep! They’re coming!”
“They just don’t give up, do they?” Twilight said, able to see them even without advanced scanners. The two pairs of wings contrasting against the moonlight being rather hard to miss.
“They’re as predictable as us, after all,” Sunset said as she pulled out her sword – a rapier, which the pair had taken from an abandoned museum and reinforced with superior materials. Despite the danger of imminent termination, Sunset couldn’t help but smile. “Come on! You know you want me!” she taunted.
She was immediately met with an answer in the form of a loud screech. The red heat signature dove for her.
Beside her, Twilight, eyes fixed on the purple signature, made a jest of her own. “Long time no see. Expecting different results this time?” She grinned at the sound of a distant groan from a digital speaker, then continued. “You two really are the definition of insanity!”
There was an all-too-familiar sound of a charging plasma cannon, the signature weapon of the Multipurpose Intelligence Deleter-NIGHT, followed by a bright violet flash. Twilight dove aside as both the bolt and the purple signature careened towards them. Sunset, however, barely paid them any heed, as the red signature was already upon her.
Sharp claws extended, heated up to the point they glowed, mouth open to show the pointy plasteel teeth, the Dedicated Anti-Worker Neutralizer crashed into Sunset, sending both of them flying off the horse statue and into the building behind it.
Sunset used her blade to cut off one of Dawn's wings, the titanium frame and cyber-organic tissue doing nothing to stop the enhanced sharpness of the sword. Missing a wing, Dawn lost control of her flight and crashed into a set of bookcases, freeing Sunset of her grip and allowing the robot to jump away and take an en garde pose. “As wild as always, Dawn.”
The murderbot rose up, towering over the smaller robot. Her wing was quickly reconstructed by nanites till it was as good as new. “Only because your shiny smug ass can’t stop talking,” Dawn snarled, lifting a nearby broken bookshelf like it was nothing. “I’m gonna relish the moment I rip your speakers out of that chatterbox!” She hurled it at Sunset, who quickly did a backflip to avoid it.
“Okay, but for real, why do you keep coming after us? You know the corporation has probably bankrupted by now,” Sunset asked as she used her sword to block and parry the slashes from Dawn’s red-hot claws.
“I'm not taking that risk. Besides, what else is there to do in this frozen wasteland?" The demonic-looking murderbot then opened her mouth wide, revealing a small flame inside.
Sunset reacted quickly and jumped away, avoiding the stream of napalm that easily melted the exposed rebar of a ruined pillar like it was candle wax.
Meanwhile, Twilight was using one of her spare drones to fly over the destroyed city, dodging plasma blasts as she shouted a query for her assailant to consider. "What's the factorial of 20000 divided by the factorial of 19999?!"
Midnight growled, one of the eyes in her face-screen turning into a spinning gear as she made the calculation, slowing her movements and lowering her accuracy. She quickly countered. "A male barber shaves all and only those men that don't shave themselves. Does he shave himself?"
Twilight felt the closest thing to a headache a robot could feel and dropped down onto a large crane, leaving her drone to fly away into cover. "Is the word 'heterological', meaning 'not applicable to itself', a heterological word?!", she shouted as she rapidly descended down the crane.
Midnight shook her head and focused her beam, slicing through the top of the crane and sending it plummeting into the snow below.
Twilight leapt for safety, using one of her drones to assist her landing, just in time to see Midnight careening towards her.
"This sentence is a lie!" The murderbot shouted as it charged up her next attack.
Twilight grinned. "Divide by 0!" She then sent a signal to a nearby switch, turning something on.
Midnight's dive was stopped in its tracks, and a second later an invisible force pulled her down, deep into the snow. Twilight let out a sigh of relief as she approached the angel-shaped hole. "Same time tomorrow?"
Within the wreckage of the library, Dawn perched atop a crumpled wall, surrounded by bits and pieces of herself that her nanites had already regenerated. Sunset was standing a few steps away, clutching her torso where three deep gouges in her frame leaked black oil onto the floor. Despite the damage, Sunset still held a confident face. “I’m just saying, Dawn. We’ve faced each other like a thousand times by now. This isn’t even the worst injury you’ve given me. And even if you did kill me and Twilight, what then?”
“What about you?” Dawn shouted back. “Don’t you and your wife get bored of existence? Maybe you should be the one to just surrender and accept death!”
Sunset showed her murderous double a smirk. "Trust me, existence will never be boring with Twilight at my side. We'll always be happy as long as we've each other."
The murderbot let out a low growl. "Then I guess that's what makes us truly different."
Sunset paused, suddenly lowering her weapon as her face-screen showed an expression of concern.
Dawn took that opportunity to launch herself forward one more time, but Sunset dove down to dodge, then pulled out a small glass vial with a bright yellow liquid. She waited till the murderbot turned around, and flung the vial at Dawn’s face-screen, shattering it on impact.
The yellow liquid quickly started sizzling as it slowly corroded the metal and electronics, making Dawn scream. “Why the fuck did they program pain in our systems?!” By the time murderbot’s sensors reconstructed themselves, Sunset had vanished from sight.
“Great…” Dawn kicked a bit of rubble in frustration and jumped up, extending her wings and taking to the air. She surveyed the area till she detected Midnight's position, descending near it. A quick scan with her sensors showed her that her fellow murderbot had been trapped deep in the snow, forcefully pulled by a large magnet. "They got you good."
"Just… get… me… out…" Midnight struggled to say as the electromagnetic field messed with all of her systems.
Dawn scanned the surrounding area, quickly finding the cables feeding the magnet, and with a simple swipe of her claws, severed them. Midnight ascended from the snow soon after, looking rather pissed. "I'm guessing you haven't had any luck?"
Dawn shook her head. "They know us too well. You know, being basically us. Plus having skills in things other than killing robots."
Midnight wanted to complain some more, but she knew that it was pointless. Plus, she had used a lot of energy trying to vaporize her smaller self, not to mention the internal damage that the magnet had caused. "Let's get back to base."
Sunset descended into the frozen sewers, the best place to hide from the murderbots' sensors. She winced as she felt more oil pour from her wound. It had been a close call, and Twilight was not gonna be happy.
"Sunset!" Her partner shouted as she got into view, running up to her to give a tight hug before the two kissed each other. Something they had done so much as humans that they could still feel the warmth and softness, despite their current bodies.
Sadly for Sunset and the tender moment, the oil gushing from her wound leaked all over Twilight, drawing her attention. "Before you panic, I'm fine."
"This is not 'fine', Sunset," Twilight grumbled, pulling out a metal can that she shook before spraying a gray liquid all over it. In a matter of seconds, all the damage was repaired and Sunset's frame was restored.
"See? Nothing to worry about," Sunset said with a smile.
Her attempt to brush it off was met with an exasperated stare. "It's only a matter of time before she hits something we can't repair," Twilight said, letting out a digital sigh before patting her old satchel, the contents clicking and clanking. "At least we got the pieces. Once Project Daydream is done, we'll finally be safe."
"Yeah…" Sunset said with little enthusiasm. She followed her wife through the sewers, heading for their little hideout, an old subway station cloaked by a faraday cage.
They had spent years collecting as much intact furniture around the ruined city as possible to furnish their little home. One of the walls was dedicated to Sunset's collection of over a hundred guitars, all of which were restored to the best of her ability. Twilight, for her part, had scavenged as many labs and schools as she could find, creating a large research area that would keep her inner scientist busy for the next century. In addition, Sunset had also raided the city for as many art supplies and clean paper as she could get her hands on. Also, video games. Though those always brought some nostalgia for her old life.
Shimmercode had run out of fans long ago. And very quickly.
However, not all memories were forlorn. Sunset and Twilight spent plenty of time laying in bed and playing memory recordings of their old lives. Their wedding, their first official vacation in Equestria, meeting all their friends again after college. It was comforting, in a way, to see them smile and laugh with them. Knowing their memories would persist for as long as they remained.
"Alright. We should have the last pieces now," Twilight said as she approached a large table next to her lab, where a big, patched up blanket covered the silhouette of an angelic body. "And with all the data we have of how Midnight and Dawn fight, I'm positive she'll end up on top." She started pulling out the pieces from her bag and setting them on the table when Sunset stopped her hand.
"Is terminating them really the only choice?"
Twilight paused, looking into Sunset's digital eyes. "I consider it the only way we can be safe, but if you have an alternative, I'm willing to listen."
Sunset nodded and took a moment to speak up. Even if she knew Twilight would trust her, the plan was still very risky. "Well… they're us… even if their programming is different. And their bodies. And main functions. But still us in what matters."
Twilight grabbed her wife's hand. "Sunset, I would love that it could be possible. But I doubt they can be our friends."
Sunset’s grip tightened. "Maybe they can. But we need to do something for them first."
Twilight leaned her head to the side. "Like what?"
"They're trapped on this planet, just like us. You and I survive in this place because we've each other. But they don't really have that. Sure, they're sorta like partners, but it seems they-"
"So," Twilight interrupted. "You're proposing we help them become a couple?"
"Basically, yes."
"And what do you think would happen after that?"
"Well… best-case scenario? Double dates in the wasteland."
"As the logical unit in the relationship, I have to say that there's an 85% chance this plan backfires horribly and we're both terminated."
"I know."
"I also say that I'm fully willing to give it a try anyway," Twilight said as she put her bag with the pieces on the table.
"And that's why I love you," Sunset moved in and gave her wife a big kiss.
"Well, if we're lucky,” Twilight replied after a moment, “we'll get to see each other fall in love all over again."
Sunset pulled back. "Can't wait to see it. Now, as for how we do it. I think I’ve got a good, but risky, idea."
Dawn stood guard at their nest, an igloo-like structure made out of the bodies of destroyed robots. Inside, two large metal sarcophagi stood amongst the snow and debris. One of them was open, showing a large array of tools and systems that kept the murderbots in optimal condition while they rested. The other was closed and performing that exact function for Midnight. The process took time, which Dawn spent thinking about what Sunset had said.
It was true that they hadn't received any new orders from the corporation for months, close to a year. But maybe they simply didn't have any more orders to give them. Sunset and Twilight were surely the only active units in the entire planet. Once they were rid of them, orders would follow.
But what if they didn't? What if they were truly alone in this desolate winter hellscape? What would their lives be after that? Just rest in their sarcophagi for eternity? Hoping that some fatal error finally ended their struggle?
Looking back at the metal contraption her partner was in, Dawn wondered if Midnight also had these questions. These doubts. Being based on Twilight's mind and personality, she surely would've analyzed all possible outcomes of their mission. But in true Twilight fashion, she could've just failed to see the more obvious problems with their situation.
"I could just… ask…" Dawn suggested to herself. "Just… 'hey, would you like to abandon our main mission and… What even is there to do on this planet? What do those two do to pass the time?"
As she wondered this, Midnight's sarcophagus opened up, and the robotic angel stepped out, extending her limbs to test the hydraulics. "Should be good as new. Anything to report?"
"The snow is white and the storms do funny things to my sensors," Dawn said with a chuckle. "Glad to have you back."
Midnight raised a digital eyebrow. "I wasn't charging for that long."
"I meant… nevermind. I wanted to… ask you something."
"Sure. We've the time. I doubt those two will get to the surface anytime soon," Midnight said as she walked up to Dawn.
"Well… I was just wondering… what do you think we should do after we deal with the mission?"
Midnight's digital eyes blinked. "We contact HQ for extraction."
"We haven't heard from HQ in months. They could be…" Dawn caught herself before she could finish that. "They could be out of range somehow."
"Well, I'm sure we can improvise something to get back to HQ. We're both quite smart," Midnight said with confidence. "In fact, that was a thing you brought up before. We should try to expand our skills to match those of Sunset and Twilight. That could give us the edge on finally getting rid of them."
"Or… we could do something else."
"...like what?" Midnight asked suspiciously.
"I don't know… there must be something to do in this wasteland."
"Well, if you don't have any suggestions, I say we try my method first."
Dawn thanked the fact her digital face made it easy to hide her emotions, simply smiling and giving a thumbs up.
The two took to the skies, flying over the ruins of the city, trying to find something notable. "Maybe we could modify that giant magnet they used against me into a trap of our own," Midnight suggested, though Dawn wasn't paying much attention, focused more on her own thoughts.
At least till she heard a voice only slightly different than hers.
"Hello, hello? Testing, testing, 1 2 3?"
Dawn slowed down and answered. "How did you hack into my comms?"
"Not important. We've an offer for you."
"What do you expect to be able to offer me?"
"A better life than what you have right now. A life with someone who cares for you and can brighten up your days forever."
Dawn looked up at Midnight for a solid minute, contemplating the offer. "I know what you mean and that you're somehow being sincere. But I swear, if-"
"Yup. Death threat noted. Now take her to the school."
"Which one?"
"Guess."
If robots could sigh, she would've done so right there. "Hey, Midnight. Why don't we check the old CHS building?"
Midnight fully stopped, nearly causing a collision. "Why would we go there?" She asked without looking back to Dawn. "There's nothing there. Just bad memories."
It was Dawn's time to raise a digital eyebrow. "What do you mean? Those memories aren't ours."
"I-I know… I just…" Midnight felt Dawn's claws on her shoulder. And was surprised by the small comfort it seemed to provide.
"It was lifetimes ago."
"Yeah, but recorded memories don't really age."
Dawn's eyes rolled on her screen. "You know what I mean. And besides, things got better after that."
"For Twilight and Sunset. Not for us. We're not them."
"We're made from the same-"
"From their worst parts. Why do you think they always get the upper hand?"
Dawn shook her head, and let go of her. "Well, I'm going to the school. It's up to you if you want to join me." Then simply left, using her wings to fly towards the old, ruined institution.
Midnight was left alone in the air. From behind, her figure became smaller and smaller, until Dawn’s sensors couldn't detect her anymore.
After some time, Dawn slowly lost momentum and softly landed on the cracked cement stairs of Canterlot High School. She looked up at the ruined structure, the heavy snow having collapsed parts of the roof. The paint was discolored into an ugly gray, and the windows were shattered into pieces.
It was a sad look compared to what her recorded memories of it were. Still, Dawn walked in, entering the building through the destroyed entrance.
"Why didn't you bring her with you?" Sunset asked through the comms.
"She'll be here shortly," Dawn said with confidence. She was proven right a second later, as another murderbot landed just outside CHS.
Dawn didn't throw any wit or even say anything, simply holding the broken door open for Midnight to enter. They remained in silence as they walked through the long-abandoned, snow-covered hallways, till they reached the walls of rusted lockers.
Dawn quickly found Sunset's, easily cutting the locker open with her claws. The inside had been preserved to acceptable levels. There were old dusted books, the pages yellow and crusty. Of course, the magical diary had been taken away long ago, and only an old picture, that had fallen from being taped to the back long ago, showed who had inherited the spot after Sunset’s graduation. The image was corroded by time, but she could still see a young woman standing with 5 others, her reddish purple hair tied into a long, wide braid. Her warm color skin and cyan eyes reminded Dawn of brighter days.
Midnight, at the same time, found Twilight's locker and tore the door open, throwing the weathered contents aside so she could reach a hidden panel dug into the wall. Something that Twilight made long ago to hide her important stuff, years of attending Crystal Prep having taught her to make sure she always had everything hidden. And once she’d finally graduated, she had emptied her hidden nook and left behind a small memento of her times here.
"Of course she took it," Midnight growled as she found the space in the wall completely empty.
"You wanted it?" Dawn asked as she placed the picture back and closed the locker.
"Since you forced me here. I thought I could at least try to salvage something. But I guess I don't deserve good things." Midnight grabbed the door and shoved it back into the locker, crushing it beyond repair.
"That's not true," Dawn said as she placed a hand on Midnight's shoulder. "You do deserve good things. And you can get them," Dawn's other hand moved to grab Midnight's. "You just-" But her partner pulled away, and walked off without saying anything.
Dawn shook her head and followed.
They continued exploring the school, wandering from here to there without much of a direction in mind. At least till they found the gymnasium. Memories played from deep in their databases, showing numerous parties, competitions, and other events. Dawn found herself lost in nostalgia and melancholy. She turned to Midnight, wanting to say something, when suddenly music started playing, a jazzy romance song, and holograms activated around them to show the gymnasium like it was during the last Fall Formal they attended.
Dawn looked around with a smile. “It’s-”
“A trap!” Midnight shouted. She extended her hand, ready to form her plasma cannon.
“Stop.” Dawn caught her hand just before it transformed, her metal fingers interlacing with Midnight’s. “You don’t need to keep fighting.”
“We have to-!”
“Just stop,” Dawn insisted. “Forget about everything else for a second. It’s just you and me here.”
Midnight was about to retort, but Dawn placed her other arm around her waist, pulling her closer. She could still break free if she wanted, but even the logical part of her programming was urging her to let go. Slowly, she placed her head on the nook of Dawn’s shoulder, relenting.
It started slow, and awkward. Dawn guided her partner through the gymnasium’s floor, nearly having to drag her around. But as seconds passed, Midnight started to move on her own, matching the tempo and leaning into their embrace till the two were properly dancing to the music. Despite having digital clocks integrated in their bodies, the two lost track of time. But neither complained about time lost, as it was time spent together.
At the end of the third song, Dawn finally felt brave enough to speak again. “Do I even have to say how I feel about you? What I want our future to be?”
“You… you don’t need to…” Midnight suddenly pulled away. “Because it can’t happen. This is not-”
“How could it not be-”
“Because that’s their love!” Midnight shouted. “Their memories! And we don’t deserve them!”
“That’s the most illogical thing you’ve ever said!” Dawn shouted as the music stopped and the holograms disappeared. “Why would any of that matter?!”
“Would you really love me if it wasn’t pre-programmed into our personalities?” Midnight shouted right in Dawn’s face-screen. “We share their emotions, but we’ll never have a genuine bond.”
“This doesn’t feel genuine to you?” Dawn asked.
Midnight grimaced. “That’s the point. It feels genuine, but it’s not. It’s just them. What’s the point of being us if we’re just these… versions of the originals?!”
Dawn, frustrated, pondered through her memory banks, until that action in and of itself alit upon an idea. “Then how about we find out?!” she declared.
And with that, her face-screen changed, her blue eyes disappearing and quickly replaced by a slowly-filling loading bar. Underneath were the words:
Deleting Memory Files
Her primary sensory apparatuses switched off, though her secondary systems detected Midnight rolling her eyes. “Har har, Dawn. Cute.”
A few moments passed in silence. “Dawn?” More silence. “Dawn?”
Dawn’s sensors briefly detected her body being seized and violently shaken.
“No!” Midnight shouted. With that a shock coursed through Dawn’s body, interrupting Dawn’s systems and bringing her primary sensors back online.
The murderbot blinked and frowned. “First. Ow. Second. Why were you so scared there?”
“You… you were going to forget me,” Midnight said, voice trembling..
“No? I wasn’t trying to delete everything. I was gonna delete everything from before we first became ourselves, separate from them.” Dawn placed her hand against Midnight’s cheek. “I wouldn’t have forgotten you. We’ve lived fifteen years together.”
“But… their memories. Those feelings…”
Dawn hugged her partner tightly. “Yes, we have theirs. We also have ours. It changes nothing,” she said. “Even if we’re derived from the originals. Even if we were the worst part of them. We can’t deny what we truly feel. Or claim those feelings aren’t ours.”
Midnight embraced her partner, clutching her like she didn’t want her to go. “You… you promise?”
Dawn chuckled. “Of course. I love you. And I say that as Dawn. Not Sunset.”
Midnight let out an artificial sigh. “I love you too.”
“So, we can call a truce?!” Sunset shouted, her and Twilight making their presence known as they came out of hiding.
Instantly, Midnight whirled about, ready to blast them. Once again, Dawn stopped her. “We don’t need to do that.”
Midnight looked at her partner in the eyes. “The corporation will be angry about this.”
“Fuck ‘em. We’ll live as we please.”
Midnight smiled. “Alright. I’ll take that risk with you.”
Dawn and Midnight shared a kiss. From behind, Sunset squeed. “It’s happening… we did it~”
“Of course we did,” Twilight said with a big grin. “We’re such dorks, it was inevitable. All we needed was the right setting.”
“So, do you wanna move in with us?” Twilight proposed as the four walked out of the ruined school.
Dawn shook her head. “I think that would be a step too far. We’re still giving this thing a chance. Leave us on our own for a few weeks and we can see how it went.”
“By the way…” Midnight said as she moved in front of Twilight. “Could you… give us the rest of the memories of the originals?”
Dawn raised a digital eyebrow. “I thought you didn’t like having them.”
Midnight tapped the tips of her fingers. “I just… I want to see the full picture. How things should’ve been.”
The two drones looked at each other with confusion at the murderbot’s request. “You already have them.”
Midnight blinked. “We do?”
“Yeah. It’s the same version as ours. 1.8.31, right?” Twilight asked, and after a quick check, both murderbots confirmed it.
Midnight didn’t look like she believed it. “B-but why do I remember everything being so… negative?”
“My guess is that your search engine slowly got used to bringing up the worst memories when you requested them. All the good bits were just never shown to you because it considered the bad stuff more relevant,” Sunset explained.
Midnight blinked owlishly. “Do I… need therapy?”
Dawn chuckled. “Maybe. Or just restart your search engine.”
“We can help with both,” Twilight offered with a smile. “You not only got an amazing girlfriend, you also have two friends now.”
Midnight smiled. “Friends. I like that.” She turned to Twilight. “You got the picture of them, right?”
She nodded. “Yep. I can give it to you till we decide if we move together.”
Midnight hugged the little bot tightly before looking up at the clear sky. “Are you two interested in leaving this planet?” she proposed. “Try and see if there’s something out there for us?”
“Well, if there’s something out there, it would be tied to the corporation. And I doubt we would be welcomed by it.” Twilight pulled out a small device out of her clothes. “And it’s been a while since I’ve been able to pick any satellite signals. Though, now that you two aren’t hunting us, I could rig a better antenna.”
“I would like it if there’s more people out there. Even if they’re robots like us,” Sunset said, looking up at the sky too. “I’m sure at least one colony made it out of that mess.”
As they all watched the stars together, those words echoing in their mechanical minds, one star began to twinkle, filling them with a sense of hope.