//------------------------------// // Part is Metal, Part is Real 01 // Story: The Many Destinies of Sunset Shimmer // by ratedoni //------------------------------// Her fingers traveled across the long neck of the guitar, releasing pleasant notes across the patio as she enjoyed the warm rays of the sun. Summer was starting, it was pretty obvious due to the to how warm the days were, but now, instead of getting heatstroke by staying too long, it was just pleasant to her body . Probably one of the many benefits of having a body that was as much metal as normal skin.  The sounds of her guitar went on as she thought on the changes, not only in her, but in the world she lived in. everything was so different now that humanity had finally found life outside of the little planet. Now, humankind had found a new frontier and like the eternal explorers they were, rushed into the starts in search of something new to see. It didn’t take long for troubles to start and for a solution to be thought and decided by the many nations of the world. Years before, after a treaty with the Princesses of Equestria, humans and ponies have found peace and prosperity, so since then, Sunset and her band miscreants had become local celebrities and in the end, chosen to become part of the new task force that will flight into the stars. Sunset quietly chuckled at those strange days in which she haven’t been able to find her true place on Earth; not that she didn’t try, after all she did have several PhDs to show her proficiency with Human science; but in the end, she still found wanting, maybe she will be able to find what she needed somewhere among the stars and planets that will fill the hole on her chest. And no, she wasn’t referring to the place where her heart used to be. She stopped playing her guitar to look at her shining fingers; they were graceful, but powerful. Clearly, what had been done to her body was the pinnacle of everything ponykind and mankind had developed. It had been weird the first day, considering that her body had felt bizarre, almost as if she had been wearing a shirt that didn’t fit her. Little by little and with exercise and training, she had become adjusted to the change. Of course, she still found the whole experience weird whenever she took a shower or looked at her reflection in the mirror when she was still groggy from sleep. It was bizarre that the metal that had become her body didn’t feel cold to the touch, but silky and pretty much like her skin when she was a normal human being. She still felt sensations form the sensors located all over her body, but she could withstand pressures and damage that could destroy even bigger objects. It was a miracle and she was a witness of it. “Wow,” she heard a voice, merely a whisper, but her powerful electronics could not only find the source, but identify it in record time. Standing in the middle of the patio was none other than the bespectacled girl -now young woman- that’d been part of the Silverhawk project; none other than her dear friend Twilight Sparkle “is still amazing to see you like this,” Twilight said making Sunset smile gently at her. Since the moment she had been turned into a powerful cyborg, Sunset found that something like modesty had simply vanished from her mind; maybe due to her time spent as a pony or maybe because most of her private parts were obscured by metal parts. Sure, Sunset’s remodeling wasn’t as extreme as the one Rainbow Blitz and Rainbow Dash had went through, turning their whole body into machine, with no genitals whatsoever, but she found that she could wear even less than before without being ashamed or even exposing much of her body. Right now, Sunset was only wearing one of her jackets, the one with chevrons in it and alongside a dark cyan blouse underneath it, well, that was it. Her legs were completely metallic as well as her waist so she looked more like a store mannequin more than a human being and to Twilight it was still a little shocking to see her friend so changed. “You should have seen me the first few weeks; it felt like the time I crossed over to this dimension. Maybe that’s why I got used to this whole situation even faster.” “That was one of the reasons they chose you, besides you being a member of the equestrian nobility and good PR for the project.” “Look at you, I’m so proud of you now Doctor Spruce,” Sunset joked making Twilight blush up to her ears; seeing her like that made Sunset laugh. “Shush you, I’m still Doctor Sparkle and I don’t think I’ll change my name… even if something like that happens!” “Believe me; he is going to pop the question soon.” “If that happens, I want you all at the wedding.” “Twilight, knowing you, you already have a complete list of how the whole wedding will be; I bet you even have charts and lists of guests and the places were each guests will be seated,” due to how much her blush had intensified, Sunset’s smile only grew even bigger “ha! I knew it!” “Okay, stop teasing me, besides, it won’t happen since you all won’t be here on Earth for that,” and like that, the good humor had vanished as Sunset remembered that it was true. She and the rest of the team had been ordered to make the trip across space into their new post at Limbo, a zone that had become plagued by crime and danger. It was not as if they could take a day off and travel hundreds of light years just to visit a friend. “Hey, Twilight, we have already conquered dimensional hopping, something like mere outer space will not brake us apart; I’m sure either of us will soon find a way to jump back and forth in an instant, so, everything will be fine.” “Yeah, maybe you are right, still, I came here to tell you everything is ready at the hangar,” Twilight said with a melancholic smile on her face. Sunset nodded, knowing that this could be the last time she would see Twilight and the rest of her friends and family for a very long time.