“She’s back.” Starswirl said a few moments before the door opened to reveal Twilight. The ten people looked at her, they were all silent.

“You were out for so long...” Fluttershy said.

“Three hours isn’t too much, I wanted to make a usual stop on the way.” Twilight said, placing a few bottles of wine and glasses on the big table between all the clutter.

“Wine?” Rarity said.

“Two century old Wine.” Twilight replied .

“Forget the Wine, you need to tell us why you’re like that and why you didn’t just leave the barrier!” Dash yelled. Twilight didn’t respond as she used her magic to pour a bottle in a stream into all eleven glasses and float them over to everyone. They accepted the gift, some a bit hesitantly, and waited for an unseen sign.

“I’ll answer any questions I can.” Twilight said after taking a small sip from her glass and sitting on the counter.

“I’ve never seen anyone fight like that in my life, and I’ve seen the Princesses fight a few monsters.” The lieutenant of the guard with them said.

“Well you should know I was in the guard for three years, you were my superior, Blue Steel. I was a few ranks up from corporal first class during the riots in Manehattan.” Twilight said.

“I remember now, but what you did was a lot different than brawling with a riot shield and blunt spears in a crowded street.” The lieutenant retorted.

“You pick up a few things in my situation.” Twilight simply answered.

“I have a few questions. First off why didn’t you leave the barrier? Second, how the hell do you lose two arms and a leg and third how and where did you get a surgeon to get those wings?” Dash said.

“... Dash, my blood is acid and I’ve changed a lot. I didn’t think i’d be accepted outside of the barrier, so I decided I’d try to survive and maybe find out what happened exactly. I lost my right arm day one because i passed out halfway in a pool of acid and I lost my other arm and leg because I teleported halfway into a wall. As for the surgeon, you’re looking at her.” Twilight answered.

“Excuse mah language, but who in the high hell is that purple guy that led us here?” Applejack asked.

“Oh sorry for not introducing myself, I used a lot of energy in that fight so I was dormant after I gave you the food.” Starswirl’s voice came from his sphere as it slowly floated from the groove in the wall next to the bed.

“This is Starswirl the Bearded, I found out that the toxin sort of animates the dead, but only if their body was intact.” Twilight said.

“In essence I’ve observed with my magical sight that the toxin kills those mutations’ bodies but keeps the mind barely alive. Strong magic, like what Twilight and myself possess, nullify the brain damage and I believe it was her connection to an ancient power, the element of magic, that nullified the effects on her body and instead enhanced them. I was just a strong mage and my body was decayed and poisoned when she found me.” Starswirl explained.

“Zombies...” Spike said lowly.

“Wait so only the six of us could really survive that stuff?” Pinkie asked.

“Not exactly, You do know that everyone has a strong connection to magic. Normal people don’t know how to tap into it and it instead boosts their strength and energy. Mages learn how to tap into and use this magic. The wonderbolts and other people who enjoy flight know at least a bit of magic, is that correct Miss Dash?” Starswirl replied.

“Yeah, wings have become popular among the mage teams running the weather. I only have one more question Twi.” Dash said.

“Go ahead.” Twilight said with a smile.

“Will you come back home once this is all over?” Dash asked. Everyone looked from Dash to Twilight with hopeful looks in their eyes.

“Of course. I’ve toughened up so if anyone thinks I’m a freak can just keep on thinking that or get knocked out.” Twilight answered with a smile. The five friends exclaimed and glomped the girl along with Spike. The four guards shook her hand with smiles when she managed to regain her footing.

“Right. We’ve all gotta be up and moving at Ten in the morning at the latest so we have time to eat and make our way to the lake on the edge of the barrier feeding the river and clear it out by noon.” Twilight said.

“Ah seriously doubt this place can hold Eleven people comfortably to sleep.” Applejack said.

“I built this place from scrap metal, I think I know how to move it around a bit.” Twilight said with a giggle as she snapped her fingers and the large tables and all the clutter moved to a corner of the room. The racks and tables under them stayed though.

“Alright, I used to go through sleeping bags like crazy because my gear and stuff had sharp edges so I’ve always got a bunch of them. If memory serves I’ve got six of them. Some of you would have to double up.” Twilight said as she opened a hatch near her bed and pulled out a stack of sleeping bags with her magic. There were indeed six. Pinkie and Dash, as well as Applejack and Rarity and Spike and one of the the two female guards agreed to double up. This left The three remaining guards took the last three bags, but Fluttershy was too shy to ask to double up with one of them since she didn’t know any of them.

“It’s ok Fluttershy, it took a lot of courage to fight today. You can take my bed.” Twilight said.

“Oh no no no, I can’t take your bed. Where will you sleep?” Fluttershy said.

“The bed is big enough for two to be comfortable, I might not even sleep tonight. I’m not tired right now.” Twilight said with a smile.

“Wouldn’t Celestia be a bit jealous?” Starswirl’s voice said suggestively. Twilight sent a magic spark through the sphere in the wall and rolled her eyes.

“Oh... um... I guess that’s fine then. I haven’t seen you in a long time and we’re best friends...” Fluttershy said. Twilight smiled and slid open the hatch for her bed.

“Go on, don’t worry everything’s clean and comfy.” Twilight said with a smile. Fluttershy nodded and got under the covers. Once she was settled she went around asking everyone if they were fine as well. Spike and Dash made a comment implying similar things as Starswirl had, but she just ignored them and made sure the door was locked. She levitated over pillows from the previous hatch as needed and even created one out of magic when she ran out.

“Good night everyone. I’m going to cast a sleeping spell on everyone so we all get a good night’s rest. May Luna watch over your dreams.” Twilight said before casting the spell before anyone could protest. Twilight climbed into the bed with Fluttershy and smiled at her friend before turning the opposite way and used some magic to turn the lights out.
---
Everyone awoke at the same time to find Twilight making adjustments to her libs. Dash and Pinkie found themselves much closer than when they fell asleep, but from what Twilight heard that was normal.

“What are you doing?” The lieutenant asked.

“Cleaning and adjusting, you know when you hit a wall or something it jars your arm a bit?” Twilight asked. He nodded. “Well when it jars for me it stays slightly jarred until I adjust it. And let me tell you, using that shield smash I started with last time knocked my left arm an inch out of its socket.” She continued.

“I’m still amazed you have this technology darling.” Rarity said.

“Well it’s mostly because of my magic, we’ve accomplished much better with it. I use magic to activate otherwise unreachable effects and I use magic to connect my nerves and everything.” Twilight said.

“So what time is it?” Spike asked.

“Five till Ten.” Twilight responded, clenching her left had a few times before standing and stretching.

“I’ll prepare the meal.” Starswirl said, purple magic tendrils moving from his wall mounted sphere.

“Thanks.” Twilight said as she opened the door.

“Where are you going?” Dash asked.

“I’m going to go scout out a route for us to take. I can avoid those things very easily by myself, but with all of us we’d have to fight and I’d rather not have us spread out thin or too cramped going through alleyways and stuff. I’ll be back in half an hour.” Twilight said and closed the door.

“She forgot her mask again...” Starswirl sighed.

“Why does she need it?” Dash asked. Starswirl answered by sending a blast of slightly cooled steam into her face, blinding her and causing her to cough for a few seconds.

“The fuck dude?!” She yelled.

“That’s why she wears the mask. You’re not dead from that but it reduced your vision and clogged your throat did it not?” Starswirl said.

“Point taken... But if you do something like that again I’ll kick your round ass around the room.” Dash threatened.

“Uh, Dash. He can turn into a giant dragon and a manticore, I think he can handle a pissed off woman.” Spike said.

“I’d listen to him.” Starswirl chuckled.

“Hey Starswirl, what’s with all of this?” The Lieutenant asked, pointing to a wall filled with Royal Guard armor and weapons.

“She likes to experiment with things and see if they work with her or not. If anything fits you be my guest, she was going to give them to the guards that came to clear the city anyways.” Starswirl said.

“Interesting...” The lieutenant said as he looked at a helmet modified to be slimmer without the spartan-like top to it and have a face mask fitted with a gas mask.