Survival is Hell, not Magic

by Dark0592

First published 14th of August, 2012

dark steampunk-esq post apocalyptic humanized survival

Dark, steampunk-esq, post apocalyptic, humanized, survival.
Canterlot finds itself slowly decaying as a toxin permeates the air, turning living organs and occasionally entire living things, to acid and mutating others. Twilight is the only true survivor of a city filled with the dead, the dying and the hungry. Even mutated and decaying creatures get hungry. Twilight has survived for Thirty days so far. She hates to admit it but if it weren't for the mutations she went through she wouldn't have survived so long, so she makes the best of it.

*Not quite mature rating in the beginningb esides a bit of language, but it will get good in later chapters.

*Thanks to SteampunkBrony and his story 'Among the Ruins', Reading what he's got for that one inspired me to write this one.
*Cover image not mine, source provided

Day 30

(A/N What's this? A story by Dark? that doesn't have the romance tag?!?! WHAT SORCERY IS THIS?!?!?!?! Enjoy my friends. before any of you ask in the comments or in PMs TH, SH and the rewrites aren't cancelled, I'm just taking a break from them and my Naruto fic, though I've still got stuff to upload with that one. And yes, it's supposed to start on Day 30.)

“Some people think survival is fun, that challenging themselves in life or death situations is a blast. Those people don’t know what it’s like to actually survive. Sure, hiking in the wilderness could kill you... But they’ve never been through true survival. Twilight Sparkle, Day 30. Thirty days it’s been since that damn experiment went wrong. Everything living is changed by now. They’re either dead or monsters. I don’t know why I’m any different but I still have my intelligence. I’m making these recordings, now that I’ve found a working camera that has an automatically recharging battery, to document anything of importance I’ve found or figured out. I’ve just found this camera so it’s battery is low, I’ll do these every few days.” Twilight said into the camera. She switched it off and cracked her neck.

“Thirty days...” She said softly as she looked up at the magic barrier.

Thirty days ago, Celestia’s best doctors had discovered a terrible disease. It would infect the victim and turns its insides to acid within days. On that day, those doctors had also manufactured a cure. Supposedly it would eliminate the virus. It eliminated the virus alright, and turned it into a toxin that did the same thing. But instead of only affecting through touch, it went airborne. In high quantities the toxin would do what the virus did in minutes, seconds even. Canterlot was quickly evacuated, though it’s population was devastated.

Celestia and Luna had stayed within the city to make sure everyone got out, using their magic to create a barrier around Canterlot in order to stop the toxin from getting out, as well as using their magic to help the living escape. Because of this, they were burnt out before they themselves could evacuate. Twilight wouldn’t let her mentor and best friend die so she used her own magic to get in, get them out and seal the barrier.

She had accepted her fate and allowed the toxin to overpower her. She passed out as it reached her lungs and had somehow awoken. She had fallen into a pool of acid though and found most of her arm was gone.
---
Twilight looked at her right arm which appeared to be made out of machinery, gears, valves and the such. Canterlot had recently come across steam power and had just reached the peak of that technology before the incident. She had been forced to amputate the arm. Using books and a few prosthetic examples she constructed and attached the appendage on day 10.

Suddenly, there was a noise nearby. The sound of movement she had grown to recognize and be wary of. She slipped a mask on under the black hood she wore and looked towards the sound. The mask had been made by combining Royal Guard-grade optics and the remains of a gas mask. The toxin no longer affected her, but it still made it hard to breathe.

Twilight had modified the optics with her magic to sense magic and life. With them, she saw a small pack of mutated canines heading her way, chasing down a humanoid.

That’s another thing about the toxin. It didn’t always kill the victim, it had similar effects to strong radioactive material on occasion and mutated the living things it didn’t kill. Twilight was a prime example of this. It had been nearly impossible to get her mechanical arm to work because of it. Her blood now had a slight red glow to it and acted as acid. It hadn’t been all bad, considering, though. She didn’t have to eat or drink as often, her first meal since the accident was on day 20, and she had much greater strength and speed.

“Shit, I knew I should have brought something.” Twilight said as she leapt ten feet into the air, swinging on a street light slightly and landing on the roof of the building she was in front of. She looked towards where the humanoid and canines had burst through a weak wall of debris. The humanoid was bigger than a normal human and sported decayed skin. As it reached where she had recorded her log it tripped on the cinderblock she had used as a chair. The canines pounced on it and began ripping it to shreds with their teeth and tearing chunks off of the creature and eating it. She turned around and sped off across the rooftops.
---
Twilight arrived at a small building near the palace. The doors and windows had been removed and what looked like metal walls took their place. She jumped over the ten foot fence surrounding the entrance and slid a panel aside. There was an odd junction there where the doorbell used to be. She turned the small valve next to it a few times and pressed her palm into it. She had designed it so that only her Mechanized palm would seal the steam powered mechanism and unlock the door. If she didn’t have access to her arm though, namely it getting smashed to pieces by falling rubble one time, she could rearrange a few pipes.

She slid the metal wall aside, revealing what looked like an industrial workshop

“Ugh, I thought I got rid of that.” Twilight said to herself as she tossed a canine head that she had been examining outside and closed the door. She didn’t lock it though, she was only here to pick up a few things. She walked over to a rack and picked up a sleek gauntlet that resembled her arm. She detached her arm to reveal a sort of port at her elbow and replaced it with the gauntlet. She strapped what looked like a series of pipes mashed together to her back. She made sure the two things worked before she left though.

The gauntlet had claw-like fingertips and had small holes scattered around the palm and fingertips. Everything she had was enchanted with magic so it didn’t need a spell to activate, but rather her own will. A blade slid in an arc forward and extended at three places, creating a blade that was up to four feet long. Satisfied, she retracted the blade and pulled the thing from her back into her hands. She aimed it at a metal plate with holes in it and turned a few valves and pulled a trigger. A small but satisfying puff of steam shot a spike at the metal plate, ripping right through it. The dark purple spike evaporated and was absorbed by her. A steam powered rifle that shot spikes created by her magic. She smiled under the mask and inspected her clothes.

She wore a sleek black hoodie with the right sleeve missing and black royal guard pants she had salvaged. Finding a hole she quickly mended it with her magic. Finding herself ready to go, she slung a backpack onto her back and strapped the rifle on vertically. The door opened as she walked to it and she turned off the valves from the outside and replaced the panel, locking the door once more. She checked her mental checklist to see what she had planned for today.

“Search the magic equipment store for a magic camera? Check. Get ready for some real exploring? Check. Let’s see, I have two options... I can either check the sports store for salvage, or I can check that fast food place on the other side of the city for food... Hm... I think I’ll check the sports store, I have enough food to not be hungry for at least three days.” Twilight said to herself. She tended to do that. She didn’t know whether it was habit or the need to hear a human voice every now and then though.
---
“Hm... looks like some acid corroded the locks... These doors are surprisingly strong for a sports store... All I need to do is get rid of the lock though.” Twilight said. She turned a small valve and flipped a small switch hidden underneath a small panel and put her hand on the lock mechanism of the door. The slightly glowing red tubes that were going throughout her mechanical arm showed signs of movement as it slowly flowed out of the holes in the hand. With a metallic hiss the lock was soon dissolved and she flipped the switch and turned the valve again. Another perk of being mutated was that her blood regenerated extremely fast, to the point where she was only slightly dizzy after amputating her arm and not having it heal for nearly six hours.

She did an impressive kick right where the two doors met and they swung inward, not nearly enough to open all the way but far enough to allow her entrance.

“Oh look, some of the lights are still on.” She said as she noticed flicker magic lights. She snapped her fingers and sent a bit of magick into the ceiling, turning the lights on in full. She found the place rather bare, though as she sifted through some of the shelves and debris she found things like pipes or strong metal she proceeded to put in her backpack, which had a spell on it to allow it to hold exponentially more than what it looked.

“Oh? What’s this?” She hummed as she found a piece of the plaster wall looked out of place. She knocked on it a few times and knew there was something behind it. Extending the blade on her arm, she retracted it to as short as it would go at 1 foot long and carefully put it in the wall between the odd plaster and the rest of the wall. She could probably pry the wall out, but she didn’t want to risk damaging the gauntlet so she searched around the the wall. Finally she decided to use a scanning spell.

What she found was a steam mechanism in the wall connected to a long gone something under the counter, probably a valve. She activated it with her magic and the wall slid forward a bit before falling over. She looked into the long corridor and saw the walls were shelves lined with illegal prosthetics and the sort. There was a dirty paper with illegible writing attached to one of the things on a podium, but she pulled the optic visor attached to her mask down to her eyes and was able to tweak them to see ink.

‘They don’t suspect a thing! Funny what a bit of royal magic can do to hide prosthetics. That Daft aunt of mine doesn’t even think to check the nobility for black market dealers like me. You have your shipment and I received my fee, though this here is a prototype military prosthetic so be careful with it. Good luck living among the peasants as you have been.

-Blueblood’

“I knew there was something up with that bastard. Oh well, a deal’s a deal. Even if I’m not the one who made it.” Twilight said, looking around the secret room. The prosthetics weren’t too different from her homemade one, but they were more bulky and most likely used for sporting events. She remembered what the note had said and looked at the one on the pedestal. It was sleek and black and looked very impressive.

Using her acquired analyzing skill and a spell to reinforce it, she found the metals were infused with magic to be nearly indestructible. There was a much more professionally done blade that was certainly more sturdy and would probably hold up under immense pressure. There were also what seemed to be imitation veins on the interior, among other things.

“Now this is really nice, I’m going to have to modify it and see if I can use it.” Twilight said as she put the arm into her pack, along with a few of the other ones. She carefully tucked the note into a side pocket of the pack and left the corridor.

“Shit!” She hissed as she saw two humanoid creatures sniffing about on the other side of the room. She had started calling them Ghasts. “I should have closed the door!” She whispered to herself angrily as she quickly entered a side room she hadn’t noticed before. It was dark and she didn’t want to risk them seeing the light, so she adjusted her optic visor to the standard night vision that was initially programmed into the magic device. What she saw made her grin. A new sport had erupted in the steam powered technology’s peak. Air racing, using high powered thrust-based devices. They were called ‘Steam powered jet wings’ but people just said wings for short. She had read all about them when looking through her extensive library on all things steam powered she had acquired in the last three months before the incident.

The devices consisted of canister-like packs that would be attached to surgically implanted ports, similar to her arm, in the shoulders that also connected to the spine. Once attached, they would lock there and be controlled by either magic or the user’s own will via enchantments and the connection to the spine. Once activated, the canisters would open and wings would extend. They wouldn’t be flexible or be able to flap, they would be more like those new plane wings than anything, but the canisters and cylinders along the wings would be able to double as thrusters through pressurized steam being blasted through them.

Just like with everything else steam powered she kept on her person, Twilight was able to use her magic to create steam. At this point it used up virtually none of her energy and she never even noticed the drop no matter how much she used. She didn’t have the time or the equipment to do a successful surgery, even with magic, so she improvised. She used adhesive spells to attach them in their proper place and activated them. The wings were short, only about two feet long each, and looked like odd triangles sticking out of her back. They didn’t stick straight out, but nearly straight to her sides with a slight angle. An odd set of grooves appeared in the wings.

“Hm, judging by the way the wings seem like they can move and how pressurized I can probably get these... These are made for high speed.” She said, remembering watching an air race where the people had the wings parallel to their arms, which were locked into the grooves she now saw.

“Here goes nothing.” Twilight said as she sprinted out of the room. The Ghasts noticed her almost immediately and charged after her, but she was slightly faster. She burst out of the building and leapt into the air. With a burst of steam, she shot upwards. Manipulating the currents of steam and the pressures they were blasted at she managed to bring herself to a hover. She had nearly smashed into the top of the barrier, but now she could see the city. Her home was in view and she shakily made her way towards it, nearly plummeting downwards numerous times.
---
“Alright, the modifications are done!” Twilight exclaimed the next day. SHe had stayed up for hours modifying the prosthetic arm. She had found the name ‘Longsword’ engraved into the side of it. It was fitting, seeing at the arm was nearly a foot longer than her own total. She had managed to put together a replacement for the longsword’s port so that it matched the one on her arm and easily installed the arm. After two hours of checking to make sure everything worked right and exactly all of the features, as well as her modifications to allow her acidic blood to be used like with her gauntlet, she turned towards the wings. She had been awake for three days straight now and was rather tired so she smiled as she grabbed the device and turned towards a large cylinder in the wall. She removed her mask and put it on a table nearby and stepped towards it.

With a touch of magic, the wall of the cylinder unlocked and slid up to reveal bedding. She pulled her pants off to reveal thin shorts-like boxers and pulled her hoodie off, as well as the tank she had on underneath. Now clad in nothing but her boxers, she got on the bed on her front, used the adhesive spell to put the wings in place and started weaving a long and complicated spell. She had cast it multiple times though, it would use her memory to know how to do a surgery and then automatically operate. As the spell started she felt the familiar feel of her own magic at work and was lulled to sleep by it.

Day 40

“There we go! finally. Well, it’s day 40, On the day I started the wing surgery I slept for three days straight, and when I woke up I found that I changed a tiny bit.” Twilight said into the log camera from a spot sitting on her bed. She took her mask off and pulled her hood down to reveal her eyes had faded into a soft lavender color and her pupils were nonexistent. Her hair was the same length, though after about eight inches the color faded into white.

“I don’t know why these changes took so long, maybe there’s more that are coming. I think I’m going to cut the white out, Scootaloo’s old hairstyle might work. Anyways, progress since last log ten days ago. I’ve successfully mastered the wings now, though the high speed nearly dashed me into the barrier a few times too many. The Longsword works amazingly, I fought off three Ghasts with it, my normal gauntlet would at least need some repairs after that. Status on the state of Canterlot city, it’s even more of a hell hole. The acid the toxin produces gets everywhere and buildings have started collapsing. There’s also some sort of new mutations or something creating new creatures. Some of the weather teams and wonderbolts must not have made it out because I’ve seen some of them flying around looking like Ghasts. I’ve started calling them Ghosts.” Twilight explained into the camera, but suddenly looked towards nothing for a few moments. After a full minute she slowly looked back towards the camera.

“I’ve also seen ghost-like creatures... After scanning them with the mask and with my own spells I’ve found the natural magic the mage had in life is still there, just not regulating. I’ve started calling them Spectres. The Ghosts are easy to take care of, just take out a wing or hit them when they’re searching for steam tanks. The spectres though, if I get close the magic tries to kill me so I’ve had to use the steam rifle. Since the spikes are made from magic the ambient magic around the spectres lets it through for some reason.” She continued, but looked at the same spot of nothing again.

“That’s the second time today...” She said to herself softly. “Twilight Sparkle, day 40, Log 7.” She said into the camera quickly before turning it off and dashing out of the door.
---
“What the hell are these things?!” One of the men yelled. There were three men surrounded by Ghasts, they were holding them back with spears and shields, but they were getting overwhelmed.

“Commander!” One of them yelled as the leader suddenly found himself being raised into the air by a glowing Ghast. The creature tilted its head and the commander imploded, ripped apart by the violent magic.

“Private! Stay back!” The second in command said as he stabbed at a Ghast and lunged for the Spectre. The magic caught the man before the creature even realized he was there. By the time it did, the unstable magic had mixed with the man’s own and caused a sort of reaction that caused his organs to turn to mush and leak out of any opening it could. The private would have vomited if it weren’t for the gas mask he wore. The spectre turned towards him and he froze.

Just as its magic reached out to him, something impacted its head, pinning it to a wall a foot away. He blinked as everything else in the area was blasted by what looked like spikes. As soon as everything but the Private were dead, the spikes slowly turned to a sort of mist and all flowed towards the same place.

Twilight let the magic in the spikes return to her as she jumped down from the building she was on. It was around twenty feet high but she had safely jumped from higher. She didn’t bother trying to roll as she landed rather lightly for the height she jumped.

“W-who are you?” The private asked.

“That doesn’t matter right now. The question is who are you and what are a team of royal guards doing in here?” Twilight asked.

“I-I’m Private Spike... We were sent here to investigate the city. The princesses used their magic and saw that there’s active life here, but all we’ve seen are those zombie things.” He replied.

“S-Spike?” Twilight said softly.

“Yeah... What’s wrong?” Spike asked. Twilight took her mask off and Spike froze.

“Twilight?!” He exclaimed. He was about to take his mask off, but she stopped him.

“Don’t take that off or your insides are acid.” Twilight said.

“But... What about you?” Spike asked.

“They already are, I’ll explain later. Come with me, did you finally get those wings Dash tried to talk you into getting?” Twilight asked. Spike nodded. “Good.” Twilight said as hers extended.
---
“Whoa, how are you doing all of that without magic?” Spike asked.

“I’ve made it so only my arm will open it.” Twilight said, showing the Longsword.

“Your... Wait, what happened to your original arm?!” Spike exclaimed. Twilight didn’t answer as she opened the door, pulled Spike in and closed the door. She used a burst of magic to turn the lights on.

“You can take the mask off, the air is filtered in here.” Twilight said.

“Alright... so, you’re immune to the toxin somehow, you jumped from a two story building like it was a step ladder and you’ve got a biomechanical arm, which was barely more than a theory in terms of technology before this all happened.” Spike said, pulling his mask off.

“You know those things that attacked you? That’s what happened to me. I have no idea why, but it’s either my magic or my connection to the elements of harmony that let me retain my intelligence and stopped me from decaying and everything.” Twilight said.

“What happened to your arm?” Spike asked.

“After all of that happened I woke up with one third of an arm in a puddle of acid.” Twilight answered.

“Where did you learn how to make all of this stuff? How to work and attach wings and an arm?” Spike asked.

“The library was still intact, so was the military and hidden archives.” Twilight answered. “Alright, my turn. Why did you become a Royal Guard, and why are you here if you’re only a private?” She asked.

“I became a guard after we all thought you died... I wasn’t going to let something like that happen to anyone else. I came here when I heard there was stuff living inside... I thought maybe I’d find you and I did.” Spike answered.

“Did everyone make it out alright?” Twilight asked.

“Yeah, though Fluttershy got really sick because she stayed too long helping the animals get out. Celestia saved her though and she’s fine now.” Spike said. Twilight sighed in relief.

“Hey wait a minute, I’ve seen this thing before... This was a prototype about two months ago from what my superiors told me. It was made so veteran guards could still live on happily or return to the service even after losing a limb... How did you get it?” Spike asked, noticing the longsword name on the forearm of Twilight’s right arm.

“You know that really popular sports store that popped up recently?” Twilight asked.

“You mean ‘the olympic pride’ or whatever it was called?” Spike asked.

“Yeah that one. They were getting illegal prosthetics and prototypes on the black market, this was the main one and I needed an upgrade from that.” Twilight said, pointing a thumb at the gauntlets lining a wall.

“Who was their supplier, did you find out?” Spike asked as he got up to look at the salvaged machinery.

“Blueblood.” Twilight replied, standing up and grabbing a much more bulky gauntlet with space to fit something inside.

“Hey toss me that spear.” Twilight said. Spike gave her the spear that was on his back and watched as she fitted it into a slot. “Give me your right arm.” She continued. He warily did so and she fit the gauntlet on him like a glove. He flinched as a bunch of little stings went through his arm and all the way through the rest of his body.

“What was that?” He asked.

“That was the glove connected to your nervous system so you can just will it to work. I was working on this before I found out it was too clunky to put it over my left arm but I still worked on it. I designed it so I could use something like iron bars or something like a spear, but that spear just so happens to be here. It’ll work like those magic Jackhammers the city workers used to use. There’s also a blade if you need it.” Twilight said as he examined the handle of the spear sticking from the elbow.

“How do I make it work?” Spike asked.

“Think of the spear like a finger and poke things with it. For the blade, I dunno... Think of it sort of like your forearm maybe?” Twilight wondered.

“Why’d you give me this?” Spike asked.

“Because you’re one of my best friends, I’d give you my arm if it could protect you.” Twilight responded.

“Why do you only have that arm and that weird rifle? With all of these things walking around you’d need an army to take care of them.” Spike said, looking from the glove to Twilight.

“I’ve learned how to survive in this place. Anything else is too heavy or clunky.” Twilight said.

“Last time I saw you in a fight you lost...” Spike said.

“Well a scuffle at college is nothing compared to this. Surviving in this place may have become natural to me, routine... But it’s still hell. I haven’t eaten in four days. Why? I don’t need to. In order to drink anything that’s not contaminated I have to use my magic to filter it for at least three hours or I have to use my magic to create steam power and drink condensation. I’m the only thing that doesn’t want to kill everything I see in here so any movement could mean attack.” Twilight said lowly.

“Twi? I think this place has changed you more than physically, and frankly I don’t blame you. I just hope you can go back to normal life.” Spike said.

“What normal life? My blood eats through iron, I’m part machine and if you haven’t noticed I hardly have eyes anymore. I’d be a freak. Don’t get me wrong I’d love to go back, but even so I need to stay here. The Spectres have been getting close to the barrier... if they break it before I can find something to combat the toxin then Equestria will be like this everywhere.” Twilight said.

“That’s why we were sent here, the second in command was a field scientist. He was supposed to research the toxin and find a cure.” Spike said.

“And he’s dead because he knows nothing about it. I’ve been trying for thirteen days to find anything that could get rid of it.” Twilight said.

“He said something about a counter toxin.” Spike said.

“Counter toxin...” She said to herself. after a full five minutes of thinking she suddenly rushed over to a well and slid open a sort of vault. She opened it and inside there was a vial filled with what looked like the toxin.

“Is that what I think it is?” Spike asked. Twilight nodded as she opened the top and surrounded the cloud that escaped in a bubble of magic.

“I’ve been experimenting with my blood for a while now to see if it’s anything but acid... It was miniscule, but now that I’m looking for a counter toxin I went back through everything I’ve researched about the toxin and my blood. A little piece of overlooked data, my blood absorbs the toxin.” Twilight said as she put her right arm up to the bubble. She turned an out of place valve and flipped an out of place switch and her blood slowly seeped into the small barrier. The cloud of toxin slowly but steadily shrank until it was gone. The entire process took about two minutes, but it left the toxin completely gone.

“You did it Twi!” Spike exclaimed.

“I found an antitoxin, but even with how fast my blood regenerates I can’t just cover the city in it, that’d completely destroy everything.” Twilight said, falling into a chair with a hand on her forehead.

“You ok?” Spike asked.

“Yeah, my brain’s just in overload right now and I’ve got a headache... You hungry?” Twilight asked. Spike’s growling stomach answered him so she giggled and got up. She pulled a hatch open, revealing a refrigerated unit. There was about five days’ worth of food inside of magic bubbles to preserve them and a bottle of hard cider.

“Perfect! The cider is finally done filtering.” Twilight said happily as she grabbed two wine glasses and two plates. She used her magic to levitate over a sealed jar of jam and half a loaf of bread. She made the bread slice itself and the jam spread itself and returned them to the cooling unit and closed the door before plopping the sandwiches on the plates and now filled glasses in front of them.

“That’s a lot, don’t you need all of this?” Spike asked.

“All of this would last me a few months at the least.” Twilight said with a smile as she sipped her fizzy cider. Spike noticed her face had fallen again and asked what was wrong.

“To think, suddenly finding a cure for this whole place. Then realizing There’s not really a way to get it through the city in a safe or quick way. I haven’t had hope like that in weeks, at least now I have a goal other than survival.” Twilight said.

“And I’m here to help.” Spike said.

“No you’re not, tomorrow I’m sending you out of the barrier. I’m the one who sealed it so I can control it too. I’m not risking your life.” Twilight said.

“If you’re just sending me home why did you give me something to help me survive?” Spike asked, putting his gloved hand up.

“Because we’ll probably need to clear an area to get to the barrier safely, and besides. That’s your spear now.” Twilight said. Spike sighed.

“I don’t want to leave you again...” He said softly.

“Don’t worry. You can see the barrier from Canterlot, when you see it turn blue that means the Toxin is gone. After that I’ll keep the barrier up, but bring more guards that know what they’re doing once that happens. An entire city of monsters will need to be cleared.” Twilight said.

“Fine, but I’ll be the first to come and help you.” Spike said.

“Deal.” Twilight giggled.

“You haven’t touched your sandwich.” Spike said.

“You can have it if you like, I won’t be hungry for another day or two.” Twilight said with a smile.

“... I’ll save it for later then, if you get hungry again or if I do we’ll have it.” Spike said, wrapping it in plastic wrap he found on the counter.

“Alright, it’s getting late. Go to the cylinder on the wall, flip the panel and turn the valve three times to open it. Get some sleep.” Twilight said.

“Where are you going?” Spike asked.

“I’m going to go scout out the best extraction point for you. Oh, by the way. There’s a valve that’s smaller than the rest under the forearm panel of that glove, turn it counter clockwise and you’ll be able to take it off.” Twilight said as she pulled her mask on and opened the door.

“Good luck.” Spike said.

“Sweet Dreams.” Twilight replied as she closed the door.

(A/N for those of you who paid attention yes there are seven logs, that means five haven't been seen. We'll get to those. And don't worry that I've possibly come up with the end of the fic already, I'm hoping this fic will be at least ten chapters. Hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I had writing it. the next few chapters will get more into the survival instead of explanation now. -Dark)

Day 42

“Well I managed to put together a new memory chip for the magic camera, I gave the old one with the previous logs to spike so people know what state Canterlot is in. I scouted out a clear route and managed to get him out without any problems, though I had to fight a Spectre to get back home. I’ve done some research on the antitoxin properties of my blood, but nothing conclusive or worth mentioning has come up yet. Twilight Sparkle, Day 42, Log 8.” Twilight said into the camera after she made sure it worked again.

She put it back on the table and looked at her makeshift chemistry lab. It was terrible in terms of quality and took utmost care to handle without anything breaking.

“In order for me to actually get anything done I need better equipment.” She said to herself as she left her home. She looked up at the palace. She had gone there a few times to search the archives and it was clear of Ghasts. She had no idea if Spectres could get in but she had seen a Ghost there once. The palace had the best lab in all of equestria though and it was her best chance to get what she needed.

She took off and blasted towards the palace on her wings. Normally she would teleport, but after teleporting under a pile of rubble where a friend’s house used to be she stopped using that means of travel.
---
She forwent the front gates and instead shot up towards the tower, Celestia’s old quarters, and landed there. She saw that the decaying properties of the toxin had gotten to some of the weaker things in the room, though the desk and the bed were still in pristine condition. She saw a large force of magic coming from the desk in the form of a shell with her optics and pushed the visor up to reveal a box.

She used Celestia’s normal unlocking spell to open the box and she was surprised to see her old friendship reports in the box. She smiled and resealed the box on placed them in her backpack. She opened the door slowly and slipped out, making as little noise as possible, and relied on her memory of the place to guide her towards areas of the palace she wanted to go. Her first stop was the kitchen.

“Oh great.” Twilight sighed. There was a Ghost gorging itself on the spoiled food, its wings in disrepair with a ruptured steam tank on the back. She snuck up on the creature and swiftly took its head off with the Longsword blade. Once she cleaned it’s blood from her clothes and her arm she looked around the large kitchen.

She managed to find a small 1x2 foot cooler that held a loaf of bread, slightly green milk and hidden under the bread was a bottle of wine Twilight recognized. It was Celestia’s and it was nearly as old as she was. She put the bread and bottle of wine in a bubble of magic and placed them in her pack and left the room.

Next was the guardhouse. There was always plenty of salvageable material and blades for her use. She also had a few racks of armor that she had been experimenting with and now needed replacements. She also found a pair of magic, short range radios and placed them in a side pocket. Using a shrinking spell she placed a good amount of armor and weapons into her backpack and kept going.

Her next stop was Luna’s room. She hadn’t been there and she wanted to make sure there wasn’t anything the princess of the night left behind that wasn’t important. She quickly found the doors leading to her quarters and pushed them open. She was impressed by the room. While celestia’s room was rather bare, Luna had many wondrous curtains and paintings and even a few banners from a previous age lining the walls. She pulled her visor back down and scanned the room for anything protected by magic.

She was surprised to see a painting and a box under the bed covered in various barriers. She examined the painting first. It was a picture someone had painted perhaps right after the banishment. It was of Luna and Nightmare Moon locked in a battle, neither side winning. But while Nightmare moon had nothing but darkness behind her, Luna had various people and her sister, along with the moon and sun backing her up. Twilight could tell why it was protected. She put a barrier around it as to not break any of the ones in place and used a shrinking spell and put it in her pack.

She then turned her attention to the box under the bed. It had a padlock keeping it shut, but it had been corroded by the air and now rested at the box’s side. The box had a simple invisibility spell on it and a simple barrier to ward away the elements. They were rather recent spells, judging by the actual spells. Twilight opened it and was surprised to see what was inside. Nightmare Moon’s regalia. As she examined the regalia she noticed a carving on the lid of the box.

‘Even when my darkness was at its peak and all was lost, you will have those that still love you and see through the Nightmare.’

She recognized it as Celestia’s handiwork and smiled as she added the box to her pack. She made one final sweep of the room, picking up some important documents that weren’t too badly corroded, and left for her final stop, the labs.
---
“Of course, if there’s a Ghost of course there’d be a Spectre.” Twilight said lowly when she turned a corner that lead to the labs to come face to face with a Spectre. It didn’t notice her, it seemed to be looking around. There was something about it that made Twilight not want to attack it. It looked right at her and she saw it’s eyes weren’t like the others.

“Oh? What have we here?” It said. Twilight realized that it’s tattered and ripped clothes was that of a large wizard hat and cape with corroded bells.

“You can’t be...” Twilight started.

“I am, young mage. Starswirl the Bearded, at least before time took that away.” The spectre chuckled.

“How are you here? let alone withholding your intelligence?” Twilight asked.

“I was buried at the castle graveyard, my magic never left my body like it normally does when someone dies. It kept my body relatively untouched by time, except for the beard. I wasn’t aware, it’s like I blinked and suddenly I’m alive again, though obviously I’m not truly alive.” Starswirl explained.

“So the toxin reached you... I guess maybe it’s strong magic that allows the afflicted to retain their intelligence.” Twilight said.

“What do you mean? Are there others like me?” Starswirl asked.

“You can say that.” Twilight said, slipping the mask off.

“Oh dear, I can tell you’re not quite human anymore. I must ask, what are you doing at the palace?” He said, looking around.

“Mainly to get better lab equipment from the palace labs, though I’ve made a few stops and salvaged some useful things and even found some items of importance.” Twilight answered.

“You will have to tell me why Canterlot is in such a state, but for now I will assist while I can.” Starswirl said.

“Thank you.” Twilight said and continued on, followed by the mage. Starswirl had asked about Twilight while they advanced and she told him about her life and what had happened. When they finally reached the lab he had her wait while he made sure it was safe.

“I knew I heard something... How the hell did you guys get in?” Twilight said to herself as three Ghasts found their way to the corridor she was on. She put her steam rifle on the ground, letting the steam build up to the necessary pressure while she fought, and extended the longsword’s blade.

She made the first strike, startling the Ghasts before they completely turned the corner. She had killed the first by removing its head and jumped back. She looked at the rifle, but it wasn’t at the required pressure yet so she looked back at her now prepared opponents.

She blocked two sets of claws and teeth and activated her blood pump on her arm. Just as it reached the holes she had made she jumped back and lunged forward once more, grabbing one of their heads and pulling her mask back on as the rancid smell of flesh burning in acid filled the corridor. Just as the final beast lunged at her, she swiped her hand at it, flinging some of her acidic blood into it and causing it to falter. She quickly turned the pump off and slid towards the rifle.

Hearing the noise, Starswirl looked out of the door to catch Twilight grabbing the rifle and sending a spike into the final creature’s head. He saw the state of the other two and he stepped out fully.

“Well the labs are clear, I guess the same can’t be said for the rest of the palace.” He said.

“I’m used to more numbers, it must be really hard for them to get in.” Twilight said.

“So that acid blood of yours is supposed to be an antitoxin?” Starswirl asked.

“It absorbs the toxin and destroys it, but it’s obviously not like vaseline.” Twilight said, earning a chuckle from the mage. She entered the dark room and snapped her fingers and sending a bit of magic up to the lights, turning them on.

“Oh my.” Starswirl said as his power was starting to be siphoned off towards the ceiling. “It appears this lab was equipped with a gem that absorbed ambient and unstable magics, that just so happens to be what I’m made of at the moment. Well it was good to see a friendly face, I wasn’t going to live like this for much longer anyways.” He continued.

“Well, I’d hate to say goodbye so soon but I understand.” Twilight said. She shook his hand before the decayed body fell to the ground. With a moment’s thought she used her magic to remove the hat and cloak. At this point they were technically ancient artifacts.

“Alright let’s see. That gem could be useful for this. I’ll need one of the hazardous material handling kits...” She started as she looked around the room.
---
Back at her house, she fixed up the cloak and hat and hung them on a blank wall. The gem she had pried from its place had been randomly emitting light every now and then, but it was just a small glow so she resolved to examine it later. She took her hoodie off and threw it onto her open bed and retrieved her pack. There was a small shelf with important and/or valuable items she had found and that’s where she put the things she had found at the palace. She put the bread and the wine into the cooling unit and the things she salvaged from the armory on racks and tables. Lastly, she used her magic to toss away her old lab gear and replaced it with the pristine Palace lab gear.

“Alright, First on the list. Find out the blood to toxin ratio needed in order to be completely absorbed and how long different ratios take.” Twilight said to herself and used a magic coated syringe to take a fresh blood sample from her good arm.
---
“Spike, WHere is the rest of your team?” Celestia asked. It had taken a few days but Spike finally managed to get all the way up to Celestia to give his report.

“They’re dead princess. Almost all of the life you sensed are these mutated monsters. They’re like zombies, and the one that took out my team had unstable magic pouring out of it that ripped them to pieces.” Spike answered.

“If you say you somehow miraculously escaped or killed them all I’ll look at your memories myself...” Luna said.

“No I didn’t do it, but... I said almost everything. Twilight’s alive, and she’s surviving.” Spike said, putting the memory chip on the table. Celestia recognized it and ran a vision spell through it, it projected what was recorded on it.

“Some people think survival is fun, that challenging themselves in life or death situations is a blast. Those people don’t know what it’s like to actually survive. Sure, hiking in the wilderness could kill you... But they’ve never been through true survival. Twilight Sparkle, Day 30.” The recording of Twilight started. When the first one finished, Celestia stopped the spell.

“She’s alive?” Celestia said.

“Yes, she saved me and helped me get back out. Celestia, we found out that her blood absorbs the toxin in the air, she said when she’s found a way to make it work she’ll turn the barrier blue.” Spike said.

“What do you mean make it work?” Luna asked.

“She changed in there, mostly physically. Her blood has acidic properties now and she’s got superhuman strength and speed. She somehow pieced together makeshift biomechanical limbs and used them and even rigged an entire house with steam power.” Spike said.

“Wait, you said biomechanical limbs?” Shining asked.

“She... She lost her right arm when it started, but using books and manuals she put makeshift stuff together and used it, but she told me she found a black market stash in the Olympian sports store. Blueblood is dealing black market prosthetics. Illegal ones and military prototypes, she had a modified Longsword last I saw.” Spike continued.

“That is a Lie! I wouldn’t even deal anything with such peasants!” Blueblood exclaimed. Spike pulled the evidence Twilight took and the note and put them on the table.

“Her most current log was right before she helped me, I think she said log seven. We can learn from them, that’s what she told me.” Spike said as Blueblood tried to run, but Celestia stopped him.

“Well thank you spike, when this is all over I’ll thank Twilight personally... Everyone but Twilight’s personal friends and family leave.” Celestia said. The guards and officials nodded as the rest of Twilight’s friends stepped up. Shining and Cadence stepped up to the table as well.

Intermission- Logs 2-6

“I’m still not sure how these things are going to be formatted so I’ll start with the numbers first. Twilight Sparkle, Day 33, log 2. The wing surgery is coming along nicely. I still have no idea how to work the damn things but I’ve got flight books around here somewhere. The Longsword works wonders compared to the old Gauntlets. Apparently the magic the surgery used took a lot out of me so I’ve been asleep for nearly three days so nothing much to add to this.” The Log said.

“She doesn’t even seem even a little shaken...” Cadence said softly.

“She’s used to it, she told me it’s become like routine for her. Survival I mean. When I first saw those things I freaked out. She just curses her luck and either avoids or kills it.” Spike said.

“Did you notice her hair and her eyes?” Celestia asked.

“I don’t think she noticed it yet.” Shining said.

“Is she blind?” Luna asked.

“No, she can see better now actually... The mutation seems to be helping more than hurting as far as we know.” Spike said.

“Her home though, you said she made pretty much everything in there?” Shining asked.

“Made or salvaged it.” Spike replied.

“I saw a bunch of Royal Guard equipment, know anything about that?” Shining asked.

“Well she is wearing guard pants, she probably scavenged some stuff from one of the armories around the city.” Cadence said.

“She said she had been experimenting with armors and weapons, but she didn’t say anything else.” Spike said.

“That looks like the product of one of these experiments.” Celestia said, noticing the gauntlet over Spike’s hand.

“She put a spear in it and it’s got a blade, I don’t know how she did it but it’s genius.” Spike said.

“So you have no idea how it works?” Luna asked.

“It’s connected to my nervous system, how though I have no idea.” Spike said as he turned the valve and took it off, showing an unharmed hand underneath.

“We’ll have Twilight to ask that soon enough. Play the next one.” Shining said.
---
“I haven’t seen it before, but it looks like some of these Ghasts retained a tiny bit of their intelligence. Not enough to do anything really, but enough to remember huge things in their previous lives. I saw one of them flying around on wings wearing a Wonderbolts Uniform. I called it a Ghost because it scared the hell out of me and came out of nowhere, but I just blew the steam tank with my magic and it fell. I’ve given up on the idea of a glove for my left hand now, everything is just too clunky. Maybe a shield or something? I don’t know. Twilight Sparkle, Day 35, Log 3.” The log said.

“You’re right, she’s talking about these things like they’re everyday activities.” Cadence said.

“When you’re in a situation like she is right now, that is everyday activities..” Shining said lowly.

“Spike, what does she mean by Ghasts and Ghosts?” Celestia asked.

“She calls the normal monsters Ghasts and the ones that use wings Ghosts. She calls the one that I ran into a Spectre.” Spike said.

“Fitting I guess, Ghastly names for ghastly creatures...” Cadence said.

“She seems to be doing most of these in her home, but that first one was outside somewhere.” Celestia observed.

“She told me that she almost got attacked after that.” Spike said.

“By your description of these things I don’t think I could stomach the sight of one.” Cadence said.

“Spike, she never once mentioned food or water, like where she would find it or if she found any...” Celestia said softly.

“She had about five days’ worth when I was there preserved with magic, but she only needs to eat once in awhile. She said it would last months and that her first meal after the incident was fifteen days after.” Spike said.

“I see...” Celestia said, soundlessly starting the next one.
---
“Shit!” The recording instantly started with the camera falling down onto the ground to show Twilight being tackled off of the roof by a Ghast. The camera landed and gave them a view of the ground, Where twilight had rolled on top of the creature and had literally ripped it’s head off.

She stood up as the longsword blade extended and she put the steam rifle on the ground to gain pressure. Three Ghasts charged her at the same time, but she leaped straight upwards ten feet. She used her magic to retrieve the steam rifle and she shot off three spikes, impaling the heads of the creatures to the ground. She smiled slightly as she turned the rifle off when suddenly a Ghost came out of nowhere and smashed into her, knocking them out of frame.

After a few moments it showed Twilight being chased through the air by the Ghost. She used a blast of steam to halt herself and land on the ground with a roll. She jumped and slashed her blade at the Ghost, slicing a wing and an arm off. It smashed into a wall just barely out of frame. Twilight exploded the steam tank on it’s back to ensure its death. She cracked her back and her neck and retracted the blade, but before she could retrieve her dropped rifle she was blasted out of frame by what looked like lightning.

A floating Ghast surrounded by unstable magic came into frame then. It wasn’t even conscious by the look of it as it sort of hung limply in the air. A group of Canines leaped onto it from where it came from, only to be disintegrated by the unstable magic.

“Alright Fine! I’ll fucking kill you!” Twilight yelled from off frame as she shot into frame. Her body was covered in a purple aura and the magic opened to the creature it was surrounding when Twilight’s magic entered the sphere as if it was pushing the unstable magic aside. She decapitated the thing, but the magic didn’t die with it. It shot into the corpses around the area and made them all explode, covering the area in toxic mist.

Twilight’s feet appeared as she landed on the roof, but she fell to her knees and her hands and face came into view as she coughed and hacked and finally vomited.

“Oh, shit... That was on? Well we can count this as a Log.” Twilight’s voice came as the camera was picked up. When her face came into frame it showed that half of her face had been carved up, but it quickly healed as a small magic barrier kept it from ruining her clothes.

“Twilight Sparkle, Day 36, Log 4. P.S. never go out there without a mask even if your insides are already acid.” She said, ending with a bit of a cough as she swore at forgetting her mask.

“Her wounds healed instantaneously... and was her blood glowing?” Celestia asked.

“It does that, and that’s another perk of the mutation.” Spike said softly.

“And she does things like that everyday?” Cadence squeaked.

“No, there’s usually more according to her.” Spike started. “That was the roof of her house the camera was on.” he continued.

“Oh...” Cadence said.

“I have no idea where she learned to fight like that... And that steam rifle you called it? That technology isn’t estimated to exist for years.” Celestia said.

“There are books on the theory of it, you know Twi... She solidified that theory on black holes in three days when people have been working on it since the beginning of astrology, what’s a steam powered rifle compared to that?” Shining said.

“Please, play the next one.” Luna said.
---
“I’ve been experimenting with my blood lately, trying to see if anything else changed besides it having acidic properties.. Nothing worth mentioning there. I finished that spear gauntlet even though I don’t have anything to use as a spear or a use for the glove itself but it’s still worth doing. I’ve upgraded the longsword’s mechanism a bit so that the retraction and extension of the blade is much easier now because of it though. I figured out a way to kill spectres very easily though, as long as I don’t get close my magic spikes that the steam rifle shoots go right through the energy and that energy usually followed mine back to me, giving me a nice boost. Twilight Sparkle, Day 38, Log 6” The log said.

“She looks like a wild thing now...” Luna said softly.

“She acts like it too...” Cadence agreed.

“Not exactly. She’s forced to change like that. If she didn’t she’d be dead.” Celestia said flatly.

“This is really affecting you sister...” Luna said.

“Of course it is! She was technically my Daughter after her parents passed away... When I thought she was dead I was sad, but she told me not to blame myself for it... Now that she’s alive I had hope, but seeing her like this? Forced to be a feral survival machine?... It’s almost worse than death.” Celestia said.

“Trust me princess, she’s not actually like that all the time... She was just like the Twilight I know and love. She just had to show it in different ways.” Spike said.

“Don’t worry sister. She will come back to us, and she’ll be fine...” Luna said.

“How are you girls taking this?” Shining asked Twilight’s friends, who were silent the entire time.

“She’s stronger than all of us put together when she wants to be. And that Egghead won’t stop until she at least tries to fix everything... That’s just who she is.” Dash said.

“Please, jus’ play thuh last one.” Applejack said.

After the last log they all sat silently for a full five minutes before Spike broke the silence.

“The second that barrier turns blue I’m going back in there to help my best friend. Until then, we need to prepare because My commander, who was a captain of the guard, fell easily to a Spectre. We need to prepare against those things and get ready to clear the city so Twilight can come back to us.” Spike said.

“Shining, assemble your best guards. Spike, come with me and take that glove she gave you. We’re going to try and replicate it as best we can.” Celestia said. THe tow nodded and started walking.

“What about us?” Pinkie asked.

“I imagine you’ll want to join Spike in saving her, Shining will teach you.” Celestia said. Shining nodded and led them away.