Transcription of Session C5: Verdant Vines
Date: May 8th
Time: 8:16 p.m.
Interviewer: White Clover
With a survey of the town finished and catalog of all survivors completed, Vines and I met in my tent to review the day’s events.
Verdant Vines (VV): What’s first to go over, Clover?
White Clover (WC): I was hoping you might have something in mind.
VV: It’s hard to… sort. I guess the survivors are a start. Total tally including the past two days is seventy-three. The number still on-site is fifty-eight, but we should be able to move most of those off-site tomorrow. If it weren’t for the massive number found today, Doctor Blue Sky probably would have moved several of the conscious patients from yesterday, but this is where we are.
VV: A few of those in better condition are going without beds, at least in the triage area.
WC: And the ones in detention?
VV: Being watched over and taken care of, like all the others. They aren’t showing any signs of danger, but it is only a precaution given what we’ve read about them going through. Solace has also been moved to detention on his own request.
WC: Any reason why?
VV: He said it’s unjust, given our rationale. He was there for as long as any of them might have been.
WC: Well, at this point it is still just a precaution. Too much care wouldn’t do us harm.
VV: It could, if They come back.
WC: Has there been any further communication in the journal?
VV: Princess Celestia and Luna have written in it several times. There’s been no reply, at least not that they’ve chosen to inform us of. I believe Shining Armor has left a message as well, along with Blue Sky.
WC: Thanks, or…?
VV: I think just goodbyes, for Blue Sky and Shining Armor at least.
WC: And any thoughts about what we saw?
Vines took several seconds to respond.
VV: It was sublime… and I’d guess it’s exactly what Twilight said she would do.
WC: I suppose it was. Have you reached out to Canterlot to see about Lantern and Pendant’s condition?
VV: I drafted a letter and sent it before sundown. We should have something in the morning. If everypony here woke up, I would assume the same happened in Canterlot. As for the dreams and nightmares, we might just have to wait and see.
WC: The long road of recovery stretches ever onward. Did you feel a chill, Vines? When the darkness came?
VV: Yeah.
WC: So we were actually in that place, for a while. I have to assume so. I looked behind us and I couldn’t see anything. No sun, no moon, no stars, no Canterlot.
WC: It felt like minutes there, but hours passed. The sun was in a different place, the train of supplies arrived. And nopony else saw it.
VV: Hopefully we won’t keep it with us.
WC: Time will tell. Doctor Blue Sky and other professionals will help the survivors with their recovery, but… now we have to find out what to tell the rest of Equestria. Seventy-three out of… over three hundred. It’s a lot of lives to account for, a lot of families broken, a lot of friends lost.
VV: Will it fall to us? Celestia might be able to break the news better.
WC: Maybe, but someone has to say it, explain it. We can’t hide it, not with so many that went through it and remember. We can’t silence them.
VV: We also can’t start a panic. Maybe we should give it a few days, some time to make sure things are settled? Time to get some or any word back from Twilight?
WC: I’m inclined to agree. Knowing for sure if there is any lasting damage will help with phrasing it.
VV: I’d like to send out daily patrols into the town and around it. We didn’t find anything at Sweet Apple Acres or on the edge of the Everfree, but there’s still a possibility we might have missed somepony or that Twilight isn’t completely finished.
WC: Then we can see about arrangements for letting recovered patients back into town. That’ll probably take the longest time.
VV: And rebuilding too. Even if it wasn’t a full disaster, there was still some damage when we arrived back on the 16th.
WC: Anything else?
Vines stood up, galloping over to my seat and wrapping her forelegs about me.
VV: Thank you, for staying close to me.
WC: I’ll always be here, Vines. Always, for you.
I turned off the recorder and we said our goodbyes for the night.