Losing Rainbow Dash shocked us all.
Worse still was the two other ponies who died. We got everyone into the bunker except for Rainbow, Coco Pommel, and Flitter. There was no way to hold a funeral, so we burned their bodies in the spire of the town hall. The smoke was a reminder of what we'd lost.
The good thing? We got another ten ponies. Granny Smith and Big Mac finally decided to leave Sweet Apple Acres behind. Tree Hugger, Zecora, and Caramel we grabbed from the cafe. And some others. I wasn't in the mood to write in the log which ones we'd got out, so I had Spike do it for me.
"Twilight." I turn, expecting to see Doctor Whooves, but to my surprise it's Applejack behind me.
"Why do ponies always come up behind me?" I ask, meaning to joke, but it just comes out flat.
Applejack ignores my question. "Twilight, Ah think we should go to the Everfree."
"Why...oh." Octavia said the monsters had come from there. It was possible that's where the source was. But it meant more ponies would die. "I see."
"Ah'd be happy to lead--"
"No. Please. I don't want to lose you-- I don't want to lose anyone. So many ponies...."
"Ah know." Her voice cracks, and I remember Apple Bloom.
"Let me think about it, please, please." I don't want to do it. But I have to do something.
She nods, and while she's walking away I head to medical. I need to find Doctor Whooves, and even though he's supposed to be in technology working he spends most of his time by Octavia, monitoring her condition. I don't know why or how he knows so much about her condition, but he does.
"Doctor?"
He's laying on the floor next to Octavia, staring at the ceiling contemplatively. At the sound of my voice, he sits up.
"How is she?"
Whooves sighs. "Not well. I...in all honesty...I don't think she's going to get better."
That's all I need to hear. I turn away and head...somewhere. I don't know where I'm going. He shouts after me, but I ignore him. I walk through the bunker, and through the town hall. I get up to the tower and look out across Ponyville. It looks exactly the same as it does any other day in the middle of the afternoon -- only with slightly fewer ponies.
"I have three things to say to you," Doctor Whooves says indignantly, coming up behind you.
"Stop sneaking up on me."
He ignores what I said. "One, stop running away because the world will not end if you stay in one place. Two, you need to accept that ponies freaking die and there's nothing you can do about it. Three, one of these days I'm going to stop following you everywhere, but that will only happen once you learn to get a grip. This zombie apocalypse or whatever the hell it is isn't going to stop unless you actually do something about it."
I stabilize myself. He's right, I guess. "Okay, fine. Do you actually follow me around everywhere?"
"You haven't noticed?" He raises an eyebrow.
I roll my eyes. "Can you teleport or something?"
"Last time I checked....no."
"Who are you?"
"Getting a little crazy now, are you?" He taps his head. "I'm a pony, I live in Ponyville, my name is Doctor Whooves?"
"No. That's not what I mean. What's your story?"
"Look, this is really NOT THE TIME for deep personal backstories, if that is what you meant."
"But I wanna knoooow!" I tease, whining like a foal.
A smile edges onto Whooves's face. "Fine, but only if you promise to not nag anyone about it."
I make Pinkie's 'stick a cupcake in my eye' gesture.
He sighs. "Okay. I used to live...somewhere else, a long time ago. I used to have...let's say, magic powers. I came to Equestria one day and met a mare, whose name was She worked in Canterlot, as a spy, and we went on some pretty daring escapades together. We fell in love, and that's when I decided to stay in Equestria and give up some of my powers so I could grow old with her."
I cut in, confused. "So you're saying...you were immortal? And you didn't live in Equestria?"
"Yes." He chuckles. "Is that really so hard to believe?"
Shaking my head, I smile. "Continue."
"We were sent on one such mission by Princess Celestia herself, about fifteen or twenty years ago, that sent us south into the Badlands to retrieve something. I'll never know what it was, because on the way we were found by changelings. This was before Queen Chrysalis had enough power to really do anything massive. Anyway, we didn't actually know about the changelings until they came up and introduced themselves. One changeling tricked me into thinking it was her, and when the two of them were together in front of me I got extremely angry. I didn't like being tricked. Another changeling suggested that I kill the fake one. Angry as I was, I agreed. He gave me a sword...and...and I chose the wrong one." His voice cracks. "After I'd..I'd run her through, the changelings left, as they had fed off of me without me knowing it. She told me she loved me one last time, and I buried her at the base of the biggest mountain I could find. I never finished the quest. I returned to Canterlot, bitter about her loss, but the city was too loud for me. I moved to Ponyville and started a new life as a clock maker."
I'm quiet. "Whoa," I attempt to joke. "That's one hell of a story."
He chuckles again. "I guess the moral is live. If you're only going to get one chance to do something, do it. Even though it ended badly, I was still happy that I'd known her, and had the opportunity to love her as I did."
Hmm. That's it. "Whooves, you are a sage."
"Heh. I try." Before I can react, he grabs me and plants a light kiss on my lips. "But if you can help it? Don't die."
I return his kiss without thinking about it. "That's one thing I'll try and do."
I run downstairs and back into the bunker. "Applejack! Apple--oh, there you are."
"What can Ah do for ya, Twi?"
I smile determinedly. "Get a group of ponies together. We leave for the Everfree at dawn."
Maybe it's a cliched line from a book, but I like it. And I'm ready to seize life by the horns and go down in flames.