//------------------------------// // Chapter 3: Photograph // Story: Ponies Are Animals Too // by Zurvan //------------------------------// Takes place during “Fall Weather Friends” Chapter 3: Photograph “So what did you say Apple Bloom was doing?” Sweetie Belle asks as they leave her house and walk to the scooter-wagon combo. “Apparently Applejack and Rainbow Dash got into some sort of argument about who was the best athlete and are having some sort of competition at Sweet Apple Acres.” Scootaloo answers with a hint a vehemence. “Something wrong there Scoots?” Sweetie asks her friend. “Just a little miffed that I wasn’t invited to cheer Rainbow on, she’s awesome.” Sweetie giggles. “What’s so awesome about her?” “You kidding? She’s practically a Wonderbolt, and we know her, can you imagine being able to say we knew a Wonderbolt before she was famous?” “You want to be a Wonderbolt Scoots?” Scoots blushes slightly. “I don’t know Sweets. Part of me thinks it would be cool, but of course I’d have to get myself off the ground. (flutters her wings just about uselessly and sighs), of course there’s part of me….” she trails off and runs a forehoof over the handle of her scooter. “This is about your father, isn’t it? Danger Dare?” “Yeah, still holds the record for a lot of stunts, if he’d made that jump.” Scootaloo sniffles. “It would have been the farthest anypony has ever gone in the air without either wings or a balloon.” “That’s amazing.” “But it doesn’t matter, because he failed, and here I am, a pegasus and I can’t even get into the air for half as long as my dad did, it’s ridiculous.” Scootaloo cries. “Scoots, you are you’re own pony. He wouldn’t want you to feel bad cause you can’t fly he’d want you to learn to do what you could with what you had, like he did.” Sweetie says. “Isn’t that why he gave you that scooter?” Scootaloo sniffles as she nods. “I dug it out of the garage and stepped on it and started fluttering my wings, he told me it took him months to keep his balance on it, and I took to it right away, that I was a natural and I should have it. When he… I was allowed to keep one thing, one thing Sweets can you imagine what that was like? I picked my scooter, after all it was something he gave me. You know they wouldn’t let me take a picture of my dad? Said I picked my one person possession, and that was all I got, and everything else….” “What happened to it?” Sweetie asks, scared to know the answer. “The house and everything in it was sold to somepony, I have no idea what happened to anything in it.” “Then let’s find out.” Sweetie says. “I’m sure there has to be a record of the sale, let’s find the pony that bought it.” “Where would we even begin looking for something like that?” “City Hall, your dad’s property was in Ponyville wasn’t it?” “Okay, let’s go.” Scootaloo says and puts on her helmet as Sweetie climbs into the wagon and belts on her helmet and they zip along to City Hall. Once there they meet Mayor Mare. “Well hello you, two what can I do for you today?” Mayor Mare asks. “We were wondering if you could help us find out who bought a particular piece of property” Sweetie answers. “Well, property sales are in the public domain, so I don’t see why not.” Mayor Mare says. “What property are we looking for?” “The house formerly owned by Danger Dare.” Scootaloo answers. “That was such a sad ordeal.” Mayor Mare remarks. “I remember it well, and I believe.” She walks over to a file cabinet and hooves through some files before pulling one out. “Yes, I was right, the property was purchased by Filthy Rich.” Scootaloo looks dejected, Sweetie quickly speaks up. “Thank you for your time Mayor Mare.” The two of them leave City Hall. “Well there goes that.” Scootaloo says. “Come on, I’ll take you home, then I’m going to go back to the orphanage and take a nap.” “Come on Scoots, let’s not give up yet.” Sweetie says. “We should go talk to Filthy Rich.” “Sweets, he’s not even going to let us past the door.” Scootaloo says. “Well improvise?” Sweetie squeaks and not wanting to argue Scootaloo gets back on her scooter and the two of them head to Rich Manor. They arrive at the manor’s gate. “Now what?” Scootaloo asks “Give me a minute.” Sweetie says. =============== Meanwhile in the manor. “Diamond, there’s a couple of fillies outside the gate, are they friends of yours?” Filthy Rich asks hopefully Diamond gets up and walks over to the window and looks out then mutters to herself. “It’s those blank flanks come to humiliate me again.” She looks over at her father who looks hopeful that she made a friend other than Silver Spoon, and finally answers. “They’re classmates of mine, I’m not sure we’re friends just yet.” “Why don’t you go talk to them?” Rich asks. “Better than sitting around mopping all days since Silver Spoon couldn’t come over.” “It was weird, something about the family business.” Diamond says. “But sure, I’ll talk to them.” She walks down out of the manor and to the gate. “What are you two blank flanks doing here?” “We were hoping to talk to you dad.” Scootaloo says. “Well, you got me. So state your business.” “Diamond, I think we got off on the wrong hoof.” Scootaloo says. “You were hurting Apple Bloom’s feelings, and I didn’t feel right you laughing at her like that, I’m sorry if I hurt your feelings in the process.” “Yeah, sure, so what do you want?” “We understand you dad recently bought some property. We were wondering what he might of done with some of the items inside.” Sweetie answers. “Oh you mean the house that belonged to that failure of a stuntpony?” Diamond asks mockingly. “Why you!” Scootaloo lunges at the gate. “Oh what is it little pegasus, is she sad that her daddy died?” Diamond asks treating Scootaloo as if she was a baby. “I’m going to clobber you if I get my hooves on you.” Scootaloo says as she reaches through the gate trying to grab at Diamond Tiara. “Now, now, I thought you wanted something of your daddy’s” Diamond says and Scootaloo suddenly stops. “I mean while else would you come here?” Scootaloo sniffles. “Please I just want a picture, it’s in a frame, I was a newborn foal, right before my mom died. It has all of us, please Diamond Tiara.” “It probably went into the burn pile, along with all the other useless junk we couldn’t sell.” Diamond laughs. “Diamond!” Filthy Rich exclaims. “That is enough young lady.” Diamond scowls at Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle. “Fine.” She walks away. “You’ll have to forgive Diamond, she doesn’t yet understand business.” Rich states as he opens up the gate. “Please come in, I think we have much to discuss.” Sweetie and Scootaloo enter and Rich closes the gate behind them, then he leads them up to his office. “So what exactly can I do for you?” “Mr Rich, sir, we understand that you bought Scootaloo’s father’s house.” Sweetie Belle starts. “Why yes I did, it’s not everyday that good real estate comes up for sale. I have workers fixing it up to resale it, I hope to make a tidy profit off of it.” “We were wondering what happened to the items inside of it.” “Honestly I sold most of them to collectors. You’d be surprised how much money ponies would pay to have an item that used to be owned by a famous pony.” “What about pictures?” Scootaloo asks, her voice cracking as she does. “Pictures of him doing his stunts, or of him in costume I sold, but I have a feeling you’re talking about family pictures, aren’t you?” Rich asks. Scootaloo nods. “Diamond said you probably burned anything you couldn’t sale.” Scootaloo starts sniffling. I’m not a bad pony, I just have a bad reputation. I would never do something like that.” Rich says. “Come with me.” He walks down a hall and they follow him. He walks them to a door with a combination lock and quickly hoofs the lock open. The room is full of shelves full of boxes. Rich grabs a box with his forehooves and gently places it on the ground. “Pictures I couldn’t sell.” Scootaloo walks over to the box and opens it up. Right on top is a picture taken at Ponyville General Hospital. Her wrapped up in a pink blanket, laying in her mother’s forehooves as her father stands on his hind legs, his forehooves resting on the bed rail as he looks over his new daughter. Scootaloo sniffles. “Right after this was taken, my mom suddenly hemorrhaged out and…..” she trails off unable to finish the thought. “Why didn’t you take the picture with you?” Rich asks. “The ponies who came for me said I could only take one thing. I took the scooter my father gave me. I asked if I could take the picture too, and they wouldn't let me. Said that everything else in the house belonged to the new owner.” Rich growls. “I told them to let you take whatever you wanted.” “I think it was the orphanage that had a problem with it, when I first got there I was sharing a room with a younger pony, but she quickly got adopted. They're saying I’ll probably live there until I’m old enough to move out own my own so their talking about giving me an actual room.” “Do you want me to hold onto this for you until then?” Rich says. “You can have it all, if I find anything else that came from the house I’ll make sure you see it before I sell it. I really meant for you to take whatever you wanted and sell the rest.” “Can we go ahead and take the box now?” Sweetie asks. “Of course you can, but where would she put it?” Rich asks. “I’ll put it in my room, that way she can come see it whenever she wants.” “You’d hold onto this stuff for me Sweets?” Scoots asks tears in her eyes. “Of course I would Scoots.” Sweetie answers. “What are friends for?” “Go ahead and take the box.” Rich says and the two fillies immediately lift the box onto their backs and began trotting to the wagon. “You two blank flanks find what you’re looking for?” Diamond snides at the two as they talk to the wagon. “Actually we did.” Sweetie answers. Scootaloo and Sweetie put the box in the wagon. “Thanks again Mr Rich!” Scootaloo calls out waving a forehoof as she does, then she buzzes her wings and they take off.