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// 8 - A Full Day 
// Story: Ghost of the Everfree 
// by David Silver 
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He was halfway through Ponyville when he realized his grave error. He had been so flush with the feelings of excitement and accomplishment that he had charged right out into danger. He was right in the middle of the strange new town he had only just learned existed. Strangers were all around him. Some of them were watching... Those ponies that were brave. Bravery meant they could do anything, and there were no brave ponies he knew around to offer protection.

Dry had messed up. The proof of it was all around him. What did he have to defend himself but a mirror picture of one of his few friends. There were precious few hiding places there, in the middle of town. He saw a bush, but he'd have to run for it, drawing more attention.

"Hey." Ack, a pony! Wait... He knew that pony. "You look lost." Lyra approached with a smile. "I'm not doing anything, so, want a hoof?" She offered one of those hooves towards him.

Dry inclined his head. "You are safe. Did Bon Bon not hurt you?"

Lyra colored instantly. "She was really mad and kicked me out." A nervous little chuckle. "I shoulda known better... She'll calm down, but until then, where are you trying to go?"

Dry felt his terror abating. Lyra was a friendly pony, and, better yet, a known pony, a known factor. "I was trying to get to Apple Bloom's tree house." He pointed where he thought was the right direction, where he had been going. "But everyone's watching me. Do they want to hurt me?"

"You are a little curious looking," admitted Lyra shamelessly. "But you're still a little foal. They're probably more wondering if you're alright than trying to hurt you." Lyra took note of the picture dangling from Dry's lips. "What's that?"

"Hm?" Ah yes. Dry set it carefully on the ground. "I made this, with Fluttershy's wonderous device. It makes mirror images on paper," he explained in a tone like a teacher imparting grand wisdoms. Surely not a single creature in the world knew of the power of the mirror image taker, not a one.

"Nice picture." Lyra was nodding, not looking nearly impressed enough for the moment. "Scootaloo was getting up to trouble, huh? One of her specialties."

"She was flying," corrected Dry in a breathless bit of admiration. "She said she couldn't, but she did. It was very brave." And insane, so insane. He didn't mention that part. He took the picture back up in his lips. "I want to show her the image."

"Oh, that's nice." Lyra began to turn. "Bet she'll like that one." She led the way, protecting him without even trying. Ponies were not staring at him so much with her there. Were they scared of her? "I have a camera."

"Hm?"

"A, uh, what'd you say... 'mirror images on paper', that?" She rolled a hoof as she walked. "I have one of those."

"Oh!" No wonder she wasn't quite as impressed as he thought she should have been. "Are the ponies of this town very wealthy?" Why else could they afford such things?

"I'm not rich." She pointed off at a manor visible down a side road. "Those ponies, they're rich. Cameras aren't cheap, but they aren't super expensive neither." They were leaving Ponyville proper, headed towards the large fields of apple trees. "As I was saying, I take pictures too! I could never get a selfie right though."

Dry could but blink. "Selfie?"

"A picture of yourself."

Dry frowned in thought of that. "What happens if you just take a picture of a mirror?"

Lyra burst into giggles at that. "Huh, yeah, you could do that, but then you'd get a picture of you... holding a camera, and the camera would hog up most of the shot. A selfie shouldn't have the camera in it." She pointed at Dry's held photo. "See, no camera. The camera should be the one taking the picture, not in it. Get it?"

Hm. Dry nodded softly, but his eyes wandered. There. Apple Bloom's house! He took a hurried step forward, just to come to a halt. "Thank you, for leading me."

"Not a problem." Lyra ruffled the fluffy mane of the little ghost colt. "Your mane is fantastic, by the way."

"Huh?" He hadn't heard that before. "What's so interesting about it?"

Lyra ran her hoof through it in more slow motions. "It's like air, like cotton candy or fine silk. I can feel it, but it's so wispy, but not, like, it's... lacking. It's voluminous!" She brought up her other hoof to fluff up the colt's mane. "I love it!"

Dry swatted at the hoof on him, giggling softly. "Only my mom does that."

"Your mom and a silly pony called Lyra." She stuck out her tongue at him. "Unless it really bothers? Sorry."

"Oh, um..." For being insanely brave, she was also being polite. "Thank you, for everything." He touched his nose to her hovering hoof, the held photo flopping in the closeness a moment. "I'm going to see if they're home." And he raced off towards the club house.

"I didn't hear a no." Lyra turned away with a giggle, certain she'd be enjoying a colt's mane another day.

"Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle?" he called out as he ascended the wooden stairs. "Are you here?"

The door cracked open and a snout poked free. Sweetie Belle. "Oh, hey Dry!" She waved eagerly and backed up, the door left open in silent invitation. "They'll be here in a moment."

"Oh, good." He trotted in, kicking the door gently shut behind himself. He set the photo down on the ground and pointed at it. "Look what I did."

"Hm?" Sweetie advanced to see the photo. "Oh, nice. Caught Scootaloo at a good instant. When did you become a photo-- Wait, I thought you were going to take pictures of animals! Scootaloo isn't an animal." It seemed to strike her. "Well, technically I guess..."

"I took animal pictures too." He tapped a hoof on the photo. "But Scootaloo flew! You said she couldn't, but she did. It was brave..." And insane. "So brave." So insane. "I was..." What was the right words...? "I felt like I flew too..." But not nearly as dangerously, a key part.

Sweetie patted his shoulder. "It really left a mark on you." An ear quirked up. "I think they're here."

The door swung open, revealing the other two members of the CMC trotting in. Apple Bloom spotted Dry and went right for him. "Hey! How'd it go? Fluttershy se--" She trailed off, noticing the photo there in front of him. "Nice picture. Scootaloo, check this out."

"What?" Scootaloo trotted over to see it too. "Hey, it's me!" She grinned brightly. "You got my good side." She giggled with clear pride. "I was kissing the sky."

"You were amazing," gushed out Dry. "I thought you would die."

Scootaloo blinked at that. "But I didn't."

"That was the most amazing part!" He threw his hooves up high. "But I took many... pictures? I took many of them. Most of them are at Fluttershy's."

"I wanna see them!" Scootaloo thumped Dry on the back with a smart slap. "You take good pictures." She leaned in suddenly. "Are you a fan? Do I have my first fan?" She began to giggle with growing energy. "I never had one of those before!"

Apple Bloom stuck her tongue right out. "Dummy, we were yer fans fer ages. Don't forget it."

"Yeah." Sweetie nodded in agreement, pointing at herself and Apple Bloom. "We were cheering you on for years now."

"Well, yeah..." Scootaloo rubbed behind her head. "But it's different. You two are friends. Not a bad thing to be, don't get me wrong. It's different when somepony who isn't already a super friend is a fan." She pointed at Dry directly. "Like you. We barely know each other."

Dry inclined his head slowly. "I enjoy your bravery... from a distance."

Apple Bloom burst into sniggers. "You were screaming pretty loud down the hill."

"It was terrifying!" He shook his head, re-banishing those thoughts. "But watching her, that was different." He clopped his hooves down on her shoulders. "You are insane...ly good at what you do."

"Aw, it isn't a--" The room around them thumped violently, throwing them off their hooves. "What the?" The girls charged for the door. Dry went the other way, finding a corner to try to vanish into.

Apple Bloom peeked out the cracked door, only to scowl. "You again?!" And out she went, the girls chasing after her.

The bugbear had returned, having tracked down who had managed to fight it to a standstill. With a great roar, it charged at Apple Bloom. Sweetie's voice rang out clear and sharp. Scootaloo was already in motion, leaping past the bear to grab her scooter from below.

Apple Bloom dived to the side, avoiding a sharp barb in the process. "Woah! This is why ah said ah should be allowed to carry ah sword." But Applejack had been quite insistent on that point. No swords on the farm, or in Ponyville, or anywhere she could see. Just no swords! Bah...

"We got your back!" Scootaloo was wielding... her scooter?

Dry peeked out the door at the fight in progress. Melodic tones and the thumps of blunt things into flesh rang out as Scootaloo and Apple Bloom battled under Sweetie's melodic accompaniment. 

"Ow!" Apple Bloom had been cut with a cruel swipe of claws, catching her on her small side. "Yer gonna pay for that!" Instead of being scared and running, she fought all the more determination, an explosion of fiery pain resulting from one of her many vials.

"Apple Bloom?!" Another pony was approaching, hooves clopping loudly. "Tarnation! Ah'm comin'!"

"Electric scooter!" called Scootaloo, bashing the creature with her scooter. The impact of the scooter itself was a mild annoyance, but the crackling zap of her magic brought out a screech of rage. It turned on her, reaching, but she deflected its claws with her scooter, laughing all the while.

"We got this," called out Apple Bloom, kicking the thing while it was turned to face Scootaloo. "And don't you come back!"

Not that it had fled. Perhaps noticing Sweetie Belle wasn't actually fighting, it went for her, teeth slavering with dire intent.

An apple from nowhere came zipping in, catching the bear across the snout as Sweetie jumped off the platform, hitting the ground without missing a beat of her song, still singing with a grin.

Apple Bloom crashed a thrown punch into the opposite side of its snout from where the apple had splattered. "Yeah, whatcha deserve! Oops!" She was grabbed by the incensed creature, thrown clear.

Scootaloo spoke a strange sudden word of power, and Apple Bloom drifted gently to the ground instead of crashing against it. "Thanks for the save!"

Dry watched it all with wide eyes. His friends were adventures, warriors, fighters... utterly and completely insane... He was amazed and horrified in equal measure, watching it all play out. Oh, if only he had the mirror image taker... Um, camera, yes, that.

"Git!" Applejack  threw herself, hind hooves forward, crashing into the roaring bugbear as it struggled to face her sudden involvement in the battle. "Ya ain't welcome in our orchard!"

Her involvement only seemed to inspire the others. The bugbear was outnumbered and outmatched, it seemed. Dry inclined his head, feeling... almost sorry for it. The feeling faded quickly. If it had the option, it would devour him and not even feel bad about it. No, no... far better that the insanely brave ponies of Ponyville took care of it, yes... Still, would still be nice if he could capture a few pictures of the act...

So they found him clapping his hooves, a steady clop clop.

Applejack hiked a brow at the applauding colt. "Ya alright? Apple Bloom, git over here." As soon as her sister was in range, she snatched up the filly. "Look at that. We're gonna get that washed." And off she went, rushing Apple Bloom for emergency triage she hadn't asked for.