//------------------------------//
// One Last Photo 
// Story: Pony Zero: Crimson Fluttershy 
// by pmcollectorboy 
//------------------------------//


One Last Photo



"I don't understand something."

Sweetie Belle looked up from the vanilla cake she had been devouring, a treat she had chosen to calm her nerves after all the supernatural nonsense she had been through.  She and her two friends sat at a table at Sugar Cube Corner, enjoying sweets and tea.  Scootaloo was poring over their small collection of the Camera Obscura's photos.  Apple Bloom was content merely to prop up the menu in front of her face, keeping her from seeing the pictures of the ghosts she had fought.

"What is it, Scootaloo?" Sweetie Belle asked.

"Well the archeologist said that the legend of the Hell Grove talked about two children who died in the calamity, but all three of us, I mean..."  Scootaloo bit her tongue.

Apple Bloom lifted her head above the menu and gave her pegasus friend a glare.

"All three of those kids were ghosts.  Who survived the calamity?"

Sweetie Belle rubbed her chin.  "Well I think Bumblesweet must've..."

The bell at the entrance gave a cheerful jingle, but Scootaloo shuddered at its similarities to the supernatural bells she had been hearing.  Photo Finish waltzed in, an unusual customer for the Cakes, but she sported a look that seemed she had seen better days.  Even her shades seemed faded.

Sweetie Belle gave Photo Finish a look as she entered and then turned her attention back towards her cake.

"What, Sweetie Belle?" Scootaloo urged, hoping to get the rest of the response.

"Nothing."

Her enjoyment of the cake had diminished somewhat as she mulled over the topic.  The archeologist had stated that the calamity had killed hundreds of ponies, but it wasn't the disaster that caused most of the deaths.  There had been a massacre.  Sweetie Belle had seen it when Bumblesweet was invading her personal space, confusing her with Butter Cream.  But despite her best efforts to hate what had happened, she couldn't get herself to think that the Bumblesweet who had committed murder was the real Bumblesweet.  Then Sweetie Belle saw the proof she needed.  Scootaloo had flipped over to the last photo they had ever shot with the Camera Obscura.  Apple Orchard, Bumblesweet, and Butter Cream had asked them to take their picture in front of the ruins of the mansion, to release their spirits.  On each of the children's faces were honest, happy smiles.

Sweetie Belle also remembered the air had been warm.

Scootaloo scooped up the photos, crystals, and notes that lay scattered before her and stuffed them in a cardboard box, finally fed up.  "What do we do with these?  Nopony's going to believe us except for Fluttershy and her friends.  Do we put this in the Foal Free Press next time it runs?"

"Ah think we should," Apple Bloom muttered.

Sweetie Belle shook her head.  "Let's just put them in a time capsule and bury them, but first one thing."

"Huh?!" Apple Bloom and Scootaloo exclaimed in unison.

Sweetie Belle snatched up the Camera Obscura and got up from her seat, leaving her two friends thoroughly confused.  She then headed over to where Photo Finish sat.

"I think this belongs to you."


The End