Ghost of the Everfree

by David Silver

6 - Take Only Pictures

"Let's play a fun little game."

Dry inclined his head. "What kind of game?" Were it up to Scootaloo, a game would be terrifying. But this was Fluttershy. It couldn't be so bad, or she would avoid it too, right?

"A simple one. A fun one." She nosed into a collection of things and came free with an odd device. "You're going to take some pictures."

"Pictures?" Not a word he'd heard before. "What is that?" He was curious. Maybe just a little alarmed, but it was still Fluttershy. She was a safe pony.

"Let me show you." She threw a strap over her own neck, allowing the thing to dangle from her. There her mouth was freed up to operate it, holding its sides with her hooves to keep it in place as she peered into it.

Dry had no idea what she was doing, but then it got really bright! He squeaked, blinking against the spots that filled his vision.

"Sorry about that," gently apologized Fluttershy. She drew a paper from the strange machine and offered it towards him. "But, here, take a look."

He shook his head, trying to clear his vision, but did succeed at biting the offered paper, bringing it closer for a peering at. Oh, it was... himself. Him, in the room he was in. It was like someone had painted a portrait, instantly. The accuracy was uncanny, like a mirror. Like a frozen mirror he could hold! "Wow." There were no other words. "I thought you couldn't do magic."

"It is a bit like magic," she admitted. "But it isn't a spell I cast." She tapped at the odd box of a thing. "This does it, and I will lend it to you." She wriggled the strap free and offered it up towards Dry. "What I want you to do is fine a good hiding spot, I know you can do that, and get some pictures of what goes past. For this time, It doesn't matter what it is. If it looks interesting to you, go ahead and take a picture of it."

Dry accepted the magic artifact, the first he'd ever been trusted with. Did that mean he was growing up? His parents had not let him have the magic items they promised would come later. And there was Fluttershy, just handing him one. Sure, it couldn't get him into the ether, but it was magic, quite clearly. He looped the band around his neck as she had done, allowing it to flop against his chest.

"That's backwards." She fiddled with it, getting it facing the other way. "This is the, um, like the 'eye'. What it sees is what the picture will be." She pointed at the lens. "One important thing is that you have to hold it still."

"Won't that bright light give me away?" Dry inclined his head, trying to imagine being hidden but also flashing brightly. The two were hard to have together.

"You're not wrong." She chomped the metal ring of some part of the machine and popped it right off. "There, now it won't do that. Since you'll be outside, it'll be light enough on its own."

Dry gasped with alarm. "You didn't have to hurt your treasure for me!"

Fluttershy was quiet a moment. Confused? "Oh, sorry. This can go right back in." She displayed how the part could click in and out of the device. "So it can flash when we want it to. Nothing is broken, promise."

Dry let out a relieved gust of breath. "Thank the moon."

Fluttershy tilted her head. "You like Luna?"

"Luna?" He was fiddling with the device, not really sure how to do much with it, or any real idea how it worked.

"Nevermind." She pointed past him, to the door. "Go outside and watch the world. I'll come by in an hour to see how you're doing and we can go over the pictures you took."

"Okay!" He was... excited, and not scared. "I will find a good hiding spot." That was his specialty. And off he scurried, closing the door gently after himself before his clip-clops could be heard receding away.

Fluttershy inclined her head at the door. "What a nice little colt." She looked forward to seeing what he managed as she got to straightening things up, and putting away the flash bulb she had removed from the camera.

Outside, Dry hurried to find a nice dense bush to plunge into, vanishing from view. He twisted about with a little smile, feeling confidently hidden from the world. He had his, uh, whatever it was, and he was prepared to do a good job, uh, whatever it was that he was actually doing. Capturing images of things, yes, that. He wasn't sure why someone would want to do that, specifically. It was pretty interesting, but what was the use?

Too late! He had been given the job. And disappointing Flutershy felt like a terrible thing to do. She had been so nice and gentle to him so far. He put his head against the box and could see what it saw. Another magic! Wait, no... It was a spyglass! He knew what those were. Useful, even in the ether, when one wanted to see really far.

This one didn't let him see far, just let him see through the mirror image taker. That was still further than normal when his face was hidden behind something. Still counted, right? He turned slowly left and right. He didn't bother turning all the way around, since that way was the bush he was hiding in, and he wasn't supposed to take pictures of the plant he was hiding in, right?

A chirp! He looked up sharply to see a bird landing on a branch, bouncing in an odd not-quite-walk to another bird. They joined each other in a straw... something? A bed, a bird bed. They were sitting in it, looking comfortable. He clicked the button, and a paper slid free. He had done it, captured an instant, and... a fine instant, he figured.

"Lyra!"

He turned towards the voice to see a two-colored maned earth pony glaring at something he couldn't see. "When I get my hooves on you!"

Click. He captured a picture of the incensed Bon Bon, not that he knew her. Bon Bon hurried away with a battlecry of sorts. Dry was happy that he had not been seen. Being hidden really was the best option! Maybe this was an agreeable profession, if being hidden was seen as a positive trait to have.

A new noise. Now, Dry had no idea what a dog was, but there was one, its tail wagging energetically, tongue lolling. That noise. It was making it. It was looking around alertly, nose twitching.

Click.

The dog looked right at him! Oh no. It was coming closer, sniffling, ears pricked. Oh no...

The dog jumped at him. He squealed, pressing the button in that instant as he was bowled over. The dog was not attacking him though, licking his face and chest with happy noises instead of devouring him. Just as suddenly, the dog burst free of the bushes and ran off to find something else that interested it.

Dry sat up, unsure what just happened. At least some animals were nice, like the big thing that was Fluttershy's friend. He had much to learn, to discern which animals were likely to attack him or not. Still, even if it didn't attack him, it did make a mess of his hiding spot in its eagerness.

It also had sharp ears and a sharp nose. It was not easy to hide from. He carefully got his hiding place back in order. While he did that, he nudged his pictures into a nice pile for Fluttershy to see later. Oh. He had snapped a picture when he was pounced. There was a picture, an extreme zoom on the strange beast, its tongue occupying most of the frame. Would that be considered a good picture or a bad one? Only Fluttershy knew...

He was supposed to be good at hiding, but there was clearly more for him to learn. If anything with a good nose could find him so easily, was he really hidden? He'd have to figure out how to hide from creatures like that. Not the the dog had attacked him, but another creature with a good nose might!

He was just a colt, sure... He had so much to learn... That was part of why he had been tossed into the living world, away from the others, into danger. He had to learn. He turned his attention back to the world beyond his bush. Don't take pictures of things close enough to hear the contraption. A lesson learned. That creature was especially alert, but he had been close enough that perhaps even a pony would have heard it.

Did they make quieter ones? He'd have to ask Fluttershy later... A splash! A fish was leaping out of the water of a small stream. Click. The fish didn't notice, or didn't care. What could it do? It fell back in the water and was gone from sight. It could not walk, he was fairly sure. So it could not chase him.

A squirrel, proudly stashing a nut of some kind? Click. The squirrel dashed away. Had it heard him? Possibly... Hm...

There were unexpected complexities to the task set before him, and he found his heart accelerating, but it wasn't fear, which took him a moment to parse. No, not fear. Excitement? Excitement was... very close to fear. But he wasn't scared of anything. He was... He... wanted what was ahead. "Yes." He covered his mouth, glancing around to make sure nothing had reacted to his outburst.

Oh! A ruminant? A ruminant in Equestria?! He clicked a picture of the non-sapient deer, not grasping the difference. The animal had not noticed him, and seemed content to just wander away. Why was a ruminant there, and why was it... acting like that? So many questions...

He looked away from the mystery. The ruminant were mysterious creatures, and if it had business, it was not Dry's job to get involved, and to interrupt it would just be rude. Oh, what was that? He could see some strange creature peeking out from the ground. He had no idea what it was. Click. Perhaps, with the captured image of it, he could learn what it was.

It was then that it hit him. That was why you did that. You captured images to learn. The image would let him ask questions about it. It would let him read and look for drawings of it. The image was a key to a great many doors. His respect for the strange device he was using swelled.

He clicked a photo of a pony walking by in the distance. He didn't know that pony. Just a random pony, an earth-bound. The pony looked like they were going somewhere. Not in any specific hurry. They were not scared. Were all the ponies of that world without fear? Well, besides Fluttershy, small island of sanity in an otherwise strange world.

A great wooping cheer sounded. He knew that sound, burned into his mind with dread. There was Scootaloo, racing down another hill, wings fluttering wildly. She was coming towards a ramp. Would she be hurt? Was this intentional? He didn't know, but he clicked a shot, and another, capturing as quickly as he could as she struck the ramp and became airborne. For a pegasus, she did not fly much, but she sailed through the air confidently despite that, striking the ground, click, and coming to a skidding halt with a fresh cheer of victory.

He had quite a collection of pictures after that stunt, and a new light had come on the box. He tried to click it, but the button was stuck. Had he broke it?

Fluttershy would be disappointed.

Author's Note:

In this chapter, we take pictures. God, Dry is adorable and worthy of love and protection. Is it just me?

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Comments

[badninja]

Ah, he ran out of film. I hope he enjoys these pictures for a long time.

[Auram Potentia]

hhhng my heart ghost pone to cute

[Booster Spice]

Take a photo.

It might be the last time, the only time, you get to remember them again.