A Picture Worth More Than A Thousand Words
Photo Memory
A Picture Worth More Than A Thousand Words
By: Darkevony
"Scootaloo... I..." My voice shook harder than it ever had. Everyone is looking my direction now. Should it matter? No. The only one that matters... the only one that I should be looking at is her. "I... well I wanted to say something important... uh... to you." It doesn't matter if I turn around to look and see if no one is watching, they're all already looking my way. I have to remember, it doesn't matter. I can't afford to be nervous. I have to do this.
"And that would be...?" She says. It's nice to hear her voice. Look forward me, she is expecting an answer. Act serious, you buffoon. You are making a clown of yourself. This isn't about dignity, it isn't about what others think of you. What matters now is what you say next. What you say to her. All of this will soon seem like nothing, but what you say to her and what she replies with is what will stay with you forever. Straighten up, put on a serious face, and say it with what little pride you own. Give her what piece of your mind you still have left. "Um... hello? Featherweight...? Why do you look so serious? What are you trying to tell me?"
"Scootaloo, I... I really like you."
~~~
"You... what...?" Never thought she'd have such a small and fragile voice. Her face flushed in a deep red. "You little liar! Who set you up to this?! If you were thinking about embarrassing me, think again!" A deep red of anger. The laughter from everyone else at her reaction erupted almost immediately. It felt like an eternity until it finally died down enough to continue talking...
"Yeah, leave her alone! She never did anything to you. Go away, jerk!" Her friends said in unison after they had shooed the spectators away. Hesitantly, I turned around and without turning back, I walked away. Something tells me I had seriously messed up and needed to make myself scarce.
"Aw, come on, Scootaloo. He was being serious! Just like your tomboyish self to refuse." I dared not even stop to look back, but that was Tiara's voice. The usual snottiness within her tone unmistakable.
"So it was you who set him up to humiliate Scootaloo!" Cracked Sweetie Belle's voice.
"Hey, don't look at me. It never even crossed my mind to get Featherweight to do something like THAT. I always thought he'd chicken out." The snickering and arguments grew faint as I put distance between us.
I eventually sought out refuge under a large oak tree not too far from the playground. It didn't matter where I went. All that mattered was when that bell would ring, and I would have to face her again. Had I done something wrong? I made her angry. Does she hate me now? Did she hate me before all of that even went down? It was all I could really think about. It was all I really had left.
Those thoughts plagued me and I wished for them to go away. It wasn't until a small squirrel suddenly approached me that my mind finally wandered. It appeared out of the hole in the middle of the oak tree and took its place on my head. It did the trick at least. I looked around where I was and took in the scenery. It sure was nice. The patterns in between the leaves, the nice squirrel that kept running around me, tickling me with its scattering. It was a wonderful moment in time. A nice memory. One that I would like to keep. Not like the one where I make the pony I like angry at me...
"Hey, Featherweight! What are you up to?" Two colts said, giving me a jump as they appeared out of nowhere. I looked at them blankly for a second or two until they replied with, "It's us. Your buddies, Snips and Snails!"
"Hi guys."
"Dude, that was totally awesome. Never thought I'd see Scootaloo so angry before. You really had her going there." Snails bumped my shoulder and laughed along with Snails.
"Yeah, you should have seen the look on her face when Tiara started teasing her. I thought she was going to explode!" Snips followed up.
"I, uhm... yeah..." I wasn't sure what to say...
"Anyways, we'll see you around. Later today we should meet up and think up of ways to annoy those three again! It'll be fun, trust me." Snips suggested.
"Eh? Ah, sure..."
"See you there." Before they left, they made a strange awful noise to the squirrel beside me and scared it off.
I had forgotten that my camera dangled around my neck, but only as I stumbled forward trying to chase after the squirrel did I notice it. The squirrel returned to me after a while. I began to take pictures of it and the scene before me. My hobby I guess. I like taking pictures. It captures the moments, the memories.
Then the dreaded moment finally arrived. The school bell rang, and the squirrel bolted back into its nest. Still, I walked back to the school feeling satisfied. Although the memory of what happened still remained, it didn't bother me as much. I had a new photo. At least something good came out of today. Unfortunately, it looked like it would not end at just that.
Entering back into the classroom, everyone turned their gazes at me. Everyone except Scootaloo who I only briefly saw through the corner of my eyes. She was looking away from me. It didn't matter if anyone else made fun of me or scrutinized me. I didn't care about it anymore. I don't have the luxury to care about it. But thinking that Scootaloo would think that way too, hurt.
"Nice of you to join us, Featherweight. I was beginning to wonder where you had gone off to." Miss Cheerilee had been waiting. I was the last one in.
"Sorry, ma'am. I was just taking some photos." I replied.
"Well that's good! Now that everyone is here we can begin class." Everyone moaned at the thought, including Scootaloo. "Don't worry, today, school ends early. You all need all the time on your hooves for this next assignment! It's good that you were taking pictures Featherweight, because our next project is a photo album and it'll be in pairs!" Everyone cheered for it enthusiastically. Anything to get out of school early was worth praise for them. For me, well... it was more of a curse. Less time to be able to see her...
"Alright, settle down everypony. I have to tell you what to do before you all run off." She gave almost everyone a smile. I say almost everyone because it felt like that smile meant something different for me. "You all have to make a scrapbook by next week that should include pictures or some sort of items to detail what sort of achievements you accomplished or good times you had within the week or in the past! A collaboration of memories that you would like to place in it and share. That sounds like fun, doesn’t it?"
Everyone seemed to think of it that way too. There was excitement splattered on everyone's faces. Including Scootaloo.
"Does it really have to be partners of two?" Applebloom raised her hoof to ask the question without waiting to be called on.
"I did say pairs, so yes. Partners of two." The Crusaders bemoaned this response. They were famous for being a mischievous trio, so it was no real shocker that they were sorely disappointed. "Now, choose a partner that you will know that you can collaborate with well!"
I waited in my seat silently as everyone shuffled about, making small talk amongst each other. It seemed everyone already had their partners set even before the idea of pairs had come up, so there was no room for me to chime in anywhere. The only odd ones out in what felt like a cruel twist of fate was me and The Crusaders...
"I chose Sweetie Belle first!" Scootaloo said as she took hold of Sweetie Belle and bumped heads with Applebloom.
"Well unlike you, I 'asked' for Sweetie Belle first. At least I'm not forcing her."
"Girls, girls. Will you calm down? Don’t I get a say in this? No offense, Scootaloo, but knowing you, we wouldn't work well together, so I'm going to have to choose Applebloom."
"What?! Why?"
"I know you too well. And I also know that you'll fill up our scrapbook with all of YOUR achievements."
"What? No, I wouldn't." Sweetie Belle shot her an un-amused look as though there was a deeper meaning behind their words. "Well... I guess... but you can have the last page all to yourself!"
"Thanks, but I will have to refuse." She said, adamantly shutting Scootaloo down.
"Come on, Sweetie Belle! Everypony knows the ending is always the best part." She argued. Still, Sweetie Belle refused.
"Well, does everyone have their partners ready?" Miss Cheerilee said soon after. I had my head rested into my forelegs to keep from standing out. "How about you, Featherweight?" She called out to me, forcing me out of my resting. I shook my head. "And how about you, Scootaloo?" I didn't look, but I already knew her reply. "Well then, how about you work with Featherweight for this assignment." A burst of snickering erupted from the room, and I drowned out everything but Scootaloo's sudden outburst.
"What?! ME, with HIM?!"
"What's the matter, Scootaloo?"
"Yeah, what's the matter, Scoots?" Tiara followed up Miss Cheerilee jeeringly.
"N-nothing... I was just..." Scootaloo stammered.
"It's okay, Miss Cheerilee. I can do it on my own." I said sounding as confident as I could, surprising everyone as they all stared at me. Including Scootaloo. My expression was serious, and I refused to even look at Scootaloo from the corner of my eyes. I was doing this for her sake, knowing full well from her reaction that it was best if I avoided her here.
"Don't be silly, this is a group project. You can't do it alone and that is final. Scootaloo will be helping you."
"But..." Scootaloo tried to interject.
"Then is the class over?" I said again, serious as before. I tuned out the teacher's reply and I got off my seat and walked out the classroom. There was an air of disbelief as the room got silent from my departure, from what my ears could pick up before the distance grew too large. I'm not the type to disobey but I can't let myself be the source of Scootaloo's humiliation. No matter what I thought of Scootaloo, I wouldn't put her through a project that she didn't want to do with me. I could only think to wait to appeal to Miss Cheerilee out of everyone else's earshot and tell her the real reason why working together was a bad idea for Scootaloo.
I saw the exit and made my way out as fast as I could from the school. I wanted to block out today. Of all my memories, it seems I made some bad ones, huh? I followed up the usual street I take to try and locate my house. Strangely, I never seemed to find it. I looked for over an hour. My frustrated pacing aside, I was a little disheartened about that day, and I was tired. I wanted to get some rest, but... I was lost... again.
I sat by a bench at the park, trying to remember where my house was. How could I forget my house? Stupid me. How could I have forgotten... I tilted my camera to look at it thoroughly. A hint of white caught my eyes. There was a picture stuck at the end of it. I took out and saw a nice scenery and a squirrel. It made me happy. I stuck it in my bag and went back to looking at my camera.
"Hey, what is your problem anyways?" Those voices were familiar. I turned around and before me stood Snips and Snails strolling casually up to me.
"Dude, you forgot to come with us after school after you walked out of class!" Snails looked at me with awed eyes.
"But we forgive you! That was totally awesome! You showed her. Man, she was so angry. Making her angry twice in a day, now that is a record that we can only hope to achieve." Snips said.
"That must have taken serious guts! I don't think even WE'D dare to push her buttons that hard. She looked REALLY mad. Anyways, we'll see you around. Gotta get started working on the project. It's only a week deadline and we aren't very good at doing scrapbooks so see you around bro." Snails patted my back with strange familiarity.
"Bye, guys." And they left again. An odd bunch. They left me to contemplate the fact that I might've messed up again worse than I had intended to. Moments went by as I agonized over it.
"Hey, what is your problem anyways?" The second I heard that, everything went silent. Almost as if I had deafened. I dared not turn back. I was paralyzed in shock. I didn't know what to do. "Ahem, I said, what is your problem?!" I guess it was now or never then.
"Huh?"
"You heard me. What is your problem? First you try to humiliate me in front of everypony, then you do it again by just bolting away from our project?"
"Our project?"
"Ugh, I seriously can't believe I have to do this with you. I have to put off Cutie Mark Crusading because of this? What a drag. Look, don't think because I'm here that it means anything. Miss Cheerilee is strict about this and I know she wont accept solitary work, so I'm stuck with you whether I like it or not."
"You can just say that we worked together." I still dared not look at her.
"Huh? No. This isn't an option you know. Not for me. Or you."
"Why not?
"Because she'll find out!"
"I can testify if the need be."
"And what if she doesn't believe you?"
"What reason does she have not to? I thought you wanted to work alone."
"Well... maybe because of my outburst. I don't know. She can be quick to catch on. And I never said I wanted to work alone. I wanted to work with my friends."
"And I'm not your friend." Everything went silent again. "I have to go... home..."
"Wait." She said, stopping me before I had the time to sit up from the bench. "I can't do this on my own no matter how much I want to... so..."
"Why not? You could do the entire thing about you."
"I can't..."
"Isn't it like you told Sweetie Belle? Make it all about you and I can give you what you need to include me in if needed."
"I already told you I can't!" Silence fell again. I felt like I was doing something wrong. I turned around and saw an angered expression on her face. I made her angry again... But the strangest thing happened then. Her expression fell. “I don't have anything to put in the scrapbook..."
"Huh? But didn't you tell Sweetie Belle..."
"We were being sarcastic... I don't have anything to put in it. Chances were that she would have filled everything with her own stuff, and I would have done nothing. Like usual..." She pawed the ground.
"Don't you have trophies or even small things to commemorate an occasion? You are the best daredevil in Ponyville. The best scooter I've ever seen. I'm sure you've won at least some medals."
"N-no... that stuff is just a hobby. I don't really keep anything of personal value other than my scooter and helmet, but that stuff is too big for a scrap book."
"Oh... uhm... well I guess we can fill it with things you dream of doing or maybe you can add achievements that we can try to get now. I have a camera with me so we can start now if you want. Can you think of anything you want to do?" The conversation had taken a strange turn. I was left completely unsure how it would play out. How had things suddenly turned for the better? Was she really relying on me after all of that had gone down?
"Well... I uh... I um... I really want to be able to fly as fast Rainbow Dash. She is so cool."
"Then why don't you?" Of all my memories, I think I knew the answer to my own question.
"Huh? Oh, I..."
"I'm sure after a lot of practice, you could become just like her."
"I... well..."
"Doesn't Rainbow Dash want to become a Wonderbolt? Hmm, hey, you should take lessons with her! If anyone can help you become like Rainbow Dash, it would be Rainbow Dash herself right?"
"Again... I can't... I can't really fly all that well... I... don't know how." Yeah. It's what I had suspected. I knew that all too well before she had even said it. I was the one who took the picture in secret for Tiara back then, much to my dismay. The picture of her struggling to get out of a mud puddle after a bad landing from her skateboard with her wings. I was the one who saw it all. Her frustration. The tears that followed after I had already taken the picture. The feeling of helplessness. Of not being able to accomplish even something so small...
"Then why not try...?" My voice felt like a whisper. I felt like I could step on a landmine at any second.
"I do! Okay?! I train in secret all the time. It's just... I don't really know... how. And I'm too shy to ask Rainbow Dash... I'm sure she would laugh at me... or get mad at me because I can't... I don't want the pony that I look up to the most be disappointed in me..." There was only silence afterward.
"I could help you."
"Huh?"
"I'm no expert myself, but I'm sure I could help you off the ground at least." I looked at my camera. "And... maybe I can take pictures. To fit the album."
"Could you...? I mean... uh... keep this a secret! Ugh! I don't even know why I told you to begin with! First Tiara with that picture she took herself, then you. I'm hanging by a thread here." She was mistaken about two things. It seems she still didn't know that I was the one to take the picture. She's also probably under the impression Tiara knew she couldn't fly from the picture, but I adamantly protected Scootaloo by convincing Tiara that the photo was taken shortly before she flew. Tiara didn't think twice about my explanation, and thankfully she never found out at all.
"I've already made you angry twice... it wasn't my intention... and I'm sorry... but you can trust on me to keep a secret." She didn't reply. The look in her face was a mixture of anger at herself for trusting me and confusion. Plus something else I couldn't quite recognize. Something I haven't seen from her yet. "I know a place where I can teach you without anyone seeing. Come with me."
I turned away and began walking off to a familiar passage. She followed along behind me in silence. All the way down through the street and grass, past abandoned houses and blocked-out paths. Finally, into the edge of the Everfree forest and near a small pond. The treeline encircled it and small orange rays of light passed through the leaves and onto the water, creating glimmering sparkles of light when the rippling waves disturbed the stillness of the pond.
"Wow... this place is beautiful, but uhm... are you sure this is a good place to practice? I have bad memories of the Everfree Forest..."
"Don't worry. I've been here plenty of times. I've taken tons of pictures here and never even seen another pony, animal, or monster walk on by. Besides, we won't be long. It's getting dark soon anyways and I'm sure we'll get this done in no time.
"Yeah... okay. I guess you are right. Let’s do this."
"It takes patience to first learn how to fly. Well, show me what you can do."
"Um... right now? Right here?"
"Yes, go ahead."
"O-Okay." She took a deep breath and began to flap her wings vigorously. Every beat was fast. Faster than I could ever accomplish. It was just like the time she tried to get out of the puddle by trying to fly. It didn't take me long to understand what her problem was. She was trying too hard. Trying to be something she wasn't. Trying to be the fastest flyer in the sky like Rainbow Dash by beating her wings like a hummingbird. She was getting little air fraction that way.
"The trick is to spread your wings and curve them downward so air can pass under. To fly, you need to push yourself off the ground with air itself, and after that, it's all about maintaining your glide by cupping it beneath your wings."
"Alright, I'll give it a go."
"Just gotta focus on getting off the ground for now." She still didn't understand. It was difficult for her to curve her wings downward. Hers were straight. She placed too much force into them. Without thinking of another solution I placed my hoofs on her wings to try and adjust them correctly.
"Hey!"
"Sorry, just trying to help." I said as I pulled away almost immediately.
"It's okay... I just flinched is all..."
"Oh. Okay." I wasn't sure what to think, but I decided to not think of it at all. I placed my hoofs onto her left-wing trying to adjust it, but they were too tense. "Scootaloo, you have to relax your wings to be able to curve them. Just loosen up your muscles and..." She slowly relaxed, but the other wing was still misguided. After a few seconds of silence and her relaxing a bit more and more, she finally got the figure right. After beating her wings slowly like I had instructed her, she almost immediately gained some air with the first few flaps, but her wings tensed up again from the effort plopping her back onto the ground. "Just... relax. It'll be fine. Just focus on keeping your wings loose."
"You saw that! I did it!" She said excitedly. It was a small victory but a very important one for Scootaloo. You could see it from the expression on her face. Nothing in the world could keep me from seeing this through to end after being witness to that sheer joy.
It took several days before she finally had a steady hover going and was able to land back down appropriately, and finally, the day arrived when she took off into a real flight.
"Wow! I'm actually flying! This... is amazing! The wind in my f-" She crashed right into a tree branch, sending her balance off and tumbling down without control.
"Scootaloo!" She landed in the water, her shadowy figure slowly fading into the depths of the pond. Without a second thought, I flew into the stinging cold lake and swam downwards towards Scootaloo who had gone into a panic and tensed up her body again, failing to swim because of it. I pulled her out as fast as I could, trying my best to use my wings as a drifting aid as I had stored some air under them. Quickly, I took her out of the pond and onto the grass. She coughed up a bit of water but looked no worse for wear. "Are you okay?! You aren't bleeding or anything right?"
"I'm fine... my face hurts a little bit but other than that I'm fine. Ow..." She sighed, as sadly as a sigh could get.
"What's wrong?"
"I already told you I'm not hu-"
"I wasn't talking about the injuries." I cut her off, a short silence followed afterward and she turned her face away from me to look at the ground. It was obvious to both of us that she was severely disappointed in herself.
"It... was the first time that I fly and I crashed... It made me think that I really can't be like Rainbow Dash..."
"Take a look at this." I held out a photo I took right before she had crashed. In the picture, she was happy in mid-air. "You flew. And that is what matters. With enough practice, I'm sure you can be just as good as Rainbow Dash. I mean, it's only been a few days since you started learning how to fly! It certainly took me a lot longer to know how to do it when I first started."
She took the picture and smiled a slight smile. "Thanks..."
"This picture says there is no failure. Scootaloo flew and she was happy. It doesn't say if she had flown before. It doesn't say that she crashed afterward. It just says that she flew." I gave her a warm smile receiving a shy one in return. "That is the nice thing about memories. You know what happened. You know this was your first time flying. You know that you crashed, but you learned from it. You had a little mistake with a branch, big deal. Imagine if you were flying in a clearing with nothing to crash into. In the sky high above the clouds. It doesn't matter what will be or has been. A memory is a gift, because you can learn from it. You can revisit it and feel the joys and wonders that you had. Nothing, not even a picture, is worth more than a memory. Now let's get home to dry off before we get sick. I think my home is closest."
We said nothing more and walked back to the main road in silence. After a while of walking, the door to my house appeared before me. I hadn't realized that my home was the first one down this road, despite however many times we had taken this same path over the last few days. We sat at the door awkwardly, as I realized we finally achieved Scootaloo's ultimate goal and not knowing how to proceed from then onward. All I could do is try to muster the courage to ask her about it, but without being able to voice it.
"What is it?" She said, noticing my intent to ask something.
"Um, for now would you like to come in?" She gave me a small nod. I opened the door revealing a normal living room with stairs leading up to the second floor. We followed up the stairs and stopped at my room. This would be the first time that anyone would see my room. I took a deep breath in silence before reaching for my door to open it up, revealing a small generic bed, with a small generic nightstand and a small generic mat. The walls however were a different story.
Scootaloo was at awe as she set her eyes upon the vast collection of photos I had. All of scenery, other ponies, towns, lakes, birds, anything that was worth capturing as a memory. This was my life’s collection.
"Here's a towel." I said handing her a relatively newer one. She took it without hesitation and gave it back when she was done. I dried myself off and looked over to where Scootaloo was now standing, gazing into the varying pictures. Her eyes eventually reached the picture with the squirrel from what happened on the day that I confessed to her, and a load of memories rushed back to me.
"Wow. All of this is amazing."
"Thanks. I've been taking pictures since I first got my camera. My parents gave it to me. It's been a passion of mine ever since."
"I'm not even kidding when I say this is just awesome! Wow!" It was strange having someone be truly impressed by what you had done out of habit and hobby. "Huh? What about these photos here?" She reached over to my personal photo album lying freely on top of my desk.
"Wait no that is my..." My voice trailed off as she turned the pages, to my absolute dismay... She kept scrolling through them, seeing all the different places and things. None however had a single picture of another pony. None except her own.
"What... is... this...?"
"Look... I... uh... I can explain!"
She kept looking through the book. From a certain point forward, those pictures stopped being pictures of scenery and became pictures of her. Most of the pictures were of the times she pulled off cool stunts on her scooter. Others were pictures of the times she did assignments like the school play or bring your family to school day when she took Rainbow Dash as a family member. The last and most frequent photo of the album was just a singular picture of her smiling. There were far too many pictures of her in the album to possibly be played off as material for the school project we were doing. To her, it must have undoubtedly looked like I was stalking her. And in all honesty, even if given a half-decent reason for it, it was probably still inexcusable.
"I..." Scootaloo's voice trembled.
I sighed. "I'm sorry you had to see all of that..." We stood in silence for a while. A recurring theme as it seemed.
"Featherweight... what is all of this?" The confusion and disgust in her voice was unmistakable.
"I take pictures for fun an-"
"Quit the lies. I'm sick and tired of them. It's like you've said nothing but lies since I've met you. I want you tell me the truth... Why...?" She didn't sound angry this time around. She sounded... genuinely hurt. It was painful to hear... Very painful.
"My parents gave me this camera when I was small." I began, not sure where to start. From the beginning seemed right, but I wasn't sure of anything anymore. Scootaloo turned to face me. Her expression was unrecognizable to me. A mixture of sadness... of something... I'm not sure anymore... "They told me, 'Take a picture. It will last you a lifetime.' and I did. I took a picture of anything that was worth more than memory."
"Nothing is worth more than a memory..." She muttered. She remembered what I had mentioned before.
"Both of my parents passed away when I was eight. I've lived with my big brother ever since." I looked down at my bed sheets, unwilling to look up until this was all over. "But before then... I had suffered a severe head injury and I was later diagnosed with short-term memory loss..."
"..."
"In my life, I have never been able to remember almost anything. The word memory had no meaning. Pictures were my memory. They told me of a life I once had. Of things I had once seen. But I've never been able to remember any of it. Pictures were and are my life. Everything here is all I know... All I knew..."
"I said quit the lies..."
"You told me to stop with the lies, right? But I don't think I've been lying to you at any point up until now."
"If that's true then why do you remember me?!" A small silence followed.
"For the same reason why you are even in that book. The book of my most important memories. Precious memories. In my life, I haven't been able to keep many memories for long. I forget almost everyone I've ever met. When I first met you, I didn't think much of you. I had never really talked to you before but..." I hesitated not sure what to say. "Something about you... you were one of the only few ponies I could never forget. You want me to be completely honest? I was afraid. When you became one of my first memories... I was afraid! I was afraid that I would lose a semblance of myself by not being able to remember things, but because of you, I was able to keep a part of me through you."
"So all of this was..."
"I was afraid to lose you. To lose the memory of you. You made me remember. Because of you I was able to remember school, because of you I was able to remember Sweetie Belle and Applebloom because they are you friends. Because of you I can remember Rainbow Dash and the Wonderbolts. I took photos of all the times you did something amazing even if I didn't think anything of you at the time. All the times you did cool stunts or school plays..." My neck tightened. I wanted to cry. "But then... you became more than just a memory to me. It took me a while to realize that... that last picture in my album... I took it and though it might seem you didn't do anything amazing or cool or awesome... it's precious to me. It was the last picture I placed in that book because I knew I didn't need it anymore..." My voice was shaking and I began to shiver. "But that isn't where the truth ends. I'm sorry I didn't mention this sooner. It wasn't Tiara who took the picture of you back then. It was me. I saw everything... I saw you fall into the puddle... I saw that you couldn't fly... you were helpless... sad... and you reminded me... of me."
"Featherweight..."
"I never told Tiara that you couldn't fly. I even convinced her that you could. I felt horrible for taking that picture. It was my fault that your secret nearly got out. It was my fault that you were so upset. I didn't know you at the time, so then why did it matter so much to me? I knew that I would forget you eventually... I knew that you would become just like everyone else, a stranger... But why did it matter to me? I think I realized my feelings a little too late you see. I really do like you Scootaloo." My body was tense. I could hardly breath under my own shivering. "And... I wanted to tell you that before I TRULY forgot you... I wanted to see you smile like in that picture and hold onto the memory forever. But... It was my fault that things got worse for you again and again. I wanted to remove myself from your life for good under that guilt... I wanted to leave you alone so I wouldn't anger you anymore. I wanted you to forget me. I... WANT you to forget me."
I had been facing down to the ground not having had the courage to see her expression. It was then that Scootaloo's hair came into view. She dug her face into my chest and hugged me. She was crying. The tears were dampening my coat. We stood in silence for a long time, deep into the night.
"You idiot... There's no way I can now... You should have told me... You should have said something... That you weren't joking... I was angry because I had thought you had taken up a stupid dare to try and humiliate me... I was angry because I thought you didn't want to do the project with me... I was angry because I thought you lied to me..."
"I'm sorry..."
"You don't have to apologize... I'm the one who is sorry. I had no idea you were suffering something like this... but you never said anything... you kept quiet..."
"I've never really cared about losing my memory up until now."
"What do you mean?" She let go and looked at me, tears still in her eyes.
"Nothing has ever been as important to me as you are. I was never afraid to lose my memory before."
She turned a deep red, still a hint of sadness in her expression. "But what about your parents? Or your brother? Didn't you care of losing the memory of them?"
I took the album book and brought it back to the bed. I turned to the first picture in it. "You see that picture? That was the first picture I ever took. It was when my parents first gave me my camera. It was a picture of them."
"But half of it is missing."
"It isn't. This is it. The entire picture as a whole. It was the first time I had taken a picture. Back then, I knew nothing about developing a picture, so when I took it, half of it burned off. All that remained of the picture was this." In the picture, there was the younger me. A happy smile on his face, to the side where the picture was burned was my parents.
"You don't have any more pictures of them?"
"No. This is the only one."
"It must be sad... not being able to even picture who your parents were..."
"Not at all. Like I told you. Pictures say a thousand words. All this picture says is that there is a happy me. As for my parents? Well, I might not remember how they look like, or who they were, but I can picture them being there. A happy couple, smiling and joyful. I can imagine who they were and what they've been. I said nothing is more valuable than a memory, but imagination gets as close as it can get to it. Oh that reminds me!" I took out Scootaloo's flying picture and turned to the last page to stick it in there. My album was almost nearly complete, but this would have to do. "How about you use this photo album as a scrapbook. It has photos of all the times you accomplished something. All those stunts and stuff."
"I..."
"And it can save you a lot of time so you can go Cutie Mark Crusading like usual. We're basically done, so why don't you take it? I don't really need it anymore."
"Why..."
"Huh?"
"I want the honest truth. The last thing I'll ask of you. You said all of that like this would be the last time we'd be talking. You mentioned something about forgetting me. Why is it that you are going to eventually forget me?"
"Oh... I... uh..."
"Please..."
"My brother found a doctor that could cure my short-term memory loss."
"And?"
"And I will get operated soon."
"And..." She said it more slowly, piecing together what this all had to do with my words earlier. I hesitated for a while to respond.
"The procedure will cause me to lose all and any memory that I've ever had..."
"And when is the operation...?"
"Tomorrow..."
"So you really WILL forget who I am..." Silence once last time. "Thanks, Featherweight... for everything... I have to go. It is really late now, but..." She kissed me on the cheek and said nothing more as she left into the night.
I turned back to my bed and sighed. Only then did I notice the photo album still sitting on my bed. She left it behind... Well... I guess it was for the best...
The next day came around and I remembered nothing of the events that followed afterward. All I remember is waking up in a hospital bed, Scootaloo waiting patiently for me to wake up. She hugged me as I did and she was crying. She looked different though from when I last saw her. She told me it had been a week since I was asleep.
"You... remember me..."
"Of course. Why wouldn't I? Well, you don't seem like the Scootaloo I knew from before."
"I'm not the old Scootaloo..."
"So you must be the new one then. You are still as pretty as I remember. I can't really notice the difference."
~~~
She hugged me afterward and then we totally danced the night away to a slovenly serenade drifting away into a sea of silver moonlight and rose pedals as I picked them up from the water with my sheer manliness alone. Then this giant sea monster appeared and I conquered it with one sway of my charming mane and the ancient race of alicorns bowed to my might, my awesome, my bodacious, and my manliness and they used their power to make me a god like them and I became supreme ruler of the entire known universes and-
"Okay okay Mr. Awesome. None of that last part happened but the first part sounds doable. I'm just glad that you were able to remember all of that..." Scootaloo hugged me for real this time.
"I didn't know where to start recalling all my memories when you told me to remember everything, but I started from where my problems began."
"Hey! What does that mean?!"
"And the end of them. Plus a start to a never-ending memory of you." That was a good way to quiet her. She turned deep red almost instantly and I let a chuckle escape me. I had a new weapon. I took the camera at the side table and pulled Scootaloo close to me. "Let's take a picture together so we can finish that photo album. It needed one last picture." As the familiar click went off and the picture developed, I smiled. "Though pictures aren't worth more than memories, this one is worth more than a thousand words."
"I'm still amazed that you were even able to recall anything." The doctor said as he walked in through the door. "We had to completely destroy any memory cell that was clogging up your memory and then rejuvenate the part of your brain that was causing the short term memory loss. Technically, you weren't supposed to remember anything afterwards. Although the operation itself was a success, all of the patients that we've had have never remembered anything afterward. And that is saying something. My grandfather and my great great grandfather all did this for a living, and through five hundred patients, you are the first to have some memory left in you. Tell me, where do those memories come from?"
"That's easy. From the heart, right?"