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// Show us DE MAGICKS!
// Story: Fame or Friendship
// by AleximusPrime
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CHAPTER 3 - Show us DE MAGICKS!
Photo Finish Studios was a rather cryptic building. There were barely any windows and even the windows that were there were darkened or too high for anypony on the ground to see. Rarity stared in amazement at the building wondering what exactly went on in there. Back when Fluttershy modeled for Photo Finish, Rarity never got the chance to go in with her and Fluttershy didn’t really like talking about the place. But the look of it right now seemed rather professional and promising to Rarity. If she got Photo Finish’s approval, she would be here a lot so now was the time to start getting used to it.
The doors opened for her automatically thanks to the magic from two security guard unicorns. It was almost as if she had been expected by everypony in the building.
“Oh, why thank you gentlemen!” she said politely walking past the guards.
“Our pleasure, ma’am, welcome to Photo Finish Studios.” said one of them bowing.
Rarity continued forward down a long carpet to a nearby receptionist’s desk to ask where she needed to be. There were other employees in there around the foyer glancing at her curiously. Some of them seemed to be whispering to one another while looking at Rarity. Perhaps they all did know about her coming. Photo Finish must have said something or shown them the pictures of Rarity. A few “Is that her?”s and “Where have I seen that pony before?”s could be heard among the employees. Rarity just smiled back to them bashfully and kept walking down the carpet to the desk. The receptionist was on the phone and hadn’t yet noticed her.
“Yes………uh huh………yeah……” she said into the phone. “……well, no, not so much Hun, it’s models we need……plenty of models……or at least one really good model. Photo Finish says she’s got her eyes on somepony in this town and she might……OH!” the receptionist turned around and saw Rarity and gasped surprisingly. “Well speak of the devil; I think that’s her right now! Alright, well I’d better go, gotta get back to work, okay Hun?........Okay……yup, uh huh, bye. I’m so sorry, Miss. What can I get for you?”
“Well……I am here to see Photo Finish about a possible position in modeling…” Rarity said.
“Ah yes, you must be Rarity, right?” the receptionist guessed.
“Why yes, but how did you know that?”
“Oh everypony knows your name already, Hun. Photo Finish told us all about you and showed us a couple pictures. Nearly all of us have been talking about you, you’re going to make a terrific model!”
“You really think so?”
“Of course! And we’ve really been in need of a good model or two lately! You just might save this business from a bit of a financial crisis we’re in! Well…anyways…… Photo Finish. Yes, you’ll find her right down that corridor and then to the last room on your right. Somepony should be in there that can tell you where to go next, it’ll lead you to a studio where they’ll have you model.”
“Thank you miss. Oh I’m so excited!” Rarity squealed while trotting off gleefully.
She went down the corridor the receptionist pointed out to her. The walls were black with a few lights going down the middle so it got darker as she went down farther. It was almost hard to see where the doors were, but there were numbers on them for guidance. She finally noticed a little sign on the wall at the end of the corridor that pointed to the right and read “Main Studio” so this must have been where she needed to go. She turned to open the door, but once again she found it opened for her thanks to another unicorn security guard.
“Welcome, Miss Rarity. We’ve been expecting you.” said the guard politely.
“Oh, have you now? Do you know where I can find Photo Finish?”
A few photographers ponies looked behind and saw Rarity there and started murmuring amongst each other loudly. They all really WERE expecting her!
“VAH IZ SHE? LET ME THROUGH!” said a voice from behind them.
The photographers all parted and Photo Finish ran toward Rarity to greet her.
“RARITY, DAHLING, ZAH YOU AH!”
Rarity quickly fluffed her hair a bit to make sure she was presentable before Photo Finish and nervously started talking. “PH-PHO-PHOTO FINISH!”
“Vinally zhou haf made eet!” said Photo Finish coming over and wrapping her arm around Rarity. “I haf been hearing goot thingz about zhou lately! My assistantz haf shown me ze photos and I vaz blown avay! Vhy……oh vhy deed I not juzt gif you a chance back vhen I took Flootershy?!”
“All is forgiven, Photo Finish. And I am ready to start modeling for you.” said Rarity starting to take off some of the bags she was carrying while some of the guards helped her set them aside.
“Vunderbal! Zen ve begin now! Zhou can model in vhatever drezz you vant and I zhall be behind ze glazz vatching! I GO!” The German photographer dashed over to a door to sit in a booth with her assistants and watch what Rarity had for them.
Rarity finished putting on her dress and then some lights turned on revealing a little green-screen set up in the studio. This would more likely be where she would pose for her shoots. She walked up on the set and waited for someone to give her the ok.
The photographer ponies all surrounded her with their cameras and tripods and got ready. After making the necessary adjustments and positioning themselves to get the best vantage point, they all turned around towards the booth to await orders. Then Photo Finish’s voice could be heard over a loudspeaker giving the orders.
“Alright, Dahling……ve are ready vhenever zhou are!” she said.
Rarity took a deep breath and stood high on her hooves looking up to the ceiling. The lights above her were producing unusual amounts of heat making her sweat a bit, but she looked back down confidently and then closed her eyes and turned to the side and struck a pose and the cameras flashed. That wasn’t so bad for her first real photo shoot after all…
“Excellent……..AGAIN!” Photo Finish said excitedly.
Rarity turned to the other side and struck another pose while the cameras flashed some more………and another………and another. She kept her balance and gracefully moved with ease and style. She did basically the same thing she did at the fashion show, but more carefully, for the photographers were depending on her every move to count. Each time the photographers gave her the ok to move again, she came up with a good pose to be in and then they would take their pictures. And the photographers were polite too, they didn’t demand too much from Rarity. Only a few times would they suggest a certain direction for her to be facing and then she would do so, but none of them had to actually get up and move her around or anything. They could all tell that Rarity had this, and the poses were all improvised standing poses, nothing that needed a lot of preparing to do. This photo shoot was just for them to see how good she was.
After the first few poses, Rarity was really starting to get into this. Everything seemed to come so naturally and smoothly. She was doing it all on her own and judging by the attitude the photographers had, she was doing it the right way. She felt beautiful and graceful; nothing could touch her in this state. Her self esteem went up many notches that day in that studio and she knew that Photo Finish would accept her.
After a while Photo Finish stopped dictating and let Rarity do her own thing. She could even tell that Rarity had this all under control and that was what pleased Photo Finish the most.
“I do not beleef eet!” Photo Finish said pointing her head away from the mic and talking to some of her assistants in the booth. “Ziz pony iz ze von, I juzt know eet!! ZHE IZ ZE VON!”
“Do you think she can save the studio, Photo?” asked Roxie.
“ZAVE EET?!?!? Zhe can do more zhan juzt zave eet!” Photo Finish said heroically. “Zhe vill bring uz out of zheze dark timez……zhe vill put uz back up to ze top! And ve zhall all help her along ze vay. Ve zhall make her a godezz, and zhe zhall be loved by everypony in Equeztria! Come now, everyvon, it iz time to make DE MAGIKS!!!”
Photo Finish then walked out of the booth and turned the main lights back on. “Ok, zhat iz enough vor now, everypony. Zhou haf all done vell! And Rarity…”
“Y-Y-Y-YES?!” Rarity’s eyes widened and she got all tense. This was the moment of truth.
“Az of right now, zhou, my dear, are hired az my number von model! VELCOME TO ZE ZTUDIO!”
“ARE………ARE YOU SERIOUS?!?” Rarity said, her voice cracking from so much excitement.
“ABZOLUTELY! Zhou haf zhown uz all zhat zhou are ze pervect pony to represent ze modeling community and zhou are going to be a big ztah!!”
“ME…………A STAR?!?”
Rarity suddenly envisioned herself in front of huge audiences, walking down the aisle in the finest dresses and modeling for everypony and signing autographs and appearing on the front cover of fashion and clothing magazines and commercials of all sorts……she would be big……she would be famous……her zeal could no longer be contained.
“AAAAAAAGGGGGGHHHHHH!!!” Her scream was so happy and joyful she almost started crying. She pranced around on her dainty little hooves and closed her eyes and shouted some more. “OH THANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOU!!!!!!!!”
“Ze pleazure eez mine, Dahling! Zhou are now von of uz!”
“I have never been this overjoyed in my life!!!” Rarity looked to the side and imagined what her friends would say to the news. Of course with the confidence they always seemed to have, they probably knew she would make it, but what if maybe they were a bit more doubtful than they seemed? Would they be just as ecstatic as her? Would Pinkie Pie throw one of her best parties ever to celebrate?!? Oh it didn’t matter; all that mattered was that this was perhaps one of the happiest days of Rarity’s life!!
About an hour later, Rarity had finished reading some of a little handbook that Photo Finish gave her for referring to workplace guidelines and such. She then signed a few papers and was officially hired as a model and was shown around the building a bit. She trotted so excitedly down the streets of Ponyville to go tell her friends the good news. She knew they would be over at Sugarcube Corner for lunch like they said they would and she had to hurry to get there so they all would hear it. She finally got to the door, still sweating and panting from excitement and then turned right around and bucked it open with a loud slam alarming her friends.
“AAAAAAAGGGGGH, IT’S A STICKUP!!!” shouted silly little Pinkie Pie being random like usual. “WE HAVE PLENTY OF MONEY OVER IN THE CASH REGISTER, JUST PLEASE, WHATEVER YOU DO, DON’T TAKE THE CAKE!!!”
“Pinkie, relax, it’s just Rarity!” Rainbow Dash said.
“Yeah, and in ‘rare’ form I might add!” Twilight said looking at the somewhat crazed and disheveled Rarity in the doorway still panting and sweating. “Rarity, how did it go? …… are you ok?”
“I………” Rarity looked like she was about to snap, but it was hard to tell what she would say in response. “I…………..”
“What happened?!” said Twilight seeming a bit worried.
“I………..”
“YES?!?!?” said everyone in unison.
“I………I GOT THE JOB EVERYPONY, I GOT THE JOB!!!!!!”
“YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!!” said all her friends jumping up from their seats and going over for a group hug around Rarity.
Now in the past, Rarity wouldn’t usually let her friends throw her up and down in the air to celebrate, but this was an exception. She was so excited and so happy, she didn’t care how much crazy horsing around it was. They all came right over and put their hooves under her and with all their might lifted her up and she let herself fly ever so gracefully.
“WAHAHAHA!” she whooped while everyone cheered for her.
“THREE CHEERS FOR RARITY!” Pinkie shouted.
“HIP-HIP-HORAY! HIP-HIP-HORAY! HIP-HIP-HORAY!!!”
Rarity flailed her arms around and whooped and hollered till her heart was content and then finally spoke up.
“QUICK, EVERYPONY, I HAVE AN IDEA!!!”
Not thinking, the others froze and failed to catch her as she fell down to the ground with a thud stirring up flour dust from the floor. But Rarity didn’t even notice that the rest of her body besides her hooves had touched the ground and gotten tarnished.
“WE MUST CELEBRATE!!!”
“OOOOH, LET ME GO GET MY PARTY CANNON!!” squealed Pinkie zooming up the stairs to her apartment above.
“Rarity, we’re so happy for you!” Twilight said joyfully.
“Yer gonna be livin the life now, girl!” Applejack added.
“So what was it like?” Spike asked her, “Did the photographers faint or something? I’ll bet they did as soon as they saw how beautiful and talented you were!”
“Well, not exactly Spike…” she said blushing a little, “…but it all just came so naturally, I barely had to be told what to do!” She looked up smiling contently to the heavens. “I tell you everyone, I may be a fashionista, but I think modeling has always been my secret talent and I never even knew it!”
“I feel very happy for you Rarity!” Fluttershy said with more happiness in her voice this time. “I don’t know why I seemed so worried earlier this morning, you obviously were meant for this job!”
“But do you still think you can handle the boutique along with this?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“Oh of course, Rainbow Dash. I only go over to model in the morning and then from about 1:00 till whatever time I choose to go close at night, I’ll be working at the boutique. Besides, being my own employee, I should have plenty of time and that will make it easier to work around my own schedule. But it doesn’t matter; this is such a happy day!”
Tears of joy began to form in Rarity’s eyes. Suddenly there was an explosion behind Rarity that rocked the whole room and caused her hair to un-straighten and go everywhere, but it left behind only a huge pile of confetti and streamers that fell right on top of her, covering her entirely. She peaked her head out and looked behind her to see Pinkie with her Party Cannon.
“Whoopsie……Looks like I forgot to turn it down to 50% …” she said sheepishly.
But Rarity couldn’t help but laugh and cry along with everypony else. The events of that day made her far too busy to worry over a frazzled mane and a little crazy party time with her friends. She let her mane stay as is and rolled around playfully in the pool of streamers. She rolled and rolled until she had wrapped herself up and couldn’t even undo herself from it. She looked like a little kitten tangled in yarn wriggling to escape, but more laughing ensued and the others joined her in the streamer pool. Nothing could bring her down now; tomorrow, she would start off a successful life as the star she always wanted to be!
But little did Rarity know that that night would be the last party she would have with her friends for a long time…
TO BE CONTINUED…