Lights, Camera...

by Smoking Gun

Chapter 8: The Face That Launched a Thousand Shippers

Chapter 8: The Face that Launched a Thousand Shippers

---

"What, exactly, is 'Super-Wings'?" Inside the library, Twilight, Pinkie, Fluttershy and Applejack looked at one of the free computers, which was currently viewing the Super-Stallion movie fan site that Spike had developed. They were in the sub-forum marked 'All of the Ships!'.

"Silly Twilight, that's shipping."

Twilight looked at Pinkie in confusion. "And what exactly is 'shipping'?"

"You can't be serious, darling!" Rarity's voice could be heard from Twilight's bathroom. "Shipping is how you declare what relationship you prefer- oomph!"

"You need some help, Rarity?"

"I'm quite alright, darling. I have this- arrgh! Where does this even go?"

"What's the point of shipping?"

"There's isn't a point! It's just something ponies do, it doesn't mean anything in the end. It's quite romantic in it's own way."

Twilight entered the forum and examined the posts. "No one understands the life of solitude more then a fellow superhero," Twilight quoted from one poster named 'SweetWingsorGTBO'. "Those two tortured souls were made for each other," said another poster. "OMG, team Super-Wings FTW?" Twilight stood back in confusion. "Who makes this stuff up?"

"Actually, Twilight, you have a few routing for you too," said Fluttershy, who was at a computer of her own. "There's a 'Super-Meekly' thread I've been posting in for a week now."

Twilight leaned in on Fluttershy's monitor to find several, long rants, proclaiming 'Super-Meekly' as the end-all-be-all of Super-Stallion's relationships. To Twilight's shock and horror, the posts went from simple, respectable and too the point, to long, curse-ridden diatribes against anyone who disagreed with her. There were curses that Twilight hadn't even heard of before. To top it all off, the posts were in all caps.

"Wow... umm... these are certianly... forward, for you I mean."

"I'm sorry, it's just sometimes, when I don't have to confront another pony, I can get a bit carried away sometimes. I'm sorry."

"I can see..." Twilight examined Fluttershy's user page, specifically her activity log, which stated all the recent posts she had made and what kind they were. "What... what exactly is 'clopfiction'?" Fluttershy quickly closed turned off the computer. She looked away with a blush and a squee.

"I'm done!" The girls turned to find Rarity in her Mistress Mayhem costume. The costume itself consisted of several leather straps, a matching domino mask and a whip to complete the ensemble. "I know what you're thinking; smashing! I know, it's quite stunning, isn't it?"

The other ponies were stunned, but not in a good way. "Umm... Rarity?" Applejack had trouble maintaining eye contact. "Not that Ah know much 'bout fashion and all, but..."

"But what, dear?"

"Ah believe Ah've seen subtler costumes in adult toy catalouges."

"That's the point, Applejack. It's about sex appeal. And nothing says 'sex appeal' like leather."

Twilight stood in confusion. "But still... why that of all things?"

"It's called 'fan service' for a reason, Twilight." The ponies turned to the door way to find Refined Taste, standing in the door way. Twilight was hoping she would have gotten used to that by now.

"Who let you in?" Asked the annoyed unicorn.

"You did when you signed your contract Miss Sparkle. You allowed us to use your home as a set, meaning we're allowed to waltz in whenever. I'll roll out the red carpet if I want to."

"You will do no such thing without giving me fair warning," Rarity interjected.

Refined was quick to notice Rarity's change in wardrobe. "What do you think you're doing?"

"I'm getting into costume for my scene, Ms Taste."

"Yeah. You're scenes aren't until tomorrow. Why are you in costume now?"

Well, to have an outfit like this and to not wear it would be a crime against fashion."

...

"That and it's quite difficult to get into. Even harder to get out. So I thought I would put it on now and just keep it on until we were done shooting."

"That's asinine and you know it." The other ponies couldn't help but notice that Refined was beginning to sound more and more like Cut when he first arrived.

"I know I wouldn't mind." Twilight turned to the sound of Spike's whispering. He was standing by her side all of a sudden. "Look at her, Twilight. She's gorges!" Something vaugly resembling hearts had replaced Spike's pupils. Twilight leaned in on her young assitent.

"You know she's naked every other day, right?"

"Don't ruin this for me."

"The person who should be in costume, is you, Sparkle."

"Wha- Am I on?"

"Did the equipment not tip you off?" Twilight and other ponies absorb their surroundings. There are several wires and cables hanging from the ceiling. Work ponies trotted around the room, carrying LED lights, cameras and make-up kits.

Twilight blushed in embarrassment. "Oh yeah, right."

"Honestly, Sparkle. I have no idea how Cut puts up with you."

"Hey! That stuff is getting old."

Pinkie leaned into Rarity. "Maybe we should make ship 'Final-Sparkle'. Sparkle shot around and glared at her friends, however, her blushing didn't help get her message across. Fluttershy, out of nowhere, leaned into Pinkie's face, her eyes filled with rage and her teeth showing.

"You wouldn't bucking dare!"

Refined Taste paced over the room in frustration. "Where is Cut? He's late! Sparkle, where is he?!"

"I. Don't. Know. Where. Cut. Is!"

"Ah reckon ah do." The girls and Taste turned to Applejack, who was looking around with a smug smile on her face. "Ah have this ol' hunch that he's discussion our new business venture."

The girls eyes widened in disbelief. Taste pushed through the equipment on ponies, walking right up to Applejack. "What do you mean 'business venture'? The one thing he insisted on while were here, was that we don't get any corporate sponsors."

"Well, it took a lot of persistence, but Ah finally convinced him to spend a day with the farm's top negotiator."

---

"Now, let's review." Final Cut leaned in and examined the contract laid out before him. "In exchange for all the apples my crew can eat, as well as your promotions, all it will take is a few scenes of the characters enjoying your products. No messing with the title or creative direction?"

"Eeeyup."

"Pleasure doing business with you my friend!"

---

"It's like Ah told Rainbow; all it takes is persistence!"

"Actually..." Twilight just realized that she hadn't seen a lot of Rainbow since Soarin was granted his powers by Princess Celestia, two weeks ago. "Where is Rainbow and Soarin?"

"Hmmm..." Refined recalled. "I would say it's one of two things. A; he's enjoying his new powers when he shouldn't be...."

"Or...?" Twilight asked with trepidation.

"Or she is."

---

"You want to be a Wonderbolt, yet you can't keep up with little old me?" Despite how fast Rainbow Dash flew, Soarin was just that little bit faster. "Maybe I should tell Spitfire to reconsider your Wonderbolts admission."

"Oh. It. Is. On." Pushing herself to her upper limits, Rainbow soared through the air as fast as she could without causing a sonic rainboom. "You remember what Celestia told you! If you keep using your powers outside filming, you're gonna- oomph!" Without warning, Soarin had stopped, mid-air, causing Rainbow to slam into his back. With his super strength and invulnerability, it felt like hitting a steel wall. Thankfully, she had flown into harder things in her life. "What's the big i-"

"Shut up!"

"Wh-?"

"Just listen."

Super hearing, one of the many abilities that Soarin now had at his disposal. He closed his eyes and let the vibrations of the world come to him. Rainbow just looked confused.

"I think those powers are starting to make you hear things."

"Exactly." Soarin began to filter the noises until he found the one he was searching for.

CRRRKKKT!

No other pony could hear the sound of the steel girder's bolts begin to bend. Not even the construction workers who were several stories underneath the bar.

POP! POP! Two of the three bolts popped loose. Soarin's eyes opened. "Found ya!"

WHOOSH! Soarin soared with super sonic speed towards Fillydelphia, which was several miles away from them at the time. A little stunned by his speed, Rainbow took a brief second to catch her wits before flying after him. The construction workers turned upward when they noticed the last of the bolts had fallen on their heads. The girder was already in free fall, ready to land on the unprepared ponies.

"Don't mind me, gentlecolts!" Soarin swooped under the girder, catching it with ease with just one hoof. "Where would you like me to set this one down?" The workers looked up in shock and awe, one letting the bagel drop from his mouth. "How about I just put this here and you guys can decide what to do later?" Without the workers able to respond, Soarin took it as a 'yes' and gently laid down the girder. "Anything else I can help with?" Soarin asked with a welcoming smile.

"Daddy!" The workers and Soarin turned to a young filly, wearing a little hard hat like her father. "Super-Stallion saved you!" The young filly ran up to Soarin, hugging his leg. "Thank you so much, Mr Stallion!"

Rainbow had arrived just in time to see the filly hug Soarin. He looked down at her, smiled and wiped the tear from her eye. "No need to thank me ma'am. I'm just doing what any good pony would do."

Is this guy perfect? That was the only question that ran through Rainbow's mind as she floated overhead. Soarin started his ascension.

"If there's nothing else, you gentlecolts have a great day!" Soarin soared into the air, pass Rainbow who followed his trail. The two of them stopped several thousand feet over Fillydelphia.

"That. Was. Awesome! You totally saved those guys!"

Soarin blushed. "Rainbow, please! If you had heard the bar and were fast enough, you would have done the exact same thing."

"Don't sell yourself short. You're a hero."

"You're... you're too kind. I'm just like anypony else."

Soarin wasn't this modest as a Wonderbolt, what made him so shy? thought Rainbow. "You're a hero, Soarin. Be proud of yourself."

"Well, I do have to admit, I feel amazing! Being able to help ponies, being Super-Stallion, it feels like a dream. But still, I was just doing the right thing."

Rainbow smiled with a blush. "I think I see what Celestia gave you these powers. Even if for a limited time." Rainbow and Soarin remembered back to shortly after Celestia had granted Soarin his powers.

---

"Now Soarin, giving you these powers is a strain enough as it is. The only way I could maintain any power for myself was to put a limited amount of energy inside you. There's plenty of power to finish filming, but using it outside of filming and you could loose them before you're done."

Soarin looked up at the Princess, understanding the gravity of this responsibility. "Yes, Princess."

Celestia leaned into his ear. "But I trust you of anypony here to do the right thing."

"Yes princess."

---

"I'm sure she would understand." Soarin looked long into Rainbow's eyes. The both of them started to giggle and smile. "So, Rainbow?"

"Yeah?"

"I was reading the script... and I found this scene we're probably going to have to shoot at some point soon."

"SEX!"

...

"Yeah..." Soarin looked a little startled at her yell. Rainbow's entire face turned a bright red and she turned away.

"I'm sorry... it's just-"

"You've been worried about it too?"

"Well, yeah and... wait, 'too'?"

"I'm a little concerned about it."

Rainbow became worried. Did he not want to be with her, even if it was just a movie. "Really...?"

"Since you've been thinking about it too, you probably know what I'm worried about."

"Soarin, it's not-"

"You're uncomfortable about it."

Rainbow floated in confusion. "Umm... a little..."

"I knew it!" Soarin looked away form her in embarrassment. "I knew you would be uncomfortable with it. What I was hoping to ask you was if there was anything I could do to make this any easier for you."

Suddenly, a huge weight was lifted of Rainbow's shoulders. "Aww, you don't have to worry about that. I'm sure we'll... be professional about it." The other thing Rainbow wanted to say didn't seem appropriate at the time.

"Oh, phew! I thought you were going to be angry at me for bringing it up or something."

"At you... nah! I wouldn't want to risk my spot in the 'Bolts by yelling at ya."

"Ha! Good... good point."

...

"We should probably head back to Ponyville."

"Yeah, sure."

As the pegasi built up speed, Soarin turned to Rainbow.

"Hey, Rainbow. One more thing."

"Yeah?"

"When we're shooting the scene... you'll have to forgive me if I stare." With a wink, Soarin took off at super speed, with Rainbow following as best she could. Upon close examination of her after-image, her blush was still visible.

---

"Hey, Rarity. Can I ask you a question?"

"Be my guest, my dear." Rarity stood in one of the few free rooms left in the library. Using one of the spare manikins from the prop department, Rarity was practicing using her whip, which, for some odd reason, was real. "Hiyah!"

"Well, it's about Cut."

Rarity paused for a moment and looked at Twilight with understanding smile. "Ah yes. Please, continue." Rarity resumed her whipping. "Kiyah!"

"It's not what you think. It's just that I have difficulty understanding exactly what kind of pony he is."

"Colts will have effect on us. Go on."

"Well, a couple of weeks ago, he told me that he's starting to warm up to Ponyville and we've been pretty cool..."

"But you don't know how he feels."

"Rarity, it's not like that." Rarity stopped whipping and turned back to Twilight with a straight face. "OK... maybe a little. I don't know. It's just-"

"You like the idea you changed him."

"Isn't that a selfish of me?"

Rarity looked stunned by that last question. "Of course not! It's a lady's prerogative to change a colt. Not so much that he's a completely different pony, but enough to know that we can."

"Well... when you put it that way-"

"You think you're on the right track."

"I guess you know me better then I thought."

"I'm a little bit more experienced in this department then you are, my dear. Now, I can't say for certain yet, but if you want to know how Cut feels, I'm going to need to see him interact with you."

"Well, he should be here soon."

"Hey, Twilight!" The two unicorns turned to find Spike in the doorway to the room they were in. "Is it cool if I talk to you for a second?"

Twilight turned back to Rarity. "You go to him, darling. This is probably going to take a while." With that, Rarity returned to her whipping practice.

Twilight followed Spike into the other room. "What's wrong, Spike?"

"I'm just gonna ask it; what can I do to get Rarity to like me?"

"Spike, you know-"

"Look at her Twilight! She looks better then ever. I've had a crush on her since we arrived in Ponyville. Please help me!"

Twilight smiled as she knelt down to his level. "Spike, I'm honored you would ask for my help with something like this, but I love you too much to let you think it would work out between you and Rarity."

...

"What?"

"Well, ignoring the fact that you're a dragon and she's a unicorn, you're still a baby. Rarity is kind of..." The two looked back at Rarity, using her whip in her tight leather outfit. "She's more of a 'full grown colt' kind of gal." Spike lowered his head in disappointment. "I'm so sorry, Spike. But I think you need to be prepared to move onto something more realistic."

Spike looked up at Twilight with a smile. "You're right."

"I know I-"

"I have to do something to make myself an adult in Rarity's eyes!"

"Oh brother..." Spike turned away from Twilight, looking more determined the ever.

"The question is; how do I become an adult?"

"Hmm... stop playing with your doll collection?"

Spike raise a single finger on his claw, not turning back to Twilight. "Don't talk crazy."

"Sparkle! Get dressed!" Twilight turned to find Taste just as she threw the suit bag at her, which she caught with her magic. "Cut just walked in the door, head upstairs, get changed and get back down here, ASAP!"

With a whip of her hair, Taste left the room. Groaning, Twilight headed upstairs.

---

"Is everypony set?" Final Cut looked on as her crew ponies arranged the last of the lights and cameras.

"Everypony except your girlfriend." Taste was chilling in the green room next to the room that was being used for filming. "Not a single pony here knows the meaning of 'punctual'. Kind of ironic since she's the librarian."

Cut rolled his eyes. "I never thought I'd be the one telling you this, but chillax! You're getting worked up over everything."

"I'm caring about the project. Remember when you used to do that? Before you started mounting the town geek."

Cut leaned in close to Taste. "Firstly, Celestia assigned me this. I may not be digging it 100%, but I'll be damned if anypony tells me that I don't care about what we're doing." He leaned in closer. "And if you ever insult Twilight... or any of my employees, you'll find it'll come to bite you in the haunches."

"I'm ready!" Cut left the green room and entered the set.

"Sparkle, you rea-?"

Cut stopped when he saw her. Twilight, now her Meekly costume, consisting of a button up shirt, red tie and matching glasses smiled at him. "Is everything OK?"

...

"Cut?"

"Yeah... yeah sure."

"I should probably hit the make up chair before we get started."

"Don't."

"Don't?"

"That won't be necessary. You're... you're fine. Let's just get started."

Cut walked off, hoping behind the camera so he could set the shot. Twilight turned to find Rarity smiling at her. "Rar-"

"I don't think I need to see any more."

"Geronimo!" The ponies in the room cleared the path from the window and Soarin and Rainbow Dash crashed through it. Crashing straight into a book shelf.

Soarin was the first to get up, helping Rainbow as he stood. "Sorry everypony. We were racing and we got a little carried away."

Twilight stepped forward. "That's alright Soarin, it's nothing I can't fix a minute."

"Please, allow me." With lightning speed, Soarin rearranged all the books on the shelf, in order no less. "My apologies, again." He examined Sparkle in her costume. "Sorry if I sound forward Miss Sparkle, but you look lovely."

Twilight turned away, blushing and smiling. "Why, thank you."

Rainbow and Cut mumbled under their breaths. Spike and the other girls looked in confusion.

"Well, since everypony is here, I suppose I can make the announcement now." Cut waved all the cast and crew to come in. "Eveypony, come here. I want you all to get packed. In a couple of days, we're going to be heading to Triple C!"

...

"Canterlot Comic Con!"

"Ah!" said the whole cast and crew in unison.

"Don't get excited yet." Cut walked back over to the camera, with all the other ponies returning to their previous positions. "You think it's hard working for me?"

"Yep!" said the whole cast and crew in unison.

"Wait till you meet your fans."

---

Next: Canterlot Comic Con!

Comments

[Path_of_cloud]

She's gorges needs to be gorgeous.

assitent should be assistant.

Seems to be it. Canterlot Comic Con... Approved!

Spike's got this.

Actually, Spike should get a lot of attention himself. Apparently, the guys who run those sites are pretty glorified by the fans. ONWARD!

P.S. psst, have a cookie.