//------------------------------//
// Chapter 15: A Familiar Stress 
// Story: Photo Dash 
// by SS Nomad 
//------------------------------//

	The entire world was noise.  The frustratingly familiar sound of a small hammer rattling between two bells dragged Photo back to consciousness, her hoof darting out from under the sheets to punch the space she usually kept her alarm clock.  As her hoof whiffed through open air, she grumbled in confusion and sat a bit upright, looking around.  It took her a moment to recognize where she was in her sleep-induced haze, and she had already reached half way over to the clock to shut it off when everything pieced together.
Photo lifted the clock and stared at the time, gears in her brain finally getting up to speed, as she realized that yes, it was exactly the time she’d set the alarm for.  Chuckling to herself, she set the clock back down and stretched loudly.  That was… a well needed nap.  With a light yawn, she hopped out of bed and ran her hoof through her mane.  Messy as always.
Photo’s smile vaporized in an instant, brushing her mane over her shoulder so she could see it.  Green, blue, and purple.  Her hoof flew to her chest, only to find the distinct absence of anything metallic.  In a flash, she was tossing sheets off the bed in a panic as she tried to find her locket.
A knock at the door caused her to freeze solid, followed by Spitfire’s muffled voice from the other side of the door, “Hey, the alarm actually wake you up, or…”
“Ja!” Photo nearly shouted, “I am avake, it is no problem.”
“Hey, you want some coffee or something?” Spitfire replied as the door jostled in its frame.
It took no time for Photo to remember the last time she’d been in this room, and Spitfire walking in on her without warning.  She bolted for the door, calling out, “D-don’t come in.”
The door shook as Spitfire took her weight off of it, “W- No, I wasn’t-”  Spitfire interrupted herself with the thump of smacking her forehead to the door, “Look, I’m sorry.  It was stupid of me to have done that, but I learned my lesson, okay?  I...”
As Spitfire’s words trailed off, Photo started to feel guilty, “No, it’s fine.  I… just… I’m still half asleep.  I didn’t mean to accuse you like that.”
“Yeah, alright,” Spitfire replied, “I know you’ve had a tough day, it’s fine.  Just, um… actually, I need something in there, so… can I come in?”
“N-” Photo stopped, realizing how awkward it would be to deny her access to her own room after all that.  Still, she looked like Rainbow right now.  Luckily, her eyes settled on her excuse, “Give me a second, I’m going to step into ze bathroom to clean up.”
Taking a deep breath, Photo tried to walk calmly over to the bathroom door, stepping in and closing it behind her, stopping and staring at Rainbow’s reflection in the mirror.  This… was working so far.  Still, where the fuck had her necklace gone?  A shiver went through her, the thought of another pony watching her in her sleep still lingering in her mind.  It… couldn’t be.  Spitfire would have noticed if somepony had broke into her house.
Spitfire had apparently decided that she’d waited long enough, because she opened the door to the bedroom slowly and eventually stepped in, “Woah-ho.  What’d you do to my sheets?”
Photo was confused for a moment before remembering the state she’d left the bed in, “Ach, I vas just taking them off so I could make ze bed.”
“You didn’t need to make my bed,” Spitfire replied, a slight tone of embarrassment hiding behind a teasing chuckle, “I mean, I clearly don’t.”
Photo chuckled and looked back at her reflection, finding it incredibly disorienting to have her rainbow mane.  She closed her eyes and ran some water, splashing her face.  Hold character, damn it.  You just have to stay in here until Spitfire is done, then figure out what happened with-
“Oh, shit,” Spitfire interjected dispassionately.
Photo’s eyes went wide, and she cracked the door to peer out, “V-vhat?”
There Spitfire stood, tossing some of her sheets back onto the bed, with Photo’s necklace in her hoof, “I just found your locket on the floor.”
Photo stared nervously out the crack in the door, trying to keep her tone steady, “I vas vondering vhere zat vent.”
Spitfire fiddled with it curiously, looking over the markings on the outside, “Looks like the chain broke.  You know, this is a really nice looking locket.  It… suits you.”
Photo shoved her hoof out the crack in the door, holding it out with her sole up, “Here.”
After a small grunt of confusion from Spitfire, Photo felt the cold metal dropped onto her hoof.  She quickly withdrew her leg and closed the door gently, looking the locket over nervously.  Well… she had it at least.  She swore to herself, looking at the bent and snapped chain, likely broken by something so simple as rolling over in her sleep.
“You are alright in there, yeah?” Spitfire called over from amidst the sound of sheets being shaken out and tossed back on the bed.
“Vhat?” Photo snapped out of her thoughts, “J-ja, just…”
She lifted the locket to her chest and just held it there.  With a gentle and familiar poof, the illusion wrapped around her, much to her relief.  She adjusted her mane, slowly relaxing as she realized that the broken chain hadn’t destroyed the magic, and set the locket back on the sink as her disguise dissipated with a foop.
“Just sorting my mane out,” Photo replied with a chuckle, “I’d hate for jou to see how it is right now.”
Spitfire razzed her lips, “Please, like you could look bad.  Well hey, don’t take too long.  Oh, you never gave me an answer on the coffee, but… yeah, I’ll just go make some.”
Photo couldn’t help but smile, “Danke.”
As she listened to the retreating hoofsteps and the sound of the door being closed, Photo allowed herself to let down her guard for just a moment.  Staring down at the broken chain of her locket, she sighed long and deep.  She put it around her neck and tried closing the clasp around a random link in the chain, but it wouldn’t fit through the fine little hole of it.  After a short struggle trying to link the two bent pieces back together, she realized that there was probably another link that had snapped entirely and fallen off.  She thought for a moment that she’d just tuck it into her dress and let the dress hold it on, but quickly realized that would get nowhere since it slid around under her collar anyway.  Photo shook her head.  This was such a stupid problem to be having.
The panicky half of her brain kicked in, suddenly wondering if she had a good way to sneak out of the building if she couldn’t wear the disguise.  Her mind was a blur of terrible ideas involving distractions and jumping off the balcony.  She decided to go with another splash of water to her face to snap her out of it.  The locket still worked, and she could use it… somehow.
Glancing down at the chain, she grudgingly decided to try to tie the broken ends together.  She was no expert in knots, and knots in chain just seemed like a tragedy waiting to happen, but… what else was there?  After a half second of contemplating an overcomplicated solution using dental floss, she just shook her head and tried to tie the tiny chain together.
It took some effort and guesswork, but she managed to get the chain together in such a way that it seemed like it would probably hold.  Dropping the chain from her mouth, she ran it under the sink for a moment to clean it off before clasping the necklace on as normal and looking in the mirror.  One gentle poof later and there she stood, good as new save for the obvious lingering signs of stress and sleep deprivation.  She chuckled and shook her head, stealing Spitfire’s brush for a moment to straighten her flat white mane before heading out.
Dress donned and locket double checked for security, she stepped out into the delightfully coffee scented air of Spitfire’s apartment.  As she rounded the corner into the kitchen, Spitfire quickly reached over to relight the stove and get the water up to heat again, tossing out the filter and grounds she’d used for her own cup and getting another ready for Photo’s.
There was a brief, awkward silence as neither knew what to say, but Photo was the one to break it, “Thank you.  I… feel much better now.  Ze nap.”
Spitfire calmed as the tone of the conversation landed somewhere nice, offering her trademark grin, “Yeah, like I said, no problem.  If you ever need to crash here like that, I don’t mind sleeping on the couch.”
“No, I should have things vorked out on my end soon enough,” Photo mumbled in reply, staring into space, “and I spend a lot of time out of town.”
“Alright, well,” Spitfire stopped to focus on pouring the hot water through the grounds and into the mug waiting below, “Just an open offer is all.”
Photo watched intently before snatching the now full glass of coffee out from under the pourover, “Of course, thank you.”
The first sip of coffee was, of course, far too hot, but it still hit her with the first wave of placebo effect.  Here she was again, sitting around having coffee with Spitfire.  It just seemed so normal now, she wouldn’t have even questioned it except that the last time she’d done it was as Rainbow.  Just remember that Photo hadn’t experienced this yet and everything should go smooth.
“I should probably head out,” Spitfire announced as she set down her drink, “Kinda skipping out on work right now.”
Photo turned to her in surprise, “V-vhat?  Why would jou-”
“I just, I dunno…” Spitfire shrugged, scratching the back of her head and trying to stifle embarrassment, “I thought you could use somepony there for you when you woke up.  After, you know…”
Caught off guard by the caring gesture, Photo found herself at a loss for words and just said the first things that came to mind, “Jou… didn’t have to.  I mean...”
“I know I didn’t,” Spitfire smiled back, “But I knew you’d appreciate it.”
Photo’s cheeks grew flush, “Vell… Ja, but… Jou don’t have to skip vork to vorry about me.”
Spitfire laughed, “Yeah, well, the other option was paperwork, sooo…”
“Don’t downplay it,” Photo commanded, “It vas good of you.  I… do appreciate it.”
Spitfire lifted her nearly empty cup of coffee and gestured it to Photo, “Any time.  But yeah, really, I should get out of here.”
Looking down into her still rather hot mug, Photo tried to down a large gulp, much to her mouth’s disappointment. After some sputtering, she replied, “Almost done.”
Spitfire chuckled at the display, standing and looking around to make sure everything was basically in order, before noticing and picking up an old envelope, open and covered in stamps, “Oh, yeah, I should put this back in my room before I lose it.”
“Vas ist das?” Photo mumbled without thinking, “...that is a lot of stamps.”
Spitfire looked down at the envelope for a second before explaining, “Ah, yeah, letter from my grandma I keep around so I have her address.  I mean, it hasn’t changed in my entire life, but I still like to be sure.  And yeah, you know how old mares can be, she slapped a ton of thirty year old local stamps and a few one centers to get it here.”
“I take it she lives far,” Photo continued as she sipped her coffee, not really trying to pry but just keeping the conversation going.
“Uh… yeah,” Spitfire replied, dodging the heart of the question.
Photo noticed the hesitation and was left even more curious, but decided not to try her luck, instead just offering, “I know ze feeling.  Alvays nice to keep in touch vith distant family.”
Spitfire nodded and drifted off to her room to put the envelope away, leaving Photo to her thoughts and her coffee.  Embarrassed by where her grandma lives?  Photo just shook her head, deciding there was probably no way to guess a reason without more information, and rushed to finish off the coffee before she had to leave.
In no time at all, Spitfire had returned and the two of them readied to leave.  There was not much to it, the only particular sticking point being the two of them wandering around trying to remember that Photo’s goggles had been left on the table by the couch, which left them each amused at their own spotty memories.  In the end, the two of them stood on the balcony outside Spitfire’s door, neither really wanting to move.
“You… want me to walk you downstairs, or…” Spitfire offered.
“Jou’re running late for vork,” Photo retorted, nodding off the balcony, “I know ze way out.”
“That wasn’t the question,” Spitfire grinned back.
“Jou’re sweet, but go.  I’ve vasted enough of your time today,” Photo replied, leaning forward boldly and planting a kiss on Spitfire’s cheek, much to the mare’s pleasant surprise.
There was a dull, familiar click in the distance.  Photo slowly turned to find herself looking at a distant cloud.  It seemed perfectly normal save for one thing, the barely visible reflection of the sun off of a lens protruding from its surface.
“Ach verdammt.







Photo sat slumped in her desk chair, spinning idly in place.  This was, by far, the most stressful step of the magazine making process for her.  She had done all she could and just had to leave it to her staff and the printers.  Despite years of making it work, the point at which everything was outside her control still left her with a nervous edge.  She just needed to wait.
Stopping her chair mid-spin, Photo found herself staring at the shattered camera she’d set on her shelf.  She chuckled, her mind jumping back to a few hours prior.  The look on the cameramare’s face was absolute gold when she realized they’d spotted her, and watching a mildly out of shape paparazzi trying to outfly the captain of the Wonderbolts was a comedy show like no other.  The mare eventually lost her grip on the camera from about ten stories up, sending it crashing to the ground abandoned as she fled.
Photo wasn’t entirely sure what to do with it, to be honest.  There was a bit of a lingering question of legality of having it, but she’d wait to see if anypony tried to claim it.  Standing up and walking over to look at it on her shelf, Photo surveyed the wreckage of the camera with a little curiosity.  The shutter and film chamber still looked intact, so perhaps she could get the contents out and see if they were still usable.  Very gently, in case the film inside was stuck, she tried the rewind dial.  Sure enough, it slid rather freely.  She set it back down, deciding to deal with the details of it later, but curiosity slowly taking her at what else might be on the roll.
The distraction of the camera slowly faded as the reality of the magazine being on the way to print settled in again.  It was just so nerve wracking, having so many ponies out there, and so many she cared about, waiting to see her work once more.  She knew full well that it would be up to her standards of quality, but… what if that wasn’t enough?  The thought hit her like a ton of bricks, and she wasn’t entirely sure where it came from.  She’d just been so distracted recently, and she hoped it wouldn't bleed through into her work.  Her life had been so filled with drama and planning and-  She cut off her own thoughts with a dumb grin, the realization that she’d be out on a date with Spitfire in a few days overwhelming her concerns.  Just relax.  Your work is done.  The editors would handle the minutiae and yet another edition would be out as normal.  She just needed to keep moving forward like always.
Photo chuckled to herself and grabbed the shattered camera, wrapping it up in a spare fabric sample she had laying around so that no shards of glass got loose, and set it in her bag.  As much as she wanted to be there in case something went wrong, she knew that was ridiculous.  Nothing was going to go wrong, and if it did her staff could handle it.  She needed to get home and sleep.
She winced.  Home was… No, she’d just collect her things and head to Ponyville.  She needed to be there the next day anyway.  Her cloud bed was far more comfortable, as well.  Yes, these were the perfectly legitimate reasons she didn’t feel like staying in the penthouse tonight and she wouldn’t think about it any further.  Photo packed up her things in a nervous silence and left the office.







Dash was rather disappointed with how long her flight to Ponyville took, but there was a degree to which she had to accept that a saddle bag full of clothes and notebooks was going to slow her down.  Settling on the soft cumulus of her patio, she sighed in relief and exhaustion before turning to look out at the rising moon.  Not the best of days, but it had its moments.  At least it was over.
Cautiously stepping inside to find everything as she left it, Rainbow went straight to her bedroom.  With her bags dropped on the floor, she kicked off the ground and gave a strong flap of her wings before landing face first in her bed with a loud puff.  Yawning happily, she nestled in the bed and closed her eyes, just listening to the distant crickets and trying to get to sleep.  All she needed to do was let the day end and the magazine come out in the morning.
…
Damn it.  She wanted some reassurance that everything was going well with the editing and printing.  She sat up in bed, blinking her eyes open, and stared in the direction of Canterlot.  It was too far to do anything.  She could sit up all night and worry or she could just go to sleep.  It was simple, right?  Just sleep.  Lay down, stop thinking about work, and catch up on rest.
Sighing, she hopped out of bed and walked into her kitchen, opening the cabinet and looking for something to snack on to distract herself.  When her eyes caught on a bottle of vodka, she chuckled and decided a drink would probably do her well.  A quick splash over ice, a few drops of vanilla, and she was out the door and sitting on her patio, looking out at the dying lights of Ponyville.  It was so quiet, so peaceful, just her and the crickets.
Surveying the land, she reflexively checked which of her friends’ lights were still on, but there were no surprises to be found there.  Much to her amusement, all of the library’s lights were still on except the bedroom, likely with a sleeping Spike inside.  Rainbow sighed as she sipped at her drink.  Twilight would always be Twilight.
Her mind jumped back to the camera sitting in her bag.  If anypony could help her get the contents out without breaking them, it’d be Twi.  She looked back at the very obvious signs that the mare was still awake and decided to stop by and try to keep herself distracted.  Besides, her curiosity was slowly getting the better of her in regards to the camera’s contents.  She smiled and looked around the town, letting the tranquility of the small town night soak in and settle her mind.
As time passed and her glass went from full, to ice, to empty, Rainbow’s short moment of meditation came to an end and she decided she was still too awake and too distracted to get to bed.  Grabbing the wrapped up camera, she noticed her locket resting in the bag atop her clothes.  The awkward knot she’d tied in the chain was holding, but since she was going to see Twilight anyway she decided to scoop it up and take it with.  She took a sharp dive off the edge of her balcony and was at the door to the library in an instant.  Seeing the lights on inside, but the curtains all drawn shut, she decided knocking was probably in order.
After a short pause, Twilight’s voice called from inside, “Sorry, we’re closed.”
Rainbow chuckled and opened the door to peek in, “Yo.”
Twilight jumped in surprise, the shock still apparent in her voice as she spoke, “Oh, hi Rainbow, yeah come on in.  How’s it going?”
“G-” Rainbow’s reply shook a bit as she remembered all of the nonsense she’d had to put up with over the past day, “Good.  You know. Just another day.”
Tilting her head, Twilight led Rainbow inside, “Are you… sure?  You seem a little more shaky than last time you were here.”
“I- well…” Rainbow set the camera on the table and unwrapped it, “Had a runin with a paparazzo earlier.  I was hoping to get the film out without destroying it.”
Twilight looked at her suspiciously, “...Why?”
Rainbow raised a hoof to gesticulate, but no decent explanation reached her lips, “I just… wanted to see what they’d shot.”
Twilight scrunched up her muzzle, “That’s… probably not exactly legal.”
“Hey,” Dash retorted, “She dropped it and ran.”
“How do you even have this?” Twilight pressed.
Rainbow sighed, “Look, how’s this, do you think you could fix the camera?  I have a feeling they’re going to try to get in contact with me and being able to return it in one piece could score me some points.  What I do once it’s fixed is not your problem, right?”
Twilight stared disapprovingly, but thought it over for a moment, “I’m not sure if I could really get the lenses back to how they were, but fixing the body should be easy enough.”
“Great,” Rainbow nodded.
Twilight’s expression hardened, “First you’ve got to tell me why you’re so insistent on this.  This is more than just curiosity.”
Dash froze, not wanting to admit it to herself, let alone Twilight, but the words slipped out of her lips in a whisper, “My… penthouse got broken into.  I want to see if it was her.”
“What?” Twilight yelped in shock, “That… are you serious?  Rainbow, are you okay?”
“I’m f-” the word caught in her throat again, so instead she sighed, “I’ve been better.  I just…”
“I think fixing her camera is the least you could do if it’s your fault it’s broken,” Twilight stated very plainly, like she was pretending she had no idea what was going on, “Don’t worry, I’ll take care of it.”
Rainbow smiled gratefully, “Thanks, Twi.  I know I ask you for help like this all the time, I really feel bad about you never letting me pay you fo-”
“Stop it,” Twilight interrupted, “You don’t owe me anything for this.  Really.  And hey, if you want to stick around, the guest bed is always open.”
Appreciative of the offer, Rainbow nodded, “Some other time, maybe.  I’ve got all my things at home and need to wake up early.”
“Oh, that’s a shame,” Twilight sighed, “I was hoping you’d stick around to chat.”
“I could for a bit,” Rainbow offered back, “I took a nap in the middle of the day and I’m not really tired yet.”
Twilight smiled, “I’ll make something without caffeine.”
Over the course of the next hour or so, Rainbow relaxed in the wonderful feeling of normalcy that came with sitting in the library and sipping tea.  Twilight did a wonderful job just keeping the conversation light and helping remind her that life moves on past things like this.  The night dragged on, between chat and Twilight insisting on doing repairs and tests of the locket, and in the end Rainbow was fully and properly exhausted.  In the end, she decided the guest room sounded wonderfully inviting and headed off to collapse.
As she laid in bed, the day’s concerns overshadowed by the fun she’d been having, she begrudgingly accepted that everypony’s advice after the break-in was correct.  She should have known that all she needed to help her calm down was a friend.