//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 - The Start of Stardom // Story: Space Gems // by EquestriaBound //------------------------------// The day of Photo Finish’s arrival had finally come. Twilight was unable to catch some sleep all night long, as such she was still tired when she woke up. She took a look at Spike, who managed to fall asleep at some point during the night. Twilight decided to let him sleep, so he could get some good earned rest, and silently walked downstairs as to not wake the baby dragon up. After firing herself a quick pick-me-up spell, she left her library and made her way towards the designer’s fair. Rarity had requested for her appearance, and she had promised to attend for when Photo Finish would come. The fair was even more crowded than usual. More designers have shown up during the last time she was here, which in turn attracted even more ponies. The designers that were now putting their finishing touches on their work were more tense than usual, due to wanting it to be complete before Photo Finish shows up. Twilight looked around the fair to see if she could find Rarity anywhere, but the crowd was too dense for her to identify any pony. Luckily, she got the sudden help from a certain blue Pegasus. “Twilight!” She looked up in the sky to see Rainbow Dash speeding towards her. “Rainbow Dash? What are you doing here?” She landed right in front of the unicorn. “Rarity asked me to come here. All our friends are now with her.” “Even Applejack?” “Yeah. Come on, I’ll take you there.” She grabbed Twilight by the armpits and lifted her up into the sky. Twilight wasn’t sure she was going to like this. “Um, Rainbow Dash? Perhaps it would be better if you’d just let me waAAAAAAH!” Before she could even finish her sentence, Rainbow Dash was already dashing off towards Rarity’s stand, with Twilight dangling below her, shouting her lungs out during the whole trip. It didn’t take long for the duo to reach their destination. Like Rainbow Dash said, all their friends were there, waiting for Twilight to show up. Also present were the Cutie Mark Crusaders, with Sweetie Belle still wearing her self-made necklace. Rainbow Dash gently put Twilight back on the ground, and Rarity greeted her purple friend. “Twilight, glad you finally made it!” Twilight was still shaking on her hooves, while trying to catch her breath due to all the screaming she did on her way. When she finally regained her composure, she answered back. “Not a problem, it’s the least I could do for a good friend. Today’s a big day for you, after all. I wouldn’t miss it for the world.” “Thank you, Twilight,” Rarity continued. “Actually, I have a special request for you.” She then turned to the rest of her friends. “For all of you, to be exact.” The ponies looked at each other before Fluttershy asked: “What is it?” “Would you girls be interested in being my models for today? I’ve made several outfits which I’m sure would suit you perfectly.” She showed off the five dresses she managed to get done yesterday, each showing off the ponies’ unique traits. They were also all equipped with several of the jewels from the meteorite. Twilight was the first to respond. “But of course we will, right girls?” “Absolutely,” Applejack replied. “You can count on us.” “You bet! This is gonna be so much fun!” “I don’t know. You remember what happened last time I posed for Photo Finish?” “Fluttershy, darling, don’t worry. I’m sure that this time, Photo Finish will love my dresses for my style, rather than your attitude and pizzazz.” Fluttershy felt relieved to hear that. The ponies made their way to the dressing rooms to get changed into their new outfits. The fair only became even more crowded as more ponies joined the event. They all made a lot of sound as they were talking about the outfits they saw, and trivial stuff that only concerned those involved in their respective conversations. The noise was abruptly ended when the crowd noticed another pony heading their way, accompanied by a crew. With her blue coat, white manes, pink glasses, and black, white and pink attire, it didn’t take long for her to be recognized. “I, Photo Finish, have arrived!” The public stepped aside to make way for the photographer and her staff, as they made their way towards the designers. Once there, Photo Finish approaches one of her staff, a dark gray Earth stallion with spiky light blue manes and a suitcase strapped on his back. She pushed the buttons on the case to reveal a photo camera, which was facing the stallion’s left side. “We begin… now!” The first designer they approached made an outfit of more futuristic influences; A silver chrome suit where the shoulders stuck out, accompanied with matching boots, glasses that consisted of a single wide red tinted lens and a silver frame surrounding it, resembling a visor that looks like you could should laser beams out of, and several thin round golden bracelets that seemed to orbit around the hooves. Photo Finish gave the outfit a quick glance before she loudly exclaimed: “No!” The designer didn’t understand. “No? What do you…” “Next!” Before he could even complete his sentence, Photo Finish and her crew already made their way to the next candidate, leaving the designer to himself to imagine what he might’ve done wrong. The second designer made a dress inspired by ancient Egypt; White linen with a zigzag pattern, golden bow necklace with several jewels encrusted on it as well as a golden headband with the head of a pony on it, which in turn had two rubies for eyes. As she looked at the dress, Photo Finish scratched herself underneath her chin, then she spoke. “Yes!” She made several hoof gestures towards her crew, and soon they were making several snapshots of the Egyptian dress. When they were done, they quickly made their way towards the third candidate, once more without saying a word. This seemed to be the routine. She would look at the designs the candidates put up for her, and depending on what she would say afterwards, either snap a few pictures of the outfit, or just go on towards the next. It wouldn’t take long for Photo Finish to get reach Rarity’s stand, and she was starting to get nervous. She quickly stopped by the dressing rooms to check up on her models. “Girls, are you almost done in there?” “I’m almost ready!” Twilight told her. “Me too!” Pinkie Pie added. “And I can already say that this dress looks super-duper terrific on me! Although I’m not quite sure on the nature theme you got going for me.” “Um, Pinkie? I think we may have possibly accidently switched dresses by mistake,” Fluttershy told her in her common, quiet tone. While the ponies were still busy getting dressed, Rarity looked around the competition. Those who were already judged, were either jumping for joy as their work seemed to have gained Photo Finish’s approval, or were sitting on the ground, moping because their outfits were rejected. One of the green unicorns even had to be consoled by her blue pink maned friend, who told her that Equestria was not ready for newly invented jeans, yet that they were going to eventually be popular one day. The ponies who were yet to be judged were now making several final adjustments, feeling that their work would not pass Photo Finish’s judgment in their current state. Some final adjustments, maybe that was something Rarity should be doing as well, she thought as the famous fashion photographer slowly approached her stand. Rarity was started to feel a bit panicky. What if her creations weren’t good enough for Photo Finish? “We’re ready!” Rarity immediately centered her attention towards her friends, who were now all garbed in their corresponding dresses; Twilight in her celestial dress, Applejack in stylish cowboy clothing, Fluttershy in her nature themed dress, Rainbow Dash in all the colors of the rainbow, and Pinkie Pie in all pink. Naturally, all the outfits were accompanied with the appropriate jewels. “Rarity, are you okay?” Twilight asked. As Rarity gave her dresses another look, she sighed with relief. She was confident her creations would be amaze the famous photographer. “Yes, I’m quite alright.” It now was time for Rarity’s dresses to be put up for judgment. Photo Finish and her crew had finally reached her stand, and Rarity had prepared a special stage to show off her work. She greeted the crew, and invited them to take a look at her upcoming show. She then lifted the curtains aside, and there were her friends, striking a pose. Their costumes had the intended effect on the audience, who were all audibly in awe by the sparkling gemstones that the dresses carried. But while Rarity took satisfaction in knowing that the audience was impressed by her work, the one who she really wanted to see pleased was Photo Finish, and she retained to hold a stoic face as she continued to stare at the show the designer had put on display. She seemed to be staring for a longer period of time than usual, and it made the white unicorn uncomfortable. Was she going to approve of her new dresses, or was she was going to reject them? The thought was unnerving her. Eventually, she seemed to be able to put her mind at ease. “Yes!” With one word, the crew got started taking pictures of every single outfit. They moved from left to right, forward and backward, making a snapshot out every single angle. When they were finally done, they quickly moved on the next candidate. The models stopped posing, and looked as Photo Finish made her way towards the next designers. They remained silent for a while until Rainbow Dash spoke up. “Hold on a second. Was that all?” “Why, she didn’t even say a dam thing,” Applejack added. “She just took some pictures and left,” Fluttershy followed up. Twilight approached her unicorn friend. “So, how’d we do?” She sounded a bit confused. “What did Photo Finish think of the dresses?” Rarity remained calm. “Twilight, darling, no need to fret. I’m sure she absolutely loved it.” She then stopped and thought about it for a second. “Then again, it’s always hard to tell about her if she loves something at first.” She tried to regain her composure. “But of course, she took the time to make the pictures. She wouldn’t have done that if she hated them, would she?” Her calmness suddenly made way of anxiety. “But what if she does?” Her anxiety was rising. “Maybe she took those photos to show others how it’s not done, or perhaps she needed something to laugh at on Monday mornings!” She was pretty much losing it at this point. “I’ll be the laughingstock of all Equestria, and I’ll never be able to show me face ever again!” Rarity was visibly stressing out. Her lip was trembling, her eye was twitching, and her manes were messy and hanging due to sweat and stress. She tried to talk, but being unable to construct proper sentences at this point, all that came out her mouth was unintelligible. Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes, stating she had enough of Rarity’s scene, and smacked the filly straight on the cheek. It took some time for the hit to register in her mind, but soon she was able to properly talk again. “Darling, watch the makeup.” She seemed to have snapped out of it. “Listen up! You have no reason to act like your manes in a twist, you hear me? Because I’m one hundred and twenty percent sure Photo found your dresses to be awesome!” “But how can you be so certain?” Twilight asked. Pinkie Pie intervened. “Oh! Oh! I know!” She then squished Twilight’s head between her pink hooves, and turned it towards the audience. Even though Photo Finish was long gone to check out the other designers, most of the crowd remained to observe the dresses in amazement “Just look at how they’re reacting! Those shiny eyes! Those wide open mouths. She’d have to be loco in the coco to be the only pony not impressed!” “Exactly,” Rainbow Dash concurred. “So stop worrying! You’re going to be fine.” The other ponies agreed, even encouraging her unicorn friend to, as Pinkie Pie puts it, turn her frown upside down, but they only did little to regain Rarity’s optimism. It didn’t take long for Photo Finish to judge the remaining entrees, even less to decide on a winner. Her crew had swiftly set up a stage in the center of the stage, and soon, every pony attending came crawling towards it. A microphone stood in front of Photo Finish, and after a large enough audience was gathered, she began her speech. Naturally, the mane six and the crusaders were there to hear the announcement. Of course, Rarity was among the crowd as well, her manes still messy and her coat greasy due to the sweating. She stopped freaking out, but her face was hanging down and she was still looking a bit gloomy, she didn’t even look at Photo Finish as she began her announcement. “I, Photo Finish, have seen all the works you’ve presented to me. Some of it was good. Some of it was so awful, that those who made it should’ve been ashamed of themselves to even display it during broad daylight. Some of it was so atrocious, it was actually charming.” She took the mic of the stand and began walking across the stage. She held the mic in her left hoof as she continued to address her audience. “But there was one unicorn with dresses so magnificent, so wunderbar, so magical, that I, Photo Finish, will help her shine across Equestria!” Dresses, as in multiple? A unicorn? And did she imply of the female gender? Those details have caught Rarity’s attention as she started to look up on the stage, pupils widening. Could she be talking about… “Yes! The one I am talking about clearly has a wonderful gift that, with my assistance, she’ll be able to share with every pony from Fillydelphia to Las Pegasus. And that pony is...” She paused for dramatic effect, then stood on her hind hooves and pointed to… “Rarity!” As soon as she said her name, it was like Rarity was never concerned in the first place. With a magical poof, her mane turned back to stylish and orderly, and her coat to healthy and shiny, leaving behind no traces of sweat. Her once slouch stance was quickly changed to show off a confident and proud unicorn. Her friends seemed surprised by her sudden metamorphosis, Pinkie Pie even sporting a look of: “How’d she do that?” “Come Rarity, show Ponyville your greatness! Join me on stage!” Photo Finish requested her. Rarity could hardly contain her excitement. If it was up to her, she would bounce her way up the stage, wrap her hooves around Photo, and repeatedly thank her for choosing her, like a little school filly. But she had to keep her cool, not embarrass herself in front of the audience. She retained her ladylike demeanor as she walked up on stage. “Of all the outfits showcased in Ponyville, yours were the best of the best. Your hoofwork is simply marvelous, and you clearly know how to bring out the best out of your models. But what has truly captivated me are the jewels. The jewels truly finish your work, and make it stand out even more than that I ever could’ve possibly imagined. Not only do you have talent, you clearly possess a special gift that could very well change Equestria as we know it. And together, I know we can turn your newest fashion line into Equestria biggest hit. What do you say? Will you join me as together, we will make your work known all across the lands?” Rarity gave a quick look at her friends. They were all supporting the idea, some nodding, while others made gestures suggesting that, yes, she should go for it. She then turned back to Photo Finish. “I would be honored to.” She knew that from this day onward, she would no longer be some ordinary fashion pony from Ponyville. Today, she was finally going to be... A star!