Author's Note

Fair warning, I had two people look over all of the French in this story, but I myself can't speak a lick of the language. So, if you see any mistakes calm your tits and just pm me please.

Un

For the super model Fleur de Lis, mornings were always the same. She would wake up before Celestia’s sun had risen, lying on a bed that cost more than most ponies made in a year. Her hooves would be clenching a five thousand bit blanket, and her head would be resting on an eight hundred bit pillow. When she opened her eyes, she’d look up at the twenty thousand bit mural on her ceiling.

She’d stare at this masterpiece as best as she could in the darkness of the room, trying to discern what section she was looking at. That was when the sun would start to rise. Light and color would enter her mansion and all of her other items of opulence would make themselves known—rugs of the finest make, furniture that had once been owned by kings and queens, little knick-knacks made from gold and silver.

When one walked into her home, they were awestruck more often than not, dazzled by what she owned. But for her? These things were nothing more than tables, chairs, beds and sinks. As fine of items as they may be, they held no reverence to her.

A sigh escaped Fleur as she slowly opened her eyes. A quiet sigh, a bothered sigh.

She could already see light creeping into the room. As soon as it illuminated the mirror on the other end of the wall, she would hear a knocking on her bedroom door. Two knocks exactly, and a ten second pause before another two knocks. Just like always.

Fleur waited for the knocks patiently, as she did every morning. In a few minutes, her world would become a hectic whirlwind of activity. There were meetings to go to, shoots to attend, interviews to be present for, events to sponsor, and parties to visit. She wouldn’t stop until late in the night, and that was only if she was lucky.

But now, for these few minutes, there was silence and stillness. No appearances to keep, no politics to play. Nothing. There was just her, so she did her best to enjoy these brief few moments to their fullest.

She didn’t spend a second of these precious seconds thinking or worrying or planning. She simply laid there, looking up at the ceiling, doing nothing more than being. It was relaxing, invigorating, easily her favorite part of the day. But, as happened every day since she was old enough to walk down a runway, her peaceful silence was broken into a million pieces just as she was beginning to enjoy them.

A noise echoed through the room, harsh and foreboding. The two knocks on the door.

Without a second thought, she sat up. “Come in,” she called, throwing off her blankets and rolling out of bed.

There was a pause before Fleur could hear her door knob being turned. Looking over, she was able to watch as her door was thrown open, revealing her manager Mr. Svengallop, as well as her mane stylist, her makeup artist, and two of her maids.

She smiled, rubbing the tiredness out of her eyes. “Good morning, mes chers.”

Her greeting was met with bows as the ponies piled into her bedroom. The maids rushed over to her bed and began making it, while her stylist and makeup artist rushed over to their workplace and began to set up. Mr. Svengallop, meanwhile, made his way over to her with a stack of papers tucked under a hoof and a small cup of black coffee held in the other.

“We only have ten minutes to get you ready and out the door, hon,” he said, handing her the coffee. “So we need to put a pip in that step.”

“Merci,” Fleur said, taking the mug out of his hooves and taking a sip.

Svengallop grunted, adjusting his glasses as she made her way over to her stylist and makeup mare.

“In a few minutes we’ll need to go to the south district to start the spring fashion photoshoot,” he said, eyes scanning the papers in his hoof. “I tried to have it be later but Photo Finish insisted that you come in early.”

“That’s fine.”

“After that we need to be at the east end by eight. Hoity Toity’s new boutique is opening and he wants you to be there.”

Fleur, taking one last sip of her coffee, set it down before hopping into her chair. She was only able to lean back and close her eyes before her stylist and makeup artist were on her. The mares were experts, she knew. They’d have her fixed up and ready in less than five minutes.

“Lord Fancy Pants also invited me to attend a luncheon with him, yes?”

There was a shuffle of papers.

“Yes, but we’ll need to cut the trip to the foal’s hospital a little short if you want to be at the luncheon and conduct that interview with the Daily Horseshoe.”

A small frown came to Fleur’s face.

“Non, I won’t do that to the little ones,” she said firmly. “Send Fancy my apologies. Tell him that I am simply too busy to meet with him today.”
Svengallop, rolling his eyes, wrote something down on a notepad. “Fine, I’ll have somepony send him a message, but what are we going to do about your dinner? Sapphire Shores sent you an invitation to that new fusion place near the castle, but Rarity asked you the other…”

While she listened to her manager drone on about this and that, answering questions as needed, Fleur began to change. Her mane and fur were brushed to a sparkling sheen. Eyeliner was applied, as was foundation along with a dozen other things. Her hooves were filed and painted. Her makeup artist even made sure to brush her teeth in a way that would leave them sparkling white.

When the hooves and brushes were finally lifted away from her face she opened her eyes. Looking in the mirror hanging just a few feet from her, she was able to see Fleur de Lis: one of the most important ponies in the fashion world, the jewel of Canterlot, the mare that everypony wanted to know and see and be. The pony before her was powerful, beautiful, and wealthy beyond imagination. She was a giant, a queen, larger than life.

As she looked at her reflection, at this goddess that looked back at her, she couldn’t help but sigh explosively, disturbing her mane.

Their work done, The maids, the stylist, and her makeup artist made their way toward the door. Fleur knew that the maids would be back when she was gone to clean her bedroom until it was as perfect as it had been the night before.

“Thank you,” she called as the mares disappeared through the door.

Mr. Svengallop looked down at his watch. “Dear, I don’t mean to hurry you but we’re on a tight schedule.”

Fleur closed her eyes, counted to ten, then opened them.

“Yes,” she said with a slow nod, rising to her hooves. “Let us be off then.”

A pair of bodyguards were waiting for her and Svengallop as the two made their way out of her home. Fleur nodded to the two towering stallions, who nodded in return before they left her estate and made it out to Canterlot proper.

Even at this hour, the streets were filled with ponies, nobles and commoners alike. A mare and stallion were arguing next to a newsstand. An elderly fat mare was trying to entice a group of ponies with her bread. A group of schoolchildren were rushing down the street with books in hoof.

The heat hadn’t descended on the streets yet, so one could smell the flowers sitting in front of so many stores. A breeze also carried the smell of lavender and vanilla, telling all that walked the streets that the local perfumists were already hard at work.

Fleur and her group joined the crowds, trying to blend in as much as possible. But it was far easier said than done. All of Canterlot and most of Equestria knew her by face, and there were very few mares in even this city that could boast her size or grace.

It would start out subtly. Whispering, somepony would look at her with wide eyes only to quickly look away. Maybe somepony would quickly wave before galloping away. But then a stallion or mare would shout out her name. The clicking of cameras would fill the air. Love-struck fans would rush over to her to profess all sorts of things. After that it was only a matter of time before the paparazzi would appear from the shadows and other dark, damp places with their cameras and their questions.

“Fleur! Fleur! Snapshot from the Nightly Neigh! Are the rumors about your affair with Prince Blueblood true?”

“Fleur! What about the allegations that you use the blood of newborn foals to keep yourself looking so young?”

“Fleur! What’s your favorite color?”

“Why is your flank so big when your middle’s so skinny?”

“How do you get your mane like that? Is that even your natural color?”

“I love you Fleur! Please have my babies!”

“I love you Fleur! Please let me have your babies!”

Under this barrage of bodies and demands, Fleur carried herself like a princess. She held her head high, and each step was calm and measured. The questions she ignored, or had her manager answer or deflect. Her bodyguards made sure that nopony got too close or tried something that they shouldn’t.

Every once in awhile a young filly or colt, who had been no doubt rushing to make it to school, would push through the crowds and say something sweet or hand her a love letter. This would be the only time when the supermodel would stop, thanking the little one with a smile, some kind words, and maybe even a nuzzle if they had been adorable enough to prompt her to do so.

The walk to the south district to the city was a slow one, but eventually the crowds subsided and allowed Fleur and her group to walk at a faster pace. The plain yet sturdy shops of the east end gave way to towering studios and cathedral-like buildings. The ponies began to change as well, from tourists and nobles to artists.

Music, painting, clothing, sculpture—the east end welcomed all that saw the world in a different light than most, and unlike most of the city, news ponies and paparazzi were not welcome. Even her manager and bodyguards had left, promising to meet her in a few hours to take her to another part of the city.

This was one of the few places in Canterlot, the few places in Equestria, where Fleur could let her guard down just a hair. These were her ponies. They were friends, rivals, associates. She knew them and they knew her. But, out of any pony in this section of the city, there was only one pony that she treated like family.

“Mein kleines Mädchen! Come, come, let me zee you!”

Photo Finish trotted over to Fleur like an overly affectionate mother, wrapping her hooves around her neck and kissing both of her cheeks. The supermodel returned the affection, nuzzling the photographer.

“Good morning, mon amie.”

A snort escaped Photo.

“Good morning ze says. A good morning after ignoring me for half ze year,” she wailed, breaking her hug and grabbing Fleur’s face, making sure to shake her around. “Ze superstar has become too busy for her favorite earth pony, ja?”

“I’m sorry that I haven’t been able to come see you sooner,” Fleur said, nuzzling her friend again as best as she could. “I was in Labyrinthia for two months for a shoot.”

Photo’s face contorted into a look of disgust. “Bleh. A bunch of hacks and color-blind Feen,” she said dismissively, releasing her grip on her and turning around. “Zey wouldn’t know pink from white if it bit zem on ze Arsch.”

The mare suddenly spun around with a hop, a great big smile on her face. “But you are here now, Fräulein. And now we will make ze magics!”

Rising up onto her back legs, the older mare struck a pose. Fleur hid a giggle behind a hoof, happy that Photo had lost none of her flair since she had last saw her.

“Come, come. Let me show you what I have in store,” Photo said, grabbing Fleur and all but dragging her through the studio.

There were dozens of ponies walking around. Some were workers setting up scenes, while others were models like her, waiting for their shoots. The atmosphere was light and pleasant yet busy, as it always was in the spring season. Fleur looked at each set, wondering what her old friend had in store for her this time.

“Zis will be a photo shoot unlike any that you’ve ever seen, my girl. Canterlot, no, ze world, will be knocked off their hooves!” Photo said, loudly enough that a few of the ponies she walked past jumped in surprise.

“You say that before every shoot,” Fleur pointed out with a grin.

“And I have not lied yet!” Photo cried, throwing a hoof into the air. “Ah, yes. Here we are…”

Photo led Fleur into a quiet corner of the studio. Though seemingly no different than any other set, this was a good deal bigger than the ones surrounding it. A quick glance around also told Fleur that Photo’s little corner had a good deal more props and lights than most photographers would have wanted to deal with. Fortunately for her, and the fashion world at large, Photo Finish was a mare that enjoyed walking the path less traveled.

Fleur took a deep breath as she looked at where she would be spending a great deal of time for the foreseeable future. There were the dozens of dresses and outfits that she would be no doubt wearing today. She could also see Photo’s trusty stylist and assistant waiting patiently next to an overly large polka dot rubber duck. The photographer’s usual lighting ponies and agents and prop designers were also in attendance. But there was something missing, something that made Fleur raise an eyebrow.

“Photo, mon amie, where is your camera?”

Photo, who had been talking to a pair of set designers, turned around and looked at her. “What was zat, Fräulein?”

“Your camera. Where is your camera?” Fleur asked, quickly looking around to see if she had somehow missed it.

Photo blinked, before suddenly laughing. “Ah, you silly filly! Why would I need ze camera?”

“To take pictures?” Fleur said, her brow furrowing.

Once again, Photo let out a bark of laughter. “Oh no, I’m not taking ze pictures this time, my girl. I am ze producer.”

Though still thoroughly confused, Fleur couldn’t help but smile. “Congratulations, mon amie. I hadn’t heard that you had decided to move up in the industry.”

“Bah, those Würmer at Essence have been hounding me to stop being ze “simple” photographer,” Photo said, with a hint of distaste in her voice. “Zey wanted me to take ze magics to a whole other level.”

“I know that you’ll do far better than any other producer that I’ve worked with,” Fleur told her.

“Ja. Of course, of course. I will show zem how it’s done,” Photo said with a dismissive wave. “But zat doesn’t mean I have to be happy about it.”

“So if you’re not taking my pictures, then who is?” Fleur questioned, looking at the ponies gathered. “Is it Polaroid? Or maybe Nikon Flash?”

To the supermodel’s surprise, Photo shook her head.

“No, I decided to bring in a new blood,” she said with a flick of her mane. “Somepony that I’ve heard very good things about.”

Fleur raised an eyebrow. Though extravagant and more than a little silly at times, Photo wasn’t the kind of mare that let greenhorns in out of the blue like this.

“Really?”

Photo nodded. “Ja.”

She then looked past Fleur, a great big smile coming to her face. “And speak of ze devil.”

Fleur turned around, expecting some young mare or stallion trotting toward them with a camera in hoof. She did not get that. In fact, she didn’t even get a pony.

The being making his way toward the unicorn was massive, easily twice as tall as her. He was covered in clothing from head to foot, hiding his mostly hairless body. Fleur could hear his covered feet impacting the floor with each step he took, a testament to his weight and size. His face was flat, but not unpleasantly so, with a small, cute little nose in the center of his face.

Fleur couldn’t help but gawk, her eyes growing to the size of dinner plates. Walking toward her was a creature that she had only heard about since Princess Twilight Sparkle had accidently opened a portal to another world in the middle of Las Pegasus.

“A human…” she said, looking him over as he marched toward her.

“Ja, a human!” Photo chirped, still smiling.

Tearing her gaze away from the alien creature, Fleur looked over at her old friend. “How did you manage this? I thought that humans weren’t allowed across the portal.”

Photo’s smile grew. “Let’s just say zat I know a pony zat knows a pony.”

The human continued to close the distance between him and the mares. He ignored the obvious stares of the ponies around him, his bright blue eyes settling on Fleur herself. She could see curiosity in those eyes. For all she knew, this was the first time that he had seen a unicorn. Fleur could feel her stomach tighten in both excitement and nervousness.

Equus had been ablaze with talk about these strange, magicless creatures. She knew that the princesses had crossed over to speak with the humans leaders’ multiple times. She also knew that they were working toward a stable peace with whoever they were talking to. But that was it.

Most ponies, including herself, knew almost nothing about humans, their cultures, or what even they looked like. But here one was, in the middle of Canterlot, walking toward her like it was the most normal thing in the world.

Needless to say, this wasn’t what she had been expecting this morning.

Brushing past her, Photo Finish trotted toward the human, closing what little distance there was. “Guten Tag, Sam.”

The human nodded, offering one of his large, spindly hands. “Afternoon ma’am,” he said in an accent that Fleur couldn’t quite identify. “It’s very nice to be here.”

“Ja, it’s good to see zat you found your way here on your own,” Photo said, ignoring the hand and hopping up onto her back hooves to give him a hug.

She was nowhere near tall enough to get to the human’s cheeks, but she made do with kissing his side. Sam’s eyes widened in surprise. He looked down at the photographer turned producer for several before giving her a firm pat on the back.

“Yeah… It wasn’t too hard, ma’am,” he said with a cough, taking a quick step away from Photo as she dropped back on all fours. “The only pain was getting through the crowds.”

“What matters is zat you’re here,” Photo said, tugging at his pants. “Come, come, let me introduce you to ze model you will be working with!”

Sam allowed himself to be dragged along toward Fleur, who couldn’t help but smile at the sight. No matter how momentous the occasion, Photo Finish would be Photo Finish.

“Sam, zis is Fleur de Lis. Fleur, zis is Sam.”

Sam was about ready to offer his hand again but stopped himself. His eyes scanned her face.

Fleur could see that the stallion looked a little lost. He obviously had no idea whether to bend down and kiss her cheeks or try for another handshake.

Giggling, Fleur offered the poor man a hoof. “It is wonderful to meet you, Mr. Sam. Photo Finish hasn’t said much about you, but what little she has said had been nothing but good.”

Sam quickly took her hoof and gave it a shake, relief coming to his face.

“It’s very nice to meet you too, ma’am,” he said, with a smile. “She hasn’t told me much about you either, but I hope we learn a lot about each other from this experience.”

Fleur’s smile widened. This Sam had an honest smile, one that she found oddly pleasant to look at.

“I hope so too.”

Seeing that the introductions were finished, Photo clapped her hooves together. “Strudel! Guerlain!”

Two mares rushed over with a small table and promptly dropped it in front of the human.

“Zere you go dear,” Photo said with a smile before turning around and facing the rest of the crew. “Now prepare yourselves! We will begin ze magics! Go, go, go!”

As the crew began rushing around, putting the finishing touches on the set and getting whatever clothing was needed out and ready, Sam, releasing Fleur’s hoof, made his way over to the table. Lifting the small bag from his shoulder he began to unzip it.

Fleur, unable to help herself, made her way to his side and watched as he began pulling things out of it. “So is this your first shoot, cher?”

“Yes, it is. For this kind of stuff at least,” Sam replied, pulling out a small rectangular object and opening it up.

Once opened, Fleur saw that the top of it had a small screen, while the bottom had dozens of tiny buttons. Sam looked his device over for a few moments before pushing something. To the supermodel’s shock, the screen lit up.

“Huh, so it looks like this old piece of shit survived the trip,” Sam muttered to himself, tapping a few of the buttons to change the what was on the screen before pulling out one of the smallest cameras that Fleur had ever seen. “Good. That’s gonna make this a lot easier.”

Focusing his attention on the other object that he had pulled out of his bag. He pressed a small button on the corner of it. Several seconds later the device made a noise before it started to move. Fleur let out a gasp, moving forward so she could get a better look. Usually photographers hated when the models touched their equipment, but she couldn’t resist reaching out and poking one of the buttons of the little square machine.

Sam watched as she did this, pulling out a small collection of lenses. “That’s called a computer,” he said. “It’s going to help me store all of the pictures that I take of you.”

Fleur nodded, pressing a few more buttons. None of them did anything to change what was on the screen, to her mild disappointment, but she continued poking at the alien technology all the same.

“A com-pu-ter,” she said, rolling the word around on her tongue. “Computer…”

Sam tapped the other object with a finger. “This right here is a printer. It’ll let me print out your photos so that we all can look at them right away.”

“Stupéfiant,” Fleur murmured, looking up at him. “It’ll print them immediately?”

“It will,” Sam replied with a nod. “All I’ll need to do is put some special paper into that slot right there and I’ll be able to print as many pictures as we need.”

Running her hoof along the side of the printer, Fleur turned her attention back toward the computer. “And this... computer. Does it do anything else?”

Sam placed a lens on his camera, blowing on it before rubbing it with his sleeve. “Usually it can, but since I’m really not supposed to bring too much stuff over here right now this one’s got all of the good stuff ripped out of it.”

Fleur opened her mouth and sucked in a lungful of air. She had so many questions! Why had he come all the way to Canterlot? Why hadn’t she heard anything about a human coming? How did Photo know him? Why hadn’t Photo said anything to her about this beforehand?

The unicorn was filled to the brim with questions, but, before she could ask any of them, professionalism kicked in. Human or not, she shouldn’t have been gawking at Sam like some slack-jawed filly. He was no doubt a professional, and he was acting far more maturely about this than she was.

Embarrassment and just a bit of horror began to work its way into the supermodel’s gut, causing her to step away from the human’s equipment.

“Monsieur Sam, I am… sorry,” she said with a bow of the head. “Here you are trying to get ready while I stand here and poke at your things like some Pouliche.”

To Fleur’s surprise, Sam let out a laugh.

“You should have seen Princess Twilight,” he said, adjusting his lens. “She looked like she was going to have a panic attack when some government official gave her a tablet. It was the cutest thing that I’ve ever seen in my life.”

Though she had absolutely no idea what a “tablet” was, she nevertheless perked up. “So you’re not upset?”

“Upset? About you wanting to poke at my shitty computer?” Still focused on his camera, Sam slid his computer over to her. “If you want to play with it then play with it. Just make sure not to start slamming on those keys. The government might pay for the thing, but it’d take a month before I get the clearance to get another one brought from the other side.”

Fleur looked at the computer, taking a nervous, yet excited, step forward. “Merci,” she said, placing a hoof on a few of the buttons, listening as they made a very quiet clicking sound.

“Come on you piece of junk,” Sam said to himself, looking over his camera.

Rolling it in his hands a few times, he slammed the bottom of it against the table, causing Fleur to jump. The camera flickered to life, the lens expanding and receding. Sam looked it over once again, a toothy smile coming to his face.

“There we go, as good as new.”

The young man smiled at Fleur. “Alright, ma’am. Are you ready to make ze magics?”

@-@-@-@-@

Both Fleur and Photo watched in amazement as Sam’s printer did its work. Neither believed that something so small would be able to make a picture out of nothing, but like magic here it was. With each swipe of a rectangular, plastic bit on the printer more and more of the page appeared. In no time at all there was a finished, crisp photo setting on the table next to thirty others.

“Just a couple more and we’ll be all done for the day,” Sam said, giving the printer a quick once over as he took the lens off his camera and carefully put it away.

“Wunderbar, wunderbar,” Photo murmured, picking up one of the photos and inspecting it. “What usually takes hours is finished in seconds…”

“It is quiet erstaunlich, is it not?” Fleur asked, staring at the human’s computer.

In between shoots Fleur had badgered her new photographer about this amazing piece of technology in front of her. Oddly enough, Sam admitted that he knew far less than he should have about his computer. Still though, he had been more than happy to teach her what little he knew.

By the end of their shoot, Fleur had found herself sitting on a stool, carefully using the tip of her hoof to scroll through the dozens of photos now loaded up on Sam’s computer.

“Ja, ja. Zis one, and zis one, and zis one too!” Photo said, picking up photo’s and placing them in a pile. “Not as refined as ze master, but the rawness delights me!”

Sam jumped at the earth pony’s sudden rise in pitch. He gave her a wary look, one that would have had Fleur laughing if she would have been able to tear her gaze from the computer, before composing himself.

“Thank ya, ma’am,” he said. “I’m glad you like ‘em.”

“Zese must be taken to Essence right away! Ponies need to see these pictures!” Photo shouted, pointing to the ceiling.

Before anyone could stop her, she picked up the photos, spun around, and dashed off. “Ponies must see ze magics!”

“Ma’am, you need to let those dry a little more before you…” Sam trailed off as the mare disappeared from sight. He blinked owlishly before a sigh escaped him.

“That’s one funny lady,” he said, taking a seat next to Fleur.

Fleur smiled. “Yes she is, isn’t she?”

Looking in the direction that the earth pony had disappeared from for a few more moments, Sam then leaned toward his computer, looking at what was on the screen.

“So how did I do? Not too bad, huh?”

“Not bad at all,” Fleur replied, looking at him out of the corner of her eye. “This is your first shoot though, no?”

“It is,” Sam admitted with a small smile. “Before I came here I was doing work for a newspaper, so I’m not that used to taking pictures like this.”

“Well, you’re doing far better than most would for your first time,” Fleur quickly reassured, turning toward him. “But… Monsieur Sam? Would it be too forward to ask you a personal question?”

Sam sat up a little straighter. “Ask away.”

“May I ask why you decided to come to to our fair nation?”

Sam blinked. “You wanna know why I’m in Equestria?”

Fleur nodded. She should feel her tail swishing side-to-side in excitement, but she ignored it as best she could, staring into the human’s eyes.

“Yes. Why would you want to come here?”

A small smile came to Sam’s face.

“Well, it’s kind of a long story,” he said. “See, I got a fruit of a brother livin’ near where Princess Twilight opened that portal of hers.”

“Fruit?” Fleur said, cocking her head to the side.

“Yeah, fruit. He’s a hair stylist—likes to wear furry boots and dance at nightclubs that don’t serve Iron City beer. You know what I mean.”

Fleur didn’t, not even a little bit, but she found herself nodding anyway.

“Anyway, my brother is living next to the portal and starts to get real friendly with one of the senator’s sons that’re there. He finds out the government is looking for people to send over an’ live with the ponies for a couple of months.”

“And he told you?”

“Yeah,” Sam said, nodding. “He calls me up and tells me that they’re looking for someone to go to the Equestrian capital. He knew that my job paid shit, and said that I’d probably be able to get better work on this side.”

He leaned back in his chair, resting his elbows on the table.

“I don’t know how he did it, but Matthew was able to find me a job as a photographer. After puttin’ in my two weeks, I packed up some things, got my shots, and came over here. The rest is history.”

“Your brother must love you very much,” Fleur commented.

“He does,” Sam replied. “And I love him too, as funny as he gets sometimes.” His brow furrowed. “I have no idea how me managed to get me over here as easily as he did though. That senator’s son must have really liked him.”

“Well, I’m happy that you decided to come to our fair city, mon cher,” Fleur told him. “I hope that you come to love Canterlot as much as I have.”

“It’s a very nice city. What little I’ve seen anyway. Really clean,” Sam said. “Most ponies have been real nice. A bit funny, but nice.”

Fleur let out a hum, wiggling excitedly on her stool. “And where do you come from, Sam? I’ve never heard an accent like yours.”

“Well, I’m from a little city called Pittsburgh. It’s a pretty nice place. And what about you? You got kind of an accent goin’ on there too.”

Fleur leaned forward in her stool. “I come from a little town in Prance.”

“Prance?”

“Yes. It was a small fishing village…”

The two went on a back and forth for sometime. Sam told her about the strange and fantastical world that he hailed from. Fleur, meanwhile, told him about her old hometown and Canterlot. Though she loved the city dearly, she knew that some of its citizens were less than model ponies, so she took the time to warn him about a few of the nastier nobles.

The longer they talked the more the unicorn realized that her new photographer was out of his element. The city that he had come from was more like Manehattan than Canterlot—a lively yet hardworking place with honest, if a bit gruff, people. There were no nobles, and this Pittsburgh certainly didn’t seem to have the flair that Canterlot was famous for.

Despite all of that, however, she quickly found herself taking a liking to this strange alien. He had an unrefinement about him that she rather enjoyed. When he spoke of something he was passionate about, his accent would become thicker and his blue eyes would light up like sapphires. It was adorable, and she found herself smiling every time.

And to make matters even better, the young man seemed to be as interested in her as she was him. He was fascinated about her horn and her magic, and he hung onto her every word as she told him about the small village town that she had grown up in.

It felt… nice to talk like this. There was no pressure, Fleur didn’t have to keep up with appearances. The conversation wasn’t stale in the slightest, so there was no need to feign interest. All she needed to do was be herself.

“So you have pegasuses making the weather?”

“Pegasi, and yes, mon cher. There’s several weather teams in this very city, in fact.”

Sam let out a whistle. “Your princess should send a couple of them over our way. I swear to God it rains every single day near Squirrel Hill.”

Fleur let out a giggle. “And why do they call it Squirrel Hill?” she asked with a little bounce.

Sam shrugged. “I got no idea. That’s what they’ve been calling it for years. Maybe there were a bunch of the suckers living around there when my parents were kids.”

Suddenly and without warning, an image came to Fleur’s mind. It was of an army of squirrels sitting atop of a canopy of trees, nuts at the ready.

She let out a giggle-snort, covering her mouth with a hoof. “Maybe your grandparents had to fight off some squirrels for their land?”

A smile broke out across Sam’s face.

“They beat my pap and gram back with little army hats and nuts?” he suggested with a snort.

“Oui, and they gave such a good show that they named the hill after their fallen enemies.”

Both Fleur and Sam shared a giggle, a pair of silly smiles on their faces.

“Well, I’m sure that—”

“Excuse me, Ms. de Lis.”

Looking over, Fleur saw a stallion, an assistant by the look of him, standing a few feet away from her. She turned toward him, smiling despite the fact that she was mildly annoyed about there being an interruption in her conversation.

“Yes, cher? Was there something that you needed?”

The stallion nodded, adjusting his glasses. “A stallion by the name of Svengallop asked me to come and fetch you. He said that you were running very late for an appointment.”

The supermodel’s brow furrowed. “Non, you must be mistaken. It's only been—”

Fleur gasped and her eyes widened as she looked up at the clocktower. It was almost nine o'clock; she had missed her appointment with Hoity Toity by an hour.

“Seigneur...” she said, looking blankly over the crowd. Had she really been that distracted? She'd never been late before, not since she was a little filly.

Sam sat up. “Is there something wrong?”

Fleur shook her head. “Oh, um, it appears that I’ve let time get away from me. I’m very sorry Sam, but I must be off.”

Sam looked between Fleur and the assistant.

“Oh? Alright, I’m sorry to have kept cha’,” he said. “If I had known you had somewhere to be I would have kept an eye on the clock.”

“It wasn’t your fault, mon cher” she said, giving his leg a pat. “I should have kept an eye on the clock while we were talking.”

“Time flies when you’re having a good conversation, huh?” Sam mused.

Fleur smiled. “Yes, it does, doesn’t it?”

A part of Fleur had no desire leave the studio. She had been to a hundred boutique openings. No matter who was there or what food was served, it was the same dull thing. But here she had an interesting young stallion with an adorable accent and a magical little box that did all sorts of delightful things.

For a few moments, Fleur considered dismissing the stallion and going back to talking with her photographer about how the weather in the human world worked. But, like always, better sense won out in the end.

“Please go and tell Svengallop that I’ll be out in a few moments,” she said with a sigh.

The stallion inclined his head.

“Of course, ma’am,” he said, before turning around and walking away.

Fleur bit her lip as she watched him walk away. Sam, seeing this, gave her a pat on the back.

“We’ll be working together for a good while, ma’am,” he said with that bright smile of his. “You’ll have plenty of time to learn everything that you want.”

“Oui,” Fleur said, blowing a bit of mane out of her face.

If she would have been a younger mare, she would have began pouting. Since she was far too old to do such a thing, however, she settled with looking mildly unhappy.

Sam made a sympathetic sound, giving her back another pat before he rose to his feet. “If you’re leaving I should probably be getting home too. I need to organize the pictures for the day and see if I have a different lens for this piece of shit camera.”

Fleur grunted. She was about to bid him a good day and leave when an idea came to mind. A mischievous idea.

“Sam, cher, kneel down,” she said, giving his knee a tap.

Sam grimaced. “Are you going to make me do that kissing thing?”

Biting back a giggle, the supermodel nodded. “It’s how most ponies greet each other in Canterlot.”

“...I have no idea how to do it,” Sam said.

Fleur gave his knee another poke.

“Which is why you need learn,” she said. “Now come on, stop being a bébé.”

Though he didn’t look very enthusiastic about it, Sam did as she asked, getting down on one knee so that he was eye level with her.

“Très bien. Now all you need to do is lean forward and kiss the mare or stallion you’re greeting twice.”

“Alright,” Sam said cautiously.

Wiping his lips with a sleeve, he leaned forward. Fleur could see him scanning her face with a puzzled expression, She stood there, her lips puckered, waiting to see what he’d do.

Would he kiss her cheeks? Perhaps he’d go for a peck on the forehead? Maybe a kiss on the nose? To both her delight and amusement, he did none of those things. Instead, he leaned forward and planted two quick pecks right on her lips.

No matter how hard she tried, she shouldn’t hold back the laughter.

“Oh my, how forward,” she said, tittering.

Sam reddened.

“What? Did I do it wrong?” he demanded.

“Kissing a mare you just met? What will ponies say?”

Sam, now as red as a tomato, flinched. “Hey, I told you that I wouldn’t know how to do it right!”

This only caused Fleur to laugh harder, a pleasant warmth filling her. “Oh, I’m sure you don’t~”