C'est la vie

“I had your eleven o’clock pushed to two, and your appointment at one needed to be moved to tomorrow, but I managed to squeeze in the eight o’clock meeting for then.”

Fleur blew a bit of mane out of her face, adjusting herself as she leaned forward at the small work table that she had set up in her living room. Though the chair was made out of artificial cloud, the finest pony could buy, she could never get comfortable, no matter what she did.

“Hmm,” she said, only half paying attention.

“Fancy sent a messenger again with another invitation for a dinner party. If the meeting at seven is quick, we should make an appearance.”

“Aha.”

“Those stallions from Moneycorp also came this morning. They brought a few papers that you’ll need to sign by the end of the day. One of the stallions also gave me an invitation to give to you, some silly luncheon, but I took the liberty of refusing for you.”

The supermodel took a big gulp of her coffee. This was her fifth this morning, and she could already tell that she was going to need at least two or three more.

“I hope that you at least made sure to apologize for my absence,” she said, leaning back into her chair.

Svengallop, handing her a stack of papers, nodded. “Of course. I made sure to tell him that you were simply far too busy to go today, but you appreciated the gesture.”

Fleur did her best to run a hoof through her mane. Though her stylist had done her best, it was the closest to being a rats nest that it had been in a very long time. Split ends, knots—she was even sure that she had seen a gray hair or two this morning.

“Well, you aren’t wrong about me being too busy,” Fleur said with a yawn, taking the papers while dipping a quill into an inkpot. “This had been the busiest that I’ve been since I was a teenager.”

She arched her back, letting out a grunt as her spine popped.

“Meetings, parties, events.” Her shoulders slumped as the exhaustion that had been nipping at her heels for weeks made itself known. “It’s been a maison de fous!”

“And it’s only going to get busier I’m afraid,” Svengallop said, dropping another bundle of papers onto her desk. “You have half a dozen interviews over the next three days, and there’s the event the bakers guild is having that we need to be seen at—”

“And I need to cut the ribbon at that newly built boutique, and I need to be travel to Dodge City for a day, and I must dine with two counts, five barons, a duke, and that infernal Prince Blueblood,” Fleur said, resting her head against the table and closing her eyes even as she continued to sign the documents in front of her.

“You should be happy. Most ponies would kill to be as busy as you are.”

“Most ponies would run away screaming if they spent a week like this.”

Though she didn’t see it, Svengallop smirked. “But you’re not most ponies, my girl. You’re Fleur de Lis.”

Fleur let out another groan. “Oui, you’re right, I’m not like other ponies. Most of them have far more sense.”

A quick glance up showed the unicorn that she only had half a stack to go. She quickly looked over at her manager, half fearing that he had another stack to torment her with, but to her relief his hooves were empty. That meant as soon as she was done with this she could race out of her stuffy mansion and go to the studio.

Her manager might make a bit of a fuss at her disheveled appearance, but Sam would no doubt have something funny to say to her when he saw just how exhausted she looked. The thought put a bit of a pip in her step and a small smile on her face.

Svengallop reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a small notebook. Humming to himself, he began flipping through it.

“Essence has also sent another request about that photographer of yours.”

The quiet scratching of quill on paper ceased.

“Oh?” Fleur said, picking her head up.

Svengallop flipped through a few pages in his notebook. “Yes. They were offering to pair you up with Polaroid this time.”

Picking her head up, Fleur covered her face with a hoof. “Again?”

“The pony I talked to yesterday was adamant.”

“Did you tell them once again that I’d like to stay with the photographer that I have?”

“I did, which is why I spent three and a half hours talking to the representative,” Svengallop said, annoyance in his voice as he pushed his glasses up his nose. “Like I’ve said before, they’re concerned about you associating yourself with somepony like him.”

“They’re concerned, yet they’re more than happy to pair him off with another model?”

“You’re the covermare of the entire shoot, hon,” Svengallop said with a shrug. “When ponies hear about the dresses and see the pictures, they’re not going to care about mares like Catwalk and Style Savvy.”

“I’ve never dropped a photographer, and I won’t drop this one,” Fleur said, perhaps a bit more sharply than she intended. “Sam has been nothing but a professional and a sweetheart the entire time that I’ve known him, and unlike half of this fichue city, it doesn’t matter to me what one does in ignorance.”

“You already know how I feel about the young stallion, dear,” Svengallop said as gently as he could, though a small frown made itself known on his face. “I thought he would be a good match for you, have ponies talking, but now they’re talking in a way that’ll only hurt you.”

Fleur scoffed. “All ponies do is talk, Svengallop,” she said dismissively, finishing the last signature and gently blowing on the ink to help it dry.

“I wouldn’t be so sure of that, dear. If it were just simple gossip Essence wouldn’t be harassing you about this.”

“Bah, they’ve done this before. You know how they get when the world doesn’t fall into their laps.”

Sighing again, Svengallop trotted over and picked up all of the documents. Making sure that each of them was signed, he neatly piled them together before tucking them under a leg.

“You’ve also seen what they can do to a mare or stallion that doesn’t listen to them. Cancelled shoots, ruined reputations.”

Fleur opened her mouth to retort but immediately closed it. He was right; she had seen what had happened to ponies in the industry that went against Essence’s wishes. Photo Finish made it her business to stick a hoof in their eye whenever she could, but that was Photo Finish. Models, set designers, and photographers had been ruined because of their wrath.

Once or twice she had gone against the company herself, but Essence had only grumbled at her actions. Never, in all of her years of modeling, had they been this upset or insistent.

Svengallop, sensing her hesitation, decided to press the attack. “Sam is a… nice young stallion, I’ll be the first to admit that, but he’s not one of us, hon. He doesn’t understand how things work here, and because of that, every little thing he does reflects on you.”

Fleur’s stomach tightened. She knew this industry better than anypony. At the moment she was the queen of the mountain, but she was only so because of that almighty “R” word. Reputation. That was what lifted you through the ranks in this city. Without it, you were nothing more than a beggar, a nobody.

She knew for a fact that Hoity and Sapphire still hadn’t left their estates since what had happened at that restaurant. Though it would have seemed absolutely silly to the common pony, she knew that they had done this to save face. Because if they didn’t, ponies would begin talking.

When talking began, rumor spread. When rumors spread, the truth became twisted and distorted. When that happened, it was only a matter of time before ponies were talking behind one’s back and all who you thought were your friends had abandoned you. Fleur had seen it happen a thousand times.

Giving her head a little shake, the unicorn cleared her throat. “Sam is a wonderful photographer, and I’m not ashamed to say that I’ve grown very fond of him.”

She looked over at Svengallop. The stallion said nothing, simply looking over at her with a helpless expression. Fleur flinched. In the silence she could hear his argument perfectly.

It doesn’t matter what you want, what matters is what Essence wants. You need to think about your reputation. If you keep telling them no, they might do something drastic. You can still be Sam’s friend, but it might be best to distance yourself from him, for a little while at least. She batted each one away with her own counterargument, but more and more reasons to dump Sam reared their ugly heads until her mind was overwhelmed and her stomach was in knots.

Sighing, Fleur pushed herself away from her desk and rose to her hooves. “I will… I will think on it.”

For the first time since she had seen him this morning, Svengallop smiled. “That’s all I ask. Now, why don’t we get you in the studio? Make sure to grab an umbrella. I heard that it’s supposed to rain all day.”

@-@-@-@-@-@-@

“Alrighty, now lift your leg.”

Fleur did as she was asked, lifting her leg as a half dozen clicks from Sam’s camera filled the air.

“Good, good, now lift your head up a bit. Give me a look of surprise.”

Fleur did her best to look surprised, but she felt that she couldn’t quite manage it. Her facial features felt far too tight for anything to feel natural. She desperately hoped that her lack of enthusiasm wouldn’t be noticed, but it was a futile hope.

All around her she could see the ponies on her set staring at her in both confusion and worry. Quiet discussion could be heard along with the clicking of the of the camera. Even Sam was staring at her with an eyebrow raised as he moved to get a better angle.

“Alright, turn around and look over your shoulder,” he said, slowly getting down onto one knee. “You can make whatever face you want this time.”

Fleur did as she was asked. In this pose she knew that she needed a fierce expression, or perhaps even a kissy face, but yet all she could manage was a slight upturn of her lips that might have looked like a smile in the right light.

Sam paused mid step, lifting his face away from his camera to look at her carefully. Fleur flinched under his gaze her body stiffening. The whispers grew louder, and the knot in the unicorn’s stomach grew tighter still.

A smile suddenly came to Sam’s face. Bringing his camera up to his face, he began to take pictures at a rapid fire pace.

“Now look like you’re hungry, now sassy, now like you’ve got a stick up where the sun don’t shine. No, the other hole. There we go. Come on, give me a smile. Now frown. Now stick your tongue out at that makeup artist over there. Not that one, the other one with the stupid scarf.”

He began to move his camera in theatrical angles, something that would have had Fleur on the floor laughing any other day. Still though, the human’s antics were enough to put a small smile on her face.

“There’s that smile! Now start rolling around on the ground.”

One of the designers, who was standing just off step, perked up. “No, don’t roll around with that on!” she cried.

“Don’t listen to her, Fleur. It’ll make a great shot, I promise.”

“No, don’t listen to him, for Celestia’s sake!”

That got a giggle out of Fleur for the first time that day, and as her photographer continued to take her pictures she rolled onto her back and began kicking her legs like a little filly. She was very careful mind you. She didn’t want to ruin the dress.

The designer let out a shriek that sounded awfully playful. Looking at her out of the corner of her eye, Fleur saw that the mare’s lips were curled into a smile.

Sam laid flat on his back and began taking pictures upside down. “Wonderful, darling, wonderful,” he said, in a shockingly close impersonation of Photo’s voice. “Zhe camera loves you!”

Minutes ticked by as her photographer continued to shouting his silly instructions. To amusement of everypony watching and herself, Fleur did her best to follow each and every one.

She crawled along the ground like a guard at bootcamp. She skipped back and forth along the set while she hummed Prench foal’s songs to herself. She pretended to be a bear, a dog, and even a butterfly.

Not a single one of these shots was going to be used, she knew, but the longer she kept doing all of these silly things a change overcame her. Her movements became more fluid, smiles came easier and more often. The knot in her stomach began to loosen, and even the worries that had been plaguing her the whole morning were momentarily forgotten.

Finally, after half of the ponies on her set were laughing so hard that they couldn’t stand, Sam lifted his face from his camera one last time.

“Alright, I think that’s enough for today,” he said, standing up and dusting himself off. “Great job today everybody.”

An “aw” erupted from the ponies watching, but nevertheless they surged forward to clean up. Laughter and excited chatter filled the air as props were cleared. A group of mares made their way over to Fleur and helped her to her hooves so that they could begin peeling off the monstrosity that she was wearing.

The supermodel chatted and giggled along with them, feeling better than she had all week. She looked over at Sam to see him smiling. The sight filled her chest with a pleasant warmth.

Skillful hooves and magic soon had her out of her dress. The moment she was out of the thing, she trotted over to her photographer as quickly as she could without running. To the surprise of everypony watching, herself included, she hopped up onto her back legs and pulled him into a hug.

“Merci, Sam, Merci,” she said, nuzzling both of his cheeks.

Sam tensed in surprise at the sudden and unexpected contact, but soon he was hugging her right back. “Gesundheit.”

Fleur let out another giggle. She could feel a dozen eyes upon the two of them, but she couldn’t find herself caring. Instead, she held into him all the tighter.

“So are you feeling a little better?” Sam asked, giving her a few pats on the back.

“Oui,” she replied, resting her head on his shoulder.

Though she didn’t see it, her photographer’s smile widened. “Good. I’m glad that I could help.”

Their hug lasted a bit longer than was perhaps professional, but Fleur eventually broke it. Falling back onto all fours, she looked over at the clock. Time had almost gotten away from her. She needed to hurry to get to her next appointment.

“Thank you, Sam. Really,” she said warmly.

“We’ve all been working really hard. We should have a bit of fun every once in awhile to keep from going bonkers,” Sam said, looking down at his camera. “And besides, I think I got some pretty good shots...”

“Oh, don’t you dare give those to Photo Finish!” she said giving him a playful shove. “She’d never let me hear the end of it!”

Sam laughed. “She’d get a kick out of a couple of these, wouldn’t she?”

He looked down at his camera, fiddling with it. After only a few moments of this however, he looked up, his smile diminished.

“So what was wrong today anyway?” he asked.

Fleur opened her mouth to reply but quickly paused. Those pesky concerns and worries came back in full force, causing her to shy away.

“Well, actually… I’d like to keep that to myself for now, if you don’t mind,” she said, looking down at the ground. “It’s something that I must wrestle with myself.”

Sam’s brow furrowed. “Alrighty, just know if you need anything I’d be happy to help.”

“Merci,” Fleur said, doing her best to ignore the tightening in her stomach.

“Do you have a bit of time before you need to be anywhere? Because, if you want, we could look over today’s pictures to see if there’s actually anything we could use.”

“Thank you… but no. I must be off.”

Fleur could feel Sam’s gaze on her. She continued to look at the ground. Finally, after several agonizing seconds, she heard Sam turn away.

“Okay. Have a good day then.”

“You as well,” Fleur said with a nod of her head.

She wanted to stay, wanted to play with Sam’s computer and chat with the human for a while longer, but perhaps just distancing herself a bit would get the company off of her back. It wouldn’t have to be forever, just a little while.

Sighing, she made her way over to the ponies cleaning up the set. She thanked each one, hugging and kissing cheeks before saying her goodbyes for that day. It was then, with a heavy heart, she made her way to the exit, throwing open the doors to empty streets.

She paused, poking her head out of the studio. The streets were deserted. Carts and stands had been abandoned. Doors were locked, and blinds had been closed. Everything was silence, save for the howling of wind and the rain hitting the houses and streets.

“...What’s going on? I thought it was just supposed to be a light shower today,” she murmured, stopping in her tracks.

A bolt of lightning suddenly streaked through the air. But this wasn’t the controlled, hoof-crafted ones that Cloudsdale made. This lightning bolt was wild, powerful, thunderous. When it struck a chimney a few blocks away, the whole world seemed to shake under its boom.

“Pommes de route Fleur shouted, jumping in fright, staring at the now decimated chimney with wide eyes. “What in Celestia’s name is…”

That was when she saw it. The clouds were no ordinary clouds. No pegasus created them. They were too big, too black to be pony made.

Her nostrils flared. The water on the street wasn’t clear but a murky color with a foul stench. The air itself was frigid—far too cold for this time of the year.

Fleur’s mind raced, wondering what was going on and why the rain was acting like this. Usually the weather team was spot on when it came to this sort of things. After a few moments of thought, the realization of what she was looking at came to mind.

These were Everfree clouds, and somehow, someway, a cluster of them had found their way to Canterlot.

“…Oh no.”

Ears folding against her skull, Fleur took a step back into the studio, keeping her gaze fixed on the sky above. She was able to take three or four steps back, closing the door and locking it behind her, when she bumped into something. Whipping around, she saw that she had bumped into Sam, who was holding the umbrella that she had forgotten.

“Whoo, that sure was a loud ‘un, huh?” he asked. “It almost felt like that had the whole building shaking.”

“Sam, we need to get everypony away from the windows,” Fleur said, trying to keep herself calm.

Another clap of thunder tore through the air outside. All around them, models and photographers and agents stopped whatever they were doing, looking around nervously.

“I don’t know what happened, but somehow Everfree clouds made their way into the city,” Fleur continued, grabbing his hand with her magic and leading him away from the door.

“So? They’re just rain clouds, aren’t they?” Sam questioned.

The supermodel shook her head. “Non, these clouds are very, very dangerous,” she told him. “The thunder can knock a pegasus out of the sky and the rain burns away flesh and skin to the touch.”

Sam’s eyes widened. “No kiddin’?”

“I truly wish I was, but this is very serious. Usually the weather team keeps a sharp eye out of them, but this cluster must have proven too much.”

The photographer looked back at the door. “...Is it bad that I think that’s actually really neat?”

Another bolt of lightning flashed through the sky. The various lights in the room flickered. Ponies, sensing that something was wrong, began converging to the center of the studio. Fleur quickened her pace, tugging Sam right along with her.

“Nopony can leave until the clouds are destroyed,” she said. “And it would be best if we all went into the back.”

She looked up at her photographer, chewing on her lip. “Will you please help me, mon cher?”

There was no hesitation on Sam’s face as he nodded. “I’d be happy to help,” he said, placing a hand on her shoulder and giving it a squeeze.

This time, when thunder shook the building, Fleur didn’t jump. Instead, she smiled.

“Then let’s begin.”

@-@-@-@-@-@-@

It was a simple thing to get everypony together and quieted down. It was another thing entirely calming them down after Fleur had explained what was going on outside. The studio did have more than a few windows, and the acid rain from the clouds had been known to melt through even stone in some cases. But ponies of fashion were, if nothing else, an adaptable sort.

After Fleur had explained the situation, everyone got to work. Sets were cleared and neatly put away. All of the doors were locked and barricaded from the wind. What few pegasi that were amongst them covered the windows with fabric and bits of wood. It was only then, after everything had been squared away, that every mare and stallion retreated to the back of the studio, where windowless rooms lined the halls. Luckily, the studio had been relatively empty today, so there was more than enough room for every mare, stallion, and human.

One of the dress designers, after rooting around in a few of the rooms, had managed to find blankets and pillows. These were all passed around, so that everypony could be at least a little comfortable while they all weathered out the storm.

Both Sam and Fleur found themselves in one of the bigger rooms, sitting on an old, ratty couch and wrapped up tightly in blankets. The only light was provided by Sam’s computer, which sat on a small table in front of the two.

“Well, this isn’t how I thought my day was going to go,” Sam grumbled. “I thought I was going to go home and eat that last bit of stir fry I had, but instead I’m hiding away from some killer storm while it tries to tear down the building.”

“At least you’re not outside, chèr,” Fleur pointed out, nuzzling herself deeper into her blanket.

Sam nodded, looking over at her. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

Another clap of thunder tore through the building, causing it to shake. Both Fleur and Sam tensed.

“Sweet Christ is that something…”

The unicorn couldn’t help but smile. “That is the power of the Everfree.”

Sam looked up at the ceiling in concern. “Remind me to never visit there then.”

The room lulled into a comfortable silence. Fleur could hear Sam shuffling around on his side of the couch but she kept her gaze straight ahead, staring at his computer.

After her worry and excitement had gone down, all that there was left to do was sit here and think in the darkness. And, of course, the only thing that she could think about was the human sitting next to her, what Svengallop had said, and her reputation.

What should she do? What could she do?

Was there a way out of this that would make both Essence and herself happy? Should she go and speak to Photo about this?

Maybe she could go to the higher ups and speak to them herself. Perhaps, if she were to explain why she wanted to keep her photographer, maybe have Sam himself speak to them, then they’d stop.

Or maybe she just needed to do what she was told, just maintained a bit of a distance from her friend. The “scandal” would die down soon enough. In a month or two, she could go back to enjoying his company like she had these past few weeks.

“You know we have a couple of pillows right over there if you want to lie down,” Sam said, interrupting her thoughts .

Fleur looked over at him then at the couch. Seeing that she had more than enough to to lay down she did so, levitating over a pillow and resting it under her head.

“Merci,” she said with a sigh.

“Do you want another blanket? You can have mine if you want.”

“No, thank you.”

“Do you want me to turn down the light on the computer?”

“No, thank you.”

There was another pause. Fleur rolled onto her side, burrowing her face into her pillow, and closed her eyes. Sam, kicking up his feet on the table, leaned back. Rain and thunder could be heard off in the distance.

In a flash, Fleur found herself sitting up. “Sam?”

Sam looked over at her, eyebrow raised. “Yeah?”

The supermodel opened her mouth to speak but quickly closed it, biting her lip. “I know that I told you that I wanted to keep my problem to myself, but…”

She trailed off. Taking a few deep breath, and gathering up her courage, she forced herself to continue.

“But, since the problem concerns you, I feel like you should know.”

She risked a glance over in the human’s direction. He was staring at her intently, his blue eyes almost shining in the light of the computer. The sight eased some of the tension that was forming in Fleur’s shoulders, as well cause her to wiggle closer to her photographer.

“Are you sure you want to tell me?” he asked. “If you really want to keep it to yourself, I don’t mind. I’m not nebby.”

“Non. You need to hear this,” Fleur said, taking a deep breath. “For the last few weeks, I have been asked to replace you with another photographer.” A small, frustrated frown came to her face. “Time and again, I’ve told them that you’ve been working wonderfully, but they’ve been becoming more and more insistent about it.”

A spark of realization came to Sam’s eyes. “Oh?”

Fleur nodded. “Oui. This morning my manager came to me saying that Essence itself might stop asking and start demanding. I don’t know what to do.”

She sighed explosively, her cheeks puffing out. “I enjoy working with you, mon ami, perhaps as much as I do with Photo, but I also have to consider my position, as much as I hate to say it.”

To her surprise, Sam nodded.

“I understand,” he said, placing a hand on her leg.

“Vraiment?” she asked.

“If that means what I think it means, then sure,” he replied. “I might not wanna get dumped into another shoot, but I have no problem with it if it’ll keep your bosses off your back.”

“They’re not my bosses per se, but thank you, Sam,” Fleur said, leaning over and giving him a nuzzle. “I’d thought you’d be upset…”

“Hey, I might not have any experience in this kind of shit, but I’ve heard rumors back home, and if what happens here is half of that, I get you wanting to cover your ass. And it’s not like we can’t still be buddies, right?”

A weight that Fleur hadn’t even known she was carrying was lifted from her shoulders. She let out a relieved sigh, pressing herself against her photographer. She had a thousand things that she wanted to say to him, but instead of any of it, she just nuzzled his jaw.

“I was thinking about going to speak with a few ponies on the matter myself,” she said. “Maybe we could do something that would let Essence see that you’re a proper gentlecolt.”

Sam chuckled. “Gentleman.”

“Gentleman then,” Fleur said, giving his cheek a pat. “Don’t give up on us yet, mon ami. I may have a few tricks up my sleeve yet.”

“Yes ma’am,” Sam said, mussing up her mane. “It’ll be an honor to serve you till the end.”

Fleur let out an indignant squawk. Batting his hand away, she gave his side a hard poke. In retaliation, Sam gave her nose a boop. This, in turn, forced her to give his belly a jab. The two went back and forth for a while, the two of them giggling, before Sam leaned forward toward his computer.

“Since we’re probably going to be here for a while why don’t I show you a couple of movies?” he offered, clicking on a file that he had never touched before.

In an instant, Fleur was staring at his computer. “Movies?”

“Yeah, movies. They’re like moving picture shows.”

“I know what a movie is, mon cher.”

“…Really?”

“Oui. They have theaters all over the city.”

“Huh, I just thought those were all Broadway show thingies…” Sam muttered, before shaking his head. “Anyway, even though this laptop is kinda trash, I was still able to get some movies on this thing. Not a lot, but the couple I have are good ‘uns.”

He clicked on an icon. After a second of two pause, a black screen popped up. Fleur, pressing as much of herself against her photographer as she could, rested her head on his shoulder.

“Well… All of my meetings today are no doubt going to be cancelled by this storm,” she murmured, before looking up at him and smiling. “So, I’d love to watch a few movies with you.”

Sam gave her head a pat, looking pleased. “Alright, so whatcha want to watch first? The Adventures of Robin Hood? Aliens? Terminator?”

“What’s this ‘Adventures of Robin Hood’ about?”

“It’s about a bunch of weird men in tights that like to hang around in the woods.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, they sometimes shoot bows and arrows, but they mostly…”

@-@-@-@-@-@-@

“John Connor gave me a picture of you once. I didn't know why at the time. It was very old - torn, faded. You were young like you are now. You seemed just a little sad. I used to always wonder what you were thinking at that moment. I memorized every line, every curve. I came across time for you, Sarah. I love you. I always have…”

Slowly, Fleur’s eyes fluttered open. She was in a mostly dark room that was only illuminated by a bright light sitting on a table. The unicorn was only able to look at this light for a few moments before she let out a grumble and hid her face in her pillow.

The cloud around her mind slowly began to lift. She was in a backroom in the studio. She was here because of a dangerous storm raging outside. That light on the table was a computer—the very same computer that she had been watching movies on with her dear friend.

Fleur’s brow furrowed as she rubbed the tip of her muzzle against her pillow. There seemed to be something wrong with the thing. It wasn’t as soft as it should be, and it didn’t have the scent that a pillow should have had. She nuzzled a little more forcefully, trying to figure out what was the problem.

The answer came from a sigh that was not her own.

Perking up, Fleur lifted her head and looked right into the sleeping face of her photographer. She blinked owlishly, trying to process just what she was looking at.

“What in Celestia’s name…?” she murmured, tearing her gaze away from his face to look around. “Why is… What am I…?”

Upon closer inspection, she realized that, somehow, she found herself lying on top of the human. A quick wiggle told her that both of Sam’s hands were wrapped around her barrel, holding her close to him. His blanket also appeared to be wrapped around her shoulders, keeping her warm despite the sudden chill in the room.

A blush exploded across her face. She tried to wiggle out of Sam’s grasp, but she only managed to move an inch or two before the human’s grip on her tightened, forcing her right back where she had been. She let out a quiet, embarrassed “Eep!”.

“Sam, Sam,” she hissed, nudging him with a hoof. “Sam!”

Sam let out a quiet murmur, but otherwise was dead to the world. Fleur continued to wiggle around, embarrassed about the position that she was in but not so much that she wanted to get too loud or rowdy and wake her photographer. Eventually she simply conceded defeat, letting out a sigh before resting her head on his chest.

“Sacre bleu,” she said to herself, going limp against the human. “This is going to be… interesting to explain when you wake up…”

After a few moments of pouting, she lifted her head to look at him once again. He looked so peaceful, almost happy with as he laid there. The sight made her smile.

“You are very cute when you sleep, chèr,” she said, nuzzling one cheek then the other.

She didn’t feel all that uncomfortable lying on top of him, she found. In fact, his large frame was rather nice to lie upon. That, coupled with his scent and the heat radiating off of him, was beginning to make it difficult for her to keep her eyes open.

Nevertheless, Fleur continued to nuzzle his face, working her way up from his cheeks to his forehead, chin, and neck. She found herself closing her eyes. With each nuzzle, she could smell their scents mixing, and the more they mingled, the more a particular feeling began to well in her chest.

It was an ancient feeling, one that her ancestors who struggled for survival no doubt felt. She was marking a stallion with her scent, telling everypony that had a nose whose photographer this was and to stay away. The thought made her hum in contentment as she rubbed her nose against his.

In the back of her mind, a part of her was screaming for her to stop. This was inappropriate, extremely unprofessional. Sam was sleeping. Celestia knows what he’d do if he just suddenly woke up and saw what she was doing.

But she couldn’t stop. Something deep inside of her wouldn’t let her.

“Yes… very cute…”

Her breath caught in her throat as her lips brushed his. She froze, not daring to open her eyes. Her ears perked up, listening to Sam’s gentle breaths, trying to see if he was indeed still asleep.

Fleur slowly shifted her weight forward. Puckering her lips, she gave her photographer a quick kiss, then another, then another.

“Fleur, darling! The weather team managed to finally beat those blasted clouds out of the city! We can finally—”

The door to the room was thrown open just as Fleur leaned down for another kiss. The supermodel froze, her puckered lips mashed up against her photographer’s. One of the newer markup artists was standing right in the hallway. From the look of utter surprise, she had no doubt seen what had just happened.

Eyeing the mare, Fleur slowly broke the kiss and sat up. “Horse apples...”