The windows to Master Duffle’s factory had been concealed by curtains; Photo Finish had been painfully reminded of that when she had gotten into her bathroom and peered out of her binoculars to witness what was going on inside. It had remained this way for over an hour when she finally gave up her pursuit and went to take care of some work.

There were models to shoot tomorrow, four in total; an art gallery exhibit to attend; a fashion show to schedule in Fillydelphia; a prospective model to interview; a gaffer to interview; and Fleur de Lys’s photo shoot to continue planning. The dress, as far as she knew, was nearly done, while the location was set a few months from then. She had the capellini and would probably have the gianduia, but there was still the other items on the dinner table, as well as the furniture and decorations to plan, not to mention who she would get to entourage with her for the shoot.

Photo Finish, you’ve done all of this before.

Yes, I know.

You shouldn’t have any trouble with it.

You already know that won’t be the case.

You lust for them, I know, but you must not let that change your work.

I know.

Relax, you will at least be assured that this will be taken care of.

I know.

She straightened out a stack of papers, all containing reports of upcoming trends and models, and set them in a manila envelope. “There. Now I have everything I need to plan for upcoming shows, galleries and interviews. Let us move on to Fleur’s photo shoot.”

But as she reached for her sketches, she stopped. “No, I cannot. The entourage and décor will be easy enough to organize, but the food will be another matter.”

No it won’t be.

“I will need Coco to look at what can be done.”

No, you don’t.

I do.

You don’t.

I do.

Alright. So how are you going to go about making it happen?

I will make a special plan about it tomorrow at work.

With food?

Of course. Coco can’t be motivated otherwise.

Something about that statement disturbed her.

Get back to work.

I can do no more work.

So what’s the plan?

She didn’t even answer internally. She stretched herself out of her chair, letting her back pop a few times, and grabbed her material. As she did, her eyes cast onto the magazine lying alone on the desk. It hadn’t been enough to merely deal with her constant arousal in the bathroom; she had grabbed the most recent edition of Blubber Lovers, the one she had looked through that fateful day, and had it next to her in case she needed something to focus her energy on.

And she had needed it a few times throughout the night.

She decided to let the magazine rest there; there was no doubt in her mind that she would be needing it at some point in the near future, if not that night. Her work was carried out of her home office, and quickly closing the door, she carried it upstairs. She limped all the way to her bedroom, her thighs sore with friction.

She sighed in relief as she finally reached her bedroom. Every part of her body wanted to collapse onto her large bed, to sink into it and forget that the day had happened.

Why would you want to do that? You got to witness the Massive Magnificent Mares eating lots of chocolate.

But what did I do?

You watched, like I said.

But is that enough?

It used to be.

But not now. Not when they were right there.

She didn’t collapse. It would’ve been a bother for her dress if she had done that. She instead limped over to her closet and turned the light on. Unlike what other ponies had thought, she didn’t have a vast array of clothes. Two pairs of shoes, one light-blue pair of high heels and a pair of dark-blue slippers, which she slipped on upon entering. Nine dresses for special occasions, including her zebra-striped one which she slipped off of her body. One extra pair of goggles, and she set her normal pair next to those.

Blinking away the pain of the blood rushing to where the goggles had pressed into her face, she took a look at herself. Her mauve eyes had bags underneath them, signs of her near-sleepless nights. “Oh,” she moaned. “I must get some sleep tonight.”

But first, a bath. Her body ached too much for her to ignore that. She limped out of her bedroom and down the hall. The water was turned on, lavender oil was added and created suds, some Maredi was put on her radio. Photo Finish sighed.

The binoculars gleamed in the light. “No, not tonight,” she sighed. “I must get some rest.”

Don’t worry about your failures today. There will be tomorrow.

Finish stepped in and let her body sink down into the water. It was graceless, very uncharacteristic of her, but she didn’t care at that moment. The water and lavender was already working on her muscles. She sighed into the water, and her head sunk in underneath.

This is nice.

Yes.

Will I ever have Coco as a prize?

If you act the way you did today, then there is no likely chance.

Yes, you’re right. But something about today made me feel funny.

Lustful?

No, it was something more than that.

Like what?

I don’t know.

When did it happen?

When we were talking.

You weren’t checking out her body? Or her flank? Or past that?

You know that I am always checking her out. But I was interested in what she was saying. She let her muzzle emerge for air. She talked about Bitalian chocolate, and her childhood. Those aren’t things I usually care about, but… there was something about the way she described it all.

It isn’t love.

No, it’s not. Not yet, at the very least.

Is there any possibility that it is the spark of love?

No, there’s a fat chance of that.

Even now, when you are meant to relax and collect yourself, and even with your marehood red and sore from your hoof, you still think of those fat ponies.

It is a dreadful curse.

And a massive blessing.

You can’t decide.

You know why I can’t.

If you want to take a fat pony as your mate, then why don’t you?

She rose from the water and stared out the window, not at the direction of the hotel where Fanny was staying, but rather to Canterlot Castle. It was majestic, grand, always in fashion. Her gaze drifted to Classy Coats, the premier fashion-show studio in Canterlot. It would be getting ready for an Autumn Equinox fashion show, and Photo Finish would be likely to attend.

Would I still be allowed to events like that, with a fat mare by my side?

You wouldn’t have to take him or her with you.

And what if she wanted to go?

That… is a good question.

And what would everypony in general think of me if I were to choose a fat pony as a mate? Would they still respect what I see as beautiful?

You know that having a fancy for fat ponies doesn’t exclude your seeing anything else as beautiful.

But would other ponies realize that? Is Canterlot ready to accept fat ponies as beautiful like I do?

Does beauty even matter here? They are the object of your lust, so why include beauty?

Because they are beautiful!

That made her pause. She thought about it for a moment, and the thought grew stronger with every passing moment. She had considered them attractive, but beautiful? Certainly Black Forest was, with her grace and poise even with a hulking belly. French was cute and elegant and sweet, while Dark… she had a sassy, home-grown sort of beauty to her. Could Fanny be classified as beautiful, besides being a whale of a mare?

Why can’t she be?

She figured she was right. Fanny was friendly, cheerful, joyful, and so full of life. She didn’t just walk wherever she went; she practically danced with how much vigor she had in everything she did.

She is very beautiful.

And Coco?

Coco… I have no idea how to describe Coco. She…

The thought wouldn’t come to her. Coco wasn’t ugly, she told herself. She was fairer than fair, she thought.

She’s too reserved, she finally concluded. She can blossom into beauty, if she accepts who she is. She’s just too fearful of other ponies.

She sighed. Her muscles throbbed in relaxation and her fur had stopped stinging. Her thighs were achy, but that would go away in time, she was sure.

“Thank Celestia for bathtubs,” she mumbled. “I really needed this.”

The binoculars’ lenses shimmered with the lavender bubbles moving about. “No,” she told herself. “I will leave them be. I will just lie here and relax, and then go to bed with a clearer—“

Her doorbell rang.

All of the therapeutic soothing seemed to dissipate in an instant. With a swift motion, she pushed her window open, leant out, and called down, “Who is there!?”

She watched the front corner of her home, waiting for somepony to answer. Instead, somepony was walking around the corner. She would give that pony a good yelling at for interrupting her most necessary bath!

The shadow crept closer, and Finish could make out some details. Her anger melted into something else. Her heartbeat quickened. The shadow was large, with modestly short hair. On the neck, she could just make out a collar and hair clip resembling a flower.

Oh, goddesses, why her? Why now?

The off-white face of Coco Pommel peeked out from the corner. “H-Hello, Miss Finish?”

“Coco!” Finish snapped. “What are you doing here?”

Coco blanched. “I’m sorry, Miss Finish, you just said that you wanted to see the gianduia chocolate for yourself for the shoot, and I brought some for you, but if that’s not okay, then I can leave and come back tomorrow, or bring it to work—“

Bring it to work? Goddesses, what will my employees think if I were to inspect a gianduia cake in front of them? “No no, I will come down and retrieve it.”

She began getting up from the bathtub, sending water sloshing around. A voice piped up from outside. “Uh, if you’re taking a bath, I could just—“

“Wait. Right. There.”

Coco gulped. “Yes, Photo Finish.”

Finish closed her window and, climbing out of the tub, began drying herself with her monogrammed coral-colored towel. “Of all the times to show up, why now? Why, when I finally get a chance to relax?”

Are you going to pass this opportunity up?

What, to have sex with her?

No, to talk to her.

She thought back to her conversation at Duffle Bag’s, and how it had enflamed her so. “Perhaps this will be an opportunity to explore this feeling more thoroughly.”

That’s the spirit.

Plus, it won’t hurt to get an up-close look at her— Her thighs stung as she walked down the stairs. On second thought, I should just focus on talking to her.

When she got to the door, her heartbeat picked up. But what am I going to talk about? Work? Fanny? Fleur? More of her childhood?

Well, why not?

What do you mean?

Why not just talk to her?

What do I know of small talk? It’s a waste of time.

Do you want Coco or not?

Yes, I do.

Then you must at least try and engage in small talk with her.

She didn’t give her mind the satisfaction of being right, but as she opened the door, she took a deep breath and readied herself for the small talk.

“Hello, Coco.” Her voice was quivering, but she doubted Coco would notice. “How was your night?”

“Oh, it was very nice!” Finish looked Coco up and down. Her belly seemed round and bloated from food. Excellent, she indulged herself… but only when I had left. She was clean from head to tail, no chocolate out of place, though she did ave a faint hint of it. Her teeth had no chocolate on them; she must’ve brushed them or drank some water before coming here. Her collar was straining against her neck, though. “I stayed at Duffle’s factory longer than expected—longer than intended, I should say.” Her expression became demure. “I talked to Fanny about the photo shoot, and she said that everything seemed to be going okay. They just need the cameras, and for everypony else to show up.”

Ah, yes. Gala, Pineapple, Silver and Big Wig. I should ask when they will be arriving. But why did Fanny tell her that she only needed the cameras? And as a matter of fact, why did she tell Coco, but not me? I know more about photography than she does, I make a living out of it! “She wouldn’t talk to me about it!”

Coco flinched, sending the bowl of gianduia shaking around on her back. “Well, she was busy eating… chocolate… you know…”

“Yes, but this is business!” she snapped.

“I’m sorry!” Coco yelled. “I don’t know what happened, I just—“

In an instant, Finish knew that she had erred. “Coco, calm down! I apologize. I just want to get every last detail sorted out. It weighs down on my mind when I don’t have everything laid out perfectly.”

Coco stopped mumbling. “…Oh. I’m sorry.”

“Relax,” Finish said forcefully.

Coco took a few deep breaths, and then motioned to the bowl on her back. “Here is the gianduia that you wanted, Photo Finish.”

Finish stepped outside and looked at the bowl on Coco’s back, rubbing against Coco’s side as she did so. She had trouble seeing it even with craning her head; Coco’s side pushed her out nearly far enough that anything on her back would be nearly out of reach. The gianduia glistened in the moonlight, a light brown spread that was smooth, obviously an elegant sort of chocolate. It didn’t jostle around as Coco moved; rather, it stayed perfectly in place. She could smell the faint hint of hazelnuts coming from it.

It was just right for a luxurious cake at a banquet. “That is perfect!” she exclaimed.

Coco blushed. “Aw, well, Duffle Bag was willing to spare a bowl just for you, so long as he received credit in some way. You know, for publicity and… stuff.”

“Yes, we can do that.” Finish reached up, having to place her hooves on Coco’s belly as she climbed, and took the gianduia from her. The spread moved just a little, but not too much at all. “It is just what we need.”

“Are you sure Fleur’s going to want that?”

Finish stopped admiring. That’s right, I haven’t even asked her. Ha! I’m sure a mare like her wouldn’t be able to resist. “I will ask her tomorrow”

“Okay.”

Finish took it inside and made to close the door. This is exactly what I wanted from her. She got me what we needed.

Yes, but are you really going to leave her outside?

She stopped dead in place. “Oh, right. Coco, would you like to come in?”

A faint hint of a blush crept to Coco’s face. “Oh, should I? I mean, it is your house, and you might be busy, and may want to finish your bath, and—“

“Coco!”

“Eep! Oh, right, sorry!” Coco stepped inside, her belly and rump jiggling madly as they worked to push her in. Finish noted that Coco’s sides nearly, but didn’t, brush against the frame. In time, Photo Finish. Perhaps even tonight, if you play your cards right.

A mischievous smile fell onto her face. Yes, but what could I use to feed her? I must look into my pantry and—

A pain rose from her thighs. Or, I should just talk to her.

“I think this is the first time I’ve seen you without your goggles,” Coco remarked with a small smile.

“What?’ Finish suddenly realized that she had left her goggles upstairs. “Oh, right, I cannot wear them in the bath.”

“You have pretty eyes.”

“Thank you,” Finish said, trying not to blush. “So, Coco, exactly how much did you indulge with Fanny and the others?”

Coco had been looking around the living room space, admiring all of the portraits, the sleek black furniture, and the fireplace, when Finish had asked. When she heard, she turned and looked at the ground, her hoof pawing at the carpet. “Oh, uh, not a whole lot.”

What?!

“Well…”

Don’t be shy, my prize. Let your gluttony shine. Nopony else is here to watch.

“I tried controlling myself…”

But?

“And in my defense, I didn’t eat as much as I could’ve…”

No!

“But Black Forest kept offering me treats…”

Bless her heart.

“And I turned some down…”

You bad pony, you.

“But I did… stuff myself.”

Ooh, yes.

“A few times.”

Wunderbar!

“And I… needed help getting home.”

Mein stars, why didn’t I see it with my binoculars?

“I’m sorry.” Coco hung her head.

“Do not be.” Finish walked over to her and raised her head. “You are doing what is good for business. You are mingling with our clients!”

“I know,” Coco said nervously, “but I don’t want you to think of me as a pony that does nothing but eat all of the time.”

“Why not?”

“Huh?”

“I asked why not—“ Finish froze. Celestia, did I just ask why she doesn’t want me to see her as a glutton? What am I thinking? “—I mean, why would I think of you as somepony that eats all of the time?”

Two guilty eyes gazed onto her stomach. “Well, look at me.” Her voice held a slight quiver that made Finish nervous.

“What can I do to help you feel better?”

Coco’s face scrunched up in confusion. “Photo Finish, you don’t have to worry about me. I can get by. Is there anything that I can do for you?”

Finish’s body tensed up. What can she do? She can down the gianduia in one sitting, and then let me feed her everything I have, and then take her out to eat at as many restaurants as we can stay awake through, and then she can come to my bed and we can— Her thighs started up again. Damnit, I can’t think about that! And I can’t make her eat more, not when she’s feeling like this.

Her mind jolted. Wait, did you just think that?

Yes, why?

That is actually nice of you.

Nice?

Yes?

I don’t want her to think of food as the enemy. I can’t force her to eat yet, not when she’s so reserved.

Oh.

“Would you like to spend the night?”

Coco’s eyes bugged. “Huh?”

“Would you like to spend the night? I do not want my employees to feel bad, and I have sometimes gone to great lengths to cheer them up!”

Nice lie.

Thanks.

“If you need to be near somepony, then I can offer my couch, or guest bed.”

“Um…” Coco’s face was on fire. Was it working to draw her in, or drive her away? Should I take a chance?

You’ve already offered to cheer her up. Might as well.

“Maybe you just need to get in a bath and let your troubles soak away! I can draw one up for you, if you would like.”

Coco’s face was beet red. “That’s okay, Photo Finish,” she near-panted. “Really, I should just be going.”

No, I’m losing her! “Will you be alright?”

Coco turned and nodded. “I think so. But… th-thank you for the offer.” She swallowed a lump. “I really appreciate it, and all the time you’ve helped me get used to things in Canterlot.”

Finish felt her chest swell up. “You are welcome. I really like you—as an employee.”

“Oh.” Coco nodded to her. “I really like you as a fremployer.”

“Of course. I know great talent when I see it.”

They both stood in place, waiting for the other to say something. At length, Finish made the next move. “So you really must be going.”

Coco looked at the grandfather clock in the dining room. “Yes, it’s getting late, and I have to make dinner for myself.”

“I will see you out.” With that, Finish and Coco walked the few steps to the front door. Finish opened it up and let Coco move past her, their sides slowly brushing against one another. In a stroke of luck, Luna or Boreas the Wind King or some other deity caused a chilly breeze, which stopped Coco in place. Finish got an up-close view of Coco’s large rump, placid and unfettered. The breeze even pushed against Coco’s tail, but she kept it in control. Almost, almost. But… in time.

“Thank you, by the way.”

Finish snapped out of her trance. “Thank you? For what?”

“For coming with us tonight. I know it’s weird, being around ponies that are overweight, but it made it much easier, with you there.”

It was Finish’s turn to blush. “You are welcome.”

They stood there waiting for the other to act. After some length of time. Coco bowed. “Good night, Photo Finish.” She reached her neck out, but then withdrew it. “Um, do you allow hugs?”

Instead of answering with words, Finish craned her neck forwards. They hugged and nuzzled each other, Finish’s brain working overtime to keep the blush off of her cheeks with the bombardment of Coco’s meaty neck and plump cheeks rubbing against her, and her puffy chest pressing against hers. Her thighs burned, but she paid them no mind.

When they broke, Coco’s cheeks were slightly red. Finish bowed slightly as she stepped inside. “Good night, Coco.”

Coco turned, and so Finish closed the door. She looked out the window at Coco’s rump, and solely at her rump, as she walked down the path that led to the normal cobblestone streets. She watched her flank as Coco proceeded down the street and out of view.

Then she cantered up to her bathroom and, pressing the binoculars to her eyes, watched Coco as she continued on home. Her thighs ached and her heart pounded, but she didn’t stop until Coco was inside her apartment.

“And that, I suppose, is the end of that.” She set the binoculars down and walked over to her bed. Rolling into it, she stared up at the ceiling.

That went well, didn’t it?

Did it? I didn’t feed Coco anything, or tell her how I truly feel.

In time, Photo Finish. Like you keep on saying. In time.

I hope so. She didn’t remember if she slept or not, for the next day came before she knew what was going on.

Author's Note

A plot-heavy chapter, not much fetishy content to have. Sorry if this disappoints you guys; I needed to get this through to start some conflict for later.

I wasn't planning on this story being so long, but I need to say that the final chapter of the first act (and its corresponding incident) will be published on Saturday the 24th. The second act will begin two weeks after that, on the eighth, after I write up a few chapters for it. I'll explain more next week.