It was eight-o'nine, and everypony was moving about getting the last touches on their photo shoot that day. The black-cushioned chaise had to be positioned in perfect relation to the camera, to show off Fleur de Lys's body gracefully and without any odd angles, while the white backdrop had to be spotless. The hair and make-up stations had to be fully prepared to immediately work on her when she arrived. The dress she'd be wearing—a frilly dark-grey dress with magenta gemstones lining the hems—had to be immaculate for the client, not a hair too long or short, and not too wide or thin. As the clock wound down, everypony within the studio worked hard to make sure everything was perfect.

Photo Finish was in the middle of it all, silently watching the scene unfold, making slight adjustments to the set and suggesting make-up products as thoughts struck her. This was where she thrived, and nopony in the studio could make sure things worked like she could. She wasn't a renowned photographer for nothing, after all. She trusted her workers well enough, but in the end, she knew what to do to achieve "the magic."

The set was getting along well enough, and the stations were discussing what they'd do for the model herself, so the last thing that needed to be done was to check up on the dress. Nestled in a secluded corner of the studio was the costumery department, and amid the mess of fabrics and sewing equipment was a tall, gangly pegasus with light-purple fur, a long, curly red mane-and-tail, and a pincushion cutie mark. This mare was focused completely on making adjustments to the gems on the dress, calm among the running about that was currently going on.

As Finish approached her, she held up a hoof and replied, "A few more minutes. These gemstones are not aligning like I want them to." Her tone would be considered dismissive by most, but Finish knew her long enough to know that she was merely focused. Pins 'N Needles was not one to waste time when she was working. "Do not worry about anything on my part."

"I won't," Finish said equally as bluntly. "I never have to worry about you." She had always liked the Bitalian mare for her curt, decisive attitude and quiet confidence.

"But where is Coco Pommel?" Pins asked, suddenly raising her voice almost to exasperation. "She is... ten minutes late as of now! Did she decide not to come back?"

Finish blinked, and looked across the work station. The stool that Coco had used that week to train was empty. A glance at the clock showed that Pins was exactly right. "This is terrible. I told her last night to be here at eight o'clock sharp!"

"So she decided to stay?" Pins asked. "I didn't think she would. She's such a fidgety thing."

"When she comes in," Finish said with an authoritative edge, "I'll deal with her."

Pins nodded noncommittally, and resumed her work. "She's gotta learn somehow. She's such a squirrelly thing."

Photo finish left her and recalled her conversation with Coco the night before. The other mare had been ready to work again, she was sure, but there was that fidgety nature to worry about. A reprimand would go a long way to fix that, she thought. She began mentally preparing the chastising that Coco would receive when she would arrive there.

***

”Miss Pommel!”

“Yes, I’m here!” she’d say as she bursts through the door, some up the frame flying off from her being wedged in. “I’m so sorry I’m late!”

Finish regarded the mare coldly, while her rolls of fat wobbled as she approached. “Sorry is unacceptable! Why are you late!”

“I promise I tried to get here on time,” Coco would say, taking a deep breath and calming down. “I’m just not used to all of this weight,” she added, shifting her body to let the fat slide around. "I'm just so fat."

"Yes, I can see that," Finish would say loudly, pressing her hoof sharply in Coco's neck and rubbing it up and down. "So big and fat."

"You have no idea what it's like," she'd say, standing on her hindlegs and presenting her belly to her boss, "to heave this thing around. And on a full stomach, too!" She would pat it for emphasis.

"You can't work on an empty stomach," she found herself saying, poking the massive gut to test if it would pop, and then grabbing hold of it and caressing it. "But you shouldn't have been late."

"Yeah, my rump had some trouble getting here as well."

Photo would rest her head on the belly and ask for clarification.

"My fat flanks have had trouble lugging my behind around. Feel how much I have to carry."

Photo would reach around the vast expanse and rub Coco's large, brimming flanks. "Yes, so huge."

"That's nothing compared to my backside." She dropped down to her fours, letting Finish stand on all fours again. "It's so big. My flank may be big—" she turned and let the top of her flank brush against her boss's chin. "And soft, but my butt is huge."

"Huge..."

"And it's so troublesome to carry." Coco's voice was at a whisper.

"Carry..."

"I think you should look at it," Coco would whisper, turning ponderously to present the vast width of her rump to her. It loomed over her, threatening to consume her. "It's such a naughty rump. I think it needs to be punished."

Photo moaned.

"You're the boss, after all."

This reminded her of her power over her employee, and with speed only somepony as sharply honed as her would possess, she gave that mighty ass a slap.

***

Her bodyguard went pirouetting around after that slap, and flew into the set. Everypony stared first at her, and then at him, who was back on his hooves, brushing himself off.

"Sorry," Finish said briskly. "Let us get back to work, everypony. Let's get that set back up." She walked to her director's chair off in the corner of the studio, but before reaching it, heard Pins say lowly,

"I'd hate to be Coco when she comes here."

As Finish sat down, she thought about that vision she had just had. Get a hold of yourself, she told herself. She is an employee, and she's coming here to work. Besides, it's not like she thinks of her figure as something good. No, that will take time. Time and discipline. A few ropes and a latex suit, to try and contain all of her, but it will fail in the end, because she'll just keep getting bigger and bigger and bigger and—

“Miss Finish!”

A high-pitched yell brought her out of her daydreaming, and she looked to the studio entrance to see Coco Pommel galloping towards her. The reality was that Coco was a lot smaller than she had imagined. Her binging last night had added a miniscule few centimeters to her underside, and her rump now had a small jiggle, which was greater than the quiver it had. The rest of her gains were too small to take in. Still, her belly did jiggle as she galloped, though it was more like a dribbled basketball than the hefty medicine ball she thought she’d have. Perhaps she’d have to rethink her vision about a fat pony’s figure.

Or perhaps, she’d thought a second before Coco stopped in front of her, she’d simply forgotten to eat.

“I’m so sorry I’m late!” she wheezed between pants. “I tried getting a carriage to take me here, but they were all used up, so I had to gallop all the way here and I’m so sorry!”

The pitiful explanation usually prompted no sympathy from Photo Finish, and a scolding about proper timing would follow. Looking at her, though, she couldn’t muster up the irritation to admonish her. Still, she reminded herself, work was work. “It's alright. We all make mistakes.”

She could see, out of the corner of her eye, Pins had stopped working and was staring at them.

“I know,” she said pathetically.

“Fortunately… today is a special occasion, and anger would only make things worse.” She took a deep breath, one with just enough of a hint of dissatisfaction. “In the future, though, do not be late. You will be punished if you're late again."

Her heartbeat quickened.

“Yes, Miss Finish,” Coco said with a bow. “Do you want me to get you any coffee?”

“Nein.” That had been one habit that she had inherited from her last boss. Photo Finish didn’t drink coffee; it made her too jittery and unfocused. “Just—“ It was then, when Coco had calmed down and stopped moving so much, that she noticed the coat of sweat on Coco’s coat. “You cannot work like that!”

“Like what?”

“All covered in sweat,” she said with a hoof to the bridge of her snout. “There’s a shower reserved for models when they need to freshen up. Go and clean off your sweat with soap, ja?”

“Oh, okay, Miss Finish.” Coco looked around. Finish thought about escorting her herself, but when her thoughts put the two of them together in the shower, she decided to have somepony else handle it.

“Glitz!” Finish called her manestylist. “Show Coco Pommel to the shower. And don't have too much fu—never mind, forget what I'm saying.”

Glitz ‘N Glamour hesitated for a moment, but then nodded wordlessly and did as requested. Coco Pommel didn’t look back at her boss. If she did, she could’ve guessed that Photo Finish was staring at her jiggling rump. She stared until Coco disappeared into the models’ room. With her out of sight, she turned her attention back to preparations. “Is everything set up now?” she called out. "Is the set finished?"

Multiple ponies yelled their preparedness, and it appeared as though everything was in order. All that was left was to check up on the dress itself. She approached Pins, only to find her staring at her with a raised brow.

“What?”

“Why did you be so soft on her?” Pins asked. “You usually have a lot of yelling and scolding.”

She adjusted her goggles. “I didn’t think it would work with her. She’s too… sweet.”

Pins blinked. “Uh-huh. You want me to go easy on her?”

She thought for a moment, and then shook her head. “No, she needs to learn what it’s going to be like working under you.”

“Good.” Pins smirked. “I would have been hard either way.”

“Of course you would.” She patted her on the back. “That is why I love you.” They shared a chuckle before returning to their duties.

Photo was busy tweaking the set a few inches to the left when she saw Coco Pommel emerge from the room. A glance at the clock showed her that she had been only three minutes in, which spoke highly of her quickness. She was clean now, and besides a little bit of moisture, she was also dry.

She didn’t wait for Photo Finish to tell her where to go, as she went straight to Pins ‘N Needles and was immediately told where to go. That pleased Photo enough, and she admitted that she looked diligent and ready as she sat down with her belly resting on her thighs, and her flanks biting at the rim of the stool.

And then Photo Finish noticed Pins staring at her with a confused expression. Finish nodded to her, for no reason she could muster, went and sat in a nearby chair and waited.

Everything had slowed down as the employees cleaned up, and so after a few minutes, she decided to observe Coco. She was heavily focused on her work, which was tailoring outfits for an upcoming runway show. Pins was doing the same thing, and would curtly correct her if she did anything out of line. She was challenged to go faster to meet deadline, and although she was struggling, she was making good time.

She was working well even with heavier forelegs, Photo Finish thought. They moved up and down with the grace of a seamstress, swaying to and fro with extra heft. At times, her tongue would poke out and press against her cheek, making a divot that accentuated the extra flesh. The rest of her stayed the same, with her just sitting there doing her work. So the only changes she could see were in her cheeks and her forelegs.

And they were, admittedly, cute.

Coco flung her forelegs together to hold onto one of the dresses, and then she brought it close, and Finish felt the caress of her chubby cheek against her own, and snuggled up in her warm legs. And then Finish snapped out of that thought and watched as she set it down.

Suddenly, all of the employees stopped mumbling and moving. Finish heard hoofsteps from the entrance, and got up. She saw the slender form of Fleur de Lys striding in, her figure and grace true to the word of the other Canterlot elite, gaze intently on the set in the middle of the studio. She was accompanied by her husband Fancy Pants, dapper as always, who looked around the room at all of the employees and stations, not betraying any emotion.

Photo Finish met them at the edge of the set. “Hello, Mr. Fancy Pants, and Mrs. Fleur de Lys," she greeted with bubbling enthusiasm. "Welcome to the studio. I believe you will both be impressed with the photographs we'll be taking today.”

"Where is my water?"

Finish stopped talking. "Er, what—oh, right? Your water! Yes, we have it specially heated to nine degrees Celsius just for you—"

"And am I supposed to sit in a regular chair while they're doing my make-up? Do I look like a regular model? My back will ache!" Before Finish could assure her that all of the necessary preparations were in order, Fleur clapped her hooves together, and a stallion in butler attire brought in a hot-pink chaise to place at the hair-styling station. She

“Here you go, Mrs. De Lys.” It was Coco Pommel that came with a bottle of water. “Exactly nine degrees Celsius, just like you like it.”

Fleur looked Coco up and down, back and forth. Coco’s rump quivered a little bit due to running over. Finish saw her snout wrinkle as her gaze landed on Coco’s backside. She took the water in her magical grasp. “Thank you,” she said with a hint of dissatisfaction. “Yes, this feels like nine degrees Celsius.” She drank a dollop of it and set it aside. "Are you one of the help?"

"Oh! I'm a seamstress—"

"Are you the one working on my dress?" Fleur asked, her eyes bugging for a moment.

"Oh, no," Coco said, backing up a bit. "That's my supervisor, Pins 'N Needles." As she said this, Pins' walked over to them and presented the dress.

"It is complete!" Pins proclaimed with a single wave of her foreleg for grand effect. "Your dress, madam."

Fleur immediately took it in her magical grasp, and began turning it around and over, looking at every individual part. After a minute of scrutinizing, she gave it back. "Yes, this will do. Nice work."

Pins gave a small nod in acknowledgement, something Finish had learned was a sign of irritation and disappointment.

"Does that chaise look off to you?" Fleur asked, moving on to the next thing. "Or is that just me? It's three inches too short, and my tail's going to droop off! I can't take a picture with a drooping tail!"

The constant management was something she had to deal with in this business. While she and the rest of the employees waited for Fleur to satisfy her own whims, she walked over to Pins and Coco.

“How are you getting along?” she asked in a low voice.

Pins grinned. “Same as usual. For both of us, it sounds.” She turned and then gave Finish a quizzical expression. “Should you be helping make her happy?”

Usually, she would cater to her models. But, she reasoned to herself, she had a new employee to maintain. “How are you doing, Coco?”

Coco looked up from her work, straightening out the hems on the dresses. “Oh, uh, I’m good, Miss Finish. Just keeping to my costumes.”

“How did you know about Mrs. Fleur’s water?” she asked. She had known about it as well, and had had one of her other employees prepare it beforehoof, but she had not expected Coco to know about it.

“Oh, um, I did some research on Fleur de Lys’s tastes yesterday.” She pawed the ground shyly. “Some of her former photographers could recite all of her peculiarities by heart. That’s… how.”

Photo nodded. “I am impressed.”

They all heard Fleur getting snappy again, this time with one of Photo Finish’s stoic bodyguards. “You should take care of that,” Pins said, waving her off as if that would push her along.

Finish was about to do that, but something stopped her. It was a growl. It took her a moment to locate where it was coming from. “Coco, was that your stomach?” Both senior mares looked at the now-blushing junior.

“Um… yes.” Coco said almost inaudibly. “I didn’t have breakfast this morning. I’m sorry.”

The yelling continued, but Photo Finish was more focused on Coco rubbing her tummy, watching the indent of an empty stomach. “I will get you something to eat. Wait here.”

Before Coco could apologize more, and before Pins could say anything about Fleur’s yelling, Finish walked to the catering table. She always had one out in case the model brought other ponies to admire their figures as they took their shoots. Often this was the case, but today it was Fancy Pants enjoying a muffin. The tray of donuts, about twenty by rough estimate, was untouched, and knowing everypony there, it would remain untouched. She grabbed the entire tray on her back and brought it over.

“Here,” Finish said, sliding the tower of donuts onto one of the stands used for small bits of sewing equipment. “These will go to waste, so have as many as you’d like.” She waved her foreleg towards the tray, inviting the mare to eat. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Pins glaring at her. She tried ignoring it, but thought that perhaps her waving was a tad earnest.

“Thank you, Miss Finish,” Coco said, and without hesitation, she got up from her seat, walked over and took two maple bars from the top. “I’ll just have these—“

“If you want more, take more.” Photo handed her a chocolate bar as well. “Nopony else will eat them, so eat them all. Eat your fill.”

Coco blushed. “Okay, Miss Finish, if you say so.” She popped a maple bar in her mouth and went back to work.

Finish, satisfied, began walking away, all the while ignoring Pins’ hard stare. Fleur had just finished winding down, and was now in make-up. Nothing more out of the ordinary happened, and after an hour, she was ready to pose for the picture. Now would usually be the time to make the subtle changes to make the picture actually perfect, but Fleur was posed incredibly well. Sprawled on in a lying position, with her forelegs elegantly wrapped on one of the cushions, her hind hoofs a half-inch from the edge of the chaise, she was propped up like a statuesque goddess. There was no corrections needed, even as Finish had her change poses; her posture was flawless. The dress itself fit her well, making her look regal, in a Victorian or Gothic manner.

After ten minutes exactly of shooting, they had everything then needed. Finish showed Fleur the product after they had developed, and she nodded her approval with sharp professionalism. “Yes, everything looks perfect,” she said, admiring the pictures from multiple angles. “But…”

Photo waited for her to continue.

“I don’t know. There’s just something about it that does scream, ‘it’s me, world! Fleur de Lys, model extraordinaire!’ You know?”

“I don’t see it,” Finish commented. “You look graceful in these pictures.”

“Well, yes, I’m not saying it’s me…”

Finish’s nape hairs bristled. “If you would like a re-shoot, then let me know. In the meanwhile, I must check on my employees.”

“Yes, of course,” Fleur said dismissively, still fiddling with the photographs. “Maybe it’s the dress. Those gemstones are rather small..."

Photo Finish walked away, too used to these sorts of objections to be perturbed by them. She looked around to see everypony giving each other congratulatory hoofbumps, and that everything was in order, so she went over to her seamstresses. Pins was working like usual, completely focus on her tasks, not correcting Coco anymore since the other mare got a handle of the task. She also saw that there were considerably less doughnuts on the tray; her quick eyes told her that there were eight left. The rest had gone into Coco, and her belly had rounded out, taut and spherical, and it hung there uninterrupted, and not impeding its host.

It pleased her.

“How did she like it?” Pins asked, not missing a beat in her work.

“She’s not pleased with it.”

“Give it time,” Pine replied with a light air. “It always takes some time.”

Photo grunted agreement, and looked at Coco, who was smiling widely at Pins. “What has got you so happy?”

Coco started, and blushed. “I’m sorry. I just really like her accent. You’re from Veneighce, aren’t you?”

Pins stopped working. “How do you know? Are you from Veneighce?”

“No,” Coco said with some wistfulness. “But my grandma is. I’ve always wanted to go!” She clapped her hooves together dreamily. “I’ve heard that the roads are made of rivers, and beyond that, there are meadows and fruit trees galore! And the ponies are so laid-laid back and nice.”

“The cuisine must also be a spectacle,” Photo added as dryly as she could.

“Oh, yes!” Coco’s eyes glazed over. “So many varieties of bread, fruit, pastas, sauces, herbs and spices!”

“And we Veneighcians make a lot of it,” Pins added in a conversational tone. There was something off about it, though. Finish looked out of the corner of her eye to see what it was, and caught the Bitalian mare glaring at her. It was like she was watching for something.

“I’ve been to Bitaly as well,” they all heard Fleur say as she approached them, some furrows on her brow from her fretting. “Roam, to be more precise. Business and all that. It’s a nice place.”

“Yes,” Coco added. “Very picturesque and beautiful.”

Fleur balked. “What did you say?”

Coco shook herself out of her thoughts. “Um… it’s very picturesque?”

“And beautiful!” Fleur clapped her forehooves together. “That’s it! I need a photo with atmosphere. A Bitalian atmosphere!” She stared at Photo Finish. “Could you arrange a photo shoot at Little Bitaly in Manehattan? For myself and a few other guests?”

Finish wasn’t following. “Why would you want to go to Manehattan? And why other ponies involved?”

“For authenticity, of course!” Fleur fluffed her mane. “I do love to entertain, and I pride myself on providing the best. A Bitalian banquet will make for an excellent host—that being me, of course. And I’ll need a fiery red dress to match!” She put on some puppy eyes for Finish. “Please?”

Photo adjusted her goggles in a sign of worry. “Mrs. Fleur de Lys, I don’t think we could do that—“

“We’ll pay you handsomely.” She turned to Fancy Pants, who had silently joined the conversation. “Won’t we, honey?”

“Of course!” Fancy Pants smiled his dashing smile. “A Bitalian setting sounds splendid! We’d of course fund for most of it.”

Photo thought about it for a moment. “We’ll talk about it later. For now, though, how do you feel about those pictures?”

“Oh, those?” She waved her hoof about. “They’re alright, definitely useable.”

Just like everypony had expected, Photo Finish thought. “We’ll talk about it soon—“

“How about we take you to lunch?” Fancy Pants suggested. “We could talk about it then. I know of a great buffet we could attend across town, that would be a great way to diversify our surroundings and our palates.”

Photo didn’t have anything else to do, so she agreed to it. She looked at Coco, who was wide-eyed during the conversation. “Would you mind if I took my assistant, Coco Pommel, with me? She could write everything down.”

Fleur looked at the other mare, and although not looking entirely pleased, agreed to it. “Yes, that’s fine.” They all agreed on a time, and the two wealthy ponies left.

“You,” Photo said, pointing to Coco. “Get ready. You are going to come with us to lunch.”

Coco stammered. “Oh, my, but what about the dresses?”

“Don’t worry about them for now,” Pins said, waving her hoof at her. “You need to write down ideas for this new shoot, okay? And just treat it as lunch.” As she said that, a low gurgle escaped Coco’s stomach, causing the mare to blush. “Hungry after a dozen donuts, unbelievable.”

Photo ignored that and looked at the remaining donuts. “Get the rest in a bag to take home. Grab a notebook and a pen, and meet me outside.”

“Y-yes, Miss Finish!” Coco hopped off of the stool and galloped off. Coco walked away and, after telling everypony to clean up, walked towards the entrance. She looked back over everything, and just caught Pins ‘N Needles with a smirk on her face, before walking out the front door.

Author's Note

I tried for so long to make this as appealing as possible, but nothing that I did worked. In the end, after over a year, I decided to ram myself through this roadblock. The plot elements are there, and although I wish I could've realized some more fat fun, I just couldn't here. It called for plot, and I did what I could. The rest of the story should proceed from here, with more fun bits coming soon. That is, if I continue with my writing schedule.

Also, Just_A_Nopony, my anime-obsessed brother made me watch Death Note. Now everything makes sense.