Photo Finish's Beginnings

by NazotheHedgehog7

Rating: everyone
Tags: Random, Photo Finish, Slice of Life, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Length: 9800

A story focused on Photo Finish's origins, from where she grew up as a little filly, to what inspired her to become a fashion photographer, the story also shows what she did in her early teens until she became the pony we all know her as today

Many people have wondered exactly who is Photo Finish? Where did she come from? Why does she behave the way she behaves? Well this story explains all that and more, this is a headcanon about Photo Finish focused on her past.

Learn about where Photo Finish came from and what she went through to become the pony we all know her as today

Published 2014-11-01 23:50:06 UTC
Last updated 2014-11-01 23:50:06 UTC

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Beginnings

Years ago a small family of Earth-Ponies in the country of Germaney known as the Lenses lived as best of lives they could in their country after the last great war. The family had three members, there was Photo Lenses who was a mare with a light gray mane, dark blue fur and red eyes. Her Cutie Mark was a Camera, she lived with her father Video Feed and her husband Mobius Lenses, Video Feed was a very elderly Earth-Pony who had a black dirty mane, brown fur and green eyes. His Cutie Mark was a radar scanner, Mobius Lenses was colored pale, light grayish cerulean and he had very dark indigo eyes. His Cutie Mark was a mobius camera, many long years ago Video Feed fought in the last great war that involved Germaney invading Prance and other countries in their half of the world until Princess Celestia was able to bring Harmony to the warring ponies of the countries far from Equestria.

Video Feed in spite of being born in Germaney, fought to free Prance and most of his fellow ponies from Germaney saw him as an untrustworthy traitor back in those days. But because of the last great war and the war before it the once great country of Germaney suffered greatly, Video Feed told many a filly and colt about his days in the war, including how it took his beloved wife Cerulean Seas. Video Feed had to raise his children, Photo Lenses was the oldest of her siblings and watched over them like a mother. But as the years passed and Photo Lenses and her family tried to stay together best they could, her siblings decided to move to other counties in order to find a better life and send money to their family, but what little they could send wouldn't be enough for Photo Lenses and Video Feed in later years. One day while out on a walk Photo Lenses bumped into Mobius Strip, the stallion was so handsome and he seemed like a kind fellow since he treated Photo Lenses very kindly.

Mobius Strip was in every right a gentle-colt, as time went by he met Photo Lenses time and time again, until one day he asked for her hoof in marriage. After Photo Lenses agreed to marry Mobius Strip the two planned for their wedding, it was a small wedding that was held in an old cathedral that survived being destroyed in the last great war while most other buildings were destroyed. This cathedral was where Photo Lenses and her siblings stayed in their childhood years when the last great war happened. After the wedding Mobius Strip changed his name to Mobius Lenses and he promised his wife he'd do everything he could to be a perfect husband. Mobius Lenses got a job in filming while Photo Lenses became a photographer of wild life much like her mother.

As time went by Photo Lenses felt a kick from inside of her, she went to the doctors and they told her she was expecting a little foal. Once Photo Lenses told her husband and father of the news they felt so happy and so excited that they forgot about all of their worries, as months passed by Photo Lenses went to the doctors in order to give birth to her foal, her husband and father went with her in order to help her best they could. Photo Lenses was excited to learn that she gave birth to a healthy little filly, after talking with her husband over the name to give their daughter they agreed on the name Photo Finish.

Photo Finish was a cute little filly, she was born with a pale, light grayish cerulean coat of fur, a light gray mane and very dark indigo eyes. She was born with her father's eyes and coat of fur, and with her mother's mane and was the most adorable filly ever seen by her parents, a few months after Photo Finish was born there was disaster for the Lenses family. Photo Lenses had to quit her job in order to look after her filly Photo Finish, Mobius Lenses was fired for missing work twice, the first time was because he had to be with his wife when Photo Finish was born and the second one was because he had a bad day and tried to make it to work but his angry and ill tempered boss fired him. Because of this the Lenses had to sell a lot of their heirlooms among other things "papa.......why are ve getting rid of za stuff in our house?" Photo Finish asked her father one day.

"Well Photo Finish.....it's.......because of....vell......we are having a hard time but I Mobius Lenses promise you my dear that one day we will have a better life" Mobius Lenses said to his daughter in a reassuring tone.

As the months went by and the months turned into years the Lenses did their best to make it through troubling times, until the day came where Video Feed got out his emergency bits and insisted that he and his family moved to Equestria for a better life. After Photo Finish's parents and grandfather argued for hours over the matter, it was settled that they couldn't possibly make it in Germaney and raise Photo Finish with hopes of her having a good life the way things were.

On Photo Finish's fifth birthday she and her family arrived in Equestria on a large passenger ship, "I Mobius Lenses have arrived in Equestria!" Mobius Lenses said to himself as he and his family looked around as they arrived in the harbor of Manehattan the biggest city in Equestria next to Canterlot.

"I Photo Finish.....have arrived in Equestria!" Photo Finish said while she was on her father's back and watching the view of the beautiful Manehattan harbor and Manehattan itself. "I can't believe we have finally made it" Photo Lenses said with a smile as she saw a land of opportunity and a fresh new start for her and her family, especially Photo Finish who had her whole life ahead of her. The little filly didn't have her Cutie Mark yet but one day in Equestria Photo Finish would find her true destiny.

A year after the Lenses family arrived in Manehattan they lived in a middle class apartment, Mobius Lenses was able to get a job in Las Pegasus as a camera man and he sent money to his family in Manehattan along with post cards assuring them that he's alright and that he loves them very much and hopes their doing alright. Photo Lenses spent most of her time taking care of Photo Finish along with help from Video Feed, one day Photo Lenses was able to get work at a part time job selling oranges and was able to send Photo Finish off to school so her filly could learn about Equestria and about all the things a pony needs to know in life "I Photo Finish......can't wait to go to school" the filly said as she thought about school.

Photo Finish never went to school in Germaney, she learned everything she knew up to this point from her family. Thanks to her father's way of speaking she got into the habit of talking like her father and the filly hoped she could make some friends while at school.

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Inspiration

It was a nice warm summer day when the six year old filly Photo Finish went to school for the first time in her life. "Mama, what should I Photo Finish expect at school?" the filly said to her mother as she put her saddle pack on her back with all of her school supplies.

"Well Photo Finish my dear, you should expect to say your name to the other students when you arrive in the class room where you'll study with other students. And if everything goes alright I'm sure you'll make friends at school" Photo Lenses said to her daughter as the exited their apartment.

"Friends? What are friends?" Photo Finish asked, the poor filly didn't have any friends in her home country of Germaney, she spent most of her time with her family and since not to many children lived in her neighborhood she never got to meet and other children and make friends.

"Friends are people who are friendly and close to you" Photo Lenses said.

"Is family considered a lot of friends?" Photo Finish asked.

"In a way yes, but in general friends are other ponies who aren't related to you, like for example Cookie Crumbles is a friend of mine but we aren't related" Photo Lenses said.

"But isn't Cookie Crumbles one of your customers?" Photo Finish asked her mother as they walked down to the streets of Manehattan.

"Yes...but that's the fun thing about friends, they can be just about anypony else in the world and they may live far away from you. But a true friend cares for you no matter what, I'm sure when you meet somepony at your new school you'll be able to tell if she or he is a friend" Photo Lenses explained to her curious daughter.

Within an hour long walk Photo Finish and her mother arrived at the school, Photo Finish was very nervous when her mother told her that Photo Finish would have to be at school without her mother. Photo Lenses assured her daughter that everything would be alright and the reason she picked out this school is because its only a ten minute trot from the orange stand Photo Lenses works at. "I'll come and pick you up at 3:00 PM" Photo Lenses said to her daughter as she walked her into the school.

Photo Lenses was sure her daughter would be able to take care of herself at school, she made sure one of the teachers would guide Photo Finish to the class room. Photo Finish took calm deep breathes as she walked into the classroom as she heard the teacher say "class we have a new student from Germaney today, please welcome Photo Finish" the teacher said as she pointed to the cerulean earth-pony. "I Photo Finish........have arrived!" Photo Finish said with a bit of excitement in her voice, she wasn't sure what to say and she wanted to make a good first impression on her class especially since she hoped she'd become friends with some of them.

"Ahahahahahaha" the class laughed and giggled as Photo Finish introduced herself the way she did. This puzzled Photo Finish, she wasn't sure why they were laughing or what was so funny.

"Now class, remember she's from Germaney and I expect you all to treat her like any other pony" the teacher said to her class, they calmed down and stopped laughing after that. Please find a seat Photo Finish" the teacher said as she pointed to empty seats. Shortly after this Photo Finish walked with a blank look on her face because she wasn't sure if she should smile or not.

Some of the students looked at her weirdly and others were curious, after all getting a new student from Germaney wasn't common at all and many of the children had no clue where Germaney was. The school went on as the colts and fillies were busy learning what all they could, recess came at it's normal hour which was new to Photo Finish. She had a question for the teacher before she went out to spend time playing "I Photo Finish have a question.....what is recess?" she asked her teacher.

"Oh I forgot you this is all new to you Photo Finish, recess is where you go outside and play. It lasts for about an hour but you need it in order to exercise" the teacher explained.

And so Photo Finish got to go outside and play, the playground was enclosed and fenced like a regular school playground. It had all kinds of things to expect like a swing set, monkey bars, slides and etc.... Photo Finish saw so many wonderful things around the place, she also saw many kinds of ponies but most of them were Earth-Ponies like her. Many of the colts and fillies had their Cutie Marks while others like her didn't have one yet, Photo Finish was so absorbed in looking at everything that she didn't notice a brown colored unicorn filly trip her on purpose until it was to late.

"Ow......." Photo Finish said.

"Ehehehe you should watch where you're going blank flank" the filly said as she looked down at Photo Finish.

"I Photo Finish don't understand......what's going on?" Photo Finish said as she got up with her mane all ruined.

"Ahahaha brown suits you, you must think you're a big shot since you're from Germaney blank flank" the brown filly said.

"I Photo Finish just think I'm like anypony...and I Photo Finish don't understand why you're calling me a blank flank?" she said as she was confused.

"A blank flank is a pony like you, you don't have a Cutie Mark which means you're lame big time. And what's with the way you talk" the filly said.

Photo Finish took a moment to think of why she talk's the way she does, and she remembered it was because her father talks that way. By addressing himself as 'I Mobius Lenses' rather then just I, or me which wasn't a common way of addressing one's self. She also remembered now what kind of a pony one is if they trip somepony on purpose or call you names without reason....that kind of pony is a bully!!! And Photo Finish was scared and fell to the ground when she realized this. "Ha! Dirt really is fitting for an earth-pony like you" the unicorn said as she was getting ready to kick dirt in Photo Finish's face but then a filly stepped in front of Photo Finish and said to the unicorn.

"Step off!".

"Gasp!!!" everypony gasped when they saw the pony who was standing up to the bully, the filly had light brilliant amber eyes, a pale, light grayish gold coat of fur, and as Photo Finish looked up she saw the most beautiful mane she had ever seen. The mane and tail were light brilliant cobalt blue with light brilliant azure stripes. This was the most popular student of them all next to Hoity Toity, this was......Sapphire Shores!!!! "Sapphire Shores?!! What are you doing here?" the unicorn asked.

"Diamond Bits you've got a bad attitude girl, it an't cool bullying the new kid around especially because she talks differently then most of you" Sapphire Shores said to the rude unicorn.

"I Photo Finish don't understand what is happening" Photo Finish said.

"What's happening is Sapphire Shores is blocking me from zapping you" the bully said, but then one of the teachers came and saw what Diamond Bits was trying to do and then Diamond Bits was taken from the playground by the teachers and put on a time out for bad behavior.

"Oh yeah girl, your bad attitude was bound to get you into trouble, you deserved it big time" Sapphire Shores said to Diamond Bits as she was taken away for her time out.

"Now that, that's over...would you like a helping hoof" Sapphire Shores said to Photo Finish as she offered to help her up.

Photo Finish's sad look on her face vanished as she saw Sapphire Shores offer her help, the filly took Sapphire's hoof and was helped up "man that was something, are you alright girl?" Sapphire Shores asked Photo Finish.

"I Photo Finish......am alright now......who are you?" Photo Finish asked.

"I am the young pony of pop in the making, I am Sapphire Shores!" the earth-pony said as she made a striking pose.

"And who are you?" she asked Photo Finish in a kind manner.

"I...am....Photo Finish!" Photo Finish said.

"Photo Finish? That's quite a name, are you into taking photos?" Sapphire Shores asked the filly.

"Well......I Photo Finish don't know..." Photo Finish said as she thought for a moment.

"Well girl from this day forth you can stick with me while trying to figure out who you are" Sapphire Shores said as she turned and Photo Finish noticed a seashell Cutie Mark. She wasn't sure yet.......but she had a feeling that maybe Sapphire Shores is her first friend.

After recess and school was over Photo Finish's mother picked her up and Photo Finish explained everything that happened. The next day at school the colts and fillies were careful not to be mean to Photo Finish, especially when Sapphire Shores met up with Photo Finish "hey girl! I've been looking for you" Sapphire kindly said to Photo Finish.

"I Photo Finish didn't know somepony was looking for me" she said with a look that showed interest.

"Well after the way Diamond Bit was taken care of yesterday in the playground word spread like a weed, everypony in school knows we're friends and not to mess with you anymore" Sapphire Shores said.

"Spread like weeds? How could the word spread like weeds?" Photo Finish asked, she didn't completely understand figures of speech yet. After Sapphire Shores explained what she meant, she took Photo Finish to meet a good friend known as Hoity Toity, Hoity Toity and Sapphire Shores were the two most popular kids in the school and they were well respected especially since they got their Cutie Marks before anyone else in their class did. After Photo Finish met Hoity Toity she went to class and another school day went by.

Later on Photo Lenses had a talk with Diamond Bits parents about what happened and they made sure she was grounded for her behavior and would do there best to teach her better manners. As the months went by Photo Finish and Sapphire Shores became very good friends, Photo Finish was amazed at how good Sapphire was at singing pop music and she had a feeling her friend would become a pop star and Hoity Toity went to Canterlot because he was an exchange student who temporarily lived in Manehattan but he soon went back to his rightful home and assured his friends they'd meet again.

Photo Finish got more and more interested in photos as time went by and one day Video Feed her grandfather decided to give to Photo Finish an early birthday present, the present was a pair of dark sunglasses that were a bit to big on the little filly "take good care of those sunglasses, they belonged to your dear grandmother......if only she could see what a fine filly you've turned out to be Photo Finish" Video Feed said with a tear coming from his left eye, it was painful for him to remember what happened to his sweet wife in the last great war.

Photo Finish treasured the sunglasses because of how much they meant to her grandfather and how much they meant to her, Photo Finish got into the habit of wearing her grandmother's on a daily basis because of how much the glasses meant to hear. One day while walking she spotted a pony taking photos of animals and sceneries in the areas including the orange stand her mother worked at. This interested Photo Finish, but she wouldn't truly get interested in taking photos until her seventh birthday when her grandfather got out an old family camera and gave it to Photo Finish. "It's time we make a magical moment last forever with this camera Photo Finish" Video Feed said.

"Make magicks?" Photo Finish asked.

"Yes make magick" Video Feed said.

"You see sweetie whenever we take a picture it captures the exact moment in time of what was seen, a moment that although can be remembered...is a moment that gets captured by the camera lenses and lasts forever. That my dear Photo Finish is the magic of cameras and taking photos" Photo Lenses explained to her daughter.

Shortly after that a knock was heard on the door and much to everyponies surprise Mobius Lenses arrived "I Mobius Lenses.....have arrived!!!" he said to everypony as he got hugged by his daughter Photo Finish.

"I don't understand...why and how...." before Photo Lenses could answer her husband.

He said "it's because I was able to get a break to come to my little girl's birthday party, I missed a couple but I decided to come and thought it would be a nice surprise to come without letting you all know" Mobius Lenses explained. The Lenses family was very happy that day and Mobius Lenses gave to Photo Finish for her birthday a lovely dress from the last movie that Mobius Lenses got to be a camera pony for.

The dress was a beautiful black dress with white stripes and what looked like gems, it was adorable and indeed a very nice birthday gift. Mobius Lenses explained that the dress was made by the daughter of the actor who was in the last movie Mobius Lenses was a camera pony for, and she wasn't sure what to do with the dress so Mobius Lenses bought the dress after the daughter of the actor decided to sell it. The dress was very beautiful and if the Lenses never moved then Photo Finish never would've gotten such a wonderful and lovely dress.

"Now it's time to capture the magicks of this moment" Mobius Lenses said as he took photos of everypony and he got to be in the big picture with his daughter thanks to the timer on the camera. Photo Finish was inspired by this moment, she kind of modeled while in her dress while photos were taken, and the idea of capturing a magical moment with a camera seemed like a very worthy and honorable thing to do. Photo Finish talked with her mother the next day about cameras and after being explained everything she didn't know about cameras, Photo Finish decided with the camera given to her by her grandfather that she'd try and take pictures and see if that was her special talent....and even more importantly.....her destiny!!!

Chapter 3

Chapter 3

First Photos and Destiny!

It was about two days after her birthday that Photo Finish brought out her camera to show her best friend Sapphire Shores. Photo Finish was a bit nervous showing her gifts especially the dress her father gave to her on the night of her birthday, many of the ponies in the school wondered how somepony like Photo Finish was able to get such a beautiful dress while others were jealous. Photo Finish was also wearing her sunglasses around regularly even out on simple days, her prized gift the camera was a simple camera that was quite old but made pictures shortly after they were taken.

"Wow Photo Finish you've got quite the camera there" Sapphire Shores said to her friend as she looked at the interesting and old camera.

"I Photo Finish love this camera, I Photo Finish plan to use it to take photos and make the magicks for everypony!" Photo Finish said.

"You plan on taking photos?" Sapphire Shores asked.

"Dah! I Photo Finish believe that it is my destiny to take lovely photos of...of...um...well to take photos and capture the magicks!" Photo Finish said to her dear friend.

"Hmm...have you thought of what kinds of things to take photos of girl?" Sapphire Shores asked.

"I Photo Finish plan to take pictures of places...animals!...and people! And maybe even dresses" Photo Finish explained.

"I'm proud you've thought of things to take pictures of, soon you'll be going all kinds of places in order to capture the magic of photography like you just said" Sapphire Shores said with a smile to her dear friend.

"Sapphire Shores...you come with me please?" Photo Finish asked her friend.

"Say what now?" Sapphire said in confusion.

"I Photo Finish need somepony to travel Manehattan with while I Photo Finish capture the magicks of our city! You come with me now yes?" Photo Finish asked her friend.

"Hmm...well since it is a weekend I don't see any reason not to travel with my best friend ever! But I'll need to check in with my parents and see if its cool to cruise on through Manehattan!" Sapphire Shores said in a very loud voice.

"I Photo Finish will see you later, but for now...I go!" Photo Finish said as she dashed off for her families apartment which wasn't to far from where the two fillies were hanging out.

Once Photo Finish arrived home she explained to her mother and grandpa her plan to see a lot of places in Manehattan with her friend Sapphire Shores. After talking over the matter it was settled that Photo Lenses would go with her daughter Photo Finish while Photo Finish and Sapphire Shores looked around the places in Manehattan to take photos, Sapphire Shores father went with her while she was exploring with Photo Finish.

As the four ponies traveled the city and got to see many a wonderful place Photo Finish took many marvelous pictures, from birds flying over clouds to ponies traveling around to lovely views, to even the famous statue of Manehattan that was delivered to Equestria from Prance. But in spire of all of the photos that Photo Finish didn't get her Cutie Mark and know for sure taking photos was what her destiny was meant to be.

After the long day Photo Finish and her mother returned to their apartment and had a nice dinner and then went to sleep, Photo Finish was glad of all of the wonderful pictures she took but none of them seemed to get her any closer to knowing if photography was her destiny or not. The next day at school there was a special announcement "alright My Little Ponies, we have an important announcement! This weekend we're going to have a fashion contest and we need volunteers to take photos for the school paper, sign up sheets will be handed out to everypony" the teacher in Photo Finish's class said as she made the announcement.

"Photo Finish you should sign up for the photography volunteers" Sapphire Shores said to her friend.

"I Photo Finish was thinking the same thing" she said with a big grin on her face.

"Maybe you can see if you're meant to be a fashion photographer or not girl" Sapphire Shores said to her friend. After school Photo Finish explained to her mother that she wanted to volunteer at the schools fashion contest to take photos for the school paper, Photo Lenses completely supported her daughter in this endeavor and helped out best she could.

On the weekend of the fashion contest one of the models was Sapphire Shores who stepped out just as Photo Finish arrived to take pictures, Photo Finish was so nervous and unsure of herself that she almost forgot to take any pictures until her mother assured her that everything was okay.

With a deep breath Photo Finish held up her camera and took pictures, she took more and more pictures of Sapphire Shores and other models as they went out on the runway and in the middle of taking pictures something amazing had happened. Photo Finish's Cutie Mark finally appeared! She was the last in her class to earn her Cutie Mark but it was in that moment that she knew her destiny, and when she looked at her flank and saw the camera lenses taking a picture Cutie Mark she knew now without a doubt that her destiny was to be a fashion photographer!

There was quite a celebration at Photo Finish's apartment, Sapphire Shores and her family were invited to the party to celebrate Photo Finish getting her Cutie Mark and knowing now her destiny!

Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Rejection.....and Tripping on the road to Fame

Years passed since Photo Finish got her Cutie Mark and she knew there was only one way to break into the fashion and photography industries. The now 13 year old Mare knew she had to take pictures and see if one of the big names in the various fashion photography would take her at all, Photo Finish had surely come a long way since her family moved away from Germaney and she got use to talking the way her father talks. Her family had also come a long way to, Mobius Lenses was a highly talented camera pony in the movie industries in Las Pegasus' famous Applewood studios, and her mother was working full time at her orange stand now.

These days Photo Finish encourages Sapphire Shores to follow her goal of becoming The Pony of Pop! And Video Feed, Photo Finish's grandpa was the only company she got in after school hours before Photo Lenses returned from work.

One day while out walking about looking for the next big thing for photography, Photo Finish saw some beautiful dresses. They matched the one she had when she was a filly and she wanted them so badly, after seeing the dresses she was more determined when ever to get a job in fashion photography. She studied hard until she felt she was ready to present her best photos to the boss of a fashion photography company for a fashion magazine, Photo Finish was excited when she heard there was a job opening and couldn't wait to see if she could get the job for her destiny and possibly a chance to become one of the most famous ponies in Equestria.

On a nice sunny day Photo Finish went in to the business building of the fashion magazine company, Photo Finish was as excited and nervous as ever when she entered the building and she said to herself "this is where the magicks begin!" she then went in for the job interview and met the boss of the magazine company.

The boss was an old and cranky fellow who was an earth-pony, he was interested in Photo Finish when he got a good long look at her. But when he saw her photos the bitter old stallion rejected Photo Finish "but I Photo Finish don't understand! What did I Photo Finish do wrong?" she asked the ill tempered stallion.

"Beat it! You're not going to get a job with me anytime soon, security come and please take care of this annoying client who's refusing to leave" the stallion said as his security came and picked up Photo Finish and tossed her out the front door and into mud in a nearby park. Photo Finish was sad because of this, she never had experience in getting rejected by somepony before. Photo Finish couldn't believe how mean the ponies were to her a few minutes ago, she walked home sad and it rained shortly after that and most of her lovely photos were trashed now.

She tripped a few times while walking back to her families apartment, she wondered so many things and had no questions for them. Her family wondered what had happened to her and she explained what happened "......so what do you plan to do now that you've been rejected a job Photo Finish?" Video Feed asked his granddaughter.

"I Photo Finish....don't know" she said as she was holding on to her lovely tail and brushed it with her hooves.

"Well you'd better now give up I'll tell you that" Video Feed said as he was starting with one of his old stories "why way back in the last great war Germaney was in I was working hard with the Prance liberation forces, we were outnumbered and low on supplies on every front and stranded in our bases. But did we give up....by Celestia we didn't give up at all! We never gave up even though we were told we couldn't do it and that we were to weak, we kept on moving until we finally saved Prance! That's not to different from the time I was rejected time and time and time again from various job offers but I never gave up and I got a job that was fitting for my destiny!" Video Feed said as he explained a couple old tales of his to a point.

"I think what your grandfather means in short my dear is, don't give up because the you were rejected. Keep searching for a job fitting for your destiny and I'm sure you'll get one" Photo Lenses explained.

"I....I......I Photo Finish shall not give up!" Photo Finish said after she wiped away her tears. Photo Finish tried hard for almost a month to find a job. But there was a sad moment that came, Photo Lenses got hit by a taxi driver on accident and her back hooves were injured.

Photo Finish and Video Feed were there for her and hoped for the best, they knew this meant that for a while or possibly the rest of their lives their only income would be from Mobius Lenses, until the earth-pony who owned the orange business in Manehattan came to check on Photo Lenses.

This ponies name was Mrs. Orange, she and her husband Mr. Orange owned all of the orange business in Manehattan. They were very kind hearted people who understood what the Lenses family was going through, Mrs. Orange agreed to continue to pay for all of the medical bills for Photo Lenses and to help look after Photo Finish. Photo Finish got to spend quite a bit of time with Mr. and Mrs. Orange as time went by and they noticed what a fantastic fashion photographer Photo Finish is, after about a year went by and Photo Lenses was healed up. Mr. and Mrs. Orange asked Photo Lenses if Photo Finish could be taken out on a fashion tour across Equestria. "Why do you want to take my daughter?" Photo Lenses asked.

"Because my dear, we plan to show Equestria the talent Photo Finish has in the world of fashion photography" Mr. Orange said.

"If everything goes well we're thinking of helping her start her own business" Mrs. Orange explained.

"Of course she can't come traveling looking like that so we bought her this" Mr. Orange said as he showed the exact dress Photo Finish had wanted that was just like the one she ware as a little filly.

Photo Finish could hardly believe at all what she was being told along with her family, it seemed to go to be true and after talking with her family Photo Finish decided to leave Manehattan and explore Equestria with Mr. and Mrs. Orange and Photo Finish's journey on the road to fame truly began the day she left Manehattan for the first time.

Chapter 5

Chapter 5

The road to Fame

It was a day after Mr. and Mrs. Orange invited Photo Finish to come with them on a fashion tour around Equestria, Photo Finish packed up all of the things she needed for her big trip and met up with the Oranges at the train station. Photo Finish's grandpa and mother came with her to the train station in order to say their goodbyes because it would be almost a year until they'd see each other again. "Make sure you make a good first impression in the towns and cities you visit Photo Finish" Photo Lenses said as she was making sure her daughter's luggage was all ready.

"Make sure if you stop in Las Pegasus to visit your daddy, I'm sure he'd love to see you" Video Feed said to his granddaughter as he was looking at a poll but Photo Lenses turned him around to face Photo Finish.

"I....I....I'm going to really miss you both, I Photo Finish never left Manehattan before...and what I know of the rest of Equestria is based on what I've learned at school and...." Photo Finish wasn't sure what to say, she was extremely nervous and at the same time excited to go out on a travel outside of the city she came to call home.

"Just keep your chin up and don't worry about a thing. Mr. and Mrs. Orange are good ponies and they'll take good care of you while you see the rest of Equestria" Photo Lenses said with a smile to her daughter.

Shortly after that Mr. and Mrs. Orange arrived with assistant ponies carrying their luggage for them, "good day Photo Finish, it's nice to see you and your family again" Mrs. Orange said with a smile.

"I'm....very excited to be here....I Photo Finish have never left Manehattan before" Photo Finish said as she held her ears back.

"Which is exactly why we think you have to come with us out on tour" Mr. Orange said. "You see darling the president of one of the big names in fashion invited us and a friend to go out to all the locations of the fashion tour he's holding. And with your skills we were sure somepony like you would have to go to other cities if you plan to become quite a talented fashion photographer" Mrs. Orange said.

After a short while the conductor said "all aboard!" with that Photo Finish gave her grandpa and mother a big hug before she took off on to the train with Mr. and Mrs. Orange, her luggage was brought on board for her by the assistants of Mr. and Mrs. Orange. Photo Finish waved goodbye to Photo Lenses and Video Feed as the train left the station, this was going to be quite an adventure for Photo Finish because this tour would make her somepony big.

As hours went by and Photo Finish got comfy being on the train the first stop of the fashion tour was in Filly Delphia, while Mr. and Mrs. Orange were busy taking care of things so Photo Finish could take photos at the fashion show, Photo Finish was busy making sure everything in her room was to her liking. A couple of Mr. and Mrs. Orange's assistants were asked to help out Photo Finish while she was getting comfortable in her hotel room.

"The photo isn't on the right side of the night stand" Photo Finish said as one of the assistants was putting her family photo down on a night stand, the photo was moved to the far right and when that happened Photo Finish said "to much on the right" the assistant then moved the photo a little to far on the left and then Photo Finish said "to much on the left" this went on until the assistant little by little inched the photo until Photo Finish said "perfect!" and with this she dismissed the assistant.

She remembered on the way to Filly Delphia what Mr. and Mrs. Orange said in regards to the assistants "you see Photo Finish when you're a busy pony like us you simply don't always have time to tidy up and arrange things" Mr. Orange said.

"So we have assistants help us with things like carrying our luggage and placing objects. These assistants will do whatever you ask them to do in regards to helping you" Mrs. Orange said as she pointed to three assistant earth-ponies.

"Hi" they said to Photo Finish.

"Please be kind to our assistants dear" Mr. Orange said.

Photo Finish wasn't sure how the three assistant ponies felt about the fashion tour and she asked the three young assistants "you three......um......what I Photo Finish mean is....how do you girls feel about the fashion tour?" she asked the trio.

"Well.....I'm not really sure, this is my first time out on my new job" an earth-pony with an orange mane, greenish fur and bluish eyes said to Photo Finish, she was wearing an unusual outfit with white and purple colors in it.

"I've been excited for weeks now even since Mr. and Mrs. Orange told me that I'd be helping them out on the tour" an earth-pony assistant with a pinkish mane, light blue fur and greenish eyes said, she was wearing an outfit that looked like a fancy uniform with red, yellow and white colors on it.

"I was hoping I could get some pictures for my little sister....I've been a bit nervous because I don't want to mess anything up" an earth-pony assistant with brown fur, a yellow mane and dark green eyes said. She had on an outfit with mostly green colors in it and a little bit of red on the top.

"I Photo Finish am surprised that Mr. and Mrs. Orange would bring a pony like me with them, their so important and business savvy. Why bring a photographer like I Photo Finish with them?" Photo Finish said as she sat on her bed.

"Well.....after Mr. and Mrs. Orange saw your work they thought that it wasn't fair you were denied so many jobs" the light blue assistant said.

"They've been talking about how all the ponies who turned you down as a fashion photographer were pretty well......not thinking right because they rejected you" the greenish colored assistant said.

"I think it's wonderful they found you Photo Finish" the brown colored assistant said.

"Hmm......what are your names?" Photo Finish asked the assistants.

"I'm Stella" the greenish colored assistant said.

"I'm Soigne Folio" the light bluish assistant said.

"I'm Pretty Vision, and I'm glad to be your assistant" Pretty Vision said to Photo Finish with a bow.

"I Photo Finish shall make a promise to you three, no matter what. When I become a great fashion photographer I'm going to have you three at my sides" Photo Finish said.

Photo Finish's assistants were a bit speechless that she made such a radical promise to them especially since they were but mere assistants, but before anything else could be said a pony came knocked on Photo Finish's door and told her that the fashion show was about to start. Shortly after that Photo Finish and the assistants left the room and went to watch the fashion show, Photo Finish was excited that she was able to take photos of the various fashion models who had such style, such grace, it was amazing for Photo Finish. She just aimed her camera and captured the magic of the moments, as the hours went by she enjoyed herself very much and knew when she got the right amount of photos before her camera even ran out of film.

A day later the various ponies who witnessed Photo Finish started to wondered who the mysterious mare was who took so many fabulous photos. When they heard a rumor that she was Mr. and Mrs. Orange's personal fashion photographer, they became very interested in the young mare. But Photo Finish's time in Filly Delphia was short because the tour was moving on, she got her things packed up by her assistants and went to the train station. There were a few ponies Photo Finish had never seen before who wondered who she was and wanted to ask her questions, but some guards escorted Photo Finish and her assistants along with Mr. and Mrs. Orange and their assistants to the train and kept the other ponies away.

Once everypony was on board the train took off for Baltimare the next city on the tours stop, days later the train arrived at Baltimare and things went by much the same as they did in Filly Delphia, but Photo Finish got more followers in Baltimare then she did in Filly Delphia. The next train ride seemed like it was very calming but when Photo Finish learned that it was heading for Canterlot she got excited because that's where Sapphire Shores currently was while out on her first music tour of Equestria, and Hoity Toity was there as well. The one place that had both of her childhood friends was the next stop of all places in Equestria, this made Photo Finish excited and she hoped she had time to see her friends before moving on with Mr. and Mrs. Orange.

Once the the ponies arrived in Canterlot, Photo Finish talked with Mr. and Mrs. Orange and asked them if she could see Sapphire Shores and Hoity Toity because their her friends. The Oranges almost felt surprised when they heard Photo Finish's claims, but when she explained how she met the two famous ponies the Oranges talked over the matter and agreed to let Photo Finish see her two friends so long as she made it back in time for the fashion show and wasn't late for when it was time to leave. Photo Finish understood and she asked her assistants to come with her "when do you want to leave?" Pretty Vision asked Photo Finish.

"........we go!" Photo Finish said after a moment of pause, as soon as she took off her assistants were right behind her.

Within an hour, Photo Finish arrive at the show where Sapphire Shores was signing her new song. When Photo Finish and her assistants arrived they got to listen to half of the song before it was over, Photo Finish cheered loudly for her friend Sapphire Shores and the earth-pony recognized Photo Finish by her sunglasses, and her mane style as well as her coat color and somewhat found her outfit familiar. After the show was over Photo Finish was able to meet up with Sapphire Shores "Photo Finish! It's been a long time since we last met girl! How have you been?" Sapphire Shores asked her childhood friend.

"I Photo Finish have had some ups and downs......but now I Photo Finish have arrived in Canterlot! I Photo Finish am with Mr. and Mrs. Orange and we're going out on tour to see a fashion show on tour!" Photo finish explained in her unique way.

"Fascinating! I've been having the time of my life out on tour but to see you brings back so many memories, who are these three lovely ponies with you?" Sapphire Shores asked her friend.

"Sapphire Shores, meet Stella! Soigne Folio! And Pretty Vision! They are assistants hired by Mr. and Mrs. Orange to be my assistants" Photo Finish explained as she introduced her assistants.

"Looks like you've got a good crew to help you out, I bet you're taking some nice photos on the fashion tour?" Sapphire Shores said.

"I am, and strangely......there are some ponies adoring me and I don't even know them as we go out on tour" Photo Finish said.

"Photo Finish my friend, those are fans girl. Fans are ponies you don't really know who like you a lot, it seems like your fashion photography career might launch with this tour you're on and I'll be sure to help you out if I can" Sapphire Shores said.

After a few hours Photo Finish and her assistants left Sapphire Shores in order to get to the fashion show, once at the fashion show they saw Hoity Toity as he was observing the fashion show. Photo Finish was focused on her work and didn't bother to talk to Hoity Toity for a moment because she needed to capture the magics of the moments, she did great getting so many photos she actually ran out of film in her camera because of how excited she was. Later on Photo Finish met up with Hoity Toity, he was talking with a unicorn who had a blue mane and a little blue mustache, a white coat of fur, blue eyes and a black fancy suit. The unicorn was Fancy Pants, he was one of the most important of all ponies in Canterlot, he was pretty much second only to the royal family in terms of how important he is.

The fact Hoity Toity was talking with him was very important, however Photo Finish came up to Hoity Toity and introduced herself to him and reminded him of how they met, Hoity Toity was excited to meet his old friend again. If not for her accent he might've never recognized her at all, "I say who is this friend of your's Hoity Toity?" Fancy Pants asked.

"Mr. Fancy Pants allow me to introduce Photo Finish, when I was an exchange student in Manehattan she along with Sapphire Shores were among my only true friends way back when we were just foals. She's really grown since last met" Hoity Toity explained to Fancy Pants.

"Nice to meet you miss Finish, how did you end up all the way here in Canterlot" Fancy Pants asked.

"I Photo Finish arrived on a train with Mr. and Mrs. Orange of the Orange company in Manehattan. We are here with assistants and to see the fashion show that's on tour so I Photo Finish can capture the magicks of the moments on da runway!" Photo Finish explained.

"You're with Mr. and Mrs. Orange? As in the same one's who are part of the Apple Family and the ones I buy my oranges from?" Fancy Pants asked as he used his magic to lift up his eye-piece.

"Yeah! My mother works an orange stand for them" Photo Finish said. And shortly after that Fancy Pants and Hoity Toity decided to help Photo Finish out with her career as a fashion photographer. But she wanted to finish the tour and see her family in Manehattan again before starting up her career for real, and so afterwards Photo Finish and her assistants moved on with the tour on got on the train when it was time to go.

As the tour moved on Photo Finish became more and more popular and when she arrived in Las Pegasus she was happy to see her father Mobius Lenses again, after they explained to each other what had been going on since they last met Mobius Lenses encouraged his daughter to get her career launched. She also got to go to Vanhoover, Seattle, and many other small towns. However among the places Photo Finish went to none of them seemed to feel like the place to start up her career until the tour ended in the small town of Ponyville.

It was here that Photo Finish found a special deep bond with a town far away from everything, the town was calm and slow paced next to Manehattan. Photo Finish got to enjoy time in Ponyville with Mr. and Mrs. Orange and their assistants, it was in the mind of Photo Finish the perfect place to have her business and to start her career. After the tour was over and Photo Finish went home to Manehattan she spent about a month taking a break before she explained to her friends and family either through talking or writing letters where she wanted to start her business. And with the fan following Photo Finish got especially once a lot of ponies learned about her having connections with Fancy Pants, Hoity Toity, Sapphire Shores and the Oranges of the Apple Family. She was able to get the support needed in order to start her fashion photography career in Ponyville!

That story for the then 15 year old Photo Finish is close to coming to a close.....

Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Here's Photo Finish!

It was about a month after Photo Finish spread word of her plans among her friends and family that she moved from Manehattan to Ponyville. However before she could open up her business she needed a few extra ponies to help her out, according to Hoity Toity she needed ponies to help her with her mane, her dress and any and all make up. He also stated that if she ever found a fashion model she'd need some staff members to help with the model's mane, dress and make up. Photo Finish was escorted by her assistants Stella, Soigne Folio and Pretty Vision when she got word that Hoity Toity arrived in Manehattan and brought several ponies who specialized in cosmetology, wardrobe styling, and maneressing.

Photo Finish knew that having to pick three more ponies who specialized in these three jobs to go with her to Ponyville to start her career would be the final step she'd have to take. Within hours Photo Finish and her assistants arrived and she said to Hoity Toity "I Photo Finish....have arrived!" she then heard him say hello Photo Finish.

"Good day to you to Hoity Toity, I Photo Finish trust that you've found some good ponies" she asked her friend.

"Why yes I have, now if we just interview them one at a time it should take the whole day or maybe week if I remember how many arrived" Hoity Toity said.

"I Photo Finish shall interview them all at once my way" she said to her friend.

"Your way?" Hoity Toity said in confusion.

"Yes my way" she said as she walked into the room where the cosmetologists were waiting to be interviewed. Among the many talented ponies she saw she hoof picked three to come with her so she could test their skills, one by one each of the ponies worked make up on Photo Finish. When she said there was to much blush make up she had it removed, when she saw this she then said not enough she got about the same amount on, she continued to do this until one of the cosmetologist ponies got angry and stomped out and another one wasn't sure she could keep up. Finally Photo Finish decided to have the pony named Powder Rouge as her cosmetologist, Powder Rouge was an earth-pony who had a coat of fur colored pale light grayish gold along with a dark blue mane her eyes looked like they were blackish but if was difficult to tell because she ware light blue eye shadow and squinted her eyes.

"Miss Photo Finish.....I don't know what to say" Powder Rouge said to her new boss.

"What about me?" the other pony said.

"You.......you go!" she said to the other pony.

And so the pony named Power Rouge became the cosmetologist of Photo Finish, she moved on to the wardrobe stylists in order to see which one would be the best. Like before she hoof picked the three she thought to be the most skilled, the greatest part of this testing was to see which pony could flawlessly put Photo Finish's iconic dress on and off and get her ready within a set amount of time. Among the three ponies the one who was flawless more or less was a pony by the name of Roxie who was an earth-pony with light purples in her mane, a coat of light blue fur, light blue eyes light purple eye shadow and she had a dress with everything she needed to work on a ponies dress. In the end Photo Finish picked Roxie and dismissed the others, Photo Finish had only a manedresser to choose now.

When Photo Finish met the manedressers she looked at them and smelled a lot of mane product in the mane of one of the earth-ponies among all of the other ponies. Photo Finish sniffed and sniffed until she found the pony and said "her! You come!" and with that Photo Finish got her manedresser.

Everypony was jaw dropped when they saw this, many of the manedressers knew all to well who the pony was that Photo Finish picked. Her name was Vidala Swoon and she happened to be friends with Pretty Vision and Roxie, one time they asked her how much product she put into her mane and when that happened she was dubbed Hairspray and that nickname stuck through out her life so far. Vidala Swoon had dark pink in her mane, a pink coat of fur and light bluish eyes and she kept her manedresser uniform handy.

With Powder Rouge, Roxie and Vidala Swoon at the side of Photo Finish. Photo Finish's group of workers was complete and she was ready to take off for Ponyville where she'd start her career as a fashion photographer. After Photo Finish said her final goodbyes to her family before her big move and got everything she owned packed and ready, she boarded the train to Ponyville and left her old home behind so she could start her career.

Within days after arriving in Ponyville the special giant tent that would be Photo Finish's place of business as well as her home was set up. With help from her friends and contacts she was able to get some models to model for her, and with the beautiful job she did as a fashion photographer she became popular within the year. Photo Finish was excited and could hardly believe her life long dreams had come true, after many long years she finally became a real fashion photographer.

Photo Finish's fame and popularity spread quickly mostly thanks to all the help she had, but whenever it comes to starting a business one needs a lot of help so it was natural but for her to become as popular as she did was amazing beyond words. Years later Photo Finish became the most popular of all fashion photographers in Equestria, she was always able to visit her family whenever she wanted and she was sure to write to them at least once a week and she usually sent out post cards. Some of which had her best photos in them of her latest projects, Photo Finish's assistants were surprised in the beginning of Photo Finish's career that she kept her word to bring them with her. Behind the great Photo Finish was her family, her friends and her assistants who worked day and night with Photo Finish and Photo finish considered them her friends but in public they all acted and behaved professional.

No one had ever expected Photo Finish to be where she is except for her best friends and her family, Mobius Lenses and Photo Lenses were so proud of their daughter, she wasn't merely the little filly they had so much hopes for when they arrived in Equestria along with Video Feed. Photo Finish was far more then that! She was able to do what few ponies have the courage to do, when she could've given up the mare picked herself up and now she is Photo Finish the most popular of all fashion photographers.

By the time she was about 18 to 19 years old Photo Finish became one of the biggest of all celebrities in Equestria and is loved, liked and respected by many of pony in spite of her sometimes odd behavior or what most call odd.

THE END

Author's Note

Final Note: thanks everyone for reading Photo Finish's Beginnings, I came a long way to finish her story. See you all on the Flip Side and take care