"No!" Photo shouted, throwing her clipboard to the side, forcing one of her aides to duck.
Around the room, the photo crew worked frantically to finish setting up the stage for the shoot. Photo stood near the set, stomping over to the group of ponies clustered around a bed with no pillows. Behind them, a backdrop of white reached up to the ceiling.
"No!" Photo said, shoving between the mares. "Are you mad? Rose petals? Who dares alter my perfect set?"
She glared down at the few rose petals lying on the flawlessly dressed bed, ruining the perfect gray sheets. Turning to them, she glared at each of the mares standing around her, seeing the shock in all of their faces. They were new mares, freshly recruited to her studio, which only made her grit her teeth. Predictably, none of them spoke up.
"Well?" she demanded.
One of the mares squeaked as a small bag fell to the floor behind them, spilling the bright red petals across the wooden floor. Photo's gaze zeroed in on the mess, scowling as she walked up to it. The mares parted until she stood over the mess, silently observing the petals as if she was trying to make them scared of her. Raising her head, she took a deep breath and turned her head slightly.
"Mari!" she shouted, making everypony around her jump. "Camera!"
With unreal swiftness, a mare weaved between the stunned neophytes with an ancient camera on a tripod. She didn't even blink as she spread the legs of the camera wide next to Photo, positioning it just right before stepping back. Photo sidled behind the camera and, after a few adjustments, snapped several photos of the rose petals scattered on the floor.
"Enough!" she shouted as the flash of the final photo faded. "Mari!"
The mare immediately stepped back up to the camera, folding the legs with unreal speed and disappearing back into the back of the room, leaving Photo to stare at the dumbfounded faces of the new members.
"What are you waiting for?" she asked tersely.
The mares fumbled for words, glancing between each other when Photo stomped her hoof, grabbing their attention again.
"Clean!" she shouted. "The set must be perfect!"
Jumping, the mares began to scoop up every rose petal they could find as Photo walked away, flipping her mane back as another aide returned with her clipboard. They walked back to where the camera had been repositioned, silent as the busy crowd parted around them.
"How are the models?" Photo asked.
"Venus is going through the final steps of styling," the aide said, her accent similar to Photo's. "We will need your final approval on the design, and Palm is ready for final inspection."
"Good. Bring them here," Photo said, stopping next to her camera and reaching up to adjust a dial.
The aide nodded and quickly disappeared into the crowd, leaving Photo alone with the aging camera. Her hooves were ginger on the worn wood and rubber of the wonderful device, touching the edges and smooth lines that defined it. She had great respect for the camera, knowing it was the true star of any shoot. With it, she had found the most perfect models, exquisite backdrops and herself. Despite it's age, the camera was the key to her success as much as anything.
"Photo," came the voice of the aide.
Turning in place, Photo spun to see the chiseled tan chest of a very fit stallion in her face. Following the lines of his body up, she stared at his confident smile and a set of blue eyes as deep as the ocean. His teeth had an unnatural shine, making them appear too white in the light and meaning she would have to ensure none of them showed in the final prints. Scrunching her nose to the right, she placed a hoof on his chest and pushed him back, forcing his smile to falter.
"Hey! Easy there," he said. "If you want me to move, just tell me."
Photo sucked in a breath through her teeth as she shoved her nose into the air, pretending to be disgusted with him. "Ach, it's not your job to move. You are here to create ze magic!"
The stallion raised an eyebrow as she spun back to him, pointing her hoof at his face. "Forget what you've learned and done before! With Photo, you will become more than just a model! You will be... art."
Her hoof drifted to the side as her gaze followed it, her teeth clenched while she savored the moment. It was short, though, as the model turned to the aide and asked, "Is she always like this?"
Photo dropped her hoof with a resounding stomp, catching his attention before striding alongside him. Her eyes travelled the whole length of his muscular neck and his curved back, noting how they seemed to ripple as he turned his head to watch her. He was definitely fit, not a body builder, but certainly one who spent at least one whole day at the gym a week. The trim on his tanned pelt was as perfect as she had hoped, showing no gaps or clear lines between the grain of his hair. His tail was a long blonde like his mane, straight with a few loose strands here and there, resembling a bushel of hay. She reached out and grabbed a clump with her hoof, making him flinch.
"Hey!" he shouted, yanking his tail away.
"Indeed," Photo said, thinking about the residual texture in her hoof. "Mari!"
The aide from earlier appeared from nowhere in a second, her face straight and eyes forward. "Yes?"
"Shorten this to standard Royal Guard regulation," Photo said, flicking her hoof across his tail. "And clean up his mane."
Mari nodded and disappeared when the stallion spun. "Now wait a minute! I spent two years regrowing my tail! I'm not cutting it for a last second edit!"
"Ach, it is not your place to question me!" Photo replied, raising a hoof to his face. "The cut must be made."
The stallion knocked her hoof away, scowling as she turned to him. "Hey, Ms. Prissy Saddles, I'm the model here and if I leave, you've got no shoot. I want my tail to stay and that's final."
He stared at Photo's large sunglasses as she slowly reached up and pulled them down, revealing a set of stunning amethyst eyes staring at him with annoyance. She closed her eyes and whipped her mane as she pulled the glasses off, placing them on the clipboard of her assistant. Locking her gaze with his again, she turned to him and raised her own eyebrow. "And do you believe that?"
"Believe what?" he replied.
"That just because you leave, this shoot won't happen?" she said, her voice unnervingly even.
"Well, yeah! The magazine hired me specifically for this shoot."
A look of amusement flushed across Photo's face, raising her hoof to stifle a chuckle. "No, dear. The magazine hired your body, not your mind. You are to listen to me, the one in charge, and obey any order given. Should that be too distasteful for you, there are plenty of stallions I have that can be here in a moment's notice to replace you."
The stallion scowled back. "You can't replace me."
A wicked smile crossed Photo's face as she reached for her glasses, her eyes travelling down his body again before looking back at his face. She bit the stem of her glasses playfully and turned back to the aide holding the clipboard. "Steno, who's available for a shoot today?" she asked.
The aide glanced at the clipboard. "I have seven within the city and four more who can be here within the hour," she replied quickly.
Turning back to the model, Photo pulled the stem from her mouth slowly, watching as his eyes flicked to her mouth before regaining contact with her. "I think that speaks for itself," she said.
Another scowl crossed his face before a loud snip came from behind him, making him jump and spin in place. A look of shock and horror washed away his scowl as he saw the vast majority of his tail in one of the aide's hoof, along with a pair of scissors in the other. Spinning back to Photo, he tried to work out a sentence as she shoved her glasses back into place and stomped her hoof again.
"Did she just--"
"You are a Royal Guard today," Photo said, turning her back to him and swishing her own tail. "Sit still for Mari to groom your mane."
She and her aide walked off, leaving the stallion dumbstruck as a hoof shoved his rump to the floor. He obliged before turning to see Mari leaning over and grabbing at small sections of his mane. Several other aides pressed around him, their faces blank as a mass of hooves reached out and scissors snipped, cutting loose his locks. Grunting, the stallion sat there and waited it out, knowing he would have a stern talk with his agent after this.
"Where is she?" Photo shouted as the doors slammed open, stomping her way inside.
Several stylists nodded to her in unison, spreading out into a wide circle around a sky blue mare with a copper mane. It was long and straight, forming a perfect curtain around her neck as she turned to look at Photo. She had a breathtaking face, angled just right to give her an almost ethereal look while her almond shaped eyes followed the slight tilt of her nose. Her eyes were a wonderful shade of orange and yellow, giving her a fiery gaze to stare at.
"Hello," she said, her voice calm and collected.
Photo said nothing as she walked up to the mare, lifting her head slightly as she eyed her over. Tilting it to the left, she walked around the model, studying her features with each flick of her stare behind the glasses. The mare sat up taller, breathing slowly as she crossed her forehooves across her lap and held her head high. it took a couple minutes to complete a full lap around her when Photo stopped and looked over to one of the stylists.
"Good," Photo mused. "But not perfect."
The mare opened her eyes at that, blinking as she looked over to Photo. A hoof was pointing at her face while she stuck her nose in the air again.
"Her mane is too straight. Too much blush," she said.
Immediately, the stylists descended upon the mare and fussed over her again, wiping away the makeup and toying with her mane before they stepped back and Photo peered at her again.
"Not enough."
The mare flinched as brushes descended upon her face, powdering her nose again.
"Too much."
Another cloth wiped her face.
"Not enough."
More brush.
"Too much."
Cloth across face.
"Not enough.
Another brush.
"Too much."
The cloth wiped across her face again as the mare shouted, "Will you make up your mind already?"
The stylists stepped away as Photo looked at her again, staring for an agonizing few seconds before she smiled. "Perfect."
"Oh, thank Celestia," the model said, shaking her head.
"Too messy!"
The mare's eyes widened as brushes met her mane again, moving swiftly through her hair before they pulled away, leaving a sore spot on the back of her head.
"Too straight!" Photo shouted.
"Wait a minute!" the mare shouted, rising to her hooves. "This isn't a silly game, you know! Pick one you like already!"
They ponies around her gasped and pressed their forehooves to their mouths, shock crossing their faces as Photo shifted her gaze to the mare, pulling her glasses off her face. She blinked, her eyes glittering in the light, before she leaned her head back and eyed the mare with a disappointed look.
"How old are you?" she asked.
The mare scrunched her face, confused by the question. "I'm twenty seven."
"Too young!" Photo shouted. "Too immature!"
"Hey, you're the one playing games with my makeup and mane! I was being civil about it!" she replied, her face starting to redden.
"No, you expect everything to be perfect the first time, like a child. You lack patience! Makeup and manestyles are just vessels for true beauty to shine through, just as you are!" Photo said, staring into the ceiling with her hoof pointing up. "My goal is to create magic with you, not for you!"
The mare raised her eyebrow and folded her forelegs. "Oh yeah?"
"Ach, she is no better than the stallion," Photo said, lowering her hoof and glaring at the mare. "Unable to take orders."
"I can take orders just fine, Ms. Photo!" the mare yelled. "You just need to give better ones!"
Photo pushed her glasses back up the bridge of her nose, hiding her eyes behind the solid purple lenses again. Turning back to the door, she strode back out into the studio before shouting, "Not messy enough!"
The mare had no time to react before the stylists rushed her again, running hooves and combs through her mane. She bit her lower lip in frustration, wondering how such a psychopath had ever become the most respected mare in the modelling business.
Outside, Photo walked back to the shooting stage with her aide when Mari trotted up and nodded curtly. "It is done," she said.
A smile split Photo's face as she turned to see one of the stylists nod to her, indicating the group had finished. Clearing her throat, she stomped her hoof three times, listening to the chatter die down instantaneously. Everypony turned to her as she walked forward towards her camera.
"Well done!" she shouted. "Now leave us! We must create ze magic!"
As one, the entire staff filed by wordlessly, all heading in the same direction as Photo kept walking to her camera. By the time she reached it, nearly everypony had left except for her, the model stallion and mare. She toyed with the camera's settings while the mare walked over and glanced to the stallion, scowling.
"Palm," she hissed.
"Venus," he replied, his eyes forward.
"And I am Photo," she said. "I'm sure your agent's have told you what this shoot is about, no?"
"Yeah," Palm replied. "We're the spread for their annual issue on heat week."
"And I trust you know what that means we will be shooting?" Photo said, focused on her camera.
Venus sighed as she looked over the bed. "Yes."
"Very good. You're not as inept as you lead me to believe," Photo replied, turning to the models. "Now, we shall make ze magics!"
