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Azure Memories

by Silvak

Chapter 26: Chapter XXV: Show

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"Now, remember what we've shown you and you'll do fine."

"Easier said than done," Sapphire muttered as Powder Rouge, a light yellowish mare with a dark blue mane who was one of Photo's aids, applied some more make up onto her face. Shortly after agreeing to be one of Photo Finish's models, she was told that in order to get a good start as a model, she had to stay in Manehatten for a few days to do some more photo shoots and one fashion show. At first she was hesitant due to needing to find a place to stay. However, Photo promised to take care of not only her lodging but feeding her as well. Hence, after sending a letter to Ponyville to tell her friends about her success and that she will return in a few days, she spent the next few days doing the photo shoots as well as being trained on how a model should behave during a fashion show. Though it was only a few days of training, Photo declared that her awkwardness would only aid her, and all that matters was that she was able to show off her figure to the crowd.

"Relax dear, you'll be fine," replied Pretty Vision, another one of Photo's assistants who was a brown mare in a green suit. "Besides, most mares would kill to have an opportunity like you ha—" Pretty said, only for Sapphire to give her a look of horror, causing her to give her a deadpanned look as she continued, "—I didn't mean it literally."

"I will say that it is a horrid phrase to use. What kind of pony would come up with that?" Powder asked before covering a spot she missed, much to Sapphire's irritation.

"Hmm... I don't know," Pretty commented, before a pale blue mare in a red outfit came into the dressing room.

"Is she ready yet? Her turn on the stage is coming up," said Soigne Folio.

"Just... about... done!" Powder answered, allowing Sapphire to get off her seat as she tugged at the white dress with gold accents that she was wearing till Soigne swatted her hoof. The dress was provided by Hoity Toity. He was the one holding this fashion show in order to reveal a new line of dresses, which included the dress Sapphire was currently wearing.

"Stop tugging at the dress and follow me," Soigne chided, causing Sapphire to release a sigh before complying. Even though she received many compliments from Photo's staff on how she presented herself during the photo shoots, she was still nervous about posing in front of a crowd. Still, she agreed to this, so she swallowed down whatever complaints she had as she figured that it is better just to get it over with and deal with the consequences instead of trying to put it off.

Reaching the stage curtain, Sapphire watched as one of the other models pass through while the crowd was still cheering. "Just what I needed, a big act to follow," Sapphire muttered as her anxiety grew.

"Nonsense, you'll be the up and coming star. Now go out there and show the world the beautiful mare known as Sapphire Rain!" Soigne replied, almost tempting Sapphire to give her a skeptical look in response. Taking a deep breath, Sapphire strode out from behind the curtain, only to pause for a slight moment as she saw the crowd before her.

That's a lot of... rich ponies, I think. Okay, follow what Photo said, strut forward, and... move those hips... augh, Sapphire thought to herself as she followed those steps, stopping every so often on the walkway to strike a minor pose. As she continued on with her act, she could hear the ponies around her muttering amongst themselves, commenting on what they were seeing.

"Who is this mare? Have you seen her before?"

"Photo Finish found a new model? Why haven't we heard about her before?"

"I have never seen this mare in my life, I can't believe that Photo would put such fresh blood in a fashion show." As the audience's observations were passed back and forth, Sapphire bit the inside of her cheek as she began to think that this endeavor was a bad idea after all. That is, until she heard the flow of the conversation shifting into a different direction.

"Hmm... she does look good in that dress."

"Is it me, or is she a bit thinner than other mares of her structure?"

"Huh. She's thin, but somehow it seems natural on her."

"I have to admit, but that mare looks lovely, especially in that dress. Photo Finish has done it again."

Upon hearing the crowd coming around to liking her, Sapphire's confidence began to rise as she reached the end of the walkway. She soon struck a few more of the poses as she was instructed to the viewing pleasure of the crowd. Hooves spaced this far apart exactly, head turned at this angle... Sapphire thought to herself as she did her best to follow the poses she was taught. Thankfully, they were beginner poses, so they weren't too difficult for her to get down as she came to an end before making her return trip to the curtains.

After passing through the curtains and stepping aside for the next model to come through, Sapphire released a sigh of relief, only for Photo Finish to walk up to her as she said, "Wunderbar! I, Photo Finish, have done it again! I told you that you will become a star!" while pointing her hoof towards the ceiling.

"Umm... yeah... you did," Sapphire replied as she blinked at Photo's outburst.

"It'z a shame that you don't make this a full-time career, you would take the fashion world like a storm!" Photo exclaimed, causing Sapphire to give her an awkward smile.

"It sounds good... but I don't think I could handle this every day. I rather have this done every other week at most..." Sapphire responded.

Pressing her lips into a thin line, Photo looked at Sapphire in disappointment before her eyebrows raised up as she declared, "Vait! If you rarely show up for a show, or in pictures, than you'll be a rare commodity to the world!"

Tilting her head, Sapphire asked, "Wait, are you treating me like some kind of produ—"

"Yeees! Ponies will carve to see more of you, which would make you even more famous in your own way! This iz how it will go! Now, I go!" Photo exclaimed before dashing off, much to Sapphire's confusion.

"Okay... that just happened..." Sapphire uttered out before returning to the dressing room.


Right after reaching her spot in the dressing room, Soigne dropped by to inform her that Photo was going to be too preoccupied with some planning for future photo shoots and fashion shows. She then informed her that Sapphire's pay will arrive at Rarity's home in a couple days, and that Photo will cover her return trip to Ponyville. She would soon be boarding the train for the late night trip home in a couple hours much to joy. Hence, Sapphire was now sitting in front of a stand with three mirrors, having taken off Hoity's dress as she looked at herself in thought.

Well, you did it, Sapphire. You finally got a job. I just hope that this all turns out for the better in the end, Sapphire thought to herself as she took a wet towel and began to wipe the make-up off her face until she suddenly heard some kind of monstrous roar. Dropping the towel, Sapphire was about to scream as she looked around in terror, only to notice that the other models were cleaning up as normal. Blinking in confusion, Sapphire tapped the shoulder of the mare to her left, asking, "Hey, did you happen to hear something roaring?"

Cocking an eyebrow, the mare answered, "What are you talking about? If there was some roar, wouldn't everypony be panicking by now?" before returning her attention to her own devices.

Frowning, Sapphire looked at her reflection, thinking to herself, Just what was that then? Am I hearing things? Was the stress from all this getting to me finally? ...Maybe I should talk to Luna about this next chance I get...


"So, you just heard this roar of some fearsome beast right after the fashion show?" Luna asked as she inspected a mirror shard out of curiosity. Shortly after the cleaning up, Soigne escorted Sapphire to the train station, where she learned that Photo went as far as to ensure that Sapphire had a private room to sleep in on the train. Hence, she took this as an opportunity to sleep comfortable enough to meet up with Luna for the night.

"Yeah... and no other pony in the room heard it, everypony was going on like nothing happened at all," Sapphire answered as she looked over her latest recovered memory, one where she remembered her mother calming her down when she was a newborn foal. Though, once again, she only recovered what she heard from that memory.

"One would assume that this is from stress, but I'm curious: Was this roar familiar to you in some way?" Luna asked as she set down the shard before spotting a smaller piece off to the side, its surface cloudy like the rest of its brethren.

Tapping her chin with her hoof, Sapphire thought to herself before replying, "Actually... no. I’ve only heard one monster roaring before, and it was an Ursa Minor, which didn't sound like the roar I heard today."

"Hmm... peculiar. If you were to relive that particular memory, perhaps I will be able to discover what beast made that roar. Though, you will have to experience it all over again, so it's up to you to decide when we tackle that matter," Luna said as she levitated the small fragment over to them.

"...I think we can tackle that another night. I already have enough things on my plate for now. I would like to be able to take some kind of breather from all this stress before pursuing that... 'thing'."

"Very well. However, I think it is finally time for you to attempt to recover three memories tonight instead of two," Luna declared as she floated the small piece over to Sapphire. "Start with this one, it seems to be an even more minor piece compared to the others, so it may be possible that you don't have to expend as much energy to recover it."

Tilting her head as her horn lit up with her magic, Sapphire replied, "Okay then, if you think I'm ready for this," as she took the shard from Luna.

Focusing her eyes on it, Sapphire began to pour her magic into the piece. It took a while as sweat started to form on her forehead before the shard cleared up. It was then that Sapphire heard the voice of the stallion that taught her a bit of magic saying, "Arulas."

"Arulas?" Sapphire echoed out, her bewilderment clear on her face.

Raising an eyebrow, Luna asked, "Arulas? Is that what you're retrieving from that fragment?"

Nodding as the shard floated off towards its own frame, Sapphire answered, "Yeah... though it was said by a stallion who taught me a bit about controlling water with my magic, but it was just that one word."

Staring at Sapphire for a moment, Luna responded, "Hmm... I would say that this may be the stallion's name, or the stallion calling out to another pony. But for some reason, that name seems a bit familiar to me."

"Familiar to you? What do you mean?" Sapphire asked, wondering how Luna could have a connection to that word.

"I heard that word before... though I think it may be a reference to a place or a historical event of sorts. I don't recall ever meeting a pony named 'Arulas' before..." Luna replied as she frowned in thought.

"Oh... well, if it is something related to history, maybe Twilight has a book on it?"

"Perhaps, I don't believe it will hurt to have her search for this 'Arulas' in the historical documents she possess. From what I heard about her from my sister, I do believe that her student would be a great asset in finding out if that word does exist somewhere," Luna answered.

Looking at the shard as it embedded itself into an empty frame, Sapphire thought to herself, Finally... a name... of sorts... at least it's a start. Hopefully, somepony will have a clue to whatever 'Arulas' means.

Next Chapter: Chapter XXVI: Arulas Estimated time remaining: 11 Minutes
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