Derpy Hooves stuck her perfectly styled, tiara'd head between the curtains to watch Spike give his traditional introductory speech.

"Get back here! Everypony can see you, you dodo!" Carrot Top yanked Derpy away from her post with a glare. "Besides, you should probably go see Rarity. Your mane is a mess again."

"It's fine, really," Lyra's soft, musical voice gently interrupted them. "Carrot's just nervous. It's her first time, you know. When we were fillies, She used to want to be a model."

Spike's amplified voice burst into the backstage area. "And now, fillies and gentlecolts, I present you the magnificent, the amazing, the--"

"Just get on with it!" Someone in the audience shouted.

"OK, OK," Spike grumbled. "The fashions and styles of today, as designed by our own Rarity of Ponyville!"

Cue music, chosen and played by Vinyl Scratch, who had come by special request and was on the program.

Then the curtains opened, and Lyra, dressed in a gauzy, floaty, pale yellow dress, stepped delicately out. Derpy watched from the sidelines as the turquoise pony walked and spun gracefully as a leaf in the wind. I'll never manage. What if I trip? Oh, I can't go on, I just cant.

Lyra turned a full circle at the end of the runway, and floated back as gracefully as before, smiling from ear to ear. BonBon went out next in a frilly pink and blue dress, walking with a happy, almost childish bounce in her step, as Rarity had instructed her. She twirled on her hind legs at the end, letting her flowing gown spin around her, and skipped back cheerfully, with a trademark giggle as she exited.

Cheerilee and Berry Punch went together, wearing a set of pink dresses that almost matched and went wonderfully with their almost identicle purple coats. They curtseyed, and paraded back as perfectly together as before.

Suddenly, Rainbow Dash was tapping Derpy on the shoulder. "You're next," she whispered. "Just try not to trip, OK?" Rainbow Dash gave Derpy a reassuring squeeze and a little push to get her started. Derpy gasped in surprise, but started to walk forward as best she could in the painfully high heels Rarity had forced onto her feet. She looked for Dinky in the crowd, but the little filly was no-where to be seen. Derpy was a quarter of the way down the runway before she tripped. Her shoe got caught on the train of her white dress, and she fell face first, rump in the air, right there in front of all the fancy ponies who came to see Rarity's designs. Derpy picked herself up, a hot, umcomfortable blush adorning her cheeks, and disentangled herself as much as possible to continue. She managed to get all the way to the lit-up circle at the end without another fall. Derpy smiled halfheartedly, tears glistening in the bright, hot lights, and turned slowly, carefully to avoid tripping.

"STOP!" A familiar, heavily accented voice commanded. "Come! I hef found ze next model!"

Derpy looked around her. Had one of the other ponies come out to help her and been spotted? No. Well, Photo Finish must have seen an audience member that she liked.

Photo Finish marched authoritatively towards the runway, her two assistants hurrying along on either side of her. She hopped up by a set of hidden stairs and slowly circled a shocked, frozen Derpy.

"Ye-e-e-es" Photo Finish said amid the complete silence of the audience. "Ze show is over. You. Meet me tomorrow at zis "Carousel Boutique" you hef here." She turned her back to Derpy, facing the assistants who stood below her. "Vee Go!"

The audience parted as if by an unseen force to let the famous pony through. Derpy came unfrozen and ran back into the dark backstage in a desperate effort to avoid the prying eyes of all who had witnessed the queer passing of events.