Photography is Magic (Quest) 6

Chapter 1: pastebin.com/iCSNRw4D

 

Your name is Amber (Ambient) Light, an extremely talented photographer, reporter and journalist. You're looked up upon in your field as one of the most accomplished mares to hit the news. Your various adventures and pursuits has brought you to where you are now, living in none other than Princess Celestia's castle as prized guest under the title of "Official Royal Photographer of Canterlot" with your marefriend Derpy, who's been there or you from when you first moved into Ponyville with nothing but 20 bits to your name.

 

You stretch your legs out while letting out a yawn as the morning sun breaks through the long cascading windows. You look down to Derpy who still has her arms wrapped around you with her head snuggled up against your chest. This day marks your first morning in Canterlot. New reputation, new friends to meet, new places to visit, and new adventures to be had. The feeling is nastolgic to when you first moved into Ponyville a complete stranger, except this time you have a very special some p0ny by your side.

 

After rubbing your eyes of the morning fuzzies, you toss the blanket off or yourself and start to drag yourself out of bed, with Derpy's arms still wrapped tightly around you. Derpy starts to wake up and decides to play along. You sluggishly walk off from your bed, and instead of making Derpy faceplant into the floor, she starts flapping her wings keeping herself afloat while hugging you as you make your way to the fully loaded kitchen.

 

You look at the fridge and you see the note written on it.

"Dear Ambient and Derpy,

You are cordially invited from this morning on to the daily royal brunch. This event is exclusive to those living within the Royal Canterlot Castle, so please notify Princess Luna or myself before inviting any guests to said event. We look forward to meeting you there.

 

Sincerely, I am,

Princess Celestia

 

After rummaging through a list of people you'd like to invite to the brunch in your head, you turn around to tell Derpy who still has her arms wrapped around you. You turn around and the moment you do she presses a kiss against your lips that leads into a short tongue kiss. She pulls back from the kiss and hugs you tightly whispering to you, "Your breathe is really smelly." You giggle and reply "I'll be getting right on that. The letter says that we've been invited to brunch with the Princess!" Derpy gently lands down on her hooves while folding her wings back up , giving you a bit of a confused look as she says "What's a brunch?" You roll your eyes and smile, "It's just lunch and breakfast mixed together. Don't worry, they'll have muffins there for sure!" Derpy starts fluttering her wings in excitement as you continue on "Now it starts in about 45 minutes, so let's freshen up and try to figure out where we're supposed to go!" Derpy still smiling at the mention of muffins nods her head and replies "Yeah yeah! Lets go, lets hurry!" before zipping off to the bathroom.After getting your mane in order, and an long past due tooth brushing, you meet the guard outside of your royal loft and ask him where the brunch was. He replies with a smile "Oh, just head down this hallway, make a right and keep going down the hall until you see the double doors on your left hand side, and those lead to the dining hall.

 

Following his directions, you and Derpy arrive just in time for breakfast. You arrive in a large hall with an extremely long and elegant table filled with an assortment of breakfast buffets. Luna and Celestia are sitting adjacent at the end the table closes to the windows. She calls you over and invites you to sit next to her, so you trot your way with Derpy and take your seat at the corner of the table. You look around at all the guests for a moment, and see half the table is filled with the Royal Canterlot Guards, and the members closer to the Princesses seem to be from all different places, while holding the same sense of esteem. You even recognize Rarity in the distance, who you've never really talked to, but you do know her name and that she's from Ponyville. Strange how she ended up here. The meal has already begun and you look besides you to see a Derpy going through a sensory overload as her pupils are dilated and her tongue hanging out, almost drooling over all the muffins with the excitement of which gourmet muffin she'll consume first.

 

 

 

You cast your magic to an apple cinnamon muffin, floating it from it's basket into Derpy's open mouth. She looks at you with a big smile while chowing down on her favorite muffin. You turn to Celestia who's stirring 2 sugar cubes into her morning coffee and ask her, "Just out of curiosity Princess Celestia, how did Rarity from Ponyville end up arriving at this brunch." While stirring the coffee with her magic she replies, "Oh, Rarity is a dear friend of my number 1 student Twilight, and she's designing the clothes for a local Fashion show here in Canterlot, so she's staying in the guest suite for a few days. It only felt right to invite her to the brunch as well." That's reason enough to be here you guess, "Huh, that's pretty cool then." Before going back to eating the pancakes you served yourself while Celestia was talking, she continues to say in a whispered voice so no one else can really hear, "Oh and one more thing Amber, it's no big deal or anything, but try to keep the volume of the midnight shenanigans with Derpy low. The walls in this castle are not quite sound proof yet." She smiles warmly at you as you can tell she was trying to be as sincere and polite as possible, but you cant help but go speechless as your face flushes red.

 

You knew you were close to Princess Celestia, but you had no idea you were THAT close! You did have a pretty nice view from your room.. and considering your placement in the castle, it would make sense for her bedroom to be approximately right on top of yours.... Still blushing you try to clamor for words to break the awkward silence. You look towards Derpy subconsciously for help, but she's much too immersed in her muffins at the moment. "So u-uhh.. w-what's the to do around here...?" Princess Celestia giggles softly and replies, "There's plenty of events here in Canterlot. We have the Wonderbolts Derby, various art exhibitions, plenty of theaters featuring famous plays, golf courses, Fashion shows, and the world famous Club Paradise is on the other side of the hedge maze outside. I'm sure you can find something fun to do with a bit of that adventurous spirit of yours!" She sips from her coffee and proceeds to eat a few muffins from her plate.

 

Even though you've never golfed before in your life, it's always been something you wanted to try so you quickly ask Celestia, "So where is the Golf Course exactly?" She puts down her coffee for a moment and replies, "It's just outside the castle, past the hedge maze, you can't miss it at all! But I should-" you interrupt her with your excitement and quicky pull Derpy with you as you trot off as a fast pace to the Golf course. Celestia shrugs as you leave and smiles as she continues drinking her coffee.

 

Derpy starts to fly behind you as you gallop your way outside. You go around the hedge maze and see the golf course, however, it's blocked by a very large fence. You decide to follow the fence to the entrance. You slow down your trot as you see the entrance to the golf course is right besides Club Paradise, but you don't think anything of it. You walk in as Derpy follows you, panting with a smile after all that flying. You walk up to the receptionist unicorn who has all the golfing equipment set up behind her. You ring the bell on her table and she replies to the chime "Hello, how may help you?" You ask for a round of golf for two and she gives you a strange look. "You don't look like you're from around here, are you sure you're a Club Paradise member?" you stammer for a moment, "wha-what? Memeber, me? Sorry no, but whats clu-" she interrupts you and quickly replies while filing her hoof and look away from you "I'm sorry ma'am, but if you want to enter the Golf Course you MUST be a Club Paradise member, no exceptions."

 

You stare at her for a moment as your contemplate all the possible ways you can wreak mayhem upon this receptionist in order to steal the golf equipment and cause a huge scene of destruction while running away from the club pony guards. It would be so easy, all you would have to do is get Derpy to make a huge scene, steal the keys, then the golf equipment, and teleport yourself and Derpy out onto the course and you can golf like you've never golfed before. Well.. you'd be doing that either way. Completely zoning out into your own imagination of mayhem and destruction, Derpy shakes you out of it "Amber, the snobby lady says we need a club membership." You shake your head for a moment trying focus after spacing out and continue to ask her, "Oh uhmm.. hi, yeah, so how do I get a Club Membership into such a prestigious Club like Club Paradise?" The unicorn looks a little bit irritated at this point when she replies back, "Go to the building next door, it's not my job to handle club affairs such as membership, and make sure to take your friend with you and don't come back until you have a membership."

 

You give her a nasty look before turning your tail on the receptionist and walking out the door with Derpy flying behind you. Derpy turns around and says "Bye snooty lady!" before closing the door behind her and following you off into the club building. You trot your way in to the receptionist area and you see dozens upon dozens of high-class unicorns dressed quite fancy, lounging about the facilities with classy music playing over the intercom. The receptionist interrupts your gazing and automatically assumes you're nothing more than paparazzi from the way you're dressed. "And what exactly do you want...?" You look up to him and ask "Well.. I was just wondering if I could join your little club thingy." The unicorn scoffs at you and replies "I'm sorry, but just who might you be?"

 

You reply back to him, "Oh, pardon me, I'm Ambient Light, the royal photographer and this is my mare-friend Derpy. I was wondering if we could become members of your prestigious club, and if it wouldn't be too much to ask if we could get memberships for some dear friends of ours as well." The colt gives you a funny face before replying "We have a strict code of conduct here at Club Paradise. One doesn't simply become a member, you have to apply to be a member, prove you earned the right to become a member through an intensive interview and then acknowledged by Club Paradise Administration. I'm sorry, but I don't think you'll be getting in so easily if you're that incapable of taking our Club as serious as we do, and good luck getting that.. pegasus friend of yours in.."

 

"my apologies, we shall take our business else where then. Thank you for your time." The unicorn scoffs and pretends to be immersing himself in his paper work.

 

You storm out of the building as Derpy follows you with her head down and asks,"So no golfing Amber?" you look back to her as you reply "No, I'm not in the mood to go golfing anymore. Not with those jerks around at least." Derpy gets a little nervous not ever really being around you when you get upset, "So... what do you wanna do now Amber?"

 

 

You take a deep breathe as you try to cool yourself down. "Alright Derpy, let's head back to Celestia. We'll see if we can get her to bring our friends over here for a visit, because I definitely do not want to try to make friends with the ponies in "Club Paradise"" You say this while rolling your e yes, and Derpy replies "Oooh yay! C'mon let's go, let's go, I'll race you to Celestia!!" You giggle a bit as you dig your hoof into the ground "Alright, but no flying!" Derpy smirks while replying "Yeah and no using your magic! Now let's go!" The two of you take off galloping past all the snooty unicorns sipping on their tea and having picnics. Derpy always knew how to put a smile on your face, even when you're feeling down. You start to outrun Derpy gaining a good yard on her. Your anger and frustration fading away as you focus on the race, until you feel Derpy stick her snout up your flank while running, causing you to squeal and stumble over yourself.

 

 

You quickly get back up off your hoofs blushing red while Derpy seems to be laughing uncontrollably ahead of you. You look around a bit and it seems no one noticed that little stunt Derpy pulled, but you keep running behind her, as you start to slow down to a trot you both begin to approach the guards to Celestia's throne where she's currently seated. The guards shuffle and shout at Derpy "Hey hey! You can't go in there!" but Derpy built up too much momentum and charges inside at full force past the guards while you slow down and stop outside the doors. Princess Celestia giggles at her shenanigans and uses her magic to slow Derpy's running to a slow trot as she calls to the guards "Don't worry, they're okay!" The guards shrug and return back to their duty as they make way for you to come inside. You apologize for Derpy's recklessness but Celestia didn't seem to mind much. She asks you, "So what brings you here Amber? How's your time in Canterlot been so far?"

 

Catching your breathe you try to pull yourself together in front of the princess,

 

"well your highness, I love my room, and the brunch this morning was AMAZING! However, the ponies down at club paradise were... well, they were jerks! i don't want to be apart of a club that won't let me in before scrutinizing me in every fashion imaginable. Besides, the stallion at the front desk had a problem with Derpy which is enough reason for me to not want any part of the club. It's okay though, me and Derpy will find more fun stuff to do."

 

You give Celestia a reassuring smile after your tiny rant. Celestia rolled her eyes when you mentioned Club Paradise.

 

"I was trying to warn you about that before you stormed out. The club's not always easy on new-comers, but if you had went with a letter signed by myself, they would of gladly welcomed you in"

 

This doesn't really bother you seeing how you don't really want to be part of the club anyway.

 

"Yeah it's okay, no point in joining now. Oh and also, your highness, if it's not too much trouble, is there any way for our friends Lyra, Bon Bon, and Carrot Top to come up and visit us here? we haven't had a chance to talk to them and tell them what happened so they must be worried sick, and i know they'd just looooove to see the castle and Canterlot!"

 

Celestia seems to not have a problem with this at all as she replies, "But of course! I'll have Twilight let them know that you're here, and I'm sure she'll be more than happy to assist them in their arrival! Why don't you head off to the entrance of the hedge maze and I'll have them meet you there." Celestia takes out a piece of parchment and a pen using her magic and scrawls down her message to Twilight before sending it off to Spike. You get a big smile filled with excitement on your face "Thank you VERY MUCH Princess Celestia! You have no clue how grateful I am for all you've been doing for me lately." She giggles for a moment before replying, "It's not a problem. It's the least I can do after you saved all of Equestria." You reply back before trotting off to the hedge maze "But still, thank you so very much Celestia!" Derpy follows you off as you make it to the outside of the hedge maze

 

Moments later, a giant flash of light blinds you and Derpy for a second as Twilight emerges along with your other friends, Bon Bon, Lyra and Carrot Top. You can tell that trip took a bit of a toll on Twilight but she tells you all about how she enjoys practicing that spell. The 5 of you catch up on everything you've missed and have a nice chat before Carrot Top asks "So what do you wanna do first in Canterlot Amber?"

 

 

"Well, since we're already here why don't we try out the Hedge maze! It could be a fun way to get into the swing of things, then we can go hit the town for some shopping and maybe catch a play down at a local theater. How's that sound?"Carrot Top seems to be in love with that idea and enthusiastically replies "I've always wanted to try my luck the Royal Hedge maze!" Lyra chips in "How about we make a race out of it! First one to get to the end of the race wins!" Two races in one day, doesn't seem like you're getting a break today. The group agrees on the idea of the race and each of you take off galloping into the hedge maze. You with Derpy, Lyra with Bon Bon, and Twilight and Carrot Top taking off on their own.

 

 

Derpys galloping quiet a bit faster ahead of you so you follow her throughout the maze. However, she seems to be a bit aimless in her direction, and you noticed you've gone in circles more than 4 times now.. but she seems to be having so much fun galloping you don't bother with interrupting her. About 30 minutes later you notice Derpy about to take the same turn in the same place she's been taking 30 times in a row now but you decide to interrupt her "H-hey, let's take a right here." She listens to you and turns right which leads you and her on a path outside the maze where you see the exit. You see all your friends already sitting on a picnic cloth eating lunch waiting for your arrival.

 

You walk towards the picnic with your head down a bit "S-so who won" You and Derpy sit down next to each other on and you lean your head on Derpy and wrap your tail around hers, comforting yourself after such a long run. Twilight smiles and raises her hoof "Oh that was me! I finished it in 5 minutes and 22 seconds!" Derpy seems quiet amazed and asks, "How did you manage to do that!" Twilight smirks and giggles and answers back, "Well all you have to do is pick a side of the wall and follow it and it'll eventually lead to the end of the maze!"

 

After finishing lunch you've begun to notice Lyra and Bon Bon have gotten closer since you've last seen them, you'd ask them if have gotten together.. but you don't really want to insult them so you bite your tongue. Twilight finishes her sandwhich and interrupts the casual discussion with her idea "Oooh! None of you have any pets right? How about we head to that huge pet store they have here in Canterlot!" The group seems entranced by the idea, and you all make your way to the pet store. The pet store is relatively empty except for a few unicorns feeding the animals, but it is filled to the brim with loud animals of every kind covering the walls of the store. Your friends quickly gallop to coo at all the baby pets as you look around never having had a pet yourself before.