Misty trotted down the aisle. "This one?" She looked at a book a moment before shaking her head. "That one." She grabbed one in her magic and kept right on looking.

Amber was trying to keep up with Misty as she hopped down the aisles and muttered to herself. "What are we doing here?"

Misty leaned on the edges of her hooves as she squinted at a higher shelf with a groan of frustration before hopping back down. "I'm being too picky." She twirled towards Amber. "I learned a new spell, and it's so cool. It was a bit scary when I used it wrong, with my friends." She colored at that part. "But with my Magic Buddy? That feels a lot safer."

Amber giggled at that admission of closeness even as she sidled closer to Misty. "I'm sure it does. Now what spell is it? Some kind of searching spell? What are you looking for?"

Misty clapped her hooves together with excitement. "I heard from Toots, you know, my buddy's ponyfriend? He said he and Comforting are going on vacation soon!" It took a moment for her to realize she'd gone off track. "The spell! It makes a butterfly, but it's not just a butterfly. If the butterfly lands on a book, it can take you inside the book!"

Amber flashed an amused smile even as she wagged a hoof. "Really now? I thought butterflies didn't go inside books, just butterflies in cocoons."

Misty snickered at that witticism before leaping into the air in excitement at Amber's reaction. "These butterflies love books, and if you like books, you'll have fun inside a book too." She presented the book she'd picked. "How about this one?"

Amber tilted her head slightly before taking it from Misty's hooves and setting it down in front of her. "And I suppose you want to test it out? Now?" She laughed at Misty's enthusiastic nod. "Well, hm." She looked about. "Let's tell the others we're stepping out for lunch then. Don't want us vanishing without warning, do we?"

Misty cringed at that reminder of some past indiscretions and how ponies had felt at her absence before shaking those thoughts away as she tried to focus on the moment. "Sounds good!"

Together, they found other librarians and informed them of their planned time away. Comforting hummed softly. "You sound like you're up to trouble." She smiled down as Misty squirmed. "Sounds fun. I want to hear all about it when you get back, hm?"

"Will do!" Amber pushed Misty towards the doors even as they giggled and prepared themselves to cast magic and enter a whole new world together.

Once they were alone in the hallway and the door was closed behind them, Amber raised an eyebrow at Misty. "So, we're really doing this?"

Misty bobbed her head in affirmation as she posed proudly with her horn glowing as she cast her spell even as she watched a single iridescent butterfly fly from her horn and land on the cover of the book.

With a great suction, they were both drawn inside. The book landed on the ground with a soft thump, leaving nary a trace of the foalish pony explorers behind.

Misty licked her lips in anticipation even as she peered around at the swirling colors and shifted perspectives before letting out a delighted gasp at where they'd ended up. She gestured with her hooves as she pranced around and forward through the oddly-solid words of the book, now serving as walls for her to move along and around. "Amber! It worked!"

Amber nudged Misty forward carefully with her hoof as she surveyed the area around them. It wasn't quite a perfect depiction of what she had read in the storybook as Misty moved forward. "Wow, look at it." She did a little circle just to amaze at the new world they were in.

"Hello!" A small pony pixie appeared from nowhere, speaking with a female tone. "Now, the, oh, wait." She darted in front of Misty. "You're back?!"

Misty smiled brightly at the strange magical creature that had apparently met her before. "Um, yes?" She shook herself and laughed. "Hi! I guess we are back. This is Amber." She waved at Amber, eyes locked on the little pixie. "Are you going to tell us the rules again?"

"That was the idea." The book fairy looked annoyed a little. "I didn't expect you to come back. I will remind, this isn't the same book. The challenges will be different! Why did you come back, anyway?"

Misty flicked her tail at that thought as she took a deep breath before sighing it out. "I just wanted to try it again." She held out her hooves plaintively as she grinned at Amber, flashing her an excited look before turning back to the little creature before them.

Amber nodded at the fairy. "Nice to meet you, um, miss?"

"Charmed." The fairy rolled her eyes. "And only two of you? Were my challenges that easy? Whatever, let's proceed. This book you picked, it has way more social challenges, and way less hopping and bouncing ones. I hope you're ready, or you'll suffer. I'm fine with either outcome, really."

Amber narrowed her eyes at that statement before shrugging and waving Misty to continue. "Just like before? I'll follow your lead."

Misty kept bouncing on her hooves, glancing about as she wondered where their first challenge would appear from before breathing in deeply. "We are prepared."

The fairy waved ahead of them. "The first challenge is the Great Ball. If you read this book, you will recognize the ponies here, and maybe you'll even know their motives. If not, you'll have to actually talk to them and figure it out. Good luck!"

Before them, the hallway of words and letters dissolved into an opulent ballroom packed with many, many ponies in fancy outfits dancing and drinking as they enjoyed the party around them. A waltz was playing even as they took in the sheer size of it all before spotting a sign declaring it to be the Great Ball itself.

Misty flexed her legs in preparation for a wild night even as she approached Amber with a wiggle of her eyebrows as she nudged her along with a little smirk on her lips. "Let's get social."

Amber snorted softly, eyes darting as she examined each pony. "They're wearing old-time clothing. I think we're really in the book, in one of the scenes. Did you read this book before?"

Misty pouted at Amber's immediate assumption that she didn't. "Yes, I read all the books I could get my hooves on!" She straightened up even as she snorted back at Amber in exasperation before pushing into the party proper. "This one's the great revealing party of Princess Petunia! She'll become a big mover and shaker in the book later."

Amber gave a mock gasp of horror as she stuck close to Misty, hoof brushing hoof gently. "An event so important it got an entire chapter devoted to it!" She stared up at the giant ice sculpture of the princess. "Is it going to melt?"

Misty snorted as she tugged Amber around the ballroom as she danced with her, starting slowly but picking up the pace quickly with giggles and little hoofsteps as they passed each and every pony they could, observing them and seeing who they were talking to, or how they were interacting. "This is great!"

Amber recognized some of the ponies and heard snatches of their conversations. She found herself wishing she had read the book more recently, but it did really feel like she was inside the book, surrounded be the intrigue the book had whispered of. The royalty of that kingdom were taking sides both with and against that new princess.

Misty chattered and giggled with each pony, giving them cute little smiles as she inquired about how their evening was going and what they thought of the latest fashions. For many of the nobles present, it seemed like they hadn't expected anyone to pay attention to them for such silly reasons, but being flattered and fawned over by a pretty young filly in a silly but unique dress did wonders for loosening tongues as they made some loose promises about coming to the ball and their purposes for doing so.

It was only then that Amber noticed. She and Misty were dressed. They hadn't been before, but they had become garbed, not quite right to match with the ponies around them. It hit her with a gasp. They were literally dressed as foreigners of that fictional world. "That's close to the truth," she admitted with amazement. Visitors from another world counted as 'foreign', right?

Amber brushed against Misty as she spoke up. "If I'd known, I would have brought an invitation." She tittered as if that was somehow hilarious as Misty took that line and ran with it, turning heads and beginning conversations. Though most of the ponies were eager to share their opinions, she found one that kept avoiding her, refusing to utter a word but a scoff at being annoyed.

She turned away from him and took Misty's hoof, leading her into a quick dance. "That pony is making me worried." She pushed against Misty's shoulder lightly before dipping her with a coy smile on her lips. "I think we need to deal with him."

Misty glanced where Amber was looking, spotting that one recluse in the dazzling room of social contacts. "Okay! You think he's going to cause trouble?" She matched Amber's quick steps in an elegant little dance as they turned around the room with each other as they observed from different angles.

"He just gives me a bad feeling." Amber shook her head firmly. "He's the odd one out, and we're on a quest to talk. I haven't seen anything else that's making me think we're onto something." She started towards that shy, or scheming, pony. "It's time we broke through their shell."

Misty skipped over to take the lead from Amber, raising her head high and clearing her throat gently as she waved off at Amber to get her to stay back a moment longer. "Excuse me, but I'd love to hear your opinion on this."

The stallion huffed gently. "Nothing a foreigner's opinion would matter on." He rolled his eyes, unimpressed by Misty's determined attempts at inclusion.

"Surely not!" Misty batted her eyelashes at the dashing stallion, noting how he was dressed up for the ball. "Besides, you look like you could use some company." She held out a hoof for him to shake. "Princess Misty Bloom."

He crossed his hooves, avoiding eye contact as he shook his head dismissively. "Don't know you."

Amber slid in next to Misty. "You should. Now, me? I'm just her humble servant. But Princess Misty Bloom is quite powerful in her realm." She winked gently. "And quite the skilled dancer."

Misty wiggled in place happily at Amber's arrival. "So! What brings you here?"

The stallion relaxed his hooves slightly even as he sighed softly. "To get rid of this riffraff from our fair land." He inclined his head at a pony, one who would play a major part in the book. "This place is insufferable for their presence." But he was relaxing. "Perhaps a good dance with a pony that doesn't irritate me that much is just what is called for." He presented his hoof for her to take as he guided her onto the dance floor with a little sigh as they drifted along the edge of the other dancers for a few moments as Misty grinned at him winningly as she found a conversation topic that interested him: himself.

With a sharp snap, Amber and Misty found themselves in front of the book fairy. She shook her head. "Huh, you're not stabbed even once? Oh well, guess we get to move on to the next challenge."

"Wait!" Misty flashed a huge grin at the fairy. "The pony was such a jerk because he wasn't being understood? Why didn't he just say what he meant instead of hiding it behind insults and judgments?"

The fairy hesitated, looking completely baffled a moment. "Oh. You're talking to me about that character." She zipped in closer to Misty. "I'm a book fairy. A fairy of all books! They kinda blur together after a while. I forgot which we're talking about for a moment there. Now, yeah, that's just how he defends himself. He lives in a dangerous world, hm? Speaking of that, you two aren't done with that troubling land."

Author's Note

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