The Fairytale Fiasco

Prologue: Getting Into a Good Book

"Just a bit of a tweak there, and…” Twilight stuck her tongue out in concentration and mentally nudged a bit more magic through her horn. A beam of it was already connected to an object that floated over the crystal floor, surrounded in a swirling flow of light. After a smaller pulse shot along the connection, the storybook floating in the center shivered and flipped open on its own. “Aha!” Twilight exclaimed in triumph when it began turning through the pages. With a rustle of paper, it stopped at a random chapter, displaying paragraphs of text surrounded by a delicately sketched setting.

“And then you just open it to the story you want!” Twilight demonstrated to her small audience of Shining Armour, Cadence and Flurry Heart while they watched her reach out with her aura and switch the levitating novel to a tale of her choosing. Flurry Heart squealed and squirmed with excitement. She might have been too young to understand exactly what was going on, but Twilight had seen her perk up earlier when her name and the word “gift” had been spoken in the same sentence.

When the pages of the book were facing the floor, the light mist of magic surrounding it fell away like a faint sprinkle of rain. It created a translucent image of a mystical forest with emerald leaves that shimmered in an artificial moonlight. Twilight gave her audience a quick smile before tossing her mane and trotting into the scene. As her frame disturbed the magical depiction, it re-materialized around her and settled along her fur, forming the illusion of wearing a rich gown fit for a gala.

“The spell will detect anypony that disturbs the magic field and dress them up as a character from the story. They can act out their favorite parts!” Twilight proclaimed with a giddy grin, ecstatic even though there was a small quirk where ponies couldn’t actually choose the roles they were cast as. The magic appeared to randomly give her the main role in the depicted story, but the illusion had performed without issue, and for now, that was the important part. Under normal circumstances, she would have been more diligent, but she had to finish in time to make the train.

Flurry Heart, unable to contain her delight any longer, launched herself from her mother’s hold and flew above Twilight’s head with a giggle. Upon entering the shimmering light, it swirled around her tiny body and gave her wings a sparkling, crystalline look. She was also dressed in a crumpled skirt and given a magic wand with a pointed star at the end. Flurry’s eyes glittered, and she waved it about.

“Why, hello, Flurry Heart Fairy!” Twilight greeted her niece with whimsy in her tone. “Have you come to grant my wish?”

Flurry Heart clapped her hooves together in happy applause before tapping Twilight lightly on the head with her wand. The tip shot out silver confetti and floating sparkles, much to Flurry’s delight.

“It’s wonderful, Twilight,” Cadence said with a laugh while Flurry Heart fluttered back into her embrace to show her. The fairy outfit disappeared in a cloud of shimmering dust when she left the scene. “And reassuring. Flurry Heart will be having too much fun to even notice we’re gone.”

“She definitely loves it.” Shining Armor strode over to Twilight to give her an affectionate hug. The dress she had on dispersed when she stepped out of the magical forest to return his affection. “Excellent job, sis.”

“Thanks.” Twilight rubbed her leg with a hesitant smile. “I just wanted this weekend to be extra special, since I’ll be spending the entirety of it with my favorite niece.”

“Only niece,” Shining corrected her with a confident smirk.

“For now,” Cadence smiled coyly as Shining straightened up with a choked snort. Twilight and Cadence exchanged a playful look before bursting into a fit of giggles.

“Awaah!” Flurry Heart wiggled against her mother’s leg and drew their attention when she popped free. She flew back over to the storybook and hugged it where it was still floating. At her touch, it instantly snapped shut, and the fairy tale scene quickly faded out of sight, leaving Flurry to flutter to the floor with the book. She babbled something in baby talk while tapping against the cover, trying to get the magic to create its illusion again.