Mishelved {Belle}

[Twilight Sparkle]

"That's not right," muttered Twilight. She reached up to the shelf, pulling down the book, which happened to be a copy of Daring Do and the Pegasus Gem, which she knew full well to be the third book in the Daring Do series. Yet despite that, the book had been shelved in the spot for the fourth book, while the fifth book had been in the third slot and the seventh book was where the sixth should be. "It's all wrong," muttered Twilight. She reached out, summoning forth her magic. The purple shimmering haze surrounded the books, and soon Twilight had several in the air being juggled this way and that.

At least Twilight was getting better control of her magic now. Moving the books was proving to be quite easy, and she effortlessly pulled one after another before her eyes, raising hands and gesturing to put them where they needed to be. Within moments, the first four books in the series were lined up perfectly. They were, as a matter of fact, lined up almost too perfectly: each book's spine perfectly matched the spine of the book next to it. And as Twilight reached the end of the Daring Do series (at least, what was present; Twilight was pretty sure that Rainbow had at least a couple checked out), she realized that the books were generally uneven. Which simply wouldn't do at all.

So Twilight moved to the next shelf. It started with just adjusting books, using hands and magic in equal order. However, Twilight found another book that had been mishelved, and, one thing let to another, till she had nearly an entire shelf of books floating around.

Needless to say, this had attracted the attention of a student nearby, who'd immediately sprinted off for a librarian. And as luck would have it, the newest librarian happened to be on duty, and since she was just so approachable...

[Isabelle Dupont]

A student had ran over to her raving about a pink and blue haired girl using magic to rearrange the books and at first Belle was puzzled by the word Magic. What was magic? She had read about it in her books but had never seen magic performed and figured it was just some fairytale thing. The second thought to cross her mind was that a student was rearranging the books and Belle had no idea if it was rearranging in a good way or a bad way. She rushed over quickly and saw that the girl in question wasn’t a student. From what she understood, the school library served both students and community members. Either the town was too lazy to build a new library for the community or they figured not enough people liked to read.

The moment she got there, she noticed the books were floating and rearranging, but not in the way she thought. She saw they were becoming straighter and were in the proper order. Belle was good at putting the books away in the correct spots, but that didn’t mean other people placed them back the same way. She was shocked that the book she had in her hand dropped to the floor with a loud thud. She was in the process of getting books placed on a to be shelved rack for later when she wasn’t busy. She was witnessing what she had read about in her books and she couldn’t believe it. Magic was real! Well, it looked real to her in front of her hazel eyes. A whole shelf of books were floating and placing themselves in perfect order and they were lined nicely as well that Belle had no idea how to approach the situation.

She wasn’t sure if she talk to the girl or not, but she could tell this girl was big on reading. No one would go through the work and magic just to make books look this way unless they cared so much about them. This girl and Belle could get along nicely seeing as they shared a common interest in reading. “Hello Miss” she said as friendly as she could. She didn’t want the girl to think she was in trouble.

[Twilight Sparkle]

The books were starting to form something of a ring around Twilight, something that strongly resembled the various rings around certain planets. Twilight kept them in near constant orbit too, guiding them with gestures and such. All the movement stopped when Belle spoke, however, and the unicorn girl froze. She looked over at Belle, letting the silence and the greeting hang in the air for a few moments. Twilight looked at the books hovering about her, then at the shelves, then at the girl in question. Strange, but Twilight didn't recognize the thin young woman. Was she a student of some kind?

"Hello," Twilight replied. She offered a friendly smile, one that was only tugged a little at the edges by the stress of maintaining the floating books and dealing with an uncertain situation. "I was just..." Twilight's eyes flicked to the books then back again, "the books weren't exactly in the right order. Some of them were just off, and I figured this would be quicker than, well," Twilight shrugged. Did she really need to explain? Magic made things easier, though you really shouldn't use it for everything. Twilight had only started using it so much to stretch it, knowing that she needed to keep her "magic muscle" trained.

"It's okay though," Twilight assured, nodding. "I've talked with the librarians. They, uh, know me. I work here. Well, not here," Twilight gestured at the library, "but at the estates. I'm a Newly Displaced Mentor." Another blink, and Twilight stared. Was this a student? Should she just ask? Or maybe wait? The girl had come to Twilight, after all, not the other way around.

[Isabelle Dupont]

It was interesting to Belle how the books seemed to just hover in midair. Was it some sort of magic trick like the ones she had read about since being here? Belle was always reading and she seemed interested in her fairytale books but also learning about this strange new world. This world seemed a lot more interesting than her old town and she wouldn’t mind being forced to live here forever if she had to. The technology they had was advance and something her father would possibly dream on inventing. She missed her papa a lot now that she thought about him.

The girl was talking about how some books seemed to be shelved wrong which Belle notice would happen throughout the day. Some people would grab books and find that they didn’t want that book and place it back anywhere on the shelf. Belle found she was fixing the shelves throughout the day. “Yeah that tends to happen when students are here. They sometimes don’t place them back in the correct spot despite signs asking that books be placed on a cart to be reshelved.” She said back to the young girl.

“Where are my manners? Hello, I am Isabelle Dupont, but you may call me Belle if you like. I’m the new Librarian in town and I would love if you continued to help reorder the books, if you would like.” She said. She smiled at the girl who looked like she was going to be in trouble. Well at least it was solved as to wither or not she was a student.

[Twilight Sparkle]

Twilight nodded as the girl explained. By the way the brunette spoke, she worked here, likely as a librarian of some kind. Either that or she, like Twilight, was an overly responsible citizen that simply knew library etiquette all too well. Twilight was pretty sure that her first instinct was right, however, and she'd come to the conclusion that it was worth going with.

Just as Twilight as about to say something along those lines, however, the girl introduced herself. Twilight's nerves melted as her suspicions were confirmed, confidence flooding into her body and giving her a very visible lift. "Belle, that's a pretty name. I actually knew someone named Sweetie Belle back home and she was definitely a sweetheart. I'm Twilight Sparkle, by the way,' the unicorn said. She beamed her friendly smile and shifted as though she'd like to extent a hand. However, given the way everything was set up, Twilight figured it best to keep the books in her hand. She looked at the shelf, then at the various floating books, then to Belle.

"Uh, so I guess I'm doing your job or something, huh? Sorry--I just-- I used to live in a library, back in Ponyville, where I come from. And this was what I do. I don't work here now though..." Twilight trailed off. She didn't work here because she'd never intended to stay long. In fact, she'd already spent far more time here than she'd anticipated. while her magic was coming back, it was doing so rather slowly. Plus, they were in a situation where every answer produced another three questions. Twilight took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. "But it's okay, right? I promise I know what I'm doing," she gestured, demonstrating very visibly her skill. Books slid into the proper order, their spines lining up almost too evenly.

[Isabelle Dupont]

“Thanks Twilight Sparkle. What unusual names you have back home, but they all sound so pretty as well.” She replied back to the girl. She felt bad as the girl looked from her to the bookcase and back to her as if Belle would ask her to stop doing what she was doing. If anything, Belle would love some help for people into reading. She was hoping she could get more people into reading and try to open Gaston’s eyes to the idea that woman can be intelligent despite what society was like back home.

“No you’re not completely doing my job, if anything I could use some extra hands considering how big the collection here is. I would love if I was able to live in a library. How is it like? Living in a library I mean.” She asked the girl. The girl looked like she knew what to do and really wanted to help Belle out, which Belle had no problems with at all “Yes I would love to have some help whenever you would like to come by and help.” She answered back. She was still amazed by magic despite the fact she lived in a palace with talking clocks, cups and teapot. The books looked so perfect on the shelves that Belle would have closed down the library just to marvel in the fact of how it all looked. She knew things would get messed up again as more people came to get books.

[Twilight Sparkle]

Twilight nearly sighed in relief. It sounded as though she was not only okay, but, well, better than okay, good, even. Twilight turned back to the books, pausing for a moment to stare at the ones she held in place with her magic. They hovered there, several feet above the ground, surrounding by her swirling purple light. Homesickness struck Twilight, struck her fast and hard. She could so easily picture sitting in her library at home, doing this very thing, usually with Spike running around and trying to help. How long ago had that been?

It seemed like Belle was asking questions though, which drove away Twilight's gloomier thoughts. If it was one thing that the unicorn could do and do well, it was answer questions. "It was great! Living in a library, that is. When I first moved to Ponyville, I thought it was the only good thing about it. That was before I met all my friends though," Twilight tapped a nearby book before gesturing, shelving it. She moved a few more, practically conducting them into their places. "You don't have to worry about me coming in and bothering you all that often. I mean, I love the library, obviously," Twilight gave Belle an abashed smile, "it's just, well, I have other work. I'm a New Shifted Mentor, among, uh, other things," Twilight stared at another book, frowning. She tilted it to the side, looking at the spine. Yes, this one definitely didn't belong here. Twilight set it to the side, turning to look over her shoulder at Belle again.

"So, where did you come from? Was it one of those magical lands with fairies and talking furniture and stuff? Seems like every other person's from some place like that... or they're an alien," Twilight chuckled at that, before shelving a few more books. At this rate, she'd be done with this section in no time.

[Isabelle Dupont]

“Sounds like you are a lot like I am. I bet you miss your friends, unless you lucky enough to have some who have shifted over here as well. I was not so fortunate to have a friend shift over, he is more like a monster in my opinion.” She said talking about Gaston. Gaston had shifted over and reconnected with Belle at this very library a few days ago. He was a bit shocked to see her again, but his shock clearly didn’t show past his boasting nature. He was the most self-centered man who ever lived!

“As a newly shifted member of society I thank you for your work in helping others adjust. It must not be an easy job dealing with people who feel so lost. It wouldn’t bother me if you were here every day or if you only come once a week. Just come in and let me know you are going to be around helping, just in case I freak out again by flying books.” She said with a chuckle. Magic was still new to her and she had no idea this world would have magic as well. She was starting to question if every place had magic in it or if she had just been fortunate to run into yet another place with magical beings.

“For me, this life is normal but more of an adventure than home ever was. I grew up in a small town and the only magic I knew of was in the stories I read. One day that all changed when I went out to locate my father after he went to go to an inventers contest. I found him at a castle and made a promise to live there with the beast who owned the place. It was there I ran into talking wardrobes, cups and all kinds of other objects.” She said back to the girl

[Twilight Sparkle]

Twilight nodded, smiling at the extended offer to, well, have her come in and help. Twilight probably would have gone crazy if she hadn't been allowed to enter the library on a near daily basis and tend to everything. Books made her feel much more comfortable than people. It helped tremendously that so many of the books here were the same as the books from home: The Daring Do series, many of the fiction stories Twilight loved to read, even a few of the research books, like Supernaturals. It also helped to hear something resembling praise for Twilight's work. She might have only been a mentor for a short while, but she liked to think that she was doing something.

"Well, we all have to work somehow. We're here, and we're not leaving, so we'd better make sure this place is a good place," said Twilight. She nodded confidently, though she wasn't entirely sure she believed every bit of that. Twilight still fully intended on finding a way out of here; there just had to be one. She just needed time, time and information. She frowned, looking up at the books, considering. Thankfully, Belle drew her attention away from her own troubles with stories of how she came here. Twilight turned and focused her violet eyes on her new companion. They widened slightly at the explanation, and Twilight had to fight against her own rising excitement.

"That sounds like something right out of a fairy tale! It probably wasn't all that pleasant for you, what with the beasts and all, but just think about it! Your story could have been the sort of thing people write books about!" Twilight waved her arm at the library, which happened to send a few of the hovering books soaring throughout, spinning over the shelves. Twilight winced as she heard them crash, soon followed by a few yells. "Ooops,' she muttered, reddening again and smiling nervously. Well, it was just a little excitement, right?