The music room of Canterlot High was, on most days, usually the favoured hang-out spot for the school's most noted students, the Rainbooms. But, it was also known to be chosen for a number of other activities, and today, it was seeing just one of those. Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle were, at this very moment, in the middle of setting up the place for something that clearly had nothing to do with music. Furniture was being moved around, large instruments were being carefully placed to the side, and by the time it was all finished, there was a single large table in the centre of the room, surrounded by four chairs. Having finished their arrangements for the room, and taking their respective seats, the three girls each placed a book down in front of where they were each sitting. After having done so, however, they didn't start speaking to one another, at least not at first. Instead, they looked to the door of the music room, occasionally glancing down to the fourth, and currently vacant, chair. After a while though, Scootaloo let out a long sigh.

You're sure she got the message?"

Sweetie nodded.

"Yep. She responded and everything."

Looking to her two colleagues, Apple Bloom's expression was one of concern.

"Maybe she got cold feet about it? Ah mean...she is pretty shy bout this kinda stuff."

Scootaloo opened her mouth to speak, only to be kept from doing so when, at long last, the door of the music room started to slowly creak open. All three sets of eyes turned to look upon it, just in time to see a young girl, a few years their junior, enter. At first, she merely peeked her head in through the gap of the door, but after seeing the smiling faces of those three girls, and the welcoming gestures they were giving her, she entered the place in earnest. Slowly, she closed the door behind her, and began to make her way over to her chair, all while the CMC watched. Eventually, she was seated, and as soon as she'd finished looking to the other three girls, she finally broke the silence.

"Um...hi. I...I'm here now."

Leaning forward, Apple Bloom let out a brief giggle before replying to that.

"Howdy, Lily! Welcome to the Canterlot High Book Appreciation Society!"

Lily blinked to that.

"You...you mean a book club?"

Sweetie Belle rolled her eyes.

"Well, we wanted to call it that, but a certain fashion-loving sister of mine felt the name needed a bit more pizazz!"

Scootaloo looked to her with a raised eyebrow, prompting Sweetie to respond.

"Hey! It was her word, not mine!"

Shaking her head, Scootaloo then turned to Lily.

"We heard you liked books a lot, so we figured we should invite you over and talk about them."

Slowly, Lily looked down to the tablet she'd been carrying this whole time, before promptly placing it upon her side of the table.

"Oh. Um...you like books too?"

The three girls nodded in unison, each holding up the book they'd personally brought with them.

"Yep! We may do other stuff, but the CMC love books as much as anybody here!" Apple Bloom announced.

"Well...besides Twilight, obviously," Sweetie Belle added.

"Or Rainbow," Scootaloo concluded.

Apple Bloom cast them a look of irritation, then smiled again as she regarded Lily.

"So then...what books do you like, Lily?"

The youngest of the four girls thought on that, then looked down to her tablet. She swiped the screen a few times, then settled on one choice in particular.

"Well, um...I'm in the middle of a fantasy book. It's kind of an old one, but...I'm really liking it."

Scootaloo seemed eager to hear more about that.

"Ooh! Does it have a wizard?"

Lily nodded, seeming just a touch more open now that the other girls were showing clear interest.

"Yes...there's definitely a wizard."

"And maybe a dragon?" Sweetie asked.

Lily's smile widened.

"Yes, a dragon too."

"An' a big adventure across the land?" Apple Bloom enquired.

Again, Lily nodded.

"Yes, it has all of those things."

Then, she saw them all looking to her, seeming quite eager to hear what she had to say. Lily, who clearly wasn't used to being the centre of attention, started to blush a bit, hiding the bottom half of her face behind her tablet. Apple Bloom, seeing this, leaned back slightly, starting to sound a touch apologetic.

"Oh! Ah mean...if ya don't wanna talk about it, we understand, right, girls?"

The other two nodded together, making it clear that, despite being here, Lily was under no obligation to do anything she wasn't comfortable with. But, to the CMC's slight surprise, the younger girl lowered her tablet again, giving a nod of her own before speaking up again, albeit with a more quiet tone than everybody else.

"No, it's fine. I'm just...not used to people taking that much interest in my books."

Then, a look of fondness came to her, as though a pleasant memory had resurfaced for her.

"Well...aside from really good babysitters of course."

The other girls looked to each other in a way that, very clearly, showed that they didn't know who she was talking about. But, that wasn't a big matter right now. Because if she was indeed willing to talk about this beloved book of hers, then they were going to give her a willing and eager audience. They scooted their chairs closer, resting their hands upon the table and giving her genuine looks of enthusiasm. Lily, seeing all of this, looked down to her tablet, then back up to them, then finally back to the book. Taking a moment to get her thoughts in order, she eventually started talking.

"You see...I first heard about this story from my Mom. It was her favourite back when she was my age. She helped me find it and...and I've loved it since."

A tale such as that caused clear interest in the CMC, who leaned forward even closer, prompting Lily to, at last, start describing the story of her book in earnest.

"...It's a story about a man who meets a wizard. And the wizard has a bunch of his friends come over to the man's house, and at the end of it they all go off together on an adventure."

Scootaloo's smile widened.

"An adventure to fight a dragon, right?"

Lily nodded.

"Kind of. They have to go to where the dragon is and get a big pile of treasure back, which the dragon took a long time ago."

Apple Bloom chuckled.

"What did ah tell ya, girls? Ain't this a swell club?"

Scootaloo glanced to Sweetie Belle, then to Apple Bloom.

"Don't you mean a Book Appreciation Society?"

To that, Sweetie Belle grunted in irritation.

"Ugh! Can we please drop that already?!"

Lily, seeing all of that, started to giggle, much to the delight of the other girls.

"Glad ta see yer enjoyin' yerself, Lily!" Apple Bloom commented.

Calming down a little, Lily gave a small nod.

"Yeah, it's...it's fun so far."

Looking to her, Sweetie regained her earlier smile.

"So...do you wanna read it out? The story?"

Lily seemed taken aback by that.

"You...you want me to read it? To all of you?"

The round of simultaneous nods she got gave her answer, and after a brief moment of hesitation, Lily once more smiled to them. Clearing her throat, she started to speak.

"In a hole in the ground..."