One day in the town of Ponyville, one of the most magical of unicorn ponies, Twilight Sparkle, was having a day off from her lessons
in friendship in order to catch up on her lessons on magic. She lay belly up in bed, her nose deep in a book given to her by Princess Celestia
from the Canterlot Archives. Spike was up to his usual hijinks, when he came across Twilight and her book. He chewed on small bits of a blue gem
in his mouth as he asked, "Hey, Twilight! What ya reading?"
Twilight didn't look up from the page she was on, but said,
"Oh, it's...'A History of the Heroes of Humankind...1st Edition.' The Princess said it was a good book for study."
Confused by the term, Spike scratched the back of his head. "Uh, what's a...huu..mon?"
This got her to look up from her book at the baby dragon.
"A human is a sort of being that walks upright on two legs instead of on four hooves like we ponies do.
They had a number of talents as well as an even greater number of problems in their lives. According to this, their species died out a long time ago
from a mysterious circumstance."
"Mysterious, huh? Did you ask the Princess if she knew what it was?"
Twilight turned away from Spike. "I wanted to, but the guards on duty told me that she was busy with royal matters."
Then her mood improved a bit when she thought of the Princess.
"She IS the Princess of Equestria, after all! And my questions are of little concern compared to the fate of our world. Besides, I can always ask her later
through a letter."
Spike waved his arms like crazy. "Uh-uh! No way, Twilight! My stomach can't handle any letters right now! That's part of the reason you wanted us to take
the day off!"
Twilight nodded in reply. "Yes, you're right, Spike! And what better way to spend it than reading a book? Hey, I've got an idea.
Come here and read with me! It'll be fun!"
"Hmph," said Spike after swallowing a big chunk of gem down his throat. "Reading, huh? That doesn't sound like fun."
"Rainbow Dash thinks so. I bet she's also spending the day with a good book."
"Aw, come on Twilight! Let's go see Rarity! I bet she, uh...has a new dress or something for you today!"
The little pony rolled her eyes. "No can do. Gotta read this book! Maybe later...okay, Spike?"
Spike groaned and went back downstairs to see if Owlowiscious was around. Twilight continued to read on and found a chapter having to do with a hero
of ages past. It was about the story of a man known only in legend who had gone on a journey to a mysterious island. Finding some interest in it,
she read on. On the first page, the image of a man wearing a headband caught her eye. His spiky hair reminded her of the day she'd used that
magic spell to go back in time. She let out a small giggle before she started to read the text aloud.
"Isene, a small island in the Southern seas of Europe with less than a thousand inhabitants and a peaceful facade. An unnatural phenomenon
occurred there where the humans began disappearing at an alarming rate. The distance from neighboring countries made information slow to travel,
and by the time anyone received information, the damage had spread beyond repair.
The grim conditions...are still spiraling out of control."

Something didn't feel right about that last sentence, thought Twilight.

"Still out of control? Agh! This must be a misprint!"
She put a hoof to the page, thinking that her next move was to slam the book shut and go downstairs to write an angry letter to the author
for this blatant error in grammar. But then, as if by magic...the book began to give off an eerie, red glow. It was the kind of glow that made
a room feel like a dark prison. And that was when Twilight felt fear wrap around her body like a chimichanga.
"W..what is this? What's going on? Spike? Spike?"
She looked around, but Spike wasn't in the house right now. He had left for Sugarcube Corner some time ago to get a quick snack.
Poor Twilight, she was all alone.
"Get ahold of yourself, Twilight," she said to herself, trying to keep things calm in her mind. "It's a known fact that books can't hurt you.
Books can only do good, right? Right!"
But she would soon be proven wrong. As the glow from the text grew brighter, the room grew darker. And for some reason, Twilight couldn't pull
her right hoof off of the page.
"What is this? I can't...hrrgh! Break...FREE! Ahhh! Spike! Owlowiscious!"
She called their names, but no one came. The book then began to speak in a number of voices. Twilight Sparkle watched in horror as her hoof started
to disappear into the page.

"No! NO! SOMEPONY! AAGH! ANYPONY! HELP MEEEEE-!"

But it was too late. For as Spike returned from Sugarcube Corner, there were no screams to be heard. He went upstairs to see Twilight,
holding two cupcakes in his hands.
"Hey, Twilight! Guess what? I got a sweet deal on this sapphire gem cupcake! And I got you one, too! Well, minus the gems.
I know it's not your favorite, but I'm sure you'll like...it?"
He looked around. Twilight was gone. And so was the book. The baby dragon shrugged. "Huh. I guess she went out for a walk."
Then Owlowiscious flew in and landed on Spike's head. He greeted the owl with a smile and said, "Hey, Owlowiscious! I've got an extra cupcake! Do you want it?"

Twilight awoke to the smell of fumes in the air. She lay on her back, staring at a blue sky.
"Where...what...happened? The last thing I remember was...that book...!"
The very same book was in her arms. Holding on to it, she sat up and got a look at the world around her. She saw houses. Houses built of rocks, wood,
and straw. Most of them were in shambles. And some were on fire, giving off fumes of black smoke.
"How did I end up here? And...where is here?" Twilight looked down with contempt at the book in her hooves. She opened it up back to the page she was on before.
But in place of the story she once saw, there was a photograph of a beautiful village with a small description written in the fanciest font she had ever seen. The title
above the image read: Liberia Village, and the text described it as: "A peaceful village, thriving with life."
Twilight compared the image in the book to the village in front of her and saw the connection. But this place was nothing like the photo in the book.
Everything was smashed up and damaged. And she didn't see or hear any signs of life nearby. Whatever this place was before, it was now a run-down,
abandoned village. Then she heard a noise. It came from one of the wrecked houses. She picked up the book with her mouth and threw it on her head.
"Hello," said Twilight aloud. "Is anyone there?"
As the sounds grew closer, Twilight took a step back.
"I...need help getting back home. Please, if you would just come out, I can tell you more."
Then a green, grasshopper-like creature came out of a broken-down house. It had long antennae on both sides of its head, two sets of purple, glowing eyes,
and deadly sharp claws...bigger than a pony's head. Once it spotted Twilight, it let out a loud screech, bringing more of its kind from near and far. The little filly
took a few more steps back. At least there was someone...well, some 'thing' here. Maybe they could help her out, she thought. She tried again to talk with the
hopper beasts. "Um..hey! I need some help getting back to Ponyville. Any of you fellas know where that is?"
But she got no response from the beasts. As they advanced, their mouths dripped with acidic drool. From this, Twilight guessed that they lacked the intelligence
to understand words. And there was no way to reason with something that didn't have a brain. But she didn't know what else she could do.
"No? Yes? Maybe? Or perhaps, you can point me in the right direction...out of..here? Please?"
She could feel it. The monsters were about to pounce on her. She feared for her life. But then, something jumped out of the bushes behind her.
It leapt at the beast closest to Twilight and knocked it unconscious with one hit. The man now in front of her squeezed his fist, staring hard at his knuckle.
He looked up at the monsters, grinned, then said,
"What a pain in the ass. Out of my way! Haah!"
And then he smacked the ever-loving crap outta the rest of the monster horde. Twilight watched as he used his weapon to smack down creature after creature,
either by bashing in their skull or slicing them in half. When the monsters were defeated, the man stood amongst the dead corpses of the wretched beasts.
He looked down at them, frowning.
Then, he spotted Twilight. She was unable to move, her thoughts stuck on the brutality that had just happened right before her eyes.
"Amazing! He...he destroyed those monsters with ease! But now that they're gone, what will happen...to me?"
Twilight whimpered as he made his approach. He moved casually, one hand on his weapon, the other on his hip.
When he got to her, he got down on one knee. Then he placed a hand on her head and said,

"Hey, little pony...ya' gotta do better than that to Keep Yourself Alive out here. This is a dangerous place. You know that, don't you?"