//------------------------------// // Equestria Island (Edited) // Story: A Broken Land // by sbloom85 //------------------------------// It was my turn to restock the library's shelves this week. I didn't mind doing it, it's pretty peaceful and the people who ask about books often find what they were looking for was in the cart. I wheeled the cart toward the non-fiction section. I stopped and picked up the first book. “Mystquestria” was written on the cover. It was a leather-bound book about the size of a typical hardcover novel. I examined it further and found no author. Who could have written such a strange book? I've seen many names in the library: Agatha Christie; Louis L'Amour; Michael Crichton... the list goes on, but this is the first book I've seen that has a title, but no author. Whoever wrote it must have wanted to remain anonymous. I put it to the side to read later. Time to return to stocking the shelves. After it was done, I returned the cart to the back room. One of my coworkers saw Mystquestria on it and shook his head. “You sure like those strange ones, don't ya?” I chuckled as I put the cart away and I picked it up. “You know me.” I waved the book at him as I walked back out to the front. “Be back in a jiffy.” The rest of the day went as it normally would and I returned to my apartment. I unlocked and opened the door, entered the apartment and tossed my keys on the mantle next to the door. I closed the door and set the book and grocery bag down so I could hang my hat and shirt. After that, I moved the book to the end table and took the bag into the kitchen. While putting the groceries away, I decided to make myself a screwdriver. I tend to nurse a drink while I read. I left the kitchen, my chair was calling for me and I obliged. I picked up the strange book and gave it another look-over before opening it up. I was greeted by a strange sight of horse-related glyphs, not the familiar alphabet. I thought it would be a good idea to skim through the pages, hoping there were words I could read. As soon as I touched the paper, I felt a strange energy flow into my fingers. I tried to take my hand away, but it was somehow stuck. The energy started intensifying and began flowing into more of my body. I woke up and found myself near a beach. I looked around, but I didn't see the book I held earlier. I stood up and took a look at my surroundings. Directly in front of me was a lighthouse on top of a hill; to my right, water as far as the eye could see; to my left was a cave entrance; above that looked like a sparse forest. I made my way up the hill and saw what looked like an actual tree house. The door was a bit smaller than I was used to, probably stood at four feet. I opened the door, hunched over and entered. The ceiling was shorter too, but I was able to stand up fully. My eyes met wall-to-wall bookshelving, most of the books were ruined and there were two books on either side of the entrance that sat unscathed on wooden podiums. I decided to look at the pair sitting to my left. I walked up to the podium and cast my gaze on the front covers. “Princess of the Sun” was written on the one on the left with an intricate sun insignia, “Princess of the Moon” on the other with an equally intricate crescent moon. Against my better judgment, I flipped open “Princess of the Sun”. I was greeted with what appeared to be a video embedded on the paper. On the other side laid what looked like a horse. A pale-white coated, multicolored mane and tailed horse with wings and a horn that appeared to be sleeping, then it woke up. It shifted around to look directly at me, its eyes widened and her mouth opened up slightly. “You're not with him, are you?” She asked. She was actually seeing me? “Please! I know you can see and hear me.” I could see her eyes welling up. “Please help us.” I slammed the book closed. Did that really happen? My muscles started feeling like jelly, so I sat down against one of the bookshelves before I fell down. No... that couldn't be right. That had to be some kind of high-tech sheet with a recorded video on it. But was it really? It had the consistency of paper. I didn't know what to do. What the hell was going on at this place? If this princess of the sun was really trapped inside that book, then the princess of the moon was trapped in the other. Who else was trapped? I took another moment to get a grip on my current situation before standing up. I walked back to the first podium, looked at the first book, took another breath and opened it. The winged unicorn was still looking my way and she had a sad smile on her face. “You came back.” She briefly closed her eyes and sighed. “I was afraid you wouldn't.” I scratched the back of my head. “Can you... see me?” She nodded. “What happened?” She crossed her forelegs and laid her head on them. “It's a bit of a long story. I'm not the only alicorn trapped. My sister Luna, my student Twilight Sparkle and her sister in-law Cadance are as well.” I glanced to the book next to me. Luna... that was Latin for “moon”. “Your sister wouldn't be the 'Princess of the Moon', would she?” She nodded. “Her... book is right next to yours.” Her weak smile gained some strength. “That is good news. I'm glad he didn't completely separate us.” I nodded. “There are two more on the other side of the room. I'm guessing they're your student and her sister.” She nodded. “If Luna is at my side, then there is no doubt Twilight and Cadance are close. Will you help us?” I didn't know any of them... but I had a feeling in the pit of my stomach that if I didn't help, they'd be stuck there until the day they died. “Okay, but first, you tell me everything.” She smiled and nodded. “Thank you. A human named 'Jaxxon Markus Citadel' created a book which created my land. He came here and spent some time with my subjects before he made another one to go back to your world.” She looked at the ground and let out a heavy sigh. “It was going well for a while. The first pony he came in contact with was a unicorn named Lyra Heartstrings. The two fell in love and eventually married.” I smiled. “That's sweet.” She slowly nodded. “It was. A year after they married, he decided to open a travel agency, allowing certain humans to vacation here after passing some background checks.” I let out a grumble. “Let me guess, one of those humans did something they weren't supposed to do.” She nodded. “Yes. One of them went to the Crystal Empire and attempted to kill one of the guards there. Jaxxon saw to it the perpetrator was imprisoned... but that wasn't the end.” I could tell she didn't want to go on, but sometimes one had to. “Months after the incident, that same human returned to cause more trouble. Ponyville was attacked and Lyra was gravely wounded.” She was starting to break down. “Th-the doctors did everything they could, but...” I could feel my own heartstrings being tugged and I nodded. “She died.” Celestia nodded. “Yes, and so did the child she carried. Of all of the attempts of bearing a human child, they finally succeed and she...” I nodded. “Right. What happened after that?” Celestia shook her head. “He went mad. In his rage, Jaxxon killed the human and hid himself from the world. He returned three years later with a series of books. Some to seal different parts of Equestria... and others to seal us.” That explains why the world outside is so empty. “After that... I do not know his fate.” I rapped on the podium, contemplating the inevitable. “Where do I begin?”