//------------------------------//
// The Lost Sister 
// Story: Chained 
// by IwuvWoona 
//------------------------------//

The mare broke into another coughing fit.

"A pony?" Curiosity said inquisitively.

Upon realizing just how dark the cell was, the figure saddened. "You cannot see what I look like..." 

The cub cautiously walked over to the mare, she felt her beauty underneath the grime that must've covered her.

She lifted her claw to the neck of the creature, stroking her. She felt her scars and gashes, but she was surprisingly soft. Curiosity relaxed, and the sensations transformed from a painful tingle to a warm sensation.

The cub realized this was probably the first kind touch, the first bits of mercy she had felt in a long time. A protrusion emanating from the top of her head suddenly lit up like a Hearth's Warming Eve tree. 

Curiosity nearly vomited.

The mare was chained to the ground, she knew that already, but to actually see it was sickening. The chains bent her long, graceful legs into hideous shapes, cutting deep into her flesh and rubbing them raw. A formerly beautiful set of wings was almost entirely robbed of its feathers, the chains prying them in different directions, until they were stained dark red with blood. A long, originally colorful mane and tail were greasier than fried food, and so grimy there was almost no color shining through.

Besides that, scratches and violet bruises covered her filthy, grey coat.

Her eyes were the only brightness this creature, this "Celestia", had. They shined with a hopefulness that had been lost a long time.

She smiled, tearing up at the light her horn gave her. "Tell me, little one. When...er...if I ever get out, will I still be pretty?"

Curiosity continued to stare at the broken figure. "Whoever did this is long dead, and I'm glad."

Celestia weakly laughed. "You could've sugarcoated it a little." her smile faded.

There was a long, lonely silence.

"How are you doing that...light thing?" the cub asked, if only to break the silence.

The mare basked in her own light.

"A spell. Its been so long since I could cast one. These chains are enchanted."

Spell? Enchanted?

"B-but that's magic."

"Yes, I suppose it is..."

"But, magic isn't even real. Everyone knows that."

Celestia snickered again. "Not nonexistent, forgotten. Forgotten and lost."

"So, th-that light really is...magic?"

"Yes. I never thought...I'd ever...cast a spell again. These chains were so effective, they even dulled my levitation spells. With time, left alone to rot, I eventually couldn't even use my weakest spells to dull my hunger, to light my cell."

Curiosity's jaw fell. She leaned against the cell wall, dizzy from such a revelation. Here, now, a little griffon who never believed in such whimsical things, was the to ever grant something magical prowess in a long time.

It was a few minutes before she collected herself.

"Why would anyone do that? You're nice, and beautiful."

Celestia looked away, staring at the single sunbeam sifting through the rubble.

"They were scared, your kind."

"Scared of what?"

"They feared that if the ponies knew their queen was still alive, they'd win the war."

"War? A-and other ponies?"

"These lands you step on did not always belong to the griffons. This city is Canterlot, my home and the former capital of Equestria. Griffons were jealous of pony prosperity, and the tensions between our countries ran high.  War was imminent. I guess they won."

Camelot wasn't always a griffon city. Spriggan would love this history lesson.

"So there were others like you. That could use magic and...maybe fly?"

"Not all had my specific features. Only royalty and a special few had my wings and horns. For most, it's one or the other, and sometimes neither. But yes, there were others like me."

She lowered her head somberly. "I've been down here for centuries, perhaps millennia. My sister, my niece, my...student. The royalty of my kind, I don't know what to think of them. Perhaps they're still alive, more likely dead, or captive in other prisons. I could spend an eternity here and never know."

"How old are you?"

"Much older than any griffon in the world. Probably older than all their ages combined. I came from a time where the sun had to be raised and lowered." 

"Why would the sun be lowered?"

That gave the mare pause.

"So that the night could be brought in."

"Night comes right after day, but the sun is still in the sky. To take it out, even temporarily, just sounds dangerous."

Celestia didn't speak for a few moments.

But finally, she broke her silence. "Little one, would you like to hear a story?"

"Mmmm, sure."


"A very many centuries ago, there was the moon. It shone brightly in the dark sky when the sun went down. My sister, Luna was in charge of raising and lowering this moon. However, an even longer time ago, she didn't do this."

Curiosity watched as Celestia put a remarkably strenuous effort into another glow in her horn, and the scene around her began to change.

The cub was in a castle. Dozens of wingless, armor-bound guard-ponies walked the halls. One of these guards seemed to stray from the path of the others.

Just as this guard walked out of sight, the scene shifted, and Curiosity was in front of a younger and far more beautiful Celestia, whom was setting a few items in a bag on her back.

"M'lady, will you require assistance for your endeavor?" A male voice inquired beyond Celestia's bedroom door.

Tia opened the door, smiling at a worrying guard. "I'm certain that Luna is fine. She's been acting...oddly as of late. I'll bring her back, I doubt the celebration will be the same without the guest of honor."

The mare walked over to an open window, spreading her glorious wings.

"Do not fear for me, I'll be back soon."

Curiosity bolted over to the mare, clinging tightly to her leg.

She did not notice her, and took off into the air without a problem.




The scene was an illusion, the cub knew that.

But it all felt so real.

It really felt like she was flying on her new friend, a fixed-up Came-Canterlot flashed below her.

Castles, towers, it was all there, in a place where ruins should have been.

It amazed her.

The fascinating and beautiful architecture soon transformed into a sea of trees, filled with creatures she'd never seen before. Birds of fire. Wolves made of wood. A strange chicken-reptile thing.

Curiosity and Celestia passed beyond them, and the flying mare settled at the entrance of an old, stone castle.

The griffon let go of her leg, walking alongside her as the princess walked into the castle.




The building was old, abandoned, with nothing but the overgrowth to give it company.

"Luna!?" Celestia called, surprising Curiosity.

At first, her response was silence. However, it was soon followed by tinkling laughter.

Another mare appeared.

She was younger, slightly smaller than Celestia, but she had wings AND a horn like her. Her flowing mane and tail dark, like her dark-blue coat. On her lank was a crescent shape she'd never seen before.

Celestia smiled. "Luna, come back to Canterlot. It's night, we're already running late."

"Night, yes. But the sun will not rise again. I won't let it."

Celestia stared at the mare in shock.

"Luna, what are you-"

"Did you really expect me to sit idly by while they all basked in your precious light?" Her tone was bitter and prideful.

"Luna! Snap out of it, Equestria cannot see their princesses like this."

Luna snarled. "There can only be one princess in Equestria! And that princess-" she reared up, "WILL BE ME!"

Curiosity cowered as the mare crashed down, breaking the balcony she stood upon.

Luna rose into the air, a white shape levitated into the sky, covering the sun, turning it black.

The cub gasped as a strange, magical darkness enveloped her. Her eyes thinned, her coat turned black, the feathers off her wings molted, and sharp teeth replaced themselves in her jaw.

Celestia herself seemed to falter a little.

"Luna, I will not fight you! You must lower the moon! It is your duty!"

Luna smiled. "Luna? I am... Nightmare Moon! I have but one royal duty now: to destroy you! And where do you think you're going?"

Smiling, the nightmare shot Celestia with a beam from her horn. The mare shrieked, and fell to the ground with a THUD.

Chills ran down Curiosity's spine. "Please, be okay," she whispered, as she'd forgotten the illusion's nature.

Celestia was still for a long time before, at last rising.

She was crying.

"Oh, dear sister. I am sorry, but you have given me no choice but to use these."

From her saddlebag, she pulled six gems.

They were magic, even without the tingle, Curiosity knew that.

And then the scene faded.





Curiosity gasped.

"What happened!?"

The chained mare groaned, "The restraints, I'm weary, child."

She was crying.

"W-will you tell me how it ends?"

"Of course."

"I loved my sister with all my heart. I loved her night and the wonders it brought, even if others shunned it. I'd planned a celebration for her to show her that she was loved. But it came too late, and I didn't see that Luna was...changing. Those gems were The Elements of Harmony. Honesty, Laughter, Generosity, Kindness, Loyalty, and most importantly, Magic. It was with great reluctance that I used them against my sister, my best friend. But I had to imprison her within her own creation."

"The moon."

"Yes. She was trapped within the moon, her spirit scattered within its confines. I took control of the night and my day. I was...alone for so long. Watching so many die for a thousand years. I'd...lost hope. And without my connection to those gems, those elements of harmony, I could not save Luna."

There was something to her tone. "I take it you found that will to live again soon after. Did you find someone else like you?"

Celestia smiled. "Luna came back."

"How?"

She chuckled, "That's a tale for another day, my little cub. I grow ever weary."

Celestia's light was fading, Curiosity hugged her head. "How will I get out?"

"You are small enough to fit through the bars without getting stuck. From there, it should be easy to find the staircase upward. But hold on, I have a single question."

"Of course."

Even with the fading light, Curiosity could see Celestia's tears, falling down her cheeks.

"Please, do you wish to visit me again?"

"I think it will be a long time before my class takes another field trip here..." It broke her heart, saying it.

"I'm asking if you want to see me again."

"...yes."

"I have a gift for you, then. The castle's magical items are still in my storage room, not yet looted by griffons who were too heavy to safely retrieve them. You are small, you could get to one. An amulet."

"What does it look like?

"There is a red gem in the center, the frame and chain is made of gold, there are inscriptions in the back. Read them, and you will be transported to the throne room of the castle."

Curiosity's jaw dropped. "For real!?"

Celestia laughed again. "Yes, for real."

"Thank you, Tia! No one's ever offered me something so...so AWESOME!"

She smiled warmly, shutting her eyes to reminisce about the past. "I knew someone like you a long time ago."

The smiles and laughter faded.

"D-did that all really happen?"

"I think you already know the answer."

Silence ensued.

"I'll see you again soon Celestia. I promise."

Curiosity squeezed through the cell bars, fleeing upstairs to search for her gift.