Lost to the Sands

by GigaBowser

Phase 6

Phase 6

Princess Celestia stood on the muddy ground, the torrential rain plummeting from the dark clouds overhead and assaulting her with bitter cold. She stood next to the ruined, decaying capsule where she had been sleeping for an assumedly long time. As she stared out across the dead, barren land that lay before her, she was completely silent.

No tears fell, but she could not stop quivering. It was taking all of her strength to simply remain standing. Her jaw hung open slightly as she stood, barely able to move, think, or even function. It felt as if a part of her had died.

And, indeed, it seemed that a part of her had died. Though there were absolutely no recognizable landmarks across this endless, empty wasteland, somehow she knew. In some strange way, she could tell beyond a shadow of a doubt, that she was gazing at Equestria.

What remained of Equestria.

The rain continued to hammer down upon her, soaking her coat and mane, but she didn't move or speak. She felt frozen in time, unable to take a step forward. She could not have ever prepared for something like this. Even after imagining the worst scenarios in her head, the level of death and destruction she saw before her was staggering. She couldn't process it.

She stood like this for a fairly significant amount of time until finally she began to cry. She utterly broke down, collapsed into the mud, and wailed to the heavens. It hurt terribly. It was a mental anguish above any she could have ever imagined. It tore away at her, fuelling her sadness and hopelessness and threatening her sanity.

Equestria was gone. It was destroyed and ruined. There was no life for as far as she could see. This was it. This was the end. It was the end of her glorious nation and the end of the wonderful little ponies she adored so much.

Her sister. Luna! Celestia's cries increased twofold as she thought of her sister. She probably lost. She probably fell. Luna must be dead, left to rot on the accursed battlefield that had caused this.

Celestia wheezed, struggling to breathe. She wrapped her hooves around herself, clutching tightly at nothing. She began to twitch. Subtly at first, until it grew into violent spasms.

She gasped and panted. She couldn't breathe! She was suffocating! Celestia rolled around, waving her hooves frantically and digging at the muddy ground. Her chest heaved violently as she struggled, her eyes wide and her mouth hanging open. Her body was refusing to work properly.

Her vision grew blurry and the rain continued to soak her. Everything was coursing and flowing. She could feel it fading away. This was the end, wasn't it? Everything had ended in loss and failure. What was left?

Her spasms caused her to flop forcefully onto her stomach, making her gasp and take in a long, deep breath. She let it out slowly, then continued to inhale deeply as she tried to catch her lost breath. She lay there for a while, covered in filthy mud and utterly dishevelled. She was an absolute wreck, but was finally catching her breath. Her out-of-control mind mercifully began to slow down.

"Oh heavens…Oh heavens…Oh heavens…" She continually muttered the same words as she panted, catching her breath and calming down. Her panic and outright insanity began to ebb away and were replaced by depression and despair. While this was certainly not an improvement, it was definitely less volatile and threatening.

Finally, as her breathing returned to normal, she slowly got to her hooves. Catching glimpses of herself as she did, Celestia saw that she had completely sullied herself in mud, masking her coat in a layer of brown sludge. She barely cared, returning her gaze to the land that lay beyond.

"What…What…" Celestia couldn't even form proper words. She was frozen, mesmerized by the horrific sight.

"What happened…?"

She tried to make sense of what she was seeing, but the truth was plainly evident to her. This was Equestria, and everything was gone. Everything was destroyed. There was not a sign of life as far as she could see in any direction.

Celestia could feel another panic attack creeping up on her, so she looked away from the frightening vista and took some deep breaths. She focused her mind and tried to think logically about the situation. She tried to remind herself that there was still a lot of unknowns. Was all of Equestria like this? Were ponies still surviving somewhere? Was Luna okay? She knew the answer to none of these, and so tried to focus on the hope she could feel that some of these questions might have positive answers.

"Okay…" she muttered, "What do I know?" She paused and collected her thoughts. "I woke up here…In the middle of nowhere; outside and in the rain. The capsule is broken, but I'm not hurt." She stood up and began to pace as she talked to herself, "This is definitely not any kind of protected resting place, so how have I not been discovered or attacked or anything?" She paused and turned around. "How did nopony find the-"

Celestia gasped. She was staring back towards the rocky wall where the capsule had been located, only it was no longer there. There was not a trace of it. Everything about the area looked exactly the same, except the capsule was somehow missing. "What??"

She took a few steps towards the location where the capsule had once been. As she got closer, she felt herself passing through something in the air. It was difficult to detect through the heavy rainfall, but she could barely feel it. She recognized it as magic. It was fairly strong magic, but she could still feel it bend and conform to her movements.

After a few more steps, the capsule suddenly re-appeared, exactly where it had once been. Opening her eyes wide in surprise, Celestia stopped. Keeping her gaze fixed on the capsule, she began to step backwards. Again, she felt herself moving through magic, and a few steps later the capsule again disappeared from view.

"Ah…" she murmured, "Some sort of perception spell…" Though she was not entirely sure exactly what kind of spell it was, she could clearly see its intentions. Somepony had cast magic around the capsule to make it undetectable from far away, almost like an invisibility spell. Stepping forward into the magic once again, she could feel it pushing against her ever so slightly. Being an alicorn, she was immune to a lot of the detrimental effects of spells, so whatever this pushing force was didn't affect her. However, she could guess that it was meant to somehow turn away anything that managed to accidentally get close enough to the capsule for it to become visible.

To her, it was simple, feeble magic, yet it had evidently kept her safe and unharmed for however long she'd been asleep, even as the casing had cracked and the capsule had faded into disarray.

She gave a shuddering sigh. "That's good…" she muttered, trying to seek out any silver lining she could, "I guess…"

The capsule, assumedly damaged beyond repair, was of no use to her anymore. She turned herself around and once again faced the expansive, imposing vista that lay beyond beneath the storm clouds. Frightening thoughts stirred within her, but she held them down, telling herself once again that there were still many unknowns. "I need answers…" she spoke to herself, "and I won't find any here…" So, with nothing much to lose, she chose a direction at random and began to walk.

***

Time passed with what felt like a couple of hours. Celestia trudged forward through the barren wasteland, the rain never letting up its assault. She was absolutely soaked and freezing cold. For a while, she had cast a barrier spell above her to keep the rain away, but it had put too much of a drain on her and so she had stopped.

She found nothing but long-dead trees and small rocks as she moved forward. Nothing was discovered and there was nothing interesting or outstanding to be seen. It was a seemingly infinite expanse of absolutely nothing. In fact, she was currently trekking towards the largest object she had seen from where her capsule had been; a big rock that had been near the horizon. It was perhaps only about five times as large as she was, but it stood out as the biggest object for miles and miles around.

As she pushed forward, trying to ignore the rain and the cold, her mind was hard at work. Though she tried to suppress them, many questions were assaulting her. Just what in the world had happened to her dear Equestria? What could cause this much devastation? Even ignoring the War of Chaos, no weapon used in warfare had ever had the capability to cause such a catastrophic effect. Was this the result of some new, horrific weapon?

Were all the ponies truly gone, or had they simply fled somewhere else? If they had evacuated, then why had she awoken here? Had they been forced out perhaps? What of Luna? Though Celestia dearly tried to hold on to the hope that her sister was still alive and well, she could not ignore the knowledge that if her sister were truly well, then Luna would waste no effort to find her and make sure she was safe.

A few tears filled her eyes as she walked, combining with raindrops to utterly distort her vision. She paused and brought her hoof up to clear the liquids away. She couldn't hold back a loud moan borne of frustration and despair. She could feel more tears coming and knew she was on the verge of another breakdown.

She sniffled and set her hoof on the ground. "No," she told herself, "Stop crying. That won't help anything. Just keep moving. Keep looking for somepony. There has to be some life around here somewhere, so keep looking. Even if you have to walk for a thousand miles."

Heartened by her little pep talk, she set off at a faster pace than before, still heading towards the big rock.

Another hour or so passed and she finally began to approach the massive boulder. By this point, she was exhausted. When she'd started her journey across the wasteland, she would occasionally use her wings to fly and travel faster. Now, however, she could barely walk.

She came to a stop a few yards away from the rock and sat down on the wet ground. She panted, her wings and head drooping. Turning her head back in the direction she had come, she could no longer pick out the location of her capsule. She had traversed nearly three miles and had found nothing. Looking out at what she could see beyond the big rock, she only saw more of the same.

There was simply nothing.

She shivered, feeling the hopeless despair well up inside her again. This time, she found little strength to fight it off. It took only a few seconds before she was crying, her breath coming in heaving gasps as her emotions overcame her.

She couldn't fight it any more. Her heart hurt. Everything in Equestria was gone and destroyed as far as she could see. There was nothing left for her here. There was nopony around to find her, to reassure her…to rescue her. Truly, she had never felt this alone in her entire life, nor had she felt so hopeless. It was like a blackness seeping through her arteries and choking the life from her. Every moment she could feel more of her strength and willpower depleting.

"Why…?" she whispered into the empty air, "Why did this have to happen…?" She sorrowfully hung her head, staring at the ground as droplets fell to it, both from the sky and from her eyes.

She whipped her head to the left suddenly. Her eyes shot open wide as she stared in that direction, unmoving. Nothing more than the falling rain met her eyes.

"Hello?" she called out. Celestia could have sworn she'd seen something move. The area was misty and cloaked with rain and her eyes were clouded from her tears, but she was sure she'd seen something. "Is anypony out there?!"

She waited in silence for a couple minutes. Her eyes scanned the area carefully, looking for any sign of movement or life, but she found nothing. The land was just as bleak and dead as it had been when she'd walked through it. Celestia sighed and frowned. Her mind must have been playing tricks on her, feeding off of her hopes and desires. If she wasn't careful, she'd be catching glimpses of phantom ponies wherever she looked. She turned back to face the direction of the rock.

Celestia cried out in shock as she was thrown to the ground, her head connecting painfully with the muddy dirt. The thing that had tackled her held her midsection down with four powerful limbs and fairly large size. She scrambled on the ground for a moment, unable to see or understand what was happening, before something slammed into her neck, causing her to cry out again in a raspy voice.

Her neck was held down painfully to the ground, cutting off her air supply and limiting her vision. She tried to lash out with her hooves and throw off her attackers, but she found herself effectively pinned. "Ah…!" she yelped as she felt her hooves being grabbed and held.

Gritting her teeth, she tried to find strength, but her reserves had already been depleted. Only a moment ago she'd not had the strength to stand. She struggled valiantly for a few chaotic moments, but remained held to the ground.

Something grabbed her horn. Something had wrapped around and was gripping her horn tightly. Something else was planted against her head and was pushing it down forcefully. Her eyes shot open wide and she cried out again. Then, her attacker began to pull upwards on her horn with incredible force while still pushing down on her head. Pain rippled through her horn for a few brief moments.

Then, with a loud, sharp crack, she felt part of her horn snap off.

The air was filled with her shrill cry of intense pain. She screamed in pure agony, tears streaming from her eyes. Pain rippled through the base of her horn and her forehead, overloading her mind and making her thrash around in torture. Tears streamed from her eyes as she gritted her teeth and tried to endure the immense pain.

She vaguely felt herself being hoisted into a sitting position, her hooves all bound together, but she found it hard to focus on anything. It felt like there was a thick metal spike embedded directly into her forehead. Her head ached and pounded excruciatingly. She could feel thick trails of blood running down her face.

"Dasxk ronowod!" a loud, commanding voice rang out.

Celestia splayed her ears back and tried to inch open her eyes. Her head was spinning from the incredible pain. The throbbing was so intense that she was hardly able to focus on the fact that her horn had just been broken off. Her mind was a dizzying whirlwind of pain and outright panic.

Her vision was blurred from the intense pain, and the rain did not help matters much. Panting through gritted teeth, she looked in the direction the voice had come from and saw a fuzzy grey and brown shape standing near her. It was as large as she was, possibly slightly larger.

Pain still coursed through her entire body, originating from the agonizing wound atop her head. She could tell she was losing blood, and strength along with it. It felt like somepony was hammering that metal spike deeper and deeper into her head.

She blinked her eyes a few times and tried to clear her vision.

"Heh heh heh…" the figure laughed proudly.

Finally, her sight cleared enough to see who was standing in front of her. It was a brown and grey griffon, staring at her and grinning victoriously. He stood tall, his wings proudly on display, covered in thick, yet sleek, silver armour. The feathers on his face were grey, and there was a sharp, distinctive pattern around his eyes. Her vision trailed to one of his talons, which was lifted off the ground. Clutched in his palm was the top part of her horn.

"Shelestia," he spoke slowly, "od'casx xurod nah jao wovi'tod."

The words coming from his beak were unfamiliar to her. Celestia was fluent in every single language that was spoken worldwide during her time, so this had to be something new. It didn't even sound the least bit similar to any language she knew.

"Ti xuk qi cudwo lohjkosbuk," he said with a growl in his voice.

Celestia panted, her vision going blurry again. She was losing an incredible amount of strength, feeling like she might pass out. She fought to stay awake. Pain was consuming her, numbing her brain and her muscles. "Ah…" she panted, "Wh…What…What do you…?"

"HIXO!!"

Celestia winced from his outburst, the loud shout causing more pain in her head. Again, her eyes trailed to his talon, where her horn was being held. The reality of the situation finally hit her with full force. He broke off my horn!! Panic began to build. Dear heavens, no!! My horn!! She tried to observe it as best she could, trying to see how much had been broken off. It was difficult to tell through the rain and the angle at which he held it.

Please, please, please, no… She tilted her head slightly, trying to get a better view of it. It…doesn't look like half…

"Citnaw!" the griffon with her horn shouted.

"Zu?" a deep voice from behind her replied.

"Cujik idj dusx Xuijo doxmod idjohom Wonadjfa'c! Hahahaha!"

The other griffons joined in his laughter. Celestia guessed that there were perhaps seven of them in total. Another one came into her field of vision. This one was a dark red colour, almost black, with grey highlights. He was carrying a thick, heavy-looking chain leash and collar. Immediately she tried to struggle and back away, but she then felt powerful talons latch onto her shoulders, holding her still. The claws dug into her skin and drew blood.

The griffons attached the collar around her neck, not being gentle in any way. Celestia gave up on struggling, quickly coming to the conclusion that it was pointless. She merely stared at the griffons defiantly, especially the one that was holding her horn. She winced as the collar dug painfully into her neck, and then again as the griffon holding the chain gave it a sharp tug.

"Bemm," spoke the griffon with her horn, who seemed to be the leader of the group. Then, without much warning, the group of griffons unfurled their wings and gave powerful flaps, propelling them into the air where they hovered. The chain on Celestia's collar was dragged upwards at a painful angle, causing her to cry out.

The griffons were all hovering in the air at the chain's full length, staring down at her menacingly. "Bemmod jao ZO'QK!" the lead griffon shouted, glaring at her. For a moment, she merely looked up at them with a weak, confused look. It took her a moment to realize what they wanted. Her hooves had been tied up and her horn had been broken off, but they had left her wings untouched. Summoning up the last reserves of her strength, she unfurled her wings and beat them downwards, lifting herself into the air.

This seemed to satisfy the griffons as they began to fly forward. Celestia gasped as she was pulled along by the collar, beating her wings frantically to keep pace with them. For a moment she faltered, struggling to keep aloft properly like a foal learning to fly, but eventually she was able to keep flight even though her hooves were bound and she was being dragged along by the collar she wore.

Thus, the group fell silent as they began to fly over the ruined wasteland. Okay…Celestia said to herself, They want to take me somewhere. They want to fly me somewhere. That's fine…I guess…

Once again, her eyes drifted to the lead griffon's dangling talon, where her broken horn still remained. A shiver passed through her body. This is bad…This is really bad…

A unicorn's horn is the strongest, hardest part of their body. By extension, this is especially true for alicorns. It took incredible, almost unheard of force to break one off. The fact that this griffon had accomplished this was definitely worrisome.

A creeping fear was growing fast, making her shiver uncontrollably and her heart beat frantically. My horn… she silently wailed. Terrible, despairing thoughts rushed through her mind. If she couldn't use magic any more…

That's it. It's all done. Everything.

She tried to calm herself down and to tell herself that she would just have to be patient and wait. She couldn't feel the stump of her horn with her hooves and she had no reflective surfaces to see herself in. For the moment, there was no way to know for sure. Either he had broken off less than half of its length and it would eventually grow back, or he had taken more than half and she would never be able to use magic again.

Celestia gulped.

Ten minutes passed, and then twenty. The endless landscape rolled by and the clouds continued to pour rain unceasingly. Celestia was panting furiously, her entire body aching. She couldn't tell, but it felt like the blood had finally stopped flowing from her horn. However, she had lost a lot of it, and with it she had lost much strength and stamina. She had been feeling especially weak even before she had been attacked, so she was presently running on fumes.

It took every ounce of strength she had to simply beat her wings and keep pace with her griffon captors. Many times she had faltered or fallen behind, only to be squawked at and roughly shoved or prodded by the griffons flying behind her. Her tongue lolled out as she panted desperately for air. She needed food and water. She needed to rest. She couldn't keep going like this.

Finally, something appeared on the horizon. Celestia had been too worn out to notice it at first, but as it continued to grow and grow in size as they drew closer, she became aware of it.

It was a large mountain. It was incredibly tall, reaching up to poke through the layer of storm clouds. It was thin and cone-shaped, and had a craggy outward appearance. There was no plant life on it, giving it a reddish-brown colour. It was the tallest and most distinct landmark for as far as the eye could see, without contest.

Celestia gasped, staring in shock at the approaching mountain. Things had changed, time, war and catastrophe had taken their tolls, but the familiarity of the approaching monolith was unmistakable.

It was Canterlot Mountain.

Celestia suddenly felt the remainder of her strength simply die within her. Her wings fell limply to her sides and she began to fall from the sky. Her griffon captors began shouting angrily at her, not one of them showing even a hint of concern. She barely noticed them. She simply fell, feeling as if she couldn't go on any longer.

She reached the end of her leash and felt the collar tug upwards sharply on her neck, snapping her out of her funk with a strangled gasp. She flailed with her hooves and her wings frantically as her windpipe was throttled by the collar, completely cutting off her air supply. Finally, after a moment of struggling, she was able to flap her wings return to a hovering state.

She panted heavily, trying to regain her lost breath. As she did, she continued to stare at the mountain in the distance. That was Canterlot. That used to be Canterlot. Which meant that she was presently flying over what used to be Equestria. Her fears were true. Everything was gone.

Her limbs slumped and she slowly started drifting downwards again. "Xo!" one of the griffons shouted, giving her collar a tight tug, "Xuckod jao vi'caowod!" She gritted her teeth and pumped her wings faster, ascending until she was once again at the griffons' altitude. Not a second after she had done so, the group began flying towards the mountain again.

Celestia panted heavily. Her wings were crying out in pain. She had absolutely no strength left, and these griffons were pushing her really hard. They spared no consideration for her lack of energy and forced her to continue flying at a relatively fast pace. Sweat was pouring from her, and her lungs were burning. Her heart was beating frantically as she pushed herself well beyond her limits just to barely keep up.

Her emotions weren't helping her situation. She was currently flying towards what seemed to be a completely destroyed and ruined version of what she had once called home. Even if she were filled with tons of energy, she doubted she'd have the willpower to fly at all in her current situation.

"Juwod jao tom Bëdaw, tujj nah bemmod," the lead griffon spoke. One of the griffons to her side nodded and then suddenly took off ahead of them at a much faster pace. Celestia watched him shrink into the distance as he flew towards an area near the top of the mountain.

Her wings were in incredible pain, her body was shutting down on her, and her mind was in shatters from everything that was going on. Still, the griffons pushed her forward with no chance for rest.

Finally, after 15 more minutes of flying, the group reached a rocky plateau on the mountain and landed. Celestia had fallen behind twice during the journey, pleading with her captors to let her rest. She had spoken in Equestrian and Griffic, but of course, none of them could understand her. When she'd had to fly upwards towards the top of the mountain, she was sure she would pass out before she reached their destination.

Now, however, she was lying collapsed on the rocky surface, heaving painful, haggard breaths. Her chest was burning and her wings felt like they were going to fall off. Mercifully, the griffons didn't seem to be telling her to stand up or move any more. At least, not yet.

As she lay there in incredible pain, trying desperately to catch her breath, her mind was still going wild. So many painful emotions were assaulting her as she struggled to take in everything that had been happening. Her horn was broken, Equestria was destroyed, the only life she had encountered were these hostile Griffons.

And no sign of Luna.

After a few minutes had passed, during which the Griffons had been waiting and occasionally conversing, the lead griffon stepped over to her. "Uivj'koxod," he commanded, tugging on her leash. Though she had recovered partially and gotten her breath back, she was still completely worn out and exhausted. After another forceful tug, she shakily got to her hooves which, thankfully, had been unbound.

For the first time, she observed her surroundings. They were standing on a remarkably flat plateau of rock, appearing almost as if someone had taken a knife through the side of the mountain. At the far end of the plateau there seemed to be a large, natural cave. Two armed griffons stood guarding its entrance. As she was led across the plateau on wobbly hooves by her captors, she couldn't help but think there was something about this featureless plateau that caught her eye.

Moments before they reached the cave, the realization dawned on her. This was Canterlot's town square. The town had been built on a flat plateau, with the castle resting nearby on the mountainside. This was that same plateau. A cold, dead expression passed over her face as she looked out and saw that it was all gone. Not a trace of the once-majestic Canterlot remained.

"Melo! Zokq udmoctod!" the lead griffon shouted, tugging at her leash. Celestia winced in pain and trotted after him as they entered the cave. Her entire body shivered and trembled. She had never felt so depleted of energy in her entire life. Simply walking behind the griffons was an incredible task.

At least she was finally out of the rain.

She walked for a while through the dark cave that was lit by torches attached to the wall. The cave had a natural appearance, but was very wide-open and spacious, and was fairly flat and linear. Celestia didn't quite know what to make of it. They continued walking through the cave, Celestia just barely managing to keep up, until they entered a small opening.

On the other side she found herself in a moderately-sized room. She gazed at it in wonder. It was lit by more torches than the previous location had been, casting an ample glow that filled the room. It was actually furnished and constructed, with a tiled floor, a few decorative columns, and what appeared to be a raised platform with a large chair. A second opening led away from the room to the left. It was fairly simple, but it was quite honestly the first sign of civilization she'd seen in this age.

"Ajk toh Bëdaw bemmk?" one of the griffons asked the leader.

"Oh naht jevehk bemmod," the leader replied.

With that, the griffons all took a seat on the floor and fell silent. Celestia remained unsteadily standing for a moment before finally giving in and falling to her haunches. The griffons eyed her cautiously but didn't say anything.

She leaned forward on her forehooves, barely expending enough strength to remain in a sitting position. She stared venomously at the lead griffon, who was still clutching her horn.

"What…" she muttered, "What is-"

"HIXO!!" the griffon snapped at her. She winced and drew back.

For a while they waited in silence. Celestia could barely hear the sounds of the rain drifting in from the mouth of the cave. She was still soaking wet, and sat shivering on the floor. She had noticed that the griffons were already dry, thanks to their feathers. Even griffons in her time had possessed water-resistant feathers. At the moment, she envied them.

With nothing else to focus on, her mind was once again fixating on the abject hopelessness of the situation she found herself in. This is it… her mind told her, This is where it ends. This is where I die. She closed her eyes and hung her head. If I don't die now, what's going to be left when I wake up again? Equestria is destroyed, ponies are nowhere to be seen, Luna isn't here, and I might have just lost my magic forever.

A tear fell to the floor. Please…This can't…

Celestia's ears perked up. She could hear voices. She turned her head towards the opening on the left, as did the griffons. Someone was coming through that opening.

"Zu, Oiho Muzojkäk! Asx j'sx'nëho tah!" she could hear them saying.

"Oj näho rojjoh, dasxk moado qoak lohj'sx'nodtod."

"Dukïhcasx dasxk, Oiho Muzojkäk!"

"Jao lohqoaxod moado J'bofjaj. Vïhjkad Shelestia? Buim qiw cuirod."

"Asx budd oj uisx dasxk'w cuirod, uroh nah vudtod jao!"

A moment later, two forms entered the room, followed by two griffon guards who remained at the doorway. One was the griffon who had left their group earlier and gone ahead.

The other easily caught Celestia's eye. He was a few heads taller than all of the other griffons. He had brilliant blue colouring on his feathers, and the fur on his hindquarters was a sort of golden-red that seemed to change colours in the flickering of the torches.

He was dressed in much less-constricting armour that almost seemed to be entirely aesthetic. He was also dressed in something red and blue that could best be described as a cape. He wore a small, silver object on his head that appeared to be a crown.

He gazed around the room with a fierce look in his eye. He radiated an aura of power, and Celestia couldn't help but feel a little intimidated by him. He stood proudly with his chest thrust out and his head held high.

"Nuj ajk tuj?" he said before his eyes caught sight of Celestia. He then broke out into a smug grin. "Ha! Oj ajk nuxh! Ti xujk Shelestia wovidtod! Uijwoqoasxdoko Uhroak!" The large griffon crossed the room and approached her. She gasped as he used one of his talons to roughly grip her chin and move her head around. "Jao rhusx axh xehd. Wik."

Celestia tried to draw back, away from his talon, but his grip was strong. "Ngh…" she groaned, "Let go!"

The large griffon laughed, and the rest of the griffons in the room joined in with him. "Ohrühmcasx tahdo..." he muttered.

"Wh…" Celestia was still panting and slumped forward from her utter lack of energy, "What…do you want from me…? I…I mean you…no harm."

The large griffon smirked. "Hah! What possibul harm could you do to us?" he said to her in an extremely thick accent.

Celestia gasped, her eyes wide. "You…You can speak-"

"You are lucky I still speak old language," he said, "Ekwestrian language is dead and forgotten. No longer spoken. I believe I am only remaining speaker."

Celestia stared for a moment, processing this information. Her hope and fear were clashing with one another. This was finally a silver lining. Something slightly positive in a sea of negativity. Here was someone who could finally provide some answers. And yet, this griffon seemed to be in a position of power and control, and he seemed to find her predicament laughable. Not only that but they had also broken off her horn.

She had to choose her words carefully. "Who are you…?" she spoke evenly.

The griffon held his head high once again. "You have rare honour of speaking with King Talimir, supreme ruler of Grand Griffon Kingdoms!"

"What…What is the meaning of this? Why have I been attacked?"

Talimir laughed heartily again. "Oh poor little pony Princess. Vere they too rough with your dainty hooves?" He smirked. "You are prize to us! You are valuable relic from ancient past, hidden away for so long. My comrades find you in Eqwestrian Deadlands and they make sure you not get away."

Celestia cast a cautious glance at the griffons surrounding her. "Prize…?"

Talimir nodded. "Pony alicorn who control sun. We must make sure you are ours."

"But…"

"You were out walking in Griffon territory. Therefore, you are now ours."

Celestia gasped lightly. Griffon territory? This was Equestria! Or at least, it used to be. "You…You can't…" Celestia said, trying to sound defiant, but falling short.

"I can do what I want. I am ruler of most powerful nation in world. I control everything!"

Shock was written across her face as she listened to his words.

Talimir grinned smugly again. "Ve have been looking for sun alicorn for centuries. At long last, you are ours! Hiding in Ekwestrian Deadlands like pathetic pony you are!"

Deadlands. The name filled her mind. "What happened here?" she spoke, putting a little more strength into her voice. "Tell me what happened to Equestria."

Once again, Talimir laughed. "Vhat it look like happened? Ha!" He turned around and began to approach the large chair, which Celestia quickly realized was a small throne. He sat lounging upon it and looked at Celestia with an arrogant grin.

"Vere you around for var?"

Celestia assumed he was referring to the war that she had seen the last time she had been awake and nodded slowly.

Talimir sighed, as if remembering a fond anecdote from his past. "Ponies vere formidable opponents. This ve do not lie about. They vere almost strong enough to be an even match for us. Of course, the glorious Griffon army cannot be defeated."

Talimir's smile disappeared. "But ponies have v'one irritating trait. They are stubborn like mules. Vhile ve slowly but surely overcame them, they never back down or surrender. They keep pushing back and fighting for survival. Feh! Is disgusting…"

Then, his smile returned, but along with it came a vicious glint in his eyes. "Var last for 10 years. Advantage we had, yes, but var still caused griffon casualties. Decision vas made that victory must be attained." He paused, and then continued in a menacing voice, "…At any cost."

A shiver passed through Celestia's body.

"Griffon scientists vorking hard," Talimir continued, "Calling in greatest minds in kingdom, and even in vorld. It vas top priority to create grand, powerful veapon vith vhich to utterly destroy ponies…And ve made it."

A haunting, sinister tone began to seep into his voice as he glared grinning at Celestia. "New, special type of bomb. Ukemremro. Massive explosion; extremely distructive. Order vas given for all Griffons to retreat from pony capital. Ponies think they have von, and then…

"Boom."

Celestia's heart stopped beating. Her expression was frozen in a shocked, horrified look. Her front legs began to tremble, threatening to send her tumbling to the floor. She found it hard to breathe.

Talimir threw back his head and laughed jubilantly, as if he found the entire situation funny. "Pony capital and about five miles of pony land in all directions vaporized! Hahahaha!"

Celestia felt ice cold. She couldn't breathe. "Y…you…"

"That vas end of var. Griffons vin. Ve take pony land even though is dead, empty vasteland now."

Her breathing was quick and heavy. "H…How…How could you…?"

Talimir merely shrugged. "Vas not me. Vas many years ago."

Celestia was trembling, staring unblinking at the large griffon.

"Let's see…" Talimir said, scratching his chin, "If ve are using your old, Ekwestrian calendar…Uhh…Is around 5770 now?"

"Y…you…" Celestia murmured.

"Our victory has long passed and ve are still in ruling. Ve still maintain control. The glorious Griffon Kingdoms spread far and vide."

"YOU BASTARDS!!" Celestia suddenly screamed at the top of her lungs, feeling a burst of fiery energy deep inside of her. "You monsters!! You killed them!! You killed them all!!"

Talimir's eyes widened slightly from the sudden outburst, but he did not flinch.

"You're murderers!!" Celestia screamed, tears flying wildly from her eyes, "And for what?! Some land?? Control?? Was that worth this beautiful land and all those lives?! Damn you! Damn you!!"

Talimir had lost his smug grin and was staring emotionlessly at the furious alicorn.

"How…how many lives lost? Canterlot's population was 800,000 when I left…That probably grew…At least a million. And all those soldiers, all those fighting that stupid war…Thousands more lives…" She was staring at the floor, a haunted look upon her face.

"Genocide…" she muttered. "You've committed genocide!!" she continued, her voice raising to a loud scream. "How?! How could it have come to genocide?!"

Talimir was silent for a moment. "Vas var, Princess," he said simply, "Two sides fighting to the death, ve both did vhatever ve could to vin. Ponies vere given plenty of opportunities to surrender peacefully, but our offers vere not taken."

Celestia had been reduced to a pathetic, shivering mess, her emotions having fired her up to a fevered pitch, only to leave her drained. "Y…you…"

"Now," Talimir continued, putting the grandeur back into his voice, "griffons rule this vorld as dominant species! Vorld revolves around Griffon Kingdoms! Even so many years later, ve are still reaping the revards of our glorious victory!"

"But at what cost?!" Celestia shouted, "Are there any ponies left?!"

Talimir waved his talon idly. "Sure, sure. Ponies live in small reserve to the south ve set aside for them. Is tiny little controlled nation. They have government, but they answer to us.

Celestia could feel a weight being lifted off of her. There was still much weighing down on her, but she felt a small amount of relief from knowing that ponies hadn't been driven to extinction.

She continued to stare at the ground in abject shock. She could not get the gruesome image of more than a million ponies being obliterated by the griffons' bomb. Sure, many more ponies than that died every time she fell asleep, but these ponies were murdered. Many of them had been innocent civilians!

And still, one important question remained unanswered.

"And Luna?" Celestia spoke up, gazing up at Talimir, "What became of Luna?" She tried to put on a brave face, but inside she was absolutely terrified of what the answer might be.

"Luna…" Talimir spoke, "Pony alicorn who control moon, and leader of Ekwestrian army during var…" He folded his claws together and held them before his face. "Yes, unfortunately she survive bomb…"

Celestia's ears perked up.

"But," Talimir cut in before Celestia could let any more elation show, "Luna is gone now. No-one has seen her in decades, perhaps centuries."

She could almost feel the colour draining from her face.

"She try to handle end of var, she try to handle recovery…Then v'one day, poof! Luna disappear! Never heard from again."

Celestia was trembling once again. She could feel more tears rising, but she did her best to keep them at bay. She mustn't cry in front of this horrible monster.

She just tried to tell herself that Luna was missing…not dead.

"Oiho Muzojkük?" one of the griffon guards spoke up, addressing the King, "Tao Uijnahbidwod howod ammoh desx xohur j'sxnoh. Nah jecckod dasxk laoc cüdwoh."

"Ah," Tailimir replied, "Wikoh fidb'k. Nah jecckod qihïsb."

All of the griffons in the room then stood up, Celestia's captors closing in around her and Talimir striding towards where he had come in from earlier.

"Vell, Shelestia," he said with an idle wave of his talon, "I think is enough storytime. Now ve should be getting back to capital of Griffon Kingdoms. Von't you be coming?"

One of the griffons prodded her roughly, nearly sending her to the ground. She tried to shake the image of her dead sister out of her mind, but it was incredibly difficult. She had been pushed to her emotional limit. She couldn't handle any more.

"J'koxod!" the griffon shouted.

Celestia tried to make herself push back, struggle, or protest in some way. But she couldn't. She wasn't even able to stifle a short whine of sorrow that escaped her lips. The griffon prodded her again. Seconds later, she hit the ground hard, making her head spin.

She forced herself to get up, but in her mind she was asking herself 'Why?' What was left to fight for? What could possibly be gained by fighting back?

"Jao rhusxko tod büvaw, dasxk nuxh?"

"Zu…"

The griffons were closing around her, grabbing her, lifting her up. Fight, Celestia! Fight! She merely lay limp and let them do as they pleased.

***

Celestia was laying on the cold stone floor of a jail cell. Her head was laying on its side, staring blankly out into space. All of the life felt drained from her, yet she couldn't fall asleep. She was just still, feeling almost dead.

The griffons had transported her in a griffon-drawn air-carriage of some sort, and they had travelled for quite some time. Celestia hadn't bothered to look out the windows or pay attention to her surroundings. The only thing she'd managed to notice is that eventually, as they travelled, the rain stopped.

She had been vaguely aware of some sort of stone building as the cart landed and entered indoors. The next thing she'd known, she was being thrown recklessly into the jail cell and hearing the slam of the door, the griffons laughing as they departed.

She was left utterly alone with her thoughts. To her knowledge, no-one else was in any of the other cells. It was just her, isolated from the world in a dark, confined corner.

"Luna…"

Nothing else mattered to her right now; she just needed to know if her sister was okay. She felt incredibly selfish and terrible for having such thoughts, but she couldn't deny them. The desire to know of her sister's wellbeing was eating away at her. It was tearing her apart.

Tears fell to the floor. She hadn't even noticed that she'd started crying.

So this was what Equestria had come to. No. She couldn't even call it Equestria any more. It was gone, the Griffons had taken over, and the ponies had been thrown out. A "reserve" Talimir had called it. The connotations alone from that word led her to believe that the ponies were living awful, pitiful lives under tyrannical rule.

The ponies had been dragged into war. War had led to the deaths of many. The loss had led to destruction and despair.

And there was nothing she could do about it. Worse, she hadn't been there when it had all happened. She had been silently snoozing away while the world around her crumbled. Everything was so far out of her control. It was utterly agonizing.

She laid her head on the floor and wept, shivering in the cold, stone prison cell. She heard sounds around her, but she didn't care. She stared blankly ahead at a slightly skewed view of the floor before her and the bars of the cage. The sun's deep amber rays didn't reach anywhere near her through the small window.

She sighed, feeling empty and defeated. This was a sensation she had never experienced before in her life. She felt absolutely no drive to continue. She had no will to move, no will to fight, no will to live.

It was all over. She had lost.

She lay there for a long while, not moving an inch, and barely breathing. She heard footsteps and water dripping, but nothing made her stir. She merely watched as the glow of the sun slowly faded and drew back from the window. The light disappeared only to be replaced with the cool blackness of the night.

Suddenly, Celestia bolted upright. She gasped, energy returning to her. The sun!! She had forgotten all about the sun. She had been so wrapped up in all of the wild things going on that she hadn't even given a thought to the sun.

It had set. The sun had set! She stared out of her cell at the small window in the stone wall nearby. It was difficult to see, but she was sure of what she saw.

She saw moonlight.

The moon had risen.

Comments

[Willsons]

Yay you didn't kill Luna. Oh and the reast of the chapter was great but I am looking foward to when she finally stays awake.

[redcake11]

Great story, I feel bad for celestia

[Ariel Schnee]

Well...

1. Celestia needs to find a way to stay awake.
2. She needs to fix her horn.
3. She needs to find a way to go to the past and wipe out the Gryphon race.

Hope that that happens in coming chapters.

[KariKateora]

Excellent. So Luna's alive, and Celestia's imprisoned by the Griffons. Hm. For some strange reason, I feel as if she won't fall asleep right now. It would ruin the action going on, for sure. Aw well. Now, she does have to find Luna. or will Luna find her?

Something i forgot to mention in the previous chapter is that her being called 'Luna's little sister' was amazingly interesting. Technically, isn't she the elder, still? In terms of physical development, her growth shouldn't have stopped when she was asleep, right?

[Diamond Sparkle]

Owch, poor Celestia. *~winces*

[WrathOfGod519]

well shit.

[PropsValroa]

This was the most interesting part so far. The Griffons fascinate me.