//------------------------------//
// Chapter 7: The Fall (Part 2) 
// Story: Celestia: The Fall of the Alicorns 
// by Deuterium 
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The sisters could only watch as Grogar’s magic connected with the moon… But for a moment, nothing seemed to be happening. His magic merely enveloped the moon in a dark green aura, shimmering in the twilight… Until the sisters saw something very disturbing indeed. On the opposite horizon, they began to see a faint orange glow, as if the sun was rising…
“Ever see the sun and the moon in the sky at the same time?” Grogar asked, though it was clear he was not expecting an answer. “Well... you’re about to see it!”
Sure enough, from over the horizon, the sun began rising, even though the moon was still clearly visible in the night sky. Slowly but surely, it moved higher and higher, the two cosmic orbs growing closer and closer… Until finally, the two began to overlap, the sun’s surface disappearing behind that of the moon, slowly but surely turning its face black, until eventually, the two moved together, the moon like a great black hole covering the sun’s massive face. It would almost have been a marvel to behold… That is, until Grogar fired his second bolt of magic into the newly-created eclipse. In an instant, the white sky filled with clouds and turned an unsettling shade of blood red. From the inky blackness of the moon, Celestia could see something moving...
“This eclipse is the final piece of my infernal puzzle - the gateway through which the Death Dragon Kur will be summoned to this world at last!”
Celestia’s mouth fell open. Now she knew that Spark had most certainly not been joking when he’d been talking about this...
“And from my hidden fortress of Tamberlone…” - Grogar indicated to the portal - “I shall remain in control of him… I shall unleash him onto Equestria… nay, the entire world!”
Celestia had found his plan unbelievable - but now she’d seen it with her own eyes, she was forced to believe it. This pony, who had once been a wretched excuse for a scientist, was now on the cusp of assuming pure entropy over all of creation… with a god at his side.
“But you’ve heard too much… and Kur doesn't like to be kept waiting…” Grogar sneered as an earth-shattering roar suddenly pierced the skies above. “So I'm afraid I shall have to dispose of you, Celestia, and your pathetic little sister too.”
At that moment, a shadow could be seen moving within the portal. It was leaving the fortress, stumbling and lurching as it went, getting closer and closer…
“Oh, but don’t worry… I’ll at least let you see the one you love most before you die…”
The shadow drew closer and closer. Celestia looked closer, trying to determine its identity… before immediately wishing she hadn't as the figure began to lurch out of the portal.
She looked dishevelled, rotted even. Her pure white body covered in gashes, her once beautiful and flowing dark blue and gold mane now limp and stained with Faust-knew-what, her wings drooping to either side of her body, and a lifeless look on her face... She looked so different… But it was unmistakeable. The pony that Grogar had summoned… was her mother.
Celestia stared at the figure before her, that face she hadn't seen in so long, a look of utmost horror on her face at what Grogar had done to her. It pained her so much to hear her mother’s rattling breath, the occasional roar from the sky above, and Grogar sneering…
“What’s wrong, Your Majesty? Your mother is here now… Shouldn't you be happy?”
Suffice to say, Celestia was anything but at this moment in time. Once again, her heart began to fill with the purest rage.
“You’re a monster…”
She spoke quietly at first… But with each word she spoke, her voice became louder and louder.
“You’re a ruthless, psychopathic, megalomaniacal monster! You claim countless lives for your own personal benefit, you destroy things for the fun of it…” Her voice went quiet again, and again slowly increased in volume, “...and worst of all… You wave the decaying shell of my own mother in my face! And now…” She began charging a spell. “I’m going to end it! Tonight, you will feel the pain that you've dealt tenfold!” She shot her fully charged spell at the maniac before her… 
But the effort was in vain, as just before the attack made contact, Grogar’s necklace flashed, and the projectile dissipated around him like a raindrop onto a hot stove. Grogar stepped back into his original position and began laughing.
“You can’t defeat me that way… This amulet is charged with the magic of the Alicorns - with it, I am more powerful than any being alive!”
Still livid, Celestia let fly several more powerful bolts of magic, directed straight at the amulet around his neck… again to no avail, as each and every one of he attacks either missed or dissipated around Grogar’s body. Grogar began laughing even louder as Celestia continued her useless string of attacks….
“Don’t you understand? You can’t defeat me - there’s NOTHING powerful enough to defeat me! The spirits of ALL alicorns are bound to me now, living and past. I have more than enough energy to summon the Death Dragon… and you can’t do anything about it!” His voice took on a patronising tone. “Oh, Poor… Little… Weak… Lonely... Celestia! All alone in the world, nopony understands her… And now she’s about to die!! Galaxia - kill her!” With that, Grogar threw his head back, laughing maniacally as he cast another spell towards the eclipse. As he did so, the roars also increased in volume. At the same time, the undead Queen began lurching towards her, with low, rattling groans creeping from her bloodstained mouth.
Celestia could take it no longer. Perhaps she HAD been too rash… She’d come here, thinking she could defeat him, prevent him from taking any more lives… But she’d failed. And now, here she was, about to be killed by her own mother’s shade… Very quietly, she began mumbling to herself…
“Faust damn it… Mother… I'm so sorry...”
The undead spirit slowly approached, getting closer and closer…
“I'm so sorry I couldn't avenge you…”
She closed her eyes, and a tear dropped from them as Galaxia’s shade approached...
“I'm so sorry this all had to happen…”
The shade readied its magic, poised to strike Celestia down.
“I'm so sorry I… failed…”
The shade charged some more… and fired a bolt of dark energy directly at the hopeless Celestia. She heard the spell flying towards her, the air around it crackling with dark energy…
“NO!”
She heard the spell’s impact… But she didn't feel it.
Confused, she opened her eyes to see the Shade looking, dumbfounded, at something on the ground… Turning her head to see, she let out a gasp of shock.
Lying there, a painful magical impact in her side, was her sister Luna. She must have jumped in front of the bolt before it hit her… Celestia felt more tears welling up in her eyes.
“Friendship is magic, you know… It can do amazing things to ponies.”

Her mother’s eternal phrase hit Celestia like a train crashing into a mountain.

“Friendship is magic…”
Celestia flashed back to a time long ago... The day of her first test… She remembered how her friends had heered her on… She remembered how their reassurance had given her power… She remembered how with their help, she’d overcome her fear. An act of true friendship that had given her power when she most needed it…
Just like what Luna had just done...

She opened her eyes. A spark had been set off in her mind… She looked at Luna’s limp body again, a powerful feeling rising up in her heart.
“You’re wrong, Grogar…”
Grogar turned, almost surprised, to see Celestia standing up again, a determined look on her face once again.
“Oh?”
“You’re wrong… I’m not alone… and I am certainly not weak!”
Celestia was now once again on her hooves. She began to walk confidently towards Grogar.
“You might have forgotten that there is somepony who’s always there for me. And she gives me strength. The laughter we share… the kindness and generosity she gives, her honesty and her loyalty, are like a special kind of magic. One we may never understand fully…”
Celestia stopped walking, closed her eyes and focused her magic. That feeling that she’d had all those years ago was returning again…
“But that doesn't matter, because the magic our friendship brings… gives me the energy to continue…”
She was charging another spell, a more powerful spell. Perhaps even more powerful than she’d ever cast before. “More energy than you could ever hope to imagine in your pathetic life!”
She opened her eyes… which had began glowing a brilliant white as she released her spell.
Two great rainbows shot from her horn into the blood-red skies, spiralling up and up until they met in mid-air. Grogar could only stand in confusion and shock - The power that Celestia was releasing was almost tangible.
“W-What is this?”
The now-joined rainbows cascaded downwards towards the mad scientist, forming a whirlwind of pure energy around him. And as they did so, the portal behind him began closing…
“What? No! NO!” Grogar began shouting in fear as the whirlwind of colour and light forced him towards the ever-shrinking gateway… As this happened, Galaxia’s shade began screaming in pain, as her body began to crumble away... But Celestia took no notice, her only goal to banish this screaming tyrant from this world.
“Faust damn it Celestia! This is not the last you wil hear of me! I will return, you hear me? And when you do, IT! WILL! BE! YOUR! DOWNFALL!!!”
Grogar screamed his last words as he was forced through the deep orange threshold, just as it closed behind him. His amulet slipped off as he entered, and it clattered to the floor just where the portal had been... With that, the light dissipated, Celestia’s eyes stopped glowing, as did her horn… and she leaned over, exhausted from the sheer pressure this magic had exerted on her. Galaxia’s shade let out one last shriek bfore dissipating altogether, leaving no trace behind…
Around Celestia, six magical orbs fell to the ground in a hexagon shape… But Celestia took little notice as she leaned up again, and ran over to her sister.
“Luna!”
Luna slowly opened her eyes, consciousness returning to her.
“Tia…”
“Oh, thank Faust you’re alive! Are you alright?”
“Don’t worry, Celestia… I’ll live…” Luna said as she struggled to her hooves. The spell impact on her wing was already fading… “Besides, you shouldn't be worrying about me… you should be worrying about THAT.” She indicated to the sky, and not a moment too soon - from the eclipse above, the silence was punctured by another great, and powerful, roar.
Celestia got to her hooves again, struggling a little. “No… Way.”
They had sealed Grogar away, all right… but the Eclipse was still in place, and the Death Dragon Kur was about to enter this world… Celestia had to think fast… And eventually, she had an idea. A stupid idea. A plain crazy idea, with a one-in-a-million chance of success… But still, it was the only way of undoing Grogar’s plan completely.
Turning her head towards the eclipse, she closed her eyes and fired a beam of magic up towards the moon. The beam shot through the atmosphere, drawing ever closer to its target… before finally making contact. 
Celestia opened her eyes again, ensuring that the first step in her plan had worked. Then, straining to keep her magic established, she began to slowly-but-surely move the Moon away from the Sun, all the while enduring Kur’s roars as they grew louder, more desperate. The sky slowly changed colour, from red to dark blue again… She gasped for air, bullets of sweat raining down from her face… But still she pressed on, trying her hardest to move the Moon away from the sun… But her power was wavering. The beam of magic was sputtering, losing power…
But then, another beam collided with the moon. A dark blue beam, a little more powerful than Celestia’s exhausted magic. Looking to the left, she saw the only possible reason. Luna was struggling to stay on her hooves as she took hold of the moon.
“I got this one, Tia… You take care of what shouldn't be there…”
Celestia wasn’t sure what her sister meant at first, but it didn't take her long to realise. She powered up her magic again, this time aiming at the sun, and the beam once again made contact… but this time it was weak and powerless. Nevertheless, she tried to shift the heavy gas-giant back into the position it belonged in… but to little avail, as within seconds, her magic beam dissipated. She quickly tried to re-establish the connection, but again to little effect. Celestia puffed and panted, her energy completely drained...
Suddenly, she felt something warm slide onto her back. Looking around in surprise, she saw that Luna had trotted over to her, and put her foreleg around her waist.
“Luna…”
Celestia felt just another little spark of power as Luna pulled her in closer… Celestia also extended her foreleg, wrapping it around her sister’s body.
“Let’s do this!”
And with that, she threw her head to the sky, focused all of her energy into her horn and released another burst of powerful energy into the Sun, pulling it down across the horizon… and feeling its power flow into her. And the more she exerted herself, the more the sun moved, channelling its energy into her… As if the sun itself was giving her energy, binding itself to her. And the more energy flowed into her, the faster she found she could move the sun… Until eventually, it disappeared over the horizon again, back to where it belonged. Celestia cut off her magic, and looked up at the Moon, which Luna was just setting back into place… 
She felt a slight tingling on her flank… Looking towards it, she saw that it had started glowing - something which shocked her a little. Looking over at Luna, a similar thing seemed to be happening to her as well... She’d forgotten all about their Cutie Marks - or the lack of them - amidst the war… The glow became brighter and brighter, almost blinding… Until finally it faded. Celestia looked closely at her flank, which now bore a great emblem of a large sun, in orange and yellow with solar flares cascading from its rim.. Looking over at Luna, she saw hers now bore the emblem of a crescent moon, perfectly complimenting the black colouration of her flank.. And in that moment, as her destiny had been realised, she felt proud. More proud than she’d ever felt in her entire life.