Author's Notes: And after a small delay, I'm back with another chapter! I know I've been churning out a ridiculous amount of chapters thanks to my November writing challenge, and that you're all loving it. Sadly, all good things must come to an end. As of November 20, I reached...and passed...the 50,000 word target for the month! As such, my writing has slowed down significantly since, so daily chapter updates are not going to be a likely occurrence from now on. Don't worry, though...I will still endeavor to post as fast as my writing and inspiration allows, especially with the ending in sight.

My last few chapters have generated a lot of response regarding Cosmo, and the revelation of the real reasons behind his mad quest to seek revenge on Starfall and the Princesses. I was in no way trying to make his actions seem justified...I was merely giving context, showing how Cosmo was driven to the state where he would seek out the dark magic now flowing through him, corrupting him into doing these terrible things. For me, villains who have their own actions justified...even if only in their own minds...are just that little bit more deep and compelling than a villain who's evil simply for, well...being evil. Just the way I roll, and thought I'd clear it up, since it was getting a lot of attention.

But for now, thank you to all who read, reviewed, etc. and on with the story! This chapter's a big one...but it's not the end just yet!

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Chapter 48

The Final Struggle

After what felt like an age to Starfall, he finally reached the end of the tunnel, pushing up a false section of floor at the end of the tunnel, before hauling himself up and into the castle itself, looking around the gloomy room, trying to figure out where he was in the castle, so he could work out where to go from that point.

The sight that greeted him made him smile in faint amusement...he was in a familiar, dark hallway...the very same hallway where Princess Cadance had quizzed him about his feelings for Princess Luna, the memory making him blush slightly.

Remembering that he was running out of time, Starfall quickly moved back towards the door to the entrance hall, still hearing the terrified cries of the various ponies trapped at the castle gates. Cosmo's shield was still holding strong, trapping dozens of ponies inside the castle while the comet above continued to fall towards them.

It was a horrific, barbaric thing for Cosmo to do, even in his corrupted state. Nopony was being given the slightest chance to escape, the black unicorn intent on killing as many innocents in Canterlot as he possibly could.

Starfall briefly debated alerting all the panic-striken ponies that there was a way out of the castle, that they could use the secret passage to make a run for it. But in the end, he stopped himself. It would take too much time, and escaping the castle would not matter at this point...not with how little time was left.

Abandoning that course of action, Starfall instead turned towards the main lobby, looking through the arched doorway cautiously, aware that, at this point, Nightmare Moon and Cosmo could be literally anywhere. As he looked around, though, the lobby appeared to be empty, though still bearing the scars of the massive battle between Princess Celestia and Nightmare Moon.

Remaining cautious, Starfall wandered out into the lobby, keeping his eyes and ears alert for any sign of movement, while trying to focus his attention towards the smashed windows and doors that lead out to the gardens, where Starfall had last seen the two of them. If they were still in the castle, it was likely that they were out there, basking in their triumph.

Starfall froze as he caught sight of Princess Celestia, still lying on the floor of the lobby, nopony having bothered to move her from where she had fallen. She appeared to be conscious...but only barely, still dazed and injured from her earlier defeat. Starfall quickly trotted over to her, trying to determine if there was anything he could do to help her. "Princess?" he called softly, trying not to draw attention. "Princess Celestia...?"

"Go..." Celestia's voice was weak, horribly so, but still managed to carry some form of authority. "Find...Cosmo...Luna...stop them," every word seemed like an effort, and for a moment, it looked like she had lost consciousness, as her head slumped back down against the floor, making Starfall worry for a moment.

But she continued to speak, sounding almost desperate now. "No time...go, Starfall. The fate...of Equestria...is in your hooves. Go..." her words hit Starfall hard, making him realise the importance of what he was doing, why he had come back. This was not just about his own life, or about saving Luna from herself. Canterlot, and by extension, all of Equestria, now hung in the balance...and he was the only one within the castle walls that could possibly save it all.

For a moment, the responsibility nearly overwhelmed his mind, realising that he had the entire world on his shoulders, his decisions affection the future of an entire nation, was almost too much to bear. But he managed to get himself under control, refusing to look at the overwhelming big picture. As long as he focused on saving Luna, and buying time for Twilight and her friends to arrive with a plan for the comet, the situation seemed so much more manageable.

He looked back at Celestia, giving her a nervous, but firm nod, before heading towards the gardens, staying away from approaching the shattered windows directly...trying to maintain some form of stealth. The longer Nightmare and Cosmo were unaware of his presence, the better.

As he reached one of the windows, keeping his body out of sight while he peeked around to look through the remnants of the smashed glass, he could see out into the gardens. There, through the trees and bushes, were the two corrupted ponies he was looking for. Nightmare Moon seemed to be sitting in the clearing in the middle of the garden, looking up at the sky. From what Starfall could tell, she was basking in her beautiful night that...if she had her way...would never end.

Cosmo was also looking at the sky, but his attention was focused somewhere else entirely, Starfall following his gaze to spot the meteor...far closer than when Starfall had last seen it. There had to be less than ten minutes left now. Time was running out...Starfall needed to do something, and do it now.

Not risking heading to the rather exposed door, Starfall carefully lifted himself up on his wings, floating as carefully and quickly as he could through the broken window, being mindful of both the broken glass, and how much noise his wings made. The moment he was outside, he settled himself back on his hooves, taking cover behind a large tree as he tried to work out how to get closer, a vague plan starting to take shape in his mind.

As he slipped from behind the tree, moving closer as he ducked behind a set of thick shrubs, he heard Cosmo sigh. Too close to risk peeking over the shrubs, Starfall carefully tried to see through them, getting a heavily obscured view, but unwilling to risk making noise by parting the shrub for a better look.

From what he could see, though, Cosmo seemed to have gotten bored. "I'm going to check everything's in place for our escape," he stated to Nightmare shortly. Before getting to his hooves, Starfall ducking a little lower as he saw Cosmo head back on the path towards the castle lobby...a path that took the corrupted unicorn very close to Starfall's hiding place.

It was all Starfall could do to avoid hyperventilating and giving himself, forcing himself to calm down, taking deep, slow, quiet breaths as Cosmo wandered passed, giving no indication that he thought anything. Starfall actually held his breath for a few moments as Cosmo continued towards the castle. If Cosmo turned around now, Starfall was completely exposed and vulnerable.

But Cosmo never turned around, Starfall releasing his held breath in relief as the black unicorn disappeared from sight, leaving Starfall alone with Nightmare Moon. As this fact came to his mind, he got a reckless, stupid, downright crazy idea. It would be the biggest risk he had ever taken in his entire life, but as he looked up at the rapidly approaching comet, he realised this was a risk his life depended on. He had to try.

Taking a deep breath, Starfall mustered up his courage, and stepped out from behind the foliage, making his way out into the clearing, straight for Nightmare Moon, making absolutely no attempt to hide himself. It was time to confront his fears, and attempt a seemingly impossible feat...pulling the Princess of the Night away from the dark influence corrupting her.

Despite Starfall making no attempt at hiding himself, Nightmare Moon did not appear to notice him until he was right on top her, blinking as she tore her gaze away from the stars to look at him, a sneer forming on her face. "Well, well, well...look who's back. Come to beg for mercy?" she drawled, Starfall surprised that she was not curious as to how he had gotten in...clearly she was too wrapped up in her perceived victory to care how he had made it back to her.

Starfall, however, was not about to question that, shaking his head. "I'm not here for you, Nightmare Moon," she replied, surprised at how steady he was keeping his voice. He felt so nervous, he was certain his voice should be shaking like a leaf. "I'm here for the truth buried beneath the darkness. I'm here for...for Princess Luna."

Nightmare gave him a strange look, as if she was confused by his words, and though he had lost his mind. "Did you take a knock to the head, little colt? Luna, and Nightmare Moon, are one and the same, two sides of the same bit!" she cried, leaning in close to him, clearly seeking to intimidate Starfall. "I am Luna!"

For a moment, Starfall almost gave into the intimidation, letting Nightmare's presence scare him into silence...but he managed to keep it at bay, just. "No..." he said softly, the single word making Nightmare stop, her eyes wide...likely having never had anypony say no to her so directly before.

"No, you're not Luna," he said, more boldly and defiantly than before. "You may control her body, you do not control her spirit...her soul. I know she is in there somewhere, and it is her I want to talk to, not you," he continued firmly, before doing what was probably the last thing Nightmare Moon ever expected from the young stallion...he hugged her.

Even Starfall couldn't believe the downright stupidity of what he was doing...he was actually hugging one of the darkest figures in Equestrian mythology. Even if his intention was to reach out to the lonely, stoic princess hidden deep inside the darkness, it was still the boldest, most foolish thing he had ever done. All Nightmare had to do was hit him with a spell, and it was all over.

But Nightmare seemed so shocked by his bold, unexpected move, that she could not find a way to react. Starfall, knowing his time was limited, seized on this opportunity, leaning in close to her so he could whisper, trying to reach out beyond the darkness of Nightmare Moon, to find wherever Princess Luna was hidden within that corrupted soul.

"Luna...Luna, I know you're in there, somewhere," he said softly, still holding Nightmare, hoping the constant contact might keep her from coming to her senses for long enough to try and get his message across. "It's me, Luna...it's Starfall. Please, if you can hear me...I really need you here."

He took a shaky breath, before rapidly continuing...Nightmare still seemed too stunned, but that would not last much longer. "You're strong, Luna. I know you are...you're the smartest, toughest, most beautiful pony I know, and if anypony has the strength to fight off the darkness...I know it's you. Please, Luna...I can't do this without you. I need you back. I...I..."

"Enough!" Nightmare's sudden shout caught Starfall off-guard, stopping his desperate pleas mid-sentence as the mare of darkness pushed him away, before she grabbed him in a field of dark blue energy, quickly hurling him away, sending him crashing roughly to the grass a short distance away, knocking the wind out of him as he struggled to regain his breath, and get back on his hooves.

"What do you think you're doing?" Nightmare shouted, clearly enraged by his passive attempt to stop her. "Stupid little fool, did you really think mere words could stop me? Embrace your fate, little colt, you will never see the sun again!" Nightmare's words took on a more confident, triumphant tone, though seemed to have a strange, angry edge now...Starfall realising he had just made the corrupted alicorn even more angry than she had been before.

He had so hoped it might work...that somehow, by pleading with Luna, he could somehow use whatever affection she carried for him to spur her on, to drive her to fight back and overwhelm the darkness corrupting her, sealing her true self away. But it had all been in vain...he had overestimated Luna's feelings for him, it seemed. The thought hurt Starfall a lot more than he wanted to admit, even to himself, especially since all of Equestria had been riding on the gamble he had just lost.

"It is over for you, for your friends, and for Equestria! The night...will last..." Nightmare seemed to be about the brag of her success, but paused, staring in bewilderment at something behind and above Starfall, making the pegasus look over his shoulder to see it for himself.

A disembodied light, pale blue in colour, and clearly some kind of magical aura, was floating their way. Even as Starfall looked, it split in two, swirling around itself and forming into two distinct shapes...two halves of a broken heart.

"What is this?" Nightmare's confused question made Starfall glance over at her, noticing that she seemed to be transfixed by the sight, much like he was, only seemed a lot more repulsed by it. One of the broken halves floated over to Nightmare, while Starfall was surprised to see the other half spin around his own body for a second, shifting into a pink hue, as Nightmare's did, before both halves seemed to converge on each other, as if they were about to merge.

Eyes widening in vague understanding, Starfall looked back towards the castle proper, immediately spotting what he was looking for. There, in the lobby, was Princess Cadance, her horn aglow with her signature blue power, clearly attempting to cast some kind of spell to do with himself and Nightmare Moon...or Luna.

"You see, I have a talent for spreading love wherever I go. With a single spell, I can make quarrelling couples remember why they love each other, and stop their fights, and rekindle romantics passions that have been suppressed for days, even weeks." Cadance's words from earlier in the night came back to Starfall, and he gave a small gasp as he whirled back around, watching the broken halves spin around each other, the magic clearly working to find some kind of requirement for them to be able to merge fully.

It all became clear for Starfall: Cadance knew that Starfall loved Luna, and was taking a chance, casting her spell to spread and reignite love, and attempt to pull Luna back from the darkness, hoping that the Princess' affection for Starfall was strong enough for the spell to take hold.

But at that moment, just when Nightmare started backing away, realising what the spell was trying to do, Starfall heard a brief, incoherent yell, a crack that sounded distinctly like spell-fire, and another yell, this one of pain, before the two broken heart halves simply vanished out of the air, the spell lost before it could be completed.

As both Starfall and Nightmare Moon recoiled from the sudden loss of the spell...though likely for very different reasons, Starfall whirled around, just in time to see Cadance fall out of sight away from the window where she had been standing, spotting Cosmo standing there, face contorted with rage, his horn flickering for a moment, before the silver aura that had surrounded it all night disappeared...his rage so great it seemed he could no longer focus on the spell holding up the shield surrounding the castle.

"No!" Even from this distance, Cosmo's enraged cries were clearly audible, Starfall seriously worried...how badly had he hurt Cadance? Was the Princess even alive at this point. "I don't know how you got passed my barrier, and I don't care! You are not ruining this! Not now!"

Starfall saw Cosmo light up his horn again, and now knew what was happening...Cadance was still alive, Cosmo simply knocking her aside in his haste to stop her spell...but he had no intention of keeping her alive any longer. He was scared...Cadance's attempt at casting that spell had clearly scared Cosmo...badly. He was vulnerable, and if Cadance was here, then Shining Armor must be right behind her with Twilight and her friends.

Knowing he needed to act, and fast, Starfall did the first thing that came to mind, his wings flaring out wide as he took off, moving as fast as he could straight for the window back into the lobby where he could see Cosmo, his entire focus concentrating on that single point.

Cosmo clearly saw the movement out of the corner of his eye, looking up as he was lowering his head to prepare the spell that would finish Cadance off. He turned to face Starfall, clearly intent on turning the spell on him instead.

Starfall seemed to be just too fast for him, however, crashing into the unicorn hard, sending them both tumbling across the lobby floor, Cosmo's spell flying wildly high, leaving a long, deep gash in the marble roof, the area around the gash scorched black...clearly a highly potent, and very deadly spell.

Starfall rolled to his hooves as fast as he could, seeing Cosmo doing the same, knowing he could not afford to hesitate, even for a second, Starfall galloped forward once more, a hoof swinging out to strike Cosmo's horn as the corrupted stallion attempted to fire yet another spell. Cosmo yelled, recoiling from the blow, his horn fizzling as the spell was interrupted.

It was Starfall's only advantage. The pegasus may not know how to fight well, but Cosmo, as a unicorn, was naturally over-reliant on his magic, and Starfall knew that as long as he could keep Cosmo's concentration broken, and interrupt any spell he attempted to cast, he could hold the unicorn off, even in his corrupted state.

But this tactic did not last long before Cosmo attempted to counter, flashing out of existence as Starfall tried to hit him again, teleporting away. His instincts kicked into overdrive, and having a bad feeling about where Cosmo had gone, spread his wings and took to the skies once more...not a second too son, as Cosmo's latest spell blew out the floor he had been standing on not even one second before.

As Starfall tried to locate where Cosmo had disappeared off two, he saw several things as he caught a glimpse out the smashed windows into the gardens. First, in the mayhem of Starfall's bout with Cosmo, it seemed that Shining Armor had arrived, and quickly moved Princess Cadance, who appeared to be unconscious, but alive, out into the gardens, away from the fighting. He also caught a glimpse of Twilight, and what seemed to be all her friends outside. He thought he saw flashes of them wearing something gold, but could not make out what they were.

But what really caught his attention was Nightmare Moon. She seemed to be hunched over, as if in pain, and appeared to be talking to herself, almost like she was arguing. Even from this distance, Starfall could see her collar, specifically the dark gem embedded in it, and could see that it seemed to be filled with a white glow, that throbbed and pulsed, as if some kind of power was trying to escape it, but the gem was resisting it.

In that instant, Starfall could tell...it was Luna! She was fighting the dark influence that had turned her into Nightmare Moon! The corrupting energy was not giving up without a fight, but Luna's stubborn streak appeared to be shining through, and she certainly was not going down easily, either. That's it, Luna! He thought, his mind filling with that distant, small hope. You can do it...I know you can...

Starfall was wrenched harshly back into reality as he felt a spell pass by him, so close that the sheer energy of it seared the feathers on the tip of his right wing, making him yelped as he spun wildly for a moment, diving dangerously low to the lobby floor to regain stability and speed, before swinging back up into the air, narrowly avoiding yet another spell...Cosmo was clearly desperate and angry, and his rage seemed to have compromised his accuracy, Starfall knowing he would not get so lucky again.

But the two missed spells had done Starfall a favour, as he swung around and made a beeline for the upper balcony, where the spells had originated from. Sure enough, there Cosmo was, standing next to the railing, teeth bared in absolute fury as he wound up and fired yet another vicious silver blast, Starfall left with no option but to dive in order to escape it.

Rolling away before Cosmo could target him again, Starfall swung close to the wall the balcony was built against, diving down to the point where he could touch the carpeted balcony with his hooves...which he did, using both his wings and his hooves to charge Cosmo with all the speed he had, driven by the desperate need to hold him off for a few more moments...the comet was close enough now that the gardens outside were bathed in an ominous orange glow, as the cosmic boulder reached the atmosphere, and began to burn up...there had to be less than a minute left now.

Taken aback by Starfall's kamikaze charge, Cosmo tried to fire off another spell...but he was slow. Even in his corrupted state, his magic had it's limits, and he seemed to have all but reached them, the glow around his horn simply snapping out of existence as Starfall rammed him...hard.

The impact sent both of them tumbling, Cosmo once more crashing into the guardrail, Starfall's weight also pushing against it. Weakened from all the spell-fire it had endured over the evening, the railing cracked and gave way, both Cosmo and Starfall tumbling off into the long drop below.

Even after all the unicorn had done, Starfall did not want to kill Cosmo, and so grabbed the first thing he could reach of the stallion, his forehooves wrapping around one of Cosmo's shoulder, before he desperately spread his wings, trying with all his might to pull them both up before the fell all the way to the lobby floor.

But Cosmo was far too heavy, Starfall never even managing to level off before the ground rushed up to meet them both, the black unicorn wrenched from Starfall's grip as he hit the ground and rolled away, Starfall's hooves also connecting with the battered floor, sending himself tumbling wildly across the ground, just managing to tuck his wings in before a bad roll saw one injured.

By the time he slammed to a stop, Starfall was dazed, confused, and felt distinctly like he had just been hit a cart full of apples. But he was still conscious, groaning as he tried to remember which way was up so he could get back to his hooves. His swimming vision soon cleared, Starfall getting his bearing as he staggered back upright, finding himself close to the door out to the gardens, instantly stumbling and limping over that way.

"What?! No, don't! STOP!" Nightmare's shouting suddenly reached Starfall's ears, making him jump, before he looked outside, amazed by the sight that was visible in the clearing ahead. Nightmare Moon seemed to be in pain, the white glow having spread, now consuming all of her armour as well as the dark gem. Her eyes were screwed shut, but each time the light pulsed, her black coat seemed to lighten into a midnight blue for a moment, her wispy purple mane seeming to solidify.

Luna was fighting the corruption with absolutely everything she had...but it did not seem to be enough, staggering as the pain in his body flared, Starfall's battered body clearly at it's limits, he moved out into the gardens, limping with painful slowness towards the internet struggle ahead.

As he did, he glanced up, paling at the sight of the comet...it was massive, easily twice as big as Canterlot, by his guess, and it was starting to fill up the night sky, growing bigger every moment. In here moments, it would strike, and turn the entire mountain Canterlot rested on into a smoking pile of dust, ash and rubble.

"Luna..." Starfall's call was hoarse and rough, the pain even something as simple as speaking was causing him catching him by surprise. It did it's job, though, Nightmare looking over his way. He caught her gaze for a brief moment, those slitted, cyan eyes meeting his own electric blue gaze, causing the mare of darkness to freeze.

Even as Starfall watched, the hard, manic look in those eyes disappeared, the vertical slits widening out into the rounded pupils the average pony possessed. Recognition flashed in her gaze, before her eyes screwed shut as she reared up, a horrible, piercing wail filling the garden for a moment...before the white glow consuming the mare seemed to explode outwards, obscuring Nightmare in a brilliant flash of light, forcing Starfall to avert his gaze.

When the light faded, and Starfall looked back, he gasped, barely able to believe his eyes. There, lying amongst the shattered, smoking remains of Nightmare's pale blue armour, was a faded blue mare Starfall recognised instantly. Princess Luna was back! It was clear that the mental struggle against the darkness filling her had taken it's toll, though. While Luna's deep blue mane and tail was still flowing in that ethereal way that only herself and her sister seemed to do, the Princess was lying still and silent, her eyes shut. If she was conscious, she was dazed, and very weak.

But even as Starfall silently thanked the heavens for Luna's return, he saw movement heading into the clearing, his jaw dropping at this latest sight. Somewhere in his mind, he knew it all made sense, but right now, looking at it, he just could not believe what he was seeing...what he was right in the middle of.

The six mares walked into the clearing, their gait sure, their eyes hard, and their postures stiff and sure. But they were slightly different, five of Twilight's friends all wearing ornate gold necklaces, each one one with a large, glimmering jewel embedded into the front, the jewel shaped and coloured to match each pony's cutie mark.

But Twilight Sparkle herself did not have a necklace, instead wearing a golden tiara, in the same ornate design as the necklaces each of her friends carried. At the centrepiece of the tiara was a large, purple gem, shaped like a six-pointed star, matching Twilight's cutie mark.

It all became clear to Starfall. The orange apple; Loyalty. The blue diamond; Generosity. The pink butterfly; Kindness. The blue balloon; Laughter. The red lightning bolt; Loyalty. The legends had always been vague about the identity of the sixth, but Starfall could see it now in the purple star: Magic.

Nightmare Moon had been right...Princess Celestia no longer controlled the power of the Elements of Harmony. Twilight and her friends now held their power...the power that could stop the comet!

As the six mares took their positions in the clearing, forming a circle, with Twilight in the middle, Starfall could only watch in wonder, remembering a quote from one pony who had studied the Elements of Harmony extensively.

"'And may the wrong turn to right, in a celestial light'..." Starfall breathed, allowing himself a smile as the five necklaces begun to pulse, glowing in their corresponding light, Twilight's tiara beginning to glow faintly, as the Elements prepared to unleash their ancient, wondrous magic. It was over...Equestria was saved.

"No...NO!" Starfall's world seemed to come crashing down in that moment, as he whirled around, seeing Cosmo on his hooves, dazed and weak, but with total and utter madness in his grey eyes. Starfall briefly glimpsed the dark gem, having obviously retreated back to the only other pony under it's influence when Luna broke free of it, glimmering somewhere on the unicorn's body.

But Starfall's entire focus was on his horn, which was glowing a hideously bright grey, even as Cosmo panted, clearly pushing his magic to it's limits. Whatever this spell was, it was going to be big, and very, very dangerous.

Looking back over, Starfall tracked where Cosmo intended to fire the spell, and could see clearly where it was aimed...Twilight, and her friends. Cosmo was going to strike them down during their most vulnerable point, the Elements clearly seconds from unleashing their power.

Then Starfall saw the one thing the seemed to bring his entire world to a stop...Princess Luna, staggering to her hooves...a determined, fatalistic gleam in her eyes. Her position put her between Cosmo and Twilight, making her intention obvious...to block Cosmo's spell. Since her magical energy had been exhausted during her time as Nightmare Moon, fighting Celestia and calling down the comet, there was only one way she could hold off Cosmo's attack...by taking the spell herself.

Time seemed to slow for Starfall, as everything around him seemed to slow down...he realised that this one, single moment in time was the most important in his lifetime, and that his next action could determine the future of so much more than his own fate. Twilight, her friends, Luna...their lives were on the line.

For an instant, Starfall paused...and then make his decision. Hesitating just long enough to see the Elements begin their display, five beams of light pulsing inward, once from each necklace, converging on Twilight's tiara, which glowed and pulsed brilliant for a brief instant, before firing a brilliant rainbow of pure magic and energy straight into the air, Twilight's eyes glowing a powerful white as the rainbow blast of magical energy streaked up for the comet...at that moment, Starfall moved, turning and leaping into the air, flapping his wings to power him off...just as Cosmo fired his spell, desperately trying to spot the Elements of Harmony before they could complete their task.

As Starfall leapt, a strange sort of calm overcame him, as he put himself directly in the path of Cosmo's spell, travelling too fast to be avoided now. His friends were safe...the Elements were safe...Equestria was safe...Luna was safe.

That was Starfall's last thought, before the rainbow pulse from the Elements slammed into the falling comet, creating a massive flash of light that overwhelmed Starfall's senses, just as Cosmo's powerful spell consumed his vision, the yellow pegasus closing his eyes as the world snapped out of existence.