Luna stood there for a moment, looking at the fiery pony in horror.
Daybreaker cackled. “Surprised to see me like this?”
Luna sighed. “Yes, I never once thought you would turn into a dark alicorn like I-
“Dark alicorn?” Daybreaker repeated. “You call this dark? I call it very very bright! You were the dark one! You don’t see any black on me do you? Are you jealous of me?”
Luna shook her head. “No.”
Daybreaker scoffed. “You’ve always been jealous of me sister! That’s what caused you to betray me a thousand years ago.”
“I’m not jealous anymore,” Luna said.
“You lie. I know it! I’ve always been more loved than you! Ponies would bask in my sun and sleep through your dark night! You know what my greatest mistake was! Banishing you to the moon,” Daybreaker said. “I should have destroyed you!”
She let out a breath of fire upon Luna who put up a moon shaped shield. Daybreaker let out three more blasts, the last of which broke the shield.
“Come on Luna, fight back!” Daybreaker ordered.
Luna simply stood still. “No. Never again. I will not fight you again sister.”
She closed her eyes and bowed her head. “If you wish to destroy me then go ahead.”
Daybreaker looked at Luna with angry eyes and charged up her horn to deliver the finishing blow. The Princess of the Night made no move to get out of the way.
“Stop!” a voice cried out.
Luna opened her eyes and saw Shining Armor, Spike, and the rest of Twilight Sparkle’s friends coming out of the hospital. They put themselves in front of Princess Luna.
“I will not let you hurt Princess Luna!” Shining Armor stated.
“You are my captain of the guard!” Daybreaker said. “I order you to stand aside and allow me to deal with this traitor!”
“I do not take orders from dark alicorns. I serve Celestia, not you Daybreaker!” Shining Armor retorted.
Daybreaker snarled. “Than you have committed treason! The punishment for that is death!”
Fire erupted from Daybreaker’s mouth yet again, and Shining Armor put up a shield. Much of his strength had returned since he’d been free from Chrysalis’s control, but it wasn’t enough. The shield quickly began to crack under Daybreaker’s immense power.
“Everypony run! Get Princess Luna inside!” he yelled.
Rainbow Dash and Applejack both took hold of one of Princess Luna’s hooves.
“This way yer highness!” Applejack said as they ran.
Daybreaker’s fire broke Shining Armor’s shield, forcing him to duck. It missed Princess Luna and the others, mostly. But Rarity’s tail caught fire as the door closed behind them. Only once they were inside did the white unicorn suddenly feel the heat behind her. She looked behind her and screamed at the sight. Her friends meanwhile continued down the hall to the room Twilight was being kept in.
“Arrgh! My tail! Water, I need water!”
Many of the other ponies in the room screamed at the sight. The only one out of her friends who stopped and looked back was Spike.
“You thirsty?” a blind pony in the waiting room asked, completely oblivious to the fact her tale was burning. “There’s a drinking fountain down the hall I recall!”
Rarity felt like that was a bad joke, but ran in that direction as it was the only water she knew of right now. She dashed in the direction of the hallway, Spike trailing after her.
“Ow! Ow! Ow!”
Approaching the drinking fountain, Rarity bent down so that her butt was facing it. Spike jumped up and grabbed hold of her burning tail. Cringing from both the pains, Rarity focused her magic on the handle of the drinking fountain while Spike moved her tail. His fireproof scales allowing him to maneuver it without getting harmed. Within a few moments the fire was put out, but the damage was done.
“Oh,” Rarity stroked her blackened tail. “You poor dear! I hate to do this again!”
She took out a pair of scissors and cut off her tail just as she had during their hunt for the elements of harmony.
Suddenly heat moved in on her as Daybreaker approached. Rarity trembled as she and Spike stood against the fiery pony.
“Where is my sister?” Daybreaker asked.
“I know not Sweet Celestia! I mean… Darling Daybreaker if you prefer that!” Rarity pleaded. “Please you’ve already burned my tail and forced me to cut it off!”
“If you don’t pledge yourself to me, I will burn away all the fur on your lovely coat and have you walk around naked!” Daybreaker said.
Rarity gulped. After a moments pondering. She bowed and lied. “I pledge myself to you, please. It would be a great honor to be your personal fashion designer!”
That had always been a dream of Rarity’s. But she wanted to be a fashion designer for Celestia not Daybreaker. She'd have to make fireproof dresses if she worked for this Dark Alicorn. Still she knew she would never be able to take Daybreaker in a fight, but if she could trick her somehow and wait for an opportunity.
“Good,” Daybreaker said before walking past her. “Now, where are you sister?”
She walked down the hallways of the emergency room where Spike and Rarity watched her. Looking through the windows of each room, she eventually saw them. Her sister stood in a room with the rest of Twilight’s Sparkles friends. Daybreaker grinned and was about to send out one final burst of fire upon the door to this room and trap them all inside it to burn. But then she saw something that caused her heart to stop. Twilight Sparkle was hooked up to a bunch of medical instruments. Her eyes closed as though she were sleeping, a doctor unicorn bent over her.
Daybreaker’s red eyes flickered as she saw Twilight in such a state. The fire of hatred within her heart suddenly quenched, replaced by concern and love at the sight of the pony she considered her own daughter. The fire outside in the form of her mane turned back to their regular multicolors and she turned back to Celestia. Gasping, Celestia stood there for a moment, in shock as the memories of what she had done… and almost done… surfaced.
Then she was shot from behind by a beam of blue magic.
"Oh dear, I meant to shoot Daybreaker not Celestia!" Rarity stammered.
Seeing her return to her former self caused sighs of relief from all the ponies in the room, as well as Spike and Rarity. Celestia got up to her hooves, the pain from Raritys attack nothing compared to the guilt in her heart. She opened the door with her magic and looked at Luna with remorseful eyes.
“Little Sister, I am so sorry!” Celestia said as tears flowed from her eyes. “I nearly destroyed you.”
Luna approached her. “Was not your fault sister. No pony is incorruptible.”
The younger sister nuzzled the elder. Celestia then looked at Twilight.
“How is she?”
The doctor in front of Twilight shook his head. “I’m afraid there’s nothing we can do. The poison is coursing through her veins. We’ve given her a sedative to allow her to sleep and not be in pain… but… we don’t have enough to time to analyze the venom in her blood and create an antidote. If only we’d had experiences with changeling venom before. It will take a miracle to save her now.”
All of them bowed their heads, it now seemed all hope was lost for their friend. Tears appeared in their eyes as they looked at Twilight.
Celestia approached her student. “I’m sorry, Twilight. I couldn’t save you.”
She then turned to Rarity. “I’m sorry about your tail as well.”
Rarity shook her head. “I would rather lose my tail a hundred times over than Twilight! The elements grew it-
The white unicorn suddenly stopped midsentence as an idea clicked in her head.
“I think I know how we can save Twilight!”