Sunlight and Flurry raced into Rarity's throne room. There they found the formerly generous and kind fashionista in a complete realm of insanity. Her normally neat and orderly mane was completely out of place. Her horn glowed green and her face twisted up in a hideous smile. For some reason, she looked different from the other ponies that had been enslaved by Midnight.

"Hello, darlings!" She said in a way that sent shivers down Sunlight's spine, "I must say, I've missed the two of you!"

"Rarity, what the hay happened to you?!" Flurry asked in a fright, "you…look…so…different!"

"But I am different, Flurry! Finally, I've unlocked my true potential, thanks to my mistress!"

"Your mistress?"

"Why, Queen Midnight, of course! She's the best thing that's ever happened to me!" As Rarity sang Midnight's praises, Sunlight noticed that her eyes glowed green. The small filly quickly deduced what was going on. Rarity was imprisoned, but she was imprisoned within herself. So that's Midnight's game, Sunlight thought, total magical mind control.

"Rarity, you don't know what you're saying!"

"Oh, but I do, darling! I know exactly what I'm saying! I'm telling you that Queen Midnight is the best thing for Equestria and for me, and if you step any closer, I'll be forced to tear your face off!" She finished her speech, batting her eyes and smiling creepily. But Flurry and Sunlight stood their ground and dared to inch closer.

Suddenly, Rarity stormed off of her giant throne and charged the fillies. She quickly knocked Flurry aside and ran after Sunlight. The princess, using her brain, ran throughout the room and rapidly teleported herself from small space to small space. She didn't want to engage Rarity in hoof-to-hoof combat, but she also didn't want to run away like a coward. She thought maybe she might be able to reason with Rarity long enough to work up a spell to break Midnight's mind control.

But sadly, that was not to be. She ran out of spaces to hide and soon found herself in Rarity's teeth. The deranged white pony bit down on her leg. She howled in pain as blood flowed freely. But then that pain turned to rage. She ripped her leg out of Rarity's grip and turned and reared up on her hind legs. She was snorting with a fury that she never thought possible. Even Flurry was a little intimidated at Sunlight's anger.

Then the filly lunged forward and bit Rarity's shoulder with all her strength. Rarity screamed in pain, but lowered her head and drove her horn along Sunlight's flank. Tufts of fur from both ponies rained down like snow and scattered all over the floor. The two ponies were a mass of screaming, screeching voices as they furiously pawed and bit at each other. Blood flowed like a river from the two.

Flurry tried to intervene, but Sunlight continuously stopped her. She cared too much for her cousin's safety to see her get killed by the deranged fashionista. She was also surprised at just how good of a fighter Rarity was. She could certainly hold her own against anypony. So how did Midnight enslave her so easily? The princess thought amidst the fighting. I guess it was just the sheer surprise of Midnight's sudden appearance. She didn't have time to avoid that evil beam. Soon enough, the fight spilled over by Rarity's throne where the white unicorn used her magic to pick up a knife. "I've got you now, you little witch!" She said.

Sunlight stopped short and began looking for a weapon of her own. Her horn was sharp, but it wasn't nearly as sharp as the blade that now confronted her. Her eyes darted back and forth, praying that she could find something to defend herself with. Then she saw a loose piece of extremely sharp iron on Rarity's throne. She magically dislodged it, and the duel began. Both mares used their incredible magic prowess to stab and prod at each other. They parried and slashed, blood flowing with each successive strike.

Soon, both of them were exhausted and their hits became weak and sloppy. Sunlight's fur was matted down over her eyes, and blood got in them from her multiple wounds. Flurry tried to run in and help her, but Sunlight managed to see her and stop her with a hoof. "This is my battle, Flurry. Please…don't interfere. I don't want you getting hurt."

"I'll get hurt a million times over if it means your protection! You've stopped me from intervening in this fight one too many times! I love you too much to see you dead!" Flurry said defiantly. She then ran over and butted Rarity over on her side. "NO!" Sunlight screamed as she raced forward. What Flurry hadn't seen was that Rarity, in her exhaustion, had dropped the knife and was now falling towards a fatal blow. Sunlight was determined to save her and to break Midnight's control. She wanted their friend back more than anything.

So she got in the way of Rarity's fall and took the blow herself. "SUNLIGHT!" Flurry screamed as she saw her cousin go under Rarity's much larger body. She quickly ran around and scooted the unconscious unicorn off her best friend. "Sunlight…" she choked out. The tears were immediate. Sunlight lay completely still. The knife had gone right through both of her flanks. Flurry could do nothing but bend down and sob into her shoulder.

"No…not this…not now…" She sobbed softly, "the prophecy…I…believed in it. I wanted to believe it could be true. But I guess…Zecora was wrong. Now Midnight Sun has control…and nopony will ever stop her!"

"That's not true," a voice suddenly said. Flurry turned and saw Rarity, only it wasn't the deranged pony from before. It was the kind and generous fashionista that everypony loved. Flurry immediately broke into a smile and threw her hooves around her. She knew this Rarity. She knew that this was their friend.

"Thank you, Flurry," Rarity said, "you and Sunlight saved my life. I can't believe I was treating all the poor ponies of this city so dreadfully! I will never be able to forgive myself for it."

"No, Rarity," Flurry said, "you did nothing wrong. Midnight Sun was controlling you and causing you to do these horrible things." Flurry, too, had noticed very early on that Rarity was being used as a puppet.

"Yes, I know Midnight was controlling me. I couldn't stop her. Everything went completely dark and then I woke up here. I could see everything that I was doing, like it was some gigantic movie projector, but I was forbidden from intervening. I could see you and Sunlight race in to try and stop me. I watched every moment of that bloody and horrible battle with Sunlight. I even saw her…"

Here Rarity stopped and began shedding tears. She turned to the limp body of the young princess. "I even saw her sacrifice her own life for mine! She's a true friend! A true, true friend!"

"You guys can stop using the past tense to describe me," a voice suddenly said. To their astonishment, Sunlight's seemingly lifeless body began moving. The knife was magically removed and the holes plugged up. An essence wrapped itself around her and then gently set her down on her hooves. She was completely healed.

Flurry once again broke into a smile and threw her hooves around her cousin, who gladly returned the embrace. More than a few happy tears were shared between the two. "I thought you were dead!" Flurry said.

"So did I," Sunlight responded, "but the knife missed my heart, where the magic within an Alicorn resides. That magic is somewhat self-autonomous, and it reacts very heavily in the presence of friendship. When it saw that Rarity was back to being generous, and when it saw your devotion to me, Flurry, it sped through my body and healed me. Normally, it would have done so anyway, but it was a quicker process because of the sheer amount of friendship in this room."

Rarity and Flurry smiled at each other. Once again, true friendship had saved somepony from a disaster. They had both seen it a thousand times, maybe even more, but it still rung true. Rarity remembered the song that she and her friends had sung on the day Twilight became a princess. "A true, true friend helps a friend in need…" She said softly. "Indeed, Rarity. Indeed," Sunlight said.