…Before the ponies knew it, Twilight became sick. At first, it was just a low grade fever and everypony was relieved. But then the fever became worse and worse. Twilight took to bed for days at a time with her energy completely zapped. Through this, Spike was ever at her side, constantly bringing her whatever she needed.

One day, her friends popped by for a visit. Fluttershy was a tad nervous about seeing Twilight in this condition. "But what if she's…gone mad or turned into some kind of monster?" She asked. "Relax, Fluttershy," Rainbow Dash replied, "Twilight won't have turned into anything else."

"Yes, darling," Rarity said, "Twilight hasn't changed since she became sick. I highly doubt she's changed now."

At this, Spike came running out of the library with a look of dread on his face. "Guys!" He said briskly, "I'm so glad you're here! Maybe you can talk some sense into her!"

The ponies and dragon all ran inside and up to Twilight's bed. In the bed lay not the kindhearted, organized, wonderful pony they knew and loved, but a dark soul. Her coat had changed from its lustrous purple to a horrid mixture of hellish orange and black. Her eyes were wide and crazed and her mouth hung open in a silent scream of unknown origin. Fluttershy shivered with fear. This wasn't the Twilight she loved and adored as a friend. This was a completely different pony!

Twilight, or the shell of Twilight, slowly turned and regarded her company. Spike spoke to her slowly. "Twilight? It's me, Spike, and your friends. Don't you recognize them?" Twilight's now orange eyes flared a bit. "I AM NOT TWILIGHT!" She suddenly shrieked with the voice of a thousand hell hounds, "I AM FLAMELIGHT! I AM THE END OF ALL THINGS!" At this, fire shot from her mouth and her friends had to duck out of the way screaming.

They got back up as tears began filling their eyes, both from fright and from sadness. How could the wonderful friend they had come to know have grown into something so utterly evil? "We knew this would happen," Applejack pointed out sadly, "we just didn't know she'd be so malicious."

Suddenly, a flash of light emanated in the room and out from it stepped Princess Celestia herself. Immediately, the ponies and Spike went to a full bow. "Thank you," Celestia said, "but there is no time for formality." So they got back up and looked at Celestia, each of them silently pleading for her to save their sick friend.

Celestia seemed to read their expressions. "I'm sorry," she said solemnly, "but there is nothing I can do for Twilight. This is what happens when evil darkness completely takes over somepony. They turn into something they're not. The real Twilight is in there somewhere, but unfortunately…" here she began crying, "…she will never, ever come out again."

Fluttershy and Rarity couldn't hold back any longer and began sobbing. Celestia put a comforting hoof around each of them and allowed them to cry for as long as they needed. Applejack took her hat off in sadness and Rainbow Dash shed a few tears. Spike walked up to the princess and dared to nuzzle her flank a bit. Celestia bent her head and put it lovingly around the young dragon.

"Wait a minute," Applejack said, "since you came in here, that there monster hadn't attacked us once."

"Yes," Celestia said, "I have created a magic bubble of invisibility around us. Twilight cannot see or hear us. This will give me time to tell you what I told Twilight just a few weeks ago."

"What's that?" Rarity asked, wiping away her tears.

"Twilight…is my daughter," Celestia said sadly.

The others looked at her funny."Your Highness," Fluttershy said, "forgive us for looking this way, but…Twilight told us that a few weeks ago."

"Oh? I'm sorry. I didn't know you were aware" the princess responded kindly, "but it's true. She is my daughter, and having to watch the results of the mistakes I made in the past killing somepony I love so dearly are crushing my spirit. I fear I will not last."

The others gasped. "NO!" Fluttershy said, "we're already losing Twilight! We can't lose you too!"

Celestia looked at her sadly. Watching Twilight die was driving her to the point of suicide, but then she remembered the ponies she was responsible for. She remembered how much she cared for Equestria and the ponies who lived there. Still, though, her spirit was damaged beyond repair.

"Do not worry, dear Fluttershy," she said, "I'm not going anywhere. I have thought about suicide over the past few days, but…I have so much more I must do before I go. I cannot leave this land. I care too much for it."

Fluttershy smiled a bit. At least Celestia wasn't going to die. It was heart rending enough to lose Twilight. "So, Your Majesty," Applejack said, "what happens to Twilight now? I mean, is she in pain?"

"Yes, I'm afraid so," Celestia responded, "she's in a tremendous amount of emotional pain. The battle raging inside of her right now is immense, and the good Twilight is losing to the bad Flamelight. Flamelight is basically Nightmare Moon and Daybreaker put together."

"Daybreaker?" Fluttershy asked

"My evil side," Celestia said. Once again, the other ponies gasped. Celestia had an evil side? "I don't like to speak of it," the princess went on, "but that side does exist. Since my daughter has a combination of both my magic and my sister's magic stored inside of her, when she is driven to the point of insanity, Flamelight emerges. That's why I intervened so quickly the day she enchanted her doll and the whole town was fighting over it. I did not want Flamelight to emerge."

"But…does that mean we all have evil sides?" Dash asked

"We all have the capacity to do the wrong thing," Celestia said, "but in my case, my magic is so powerful that it can manifest itself as a completely different pony. That pony has only one thing on its mind: fear. It will use it to get whatever it wants."

"So…we can't stop it?" Applejack asked.

"I'm afraid not, Applejack. It has grown too powerful. If I would have been here during the fever stage of the sickness, I might have been able to do something, but I was not notified until just before I got here. I don't blame any of you for it, it just took a long time for the message from Spike to arrive. Even so…if I had made different choices along the way, we wouldn't be facing this right now."

The ponies looked at each other with devastation painted all over their faces. Pinkie Pie's normally puffed up mane drooped in sadness. Rarity began crying all over again in Celestia's loving embrace. All the other ponies walked up to the princess and the group hugged and cried for a few minutes. It seemed like hours, and it seemed as if their tears would combine to form a river ten times longer than the longest in Equestria.

Suddenly, Celestia spoke up. "We must be strong now, for Twilight's sake," she said as she wiped her tears away, "no matter what happens, we must stand firm and support her." The others nodded as they stood back to their hooves. "Come," the princess said, "let's be near her. Now more than ever, she needs her friends." With that, she removed the bubble and they turned to face the monster formerly known as Twilight...