…When they returned from Twilight's mind, they turned and looked at the beast that had overtaken her. It lay perfectly still, its mouth hung open in a final snarl. Blood flowed out of its mouth. Celestia walked up to it and put a hoof up to its neck. She began crying. "She's gone," she managed to get out.
The other ponies walked up and joined hooves around their fallen companion. By this point, their sadness had gone beyond just crying. Each of them felt as if their very soul were breaking, especially Rainbow Dash. Gone was the kind friend they had come to know and love. Gone was the pony who had joyfully participated in so many things other ponies like her would have turned their nose up at. Gone was the pony who had taught them so much about life.
Now in her place lay a corpse they did not recognize. The hellish paint that had infected her coat seemed to laugh at them as it drew away her final existence. Celestia stepped forward, wiping away a few tears. Her horn shone with magic and suddenly, the evil coat disappeared, leaving behind the beautiful lavender that they had grown to know. "There," Celestia said, "now she will be ready for burial."
"But, Your Highness," Fluttershy said, "how did you do that? I thought she would never change back to the way she was"
"A mother's love is not so easily stopped," Celestia said, "also, when Shining Horn Disease creates something evil and destroys something beautiful, only after the destruction can true beauty be restored to it."
"Wait a minute," Applejack said, "so what you're sayin' is, the only way that Twilight would ever have her old coat back…was for her to die?"
Celestia nodded sadly. "That is the way of Shining Horn. It takes away the best of what a unicorn has and replaces it with the absolute worst. That continues until it takes over the host's body and completely destroys it. After death, another unicorn's magic can be used to reverse the process. Unfortunately, no amount of magic can restore life itself."
They all turned and looked down at Twilight. She looked very peaceful, almost as if the acceptance they had all seen inside her mind had spread to her entire body right before she passed. In a way, they were all happy that this was the Twilight they were looking at now and not the horrible monster that had attempted to kill them.
"So what happens now?" Rarity asked.
"We continue with life," Celestia said, "it's what Twilight would want. Also, I think you have some new friends to make, like she said. Find somepony to fill the void in your group. I, like Twilight, know that there are some amazing ponies out there who would definitely fit the ticket, as it were."
At this point, Dash couldn't take it anymore. She threw her hooves around Twilight and sobbed into the dead pony's shoulder. "I don't want anypony else!" She yelled hysterically, "I want Twilight back!"
Celestia stepped forward and offered a comforting hoof, which Dash accepted. "It's going to be OK, Rainbow Dash," she said, "I know this is difficult. Believe me. This is crushing my heart. But I also know that Twilight would want all of us to keep going and keep believing in the amazing friendships we have made."
Dash looked up at the ruler of Equestria and wiped her tears. She gave a somber look to Twilight as she reluctantly allowed herself to be led from the room by her friends. "Come," Celestia said, "we must prepare for her funeral." With that, they shut the door on Twilight's body and on this chapter of their lives. As for what came next, none of them could say. After all, no pony knows the future; and, to be honest, they were all scared to death…
