Multiple hoofsteps could be heard as a purple unicorn emerged from the shadows, her lavender eyes scanning her surroundings uneasily.

"What is this place?" the unicorn, known as Twilight Sparkle, muttered under her breath. She didn't like how she was completely surrounded by crystals as dark as the abyss, their surfaces shimmering with an eerie light; it reminded her too much of King Sombra, the tyrannical king that she had faced earlier that day within the Crystal Empire's territory.

"Welcome, Twilight Sparkle, my dear," an all-too familiar voice greeted her from behind. Shock numbed her senses as she whirled around to find an armored dark gray stallion standing there, purple mist leaking out of the corners of his malicious red eyes.

"King Sombra!" Twilight gasped, her eyes stretching wide.

"Why, hello there, Twilight Sparkle. Surprised to see me, perhaps? It's only been a short while since our last encounter, you know."

"Why are you here, Sombra? We defeated you with the Crystal Heart back at the Crystal Empire! You shouldn't have gathered enough strength already to be able to enter somepony else's dream, much less ruin it!"

"My my, what's with the hostility? This is a dream as you can recall, and not reality, so I can't physically harm you in any way. Anyways, about your question... I came here to help you uncover all the lies you've been told ever since you met your friends. I came here to help you see the truth."

"The truth? What do you mean by that?"

"You see, my dear Twilight, your so-called friends never considered you to be a true friend of theirs. In their eyes, you're nothing but a nuisance, a plaything to toy with until they get bored and eventually throw you away. They always planned to leave you in the end, Twilight, always; as a matter of fact, they became your friends in the first place only so they could manipulate you in secret for personal gain."

"What? No! They'd never do that! They're my friends, not my enemies!"

"Perhaps they really are your enemies instead, Twilight, having devised a plan from the beginning in order to bring you down. But of course, you still fail to believe me. Very well then, my dear... if hearing the truth is not enough to make you acknowledge it, then see the truth for yourself!"

It was at that exact moment that King Sombra moved forward and placed an armorclad hoof on her shoulder, his curved red horn surrounded by a glowing, dark aura. Suddenly, Twilight's vision blanked out, and her vision was shrouded in darkness for what felt like an hour or so before she began to feel as if she was being torn from the inside out. The pain soon subsided, however, her vision clearing at the same time. At first, she didn't really get the scene unfolded before her, her brain seeming to have suddenly died. It was after a short wait of about a few minutes, however, that her brain finally began to function properly again and she realized that all of her friends were glaring at her with the same hateful glare from where they surrounded her in a circle.

"What are you doing here, Twilight? You don't belong here!" she heard Rarity snarl, and turned around to see the white unicorn's eyes blazing.

"You're the worst friend ever! I can't believe I ever became friends with a pony like you!" Fluttershy's usually kind features were now contorted with hate and disgust as she spat at Twilight, shocking the purple unicorn to the core.

"Get out! I don't want to see you ever again!" Rainbow Dash barked, her tone unusually sharp.

"Ya've caused nothin' but trouble, Twi!" Applejack growled, her emerald eyes narrowed.

"You're a party pooper, Twilight! You don't deserve to celebrate a party at all if your job is pooping parties instead!" Pinkie Pie was screaming at the top of her lungs, throwing multi-colored party hats at Twilight.

"W-What?" Twilight blinked, bewildered, only getting the chance to speak once she'd dodged all of Pinkie Pie's party hat projectiles. "Girls, why are you doing this? We're friends, remember? Our friendship managed to save Equestria from a lot of evil villains!"

"Friends? Really, Twilight, you've believed all this time that we were friends? Sorry to disappoint you then, but... we've never ever been friends!" her friends sneered in unison, undoubtedly dampening Twilight's already miserable mood.

"Look, girls, I don't know what kind of prank you're trying to pull here, but please... cruelly joking about our friendship is just wrong when we've gone through so much together that actually did almost end it," Twilight sighed.

"Prank, Twi? Ya think this is a prank? Well then, let mah tell ya somethin', because this isn't a prank and it never will be!" Applejack responded coldly.

No, no, this can't be happening... Sombra can't be right, he just can't be! My friends would never treat me this way! Unable to deal with the misery any longer, Twilight collapsed onto the floor in a purple heap, beginning to sob uncontrollably. She didn't care that her friends were laughing uproariously at her fillyish behavior and neither did she care that she never cried in front of her friends; all she cared about was getting all of her tears out until every last one of them dried out.

"Twilight Sparkle, my dear," King Sombra's voice sounded unexpectedly from behind her. "Do you now acknowledge the truth? Do you now understand that I am only here to help you?"

"Yes," the purple unicorn whispered as she looked up at the dark gray stallion, her puffy red eyes filled with despair.

"As you should have, my dear. Now, tell me... do you want revenge on those you call friends? Do you want to show them how much you actually cherished your friendship with them, even if it was a false one all along? Do you want to make them feel the same pain that you feel now?" King Sombra asked, gently raising Twilight's head with a hoof so they were at eye level. His gaze was so gentle, so soothing that immediately Twilight agreed, all of her doubts about the king vanishing in a flash.

"Yes, King Sombra... I want to make them feel every last ounce of pain that I feel now... I want to make them PAY for their lies!" Twilight's eyes filled with a blazing fury as she suddenly stood up, all tears gone.

"Very well then!" King Sombra laughed, his horn powering up with dark magic.

The last thing Twilight felt was an intense pain, a pain so intense that it made her want to rip herself to pieces before she finally passed out.

"You were so easy to break, Twilight Sparkle," King Sombra smiled darkly, examining his brand new subject as she got to her knees.

"Greetings, Twilight Sparkle. I am King Sombra, your new master, and you shall serve me... forevermore!"

Author's Notes:

Just in case you didn't know and was wondering what Twilight looks like when's she corrupted by Sombra, she looks exactly like the cover image of this story.

Also, since this is my first MLP story ever, please leave feedback on how well I did!

Thanks!