Twilight was bowing before King Sombra once again.

"This is my final test for you, Twilight Sparkle." Sombra said. "Pass it, and you will join my side as my queen. Fail, and you may or may not get to live past it." He added. "And I warn you: Expectations for you are going to be quite high." Sombra finished.

"I am ready for your final test for me, your highness." Twilight said. "And I promise you, I won't fail. I would sooner rather die then fail you now." She said. Sombra smiled.

"Your determination, your desires, and your mind have all brought you to this point. Now, it's time for your heart to finish things for you. It's time to find out if you truly can be as ruthless as me. I will not accept anything less then both Cadence and Shining Armor willingly joining our side. One or the other won't be enough; they both must accept. And you must do this by yourself." Sombra said.

"Don't worry...I am prepared." Twilight said. "I've studied them both well; I'll break their spirits and make them see no other way." She added. "So provided something doesn't interrupt us, we should have both Cadence and Shining Armor in our ranks before the day is through. I may have to rough them up a bit first though." Twilight finished.

"That is fine; I only ask that the end result is the same. My hope is that nothing stops us." Sombra said.

Being dragged to the throne room is not something neither Shining Armor or Cadence was happy about; but it seems to them that nothing really has been a dream: Twilight really has been corrupted by Sombra, and the tyrant is using her against them, knowing that they can't go all out against Twilight, least they kill the purple alicorn by accident. And she was more powerful then both of them combined, so using her against the two of them; knowing the best they could bring themselves to do was try to knock the purple alicorn unconscious in a best case scenario, while not doing much else. Unfortunately, the unicorn and alicorn couple were just not powerful enough to overcome Twilight in that way. And Sombra must know this somehow; why else would he have gone out of his way to corrupt Twilight like this?

They were brought fourth to Twilight and Sombra shortly. Twilight was the first to speak.

"So, have you realized yet that this isn't a dream? That your in the real world and not some Saturday morning cartoon?" Twilight asked, grinning evilly.

"All I know...is that your corrupt...and we need to save you!" Shining Armor said. Twilight gave a sigh.

"What part of that 'I'm doing this willingly' was not made clear to you by my friends?" Twilight asked.

"Well...then...er..." Shining couldn't think of a retort, growing distant.

"That's what I thought." Twilight said. "So, still think your in a Saturday morning cartoon? Or are you ready to face reality?" Twilight asked.

"Twilight...why?" Cadence asked. "If your really not corrupted; hard as it may be for us to believe; I must know why..." She added.

"Very well. I suppose you should know: I joined Sombra's side willingly because I was worried about my friendships now that I am a princess with a castle of my own." Twilight said. "It's that simple. Ever since I became an Alicorn Princess, I was beginning to worry my friends would begin to grow distant from me, choosing instead to find someone else to hang out with. Sure, I was wrong, but my doubts returned when I got my new castle and stronger then before. To top things off, I started dreaming of Sombra here." Twilight explained, turning towards the tyrant. "I thought this was strange; as the dreams started up way back when I first became a princess. As if something was luring me towards him. But then, 8 days ago when I got my new castle, the dreams became more vivid...more real. It felt as if that if I didn't do something; anything at all; to perserve my friendships, then I would wind up all alone forever. And that's when my mind returned to dreaming of Sombra once more. I knew right then and there, that the solution to my problem has been in my mind the whole time." Twilight continued. "Now here I stand before you, having successfully cemented the friendships with the other elements permanently. But that's not all I wish to do. No. Why stop with my friends? Why not use the darkness inside of me and my friends to cause friendship to bloom across the world. I know now how to do my task as the princess of friendship the best: I must become a queen of darkness so that friendship never dies." Twilight finished. This caused Shining Armor to go dark and Cadence to grow distant.

"But...that's not true...you and the girls...you would never grow so far apart..." Cadence said.

"I'm not so sure it could've turned out all sunshine and rainbows." Twilight said and now Cadence grew dark. "Nothing in the future is certain. But now? Now I know how I can garentee things. Now I know what I must do to make sure no one is friendless. And there's a chance others can become more." Twilight explained. "Join us in this endeavor, and you'll never have to worry about the happiness of the crystal empire; never have to worry about falling out of love with one another and Cadence can still spread love." She offered.

"We...we accept your offer..." Shining Armor said. "L.S.B.F.F." He added.

"So long as as you guarantee the things you have said...we accept..." Cadence said.

"Don't worry my brother and step sister..." Twilight said as Sombra started to change them. "...I know I can." Twilight added as Dark Shining Armor and Dark Cadence were born.

Elsewhere, the Tree of Harmony turned dark; but not a bad kind of dark.