MUCH longer chapter now! Hope you enjoy! :D Random MLP trivia piece for today: Derpy Hooves was actually a mistake on the animators' part. We first see her in the background of "Friendship is Magic: Part 1" at the big party at Twilight's house. Fans noticed the cross-eyed Pegasus and Hasbro confirmed it was an error. But fans loved the character and compared her to the Derp character, calling her Derpy or Derpy Hooves. Hasbro eventually decided to keep the cross-eyed character and even adopted the name the fans gave her. :) With that in mind, enjoy the Derpy appearance in this chapter! :D

I realized almost immediately that flying through Equestrian skies was probably not the wisest choice. Pegasi were everywhere. I was constantly ducking behind clouds to avoid being seen.

Let me pause for a second and explain why I was taking such pains to hide. Simply put, Twilight had already discouraged me from revealing myself to everypony. Equestria may have been home to dozens of different creatures, but humans were not one of them and seeing one could be confusing or even frightening. Add the fact that this human now had wings, a ponytail, and pony ears…you get the idea.

I did a pretty good job of avoiding most of the Pegasi. But I couldn't hide from them all. As I ducked behind one cloud, I almost knocked a raisin muffin from a gray Pegasus' hooves.

"Hey!" the Pegasus exclaimed. She seemed more frustrated about almost losing the muffin than about the one who had almost made her lose it. She looked up at me with, to my surprise, slightly crossed eyes. "Don't make me drop my muffin!"

"Sorry," I apologized, truly sorry. "But Sombra is attacking Canterlot! You've got bigger problems than losing a muffin!"

The little Pegasus seemed surprised. "Sombra's back?"

"Yes, and he's captured Twilight!"

The Pegasus flew in anxious circles. "This is bad!"

"Listen, whatever your name is—"

"Derpy Hooves!"

"OK, listen, Derpy—you've got to fly around Ponyville and tell everypony that Sombra is returning. All of the alicorns' magic has been…hidden." I decided against telling her it was in my necklace. "That's why Canterlot's in that dark cloud and the sun is still up even though it should be nighttime. Tell everypony to stay inside and safe until the princesses can defeat Sombra."

Derpy looked at me cock-eyed—of course, she probably looks at everything that way. "Nopony would believe me if I told them that."

"Please try," I begged. "You could be helping to save Equestria."

Derpy nodded. "OK. Wait—take this." She reached one hoof out for my hand and handed me off the precious raisin muffin. "For Princess Twilight, when you find her."

I was so surprised and moved I accepted the muffin. "I'm sure Twilight will be pleased, Derpy. Thank you."

Derpy winked and flew towards the ground.

I tucked the muffin safely in my jacket and continued my flight towards Canterlot.

Once I arrived I got a closer look at Sombra's cloud. This wasn't a shadow cloud like what had surrounded the Crystal Empire when Cadence used her magic to keep the wicked king out. This was almost a literal cloud of what seemed to be dark magic. With each breeze the filthy fog swirled out the tiniest bit further. The movement was much slower than I had expected, but still far too fast for comfort.

I cautiously moved forward with my wings and almost was struck by a lightning bolt. I quickly drew back out of the cloud—the dark mist swirled in the currents created by my wings.

I bit my lip. "For Twilight, Tara." And in I plunged.

After a few minutes of flying through the dark cloud, my eyes adjusted and I could actually see where I was going. It was a bit like driving on a rainy day—you can see, but not far ahead, so you move with caution. I was especially careful since I really didn't know what to look for. Where would Sombra have taken his prisoner? A castle? A dungeon?

Just then I saw a very new building erected not far from the Canterlot Palace. This building was built out of brick—solid black brick, seemingly the solid form of the cloud I was now flying in.

That had to be it.

I slipped through the door (surprisingly, no locks or guards prevented me) and found myself looking at another brick wall with a barred door in the front and center. I could hear scuffling coming from inside.

I peered between the bars cautiously. What I saw made me want to grab King Sombra by the throat.

A circle of shadow ponies were kicking and punching someone in the center. I heard cries of pain and my stomach tightened.

Twilight.

Sombra leaned casually against one wall watching. After what seemed like forever he waved a hoof. "That's quite enough for now, boys."

The shadow ponies drifted toward their master. Their victim, poor Twilight, lay motionless. I just barely covered my mouth to hold back a scream.

Sombra swaggered over to the badly wounded alicorn princess. "Not so regal now, huh?" he mocked her.

Twilight weakly raised her head. One eye was blackening, both nostrils had begun to bleed, her wings were unnaturally bent, and her body was covered in bruises. The beating had obviously begun long before my arrival. She inhaled shakily. "You won't get away with this…Sombra…"

With a snort of disgust the wicked king kicked Twilight swiftly in the ribs. She cried out in pain again as her head dropped back down.

Sombra laughed darkly. "Rest assured, 'princess', I will prevail. And if you're counting on your friends, they'll never come for you."

Twilight let out what sounded like a half sob. "If you've hurt them, as Celestia is my witness—!"

"Celestia?" Sombra smirked. "Don't worry, your precious friends aren't hurt—yet. But they won't come for you. You know what you are to them, Sparkle? You're a burden. You're a know-it-all that they would never trust with the Element of Magic."

"Stop, please!" Twilight pleaded but Sombra kicked her again. "The magic of friendship is useless now. And you know why? You are why, Sparkle. You alienated your so-called friends. You lost the Elements and the alicorn magic your precious princesses entrusted to you."

I gripped my alicorn amulet tightly as Sombra continued, "You're worthless to them, Sparkle. And you're worthless to me. You are only here because I want the satisfaction of witnessing your death."

I heard Twilight crying softly.

"And to make sure you don't try anything…" Sombra stomped a hoof to summon the shadow ponies again. "Chain her up."

Twilight didn't resist as the shadow ponies chained her hoofs together and chained her further to the wall, driving an anchor in so deep I doubted the most powerful magic could have pulled it out. Finally those evil ponies left.

Sombra approached his helpless captive. "I've waited a long time for this." Using his sinister magic, he rolled poor Twilight onto her back and leered down at her.

"Please," Twilight pleaded desperately, "I'll do anything! Just please don't do this to me!"

Sombra scowled. "I'll take what I want from you."

Twilight sobbed and covered her eyes with her shackled hooves. "Just—make it quick—please!"

"I plan to enjoy myself immensely." Sombra pulled the sobbing Twilight closer to himself.

That was it. The anger welling up inside me became too much to handle. "No!" I shrieked as a powerful magic spell suddenly swept over me.

I blinked and realized I was standing over Twilight. The magic must have teleported me in my raw emotion.

Sombra drew back in surprise. "What? How?"

"Don't you dare touch her!" I had gotten over the shock of the magic and now was angry. "She's suffered enough! She doesn't deserve you!"

"Tara, you have to—" Twilight could barely speak.

I ignored her. "Get out of here, Sombra."

Sombra smirked in sinister triumph—I grew nervous. "Very well. I will not abuse 'Princess' Twilight—yet. But only because I've seen that in defending this useless alicorn, her friend has gained magic she was warned against." The cell door banged shut behind him.

I dropped to my knees beside Twilight. I wanted to say something, anything—I wanted to encourage her—but she looked so weak and helpless I could barely stand to look at her. "Twilight," was all I could whisper.

The sniffling alicorn half smiled. "Thank you, Tara. If you hadn't come…"

"Don't thank me yet, Twilight. I've got to get you out of here." I tried to pull off her shackles but they were simply too tight.

Twilight weakly shook her head. "They're made from dark magic. Only alicorn magic could undo the spell." She looked longingly at my necklace. "And we don't have access to it."

I gently cradled Twilight's head. "I'll find a way somehow." Suddenly I remembered Derpy's gift and pulled out the muffin. "Derpy gave this to me and said it was for you, when I found you."

Twilight smiled. "Sweet Derpy."

I broke off bite-size pieces of the muffin and gently fed Twilight to give her some nourishment. Running my fingers through her mane, I carefully combed out the tangles and wiped the tears and blood from her face. "I'll get you out of here."

Twilight looked up at me forlornly. "Be careful."

"I won't let Sombra catch me."

"No…I mean something else." Twilight gasped for breath. "Did you hear what Sombra said right before he left?"

"Yeah, but who cares what he said?"

"He said that when you defended me, you gained magic I had warned you about." Twilight gritted her teeth as I accidentally brushed a scratch on her face. "What he meant was your anger was impure. Part of the magic that teleported you in here was dark magic."

I froze. "Oh, Twilight, I'm so sorry…"

"I forgive you. Just please, please don't let the amulet be darkened," Twilight whispered.

I sighed. "What can I do now?"

"Get out of here before he comes back." Twilight grimaced and tried to sit up—I assisted her. She nodded thanks and added, "Find the Elements. That's all that can save me now."

"But Twilight, you ARE one of the Elements!"

"My Element will work just as well on another's head as on mine." Twilight pushed me gently with her hoof. "Go, before he comes back."

"You know what he'll do to you when he gets here. I want to protect you! That can't happen to you!"

Twilight looked deep into my eyes. I could see she felt peaceful now—a slight smile raised her lips. "I'll be safe. Some of the magic you brought with you got into me. While you demonstrated love, the pure magic that transformed you had a channel through which it could enter me." She winced and charged up her horn the tiniest bit.

I smiled. "Will that be enough?"

"Enough to give Sombra a shock if he tries anything." Twilight chuckled. "Goodbye, Tara."