The pitch black stallion glared at her as he stood just a few hoof lengths away from being nose to nose with her. He looked towards her not understanding why she even cared, if she really was telling the truth then this wasn't even reality to her.
“You want to know my story? Fine but it's going to cost you, I want a new slave.” he spoke confidentiality, it was a test to see just how far she would go to supposedly “save him” from his own madness and bitterness.
“I will not be your slave, no one deserves that.” replied Derpy with pride in her voice. She had to get to the bottom of this, then she noticed something out of the corner of her eye, it was a picture hanging on the wall of the black stallion and another pony, a Pegasus like her whom was hugging the stallion closely and the two seemed to be close to one another, like two best friends.
“Who's that?” she pointed towards the picture of the two on the wall. The stallion turned to glance in that direction and he turned back to her pushing her against the wall with sheer force.
“That was my best friend in the entire world. You talk about missing your daughter but at least she's still alive.” he began.
Derpy held still, not attempting to struggle out of his grasp as she knew with how angry he was it would be rather dangerous to try to escape, besides she was sent to this world for a reason and she had to help this pony. She couldn't help but think that Twilight always seemed to know what to do in these situations and the only thing she could think of to do was to keep calm and approach the situation carefully, she was getting him to talk whether he realized it or not and that was exactly what she had wanted.
“She was everything, my best friend, my only friend and now she is gone.” explained the stallion.
“What happened to her?” questioned Derpy, wanting to learn more and get more insight to why this stallion whom seemed so happy in the picture had turned to a path of darkness and gloom and loneliness.
“It won't matter, nothing will change what happened. Her name was Emma Flower and she and I were the best of friends. We did everything together, she was always more outgoing then me though and one day while out exploring lands beyond our home, she ran right into a bomb that had been planted into the ground and it exploded, I tried to save her but I was already too late. The flames engulfed me and my mark was forever scarred from that day, and is a constant reminder of my loss. Still, nothing will change what happened, she's gone and I....” he sobbed into Derpy.
Derpy wasn't expecting this to happen, but she reached out her hooves and hugged him close. She wasn't even sure what to say, so she decided to just let her mannerisms and body language show that he wasn't alone in this world. She just patted him softly upon the back and wished there was something she could do to get him to see the light, that there was still hope even in the darkest of days, even when all you knew and all you had known was gone.
“Look, I get it you are sad and it's understandable but would she have wanted this? My daughter wouldn't want me to give up that's why I'm going to do whatever it takes to get home again. And you shouldn't give up either, there will always be more friends you can make, new memories you can form, and that scar is just a scar it will fade with time, just as a wound would.” explained Derpy. This was very deep for her but most people didn't know how smart she really was, they just thought she was nothing more than just a clutz but there was so much more to her than that, just like with him.
“Listen, what's your name again slave?” he questioned towards her.
“My name is Derpy you?” she asked trying not to be annoyed that he kept thinking she was just a material to own. There was so much to her than that and there was more to him then he realized as well.
“My name is Midnight Star and just how are you going to save me Princess?” he questioned towards her, now he was curious to see just exactly what she would do, after all he had her in the palm of his hooves and he knew not to underestimate her this time, this time he would be ready.
“I want to be your friend to show you that there is more to life than to simply give up because of one bad event. I realize it must have crushed you to lose your best friend but I would feel the same way if I lost a friend, and I don't want you to give up. You have to want to try in order to be saved, otherwise there isn't much I can do.” explained Derpy. This was all very deep for her and she felt like he probably wouldn't understand the true meanings of her words, but she could hope that some part of his past self still remained.
“You want to be my friend?” he couldn't help but laugh and smirk a grin. “Friends? I don't need friends, as long as I have my slaves and now you Princess will get to pay for letting my slaves go.” replied Midnight Star as he kept her pinned against the wall.
Derpy wasn't about to be anyone's slave and she certainly wasn't about to give up either. She had to think and she had to think quickly or otherwise she was going to end up in a position she certainly didn't want to be in. Derpy didn't know what to do, what should she do? She thought about panicking but that wouldn't help anything really. She took a deep breath, remembering that she couldn't use her magic but she could still fly but what would be the point of running away? That wouldn't solve anything either. So she did something she thought was crazy, she wrapped her arms around the black stallion and embraced him.
“I'm so sorry, it's hard to lose someone like that but she wouldn't have wanted this either. Please don't give up Midnight, be strong so that you can show her the star you were always meant to be.” softly whispered Derpy as she hung onto him hoping that she might get through to him finally. She noticed he didn't seem as tensed as he had been, and his hoof hold on her neck was letting go as she fell onto her ass onto the floor. She rubbed the back of her butt as she looked up towards him starring at him with that cross eyed look of hers.
“I...., he began and then he stopped and looked around. He couldn't deny that her words had gotten to him but he wasn't about to admit to it. She was just another mare, she was a Princess but besides that she was just like the rest of them but then why did he feel like she was right? Why did he feel like he was a son of a bitch for doing all these horrible things just because he lost a friend. It gave him no right to enslave the mares of Equestria, he had been so overwhelmed by grief he hadn't realized that his own grief had corrupted him.
He went back over to her and he looked towards her, his ears dropped. He looked right at her. “What can I do?” he asked.
“Start over, be the Midnight Star you were before the accident and you need to forgive yourself so that you can have a brighter future.” replied Derpy with confidence.
“I'll try my best but can I travel with you Princess? Maybe if I see your world maybe it will help me find myself once more.” asked Midnight Star softly.
“Sure, you can come with me, just please call me Derpy, I'm not anyone special after all. I'm just like any other pony.” smiled Derpy with that wide eyed grin.
Midnight Star just chuckled at that. It seems what he heard about her was true, she was rather silly and just unaware of how special she truly was.
“So what now?” he asked softly.'
“We should try finding out how I became a Princess, maybe that will give me some clues on how to get back to my own world. I mean this place seems really nice but it's not home.” replied Derpy.
“I understand that.” replied Midnight Star. “Probably be best to keep looking around for answers I highly doubt Snow Heart will be of much help, she's the type to insist you find your own answers because she never had anyone give her the answers when she was in the same boat you are.” replied Midnight with a shrug of his shoulders.
“Wait? Snow Heart went to a different world too?” questioned Derpy.
“Yep.” replied Midnight Star.
“Well then I should ask her what she did to get home again, maybe it'll give me a clue.”
“Trust me you're better off figuring it out on your own. Besides if a storm sent you here it's likely a storm will take you home again.” replied Midnight.
Derpy thought about what he had said and he did bring up a point, if a storm sent her here, maybe a storm would return her. But how was she going to find a storm? She never really went out of her way to find trouble but this was different, this meant the difference between her home and this world, and she knew that her being a Princess wasn't really important. What mattered the most to her were the ones she cared about. She was going to find her way home and now she had a friend on her side, she was sure he had a ways to go to reforming himself but she believed in him and what he really needed right now was something to believe that he was still a good pony, even if he had done some pretty terrible things, everyone deserved a second chance in life, even bad guys deserved it.
Derpy looked around the castle that Midnight had.
“This place can be our base, it'll be a good place to rest our heads when we need a break. You should fix it so I can use my magic.” explained Derpy.
“Oh yeah that.” replied Midnight as he went and pressed a button. “There you go, use it to your will now.”
“Thanks.” replied Derpy as she used her horn to teleport them back into town and the ponies of the town cowered in fear but the one that approached them was one she had seen Midnight Star abusing, it was Electric Flare, the mare whom looked like Big Mac in color but her mane and tail was a mix of yellow and orange with a cutie mark of a lightning bolt in a flame.
“Hello again Princess, did you succeed?” she asked quietly.
“He's willing to give our way a chance if it means that his old friend would be happy.” explained Derpy.
“Oh. Can I come with you?” she asked hesitantly.
“Oh course you can, the more the merrier, I need all the help I can get and having the strength of an Earth pony will go a long way.” replied Derpy, and she couldn't help but think she was beginning to form her own little team and now she didn't feel as alone in this world. Sure, some might think she was crazy for traveling with a former villain, but she knew there was always more to it then that. She could see there was good in him and she knew that Electric Flare sensed it too or otherwise she wouldn't have wanted to travel with them. Derpy smiled towards them and with a determined heart, she started her hoof steps in the direction she felt she should go and even though she had no clue what she might discover or find in this world, she knew it was the only way to find the answers she sought.
The first steps were always the hardest but if you never took that first step you would never find the path you were destined to follow or find a purpose. Derpy never had really thought much about her own purpose, she just enjoyed helping others and delivering the mail was a passion of hers because she got to give ponies letters they would be waiting weeks for and if she had never delivered them she would have never gotten to see all those happy faces. She could only hope that Dinky would be okay without her at least for now, but she wasn't about to give up, she was determined more than ever to get home again.