The medic quickly pulled the bandage taught around Derpy’s leg and clipped it. With a short nod from Derpy the medic was dismissed and scurried away to help other soldiers leaving Derpy to coldly look over the medic’s work. It was a slipshod job; Derpy could have done a better job herself...had she not been wearing plate armor. Unfortunately it was unavoidable, too many soldiers and too few battlefield medics to keep them from bleeding out.
Derpy lowered her visor and began the process of buckling on the armor that was removed for the bandaging. She needed to get back out into the fray, it wasn’t that she was bloodthirsty, but orders were orders. The orders from “Princess Celestia” to move the Elements here were looked at in a new light once she had told the Starsoul Order she had been captured. Captured by Viceroy Shadowflame of all ponies.
If Viceroy Shadowflame wanted the Elements there was the possibility he found a way to tap their power, perhaps even take control of all of Equestria. Of course, Derpy knew what Discord wanted them there for. It was likely her duty to give a full report and tell the other ponies about Discord, but she hadn’t. In fairness no one had really asked her about it and technically Discord didn’t capture Princess Celestia, the Viceroy did. It didn’t matter, she held no illusions about her deception towards her friends.
The sudden sound of hooves rushing onto the deck had Derpy instinctively put a hoof on the hilt of her blade and glanced over her shoulder. Surprisingly it was three familiar ponies; Applejack, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash. For a moment Derpy’s stomach lifted. For the briefest of seconds she could feel a spark light inside her that made the corners of her mouth barely twitch upward. Then reality stomped her back down as the spark died. Yes, those three were safe, but ponies were fighting and dying over there for a lie. Perhaps the reunions could wait.
“Rainbow Dash, Applejack!” Derpy barked sharply, causing the group to halt. Each one of them had the same awestruck look on their faces. A look that told her without a word they were glad she was alive. It twisted her stomach that she was unable to share the sentiment, “The fight’s not getting any less bloody, get some equipment and get back out there. Fluttershy, get with the medics. We need to get the Elements, do any of you know where they’re kept?”
With a sly grin Rainbow unslung the bag from her back and tossed it to Derpy’s plated hooves. As she looked down she could easily note the edge of a golden choker poking out. In shock Derpy lifted her eyes to gawk at Rainbow, who wasn’t even trying to hide the smug satisfied look, “Yeah, we’re done getting the Elements.”
Derpy’s heart sank as she looked back down at the bag. There they were. Every last one of them, stuffed in a little bag and thrown at her hooves. All the elements, and three of her friends. Where were the others? Perhaps they died retrieving these items? No, no Rainbow wouldn’t have a smug look like that if one of her friends had died.
With a not to Rainbow she turned to the commander of the Starsoul Knights, “Dad!” she yelled, holding up the bag, “These three managed to get the Elements of Harmony out of there, we can go now!”
Quickly her father bounded down the deck towards her, even as Rainbow started yelling in protest, “What? No! The others are still in there!” Even with her back turned Derpy could feel the angry glare coming from Rainbow.
Her father stopped, looking over the jewelry with a smile, “This is definately them.” He said with a tone of quiet reverence, then looked back up to Rainbow, “Don’t worry, we’ll pull the troops out before we leave.”
Rainbow stomped a hoof as she moved closer to the towering commander, “Twilight, Rarity, and Pinkie are still down there somewhere. You can’t just leave them!”
A moment of hesitation flickered through Derpy, but she quickly drown it out. She wouldn’t falter now, “Three ponies that might be alive can’t take priority here. Every minute we wait on these docks soldiers on both sides lose their lives.”
Somberly Derpy’s father lowered his head, “She’s right. I’m sorry but I can’t let-”
Rainbow brazenly cut him off, moving her disgusted stare from Derpy to Derpy’s father, “How do you plan on using the Elements if three of the bearers aren’t even there?” Derpy’s stomach sank an inch as a sickening feeling overtook her. She had to bring that up didn’t she?
“The Elements have been bonded?” The commander asked in surprise, looking first to Rainbow, then to his daughter.
It was silent for a moment before Derpy ungrit her teeth to respond, slowly and coldly, “Yes. They’re the bearers.”
Derpy’s father nodded decisively before heading back to the battlefield, “We can’t risk them capturing any of the bearers of the Elements. We keep moving.”
The moment he was out of earshot the blue pony wheeled about on Derpy with an angry glare, “What the hell was that Derpy! Those are our friends down there!”
The knight couldn’t look at Rainbow; a lingering guilt smoldered in her stomach that she fought to quell with logic, “Those mares and stallions out there dying on Shadow Station are ponies too Rainbow. Just because you don’t know them doesn’t mean their lives are worth less.”
“But...” Rainbow started, but Derpy quickly cut her off. She focused on on Rainbow’s worry for her friends and her courage, then pushed. With an annoyed growl Rainbow stopped mid-sentence, “I don’t have time for you! I need to get Twilight out of there. Someone get me a real sword!” And just like that she stormed off. That part was actually rather satisfying. The Starsoul Knights had been at the but of many jokes. The others could throw fire, control the winds, or reshape the land, it felt immensely satisfying to move other people with her power.
A second later Fluttershy stepped up to her. “Derpy.” she said crossly, “What’s gotten into you. You’re so...cold.” The yellow pony had grown bolder since Derpy had left her, but for what reason she didn’t really care. What mattered was that this little flower of a filly was so emotionally vulnerable she was like a butterfly before a tornado. Wordlessly Derpy looked at Fluttershy and violently shoved rage into her. With a sudden burst Fluttershy rose to her full height, curled her lips up and barked loudly and angrily at the unafraid knight.
The rage cut as quickly as it came and left Fluttershy standing on deck with several ponies staring at her. Slowly the little mare lowered her head and bent her knees, face flushing. What was that? Embarrassment? Let’s push that. Suddenly Fluttershy halted, seemingly frozen in place as she stood with her mouth open. After a second her eyes locked on Derpy...and Derpy saw fear. What was it? Fear that everyone would know there were rage issues bubbling beneath her pretend innocence? How deep does the fear you carry cut Fluttershy? With a push Fluttershy’s pupils dilated to nearly double in size and her legs started to shake. The mare stood frozen in place, shaking in fear as she stared up at Derpy’s unmoving, uncaring face. Derpy had never pushed anyone this hard before, she wasn’t being subtle, she was invading Fluttershy’s mind with emotions, and Fluttershy was the most receptive target she’d ever felt. Idly she thought about pushing harder, pushing as hard as she could, could she get the mare to piss herself in fear? That would be quite the...Suddenly Derpy let go of the mare’s emotions, shaking her head slightly.
That was a rush, she’d never cut loose and hit as hard as she could with her power, she’d gotten carried away. She needed Fluttershy to leave her alone, but she didn’t need to be sadistic about it. Slowly she turned away, listening to Rainbow and Applejack consoling their friend. For a moment Derpy’s resolve faltered, for a moment she thought that maybe she was just too close to things, too emotional for her own good. After all, she’d already gone overkill on those goblins a week ago, and she’d hurt Fluttershy. When had anyone ever wanted to hurt Fluttershy?
She steeled herself however when she looked up toward the deck and saw another sight that both made her happy and sad. Twilight. Honestly Derpy wished she could push her own emotions as easily as she could push the emotions of others. That way she could just pick how she felt and not get torn up inside every time she saw something ne, “Derpy?” Twilight asked.
With a nod Derpy forced a smile, pulling the visor of her helmet up so her...so Twilight could see her better, “Twilight’s here, girls.”
With smiles on their faces the three ponies from earlier rushed forward to greet their friend. Exclamations of jubilation and pleasantries were given, though Fluttershy was noticably more muted than she usually was.
The purple mage turned her attention away from her friends for a moment to address Derpy, “Derpy, you’re alive. When Discord sent you away...I didn’t know what to think.”
“I was fine.” Derpy said, “Discord just teleported me to to all the other Starsoul Knights. He probably thought I was going to release all my energy and wipe the place out. After I told them Viceroy Shadowflame was behind the kidnapping they decided to go get her. Priority one was to get the Elements of Harmony though, so we attacked here.” Derpy hesitated with her thought, but pressed on, hoping against hope, “What about Pinkie and Rarity, are they...?”
“They’re safe, I think.” Twilight said quickly, “Pinkie teleported them out of there...long story. I’ve got no idea where she is though.”
Rainbow gave a dissatisfied grunt as she put a bastard sword down on the deck. “They must still be in there. There’s no way she could have moved fast enough to get to the escape pods before they got locked down.”
Quickly Twilight put a hoof to her forehead, “Yeah...yeah she could, she’d have planned it down to the moment she teleported out. Does anypony see an escape pod out there?”
“I’m on it!” Rainbow said quickly as she darted up the netting to the crow’s nest. For a moment she just scanned the water before flashing a quick smile to the rest of them, “One escape pod, that way.”
Twilight gave a half smile, hopefully she didn’t notice the grim look on Derpy’s face. All the bearers were alive. All of them, and they had the elements too. Was it too much to ask that one of them took a stray crossbow bolt to the throat and died?
With a sigh of relief the young mage turned to Derpy, “Derpy,” she said,“Pinkie and Rarity are in that escape pod and we have the elements. We can get out of here and go get Discord.” Derpy nodded, that wasn’t going to happen, but they could think it would for a moment longer. With a look of confusion Twilight put a hoof on Derpy’s back, “Derpy, this is good. Let’s get them and get out, it’s almost over!” It seemed she wasn’t hiding her emotions particularly well, but most wouldn’t in this situation.
With a forced smile she subtly pushed trust into Twilight. Slowly the knight turned back to the commander on deck with a whisper of, “I know Twilight. Almost over.” She took her time trotting over to the stallion and nudged against him, “Dad. The last two bearers are in that escape pod out at sea.” No mirth touched her voice, just the cold relaying of facts that needed to be told.
Derpy didn’t know exactly what they had gone through to get here, but it looked like the six of them had gone through hell. If only she could have told them not to bother, if only there was a way to let them walk away before she tipped her hand. Even just one, but none of them were going to back down, they were one small step away from having what they wanted.
“Full retreat men!” Her father bellowed, sending ponies scampering about as they prepared the sails and oars if need be. Instinctively Twilight ran to the higher deck, watching as rows of uniformed ponies slowly backpedaled back to their ships. Many were dead and left behind, slower groups granted cover while their members dragged wounded ponies slowly across the decks to the nearest ships.
The second they pulled that last pony on board the ship lurched and pulled away, turning about in a slow arc as they neared the small floating pod, only dropping down a hook to snatch it out of the water. It took a line of strong ponies pulling, but eventually they hauled the pod onto the deck. With a desperate prayer to Celestia, Twilight pulled open the pod and saw Pinkie’s relieved form clutching the badly mangled Rarity.
A slow smile formed as Pinkie pushed Rarity up, then accepted Twilight’s hoof to climb out of the pod herself. For a moment Pinkie locked Twilight with her gaze, then pulled her close whispering, “I never thought I’d see you again...”
After a long moment the two separated and Pinkie sunk to the ground with a wince of pain. The pink mare finally registered the massive ship and crew around her, leaving her to finally affix Derpy with a confused glance, “You...you’re alive.”
Derpy gave a curt nod as she closed the distance between herself and Pinkie, “Yes, and I’m not the only one, I’d like to introduce you to my father. Captain of the Starsoul Knights.”
Twilight turned with a flushed face, she hadn’t even introduced herself to her savior, “Oh! You’re Derpy’s father? It’s...strange meeting you.”
A look of confusion crossed the stallion’s face as his brows furrowed, “Who’s Derpy? Tarrow’s my only daughter.”
Derpy could see the confusion in Twilight’s eyes, looking back to Derpy for some semblance of clarification. She also saw the recognition in Pinkie’s eyes. That one was unnaturally quick, for whatever reason she’d pieced together what had happened, and what was about to happen. In a panic the pink pony started to ramble, looking right at Derpy as she did “Oh no...look, I’m not resisting, not even slightly.” Pinkie raised up to her hind legs and held her hooves up in surrender, “I’m not even in any condition to fight. Please don’t-”
No, no Pinkie wasn’t going to get off that easy. Even in heavy plate armor Derpy moved so fast she was practically a blur. The grey mare rushed to Pinkie and rose up on two legs. Pinkie didn’t even attempt to move as the hilt of Derpy’s longblade crashed into her muzzle and sent a spray of blood over the deck. Pinkie snorted and choked on the blood running down the front of her face even as Derpy circled around her and grabbed a hoof full of tangled pink mane. Pinkie yelped as Derpy yanked the mane back and set the longblade across Pinkie’s throat, “Back off!” she demanded as everypony moved to stop her.
Everypony froze mid-step as they watched her pull her hostage closer, backing into a wall so she had something to lean on. Twilight hesitated for a brief moment then asked “Derpy...why-?”
“I said back off!” Derpy screamed, pressing the blade into Pinkie’s fur.
Slowly every pony took a few steps back. Pinkie gave an undignified snort as she forced blood out of her nostrils, “I said I wasn’t resisting! Why did you have to punch me in the nose?”
“Shut up!” The stupid mare insisted on babbling about nothing, even while Derpy was getting ready to slit her throat. She was going to...she had made the decision a while ago. The Elements and their bearers weren’t going back to Trotterdam.
Twilight sat quietly, glaring daggers at the knight, “Talk to me Derpy...” Everypony around her stood in stunned silence, waiting for an explanation.
Derpy grit her teeth, but couldn’t stop the tears from starting to roll down her cheeks. Why couldn’t one of them have just died. Just one, any one. WHy did they have to be so Celestia accursed lucky? “I’m going to kill Pinkie.” she said, “Then you can’t use the Elements of Harmony.”
“Derpy...this world is horrible, we have to put everything back to the way it’s supposed to be.”
“Why!” Derpy demanded, she could feel the warm body against her flinch, “I hate the real world! This might not be my real father but here I have a father.”
“You think he wants you to do this? You think he’s going to love a pony who kills helpless ponies to get what she wants?”
“I don’t care!” Derpy screamed, “I didn’t grieve for my father in the real world! I’m not going to let him go again! Pinkie turned a cannon on a bunch of innocent ponies, if I have to kill somepony to save my father I choose her!”
The clank of armor drew the attention of the boat to Derpy’s father as he stepped up next to Twilight, “Tarrow, what are you talking about? Of course I’m your real father, I was there when you were born, I helped with your initiation into the Starsoul knights.”
Derpy’s eyes locked on her father. It was so painful to see him like this, she’d almost broken down into tears when she saw him for the first time. He called her Tarrow, never Derpy. It was her father’s character, but it wasn’t him. But...he loved her, and wasn’t that enough? Angrily she pulled Pinkie closer and yelled, “Tell him Twilight! You were going to get him to fight and die for you, right? Why don’t you tell him what he’s really fighting for?”
Twilight hesitated, but as she looked around she saw the entire ship was looking at her. Well, the entire ship save her friends, they were looking away uncomfortably. “Viceroy Shadowflame didn’t just take Celestia, he’s actually been replaced by a powerful being called Discord. Discord altered all of reality, this entire world shouldn’t exist.”
Derpy’s father’s eyebrows raised as he looked about to each of her friends, “You’re serious...”
Twilight nodded.
“And in the real world...I’m dead?”
Another, slower nod.
“That’s...impossible. No one else remembers any of that. Maybe your memories were altered and that the rest of the world remembers it correctly.”
Twilight paused, but then pressed on in that matter of fact fashon she had when she thought she was right, “It doesn’t matter.” She said, “Either way Discord has taken the princess and is keeping her in Trotterdam. We have to defeat him and save Princess Celestia, even if I’m wrong that’s the right thing to do.”
“Enough Twilight,” Derpy said somberly, “Discord wins this time, Pinkie’s not going anywhere near him. The element of laughter stops here.”
Pinkie gave a small laugh, “Discord doesn’t need to kill ponies, it’s so easy to get us to kill each other when we get the choice.”
Derpy shot the pink mare a dirty look, “You don’t get to talk talk down to me about murder.”
“Any of those goblins beg for mercy before you turned them into cockroach food, Lady Tarrow?”
Derpy’s teeth grit as she harshly pressed the blade down, letting blood slowly seep into Pinkie’s fur. She pushed Pinkie’s emotions, hard. She tried to push fear into her, she wanted her victim to be scared and begging for mercy, not trading verbal shots at the end of a blade. Still Pinkie’s resolve didn’t waiver. “Do it.” Pinkie muttered, “It’s not often you can send your killer to hell.”
Twilight swiftly spoke up, not bothering to hide her panic, “Not helping Pinkie!” In a frantic bid for support she looked to Derpy’s father, silently pleading for him to save her friend.
Slowly Derpy’s father took a step forward, “Tarrow...this isn’t you. Please...put the sword down.”
“No!” Derpy yelled through her choking sobs, “I have the same powers as you, I know what you’re doing! I’m not going to let you trick me into stopping this!”
He lifted a hoof to his chest, “I’m not going to try and trick you. I just want to talk to you...you’re upset Tarrow, but murder is never a solution to emotional problems.”
“They’re going to kill you Dad! I...I can’t let them do it!”
He took another step closer, “It doesn’t matter what world we live in. We all have to do our best to do the things we feel are right.”
“She’s a murderer Dad, she killed...I don’t know how many innocent ponies to get what she wanted. She’s a pirate, Hostis Equine Generis, an enemy of ponykind! Why shouldn’t I kill her to save you?”
He only gave her a stern look, “If you’re executing her to protect ponykind then kill her already.” A knot formed tightly in Twilight’s stomach as he spoke, “But I raised you better than that, you know that’s not why you’re thinking about killing her. What you’re doing is killing another pony to get what you want. There’s a fine line between being a guard and a thug.”
Derpy’s blade wavered as thoughts raced through her mind. She...she was doing the right thing. She was protecting her father, it didn’t matter what he wanted or what he thought of her...right? The blade pulled a half inch away from Pinkie’s throat, “But...but I don’t want to go back there. I never visited your grave, I never mourned your loss. I was a terrible daughter, and now I have one chance to make it right. I can’t just let them take it.”
Derpy’s father stepped within hoof’s reach of Pinkie, “I’ve always been proud to have you as a daughter Tarrow, you’re my little girl. I’ve never asked much from you, just that you always stick up for your principles and do what’s right. That’s what’s important to me. Now if some powerful being is manipulating us all to have the world service his ends, that’s wrong. Do your principles tell you that it’s right for you to keep everypony in Equestria under the control of a being like that just so you can get your way?”
The blade moved a full inch down, “N..n...no...” Derpy sobbed.
“Then put the sword down.”
With heaving, teary breaths the longblade bounced off the deck and settled. Pinkie was released and instantly moved away from Derpy, quickly taking cover behind Rainbow while Fluttershy fussed over her wounds. In tears Derpy rushed into the waiting forelegs of her father and buried her muzzle into his neck “I don’t want you to die Dad! I love you!”
Quietly her father stroked her mane, “I know, I love you too.”
After a long and uneasy silence the seasoned stallion looked up, still clutching his weeping daughter to his chest, “Set course for Trotterdam.”