Conquest pressed one ear against Derpy's chest while covering his other ear with his remaining forehoof, all the while repeating to himself: "Stop, stop, stop, stop, stop..." on and on. Tears poured from his eyes as he sobbed in his broken voice, visibly shaking inside of Derpy's loose embrace, not minding that he was in physical contact with some mare he barely knew. The emotions and memories he had been suppressing since his parents deaths now flooding his brain.
Derpy made sure her hold was firm, but more surrounding the colt than an actual embrace, while making comforting sounds. She then turned her attention towards Dinky and amethyst, who looked at the colt in bewilderment, not having seen an emotion from him since he had arrived. Derpy signaled them with her head to leave the room fir a while. With a clattering of dishes, Amethyst, ever practical, filled Dinky's and her plates and then levitated them in front of her as they left the room.
Now left alone, Derpy looked back down at the weeping colt, cooing softly to try and calm him. "It's good to cry, stallions can cry, you can let it all out now. No pony will judge you here." Derpy looked at the paper butterfly for a moment, he had actually made it fly, no magic or propellers like Pinkie used, he just threw it.
"...stop," Conquest said one final time, giving a sniff and a shudder. He pushed himself away from Derpy, feeling her give way to his efforts, but still keep a hoof on his shoulder to keep him from falling off his box. her rubbed the ear he had placed against Derpy, as though trying to rub out the sensation.
"Tell me about them," Derpy said softly, putting on a small smile. "Your parents, I want to know."
"Dead," Conquest said bluntly.
Derpy blinked, but never lost her smile. "Tell me about your favorite times with them. Tell me..."
Conquest started shaking his head vigorously and saying "stop" over and over, again. A few more tears staining his face.
"Stop what?" Derpy asked, concerned.
"They hurt," he cried out. Looking accusingly at nothing in particular. "I don't want to remember. It hurts."
"I know it does," Derpy said, shedding a few tears of her own. "I lost my husband just a little while before Dinky was born. But it's wrong to just try and forget, embrace those good times and hold them close to your heart... or else you might lose them forever."
Conquest sniffed a little more and looked at the ground a for a moment. Derpy remained still, watching him carefully. "You saved my life."
Derpy was taken aback by the question. It was not what she thought he was going to say. "Do you remember?"
Conquest ignored her question. "Why?"
Derpy's face face became very serious and her tone strengthened. "Because I refuse to let harm come to any innocent pony, or other sentient creature of this world as long as I can do something to help them. My husband was in the Royal Guard, and he taught me the meaning of sacrifice... to the bitter end."
Silence fell again.
"He died?" Conquest asked, breaking the silence.
Derpy nodded. "In service to Celestia (Luna wasn't back then), to his country, and to his family. I talk to a picture of him by my bed every night, remembering as best I can everything we did together. The good and the bad, and how that bad resolved and became good again. These are things you should only have to learn when your older, but, I can see that you need to learn it now."
"I learned to make things fly while mom preened m-my... wings," he started in a quivering voice while looking back at the scars where they used to be. "She w-would explain the importance of-of the different feathers and their p-purpose. So I found I could shape, paper and other materials the same way. Dad said I could do it because I saw the world different from other ponies, said it made me more special than my cutie mark."
Derpy smiled broadly. "That's amazing, so you learned to make things fly just by listening to your mother? Usually foals learn not to do something when listening to their mothers. Interesting. So you can make things other than butterflies?"
Conquest nodded with a faraway look in his eyes. "I would fall asleep at night after being preened. I... I loved it so much... n-now I'll never be preened by her, or any pony else ever again."
Derpy let her smile fade, wanting to let the colt cry, ready to comfort him. But instead he seemed to start getting mad. He began to shake and blood filled his face. Worried, she leaned in close to make sure he knew she was there.
"They were always there for me," Conquest seethed in a low voice. "Mom comforted and held me, dad taught and protected me, but the rest of my family wanted me gone."
Derpy perked up her ears at that. He had more family elsewhere? Why hadn't the hospital contacted them?
Conquest continued. "They didn't want a 'retarded' foal ruining the family name. If all I could do was fold paper and act funny, I had no place with them. They were the reason dad decided we should vacation out here. Why we went on that hike. Why... why they died, and left me alone."
Derpy noticed his voice starting to quiver. She inched closer placed her other hoof gently on his other shoulder.
"They came to the hospital, to see me," Conquest said, flinching a little under Derpy's touch, but allowing it anyway. "Said 'I wasn't worth it' and then left. They didn't even let me go to the funeral. I don't know where my mom and dad ere buried. I so miss them, I-I... I want them back. I'll g-give my other legs if I could.... if I could just have one more day with them."
Derpy pulled him into a hug as he started crying again. Now she had some answers, for more than she really wanted. How could anyone just abandon a relative, especially one so young and in need? She believed in the sanctity of life, and it stung her deeply to know someponies would do such a terrible thing.
Conquest turned and buried his face into the crook of her foreleg. "One day, I'm going to destroy them all for what they did."
Derpy opened her eyes wide at that statement and looked down at him, opening her mouth to say something, but then closed it with a nasal sigh. If he truly had his mind set on this, then there would be no way to stop him. "You'll need more practice with that sword of yours."