//------------------------------// // Derpy // Story: Code Red // by StarsWillAidInHerEscape //------------------------------// Derpy should be happy. It is a beautiful Saturday morning and she is delivering newspapers. She tries desperately not to look at the headlines on the papers, but her eyes keep catching words. Shooter...12 dead...11 injured...tragedy...Canterlot High...Derpy tore her traitorous eyes away from the paper. She did want to remember, but the truth was charging at her like a bull. Derpy had to use the restroom. She had not gone during lunch and now she was paying the price. Luckily, the art teacher was absentminded and she was able to sneak out and use it. All was well. But as she walked out, Principal Celestia came over the intercom. “Code Red...Code Red...this is not a drill...this is not a drill.” The usually strong voice of the principal was worried and strained, which really worried Derpy. Principal Celestia always seemed so powerful, the head of the school. The fact that she was worried meant that this Code Red was bad. Derpy sped up into a run. She had to get into a classroom! She banged on the art classroom door. The black paper was covering the window, the students could not see her. “Let me in let me in!” She cried. She could almost hear footsteps. Derpy tried another door. And another. She charged at one door in desperation. Nothing happened but an aching shoulder. “Think Derpy, THINK!” She said out loud. Bam! Was that a gunshot? She had to get out of here! Now! Her frantic mind finally produced an idea. The teacher restrooms! They locked from the inside. She ran in that direction. She did not care about being stealthy. She needed safety right now. Footsteps. Footsteps! Derpy took a deep breath. They had to be her own, right? Wrong! They were getting closer. Derpy ran faster. She was not even trying to get to the teacher restrooms any more. She was just trying to get away. Almost in slow motion, Derpy’s feet flew out from under her and she fell on her stomach. It would have been hilarious if the situation had not been so dire. It was over! All over! To her surprise, she felt no grief. Derpy’s head was clearer than it had ever been in her life. The moment the idea sprang into her head, it was executed. She leapt into the nearby trashcan. Ignoring the disgusting trash, she hid her body just in time. Derpy peered through a crack, straining her eyes to see what was going on. It was not a gunman, it was Sunset Shimmer. Sunset was running by, an expression of pure terror on her face. And then Derpy saw the gunman. Sunset had nowhere to go. But to Derpy’s amazement, Sunset ran towards the gunman and touched her shoulder. Sunset’s eyes widened. “You...”. Bang! Sunset never got to finish. Derpy gasped, than slapped a hand over her mouth. Luckily the gunman did not hear. She ran past. Derpy was terrified. Sunset is dead. Sunset is dead. Sunset is dead. How could it be true? Derpy was frozen in shock. She thought the same thing over and over again. Saw the same thing over and over. Derpy shivered and wept, waiting to wake-up or have someone tell her it was all a dream. Even when the police arrived, she was to scared to come out. Hours later, the police found her took her out of the trashcan. And still, a whole day later, she was still grappling with it. Derpy knows she can not avoid the truth any longer. Summoning her courage, she reads the paper. Bowing her head, a cool sense of acceptance comes over her. What is done is done. There was nothing to do now but to make sure it never happened again. The sacrifices that too many students made will not be in vain. These things take time, but she is willing to wait.