//------------------------------// // After the Rain // Story: We're Gonna Get There Soon // by Cranberry Muffin //------------------------------// “DERPY!” The mare in question was putting the finishing touches on the shipment due for Baltimare when a manic flurry of white feathers and lemony yellow curls came careening into the room at a breakneck speed. Surprise was moving at her top speed, barely visible as a blur of blinding white as she shot through the entryway, completely misjudging the amount of space and time she had to pull out of her blind flight and stop. The room which normally seemed so big was not big enough and though the white mare was good, she had neither the ability to defy gravity nor the laws of physics. Which is why she plowed headfirst into the prepped and waiting storm clouds, her impact against the first causing a chain reaction which set off each and every last cloud in the batch. “Derpy!” Undeterred –though slightly singed from a crackle of lightning- Surprise leapt to her hooves, completely oblivious to the havoc she’d just let loose in the distribution center. “I GOT IN!” She crowed, standing tall and proud amid the puddles rapidly forming on the floor. The rain pouring from the disturbed clouds was soaking her, causing her usually poofy, windswept mane to sag into her eyes, but even the sopping mess of curls couldn’t hide her brilliant grin. “What do you mean? Of course you got in, you work-“ It took Derpy a minute to understand her friend’s meaning; she was scrabbling around, too busy trying to get the clouds back under control for the words to really register in her mind. “…Oh.” But when it hit her, she stopped mid-panic, standing in the middle of the pooling water, her wet mane plastered to her forehead. She pushed aside her sodden bangs to look at the other mare, one eye still wandering to the side to take in the ruins of the morning’s work. “They liked me!” Surprise bounced a little, splashing in the puddles underhoof and causing a shower of droplets to spray from her mane and tail, “They thought I was really, really awesome and they can’t wait to start incorporating some of my moves into the routine!” She was beaming, brighter than the sun, wings unfurled, her entire body vibrating with excitement. “I GOT INTO THE WONDERBOLTS!” And then she tackled Derpy in an exuberant hug, sending them both splashing into one of the many puddles on the floor. “That’s great, Surprise,” Derpy flailed around beneath her friend, further soaking the both of them, “But we gotta get this mess you just made cleaned up!” There would be time enough later to fret about Surprise leaving for Canterlot. But if they didn’t get the mess straightened out, the white mare wouldn’t be leaving for Canterlot; she’d be fired for completely destroying a huge order, which would cause a huge scandal and probably result in her being expelled from the Wonderbolts before she really even joined up. “…Mess?” It was only then that Surprise realized she was soaking wet. She glanced around, eyes wide at the extent of the damage she’d caused with her less-than-stellar entrance. “Oh hay!” “…What the buck happened in here!?” Of course, Rush Delivery –their boss- chose that moment to reappear in the distribution center, jaw dropping at the sight of the gigantic mess before his eyes. Derpy and Surprise looked at one another, twin expressions of guilt painted across their faces. Then the white mare took a step forward, opening her mouth to tell their boss what happened. “Sir!” Derpy cut her off, splashing forwards and nearly tripping over her own hooves, “It was my fault; I accidentally knocked over a crate and it set off all the clouds.” “But-!” Surprise tried to speak again, stunned at her friend’s willingness to take the blame. Rush wasn’t often overly impressed with Derpy’s performance to begin with and he was constantly threatening to fire the grey pony. She caused too many accidents and minor disasters that created more work for the rest of the crew and the foreman was beginning to lose patience with her. Rush ignored Surprise in favor of glaring at Derpy, who remained tall and unwavering under his critical gaze. “All of the clouds?” He questioned, giving the room a quick glance before looking back at her. She nodded. “You set off all the clouds.” Though he sounded disbelieving, Rush was anything but. He’d known of Derpy’s reputation when she was placed under his command; everypony in the weather factory had heard tale of the great Cloud Burst’s useless, clumsy daughter. “All of them, Hooves! Now I’m going to have to contact the production line and get a new shipment fabricated ASAP AND I’ll have to get on the horn with the weather crew in Baltimare and tell them their order will be late. Do you have any idea how bad this will make us look?” At that, Derpy did wilt, wings drooping, ears folded back. “Yes, sir…” “And I’ve been pretty forgiving with you!” Rush was beginning to look a little red in the face, rather than his usual pale brown, “But I can’t let this one slide…You’ve wrecked an entire day’s worth of work and there are going to be a lot of angry ponies when they find out about this. I can’t take the chance of anything else like this happening in the future. One mistake from us and it sets back the entire factory. And unfortunately for you, you’ve used up all your chance. Hooves, you’re fired. Get your things and get the hay out of here.” Derpy flinched at the tone of his voice, unable to look up. She had been expecting to get let go when she decided to accept the blame for Surprise’s disaster, but had hoped that maybe, just maybe, Rush Delivery would look the other way, as he sometimes did. She’d forgotten one thing, however. Rush Delivery didn’t seem to like her very much. “Y-yes, sir.” She stammered, eyes still on the wet floor. - “Why would you let yourself get fired for something you didn’t do?” A small, familiar voice from the back of the classroom interrupted the story, causing Derpy to look up, one eye searching the little ponies for the source of the question. Rainy Feather was stretched upwards, front hooves planted solidly on the top of her desk so she could see over the heads of the foals seated in front of her. “If Surprise got into the Wonderbolts, she was leaving anyway. Shouldn’t you’ve just let that Rush guy fire her instead?” “Uh-uh.” The grey mare shook her head solemnly, sending her mane flying about her face, “It wouldn’t have worked. The Wonderbolts had just hired her. How would it have looked if they signed her on, then learned that Surprise had gotten fired from her last job for causing such a huge setback for everypony?” “…Bad?” A small frown crossed Rainy Feather’s face, her brow furrowing beneath a fluff of teal bangs. She pressed a hoof thoughtfully to her chin, considering the implications of that course of action. “It woulda made Surprise look, um, sloppy?” “Exactly!” Derpy nodded enthusiastically, pleased that the filly understood, “The Wonderbolts are constantly performing dangerous stunts that require nothing less than perfection. They don’t want ponies who cause accidents, especially not ones as bad as destroying an entire shipment of storm clouds. And with so many capable pegasi trying to get spots on the team, they would have told Surprise to take a hike right then and there.” “But you still had no job!” “It didn’t matter. I hated that job anyway…It was just all I thought I could do. It was better for me to lose that crummy job than for Surprise to lose out on her dreams. She had her whole future ahead of her, full of excitement and adventure and doing something she loved. I had nothing waiting for me at the Weather Factory, and I couldn’t let her lose her chance. She was my friend and even though I didn’t want her to leave Cloudsdale, I couldn’t let her miss out on something she’d worked so hard for; something she’d wanted forever.” Derpy wasn’t sure if the little ponies understood her reasoning. They were young, their minds immature, their friendships basic. And even those who were forming the lasting bonds of forever friends had little idea of what they were doing; it wasn’t something anypony could understand until they were older. She herself hadn’t fully appreciated the power of her friendship with Surprise until much later in her life, when she realized that nopony had ever come close to being the amazing, supportive friend she’d found in the white mare. But it all made perfect sense to her. Surprise had done so much for her over the course of their friendship and Derpy hadn’t been able to do anything of impact in return. She wasn’t especially special or talented, and Surprise hadn’t really needed as much support and encouragement as Derpy had growing up. The other pegasus had been confident and sure of her convictions since the time she was small and nopony could bring her down. She had always been there to keep Derpy’s spirits from flagging; to help her and build her up to the best she could be. Getting fired in her place was certainly a way to pay her back for all of the support Surprise had shown her over the years. “I wasn’t sure what to do after I left the factory. I’d never been fired before, so I wasn’t sure how I was supposed to feel or what I was supposed to do. Mostly, I was just relieved to be out of there. It was such an awful job and I had always felt like I was going no place fast, working there.” Derpy went on, settling in to get to the last part of the story, “I didn’t know where to go, so I just went home and hid in my room.” - It was late in the evening when her parents got home, but Derpy hadn’t moved from her hiding spot beneath the blankets of her bed once over the course of the afternoon. As she had flown home, it had crossed her mind that Cloud Burst and Diamond Dust were not going to be very happy to hear she’d been fired. They were already annoyed enough that their only child had such a pitiful job; how would they cope with the fact that she had been fired from the most brainless work at the Weather Factory? There was no way her father would return home without having heard about her termination. He was a high ranking official, she was his only child, and everypony knew who she was. Work in the factory –with the exception of snowflake and thunderhead production- didn’t often require much focus and the employees had a penchant to gossip in order to fill the time spent working. Stories spread quickly from department to department, with nopony giving much regard for the truth behind them. Derpy knew better than to hide from her father, though, and dragged herself from the tangle of blankets when she heard the usual sounds that heralded her parents’ arrival home. “And I said ‘there’s no possible way that can be true; you must be quite mistaken’ even though I knew in my heart there was no possible way Front’s version of the events could be anything but the truth…” Her father stopped talking when she appeared under the archway that separated the sitting room from the main hall, turning a cool grey gaze in her direction. “Would you care to explain yourself, young lady?” Cloud Burst was pacing, his steps tightly controlled and heavy, sending up little puffs of cloud with each hooffall. He rustled his wings restlessly and his short cropped tail swished with agitation as he moved. His expression was one of utmost displeasure, eyes narrowed, mouth a thin line slashed across his face. Her mother was seated rigidly on her favorite cushion, wings folded, expression one of bored neutrality as she filed a hoof. The rays of the setting sun spilled through a window and bathed Diamond Dust in their glow, causing her pale mane to shine silver. There, in all of the sun’s beauty, she appeared cold, aloof. Neither of them looked very much like they wanted to comfort their daughter who’d just lost her job. “…I was fired.” Derpy said stupidly, unsure what else to say. She found herself suddenly hoping that a hole would appear in the cloud floor, sending her plummeting to earth. Even crashing would be better than the disapproving stare of her parents. She didn’t want to look at them, but her always uncooperative gaze wouldn’t let her tear her eyes away. “I was hoping you would tell me that wasn’t true; that it was just some silly rumor.” Cloud Burst had stopped pacing and was standing near the window, choosing to look out at the splendor of Cloudsdale in the evening rather than at his disheartened daughter. “I suspected that was wishful thinking, though.” “How could you embarrass us like that?” Her mother cried, tossing her head back and causing the setting sun to glint off her silvery tresses. “It’s bad enough when other ponies ask me what my daughter does for a living and I have to tell them you work in the packing and distribution center. Now what am I supposed to say? ‘She doesn’t even have that job anymore; she got fired’?” “I…” Derpy struggled to find her voice; to speak up and explain, “I didn’t do it to humiliate you, Mother…Or to disappoint you or anything. I did it for Surprise. She would have gotten fired and then the Wonderbolts-“ “No excuses!” Her father cut her off, stamping a hoof and sending a swirl of clouds through the air between them, “That Surprise has been a terrible influence on you all of these years. I can’t believe you would throw away your future for somepony you’ll forget about in a year or two anyway. We raised you better than that.” Derpy took a step back, eyes wide, all words flying from her. What could she say to that? There were no possible words and her father was never one to listen to her anyway. She wanted to yell; to defend herself and her friend, but she couldn’t seem to reclaim the ability to speak. Instead, she backed from the room, suddenly in a hurry to get away from the parents who had only cared about what she did when she messed up, and never saw all the wonderful things about her. - “I packed my saddlebag and left that same night.” Her tone faded into something soft and wistful as she wrapped up the story, “I never wanted to set hoof in that house again. My parents…They just didn’t understand and I couldn’t believe the way they acted. Instead of comforting me and supporting me, instead of recognizing the things I selflessly gave up for another pony, they acted as if I had done something to purposely shame them. How could I live with ponies like that, especially knowing they expected me to be like them? “I didn’t know where I was going to go, just that it had to be away from Cloudsdale and all the pegasi who knew my parents. There was nothing for me there, nothing but pain and misery and a lonely, empty place in my heart where Surprise was supposed to be.” “So what did you do?” The little white unicorn piped up, her huge eyes once again pooling with tears, her voice squeaky with emotion, “Where did you go? And what happened to Surprise?” “I stopped at Surprise’s house first; I had to tell her I was leaving.” - “I’m really, really sorry.” Surprise said for the umpteenth time, “I didn’t mean to wreck everything for you.” The two young mares were in the white pony’s room, Surprise seated on the edge of the bed, Derpy pacing anxiously in front of her. Surprise looked a little miserable herself, her hair flatter than usual, ears flicked back. She was wringing her hooves anxiously, folding and refolding her wings compulsively. “You woulda wrecked everything for yourself, Surprise.” Derpy couldn’t stop moving; her legs just wouldn’t stay still. Her mind was whirring, trying to figure out where she was going to go and what she was going to do. “And I couldn’t let you do that…I don’t regret taking the blame for you. I just don’t know what I’m gonna do now.” “You can stay here until I leave…” Surprise offered, hopping up from the bed, easily matching the other mare’s pace and placing a foreleg around her shoulder, “And come with me to Canterlot?” Derpy’s first instinct was to pull away from the embrace and resume her pacing. Instead, she leaned into Surprise, sitting down on her haunches and lowering her head. “I can’t…There’s nothing for me to do in Canterlot, and besides, my mom and dad know ponies there. I gotta go someplace where nopony will know me.” Surprise was unusually quiet for a moment, just looking at her friend. Derpy was determined and would go through with this plan, no matter how ill thought out it was – Surprise would know; she was the one who taught her to be like that. But maybe…Maybe getting away would be good for the other mare. For all her frivolity and silliness, Surprise was a wise pony and she knew she had carried Derpy as far and high as she could; maybe it was time for the other pony to spread her wings and fly on her own. How would she find her place in the world, if she didn’t do it on her own? “Always be sure to let me know where you are, okay?” There was a slight waver in Surprise’s voice when she finally spoke, but her violet eyes were lit with determination, “I won’t be able to visit, if I don’t know where to go.” Derpy looked up, meeting the other pegasus’ gaze. Surprise’s eyes were shimmering with emotion, but a brave smile stretched across her face and Derpy found herself suddenly incredibly glad the other mare wasn’t crying. “I will,” she swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat, reaching to tug her friend into a tight hug, “I will, Surprise.”