//------------------------------// // Dark Clouds Start to Move // Story: A Silver Lining for Derpy // by Teyeson Bee //------------------------------// It was early in the morning when Derpy staggered into the empty classroom. Normally, she wouldn't have woken up THIS early to get to school, but she had something to do. Mr. Aero had finished grading the tests that they took last week, and she wanted to see what her grade was before they were passed out. Normally, the students had to wait for the teacher to pass them out, but Derpy was already up, so she thought she might as well see ahead of time. Derpy hadn't gotten too much sleep the night before, what with her contemplating over what to do about Silver, and was up an hour early. She couldn't go back to sleep, so she decided to just go to class early. She also knew that Mr. Aero always had graded tests on his desks when class started, so getting their early would give her the advantage of getting a look at her grade beforehand. Derpy rubbed her eyes and yawned as she walked in and looked toward the desk at the front of the class. Sure enough, there were the tests, piled up ever so neatly at the far corner. Derpy walked over and picked up the pile as she started going through the names. "Let's see...Cloudburst...Thunderlane...Fluttershy...ah-ha!" The name Derpy was spotted on the top lefthand corner of the test paper. Derpy pulled out the page and looked to see a big B- on the top. Derpy sighed of relief. She had worried about that test and feared that she didn't do as good on it, but from the look of it, she did fine. Putting the page back in the same place in the pile, Derpy straightened the stack and placed them back where they were originally. She then turned back around to go to her seat when she felt her elbow hit something that went THUNK. Derpy winced as she turned back around to the desk and saw something that nearly stopped her heart. She had spilled the ink vial sitting on the desk and the ink had run onto the pile of tests! Derpy panicked as she looked around to find something to clean up with. She found a roll of paper towels on the back shelf and grabbed them. She started to wipe up the ink as quick as she could. While she got the puddles cleaned up, the ink left a black stain on not only the desk, but the tests as well. Derpy's heart sank. As soon as Mr. Aero saw this, not only would he be disappointed that she ruined the tests, but he would know that she looked at them early, AND she'd probably get in trouble. But then another horrible thought came to mind; Rain! Derpy knew that this moment will be like Hearth's Warming Eve for Rain. Knowing her, she never missed out on an opportunity to assault Derpy with an barrage of insults and harsh words for doing something clumsy! This would probably be her Magnum Opus moment! Derpy's heart was racing at a million beats per minute as she panicked over what she was going to do? "Good morning!" Derpy almost jumped out of skin as the voice greeted her. Thinking that it was Mr. Aero, Derpy hesitantly turned around, only to be relieved that it was just Silver. "Sweet Celestia," Derpy muttered, clutching her chest. "Don't DO that! "Sorry," Silver chuckled. "I guess I should've...what happened to the desk?" Derpy froze. "Uhh...I uhh..." Derpy stammered trying to think of something. Finally, Derpy just came out with it. "Oh what does it matter to you anyway? I accidentally spilled the ink, OK? Now not only am I gonna get in trouble, but I'll also be a laughing stock before lunch. You happy?" "Not really," Silver said quietly. "Is there anything I can do to help?" "Not unless you can take me back in time to stop this from happening," Derpy muttered, "and besides, didn't I say to you I didn't need any help? I'm just going to sit down and wait for my time for punishment and ridicule...again." Derpy went to the back of the room and sat down with her head in her hands. Silver stood at the front, glancing from the desk to Derpy with a thoughtful look on his face. "Derpy, I-" Silver was interrupted however, by the sound of students filing into the classroom. He quickly took his seat as the room began to fill. As all of that was going down, Silver continued to look over at Derpy, still holding her head in one hand and twiddling a pencil in the other, and then looked back to the front. "Good morning students," Mr. Aero said as he walked into the classroom. Derpy cringed after hearing him as she knew her time was approaching. "Hope you all had a nice day yesterday. Now, I have your tests graded so..." Derpy looked up after hearing him stop mid-sentence to see him looking at the ink spot on his desk. "Alright," he said in a serious tone. "Who did it? Who spilled ink on my desk?" Nobody said anything. "Come on. If it was one of you, it would be best to speak up now." "Excuse me sir," Rain said with a raised hand. She had a fake innocent tone in her voice, which made Derpy nervous. "I don't know if this helps, but what if Derpy did it? I mean, she already has that horrible condition with her eyes right?" Derpy clenched her teeth as Rain looked back at her with eyes that said, "Now you're in for it." "Derpy," Mr. Aero said, turning to her, "did you do this?" Derpy swallowed hard. Everybody's eyes were on her. There was no getting out of it, so she thought to herself that she might as well get it over with. "Well...Mr. Aero...I..." "I did." Derpy's mind went completely blank when she heard those two little words. Everybody turned to Silver who had risen his hand. "It was me sir," Silver said with no hesitation whatsoever. "I came in early to see my grade on the test and I accidentally knocked over the ink. I tried my best to clean it up, but it wasn't enough. I'm sorry." Derpy dropped the pencil she was holding. No words could describe what she was feeling at that moment. Trying to befriend her? That's easily suspicious. Standing up for her? Almost as. But taking the blame for something she did knowing full well that it would probably lead to punishment or ridicule? Not even classmates pretending to be her friend would've done something like that. Derpy's mouth just hung open in pure, unadulterated shock. Mr. Aero, on the other hand, looked at Silver with serious eyes. "Well," he said after a short pause, "I do appreciate your honesty and courage in stepping up. However, you are aware that I don't appreciate sneaking peeks at things I haven't handed out yet. So, for your honesty, I will not write you up, but I DO request that you stay after school today to help clean your stain up. The janitor has some stain remover in the closet." "I understand sir," Silver replied. "I'll have to print some new copies of the tests." Mr. Aero announced. "I'll be right back." As he left the room, Rain turned to Derpy with a smug look. "It's your lucky day Derp-face. Looks like there's a NEW bull in the china shop." The class giggled a bit, but Silver didn't mind at all. In fact, he was smiling along with everyone. "Yeah," he chuckled. "I...just don't know what went wrong." He then turned to Derpy and gave her a subtle wink and a soft smile. Derpy was still in shock, but something else hit her as well. It was like a bolt of lightning struck her heart, zapping away a huge chunk of doubt and depression from her. She didn't suspect anything from him anymore. He had done what Derpy thought nobody who truly cared about her would do. All Derpy could do as she turned back to her books was something she hadn't done in a long time. Smile. That afternoon at lunch, Derpy came out of the lunch line with her tray, looking for somewhere to sit. She looked around the crowded cafeteria until she saw Silver sitting by himself. Derpy took a deep breath and walked over to him. "Uh...hi," she said softly. Silver looked up and smiled. "Hi Derpy." Derpy looked around, blushing furiously, as she tried to find the words, "Would it...be ok...if I...uh...sat with you?" "Of course," Silver happily replied. "Take a seat." Derpy sat down and the two began eating silently. After a minute or two, Derpy looked at Silver and without even planning it, softly said, "Thanks." Silver didn't even have to ask what she meant. He just smiled and replied, "Not a problem." Derpy smiled back and the two began to talk while they ate. Derpy didn't know it yet, but what happened just then sparked a new hope within Derpy's heart. A hope that would change her life forever. The next few weeks were some of Derpy's best weeks she's ever had. She didn't know why she ever thought choosing to be alone was ever a good idea. With Silver hanging out with her, life was so much better. Derpy still wasn't at the fully optimistic stage, but her attitude seemed to be getting better and better every day. The two spent most of their time together. They walked to school together, ate lunch together, and walked home together. Derpy didn't know which was better; the fact that she had someone to hang out with now, or the fact that Rain wasn't able to insult her anymore. Seriously, after the two started hanging out, Rain had stopped the bullying. Not to say that she hadn't tried, but every time she tried to insult them, Silver had a retort that left her speechless. One day, they were walking home from school, when they were greeted by Rain. "Well look who it is," she said. "Here comes the Derp Duo." Normally, Derpy would've just tried to ignore it and wait until Rain finished her insults, but Silver intervened. "Derp Duo," he responded. "Very original! I would've gone with Klutz Clan, but yours was creative too." Rain just stared at him confused. She tried to think of something else, but just left in a huff. Derpy turned to him with a stunned look on her face. "How do you do that?" "Ah it's not that hard," Silver chuckled. "I'll tell you more sometime." Soon the seasons began to change as the weather grew colder and the autumn colors began to appear. The fall break was well on its way as students were finishing up their term assignments. As the colors around them changed, Derpy started to change as well. Before, she wouldn't have talked to Silver so openly, but one particular day, she decided to open up more to him. It was the day before their week-long fall break as Derpy and Silver sat at Sugarcube Corner, the famous bakery in Ponyville, sharing a plateful of blueberry and pumpkin spice muffins. Silver couldn't help but smile as he bit into the baked good and tasted the mix of pumpkin and cinnamon. "I've never had muffins this good!" he said, licking his lips. "You don't know what you have been missing out," Derpy replied. "Sugarcube Corner makes the best muffins around. Even better than Cloudsdale. There are just no baked goods like Ponyville baked goods, at least that's what my mother would-" Derpy stopped mid sentence and lowered her head a little. Silver looked back at her with concerned eyes. "You ok?" he asked. "Yeah, I'm fine," Derpy mumbled. "It's just that...well...my mom used to buy me muffins from here. Always blueberry, and I loved them every time." A moment of awkward silence passed between the two until Silver finally spoke up. "So...what happened to her?" Derpy lifted her face to Silver's. She had never talked openly about her mom before. She didn't know if she could. It was painful enough as it was to think about her. But then again, Silver was someone who could be trusted, so maybe having someone to talk to about it would be a good thing. Something she could get off her chest. "Well," she started, "she died when I was starting my freshman year in school. She caught a case of tuberculosis, and no matter how much treatment she got, she just continued to grow weaker and weaker, until one night, she died. I had no one else to care for me. My dad died before I was born, so the only means of caring for me was going to a foster home. It was never the same after she died. My mom was the only one to care for me, love me, and treat me like I was a human, not a freak." "You must've spent a whole bunch of tears huh?" Silver asked, fiddling with his muffin. "Maybe when I was younger," Derpy replied, "but I don't cry anymore." "Why?" "Because crying is for kids. Besides, it shows weakness. The last thing I wanted to appear in high school was weak, so I stopped crying altogether. Haven't shed a tear for three years and I don't plan to start now." "But it makes things better," Silver responded. "Crying may seem childish, but everyone deserves to cry. It's only natural, and after you do, it relieves so much tension. Every person of every age cries. I should know." "What do you mean?" Derpy asked. "You and I are more alike than you think Derpy." She looked at him with confusion. "I had a rough childhood as well. My dad was an alcoholic. I remember many a nights when I would listen to my parents yell at each other. It would normally end with him hitting her and leaving once again." "What happened to him?" Derpy asked. "Arrested. After being caught flying under the influence, he was sent to prison and is still there to this day; Baltimare State Prison. I haven't talked to him in a while. I don't even know how to confront him." "What about your mom?" Silver paused for a moment. Derpy couldn't help but notice a sense of sorrow in his eyes. "She...was killed in a flying accident. She was coming home from the grocery store during a storm. She soared too close to the clouds and...BOOM! No more mom. That was about a year ago, and I've been on my own ever since." "Wow," Derpy muttered. He wasn't kidding when he said they had more in common than she thought. He almost had just a depressing childhood as she did. "I'm amazed that you're so upbeat after everything that happened to you. I would've probably become as depressed as...well...me." "That's what I don't understand about you Derpy," Silver said. "I never realized how you could stay so depressed. I mean, I understand that losing a parent would be painful, but that's no reason to STAY unhappy." "Well, it's more than that," Derpy replied. "I have a deformity. One of my eyes is off, I can't see properly with it, I trip because of it, and I constantly get ridiculed for it. If that doesn't give me an excuse to be unhappy, I don't know what will." "Well, I understand it can be hard," Silver said, "but wouldn't it be better to just...move on?" Derpy jerked her head up and glared at him. "Are you saying I don't have a reason to be constantly unhappy?" Derpy asked, insulted by his statement. "No, but-" "Are you saying I should just forget about everything bad that has happened and just move on? Being all happy-pappy like YOU?" "I didn't say that Derpy," Silver said calmly. "I just thought that-" "WHAT WOULD YOU KNOW ABOUT IT?" Derpy shouted, standing up. Everybody turned to look, but Derpy didn't care. "You don't know what it's like to have a deformity! To be stuck with something that makes you look like a freak as well as be ridiculed and harassed daily for it! You don't know what it's like and you'll NEVER know what it's like! Don't you DARE tell me that I shouldn't be unhappy!" And with that, Derpy stormed out of the shop in a blind fury. As she walked away though, Derpy stopped to look back at the stunned Silver. She hadn't yelled at him in a while, and she felt a little bad after it happened, but he touched on a sensitive subject. Shaking her head back to reality, she flew off for home.