A Silver Lining for Derpy

by Teyeson Bee

An Unforgettable Night

Derpy had never really considered wanting a boyfriend before. She was always too depressed or scared to even try, thinking that no boy would want to date her. Besides that, Derpy never found that one guy who she really connected with. That is until she met Silver Lining. He was the first one to ever acknowledge her and look at her heart instead of her eyes. He never said a bad word about her, and looked out for her. He was funny, generous, and Derpy would be lying if she said he wasn't the least bit handsome. It didn't matter that he didn't have an arm. His joyful attitude and golden kindness was what attracted Derpy the most. It may have taken her a while, but she now realized that Silver would be the perfect boyfriend. The only thing was...how would she ask him? Derpy wasn't the most confident when it came to asking someone out. Granted, she never really asked anyone out before, but it was still a nerve-racking experience. As the new year came and the students returned for their second half of school, Derpy continued to think of how she could ask out Silver. Then, one morning in late January, an announcement was made during homeroom that made Derpy's day.

"Good morning students. This is a reminder that help for the upcoming Hearts and Hooves Dance is needed for setting up. Signup sheets are posted on the board outside the main office. Thank you."

The Hearts and Hooves Dance! Of course! Hearts and Hooves Day was the most romantic holiday of the year, and every year, the school would host a dance. This was her golden opportunity to move in her relationship with Silver. If she could play her cards right, she might get a boyfriend by the end of the evening. Planning this was going to be the easy part though. It was actually asking him that would be the challenge. Every time Derpy had the opportunity to ask, she chickened out at the last minute. And to her horror, she wasn't the only one wanting to go with him. Derpy would have a heart attack whenever a girl asked Silver. Luckily, he politely declined each offer, but who knew how long that was going to last? It wasn't until the day of the dance that Derpy finally slapped some courage into herself.

"C'mon Derpy!" she motivated herself as she sat across from him at lunch. "This is Silver we're talking about! He's not going to think any less of you whether he says yes or no. Just go for it!" Now was the time. It was do or die. Gathering up all of the courage she could, Derpy took in a deep breath, but before she could say anything, Silver was the first to speak.

"Hey, Derpy?"

Derpy stopped and stared at the yellow-eyed boy in front of her, "Uh...yeah Silver?"

As Silver spoke, Derpy couldn't help but notice a trace of hesitation and nervousness in his voice. "I...I was just wondering. Were you planning on going to the...well...Hearts and Hooves Dance tonight?" Derpy's mind jolted to attention and her insides started to burst with excitement. Was he going to...

"Uh...I don't know," Derpy nervously replied. "Why?"

"Would you...like to go...with me?"

That did it. That was all it took to turn Derpy's insides into a giant fireworks display. As she just stared at Silver calmly, inside, her mind was doing a river dance, the hokey-pokey, and every other kind of celebratory dance you could think of. Fireworks were going off, noise makers were sounding, a thunderous applause was kicking in, and she couldn't tell for sure, but Derpy could've sworn that she heard "We Are the Champions" playing in the background. She was in pure bliss.

"Derpy?"

Derpy quickly snapped back into reality as she realized that Silver was still waiting for her answer. Keeping her composure, Derpy calmly replied, "That sounds like fun. I'd love to go with you."

"Great!" Silver said happily. "How about I meet you outside the school at 8:00?"

"Sounds good," Derpy replied. At that point, the warning bell rang, and Silver gathered his stuff, waved good-bye to Derpy, and headed towards his next class. As soon as she could see him round the corner, all of Derpy's bliss had broken free of its bond as Derpy squealed with excitement. She jumped up and began to dance around the table, not caring how many others were staring at her with both concern and curiosity. How could Derpy care? Not only was her depression gone for good, not only had she made many new friends, but she was going to the Hearts and Hooves Dance with the guy of her dreams. How could anything ruin the moment? Suddenly, Derpy stopped as she realized that there WAS something wrong.

Derpy didn't own a dress.

It wasn't like she didn't have enough money to buy one, it was just that there didn't seem to be any need for a dress. She never went to any social gatherings or formal events. The last time she wore a dress was when she went to her mother's funeral, and Derpy had grown quite a bit since her freshman year. Derpy wanted to look her absolute best for Silver, and she wasn't going to wear a bleak old thing anyway. This was a mission to show not only Silver, but the entire school that she could look good. So that day after school, Derpy flew straight for Ponyville. She knew the perfect shop to go to for clothes, because it was the place where she got Silver's Hearth's Warming gift. As she reached the Carousel Boutique, Derpy pushed opened the door and a little bell rang that sounded throughout the place.

"I'll be right with you, darling," a feminine voice called from the back. It was the voice of Rarity, who ran the Boutique. Derpy had gotten acquainted with her when she got Silver's gift. Rarity was a unicorn-girl with a Canterlot personality (a bit stuck-up and fashion obsessed), but she had a generous nature and a beautiful figure. Derpy didn't waste any time in pointing out the dress section of the shop. Heading towards the racks, she looked over the variety of dresses with a multitude of colors, designs, and sizes. As she browsed, Rarity came out from the back, wearing her usual snow-white business dress and her blue hair in a bun. "Welcome to the Carousel Bouti...oh! Hello again Derpy!"

"Hi Rarity," Derpy happily responded. "I'm looking for a dress for tonight's Hearts and Hooves Dance."

"Ooo," Rarity said with a smile. "Well what kind of dress were you thinking of?"

"Nothing too fancy," Derpy responded as she continued to look through the multitude of fabric. "I want to make a good impression, but I don't want to overdo it."

"Say no more!" Rarity said as she walked over to the dresses and pulled out a huge hull of them. She draped them over a chair and one by one, lifted each dress to Derpy's body, examining the size and color. Derpy didn't say a word while Rarity worked. "No...no...no...oh heavens no! Too green...too blue...too poofy...too bland...so darling, you said that you want to make a good impression to your classmates?"

"Only one in particular," Derpy said as she felt herself blush. "Silver Lining. He-" Before she could say anymore, Rarity gasped and dropped the dress she was holding. Her expression changed as her stunned look turned into a coy grin.

"You want to woo Silver, don't you?" Rarity asked with romantic curiosity.

Derpy felt herself blush even more as she answered, "Well...I guess you could call it that."

"This...changes...EVERYTHING!" Rarity shouted as she grabbed the dresses and threw them aside. Derpy watched as Rarity ran quick as a flash to her back office. Moments later, she returned with measuring tape, a roll of fabric, and her red glasses on her face. Derpy was about to ask what was going on, until Rarity motioned her to extend her arm. She did so and Rarity quickly measured it. She then took Derpy's leg and measured that as well. She did the same with her waist, neck, and bust. After measuring, Rarity grabbed her fabric, sat down at the sewing machine, and began to sew. Derpy watched quietly as Rarity stared intently at the fabric as it passed under the needle. After a while though, Derpy felt as if she needed to say something.

"So...should I come back later?" she asked quietly.

"No need darling!" Rarity answered. "What time are you meeting him?"

"Eight..." Derpy responded.

"Then I should have enough time," Rarity happily said. "I'm going to go full speed on this thing, and then afterwards, I'm taking you to the salon to redo your hair and help with makeup."

"What?" Derpy asked. "Why?"

"Because dear," Rarity replied, "this isn't just a regular night for you. This is the night you woo the man of your dreams! I'm not just going to MAKE you the perfect dress, but I'm going to help you look UNFORGETTABLE! Trust me darling, by the time I'm done with you, he won't be able to take his eyes off of you!"

Derpy smiled and shrugged. It was worth a shot, right?

---

The time of the dance was at hand as the pegasi students filed into the gymnasium, wearing their absolute finest. The gym was decorated in reds, pinks, and whites. Sashes hung from the walls, heart-shaped balloons were tied to the bleachers, and a red and white table sat in the corner holding heart-shaped cookies and red punch. The DJ booth was set at the front, and a pop-sounding tune was booming out of the speakers. As the clock went from 7:30 to 8:00, more and more students filed in. Everyone immediately started dancing. That is except one.

Silver stood outside, waiting for his date. He was wearing a pale yellow dress shirt with a gray and white striped tie. As he stood by the doors, he nervously bounced up and down steadily with his heels, going over what he was going to do in his head. "Alright Silver, remember to be a gentleman. Open the door for her, offer a drink, be a defending shoulder if needed, and don't make any hasty moves unless she actually doesn't mind it. This is going to be fine. Just another night with-"

"Silver?"

Snapping out of his trance, Silver straightened up and said, "Hello Derpy. Glad you could ma-" As he looked up at the girl in front of him, his mouth went numb from what he saw.

Derpy had on a beautiful light gray dress that came down to her knees with little yellow sashes . Her hair was put up in a most elegant fashion, it was tied together with a cute little gray bow, and around her neck, she wore the muffin necklace she got for Hearth's Warming. Her face was shining with blush that accented her cheeks in the most adorable way, and her eyes sparkled from the subtle glitter around them. Rarity had really gone all out with her, and in Silver's eyes, she was the most beautiful pegasus in the sky. Silver's mouth opened and closed as he tried to think of something to say, but what finally came out was just, "Wow..."

"What's wrong?" Derpy asked, worried that she may have overdone it. "It isn't too much, is it?" Silver finally got back his nerves and walked up to Derpy with a soft smile on his face.

"You look absolutely stunning," he said softly. Derpy blushed hard as she turned her head and smiled sweetly. She then turned back to see Silver extending his right elbow for her, and she happily wrapped her arms around it. As they walked towards the school doors, Silver couldn't take his eyes off of Derpy, which turned out to be a bad idea as he ran into the corner of the door. As he recoiled and placed a hand on his now aching head, he quickly shrugged it off and, now blushing with embarrassment, opened the door for his date. As they entered the gym, Derpy looked around nervously, wondering if she would be stared at, whether in the good or bad way. As people started to notice her however, no one could look away. Slowly but surely, more and more students stopped to look at the entering couple with an expression of awe on their faces. The only one who didn't express this was, surprise surprise, Rain, who just scoffed and looked away.

Even so, nothing could ruin the fun that went on throughout the night. Derpy had never laughed as hard or danced as much as she did that evening. As the tunes switched from pop to rock to techno to hip hop, the dancing didn't die. There were moments during the evening where Derpy accidentally would trip on her own feet, but surprisingly, she just laughed it off and said, "I just don't know what went wrong." What made the night even better was classmates constantly coming up to Derpy and Silver saying that they looked great together, which made Derpy blush furiously. It was a night that Derpy never wanted to end, but as the night winded down, she was getting more and more anxious due to the fact that she still didn't tell Silver how she felt, and this was the whole reason for her wanting to come. She had opportunities, but was too nervous to even attempt it. The night was about over though, and the clock would soon strike 10. Her Cinderella story was NOT going to end when she had come so close! As Derpy sat on the bleachers, talking and listening to Silver, a scenario was playing over and over in her mind. How she would approach it, hopes for how he would react, and what to do afterwards.

It wasn't long before the current pop tune ended, a warning announcement was made, telling the students that one more song would be played, and then to Derpy's further nervousness, a slow song started to play. Derpy watched as couples partnered up and headed towards the middle of the floor. Derpy watched with anxious eyes as she saw the mens' arms wrap around the waists of their partners, and the ladies' extending their arms up around the shoulders of theirs. If there was any time to do what she needed to do, it was now. Derpy took a deep breath and turned towards Silver, who was not beside her anymore. Instead, he was right in front of her with an outstretched hand.

"Shall we?" Silver asked. Derpy blushed even harder and slowly took his hand. As he led her out onto the floor, she felt her heart going a mile a minute. Any faster and her heart could race in the Equestrian 500. When they got to an open spot, Silver placed his right arm around Derpy's waist, which resulted in a soft squeak from her. Derpy soon caught her composure and put her right arm on Silver's shoulder. She then extended her left arm to take his, but soon blushed in embarrassment as she remembered that it wasn't there. She looked up to Silver, who was softly smiling as if to say, "It's alright," and she placed her left arm on his other shoulder. The two then began to sway back and forth as their eyes were glued to each other. Neither one spoke as they just focused on their eyes and the lyrics to the song.

Near, far, wherever you are

I believe that the heart does go on

Once more you open the door

And you're here in my heart

And my heart will go on and on

As the song continued to play, the two continued to stare, showing a soft tone of caring on their faces, with the occasional small wince from Silver due to Derpy stepping on his foot, but he didn't care. About halfway through the song, Silver finally spoke. "This was really fun tonight Derpy! I'm glad you came."

"Yeah, me too," Derpy said softly. "To be honest, I was going to...ask you."

"Really?"

"Y-yeah. I wanted to invite you because...well..." Derpy paused as she felt her heart racing again. The nervousness was catching up to her, but it wasn't going to stop her this time. She was too far to turn back now. "...I wanted to say...thank you. For everything."

"Oh Derpy," Silver scoffed teasingly, "it was nothing,"

"No! It's everything!" Derpy said more intently. "I was on the verge of suicide before I met you. Alone! With not a friend in the world. I thought things were never going to change. You changed me in so many ways, and I'll always be grateful. You mean the WORLD to me!" Derpy's eyes widened and her face turned beet red after she realized what she just said. She looked at Silver, who had a slight expression of nervousness on his face. There was a slight pause as they continued to dance, until Silver spoke again.

"I'd like to thank you too, Derpy."

"Why?" she asked."I didn't do anything."

"Yes you did. I have had a few friends in my life, some more memorable than others, but you? You have changed me in so many ways too. Ways that no other friend has been able to do. I care about you a lot, Derpy, and I wouldn't trade a single day spent with you for anything."

Derpy smiled softly, a small tear starting to appear in her eye. At that point, Derpy took a bigger step forward, and placed her head on Silver's chest. Silver didn't react any differently as they continued to dance. As they went on, Derpy noticed that the song was winding down, so if she was going to do something, it had to be then. Sucking up all the courage she could, without even looking up, Derpy asked, "Have you ever been kissed, Silver?"

At that point, the swaying stopped and Derpy looked up to see that Silver's face had changed completely. He now was beet red with a little sweat appearing on his brow. "Ah...well..." Silver stammered as he looked around nervously, "I have-"

"Family members don't count," Derpy quickly stated. Silver closed his mouth again as he looked around again, his face looking like it was going to start whistling that the tea was ready at any moment. Suddenly, Silver looked at Derpy again, took a deep breath to relax, and stated calmly,

"No. I haven't."

Derpy's heart began to pound again as she took another step forward and leaned in towards Silver. "Can I ask you something?" she asked more softly.

"Sure," Silver replied just as softly.

At this point, Derpy's nervousness was blown away by her instinct as she started to lean her head towards his, her eyes slowly starting to close. "If I were to try and kiss you right now, would...would you back away?"

Silver reacted in the same way as his head started to lean closer to hers. Their lips grew closer and closer together. Derpy could feel his breath on hers. Her heart was going about a mile a second now, and her lips were trembling, but it didn't matter anymore. He was all she could think about. He was all that was on her mind. Nothing else mattered. Then, before she could think of what to do next, she heard Silver respond in a whisper, "You could try and find out."

That was all it took. No longer thinking, not caring about anything else around her, Derpy closed the gap and pressed her lips up against Silver Lining's. Nothing could come close to comparing the bliss that Derpy was going through. As their lips held against each other. A barrage of fireworks were going off. The climax of the song that was playing was louder than ever before. It was literally the happiest that Derpy felt in a long, long time. All the other times with Silver didn't even come as close as the moment she was experiencing at that second. The two stayed like that for what seemed like a minute, but turned out to be just about 12 seconds. Though Derpy didn't want it to end, she knew it had to come to an end at some point. As the two broke the kiss, they opened their eyes and looked at each other, grinning ear to ear. Derpy opened her mouth to say something spectacular, but all that came out was, "Wow..."

"Wow," Silver repeated as he stared at Derpy. Even though it was over, Silver continued to breath heavily and placed his hand up to his heart. "Wow," he said again.

"I know," Derpy responded dreamily. "I've been struck by Cupid's arrow too,"

"Wow," Silver said again, this time with what seemed like a loss of breath in his voice, like he was trying to say it, but was having trouble. Soon, the hand placed gently on his heart soon turned into his grasping it and breathing even more heavily. Derpy giggle a little bit.

"Kinda putting it on a little thick there, aren't we sport?" Derpy asked jokingly. Suddenly, Derpy noticed that Silver's face was no longer a look of amazement, but of panic! His breathing continued to grow more rapidly as Derpy stopped laughing to see Silver drop to his knees, still clutching his chest. "S-Silver? Are you ok?" Derpy asked. Attention to Silver started attracting more students as they noticed him and rushed over to see what was going on. Suddenly, Silver dropped to the floor, still clutching his chest, his eyes looking wide and terrified. It was at that point that Derpy realized it. Silver was having a heart attack!

"Oh no..." Derpy said quietly as she leaned over Silver. She quickly got down and started to support his head on her lap. "Oh no no no no no! Silver! SILVER!" Derpy started to panic more as more and more students crowded around, mumbling anxiously about what was going on. "SOMEBODY CALL 911!" Derpy screamed out. Students quickly pulled out cell phones and started to dial. Soon, the whole gym was filled with students hastily talking to 911 in a panicked tone as Derpy continued to hold Silver's head as he gasped for air. Tears came to Derpy's eyes as she repeated, "You're going to be alright Silver! Hold on! HOLD ON!"

---

Derpy would've never guessed that she would be sitting in the Cloudsdale Hospital after her big night, but there she was; sitting in the waiting room outside the ER, still in her dress, a worried look on her face. After the ambulance came, they asked Derpy to come with them, seeing as she was the one closest to Silver. When they arrived, the doctors quickly lifted Silver onto a gurney, and rolled him into the ER. Derpy was asked to wait in the next room. Pretty soon, the doors to the waiting room opened and Derpy looked up anxiously to see Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Thunderlane, and Blossomforth come in. Though she was expecting the doctors, it was nice to see them come in and comfort her. It showed that they really cared. The five sat there and talked for a bit, until finally, after what seemed like an hour, the doctor came out. Derpy didn't hesitate to get up and walk over. "How is he doctor?" she asked.

The doctor looked down at the ground for a second and sighed. Derpy knew in an instant that that wasn't a good sign. Finally, the doctor looked up and said, "Miss Derpy, I'm not going to sugarcoat it. It doesn't look good for Mr. Lining." At that point, Derpy's insides had turned to lead as it felt as if everything inside had dropped down to Derpy's stomach.

"W-what do you mean?" Derpy asked intently.

"Well," the doctor said, "I'm afraid that the cancer had spread farther than we previously thought. After the amputation, we thought that it would slow down the process, and for a time it did, but only for a little bit. I'm sorry to say that the cancer had reached his heart."

"Isn't there anything that can be done?" Derpy asked as she felt her eyes growing puffy.

"Even if we tried to operate, there would be only a 10% chance of him surviving it," the doctor calmly responded. "Operating on the heart is a risky thing Miss Derpy. I'm afraid there's nothing more we can do."

Derpy froze in place. It no longer felt as if her insides were turned into lead, because now it felt as if she had no insides at all. It was as if someone had just sucker punched Derpy directly into the heart and it shattered into a million pieces. As Derpy stood there, she could feel the tears starting to come, but she did her best to hold them back. She looked back at the doctor and asked, "How long does he have?"

"You...might want to say your good-byes," the doctor sadly responded as he walked away. The other four, having heard all of that, all got up and walked over to Derpy and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Derpy? You ok?" Blossom asked.

Turning to the others, Derpy softly replied, "I just want to be alone with him." The others nodded respectfully and turned to leave, leaving Derpy standing in front of the doors to Silver's room. Derpy stared at the door for a minute, contemplating on what he must've been feeling in there. She contemplated her own feelings of how she would react to him or how each of them would handle this situation. She didn't want to leave him hanging though. Silver was her best friend, and at that point, he needed her just as much as she needed him. So, gathering up her courage and restraint, Derpy opened the double doors and walked through.

As soon as she entered the room, Derpy knew she didn't like the atmosphere. She saw the many multi-colored wires going to behind a curtain that would certainly lead to Silver's bed. She heard the beeping of a heart monitor, going at a steady pace. The whole room was even a little darker than she expected, setting a dull tone to the situation. As Derpy neared the curtained off bed, she began to imagine the kind of pain that Silver was going through and how sickly he must've looked. No matter what though, she needed to be ready to be strong for him, as he was for her. She then grabbed the curtain and gently pulled it to the side, revealing the barely awake man laying in front of her. Derpy smiled softly. Even with all the wires connected to him, even with his pale complexion, he was still so handsome. A slight cough from her made Silver stir a bit, then turned to face Derpy. A smile came across his face as Silver said in a weak voice, "Hi Derpy."

"Hi Silver," Derpy responded, sitting on the corner of the bed. Seeing him like this, Derpy could feel the tears trying to break their way through, but she held them back. "H-how are you doing?" Derpy mentally slapped herself. That was a stupid question, asking how a dying cancer patient was doing. Silver didn't seem to care as he sighed.

"I could be better," he said jokingly. "It could be worse of course. The service here is quite nice." Silver chuckled weakly as Derpy just stared in silent amazement. Even in the face of death itself, Silver was STILL optimistic.

"I guess the doctor already told you, you know, the news," Derpy quietly said as she tried to hide the fact she was still fighting back tears.

Silver's expression changed to a slight frown. "Yeah," he responded. "Too bad. I was kinda hoping to see where our relationship would go." As he spoke, Derpy noticed that at the corner of Silver's eye, a tear was starting to form. "This may sound a bit cheesy, but I was looking forward to holding hands with you as we walked down the halls at school, snuggling close together in front of a fire, and...seeing if I could see you in a white gown someday."

That was it. That was all it took to break the fight. Derpy wanted that too. She was looking forward to dating him. She wanted to see if the time would come for her to walk down the aisle toward him. At that point, Derpy stopped the fighting and the tears started to flow like a river. Derpy lost all composure as she lowered her head down into Silver's lap and started to sob.

"Now, now Derpy," Silver said as he rubbed the back of her head. "Don't cry. It'll be alright."

"HOW DO YOU KNOW?!" Derpy sorrowfully scolded. "It isn't fair! Why did it have to happen to you? Why did it have to happen tonight? Why do I have to lose the only man I ever truly cared about? We were gonna start dating! It isn't fair!" She then covered her face and continued to cry.

"I know it hurts Derpy," Silver stated as he started to cry as well. "I know that it isn't fair. I'm not fully sure why this has to happen to me. I can't say that I'm not a little afraid, but I know this; it will all work out ok. Everyone must die someday Derpy. We never know when that time will come, but when it does, no matter when it is, no matter what the cause, we have to believe that things will work out for the better."

"How can I be sure?" Derpy asked as the tears started to blur her vision. "I don't know how it could work out for the better! You've done so much for me over the months! I wouldn't BE HERE if it weren't for you! I'm so scared! I lost my mom! I don't want to lose you too! I don't want to be alone again! I don't want to be depressed again!"

"Then don't Derpy," Silver responded softly. Derpy looked at him, wiping the tears from her eyes. "Just because I'll be gone physically, it doesn't mean things have to go back to the way they were. Don't give up. Continue to fight on with that bubbly attitude that you're so famous for! Keep-" Silver winced a little as some pain went through his body, but he quickly continued. "Keep on doing what I've taught you, and never EVER forget; I will never EVER leave you! I'll be with you," He reached out a hand and placed it on Derpy's heart, "in here. Don't let the depression get the better of you! You are in control of your own life! You have the power to reject the depression, as you've always had! And always remember; I will always be grateful to you, as you were to me."

Derpy couldn't stand it anymore. In one swift motion, she wrapped her arms around him in a warm, but tight hug. As the tears continued to roll, Derpy could only think of one thing to say.

"I love you, Silver Lining."

Without even breaking the hug, Silver whispered, "And I love you...Derpy..."

As Derpy held onto Silver in the silence, all that could be heard was the beeping heart monitor. The beeping continued gradually, beep beep beep beep beep until suddenly, only one long continuous beep was heard. Derpy looked up at the monitor to see a flat line to match the tone flashing across the screen. Derpy broke the hug to look at her best friend one last time, and when she saw his face, the tears started to gush again as she went back to hugging his now faded body.

Silver Lining had died in Derpy's arms, with a smile on his face.

Comments

[Sketchjo65]

quickmeme.com/img/a9/a99ed243a27bccb44bc2ae60b5c85e6fef9df50d017e02e2d197a87ae81d2b54.jpg

Good story man, good story.

[SnowFallMLP]

Im at my friends house, trying not to cry.. Trying not to cry.. Trying.. DAMNIT!!

[theNDinspector]

I've been dreading this even before learning that Silver Lining had cancer. It's still sad, but it is a powerful and meaningful moment and truly showcasing all that I enjoyed about Silver's character and his relationship with Derpy. Good job...now if you'll excuse me for a moment...