I was never that good when it came to school. Learning and stuff, I mean. Even now, Thunder is re-writing this for me. He's not like the others, he doesn't think I'm stupid, just misunderstood. It's difficult though. Sometimes, when I would try to read a paragraph, the letters would get jumbled up in my head and I would get so frustrated that I could feel tears welling up inside me, like a dam ready to burst. It doesn't help that my foster parents don't seem to care about my problems, they just tolerate me so they can spend the state benefits on cider.

I never knew my father; my mom said he walked out when I was a baby. I liked my mom. She would always pull me close and tell me that everything would be all right when I was sad. I can still recall the feel of her hoof as she gently wiped away my tears. The sight of her smiling would always cheer me up, but I knew she wasn't always happy. Sometimes I could hear her crying from my room, and I would rush in to comfort her. But then one day she just wasn't there anymore. I heard the stallions in uniform say something about "suicide", whatever that is. I… I don't want to talk about this anymore, it's making me sad. What I really want to talk about is the day I met him.

Cloudsdale High School

"Hey retard, what's up with your eyes?" jeered a tall, muscular colt called Cloud Shifter. My muzzle began to glow a rather unattractive shade of crimson. Not that I was very attractive when my face was its normal colour, judging my some of the comments the other fillies would make when we were in the changing rooms. One of them, a particularly mean filly called Sky Dancer would often point at me and proceed to break down laughing. And my eyes, oh how I hate my eyes. I was born with a permanent wall-eyed expression, that is to say, one eye pointing slightly up and the other slightly down. I was brought back to reality by a short, sharp smack to the face.

Tears stung my eyes as Cloud Shifter turned to his cohorts and said;

"Nope, didn't fix 'em. Oh well, it was worth a try."

Everypony laughed at this and I noticed that a circle of students had formed around me. That was when he came.

"Hey! D'you think that's funny? Huh? Hitting a filly? You're nothing but a low-life piece of scum!"

Cloud Shifter looked around for the source of the outburst.

"Who said that? Come on, show yourself!"

It was at this point that a colt pushed through into the circle. He was of medium build, dark fur, and wavy cherry red mane that came down to his jawline, which was strong and angular. His Cutie Mark was that of a lightning bolt.

"Alright, here I am, what are you going to do now? Hit me too?"

"Yeah, maybe I will."

"I'd like to see you try."

Suddenly, Cloud Shifter's hoof was in motion, speeding towards the young colt's head. I braced myself for the impact, but it never came. My defender had moved faster than I had even thought possible, and yet as I stood there in awe, he moved again, his hoof slamming into Cloud Shifter's muzzle. There was a sickening crack and Cloud Shifter stumbled, cursing. Judging from the amount of blood, he had managed to break Cloud Shifter's nose with that one punch. I, needless to say, was amazed. His lackeys moved forward and managed to restrain my saviour, but it took all four of them. I was forced to watch in horror as Cloud Shifter began to lay into him, hitting him in the face repeatedly until he was barely conscious.

I barely noticed the bell that signalled the start of class, or the fact that everypony gradually filtered away to their respective classrooms.

"Next time, don't try to be a hero," grunted the bully, giving him a kick in the ribs before proceeding to the toilets to clean himself up. I knelt down next to my rescuer, who had been allowed to slump to the ground.

"You ok there? Anything I can do to help?"

The colt sat up, resting on a foreleg. He was swaying slightly and his eyes weren't completely focused. It struck me how close our faces were. I blushed and let out a small giggle. He smiled at that.

"Apart from a concussion? Yeah, I'm on a rollercoaster that only goes up. My name's Thunder Strike by the way, what's yours?"

"Ditzy Doo, but most ponies just call me Derpy Hooves, ya'know, 'cause of my eyes, and the fact that I'm such a klutz."

I don't think he knew how to reply to that.

It was at this point that I noticed his eyes, a mesmerising mix of chocolate brown and green, a stark contrast to my own gamboge.

"Well Ditzy, what do you say we skip class? I'm not feeling too hot, and I'd love to get to know you better."

I blushed again. It was becoming a habit.

"Won't the teachers notice?"

"Nah, besides, I know somewhere they'll never find us," he said, slowly standing on shaky legs. I wrapped my wing around him to make sure he didn't fall and together we walked out of the school.