Chapter Sixteen – Back to School

Sweetie Belle's eyelids shuffled open, and she elicited a small yawn. Light seeped in through her blinds, letting her know morning had just arrived. Realizing that this meant school was soon to happen, the white unicorn filly rolled her blankets off her body, and heard two small clinks reverberate through her room. Looking down, Sweetie saw that two white knights – previously entrapped by her comforter – had tumbled to the ground.

Wait… knights?

Why were there chess pieces in her bed? Her green eyes flashed over to her nightstand where she kept her lonely chess set. Pieces from both sides were lying on their side, and many of them were missing from their original places. But that couldn't be right, she hadn't used her chess set in months.

Her eyes flicked downward, and she saw a white colt cocooned inside a sleeping bag with pink flowers decorating it. Her tired brain suddenly began remembering the events of last night. Letting Glass in. Teaching him how to play chess. Discovering why he didn't want a Cutie Mark. Had all that really been last night?

Setting her hooves down on the floor, Sweetie Belle nudged the dark-haired colt in her sleeping bag. He grunted.

Rubbing her eye to wake up, the unicorn filly said, "Come on Glass, wake up."

"No." Came the curt response.

"We've got to go to school." Sweetie Belle stated, still trying to fully wake up. Glass groaned a little.

"Fine." He said, sitting up.

"We should hurry before…" A sudden tapping at the door jarred Sweetie Belle from talking. "Uh-oh." She whispered, fear snapping her awake. Glass looked mildly bored.

"Sweetie Belle? Are you up yet? It's almost time for school!" The voice of Rarity said.

"Uh… Yeah!" Sweetie Belle called out, hoping her sister wouldn't catch the nervousness in her speech. She turned to her friend, lowering her voice. "Glass you have to hide."

"Your sister, right?" He asked, gesturing to the door. Sweetie nodded.

"She must've just gotten home. You can't let her see you, okay? I can't let her know I let a colt spend the night!" The white Earth pony nodded in simple understanding.

"Sweetie Belle, come out already!" Rarity said, knocking on the door again. "You're going to be late!" Nervously, Sweetie Belle ran up to the door. She opened it a crack, just enough to see her sister's blue eye on the other side. Seizing the opportunity, purple maned mare on the opposite end pushed the door in.

"Rarity, wait! I can explain!" Sweetie Belle squeaked in fear, assuming her sister had just seen Obsidian Glass.

"Explain what?" Came her older sister's response.

Whipping her head around, Sweetie Belle felt her jaw gape widely. The exact spot where Obsidian Glass had just been was completely empty. Even her floral patterned sleeping bag had vanished. Just… gone.

"Never mind." The purple maned filly squeaked in shock. One of Rarity's eyebrows crawled up her forehead to form a scrupulous look.

"Sweetie Belle, is there something you're not telling me?" The older sister asked.

Sweetie's eyes – already the size of marbles – shrunk even further. She had to think quickly or Rarity would discover what had happened. Lie? No, I'm a terrible liar, Rarity will see right through me. Then what can I…

An idea quickly bloomed in Sweetie Belle's mind. If there is one thing that could completely refocus Rarity's attention, it was talking… about herself.

"How was Canterlot, sis?" Sweetie asked. "Were you able to deliver the dress?"

Rarity immediately took the bait, for the moment overlooking her little sisters out of character behavior. "Oh yes, I delivered the dresses just in time and my word, the whole trip was just fascinating! You wouldn't believe all the…"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's great sis." Sweetie Belle muttered, taking the offense and pushing Rarity out of her room. "You can tell me about it over breakfast. I'll be right down."

"Oh, well sure Sweetie Belle." Rarity blinked in confusion as she was forcibly shoved out the doorway. "I can–" The white mare was interrupted by the sudden shutting of a door in her face.

Sweetie Belle collapsed at the base of her door, relieved to have avoided that disaster. She opened her pale green eyes for the second shock of the day: seeing Obsidian Glass smirking not five feet in front of her.

"Glass!" She exclaimed, surprise causing her voice to slip into full on squeaky mode. "How did you do that?"

"I can turn invisible." He deadpanned. Sweetie blinked twice before understanding he was joking. Glass sensed her realization and elaborated. "Hid under your bed."

"Really?" She asked. "What about the sleeping bag?" To answer, Glass moved by her bed, reached underneath it, and pulled out a wad of pink flowers. Sweetie Belle blinked again, at a loss for words. The dark maned colt had to be extremely fast to pull that off.

Glass shoved the sleeping bag back under the bed for safe keeping and said, "You should probably go to breakfast. I can get out with Rarity seeing me."

"How?" She asked. Glass nodded towards her bedroom window. Sweetie whipped her head from the colt to the window. "Oh no." She said. "Glass, that's a two story drop you can't–"

"Yes I can." He replied simply, moving to her window. As he unlatched it, Sweetie Belle did find herself recalling how the colt had jumped off of trees before, landing without a scratch. The rumbling stomach of Glass interrupted her memory.

"You want me to sneak you some breakfast?" Sweetie Belle asked with a smirk of her own.

Glass grinned as he opened her window. "Yeah sounds great."

"Thanks for playing chess with me last night." The white unicorn filly said.

"Thanks for letting me win that last game." He replied, sitting on the window sill.

Sweetie Belle raised an eyebrow. "I-I didn't let you win."

Glass chuckled slightly. "Sure you didn't." Then he leapt out to the ground.

---

The awkwardness of the breakfast table made Scootaloo want to pass out to make it end. Last night had been a rush of packing and silent moving into Derpy's quaint little home. The only other resident of the house, a purple unicorn filly by the name of Dinky, had been asleep at the time and Derpy wasn't willing to wake her just to explain the situation.

Now Dinky was whirling her spoon absent-mindedly in her cereal bowl, slightly confused and seemingly downtrodden. Not that Scootaloo could blame her too much. The orange pegasus herself wouldn't really appreciate waking up to learn she had a new roommate.

"Well girls," Derpy said, adjust the hat portion of her mailmare uniform. "I've gotta get a move on. Mail doesn't deliver itself after all." Dinky leapt out of her seat suddenly and ran to the gray pegasus, giving her a hug.

"Goodbye Mom." Dinky said, speaking for the first time that morning.

"Bye, my little muffin. I love you." Scootaloo felt a clutch in her heart as she was painfully reminded of her own mother. Not one to dwell on that though, she also got up from the table ready to go to school.

As the two ended their hug, Derpy nodded to her. "Goodbye Scootaloo."

"Bye Derpy." The orange pegasus waved her hoof as Derpy unfurled her wings and lightly flapped her way out of the house.

With the gray mare gone, Scootaloo was left standing around the kitchen with Dinky. The purple filly awkwardly stared at her with one eye, while the other was shifted off to the side, looking at what Scootaloo guessed was the chipped wallpaper across the room.

"So, uh… school… am I right?" Scootaloo attempted. Dinky's expression barely changed, but the purple filly was likely groaning inwardly at the orange pegasus' attempt to be social. Then the purple unicorn filly turned around and went to the door. It took Scootaloo a second to realize that Dinky was heading out to go to school. She followed.

"Hey, Dinky wait up!" The orange filly called out. Dinky turned her head back as she walked out the doorway, both eyes registering confusion.

"Why?"

The bluntness of the word caused Scootaloo to slow down. "You know, so we can walk to school together."

Dinky turned her head away. "Fine, I guess." Scootaloo closed the gap between the two of them and they kept an even pace as they started on the path to the schoolhouse.

Scootaloo waited for a while, wondering if Dinky was thinking of something to say. When she finally realized the silence was of an awkward nature, the orange filly spoke up. "So how are things?"

"Fine." Came the curt response. Scootaloo whipped her head around anxious for something to discuss. Her eyes located a few clouds in the sky that had likely broken free of the original formation set by the pegasi.

"Crazy weather we're having, huh?" The orange filly attempted.

"Really?" Dinky asked. The conversation was flat lining.

"Sorry, I was just looking for something to talk about."

"Why do you even want to talk?" The purple unicorn asked.

"I'm just trying to be friendly." Scootaloo justified. "You know, so we can be friends."

"Don't act like you care about me, Scootaloo." Dinky suddenly said furiously.

"What?" The magenta haired filly asked in confusion. "Dinky I–"

"Look, having you stay at my house for a few days is fine. I can tolerate it. But don't just act like that makes us friends okay?" The purple unicorn shook with frustration. "You've ignored me the whole school year just like everypony else. Don't pretend like you want things to change."

"That's not what I meant at all!" Scootaloo said desperately. She had just been trying to be nice. After hearing Derpy talk about her daughter, Scootaloo figured Dinky would be grateful to have a friend.

"Oh right!" Dinky said. "I get it now. Its all one big joke to you isn't it? I can practically see you and your friends laughing about it now. 'Hey, why don't we trick the stupid wall-eyed filly into thinking she has friends? What a riot!'" Dinky stopped and shoved Scootaloo back, tears blooming in her eyes. "Well too bad, Scootaloo! I've been led down that path before and I'm not going down it again! You'll just have to laugh at somepony else's expense!"

The purple filly ran ahead, leaving behind a Scootaloo whose mouth was wide open in shock. What did I do to make her think that? She thought. The orange filly stood motionless for quite some time, watching Dinky become a purple speck on the horizon and eventually disappearing. A look of shock was plastered on her face.

She was torn away from her detatched state when the orange filly heard voices behind her.

"I'm just saying, twenty minutes to make some toast is ridiculous."

"Would you rather I just let you go hungry then?"

"That's not what I'm saying…"

"Will the two of ya just stop? It's toast for pony's sake! No need to argue over it."

Scootaloo turned to see her friends, unsure of how to feel after the encounter with Dinky. Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Glass were all walking down the path a little ways back, and they noticed her around the same time she saw them.

"Hey Scootaloo." Glass called out, crossing the distance between them and offering her a warm smile. His expression changed when he saw her hers, still frozen on the face from Dinky's outburst. As Glass spoke again, Sweetie Belle and Applebloom caught up, "What happened?"

With her friends nearby, Scootaloo regained her composure and briefly explained what had happened to her recently. Her father's return and abrupt departure, moving in with Derpy, the conversation with Dinky. Applebloom and Sweetie Belle managed to display an array of emotions from sympathy to confusion, while Glass struggled to keep his neutral face the entire time.

"Wow." Applebloom said as the four ponies picked up their walk to school. "Sounds like Dinky was real mad at ya."

"She was." Scootaloo said. "But I don't get it… What got her so upset? I was only trying to be nice."

The schoolhouse loomed in the distance, a ringing reminding each of them to hurry up. Applebloom and Sweetie Belle rushed ahead, but Glass held himself back to stay next to Scootaloo.

"Do you want to try talking to Dinky during recess?" The white colt asked. Scootaloo pondered the idea for a moment.

"Yeah. I need to explain I wasn't trying to make fun of her."

"I want to find out what made her think that in the first place." Glass said. Scootaloo scrunched her face in deep thought.

"She said she had been 'led down that path before', but didn't really elaborate."

The white colt flashed her a smile that made her heart blush. "We'll figure it out."

Scootaloo attempted to give a hopeful smile, but she sensed it came off as sort of depressed. They were at the door to the schoolhouse now, standing wistfully at the entrance. Neither of them wanted to break away from the conversation to partake in school. Reluctantly, Scootaloo stepped inside first, followed by Glass.

Most of her classmates were already in their seats, ready to begin. Their magenta teacher was ushering the last of the arrivals to their desks. Scootaloo started to make her way to the back when the corner of her eye caught something. Cheerilee had stopped Glass at the door and was speaking to him. With just a bit of focus, Scootaloo could pick up what they were saying.

"Glass, are you all right?" The magenta mare asked.

"Yeah, doing fine." The white colt replied.

"I only ask because… well… your face…" Scootaloo inwardly cringed, recalling how bad Glass's bruises and cuts were. Of course Cheerilee would've noticed them.

"Oh that. I ran into a brick wall." Scootaloo saw her teacher's eyebrows knit together with worry.

"Are you sure? It doesn't look that way."

"Just a reminder that I should always watch were I'm going." Glass responded. Cheerilee looked like she was far from believing the white colt's story, but couldn't exactly ignore the fact that her class needed teaching. She was still worried looking when she waved Glass to his seat and began the lesson.

"All right class, in today's math lesson we'll start…" Scootaloo zoned out of the lesson then and there, already sick of school. It was natural for her to do that, especially since her grades weren't in any danger. She wasn't exactly at the top of the class like Applebloom and Sweetie Belle, but the orange filly wasn't at the bottom either.

She spent the interval until recess with a droll look in her eyes as they scanned the class. She reread the cheesy motivational posters that were strewn across the interior of the classroom for the five hundredth time. Following that her eyes darted to each of her classmates. Some diligently took notes, others had given that up a long time ago like her.

Scootaloo felt her eyes fall on Dinky Doo. The purple filly sat just ahead of her and to the right. She was nudging her pencil around her desk, a sad look in her eyes. The orange pegasus felt a twinge of pity, but chased it away. Dinky clearly hated pity, so if Scootaloo was going to make any progress towards a friendship then she couldn't do that. Scootaloo's eyes turned their attention elsewhere.

Finally the bell for recess came.

The orange filly popped out of her desk to catch up to her friends. Glass, Applebloom, and Sweetie Belle were standing by the door when she caught up to them. They exchanged smiles and prepared to head outside.

"Excuse me for just one moment." The voice of Cheerilee said to them. All four turned around, curious as to why their teacher felt the need to delay them. The magenta mare may have addressed all of them, but her attention was on one pony in particular.

"Glass, could I speak with you for a minute?" The CMC each glanced at the white colt for his reaction. Glass had a poker face on, but Scootaloo had seen it often enough now to pick out some minor dents in the armor. Subtly, Glass's left eyebrow twitched. There was a slight clenching of his teeth that was barely visible.

"Sure." He said nonchalantly. Scootaloo knew better though. Glass was nonchalant right now; Glass was nervous. "I'll be right out, guys." He said to the three of them.

"All right then." Applebloom said. "See ya in a bit." The trio walked outside, too curious to care that it was recess.

"What do you think that was about?" Sweetie Belle asked when they were a safe distance from the school building.

Scootaloo glanced back. "I think Cheerilee is just worried about him. After all, his face is still messed up from the…" She trailed off, not wanting to say it out loud.

"You're probably right." Sweetie Belle conceded.

"Hey, can you guys help me find Dinky?" Scootaloo asked. "I've got to talk to her."

"Of course." Sweetie Belle and Applebloom said simultaneously. Scootaloo smiled gratefully. Having her friends around might help open Dinky up a little. Unfortunately, before the trio could mount a search something got in the way.

"Hey, blank flanks." An annoying nasally voice called out.

"Oh, Celestia." Sweetie Belle muttered. Scootaloo turned around to a familiar pink face and a gray one directly beside it.

"What do you want, Diamond?" She hurriedly asked, eager to get the senseless teasing over with.

"I have a question for you Scootaloo." Diamond Tiara asked. Judging by the smirks on both her and Silver Spoon's face, Scootaloo could tell she was not going to like this particular question.

"What is it?" Scootaloo asked through clenched teeth.

"Does Glass even know you can't fly?"

The words hit her like a cinderblock. Scootaloo opened her mouth to say something, but floundered.

"Really Diamond, you're back on that?" Sweetie Belle came to Scootaloo's defense. The pink filly raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, what's yer problem?" Applebloom joined in. "Thought ya woulda learned better since the last time you tried that insult."

"Oh, I'm not insulting anypony." Diamond Tiara said with mock defensiveness. "It's an honest question. I just wanted to know if Scootaloo had told her little coltfriend that she's incapable of preforming the one act that makes her a pegasi." The pink bully looked Scootaloo dead in the eye. "Have you?"

"…No." Scootaloo admitted. "But Glass wouldn't care about something like that!"

"Coltfriend?" Sweetie Belle said distantly.

"Are you sure?" Diamond asked bluntly. "Even if he didn't care, that's a pretty big secret to keep from him. I wouldn't be surprised if he hates you for it."

"This may come as a surprise, but Glass ain't as shallow as you." Applebloom said.

"That was a pretty sad attempt, Diamond." Sweetie Belle added.

The irritated face of the pink filly in front of her gave Scootaloo a sudden burst of confidence. "Maybe you should just walk away now, Tiara." The orange filly leaned in close. "We wouldn't want anypony finding out about your secret, now would we?"

"Secret?" Applebloom asked with curiousity.

Diamond Tiara's pupils shrunk in fear. Shaking it off, the pink filly turned her uptight snout upward and walked off, her silver sidekick following.

With their bully out of sight, the CMC relaxed a little. "Ah think that was our first official win against her." Applebloom said.

Unfurling her tiny wings, Scootaloo spoke. "Yeah, I guess so."

"Hey, you're not going to let her get you, right Scootaloo?" Sweetie Belle asked.

"No, not again. But I'm just wondering… Should I've told Glass by now?" Scootaloo's friends looked at eachother. "I mean, you two have each known since the day I met you. And if Glass really does care then…"

"He's won't." Applebloom assured her. "After all, he's way too into ya ta care."

"Wait… so Diamond wasn't just mudslinging when she called Glass your coltfriend?" Sweetie Belle asked.

Scootaloo kicked the ground a little. "…No. Glass and I… I guess you can say were dating." The orange pegasus wasn't quite sure what to expect. The squeal of excitement the came wasn't very high on the list though.

"Scootaloo, that's great!" Sweetie Belle exclaimed.

"Yeah it is, though Ah kinda already knew 'bout it." Applebloom admitted. Scootaloo smiled, glad her friends were comfortable with the relationship that had bloomed between her and the strange white colt. She stretched out her hooves and brought them in for a group hug.

"Say," Applebloom began. "What was that secret of Diamond's that ya mentioned?"

Scootaloo got a sort of wicked grin on her face. "Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you guys."

---

Diamond Tiara skulked around the playground, grunting angrily. She had let those blank flanks walk all over her. It was humiliating! The pink Earth pony stopped just short of the slide and sighed.

Silver Spoon also stopped, and put a hoof on her friend' shoulder. "You okay Diamond?"

"No." Came her response. "I think I'm losing my touch, Silver."

"Hah, yeah right. You're still the same Diamond Tiara as always: richer and better than everypony else."

"But why couldn't I get under Scootaloo's skin back there?" Diamond wondered aloud. "Heck, why couldn't I hold my own against those three blank flanks? I used to have them wrapped around the tip of my hoof."

"It's probably cause of your crush on Glass." Silver Spoon bluntly said.

"Gah!" Diamond reacted. "Don't say it out loud. Somepony might here you!"

"Sorry." Said Silver. "But it might be true. You haven't been yourself ever since you started liking him." Diamond pondered this.

"I think you're right." She finally said. "I haven't been able to get the better of anypony since… well… you know."

"You just need to practice a little more." Silver Spoon recommended. "Work you way back up to the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Then you can tear them apart one by one and have Glass all to yourself."

Diamond smiled at the support from her friend. "You're right Silver." The pink bully scanned the playground, now in full predator mode. She was on the hunt for somepony to humiliate. Somepony whom she could demean enough to prove her own self-worth.

Finally her eyes locked onto a target. A purple unicorn filly sitting alone at the fringe of the playground, blowing bubbles. Diamond's lips curled into a nasty smile. Perfect.

---

About time I finished this chapter. Sorry for the delays... again. Exams are beginning at my school, so time dedicated to writing has been minimal at best. I'll probably end up being delayed on all my stories for a while, but c'est la vie.

Anyways, there is a new poll on my profile for you guys to answer. You see, I've been on Shattered Glass for a long time now, and I need your opinion for how long it should continue. Make sure to vote, the poll will stay up for all of May and maybe some of June. I just really want to know how much I should continue to invest in this story.

Anyways, as always don't forget to leave a review, and I hope to see you all soon.

In Bronyhood,

Fire Gazer the Alchemist