Chapter Seven – Separate Ways

A knocking sound roused Scootaloo from her slumber. Her eyes sluggishly opened, and searched the insides of her room for the noise's source. She didn't see anything that indicated the knocking sound, and decided to fall back asleep. No sooner had she closed her eyes then the sound returned, forcing them open again.

"So much for sleeping in." She wearily slurred to herself. The orange filly felt like muffling the noise by covering her ears with her pillow. The knocking raged on however in its quest to ruin Scootaloo's morning.

Finally, Scootaloo realized the sound she was hearing was coming from the front door of her house. Reluctantly, she got up and went to see who it was, and why they were making a house call so early in the morning.

Her tired brain kicked in finally, and Scootaloo thought that it might be her dad arriving home from his trip. Scootaloo then realized that foolish that was. If her father needed to get inside, he had a key and wouldn't bother to knock.

Upon reaching the door, she unlocked the deadbolt and turned the knob. A gray face with criss-crossed eyes greeted her. "Hi Scootaloo!" Derpy Hooves merrily said.

"Hey there Derpy. Checking in on me again?" Scootaloo tiredly said. Derpy's blonde mane bounced wildly as she nodded her head.

"Yep. Your dad wanted me to check on you every morning to make sure you were all right!" Derpy proudly said, no doubt happy somepony had actually trusted her with responsibility. Scootaloo knew that her dad had probably been in a hurry and had asked to first mare he'd seen to look after her. Still, she didn't want to put a damper on Derpy's happiness.

"Well, I'm doing fine. Thanks for stopping by." The magenta-haired filly started to close the door, ready to fall asleep again.

"Oh, wait!" Derpy said in an urgent tone. Scootaloo stopped shutting her front door and listened. "Your dad also mentioned that I shouldn't let you sleep in all day. He wanted you to be productive or something." The wall-eyed mare relayed.

Scootaloo smiled for Derpy's sake. "Of course I will." She said.

"Okay, great! Goodbye Scootaloo." Derpy said.

"Bye Derpy." The orange filly responded. She watched the gray mare trot away, before slowly shutting her front door. Well, for better or worse, Scootaloo was awake. She just didn't feel like being "productive" as her dad so aptly put it.

Giving the clock on the fireplace mantle a glance, Scootaloo saw that it was just about eight-thirty. Way too early for her to wake up on a Saturday. But she was awake, so there was no going back now. She stood where she was, struck with the burden of having nothing to do. Wistfully, she looked at her scooter, which had remained untouched since she had trudged home a day and a half ago.

Already the blue, wooden scooter had a thin layer of dust on it. Scootaloo wanted nothing more than to ride that scooter around Ponyville, but until she found a way to fix it then she was stuck. For a moment, Scootaloo wondered if her dad could help her fix it when he got back. The orange filly dismissed the thought. Her dad – assuming he was home long enough for Scootaloo to ask the question – wouldn't know anything about fixing a scooter. No, she was on her own to repair it.

Distracting herself from the depressing thoughts of the scooter, the magenta-haired filly gazed outside. It was a beautiful day to say the least. Not to warm, but not to cool. There seemed to be a gentle breeze outside because the leaves of the trees were swaying in consistent rhythm. Perfect scooter weather.

"No." Scootaloo said aloud. "Don't think about that." She needed to get out of the house. Maybe Sweetie Belle or Applebloom were up for Crusading today. That last thought sparked a memory for Scootaloo. Obsidian Glass had stayed in Applebloom's barn last night. Maybe, if she was lucky, he would still be there.

That thought actually managed to push the thoughts of her scooter out of her mind. The idea already brought up several new thoughts. It seemed like whenever Scootaloo thought about the strange, white colt that she got a weird feeling inside of her. No matter what she tried, the feeling always appeared, especially if Glass was nearby. Whatever it was, it made her feel great. Maybe that's why she couldn't seem to act normal whenever Glass was around.

Scootaloo finally decided that she would go to Sweet Apple Acres. Even if Glass wasn't there, she would still get to go Crusading with Applebloom and probably Sweetie Belle too. As she ran towards the door, Scootaloo instinctively reached for her helmet and scooter before remembering that it was pointless. She sighed, but continued out the door.

She raced through town and to the farm. By the time she got there, Scootaloo was sweating a great deal. The trek to Sweet Apple Acres seemed a lot longer without her usual mode of transport. Finally though it was over, Scootaloo walked right through the gate, figuring she would be welcome, and began the search for Applebloom and Glass.

After what seemed like forever – but was probably closer to five minutes – Scootaloo slumped by a random apple tree, convinced her friends were hiding from her. That feeling only lasted a moment, because then Scootaloo heard something that sounded suspiciously like apple bucking. This was followed by the sound of dozens of apples pelting the ground.

"How do ya do that?" A familiar filly's voice rang out. Scootaloo poked her head around the trunk and saw not three trees away Glass and Applebloom, standing in a pile of apples.

"Hey guys!" Scootaloo said, making her presence known. Both Applebloom and Glass turned their heads to face her.

"Scootaloo! When did you get here?" Applebloom joyously asked.

"I just arrived. What are you guys doing?" Scootaloo asked.

"We..." Glass started before Applebloom exictedly cut him off.

"Glass has bin helping me do mah chores." The yellow filly said.

"And as it turns out, I'm a natural born apple bucker." Glass said, gesturing to the huge pile of apples next to them. Scootaloo looked up at the tree they had come from, and saw that the limbs were completely bare.

"You did that?" Scootaloo asked incredulously. The orange filly had seen Applebloom buck trees before, or try to, but she could never manage to knock more than a couple off.

"In one strike too!" Applebloom said, impressed.

"It was nothing. You told me your brother and sister do that all the time." Glass said.

"Well, yeah." Applebloom admitted. "But they've bin doin' it for years. This was your first time."

"How'd you get to be so strong?" Scootaloo asked. Glass shrugged, uncomfortable with the question.

"Well, it don't matter too much." Applebloom said. "Thanks for helping me get all man chores done." The yellow filly told him.

"Don't we have more trees to buck?" Glass asked. Applebloom shook her head.

"Nah. I just wanted to see if ya could do it."

"You guys want to grab Sweetie Belle and go Crusading?" Scootaloo asked. Applebloom suddenly gave her a worried look that basically screamed "Abort Mission!"

"What?" The magenta haired filly asked. Then she saw Glass. He looked more distant, like somepony who had just been ousted. "Oh." Scootaloo said, suddenly realizing that Glass was still not part of the Crusaders.

"Look, its okay." Glass said, but his voice betrayed him. "I'll just go."

"Glass, we didn't..." Applebloom's plea went unnoticed, Glass was already walking off.

"Wait!" Scootaloo called. Though Glass had a head start, Applebloom and Scootaloo ran to catch him. Glass rounded a tree trunk. When Scootaloo went around the same one, she was shocked to find that there was nopony there.

"What the hay?" Applebloom about a half second later. They stared at each other in shock. Obsidian Glass was gone again.

---

"So he disappeared again." Sweetie Belle said. It wasn't a question, it was a statement. The purple-haired unicorn sounded like she had expected that to happen. Applebloom nodded.

"Why does he keep doing this?" Scootaloo asked aloud. The orange filly was angry. Angry at Glass for disappearing, again. She slammed her hoof down on the table she was sitting just to demonstrate how angry she was. Sweetie Belle flinched when she did that, sending her sundae flying. It splattered on the floor.

"I've got it!" And extra happy voice shouted. A pink blurred whoosed by their table and in a split second the sundae mess was back to the sparkling tiled floor of Sugar Cube Corner.

"You want another sudae?" Pinkie Pie asked, now standing next to Sweetie Belle.

The white filly was wide eyed for a moment, before saying, "Yes, please." The pink mare zoomed off the to kitchen.

"Scootaloo, what has gotten into you?" Applebloom asked.

"I'm sorry, I just don't get why Glass had to run off like that." Scootaloo said. "He

"He was upset because we were talking about Crusading in front of him." Applebloom said.

"I don't see how that would upset anyone." Sweetie Belle said, joining the conversation. "I'm totally fine with him not joining."

"He isn't a Crusader that's why." Applebloom said.

"Well then why doesn't he join our club? We've offered plenty of times." Scootaloo exclaimed. Sweetie Belle looked like she wanted to say something about that, but thought better of it.

"Look, Ah want Glass to join the Crusaders too, but we can't force 'im to join."

"Why've you suddenly changed your mind?" Scootaloo asked. "Yesterday you wanted Glass to join as much as me."

Applebloom hesitated. "Well, Ah just don't think we should force it on him." She explained. "He'll join if he wants to."

"But what if he doesn't?" Scootaloo asked. Applebloom opened her mouth to speak, but Sweetie Belle spoke up.

"I'm getting sick of this!" She announced, standing up.

"What are ya-" Applebloom started.

"Don't you two care about anything besides Glass?" The unicorn filly shouted. "I just can't take it anymore." Both Scootaloo and Applebloom stared at her quietly. "I'm going to take a walk." Sweetie Belle declared, before storming out of the store. Both the yellow Earth pony and the orange pegasus were too shocked to say or do anything. Instead, the only pony who did anything to deter Sweetie Belle was Pinkie Pie, asking if she wanted to stay and finish her sundae. Sweetie Belle promptly declined.