Strangers In the Night

by Joshwolf999

Rating: everyone
Tags: Sad, Original Character, Cutie Mark Crusaders, Scootaloo, Derpy Hooves, Pinkie Pie, Slice of Life, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Length: 6494

What dose family really mean? Scootaloo finds out with the help of her new older brother, a musical Bat Pony orphan. This is the beginning of there small family, and like any beginning, there will be problems

On a normal stormy night Scootaloo sits in her makeshift shelter when she meets a pony walking down the lonely alley. The two strike up a friendship that quickly grows to something the two lack, however how can Scootaloo explain to her friends about her new big brother; A musical but very timid bat pony.

This story does not contain foalcon at all, this is just a story to show one of life's simple truths, you can't choose who your related to, but you can choose your family. Cover image finished, high five!

Published 2014-06-28 00:40:04 UTC
Last updated 2014-07-16 01:52:05 UTC

Meet and Greet

Meet and Greet

Chapter 2: Meet and Greet

It's been two weeks since Scootaloo moved into the Thestral's home. During the two weeks she's learned much of her new guardian, while it is possible for him stay awake during the day there wasn't much reason for him to do so for the whole day. But having somepony welcoming her home after crusading was a nice thing to have. It must have been difficult for him to wake up so early after staying up so late to wish her a good day at school, but he never complained.

Another surprise for her was she wasn't the only pony to know about him, the first of which was of course Pinkie Pie. He was the first pony she met and always has a bag of treats waiting for him each night at closing time. When she found out Scootaloo now lived with Mezzie (as she liked to call him.) She added more treats to the bag.

The next was the mail mare Derpy Hooves. Scootaloo was friends with Dinky and was surprised when she knew who Mezz was. Mezzanotte had befriended her when she accidently crashed into his home, he was one of the few pony that knew Derpy wasn't stupid, she just had a optical problem.

Scoot's sat in Sugarcube Corner with the Cutie Mark Crusaders, Dinky being the newest member of the group. They were enjoying some ice cream sundaes when Sweetie Belle gulped.

"Hey, did you guys hear the rumor about the Batpony?" Scootaloo choked on her dessert then looked worriedly to Dinky who shared her fear.

"Ya mean like one of them ponies that came with Princess Luna last Nightmare Night." Apple Bloom inquired paying attention to Sweetie Belle while ignorant of the other two choking.

"No this one's wild, I heard it attacks ponies." Scootaloo kept her mouth shut, sure it's only been two weeks but she could tell he isn't like that. It was then the worst thing happened, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon had heard their conversation.

"I heard it picks ponies off the street and drinks their blood." Silver Spoon commented with her nose in the air.

"Well that's bad news for you, huh Scootaloo?" Diamond Tiara sneered, the group looked between Scootaloo and the spoiled filly. "After all, you being an orphan doesn't give you much choices for places to stay." The two laughed as her friends looked angry at the bullies.

"Shows what you know, I do live somewhere and I'm not an orphan," She didn't stop as the next words came out. "I live with my big brother." Diamond Tiara looked at her and scoffed.

"Oh yeah? Then why did I see you living on the streets a couple of nights ago?"

"I got mad at him and left, he went looking for me and brought me home." She lied, but she couldn't let Diamond Tiara get away with this, not this time.

"Then why has no pony ever seen him before huh?" Asked Silver Spoon

"Because he's afraid of other ponies. He's scared they'll be mean to him because of how he looks." Dinky said The last part Scootaloo knew was true, the Batpony was in fact afraid for that reason and the rumors going around would not help her convince him otherwise.

"Whatever, so long blank flanks." Diamond Tiara said as she was followed by Silver Spoon out of the building leaving the four fillies. Apple Bloom was the first to talk about Scootaloo's claims.

"Scootaloo I know for a fact you ain't got a big brother." Trying to lie to an apple is an impossible feat, no pony can do it. However Sweetie Belle spoke before she could.

"Actually, we did hit somepony with the door when we came with Dash to pick up Scootaloo for the tryouts, and we haven't really met any of her family." Thankfully they now believed she had a brothers, however Scoots didn't want to tell the two he was actually a batpony, she was afraid of how they'd act.

"Then, when can we actually meet him? Cause if Applejack finds out I didn't apologize to another pony I accidentally hurt I'm gonna be grounded again." Apple Bloom started with a pout while a shadow of fear darkened Scootaloo's face. She Her mind formed the image of Mezzanotte meeting the two then scaring them away to later be confronted by an angry Applejack and Rarity. Dinky saw Scootaloo's fear and tried to help.

"It's pretty hard to really met him, I have, but that's because he's known my mom for awhile." The two looked defeated by the information then suddenly perked up.

"Wait a minute, Rainbow Dash must have met him. Maybe if we get Dash to introduce us to him then we show those two they don't know anything." Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle then ran out the door, leaving the other two wided. If they told Dash... But Rainbow wouldn't do anything rash... Oh no.

The unicorn and pegasus ran out in time to find the two sitting under a cloud with the cyan pegasus napping on top. The two tackled the other crusaders to the ground. Rainbow Dash looked over the corner of the cloud at the four.

"Hey squirt. What are you four doing?" She inquired, studying the four under the cloud. Scootaloo's eyes grew wide as dinner plates as the gears turned in her head.

"We were just... playing tag. You know, trying to see if we do some things we already did we could get it." She lied with a huge smile. Rainbow shrugged then flew back to the cloud. Apple Bloom looked up unamused at her friend.

"Scoots, you haven't told Dash about him, have you?" Apple Bloom questioned. Scootaloo shook her head while gaining a gasp from Sweetie Belle.

"Whoa." The white Unicorn looked to the yellow earth pony then to the other unicorn on top of her. "Hey wait you said you and your mom met him, what about Sparkler or Time Turner?" Dinky shook her head no, "Whoa, he must be really really scared of ponies to be afraid of them."

"Guys, I'll talk to him about it but we have to be gentle."

"Gentle, right!" Apple Bloom stated

"Got it." Sweetie Belle agreed, both fillies saluting. Scootaloo looked unsure at Dinky as she shook her head. Mezz wasn't gonna like this.

Meanwhile, Mezzanotte yawned as he rolled out of bed, he looked at the clock; Four in the afternoon, Scootaloo should be back from crusading any moment now. Mezz walk down to the living room as he examined his newest project, this one unlike the guitar and violin would actually get him some bits. Pinkie Pie brought over a cello belonging to her sister Octavia, asking if he could fix it for her. He laughed at what the damage was exactly, it seemed somepony had dropped it in the case, shattering the bridge pieces. Originally Mezz tried to refuse her offering of money, however she wouldn't except that as an answer.

Mezzanotte unstrung the instrument so he could work out the broken pieces when he heard the front door open. "Hey Scootaloo; how was school?" He asked keeping his eyes on the instrument.

"It was fine, I mean other than Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara. Hey Mezz, umm I was wondering-" She was cut off as a loud crash as another voice spoke.

"Sweetie Belle, Ah told ya not ta push." Mezzanotte gulped as he turned to look at the three fillies accompanying Scootaloo, he recognized Dinky but the other two must have been Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle, Scoot's best friends and the other members of the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Both fillies copied him with their eyes growing to the size of pin pricks before a scream echoed in the room.

The Thestral screamed in horror looking at the fillies as if they were some psycho killers coming to kill him, with swift motion he darted up stairs like a shrieking ghost, he tumbled into his room, the screaming stopped as the click of a lock filled the silence. Sweetie Belle was taken back what had just happened while Apple Bloom bursted out laughing. Scootaloo glared at her and snarled.

"Why the hay are you laughing!?"

"B-because he's as big as mah brother and we scared 'im." Sweetie and Dinky thought about it and both giggled a little before Scootaloo's glare fell on them as well.

"She's right girls, this is serious. Now he's probably gonna think the royal guard will be after him." Dinky stated, grasping composer as she looked worriedly upstairs.

"Aw common Dinky, he can't be that paranoid." Apple Bloom said as she gave the girls a reassuring smile. The four soon heard the groaning of wood on wood from upstairs. "Or maybe he is." The noise caused the four to trot upstairs, Scootaloo looking to the others before she knocked on the door.

"Mezz, open the door." Scootaloo called out, she was disappointed to be met by silence. Scootaloo growled as she knocked on the door again. "Come on Mezz, I've told you about the girls already, there cool." She called in again getting the same response she did before. The soft beat of wings caught her attention as she turned to find Derpy flying up the stairs.

"What's going on?" The grey mare asked as she trotted over to the barricaded door. She then noticed the other two crusaders and gave a sad smile. "Hold on girls." She stated as she knocked softly on the door. "Mezz, it's Derpy. Is it okay if I come in?" Again, silence answered for the batpony, this didn't seem to deter the mail mare as she sat down. "Mezzanotte, you know I'm not leaving till you come out." She scold, the wall-eyed mare seemingly peering through the door at the pony behind. Shuffling noises sounded from the other side as the chocolate stallion finally opened the door, cringing as he looked at the two frightened fillies.

"H-hi Derpy." He greeted teary eyed, visibly shaking as he stood in the doorway. Derpy hugged him trying to calm him down, Scootaloo feeling horrible as she explained what happened to Derpy.

"The girl's just wanted to meet him, so I was gonna talk to him about it first when then fell in." Derpy sighed at the filly as she continued. "I didn't want to do it but the girls were gonna ask Rainbow about him, and then Rainbow would talk to Twi and we'd have the six of them here, I mean I know Pinkie knows about him but... Mezz I'm sorry." He released Derpy from the hug and looked down at his adoptive little sister, scooping her up in a hug.

"I know... I just... you know." He said forlorn, looking down the hallway to find Dinky with the other two ponies looking nervous. He looked at the orange pegasus in his arms before gulping turning to the others. "Umm... hi...I'm Mezzanotte. He whispered, trying his best to shrink in place.

"It's nice ta meet ya Mezah... mezzen,,," Apple Bloom struggled to say his name as she greeted the stallion.

"Just call me Mezz, or Note." He reassured, laughing a little wiping his muzzle.

"Wow, isn't your name Bitalian?" Sweetie Belle inquired. He shook his head as the filly squealed. "That's so AWESOME! How did you get to Ponyville? Where are you from? Are there anymore Bat ponies in town? Are you the one ponies have been talking about?"

Derpy smiled seeing him look less frightened by the fillies as Sweetie Belle buried him in questions. Derpy then reached into her messenger bag and pulled out a freshly made muffin, steam helping the aroma of the treat waft into the air. "I have to go, but before I do, I made muffins and I brought you one, their chocolate chip." She chirped handing him the freshly made treat. Derpy then left to finish her mail route, promising to return later. She turned her head back to see the girls regeling him in a tale of one of their many adventures, laughing together at one of the more funnier moments, Sweetie Belle puffed her blushed cheeks glaring at the four ponies.

"Glad your coming out of your shell, Mezzanotte." She whispered, taking off into the air.

Author's Note

Yeah Chapter Two! What should have been baby steps turns into a deep slope, what surprises wait in the next part, keep reading to find out. Also Yes, Octavia is Pinkie's sister in this fic and no one shall convince me otherwise! Also I really hope you guys liked it.

A Costing Mistake

Mezzanotte yawned as he woke up, stretching out his wings. He looked to the clock next to his bed and read it saying 1:15, another two hours before Scootaloo got home. Smiling he trotted to his piano, he felt the need, the urge to play something, breathing deeply he began to play a somber tune.

He had no idea why he wanted to play it, actually it felt more like a need, as he quickly pressed on the higher keys his smile grew. The mood of the song quickly changed as he placed more force on the keys, picking up the speed of the melody, a stray tear falling from his face as the climax of the song began to fade, the song slowing to it's end. He let out a breath he had no meaning to hold as he let out the last cord, pleased with the song as he wiped away more tears.

He closed the lid of the keys then walked over to the workbench to work on the latest instrument he found, a broken electric guitar. The guitar's headstock was broken clean off the nut. Seven of the twenty frets were missing as were it's strings, the guitars binding were in desperate need of repair and a little paint to hid the little nicks and scratches plus to replace a missing the plastic piece
"Well, with some good glue this will be fixed easily." He sighed as he grabbed a measuring tape. Writing down the measurements of the remaining sound nob Mezz walked away from the bench and stood before his backdoor, gulping he struggled to grasp the door's handle.

"Come on, it's just to the back. If you're fast enough, nopony will even hear you." Taking a deep sigh the thestral opened the door to the backyard. To compare the two is quite simple, the back looks like an unexplored jungle from the Daring Doo series, an ancient wood shed stood tall around the enormous grass. Mezzanotte crept carefully to the open shed and picked through the spare wood planks.

"I'm telling ya Bonnie, this is the house that music just came from!" A voice said from behind the obscured fence. Mezzanotte quickening his search of the somewhat rotted wood pieces for the right one.

"But Lyra, this place looks like it hasn't housed somepony in years. Are you sure you didn't just imagine it came from here?" another mare's voice asked in wonder.

Of course she didn't, I played my heart ou- Wait, why am I getting mad? I need them to look somewhere else. So why am I getting mad? A wide smirk graced his lips as he placed it on his back.

"HEY!" The high pitched voice called. "Whoever you are, thank you for the music! It's beautiful."

"Your welcome." Mezzanotte called back absentmindedly. The second he realized what came out of his mouth he covered his muzzle and ran inside, the last thing he heard made him feel more confused.

"I TOLD YOU BON BON!" Mezz slid down the door, what the hay did just do? Mezzanotte carried the wood to his bench and applied the measurements to cut off a piece for the replacement nob. As he finished cutting off the small notch he heard a sound which froze his blood.

*Knock* *Knock* *Knock*

The bat pony gulped as he walked toward the door, a third knock caused him to sit down as he was paralyzed with fear. He then watched as the mail slot lifted up with.

"Lyra, move over! I wanna-" A blue eye looked at him from the other side of the door in shock, fear engulfed him as he felt his lower body become wet. A scream from the other side rung out loudly before fading, signaling the pony had just ran away. The mail slot opened again as another eye looked through, this one a golden sympathetic orb. It lingered on the now crying pony then changed to a green muzzle.

"I'm really sorry about that." The mail slot fell closed as Mezz began taking shallow breaths as he kept his eyes on the door. ten or twenty minutes passed before he could even move from the spot, the first thing he did was clean the mess he made, he then jumped into the shower and curled into a ball. He was seen by two other ponies, and one of them, Bonbon he think her name was, screamed in terror at the sight of him. It was then the memory of after meeting Pinkie Pie came to mind, His mother was so scared, so angry, his tears joined the shower water as he sobbed, thinking of what his mother said to him.

"Always be careful around other ponies. They can do horrible things just because of things they fear or have no understanding of."

Mezz turned off the shower and shakily flew down to his workbench, Mezzanotte barley flew from fear of being seen by somepony as well as the pain of when he broke it. His hooves were steady as he began to cut off the excess wood. Would it be alright? More ponies finding out about him, especially because of the fact they didn't even speak to him. Well, the second mare spoke at him but what about the first one, the one that ran screaming. The batpony ground his teeth as he stabbed the table three times, he sat motionless for a good long while before continuing to cut the block to that of the nob, the tricky part of course was cutting a square for the metal rod of the tone tuner to slide into so the nob worked just as well as the other.

Not wanting to play another song he trotted over to the bookcase to read one of the thrown out books he's made a collection out of. The book was one of a clown pony who hid his face behind a mask so no pony would see just how sad he was, until he ran into a mare from his past. He hadn't even read two pages before a familiar voice caught his ear.

"Why are you two following me?" That was peculiar, why would she say that to A.B. and Sweetie? And what about Dinky?

"I just wanted to see if you were lying or not, though if your living in this dump, I'd have chosen the streets." A new voice spoke in a condescending tone.

"Like totally Dia, this place looks like it's been condemned." A nasally voice added. Both voices then laughed at the stupid comment, the stallion on the other side of the door becoming more and more angry.

"It's the inside that counts, Diamond Tiara. Not that you would ever know anything like that."

The two voices gasped at Scootaloo's comment.

"Like, I'm so sure it's any better inside. Is that so called brother of yours inside?"

"Yeah, maybe he's hiding from how lame Scootaloo is." This elected a laugh from the two as they said an annoying rhyme. Scootaloo rebutted.

"My brother is awesome, and he thinks I'm awesome. But you two would never know anything like that cause you don't have any older brothers to watch your backs!" Mezz smiled, happy at what she said, but it didn't last long.

"He's probably a retard, like Derpy, huh DT." The nasally voice asked.

"Yeah Silver Spoon, he's probably so dumb he can't even fly. Just like you Scootaloo." The second those words were said blind fury took over as Mezzanotte ripped open the door...

***

Rainbow Dash rested on the cloud thinking about when she would be called by the Wonderbolts to enact her reserve status. She did it, she finally got her hoof in the door, now it was time to act on it. She turned over to look at her home town and found Scootaloo walking with those two fillies; Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. Knowing those two would most likely cause trouble she floated down to Scootaloo's house.

She was sad at the fact she wasn't really able to hang out with her adoptive sister, maybe this weekend she'd try to get the Applejack and Rarity to take the girl out again for another sister outing. She then remembered something she heard from Rarity, Sweetie mentioned she had an older brother, thinking about it, she's never met him. Pinkie probably has, she'll just ask her later to make sure she has met him.

"...he's probably so dumb he can't even fly. Just like you Scootaloo." The two bullies laughed at Diamond Tiara's words Rainbow flew over to cut in when the door opened. Rainbow hung hung in the air as she examined the pony in the doorway, His golden eyes glared at the three fillies before him, bearing his fanged teeth as he yelled.

"RRRRRRRRRROOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRR!" The two ran away with their tails tucked between their legs crying as they ran away from the batpony. Scootaloo stayed where she was looking up, The stallion looked up to see Rainbow then... Then he scooped up Scootaloo! He looked back up to Dash then slammed the door shut, freeing herself from her stunned feeling she charged at the door, pounding as hard as she could.

"Hey! Let her GO! HEY!" Rainbow Dash gave up then shouted. "DON'T WORRY SCOOTS! I'LL BE BACK!" She then flew off to Twilight's Castle.

***

Pinke sat with the others when her knee started feeling odd.

"Ow, pinchy knee?" She then shuddered. "Shudder?! Oh no! something scary I never thought would happen is gonna happen!" Pinkie thought on it for a moment and gasped. "Oh no! Something's gonna happen to Waddie!" Pinkie Pie ran to the girls. "Girls I gotta go, I got a pinchy knee and a shudder, I think my friend Deadpool's in trouble!" Before the others could speak Pinkie Pie raced down the stairs, throwing the door open in time for Rainbow Dash to zoom flawlessly up to the others.

"Girls! GIRLS! I saw it! I saw it!" Rainbow declared as she tried to catch her breath.

"What are ya on about now Dash?" Applejack asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I saw the bat pony. The one snatching up foals! It fillynapped Scoot's!" She shouted flying across the room to Twilight. "Twi, you need to have Celestia call the royal guard or something!" Twilight finished writing on a piece of paper then handed it to Spike.

"There." She said to her friend. "I just asked the Princess if she's heard anything about this foalnapping bat pony. I don't want this to be like when Zecora cam-"

"This is totally different! Rainbow shouted, cutting off her friend. "I saw it grab her after it roared at Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon!"

"Exactly Dash, why would it scare them away if it is snatching up foals. Plus who has it already snatched up, I haven't heard anypony say who was taken. Applejack you're with me right?"

"Twi I agree with Dash. Ya' can trust one of em' varmints father then ya' can throw em'." Applejack stated, walking next to Dash.

"Girls, please. I'm sure this is all a misunderstanding." Rarity said, walking next to Twilight. "If there's truly no evidence of wrongdoing then we would be starting a witch hunt against an innocent pony."

"I agree with Twilight and Rarity." Fluttershy whispered as she stood behind the two ponies. Rainbow Dash looked betrayed at the three before her then yelled as she flew outside of the castle,

"FINE! If you won't help, we'll find somepony who WILL!" Applejack looked at the others with a glare.

"If ya'll won't help her, I will." She then ran after Rainbow Dash, not acknowledging the two members of the Cutie Mark Crusaders, looking at the two sadly they ran up to the other three.

"Hey Rarity, have you seen Scootaloo? We were suppose to walk home together but she left early, we saw Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon leave after her and were hoping she came over here like we planned." Sweetie Belle looked worried about her friend.

"Well Sweetie, Dash says she saw a bat pony grab Scootaloo." Rarity informed. The two fillies eyes grew as they looked to each other then back to the three.

"Oh..." Sweetie said, looking guilty to Applebloom

"Ah bat pony..." Applebloom repeated, sharing her friend's stare. Fluttershy walked forward, looking at the two fillies.

"Girls, do you have something you want to tell us?" She asked with authority.

***

Filthy Rich marched before the group of ponies. He had told many ponies what had happened to his daughter and her friend and lead the mob to where the monster tried to hurt his daughter. Overtime he told this story to many other ponies he came across until he lead a mob in the streets. He then came across two elements of harmony talking to Derpy Hooves, one of the local mail ponies.

"Come on Derpy! It got Scootaloo, what if this monster tries to snatch Dinky?" Dash said, trying to recruit the clumsy pegasus.

"He will NEVER hurt Dinky!" The normally bubbly pony growled with a rage comparable to a Ursa Major. Dash and Applejack backed away from Derpy, fearing anything else said would set her off. Filthy Rich lead the mob to the three ponies, Derpy looked furious at the mob then flew away toward her home.

"Miss Dash, Miss Applejack, we require the help of the elements of harmony. There's-"

"We already know... I saw it take Scoots." Rainbow Dash said bitterly, cutting the rich pony off. "The others won't help so it looks like it's just the two of us" The stallion grimaced and sighed.

"Then it's up to us to put an end to this monster." The two mare's shook their heads.

"Alright, Let's go. I know where it is." The mob yelled as Dash jumped into the air, leading the group through the small town.

***

Mezzanotte hid under his worktable, he rushed under it the second the cyan pegasus; Scootaloo's idol and 'Big Sister' Rainbow Dash told Scootaloo she'd return. His eyes ached for the prolonged force keeping them shut, faces haunting his mind with fear and hate. He opened his eyes to relieve the pain, finding Scootaloo sitting before him with a baseball bat in her teeth.

"Scootaloo?" He asked, crawling out from his hiding spot.

"Don't worry Mezz; No pony's gonna hurt you." She said, her eyes glaring at the door. The bat clutched tighter in her mouth. He looked surprised at the little filly ready to take on the whole world if needed, just to protect him.

"Scootaloo... I..." He was at a lost for words, wondering why when a thought caught him. Why am I surprised, she's my family. When that thought crossed his mind, he smiled and laughed; tears falling down his eyes. "I'm an idiot. But you: you are the best sister anypony could want or have." He laughed, ruffling her mane. She returned the laugh looking up.

"Thanks Mezz, I'm lucky to have a big brother like you." She said, puwtting the bat down to hug his foreleg. The batpony returned the hug, the two stayed like that until a loud banging at the door brought them back to reality.

Author's Note

And it's done, stay tuned for the sequel, Picking Up The Pieces. Remember if you like the story give it a thumbs up and don't be afraid to leave a comment.

Another Night in Ponyville

The Cutie Mark Crusaders frowned as they trekked back to the center of town. The three fillies had failed at another attempt to earn their Cutie Marks. The night sky rumbled with the threat of rain, and on hearing this the yellow filly with a red mane and pink bow turned to her friends.

"Alright girls, ah'll see yall tomorrow." She said with jovially. She hugged her friends as they went there separate ways, but the yellow filly stopped after a few steps and turned to the orange pegasus. "Hey Scootaloo, if you want I could see if you could stay over tonight." Her southern drawl hinted with the slightest amount of sympathy for her friend. She and the white unicorn knew something was wrong with her home life, it's just they didn't know what it was or how to approach it.

"No thanks Apple Bloom. I'll see you and Sweetie Belle tomorrow, okay?" Scootaloo replied with a faux smile on her face, and Apple Bloom returned it with unease.

"Alright Scoot's, ah'll see ya."

"See ya later Applebloom" Scootaloo left her friend behind, Sweetie Belle looking to the filly before turning her head to the young apple.

"I really hope she'll be okay." The white unicorn whispered as she watched her friend leave.

With her friends behind her the false smile leaves as a frown soon takes it's place. Scootaloo walked for awhile before she came to her alley. She sighed as she came to an old refrigerator box, she opened the box looking at her possessions, resting by the blue blanket on the boxes floor rested the picture of her mother and father, next to that a picture of herself and Rainbow Dash. On the other side of the blanket rested her goggles and helmet, her scooter resting against the box by a trash can. Scootaloo's head dropped as she laid in the blanket with her eyes closed, it was on nights like this she wished her mom and dad didn't die, she still had nightmares about the accident that took them from her and wept as she thought of it.

She then felt water rip her box's roof, drenching her in rainwater. She cursed as she tugged her wet blanket out of the now torn box. The filly fell to her haunches and just sobbed as the rain mercilessly pelts her trembling body.

"Hey, are you okay?" A unknown voice questioned. The orange pegasus jumped around to find the voice's owner. Standing before her was a stallion as tall as Apple Bloom's brother Big Mac, his mane was charcoal black while a dark grey jacket that covered most of his body, a hood hid his eyes from her view while his fur was a chocolate brown. She saw his Cutie Mark was that of a big dot that loped then curved at the end, two dots were on the right while four music notes rested inside of four surrounding clouds.

Her violet eyes were filled with mistrust for the stranger walking down the alleyway at night. She looked down next to him and found a bag from Sugar Cube Corner, the smell of the baked treats reminding her just how hungry she was. Scootaloo saw she was noticed by the stranger then went back to the sopping wet blanket, the stallion sat next to her box.

"So, how long have you been on the streets?" he inquired taking a blueberry muffin out of the bag. Scootaloo rolled her eyes to the stranger finally pulling her blanket free, unfortunately she was now soaked by the night's storm while her pictures thankfully remained untouched. The pony stood up shaking his head as he walked next to her. "We'll, I'm gonna head home. I know im a stranger and all and this might seem weird, but you can stay at my house for the night if you don't have anywhere to go." As he walked away from the area he was glad to hear the sound of wheels following him.

His house was in Scootaloo's opinion... a dump. The mint green paint looked faded and areas were chipping away. The windows were boarded up though from what she could see, they were broken anyways. The mystery pony walked in first followed by Scootaloo, her mouth now agape. The small filly did a double take looking back outside before returning inside. The inside was the clear opposite of the outside, it was clean and well taken care of, in a corner of the room rested a piano with a guitar resting on the wall next to it.

On a bench by the other wall were pieces of another instrument resting with tools surrounding it. Scootaloo turned to the generous pony but stopped, her eyes wide with fear as she dropped her scooter. The pony had removed his hoodie and hung it on a hook, the things of the pony his hoodie covered were his wings and eyes. His amber eyes were slit though filled with fear while his wings weren't like her's, they looked more like a bats. She backed to the wall frightened by the fact she was in the home of a Batpony.

"Sorry, I know im... well yeah," He sighed, his head dropping down. "But there's a bed in the room down the hall you can use. Also if you want you can help yourself to whatevers in the fridge." He offered with a sad smile, Scootaloo stayed where she was, fear evident in her eyes. He frowned, looking back to the ground as he walked over to the bench. He placed the bag next to him as Scootaloo slowly walked over to the kitchen, around the Batpony.

"By the way, I'm Mezzanotte Cleftwing. You can call me Mezz or Note." He said, keeping his eyes on the project before him. Mezzanotte tested the now glued bridge of the violin to see if it wouldn't move, he let out a satisfied sigh as it didn't move. Mezzanotte removed the damaged A and G pegs to replace them, his mind coming back to the young frightened filly inside his house. He expected her to be afraid of him, after all he's a Batpony, in all of Ponyville only two ponies know who he his, now three.

"What are you doing?" A voice questioned from his side. Mezzanotte looked at Scootaloo, the fear she once had was now replaced with a quizzical stare. He smiled as he then raised the instrument for her to see.

"This, was a violin I found thrown away. I'm almost done fixing it actually." Mezzanotte turned around and looked down to the young pegasus.
"So, I hope this means your not scared of me anymore miss... Sorry, I don't know your name." The small filly smiled up at the stallion working at the bench.

"Oh, I'm Scootaloo, it's nice to meet you." She examined the unstrung instrument then at some of the broken and non-broken items and tools scattered around the bench. Some of the different objects seemed too big for the violin while others were smaller. She looked back to Mezz and spoke, "So, who are you fixing that thing up for?" The stallion looked at the instrument with a melancholy look before he sighed.

"Nopony really. I just found it awhile ago, it was in some bad condition but so far with TLC, I'm putting it back in good condition." Keeping his eyes on the wooden object his eyes became burdened with a thought. "You never answered me before." He began in a sad voice, turning back to the orange pony his face held a look of comfort. "So, how long has it been?"

She seemed to understand what it was he was really asking as she wouldn't meet his eyes in the silence which followed, the stallion stopped what he was doing so his attention was on the small pony next to him. He was going to tell her she could wait if she needed to but was stopped as she began to cry. He took hold of her shaking form, gently rubbing her back as her tears were soaked up by his brown coat.

"I-I lost them in a fire... H-h-how d-did you know?" She sobbed, she couldn't believe how he possible knew what she was going through. His face looked pained as he admitted the truth.

"I'm the same... I mean I lost my family when I was little but...But your folks didn't have a choice, mine did." She looked up to him in disbelief, looking into his eyes to find the lie somepony would would tell another pony. What she found however, was the pain of loneliness, the same look she saw in her reflection. Scootaloo took a tight hold on Mezz giving him a hug, the feeling of tears falling on top of her head.

"If you want... You can stay." He began, his bloodshot eyes looking into her own. "I won't feel right letting you go back on the streets, but if you want to go, Scootaloo, I won't stop you. Just know, you'll always have a warm bed." Scootaloo was taken back by the kindness of the Batpony. Her mind went to the stories she heard of foal's being taken in by older ponies for more... nefarious reasons masquerading as kindness, however what she felt told to her by this Stallion was as far from that as the sun from the town.

"Thank you, Mezz. Thank you."

Scootaloo laid sound asleep in a bed upstairs one week after she first met the brown pony, on the nightstand rested a red cape with a unknown crest while a scooter with a purple helmet rested on the handlebars with goggles, the two pictures still sat where she put them the first night he brought her home. He smiled at the sleeping filly then left her alone, he trotted down stairs before looking to his right wing, he tried to open it feeling the familiar ache which kept him grounded. Tears fell from his eyes as he looked at the moon in the sky.

"Are you thinking of me?" He whispered before he headed back to the violin and began to play it, testing his repairs. The sad piece stopped every now and then as his tears causing him to stop every so often.

Author's Note

Gonna test the waters with other parts of my writing by posting this slice of life type story. I hope you guys enjoy it for there will be more to come. Also this was the song I thought he'd be playing.

of course he's just playing the main part.