Night's Agent

Day 0

Selling and Beating

1345 hrs

Location: Town Square, Ponyville, Equestria

Silver Star headed into town with a cart full of veggies. He may be a mercenary, but he also has a budding

veggie business. He wheeled his cart into his slot at the square. He was late to sell. But he set up and ponies started gathering.

One by one, they began to buy what they needed. He ducked down to get some change for a customer, when a pair of legs caught his eye.

He looked up slowly. A yellow skirt cut to the knees with three butterflies adorning the skirt close to the hem. Next was a light sweater made of the same color. Then pink hair, then sharp blue eyes. Her face wore a blush.

"U-um... Mister Silver Star?" A low whisper graced his ears. He smiled as he stood fully. Standing a head shorter than him, was Fluttershy. She was wringing her hands and looking down, nervous as she always was when getting her special shipment.

"Ms. Fluttershy," He said warmly. "I am sorry I didn't stop by. I was running late."

"O-oh, th-that's ok." Fluttershy smiled sweetly as she stared at him.

"I'll stop by later if you'd like. I don't plan on staying in the market long. I need to make some money to get some supplies."

She nodded. "Are you going away?" She knew he left from time to time. She was one of his friends after all, she knew what he did.

He nodded. "I got another job. This one though, is gonna be extremely dangerous."

She shuddered. Fluttershy knew how dangerous his job was. She had done more than her fair share of stitching him up. Once, a Manticore had her pinned in a canyon. Silver Star had heard the frightened shrieks and followed. He had saved her from the beast, but he didn't come away unscathed. Some of those scars came from that fight. But, he came out on top, and Fluttershy cried into his chest as he carried her home, too scared to even walk. He had dropped to his knees at her door, losing most of his blood from walking. She dragged him inside her cottage and patched him up.

They have been good friends ever since, and he would never forget her kindness. She smiled and pecked his cheek with a small kiss and walked off, humming to herself. He watched in awe. How could someone so light and nervous be so graceful?

He was then distracted by a bang on his cart and several surprised screams. He turned to look. A gray hooded thief made off with some his tomatoes. He then reached under his cart and pulled out a bolas with a rather long rope. He swung it around in the air several times before he let it go. The bolas flew toward the thief and wrapped itself around the legs. Using the rope, he pulled the little thief back to him. He heard the light grunts and pawing at the ground to get away. Silver then picked up the scrawny pony and hauled the hooded figure to an alley.

"You got some nerve stealing from me!" He barked. He ripped the hood away to reveal purple hair and a rather large pair of teary eyes looking up at him. He stared but then rolled his eyes and undid the bolas.

"For bucks sake, Scoots, how many times do you have to do this?"

Scootaloo looked up at him, pouty lip and all. "S-sorry Mr. Star."

He shook his head slowly. "What's the reason this time?" This wasn't the first time she had stolen from him. Last time it was for a stew to help her mom get better. Turns out it was because she was hungry. He had taken her to his home and fed her. Then took her back to her foster parents, who seemed all to eager to punish her. He knew what they were doing, but as many times as he went to the agency, they could not find proof.

"Well?" He posted his fists onto his hips.

Her lips quivered, then she wrapped her arms around his waist, she bawled into his stomach. He put a comforting hand on her head, trying to calm her down.

"It was -sob- awful, Mr. Star! He-he-he- waahhhhhHHHHH!"

Silver picked her head up with her chin, he stared into her eyes. "What happened?" He said calmly.

She calmed down some. He gave her his canteen and sat down on the ground in the alley. She drank greedily and told him what had happened. He nodded as she spoke.

"M-my foster dad... h-he got drunk again... He tried to force himself... o-on top of me. H-he ripped my clothes and tried t-t-to..."

She sobbed into her hands once more.

That was the last straw. He stood her up and took her to his cart. She then explained she was gonna run away, but needed the food. He took all of this in as he wheeled the cart back to his home. He put away the cart and took her inside.

"Scootaloo, go use the tub, get yourself cleaned up." He said.

She nodded and bounded to the bathroom. The shower started. Silver then walked to his room and grabbed a bat from under the bed. Normally reserved for robbers, this was gonna be something different. He heard the shower go off and she walked out in a towel, drying her hair with another. She looked better than before. She smiled at him.

"Are those clothes still in the closet?" She asked.

He went out and bought some clothes for her. About the fourth time she stole form him, her clothes were ripped and dirty. That time he had gotten a small scar from her. She put up one hell of a fight. He offered to take them back to her foster home, but she ran away as soon as they got out of the store. He figured she would be back, so he yelled after her that he would keep these in his closet.

He smiled and nodded. "Hallway closet Scoots." She nodded and walked to the closet and grabbed some clothes off of the shelf and wandered into his room and closed the door. A few minutes later, she came back out wearing a blue short sleeve shirt and tan cargo pants. She went to the mirror inside the bathroom and looked at her clothes. She smiled and bounded back into the living room.

"Can I go?" She asked.

He looked at her bewildered. "Pardon?"

She rolled her eyes. "Oh come one, I may only be thirteen, but I know a beatdown is coming. So, you gonna let me come?"

He looked at her. She smiled at him, somehow causing his heart to melt. He rolled his eyes and nodded.

"Yesyesyesyes!!!" She pumped her fist into the air in celebration.

-This Chapter, To Be Continued-