//------------------------------//
// Goodnight Irene. 
// Story: Home is for the Weak 
// by Pickleless 
//------------------------------//

	Nopony awoke to Scootaloo stumbling back into the alleyway, carrying a bottle of apple cider in her hoof.

"Hey there handso- UCK," Scootaloo hiccuped, "you look like a platonic mistake I- I'm gonna wake up to every single day!"

"Hey there kid," Nopony responded, "you look like absolute shit."

"Where?"

Nopony watched as Scootaloo searched herself for something.

"Where's what?" He asked.

"Where is it?"

"The absolute shit?"

"Y- HUK- eah."

Nopony pointed at the general direction of her body.

Scootaloo proceeded to pour apple cider all over herself.

"Did I ge' it?" Scootaloo wobbled.

"No."

Scootaloo fell over on her side,  rolled around in the puddle on the ground, and got back up covered in mud and alcoholic liquid.

"How about now?"

"Yeah." Nopony nodded. "You got it."

"So what do you want to be when you grow up?" Scootaloo flopped on top of Nopony.

"I am grown up."

"Then why aren't you anything?"

Nopony didn't respond.

"You're like..." Scootaloo stopped, trying to not to vomit. "You're like those magical fillies, in those neighponies comics. Except you're a stallion, and not magical, and disgusting."

"Really now."

"You show up outta nowhere and suddenly we're best friends!" Scootaloo threw her bottle into the air. "You don't work, you don't have anypony looking for you, you just came out of the blue and colored up my boring life."

"Where did you get alcohol?"

"It's like... you can do whatever you want, and nopony stops you," Scootaloo continued on, "nopony cares about you, or talks to you, or messes with you... Hey! Is that why your name is Nopony Special? Because you're a special kind of nopony?

"Sure."

"What do you want to be when you grow up?"

Nopony sighed.

"I don't know Scootaloo. I always wanted to explore, discover stuff, kinda like ponies you know in history books, but I lost the chance to do that long ago."

"Mmm." Scootaloo wormed her way into his hooves.

"Now I'm doing exactly what I want to do."

"Being homeless?"

"Close enough." Nopony pulled Scootaloo a little closer and lowered his head down.

"I've always wanted to sing." Scootaloo mumbled.

"Really?"

"Was pretty excited to do a musical for a school play, but everypony laughed at us..."

The two laid there quietly.

"My sister was always a better singer than me," Nopony mused, "she was better than me at most things really, but I had a way with words, and I was good at staying calm under pressure. Because of that, ponies naturally flocked to me more... I was always a little jealous of her."

Nopony looked down to see Scootaloo asleep. Adjusting her into a more comfortable position, he closed his eyes and quickly joined her.