Strangers In the Night

by Joshwolf999

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.