Two weeks after their first training session, Night Claw was flying into town, not wearing his armor. He felt strange, not wearing the usual midnight blue and brass colored pony armor… But, Twilight continued to pester him about wearing it too much and needed to relax a bit more. He gave a sigh, shaking his head. “How is she always able to talk me into these things?” He thought, catching a few other ponies staring at him…. Quite a few mares were in awe, but he shrugged them off. His eyes were set on only one mare.

Night Claw was on his way for Scootaloo’s training session for the day, but he felt like picking her up from school and talking to the filly’s parents about her progress. The idea was solid, and it seemed like the right thing to do, according to Twilight. In all honesty, Night Claw could careless and wanted to focus more on the actual teaching portion. However, the princess was rather insistent about the matter and the stallion couldn’t say no to her. When he arrived at the schoolhouse, the adult ponies all bowed their heads in respect to the guard, who returned the nod with a smile.

Night Claw eyed around, trying to locate who he was looking for. “Hm… I see a few pegasi… But none of them look like Scootaloo.” He thought, trying to figure out which one could be who he is looking for. A gray mare with a blonde mane, and one eye looking at him while the other was staring off towards the sky, waved at him, catching the batpony’s attention. Remembering that Twilight asked that he try to be nice, Night Claw simply waved back at her and nodded. “I’m sure I’ll see Scootaloo go to them when school lets out.” He let out an annoyed sigh, and shook his head.

The school bell suddenly rang out, the doors flying open and several foals started to rush out of the school. He watched them go to their parents, noticing Applebloom going to her older brother and Sweetie Belle bouncing towards Rarity. He smirked, and shook his head at the sight. Since coming to Equestria, he seemed to enjoy such sights now, and found himself happy about seeing foals with their parental figures or older siblings. Though, when Scootaloo walked out of the schoolhouse, she didn’t go to anyone at all, and got on to her scooter.

Night Claw raised an eyebrow and walked over towards her, just as she was about to head out to the park, to meet him there. “So, where are your parents, Scootaloo? Twilight wanted me to give them an update.” He asked, making the filly suddenly turn around, wide eyed, at the sudden appearance of the guard.

“N-Night!” She said, looking around rather nervously.

“That’s my name, don’t wear it out.” He joked, giving the filly his signature fanged smile. “Now, where are your parents? I thought they’d be here to see you off.” The stallion looked around for them, but couldn’t see any adult pegasi without a foal.

“W-Well….” Scootaloo muttered, not looking up at him. Night Claw suddenly caught the scent of fear sweat, not the kind he was used to but the type one gets when they’re nervous.

The stallion drew his attention back to her, raising an eyebrow. “Scootaloo… Where are your parents?” He asked, somewhat concerned.

His questioned was answered with Scootaloo suddenly shooting off on her scooter! Heading away from the large stallion, and not heading to the park. This caused Night Claw to tilt his head, rather confused by her actions.

“I wonder what that was about….” Night Claw thought, pondering for a moment and nodding to himself. “Maybe Rainbow Dash will know.” He opened his wings up, and shot off into the sky, now on the search for said rainbow haired mare.

Rainbow Dash was taking her afternoon nap on her favorite cloud, a content smile on her face. The mare was so relaxed, oblivious to the world, she didn’t notice the large midnight blue stallion land next to her, tilting his head. A thought suddenly came to his mind, making him give a rather devilish grin. Night Claw slowly lowered his head, until his muzzle was riiiiiight next to her ear. He took a deep breath and suddenly yelled. “Rainbow Dash! I come for your soul!” He was able to change his voice to make it sound darker, more evil, than normal.

Rainbow Dash’s eyes went wide, and suddenly let out a high pitched scream! Leaping up into the air and nearly shot off. When she heard laughing, the mare looked around, and spotted a laughing Night Claw, trying to catch his breath. “Night Claw, ya jerk! I could have fallen off the cloud!” She growled, landing back on to said cloud… Glaring at him.

“I couldn’t help myself, Rainbow Dash… It has been quite some time since I’ve caused a bit of terror.” Night Claw said, slowly sitting up, wiping his eye a bit from how hard he was laughing.

The rainbow haired mare rolled her eyes, frustrated that he woke her up like that and actually terrified her…. “What do you want, Night?” She growled, not looking at him.

The stallion started to calm himself down, regaining his composure. “I came to ask you about Scootaloo… I got a strange reaction from her today.” He said, making Rainbow Dash raise an eyebrow. “Twilight told me to meet her, and her parents at the schoolhouse… She wanted me to give progress of her training, since it is apparently a normal thing here.” The mare started to look around, nervously, for some odd reason. “When I asked her where they were, she started to act strangely, and fearful… I became concerned, and asked again, but she shot off without a word. Away from where we plan on training. Not to mention, I got a similar reaction a two weeks ago, when I offered to take her home, but she refused and quickly left.” By this point, Rainbow Dash was starting to sweat nervously, trying to hide what she knew but…. It wouldn’t work, she was staring down a ponified Astartes. “Rainbow Dash… Is there something I need to know about?”

“W-Well….” Rainbow Dash tapped her hooves together, thinking an excuse to tell him. However, his inquisitive stare kept her from doing so, and it didn’t help the fact he practically towered over her, either. “You see….” Her eyes began to dart around, seriously… It felt like she was being interrogated by the old Equestrian Inquisition, because of that stare!

“Tell me…” He said, not faltering for a second, holding his stare.

Rainbow Dash gave in, nodding. “Ok, ok… You see, Scootaloo kind of… Doesn’t… Have parents.” She admitted, Night Claw suddenly going wide eyed, but remained silent on the matter. “I found out when the Cutie Mark Crusaders were trying out for the Equestrian Games, up in the Crystal Empire. When the others said she wasn’t going to come, I took the others to see her… That’s when I flew to her room in the Orphanage and what not-!” Without another word, the stallion shot off! Leaving a dumbfounded Rainbow Dash in his wake. “What… Was that about?” She asked, herself mostly, with a raised brow and tilted head.

Scootaloo just sat in her room, there was no way she could face Night Claw after that. She acted so foolish, why couldn’t she have just told him the truth? “Oh, hey Night Claw, sorry but I don’t have any parents! Yeah, they kind of didn’t want a pegasus that couldn’t fly…. Yeah right, like he would accept that….” Scootaloo thought, laying on her bed, head under the pillows.

She slowly sat up, facing the outside window of her room. Scootaloo, out of all the orphans, was the oldest so she got a room to herself and picked the one with a window. She looked out of the window, at Ponyville and the skies outside. She originally got this room, so she could watch all the couples coming in, hopes of being adopted by them always made her smile. But every couple had wanted a younger foal, not her… She was far too old.

The filly looked up at Celestia’s Sun, and remembered the past two weeks. The time spent with Night Claw, and Princess Twilight, made her feel like she was actually part of a family… Learning from her dad, while her mother watched and sometimes stepped in. Oh, how she always wanted this. “Fat chance… I doubt Night Claw would even think about adopting me.” She looked down at the window’s base.

“You’re right… Why would he want an underdeveloped pegasus filly?” A voice said, making her turn around just in time to see the black exoskeleton that belong to one of Equestria’s worst villians! Before she could scream, the Changeling Queen knocked her out with a hoof to the side of her head. “With you… I’ll be able to attract that stallion, and possibly little miss perfect with him.” Chrysalis said, grinning at the unconscious filly.

Twilight was catching up on some reading, since she was spending a lot of time doing research, working with Night Claw, and having to do reports with Spike. With her research finished, Night with Scootaloo, and Spike out helping Rarity; Twilight finally found enough free time to actually do what she loves, even after finishing her royal duties for the day. Though, her attention was broken the moment the doors to her castle’s main hall were forced open.

“W-What? Huh? Whose there!?” She yelled, flying out of the study, ready for a fight… Only to find a heavily breathing Night Claw in front of the opened doors. “N-Night? Is everything alright?” Twilight asked, flying up to him while the stallion caught his breath. “I thought you would be with Scootaloo?”

Night Claw suddenly looked at her, his eyes filled with concern. “We made a mistake… A big one.” He simply said, gritting his teeth, while Twilight sat down and motioned for him to explain what had happened…. Which she soon regretted.

The stallion filled her in on everything, what happened at the schoolhouse, what Rainbow Dash told him… And Twilight felt devastated for doing such a thing now, and she had no idea about any of it! Worst part was, she’s known that pegasus filly since she arrived to Ponyville, so long ago, and yet did not know she was an orphan. “Oh Celestia….” She muttered, eyes tearing up. “I-If I had known… I would have never sent you to do such a task.” Twilight looked down, ashamed of herself.

“Twilight…” She looked up at him, the stallion had a strange look in his eye while looking out the castle doors. “I was an orphan, back on Nostramo, for the longest time… I understand how she must be feeling right now, to be at that age and not having a family to turn to.” Night Claw suddenly looked at her, giving a fanged smirk. “This castle is too big for just the three of us here, why not add another and spice things up a bit?”

“Whoa, wait a second, Night… We’re just, u-uh… Dating, at the moment. We’re not even married.” Twilight said, standing back up, and looking at him. “I mean, we don’t even know if she wants such a thing, or us to do it. And I’m not sure if I’m…” She looks down at her hooves. “If I’m even ready for such a thing, just yet.”

Night Claw just looked at her, and turned towards the youngest princess, smiling at her. “I’ve been watching you for quite some time, Twilight… I’ve seen how you are with the foals, and how you treat them. Plus, how you’ve felt the past two weeks, with Scootaloo and me, hasn’t gone unnoticed.” He nuzzled her a bit. “I know you’re ready… Plus, this doesn’t mean we have to take that step. You seriously think I’m even remotely ready for that? This is just giving Scootaloo a family.”

Twilight looked up at him, and thought about it for a moment, a smile starting to form on her face. “Well… It would be great practice, if we even have another foal of our own. Plus, it is for Scootaloo’s sake, and she has done so much. A young filly, like her, deserves something like this.” She looked up at him, and nodded. “Alright, Night Claw, let’s do it.”

With a nod from the stallion, the two flew off towards Ponyville, heading straight for the Orphanage.

When they arrived, the two saw the strangest thing at the orphanage doors. A crowd of ponies had gathered, a few guard ponies standing at the doors and kept them from entering. The presence of the guard ponies, alone, made the two feel that something was wrong, and rushed over to the crowd. “What is going on here? Did something happen?” Twilight asked while she landed behind the crowd, Night Claw right next to her.

“Princess!” One of the guards yelled, rushing over. “There is… One of the foals have been ponynapped. We were called after the incident had been discovered.”

Night Claw stepped forward, earning a salute from the guard pony and a ‘sir!” from him. “Who was the foal? I’ll get to work on this, right away, after our business here has concluded.” He asked, the guard pony standing at attention to give his report to the superior officer present.

“Sir! From what we have gathered, it was the oldest of the foals, a pegasus filly, who had her own room on the second floor. Orange coat, magenta mane and tail. Witness say she was often seen with a scooter.” When he said that, the two hoped that it wasn’t who they think it was… They hoped it was just ironic, that maybe it was a similar, slightly older, filly. “From what we’ve been told, her name was…. Hm… Scootaloo, I believe?”

It took every ounce of strength and restraint for Twilight not to scream, however Night Claw had another reaction… The aura of terror flooded all those around him. “Show me to the incident, now!” He practically roared, every pony moving out of the massive stallion’s way, while he was shown the way inside… Twilight quickly following behind him.

The guard quickly showed them to Scootaloo’s room, opening the door. “Here we are, sir! The scene has been kept in the original state, while we wait for the Detective Pony called from Canterlot.” The guard said, saluting him and the princess.

“Cancel that order, I’m taking this investigation and mission on, personally.” Night Claw said, walking inside of the room. Twilight, on the other hand, waited outside with the Orphanage Matron. She knew how the former Night Lord worked, and how he was an expert on tracking down what he wanted to hunt.

The stallion walked around the room, using his animal like senses to help him, which were heightened by the Astartes enhancements. From what he can tell, this was definitely Scootaloo’s room, her scent was everywhere along with Wonderbolt and Rainbow Dash memorabilia. But, what caught his attention, was strange burn marks on the floor, by the window overlooking the Orphanage entrance. From what he could tell, the attack was initiated from right there, possibly a rush judging how no one knew what happened. The stallion leaned down, and gave the scorched wood a sniff, trying to figure out what kind of flames were used, and he knew the exact scent covering these scorch marks.

Night Claw’s wings suddenly flared out, his pupils becoming hair-line thin. “That bitch dares!?” He growled, disregarding the fact that there may be foals around. His fangs suddenly grew, eyes going red, while his entire body tensed up. “I should have killed her, when I had the chance!”

Twilight walked inside, concerned now for the stallion and his current state. “Night, who ponynapped her?” She asked, the fact he knew was obvious by the reaction, and how he was acting.

The stallion looked back at her, seeing a form of him she’s never seen before… It was almost like a half breed cross between him and his Night Lord form. It was… Terrifying. “Chrysalis was here… The burn mark, and scent I just picked up, are the same as the day she attacked Canterlot.”

Twilight suddenly tensed up, she remembered that day… The day the Changeling Queen nearly ruined her older brother’s, and sister-in-law’s, special day! She narrowed her eyes. “Any idea where she went?” She asked, Night Claw looking towards the window.

“She went out the window, must have closed it back to hide her tracks and make them believe she slipped out somewhere… Her scent is also on the window, all over it.” He said, walking towards it, using the tensed bat wings like a cape of some sort.

“U-Um… Excuse me? Princess Sparkle, Sir Claw?” The Orphanage Matron said, walking up to them. “There was a note found, on Scootaloo’s bed, which was what caused me to call the guard…”

Twilight nodded to her, feeling it would be better that she talks to the matron, instead of the angered Night Claw. “May I see the note? It may help us locate, and save, Scootaloo.” The Matron nodded, a guard pony coming in with the note, and handing it over to the Princess. Twilight used her magic to levitate the letter over to it, and read it out loud.

Twilight suddenly flared at the note, looking back at Night Claw. “This is an obvious trap, but we have to go…” She said, the stallion staring out the window, his red eyes locked on to the forest. “Night?”

“I know…” Night Claw said, looking back at her with quite the grin. “It seems, I’m going hunting, princess… Something I haven’t truly done in years.” His fangs shined, the entire group somehow knew the stallion had dark things intended for the Changelings, and their Queen. “And, I’m going to need my armor.”