Author's Notes:

Just to warn you. This is the start of dark and twisted horror.

Raven will be showing her momma instincts in this chapter.

Enjoy.

"You have grown into a handsome man." Raven pecked her son as she was drawn by his slow breathing. She pet the top of his head and smiled contently that her colt was finally back home.

She recognized the shallow breaths leaving him. He had done more than just show an unbelievable amount of magic to her and Nightmare Moon. He drained himself with that single burst, and now the rumors of a lost prince returning to Nebula had spread across the castle. Nobles were vigilant in the information they received hours ago, waiting and watching for the first sign of Nebula's first prince to make himself present.

Raven had held herself to overlooking her duties for the sake of bonding with her baby while the others finished with theirs. Her body came to life as she listened. Her heart. Her soul. That gentle touch, the brush of his voice across the scars of her mind held so much hope she struggled to keep alive. She had cravings in her gentle ways. A mother's hunger for the touch of her child, and she filled herself by finding the well of tenderness in holding him. She found it had been buried and almost forgotten for thousands of years.

"I will not lose you again," she admitted, brushing her lips across his cheek. "I will never let you go."

Derrick did not reply in words or movement, the effort to respond even subconsciously was too much in his weakened state, but he gifted her a smile over the sorrow and fear she felt. He did not know yet if what she said was really true, but for now, he was going to play along and see where this new journey takes him; at least after he has a nice nap.

Though his entire mind and body was shutdown, he still felt Raven's warmth and the small kiss to his cheek was her undying love tingled nicely, but she needed to hear him talk and she needed to see him awaken—if he really was exhausted and not damaged in any way, shape, or form after his little outburst.

"I don't know if you can hear me, but I just want you to know that I am sorry for everything you went through. Not just for being too weak to stop Faust from taking you, but for not trying to find you sooner. I was so sure of myself that you were dead. I had thought to myself that my son was destroyed by that monster, so I gave up and moved on. But it was thanks to Nightmare Moon that I found you. Still, I hope that you will give me a chance to mend the years we lost. I pray that you will accept me as your mother."

Raven wouldn't give up on him this time. She was prepared to do anything, fight any battle. No matter if the act was sickening or not, if she could keep her colt, she would humble herself, put herself in any kind of danger or fight any battle to keep him safe.

"Can you feel your mother's wings around you?" she giggled quietly, feeling the man slip deeper into her chest as her feathers spread much needed warmth. "Do you enjoy my touch as you did when you were just a baby?"

Raven felt no shame in snuggling in front of the guards her pupil posted. She showed no outward signs of growing embarrassed. Her light and darkness was exactly the same as her mind—it was strong. She couldn't have cared less having guards watch her and her son as they snuggle under the same blanket, because holding her baby mattered more than what others think of her. That light right in the center of her form she had given up so carelessly in her despair was back. It glowed brighter than ever for her child. Her son. Her love.

Raven hadn't retreated when their eyes met hers. She'd fought worse to prove her pride. Besides, why would she, a mother, be ashamed to express her love to her lost colt?

She sensed how weary they were of Derrick. She had accepted the complications to come in the near future, allow it to flow through her, not once thinking about it or trying to fight or resist. She was too old to worry or fear what may become of Derrick. She was bound to him, intertwined tightly, feeling the energy and power wrap around their bodies. She concentrated on this feeling for both of them, pushing her through her lungs, focusing immensely on his calm magic.

If this lasted much longer she would lose herself to the familiar energy—that everlasting flow of powerful magic. You have your father's light and my darkness, but I feel that you are still between both roads. It's no wonder Faust was afraid of you.

The silence was worse then ever, robbing the guards of their stiff nature, of their ability to think for a long moment. Neither could process their empress being so affectionate to such an oddly shaped creature. He looked so strange, maybe hideous enough to be called a monster. The idea of watching over him was as bad or worse than foalsitting Sombra's and Chrysalis' changelings. Their bodies shuddered with seeing Raven lick the man's cheek and whisper "Momma will never let you go. Momma loves you with all her blackened heart."

"Disgusting," the guard to the right whispered, perhaps too loud for his own good. His fellow guard went to nod and follow with a comment about Derrick's appearance being equivalent to the backside of a mule, but the first word that was about to leave his mouth locked up at the tip of his tongue. Strangely, instead of widening, his eyes shrunk in what little light the fireplace has to offer.

The red in Raven's frightening orbs glowed in the shadows, the glimmer in her body stretched out, spreading through the darkness there in the icy cold room, crawling for the fool that insulted the slumbering man. Attempting to hurt him? Only the silent guard, on the very edge of wetting himself, already falling to his stomach out of fear, could think to show his inferiority out to the goddess. She had come for the idiot when he thought more about the young royal and his difference. Against all her morals as an empress and a mother to all her children of the dark, she had given into the hatred, when the guard doubted any consequences.

The light subsided, and Derrick was left in the bed to shiver. Raven breathed a sickly growth, and he felt on the back of his neck that was the right time to be afraid. She surrounded the fool in her darkness and began to move slowly over his form from the icy darkness.

"You dare whisper an insult in front of your empress. The mother of that darling child. . . .Your creator."

The guard's hooves shook, and that small warm comfort that was Raven's love did not spread over his body. She stayed hovering in the door, gazing down at him. The moment he ceased holding a stern demeanor, the darkness that engulfed the light allowed a spark in the very center of his snout and then dimmed as if it could not fight the blackness without help.

"Maybe I should relieve you of your duties?" she leaned into his ear, nipping it harshly. "Maybe I should relieve you of your position, seeing as how you are incapable of respecting your lord."

The guard felt the smallest of answers. Warmth in his body. His heart jerked in his chest. Stuttered with pain. Raven was the cause of this, filling him with magic, reminding him what it meant to have the other end of the stick. He had no idea how bad the spell actually was, but even in his panicked state, he knew with absolute certainty that his empress would not kill him. She would make him take the brunt of his punishment and learn his lesson—for her.

"I shall remind your comrade what it means to anger a mother, and then you will all remember to respect your lord."

Again there was that small spread of warmth. This time he was certain of that spell in the midst of the warmth being a forceful muscle contraction of his boy. Raven had a reputation for internal torture to her victims. He stood still and listened to her whispers as the spell coursed through him; at least until a shift in her power changed him.

"You will never insult my child again."

Suddenly, pain welled up, a wave sharp and terrible, burning through his insides, raking and clawing at his stomach as he fell to the floor with both hooves on his barrel. He looked up to the Night Mother just in time as her horn intensified in the light, emptying the remainder of her spell over and over in his muscles, a wretched action he could not resist. Something more powerful than the pain in his stomach consumed him. Wave after wave crashed through him, lasting long seconds that felt to be minutes. He lost track whilst realizing that his empress sowed his mouth shut with magic, threads of his own mane locking his lips together.

Abruptly, she leaned down and kissed his cheek, and the guard next to him looked away for his own good, desperate to ignore the scene. He felt betrayed. He felt like he was going to explode. He couldn't find the strength to fight the spell and started screaming at the top of his lungs, but no sound left him. His voice was muted by her.

He was still contracting into a ball, an unwilling action done by the smiling alicorn. Multiple lacerations opened and fire burned through his body, yet he did not try to stop it. He was as powerless as the last guard that tried to rape Midnight Estelle. Already another wave of pain rose in the guard's body, bleeding through his eyes and nostrils and slamming against his chest. The strength and intensity of the convulsion forced him to vomit through his tightly woven lips, but there were chunks of his meal stuck and blocking any air from entering or leaving.

Raven forced his body to relax with another spell, relying on thousands of years of mental discipline. There was no blocking the hatred, no way to stop herself from killing this pony, or the way she pet his bulging cheek as it bled.

"Do not worry my little pony," she tittered, licking his blood one last time. "Your suffering is over. You may rest now."

The wonderful yawns of Derrick rang throughout Raven's mind as she removed the blood from her lips. The surviving guard at the door kept to himself, while the human opened his eyes to the Dark Goddess holding him very closely. Her felt her snout rub against his lips before a tender kiss was placed on his cheek. He stiffened when the kiss was over, blushing profusely whilst feeling himself drown in her chest.

Raven smiled, studying her perfect image of her child buried so deep in her wings. She brushed a hoof over the same cheek, tracing one of the cuts he earned in the Everfree Forest. She could feel his heart race as the matting of her fur was replaced with short breaths.

"Calm down my son, you are safe. There are no safer hooves in this world than mine."

Her soft voice faded and she leaned forward to trail more kisses across his cheek and forehead, and use the moment for bonding as she traced his cuts with her tongue.

Derrick wanted to scream and push the alicorn away from him, but he found her ministrations of love not only soothing, and extremely intimate, but calming as well. No one had ever held him this close and treated him with such love' and she had actually wrapped him in her form, entangling her legs with his, twisting her tail around his lower half while her soft wings cover him from his neck to his waist, her chest pressed close to his face as she administered butterfly kisses.

"Perhaps hitting you was not the best way to help you realize that I am your mother;" she cooed in his ear, nuzzling him. "You did pass out shortly after meeting your sister."

Derrick opened his mind to the thought of having other sisters, staring into the devilish eyes of the alicorn he had found to be pure of truth. He had so much to think about and not enough time to process it. He remembered on Earth the sound of his sister's laughter when they played and the murmur of her voice during their darkest days. He realized he wanted to have her back, to make this new world her home as well. It was deep enough in darkness to keep Twilight and the others away and yet still close for him to spy. Equestria was a small spark in the distance. Small, but visible.

Raven saw his trouble and leaned into him. She loved cuddling her colt as he thought deeply. Nightmare Moon did say he looked more peaceful in his thoughts than he does when speaking, but to be this quiet—so different from everything she presumed in the beginning. If this was how her son truly is as a freethinker, then there was much work to be done. But for now, it was best to let him cope with the truth and adjust to the life he was denied. Gently she brushed back silken strands of hair that had fallen over his eyes.

"You need your mane trimmed." she pointed out grimly.

Derrick could not help with the smile. It was the first in a long time that anyone cared enough to state the obvious about any part of his figure. He looked up as she giggled, knowing his smile was the cause. Her lashes were long and feathery, dark, yet glossy in the light of the fireplace. Curiosity overtook him. He traced her cheekbone with the pad of his finger, absorbing the satin-smooth fur. It was his first time touching someone who is his mother, although he still did not believe that she really is. Still, he wanted to know what it was like to touch someone that is or might be his family.

Raven teased him mercilessly, moving out of his hand from time to time to make him earn her touch. If he was going to try and understand through touching first, she was going to have a little fun.

Derrick found himself smiling brighter than ever at the idea of having a real family, until he realized how alone he was. "I had a nice life before coming to Equestria," he murmured aloud to her. "I had a nice apartment. A great job. A good life. I had everything I needed, but now I am here."

Raven flinched at his sorrow, nuzzled the top of his head and lifted her lashes. The impact of her eyes meeting his was powerful, a strong, wicked strike that drove the air from his lungs. She had her maternal instincts, the true nature that makes her a terrifying goddess.

"And it was all taken from you. I'm sorry."

Derrick sighed and rolled in the empress' wings, spooned as the moon rose higher. "You have no reason to apologize to me. Karma is just a big bitch, and it decided to take a shit on me with everything that's happened."

"But it is my fault that you are suffering." It was the first time she'd lost herself to the guilt. She didn't push herself further into his life, knowing this would be one of the hardest truths to him to accept.

Derrick didn't mind the twists and turns happening, but in the moment he heard Raven say those words, he needed to know what exactly she meant and that she had a reason to justify it. It was a natural part of coming into the light of the truth. He craved the facts, but the thought of forcing it out of Raven bothered him on a much higher level.

There was a small silence. Raven had separated herself from Derrick and she smoothed over her emotions there—absently—like she did with losing him the first time. "I had more than enough power to stop Faust from taking you, but I was so focused on her murdering your father that I could not use it. I allowed her to banish you from our world. I let her destroy us, and now you have to suffer losing your lifestyle in Equestria and on that other world. You have to suffer, because I was too weak-hearted to fight back."

His heart jumped. One little blink from her and the tears poured. He accepted the new way of life as an Equestrian and trusted everyone to teach him the things necessary to be treated equal, but to lose it all when Twilight screwed up. He knew his life in Equestria was over, but he never expected his troubles to weight so heavy on the Dark Goddess. It was not just a small step for her to express so freely, it was a huge milestone for her.

"I should have killed Faust and her daughters. I was more powerful than her, but I dwelled on your father's death and let her take you." Raven sobbed, pacing in front of the bed. "And even though you were gone I should have tried to find you, but I gave up as quick as she abandoned me and my little ponies. I gave up on you and hoped that your sisters would fill the void in my heart. I chose them over you in a heartbeat and pushed you out of my mind, but Nightmare Moon found my journal and searched for you."

He'd spent several years wanting to know who his mother is. He spent too long hoping she would find him and say she is sorry for abandoning him. Yes, he'd prayed to god for her to spend one day with him, and even talk about the things he went through, but the entire rest of his life, he been beneath wanting a loving mother, knowing that the only person he needs to think about is himself.

But to hear all of this. . .

He sat up and glared at the mare. He wanted to hit her as hard as he could and tell her there are no second chances, but seeing how much it tore her up to admit the past was more than he could bear and resist. He'd spent several years building a mental wall for this moment and it all crashed at the impact of her eyes. Yes, he'd gotten to the breaking point of a cold-hearted man, and even exchange a piece of him for clarity of never having a real family, but Raven took that away with a whimper.

The seconds spent between him sitting perfectly still and her crawling on the bed had been necessary—both of them were in bad shape when they'd felt a similar desire. Raven had barely enough sense to gently place herself in Derrick's lap before she collapsed from guilt. Fortunately, that essential time confessing her biggest mistake meant she was able to start a new life with him.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry for losing hope in you." she cried against his leg, tossing her glasses away whilst ignoring the guard. "I understand if you hate me and want me to leave you be, but I cannot do that. I cannot leave you to your own life, because I want to be part of it. Please, at least give me one chance to redeem myself as your mother. That is all I ask."

Derrick remained quiet and watched while Raven sobbed into the comforter, tears seeping through and soaking his skin. He gave her a few minutes to collect her emotions and thoughts and certainly there was something he felt for her. He almost felt as if he were a child returning home, that he had come back to where he truly belongs. Home. Raven said little afterward, and she seemed to prefer to crying herself to death in his lap, rather than face the problem.

"I've been without a mother or a father for my entire life," Derrick began, and reached down to rub his hand across the back of her neck as if it would calm her down. "I have buried the thought of having a mother that loved me and moved on with my life, but you just have to do this to me. You just have to tell me everything about a past life that involves me."

Raven looked up, horrified by the insinuation of his anger. "Derrick. . . My son. . . Please. . . "

His hand shaped her neck as he chuckled lightly. "I should be telling you to go fuck yourself or to rot in hell, because any mother who gives up on her child deserves to suffer."

"Derrick. . ."

He couldn't help laughing, though the weak smile and tears gave away his pain. "I lost everything because of Twilight and now have you to twist my mind with facts I cannot understand. After losing my lifestyle on earth and Equestria I don't know what I should do. I have nothing and no one. I don't even have a single penny to my name."

He nodded, cupping the mare's chin and forcing her to see the pain in his eyes. Her heart jumped. She did not expect sadness to affect the magic inside him, and yet, here he was lost in eyes of black and red once more and shedding tears. Anger was not the trigger to his dark power, but why?

Was it through deep emotions that he showed the signs?

Raven sat up to meet his gaze. The brush of her hoof was far too loving to him to ever be nothing and both his heart and body responded to those caresses.

She murmured her words each time she carefully removed each tear from his cheeks.

"It was never my intention to hurt you, but I have done so without trying. I have done so much harm to you that your father would be disgusted of me. He would have my head for giving up on you. I'm so sorry."

Derrick allowed himself to inhale deeply, to bring his good hand up to her hoof and hold it against cheek, fingers splayed wide to take in as much of her bare hoof as possible.

"I don't know how I should feel about having a mother," Derrick said, staring so close at her hoof that the heat of his breath grazed the fur as she ran loving nuzzle into the deep corners of his throat. "I don't know if I should hate you or love you. Everything about this feels so unreal and terrifying. It's hard enough to believe that I was born from the womb an alicorn."

Raven too a breath and let it out. Her wings wrapped around his back and stroked his skin, her touch sending calm flames flickering through his nerves. He had dreamt of this, had wanted it, the touch of a mother destroying his pain and anxiety, but her knowing she could not act on the desire flooding her body made the moment bittersweet. She needed this as much as he did.

"You do not deserve a second chance," he admitted starkly, breaking of one last tear before pecking her hoof. "But what good would come out of me hating you? What good would it do for me to hate someone who is already suffering?"

Raven was silent for a moment, turning his words over and over in her mind. She had to admit to herself she'd been nervous since his rising. She felt afraid, there in her own kingdom, in her fortress, trapped in the suspension of his decision.

"It's going to take me a long time to recover from all of this and to believe that you really are my mother," he sighed in a hollow tone, smiling as best as he could. "But, for now, I want to try and have some happiness in my life before it is lost again. So, I will not believe you, but I will give you a chance."

The breath in her body went still, remaining over the burning in her lungs. She found it amazing that in those words, she could feel some hope return to her life, and yet she was expressing her joy whether or not she could be his friend or mother for the time being.

"You're saying. . ."

He nodded and shook her hoof. "Hi, I'm Derrick Whitten. And you are?"

Raven could not be any happier to hear him say that.

"Empress Raven of Nebula. . . and your mother."

"We'll see," he chuckled. "But, for now, you're just Raven to me."