Author's Note

Wrote this in my phone, will be edited later. My fingers hurt so much.

Saga 1, To Be a Princess: Father and Son

Noche read and reread Gekidō's letter, worry in his stomach. Skiadrum was in danger of himself, a fact that he could already be harming himself was eating him up. He loved his sons and daughter, and grandchild. And his wife. He needed to stop this worrying, and talk to him. Skiadrum needed him.

Noche De Neón bit his lip and walked towards the room he and Kanashimi were in. Skiadrum was still very injured, he needed that medic to be there constantly. His feathers ruffled nervously as he heard talking.

"So me, Fuwa and Roki were sent to investigate a cave. Apparently some ponies were being eaten, so they called us. We went in, and immediately got lost! Roki accidentally lost it, so we just went on. And then, we were Snatch Eaten!" Noche paused, unable to understand what he meant by snatch eaten? Given Kanashimi is a Draconequus, he feared the answer...

"Snatch eaten...?" His son was just as perplexed it seemed. It sounded dirty, thus Noche was memorizing it in his 'Embarrass My Kids' file. He had jokes and comments he loved to torture Medianoche and Solve with.

"See in that cave there was this creature called a Sunatchikuchi, it literally translates to 'Snatch Mouth' it's a massive monster and where its vagina should be its mouth was! To eat it has to split its legs and squat!" They were literally eaten by a vagina. Noche would go in hunting of this Sunatchikuchi himself "It was a bit humorous, but then Fuwa said 'normally I'm doing the eating'!" The Mountain King couldn't help but snort. With that, he walked into the room, a smile on his muzzle "I told you its funny!"

"Your ass is jealous of the crap coming from your mouth." That was a thing Skiadrum said. This Draconequus was staying in Shadowlogia, he was too much fun. And he was infecting Skiadrum with humour!

"Indeed. Kanashimi, may I speak with my son? Alone?" The Draconequus trotted out the room, a grin on his face. Strange creatures "Humour aside, I need to be serious with you Skiadrum. Something that's been brought to my attention..."

Skiadrum didn't look well, it was a side effect of having you life energy drained. You had to rest to let it recuperate, and Skiadrum had the problem of not stay in his bed. It's from his side of the family. Skiadrum's fur was lighter in shade than normal, he looked very tired and his mane didn't flow as much as it should. He was thankful that the pure black Draconequus put an enchantment on his son's covers so he couldn't get out of the bed.

"What would the matter be?" is it crushing to know your own child is oblivious to how bad certain things are. The older Umbrum walked over, his eyes burning with determination. He'd get his answer by seeing it for himself "Father?"

Noche De Neón undid the enchantment and tore the covers pack, his wings flaring in dread that Gekidō's suspicions are true. Skiadrum never thought his father as intimidating until now. His father was angry about something he wasn't aware of. That was normal from his mother but not his father. Nobody would think that rainbow feathers or a rainbow aura around a rainbow horn would be intimidating, but Noche proved otherwise. Noche magically grabbed his sons right hoof and pulled, glaring.

"I think you know what I'm looking for," Noche said darkly, his voice growling a little, glaring his purple eyes into Skiadrum's yellow. The younger Umbrum knew what his father wanted, how he knew he'd never know. Reluctantly, he put a halt to the illusion, unwillingly allowing his father to see the stripes of scarred skin "For fuck sake Skiadrum!" Noche let go angrily, though the anger was more aimed at himself. The younger felt something strange, this new feeling, it was akin to the description of shame. Noche was feeling the same.

"Why are you so angry?"

"Why? Why!? I'll fucking tell you why!" Noche was on the bed, both his hooves against his sons shoulders, their noses near touching. Noche's rage was burning hotter than Tartarus, though most of it was towards himself, some was directed towards Skiadrum "You're my son that's why! I care about you, I love you, and it fucking hurts knowing I've caused this!" He pulled himself back, angrily stamping on the floor, causing it to crack. He was lucky the ship had spells to keep someone from putting a hole in the hull.

"What do you mean? I... I don't understand?"

Skiadrum didn't understand. He wasn't expecting any of this, and didn't know how to respond to it. He sat up, his ears yet to re-rise from their lowered position. He didn't know how to react to this, and didn't know why his father was acting like this. Noche said that he cared and that he loved him. But Skiadrum didn't understand love, he didn't know what it meant or what it felt like.

"And I'm it's my fault you can't! I watched it happen, I watched as Crepúsculo tore you apart and made you into this! I didn't do anything to stop it, all I did was watch as she killed you... It's worse that she still doesn't understand what she did. And that I could've stopped this." Noche stamped again, his anger burning inside like a volcano.

Some of Skiadrum's scars were still 'healing' meaning he'd opened them recently, at least a week after Noche saved him. He was still feeling the raw horror of holding his eldest bloody body. He could will see the blood. He was familiar with blood, but not from his own children... It turned his stomach just remembering it. All of those injuries, Skiadrum would be a walking scar. He might not even fly again. Those wooden wolves were savage, as was the gorgon Fuwa had slain. That Draconequus was in Noche's good graces for sticking a halberd in her head.

"Do not blame yourself father, it helps nobody. Mother does not care for me, I've accepted that. Neither does anybody else... I have royal blood. If not for the horn on my head or the wings on my back, I'd have been offed by her. She hates me, your people hate me. It's a fact I accepted long ago."

Noche sighed, glaring at the cracks under his hoof. His way of thinking was toxic. If nobody else cared for me, why should I? He thought everyone hated him, when in reality, the public feared him. Noche De Neón has heard whispers about his eldest, how they were afraid of the monster incubating inside of him. Noche was beginning to think that Skiadrum was a time bomb. It'd kill either himself or a lot of others.

"We don't hate you, even Crepúsculo doesn't hate you. She can't accept it, but she hates herself for what she's done... I'll admit, when I saw you, I saw nothing but regret... But after seeing what she did to you, what that bitch had done... It broke the barrier blurring my view." It was hard to admit, and was stressful. Crepúsculo dragged him from his sons side since he did nothing but stay by his side "I flew you home so fast I made a fucking rainbow in the sky? I held onto your body as I crashed into the infirmary. I pleaded for them to help you. Me, The Mountain King, pleaded! The barrier was broken, and you weren't my regret anymore but my son who himself was pleading for help, but didn't how to make his voice heard."

"I don't know what to say to this. I've always lived believing I was alone. I have been alone, and to be told otherwise? I have no words for it." It was hurting inside. His father was breaking down in front of him, and Skiadrum couldn't feel anything but pain. It was hurtful to know he wasn't reacting to it "it's hurting inside, I can't feel anything but pain! I... Want to feel what you do now but I can't. There's nothing inside. It's so cold, so empty," he said through grit teeth and heavy breathing. He looked at his father, then back to his hooves, the scars to be exact. He didn't feel alive. If he didn't feel alive, then what was he?

Skiadrum was finally being honest with his pain, and likely didn't know how brace he was for coming clean with his pain. Noche could only watch his son look to his own hooves as if asking then what he should do. He needed help, he was screaming for it, but only now was his voice heard. Noche walked over and pulled his son into a hug. He wasn't too good at it, as he didn't do it often, but the action counted. The younger Umbrum was breathing harder as he felt his father hug him, an action he seldom witnessed, let alone felt it. It was strange, yet warm. To be in someone's grasp is indescribable when all people normally did was avoid him. He wasn't strong enough to resist it, not that he really wanted to. In fact, his body refused to move when he wanted it to, it sunk deeper against his father as if it craved this contact. He had no clue why, but his body wanted this. He felt water leave his eyes again, and felt a strange feeling in his hearts.

"I'm going to help you. I don't know how, but I will. I've failed you for too long, and it's time I swallow my pride. You're my son, you'll always be my son, and I'm not going to let you lose yourself to this," he said with determination, and with guilt while he watched and felt Skiadrum's reaction to the sub-par hug. For fuck sake he was crying! "You've been broken so many times... But nothing is broken that can't be fixed." Skiadrum wasn't pleased to hear her words coming from his fathers mouth. It made her words even more true. He really was so afraid he couldn't feel it... "Can you forgive me for fucking up so badly? For causing this?" He felt like he'd ruined his sons life, and wanted to try his best to correct it. If he could that is. At least he was going to try though.

Kanashimi had no words. He hadn't gone far, he was in the other room actually. Fuwa was letting Armadura, Medianoche and Crepúsculo know about the white alicorns current condition when he walked in. They weren't happy about the interruption but they went quiet as they heard what went on in the next room.

Medianoche put a barrier around the room so nobody else but they overheard. Fuwa and Armadura called it eavesdropping, but they wanted to hear just as much as he, Crepúsculo and Medianoche. They said nothing during the conversation between the father and son. It was very emotional, and all silently agreed not to talk about it outside the room, all but Crepúsculo.

What do you say after that? Hearing your tough husband break down and her greatest mistake break as well? Did she hate him? She said she did, but did she really? It really hurt her to hear them and she wanted to talk to them about it. At least talk to her husband. They didn't talk about what made Noche snap like that, but Kanashimi did. He'd suspected it, but he never thought it was actually going on. They looked to the black Draconequus, who had a face of knowing, and Crepūsculo had the face of 'tell me now or I wear your skin'. He'd gotten the look before.

"I suspected he'd been self harming, and I appear to have been right. You're forever a bitch in my eyes." Kanashimi would never take that back "I think its agreed we should all try helping. I try making him laugh, even Fuwa would struggle making him laugh, and he's cracked a Sunatchikuchi into laughing!" You now know how they escaped.

"Piss off." Apparently Fuwa didn't like remembering he'd been eaten by a vagina once.

"My son has been harming himself?" The mother of four was unable to process what Kanashimi just said. Her oldest boy was hurting himself, because of her. It was her fault, denying it was what caused this. If Noche could accept this, she'd have to as well or look like an ass. In Kanashimi's eyes she was an ass, a horrible ass.

"Yeah he has, it's like that tale our fathers tell us in Drapan. The Ō no kyōdai, or King's Brother." He remembered his father telling it to him a long time ago "long story short, King Gekidō had an older brother called Sēramu. He's gone through what Skiadrum has, he couldn't feel anything, he was always cold and felt heavy. It got to the point Sēramu killed himself... The lesson is to never run from your emotions or you'll suffer. Sad, but a good lesson. Best you don't mention it around our king though, he's sensitive about it."

"Your species never cease to amaze me," Medianoche said, ruffling his wings "I don't want to see my brother die, we've already had a scare when he risked his life for me. Father hasn't gotten over it, clearly." It's crushing to know how his brother is suffering and how it's affected his father. Armadura had no words for what she heard, other than that she was proud of her father in law.

Kanashimi wanted Skiadrum to be happy, to bring him out of his shell. Who knew what was under there? Kanashimi wouldn't lie, Skiadrum was rather good looking. Unlike the others who were afraid of him, Kanashimi saw Skiadrum as a challenge. An attractive challenge. When the opposite gender were all evil bitches that wanted to eat you and your kids, you found males attractive. He did wonder what faces he could make Skiadrum do? What did his smile look like? His anger, his joy? Kanashimi would find out. He even had his scheming face.

"Oh dear..." Was all Discord could say to his coworker who was planning something. Something he feared... Kanashimi always got what he wanted, usually ending in his favour in the weirdest way. At least he'd be home when Kanashimi enacted his dark scheme.