I returned back to the material plane shortly after my conversation with the rude yet useful stallion ended, well he was not exactly a stallion anymore, but just a mind and soul in a crystal he had made, I was still unsure as to why he made it, but he did.

Once I arrived I was right were I left, sitting next to a dumpster on an a dark alleyway of the city.
Mom is probably at home, it seemed like her emotions were back under control, now thats a relief, I just needed to get home and check on her, I was not going to ask what she did, I myself had learned some useful spells, and the day was a success, despite that monster being my teacher, he had no real choice, he had no way to escape, and no one but I could talk to him.

I walked out of the alley, a pegasus royal guard was patrolling the street right at that moment, I existed normally and she gave me a look of suspicion, I simply waved at her, it was easy to tell the gender even with royal guard armor, as the enchantment on the armor just changed the colors of the pony, but not the shape of their muzzles and facial structure.

"Dragon hatchling, what are you here this late at night coming out of a dark alley?" Well, now I was in trouble! What can I tell her? If I say I was lost she would probably take me to some foal protection services or something, or was I gonna get arrested for being a dragon?

"I-i just wanted to check it out, I was going back home and saw this and wanted to explore! It looks cool and mysterious, and I thought there may be treasure at the end, but... I only found bags of trash and it smelled bad" I came up with on the fly, looking disappointedly at the guard, her expression softened a bit, seems that was a decently reasonable explanation for what, now about the hour, it was probably too late for a foal to be outside, I assumed, specially without parents present.

"Oh okay, that makes sense, foals are very adventurous and dragons like treasure, I get that now, but what are you doing out here at this hour? It's too late for foals to be out and about without their parents, young dragon." Uh oh... I hope this didn't get mom in trouble, I may have to have this guard escort me home.

"I just like the peace of nighttime and wanted to go for a walk around the town, is it safe right? I was just heading home, my mom is at home waiting for me with dinner probably ready." I lied convincingly, I was used to it by now, only innocent lies, and only when necessary, but I was not opposed to lying when it helped me or mom.

"I guess I can accompany you home, maybe even talk to your mom about this, what's your name little dragon? And where do you live?" I decided to tell the truth this time, making up a reason was fine, but making up a name and pretending to be someone else while I was probably the only dragon in town was as stupid as sticking your head in a hornets nest.

"My name is Onyx, I'm from the middle district, 250 Sappire street." She nodded at this, then smiled encouragingly, she clearly was good with foals once she realized there was nothing wrong going on.

"Let's go, I'll take you there colt, so who do you live with? I'm curious to know, I haven't seen dragons before in Canterlot, you're the first dragon I meet in fact." We started walking back home, i was nervous to say the wrong thing, so I tried to keep my answers short and not tell too much, despite my impulsiveness.

"Thank you ma'am, I don't know any other dragons ether to be honest, I live with my momma, she's the best mom ever!"

"Does she take good care of you?" I was almost offended at the question, but I kept the snark out of my tone.

"Yes, yes she does, we always go everywhere together but I wanted some time alone tonight and she agreed as long as I didn't do anything dangerous and stayed near the patrol routes." I said with a slight defensive tone, she clearly picked up on it.

"I'm just trying to look out for you, no need to get upset colt, come now we are close." I sighed and we continued this way walking alongside her the rest of the way in silence for about 10 minutes, I decided to check if mom was home and warn her.

'Hey mom, you're at home right? I'm back, I had to escape away because you and that stallion were going too wild, it interfered a bit with our psychic link.'

'Oh Onyx, you're back! I've been at home for a few hours now, dinner is ready for when you come back, hopefully you're heading here now, as I don't think the guards will be okay with a hatchling walking around on his own this late, and I may get into trouble because of it.'

'Well... How to explain this mom, I happen to have a pegasus guardmare with me who found me coming out of a dark alley, and decided to escort me home, she seems to want to talk to you and you may want to say that I just really wanted to go for a walk, and I refused to let you go with me, that's more or less what I told her, but she still insisted on talking to you.'

A few seconds of silence, followed by a mental sigh was my answer, she was not happy, was I in trouble? But... This wasn't my fault, maybe coming home late was, but I had to escape somehow!

'Son, I understand, I would have preferred you to come home earlier but I understand, this is my fault after all, I'm well aware of what i did and how long it took for me to return home, so I'll talk to the guardmare, she will probably recognize who i am anyways.'

'Just for your information, and maybe I should have told you sooner but when I found out about the dungeon I modified our telepathic link to send emotions as well, it usually just sends a sense of what's going on, but when you started to... Get friendly with the pony I didn't have time to modify the link again, I did this so I could tell what happened to either of you at any time and be ready to protect you, and of course I forgot to modify it again so I would not feel your emotions again, because im an idiot, a distracted idiot.'

'Y-you could feel what I was feeling?! ONYX! Why didn't you mention you did that, before the dungeon! I would have preferred for it to be two ways so I could tell what you were going through, I want to protect you as well!' Oh fuck, mom was pissed off, and not because I was basically spying on her emotions, but because i didn't give her an extra way to protect me, figures she would focus on that.

'I... I didn't have time to revert it, your strong emotions were starting to become too much, so I decided I had no choice but to escape, and I headed into the dream realm, where I stayed all day.'

'You are... I suppose I can't be angry at you for this, it was me who agreed to let you outside waiting for hours and hours, I should not have done that, and I'm sorry.' Her voice sounded genuine, she was not happy about leaving me outside.

'If I had not been linked to you I may have just stayed in the back of the store and taken a nap on some boxes or something, it doesn't matter to me what you do, if it makes you happy then I'm happy, now momma I'm near the house so I'll see you soon!'

She sent her confirmation over the link, and we stopped as me and the guardmare escorting me arrived at my home, I wanted to go and open the door, but the mare stopped me with an outstretched wing, then knocked the door herself, I was getting frustrated, how dare she stop me from going into my own house?! Just because I was short it didn't mean that she could just dismiss me!

"I want to talk to your mom first colt, wait a minute." She said dismissively, I sighed and just nodded, I didn't want to cause a scene.

A few more seconds passed and then mom opened the door, towered over me and the guardmare, who's eyes widened as she looked up at the large wolf, she swallowed audibly, I almost chuckle at this, but I settled for tackling mom in a hug, I felt her snout nuzzle my head gently, I missed her, she is the most important person in my life.

"Momma I'm so happy to see you again! This good guardmare here wants to talk to you, she found and decided it was too dark for me to go home on my own."

"First Lieutenant Sylf?!" The pony exclaimed, seemingly breaking out of her surprise and thinking, she stood straight and snapped a salute.

"At ease, name and rank?"

"Private Cloud Striker from nightshift ma'am, I've come to see your son home safely, he was playing in a dark alley on upper Canterlot, were you aware of this?"

"Yes I was, he told me he was going to take a walk around the area, he adores the nighttime and I often accompany him out to stargaze, but he wanted to go by himself today, now, I know what youre thinking Private Striker, but i assure you, my son is safe."

The mare didn't seem convinced at her words but she could see the determination in my mom's eyes.

"With all due respect First Lieutenant Sylf, ma'am he is just a hatchling, he is no older than 10, how can he even be safe on his own at night outside? Sure, the streets are safe and it's too cold for most ponies to go out at that hour, but you need to look after him better." Cloud Striker said with a serious tone, but she was still clearly nervous to be scolding a guard of higher rank.

Mom lowered her head slightly, she didn't have many options or excuses she could come up with, she could just either tell the pony that I was highly magically capable and bring all the attention of the guard on me, or just admit she was wrong, and try to smooth things out.

"I... I'm sorry Private, I had a long day, it won't happen again, I just know it's safe there because I know the patrol routes of the guards, and I know he was always within those routes, always I'm view of our fellow guardponies, but you are right, he is still a young hatchling and he could have just left the streets despite me telling him not to."

The mare seemed to relax at this, her expression softened somewhat, but she was not happy with the situation clearly.

"I hope this is the last time you let him out at night, I respect you a great deal, but I won't hesitate to report this next time, good night First Lieutenant, good night Onyx." And with that, the mare left and took a running start and flew back to her patrol route, I closed the door behind her, then turned to mom and looked at her in the eyes.

She looked back at me, her glowing yellow eyes showing concern, fear, anger and guilt.
I could tell she couldn't decide what emotion to settle on, she didn't say anything.

This had been a really long day and I feel like I overreacted by escaping to the dream world. I should have turned it off and returned back immediately, I... Didn't know what to do, I was also keeping a very important secret from her.

"Mom, I'm sorry, this is my fault, I messed up badly, I forgot how overprotective ponies are of foals, but worst of all I went to where I shouldn't have, I did something I shouldn't have done without telling you."

"Onyx, my son, muy precious and sweet son...
I will tell you again, no matter what happens, no matter how badly you messed up or what you did, even if it was towards me, I will help you out, I will protect you and I will side with you, and let me be clear here, this all is my fault, it was because of me that you saw no choice but to escape to the other place, was it not?"

"I... I was overwhelmed and I was not thinking, I just wanted out and to feel calm again, but I don't think it's your fault, you didn't do anything wrong, you didn't meant to do this, it was my fault in the first place! The telepathic link was my doing, I modified it."

"This... Happens sometimes, in this case where we both did something in the moment and didn't think of the consequences of our actions, I suppose we are both at fault then, are we not?" She was wrong, I did something else, something I didn't tell her, but... The guilt was eating away at me, so I spilled.

"Actually I did something else too, I convinced Post Mortem to teach me about magic..." Her eyes grew in size and her pupils contracted, she stared at me in disbelief for almost ten seconds.

'ARE YOU SERIOUS? THAT FUCKING MONSTER ALMOST KILLED YOU! AND... AND YOU ASKED HIM TO BECOME YOUR TEACHER?!' I think my brain was bleeding a little from her psychic scream, her voice in my mind made me wince and try to cover my ears, good thing she used telepathy because otherwise our neighbors may have woken up from the loud voice.

'I... I think his knowledge about the world outside of Equestria is going to greatly benefit us, he has traveled the world for decades, he has knowledge about ancient temples, places that could contain treasures, rare or forgotten spells, magical artifacts and even forgotten books of magic. He did not tell me this, I can see his information when I examine his spirit gem! It would be a waste to just absorb his magic and spells without finding out about potential future locations to explore mom.' I explained my point of view.

'Onyx, you little precious hatchling, I also have read the information about him, I also can read the stats and examine items from the inventory, and read their description, you know this, you have shown me how.
But that monster, that horrible monster has done terrible things to you, and not only you, but hundreds of ponies, you heard him, he has committed mass murder just to become stronger! Do you think he will just be okay with becoming a teacher to you, the one who got him killed, and the one he was SO CLOSE TO KILLING?!' She was really upset, my ears were pinned against my head, as she looked at me, her gaze was very intense, I couldn't look into her eyes for long, i felt guilt.

'He already has taught me two spells, very useful spells in combat. Mom, he can't do anything else, what will he do? He is trapped in a gemstone that is imposible to break out of, he has no body of his own to posses, he can't use magic without his horn, and his horn is sitting out in the dream realm, broken off, while his body is in the inventory frozen solid, I decided to keep it there in case we may need a dead pony for some reason.'

'What the buck Onyx?! You've actually just taken his word for it that the spells he taught you will work like he said they would? I'm... Very concerned about you, and I'm very upset at you. How do you know those spells are safe and not some trap designed to blow up your head the moment you cast them?' her voice was calmer, but her tone was still angry, and cold, which made me feel even worse about this.

'Mom, I know the spell formula, I know the runes and I know what each one means, you can know what a rune means by channeling magic, you know this right? I triple checked the formulas, the runes and even their order, I know they are safe for me to cast, in fact only one of the spells can deal damage to others, there is no explosive spell or anything that could make my head explode, not that exploding my head would be easy, I've taken one of the strongest spells directly to my head mom, and I survived! The spells I learned are tier 1 and tier 2.'

'You seem really sure about this, but I still don't like it, son I have never done this before and I didn't expect the need to do it, but you are grounded until you can prove that the spells he has given you are safe, in fact I will examine the formulas and the runic matrix myself, I may not be an expert in them but I can always learn, if it means keeping you safe.
From now on, you aren't allowed to talk or get taught from him, you hear me? I will have to hide away his spirit gem, give it to me now.' She was serious, her face didn't show a single positive emotion, she also was slightly baring her fangs.

I wanted to hide somewhere, her gaze like this was more intimidating than anyone I've ever seen, and she wasn't even serious, I meekly nodded, my head lowered as I pulled the gem out of my inventory and handed it to her, she grabbed it in her maw.

'Yes mother, I have no choice now, but please reconsider when you learn if his spells are safe for the caster, I know what they do, but I can't test them on you because from one you would take psychic damage and the other is used to force others to attack the ones near them.' I hoped she would understand, I didn't want to try this on her, as much as I knew the theory, for example crown of madness forces someone to attack the person they are right next of, but they still can freely move, it's only useful for a surprise attack, once the opponent realized what it did they would just stay away from their allies.

'I will prefer if you don't try them until I double check the properties and formulas of the spell, please write them down for me, I'll read them tomorrow, now I will go store this somewhere, and I know you can find it, but please don't, dont take it or you'll make me very upset young dragon.' She warned and went upstairs to probably store the gem, which

I sat down on the ground, closed my eyes and started to cry, today had been overwhelming, my dreams of gaining power enough to protect myself and mom, they were just dreams, i was probably not going to get any new spells for a while, not forbidden ones at least.

And worst of all, I had got mom in trouble, probably ruined her happy mood, and made her worry a lot about me, not to mention angry.

I was too selfish, was I wrong for wanting to gain power at all costs? Yes, yes i was, power was important yes, but not at the cost pushing my loved ones away, I can't believe it... I barely go outside because I spent most of my days indoors, studying magic, while mom risks her job and her freedom by sneaking out copies of spellbooks, all so I become strong enough to survive, and yet I go behind her back for more power.

I sobbed loudly, curled up on the floor, the realization I was hurting my only family for power hit like a ton of bricks.

"There, now it's time for dinner son, wait, what's going on? Oh." I heard mom call me and approach me as she heard me, she looked down at me, I looked up at her, my sight was blurry from crying, I felt even worse when I looked into her beautiful eyes that were full of emotion, she started to tear up too, but approached me and pulled me towards her, i got up and clung to her like my life depended on it.

"I'm selfish, i-i have caused you to risk your entire life, your career, your relationships, even your mental health just so I could be stronger... I'm not a good son, I'm a burden. You've saved my life countless times, yet I go behind your back and do something I knew you would not want me to, just because I want more, more knowledge and power. You have given me so much... Yet I only bring you trouble, just now Cloud Striker could have reported what I did to her superiors, and you would be in trouble, because of me!" I managed to say while holding her and trying to keep my choking sobs under control, I was pouring my heart out to her, all of my worst emotions, I was being selfish again wasn't i?

"My son, I chose you, when I met you I knew I wanted to protect you and watch you grow up happy, then, when we were thrown into that hell, I stayed by your side, I protected you, I fought for you, even knowing who you were before, what you went through it only made me more sure of what I feel, what i think. You, Onyx, are my son, the reason I do all of that, I mean risking my own life and wellbeing is because I love you, and because it's the nature of being a mother, for you, I will do anything, but I just really don't want you to be hurt or worse, even if by your own decisions." Mother explained to me softly, in a caring and very gentle tone.

"I never think of you as a burden, you are a blessing, my first and only son, and I said this before my darling, but I'll say it again as many times as I need, if I lose everything, if I get fired from my job, if the princess takes away our home, I will still have you, and we will just move away together, we have more than enough bits to buy several houses, probably enough to buy a mansion." She continued, her words making my crying slow to a stop as her words felt like caressing on my face, like gentle kisses and soft hugs.

"I admit, I came out very harsh and my upset face didn't help, I really didn't meant to scare you or make you feel so awful, I just don't want you to mess with that gem, I know in that state he may be harmless, but I don't know what madness his words carry, what effects it may have in your growing hatchling psyche, I... I just worry he will change you, that he will change how you see the world, and make you think that what he did is okay somehow, that he is not a bad pony or that he genuinely just wants to help you, when I know that is not the case, none of those, son. He wanted to rape you, he melted your face, your eyes and half of your torso off, do you understand now why I was so upset?" This time mom's calm voice and comforting nuzzles made me feel less awful, but there was anger whenever she remembered what he did to me, just directed to him instead of myself.

"I-i do mom, you are correct, I... I just think I have been to obsessed with becoming more powerful as a mage after my humiliating defeat by him, yes, he defeated me completely, if it wasn't for you, I would have lost and... Yes I see your point, I... I just want to take advantage of him, as much as I can, I was planning on betraying him once I had more information on the things I wanted, but... There may be information about those places on libraries within and outside Equestria, or just... Traveling ourselves and exploring, meeting the locals, talking to them." Mom smiled at this, she is clearly happy she changed my mind, and I was starting to agree too.

Who would I rather side with, and try to make and keep happy, my mom, who is doing all she can to make me happy, help me get stronger, feed me, give me affection, hold me when I feel my lowest, and even risking her life for me, OR a total stranger that is a psychopath, mass murderer, possible rapist, necrophiliac, who almost killed my family and I, and also on top of that was going to do all of those bad things to us either before or after we died?

Thinking of it that way, the answer was obvious, maybe he was somehow affecting me before, to be so stupid as to entertain for a moment the idea of even speaking to him was preposterous, or... I was just mad for power, was it? I suppose it was my nature, but I had to go about it the right way.

"My sweet little dragon, I'm happy that you're realizing what I feel now, if you do the right thing, I will make it up to you, I promise! I'll accompany you on a journey of discovery once you finish school, we will, together, find all that you may need to become unstoppable! And we will do so while we hold to our virtues"

"I know you are a kind dragon, I know because you just showed me how you truly feel, and someone who was just thinking of themselves wouldn't cry like you did over your actions and over what you feel is your fault, this virtues we hold, they are important, kindness is the most important of them, without kindness I would have ignored you when I first found you, all those years ago, I know it sounds horrible to say, but at the time I was hungry myself, I was checking if you had food I could take, but when you showed generosity by sharing the fish you caught, despite you doing so out of fear as a peace offering, it was still generous."

"My adorable little dragon, I want you to remember that showing your virtues may bring them out on others, when you are kind to someone, or generous, or honest, or brave, even if you're cracking jokes too, you may make others feel like its good to be any of those things, we are all a bit of a show off inside, if someone is kind, we may not want to be left behind and we show kindness too, it's our nature to want to compete with others, so why not make it a competition of virtue instead?"

I couldn't help but agree, I did really care for her, for my friends and for Kari, Wishpaw and the Apple family, I did care about this ponies, and they cared about me, we sometimes gave gifts to each other, and I loved to show them affection too.

"I understand mom, I... There is a story back home, a series of little stories that all are about a different topic, but what they have in common is that all of them happen I'm Equestria, or somewhere near Equestria, they are about this exact same topic, the virtues are what always saves the day in the end, they are very important, and I need to do better. Thank you so much for this you cuddly and sweet wolf momma!" Her explanation and the way she says them make me feel much better about everything, I have try to improve as a person too, not just improve my combat power.

I hugged mom like my life depended on it, my face was mostly dry from tears now, I would need a showed however as I had some snot on myself from crying so much, gross...

"I... Have to tell you something little Onyx, I think our family is going to grow, since I have a coltfriend now, the stallion that... Well you know! He and I will visit each other often from now on, he will come here and I'll go to his house sometimes, I bet you two will get along well, he has a dry wit and humor you'll like, knowing you." She shyly announced as I could feel her face heating up while her tail wagged too, I smiled at the display, she may be wise and very kind, but she really was acting like a big happy wolf now, her paws tapping the floor.

"Yaaay! I'm glad! Coconut Cream is really awesome! He makes the best ice cream I ever tried, you got lucky mom, I also like his humor, I've seen him joke around with costumers, including myself, too bad most mares don't seem to like his dry humor and puns for some reason. That's good tho, means there's more for you!"

"Such wonderful news son! You do get along with him, that's lovely then! Now let's go eat dinner and sleep before I fall asleep on the spot?" Mom asked with a big yawn which I shared as well, I was realizing how sleepy I felt, and how hungry I am.

After a quick dinner of scrambled eggs and cheese we washed and headed to bed, I passed out shortly after laying my head on the pillow.

That night we cuddled together, the conflict in my mind and the guilt I was feeling about going behind her back were still there but going away after her words, tomorrow I would do what I should have done right away, I don't want to let her down again, this were my last thoughts before falling asleep.

Author's Note

No words can hurt quite as deeply as those from the one who you love the most, in this case, Onyx learns first hand how it feels to fail his mother, realizing he has been too blinded by his thirst for power and has once again done something questionable behind her back, will he ever learn?
Is he going to listen to her words and try to be better?