Flyte

4 hours later~

Celestia looked at the dragon colt, he stared back. "What in the name of the holy Faust was that?" She asked him, kneading her temple with a hoof to offset the coming headache. "I'm sorry, it won't happen again." He replied in an even tone, staring right back at the monarch.

Celestia knew when stallions lied, they always had a tell. A twitch of the eyebrow, a small smile at the corner of their lips, the biggest tell of them all though was the aversion of the eyes.

The colt stared back at her. She sighed, exhausted. "Whatever i'm feeling, he must be feeling at least 10x that." She mused as she gave him a stern yet thoughtful look.

"Can I take your word on that?" She asked him, it was a simple question but her eyes held the true value of it. They asked can you be trusted?

He wordlessly bowed to the monarch, something she thought would never happen. "Celestia I promise you I will never lose control EVER again. I'd rather die than hurt my anypony." He replied, his voice holding all the sincerity one would expect of a knight and a gentle-colt.

Celestia stared into those eyes. They were years to young to hold the sadness and strength that lay within. "Can I trust you?" She whispered barely audible, the only reason he heard her was because she had requested a private meeting with just the two of them.

"Yes." He replied curtly. They continued to stare for a few more minutes before she sighed and closed her eyes, breaking the silence.

"I trust you, go now, your family needs you." She said waving him away with one hoof. He gave a curt not and made his way out.

Before he walked out he suddenly stopped and looked at her. "I'm sorry Celestia, I know you were just trying to help." He ran back and gave her a hug, taking the sun princess by surprise.

"Thank you." He said over and over as he shook while hugging the sun monarch. She just sat there in his hooves completely shocked, one minute he was a raging storm capable of destroying the deadliest of demons, the next he was just like any other colt. "It's fine, it's all fine now." She said cooing and stroking his mane as she calmed the hysterical colt.

He pulled away after a minute and stared at her with tear stained eyes, she in turn gave him a motherly smile. "Go young one, your family needs you." She said ushering him to the door. "Thanks again." He shouted over his shoulder as he ran down the hallway. She watched him retreat in the hallways, silently she was having a war in her mind.

"He couldn't possibly be the one, he's just a colt!" Shaking her head one last time she made her way to her sister's bedroom after the incident.

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"He should be back by now." Paced Rainbow back and forth in their small suite within the caste, the rest of her friends had already left for the night. "Chill mom, he'll be back." Replied a rather calm Scootaloo as she eyed the door warily, suddenly the duo heard hoofsteps against the marble.

And like the first rain after a drought, Nightshade flung the doors open, grinning from ear to ear. "Hey you two! I'm ba-" he was cut off as two beings moved faster than any known equine as the bulldozed him through the ground in an iron maiden of a hug.

"Don't you EVER do that to either of us again!" Shouted Rainbow Dash as she buried her face in his coat, crying her eyes out. "D-d-do you know how worried we were?" Asked Scootaloo as she fixed him with her best sad puppy eyes, which needless to say melted his heart.

"I'm sorry you two, I'm so sorry." He said embracing the two mares in both hooves and wings. The second time that night the family was united in tears and as they cried, they found themselves smiling.

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~3 weeks later~

"Are you absolutely sure that SKYDIVING is a good idea Scootaloo?" Asked an apprehensive Starlight Harvest as the CMC with the addition of Starlight Harvest and Nightshade looked down from their place in the hot air ballon that  Twilight had lent them.

"Relax guys it's easy!" She replied as she by the earthern ponies on a nearby cloud. "I seriously don't know about this." Said Sweetie Belle as she looked over the side of the ballon and gulped as she did, the ground was a long way down. "Don't worry girls! I'll be here to look over you!" chirped Twilight from her place at the back giving the younger foals a reassuring smile. Applebloom took an unsteady breath and closed her eyes, putting her forehoof through the ring that pulled the parachute.

"Alright girls on tha count of three!"

"One!"

"Two!"

"Three!"

Starlight Harvest, Sweetie Belle, and Applebloom dove off the side of the ballon doing what any normal, non-pegasus pony would do; they screamed their little heads off as they jumped out.

Nightshade peered from the edge of the ballon and.......there! Three parachutes deployed, he looked over to the second flight-capable pony with them. "Scootaloo! Your turn!" He shouted, the orange filly just gulped. "Do I really have to?" She asked, not bothering to mask the fear in her voice. He gave her an incredulous stare before settling on an answer. "Eeyup." He said in laconic Big Red fashion.

Scootaloo sighed before standing up on her hind legs and.......jumping.

He smiled as he saw her flail on her way down. "Wait a minute....why is she flailing?" He asked himself. "Twilight! Pull the balloon down! I'm going after Scootaloo!" He shouted as he jumped out of the balloon and rocketed down.

Nearing the panicking filly, he saw that she had entangled her wings within the release cord on the parachute. "Scootaloo! For Celestia's sake why did you get a parachute?!? Your a pegasus for crying out loud!" He shouted over the roaring wind. "I'm sorry! I just wanted to go with the theme!" She shouted back, tears in her eyes as she struggled frantically, he swore as he saw the ground coming up fast.

"Hold on Scoots I gotcha!" He said to the filly as he struggled to get a grip on her, they were too close to the earth now to untangle her. Quickly he wracked his brain for a solution he found one....albeit a weird one. "Scootaloo cover your ears!" He said as he held the filly in his forehooves, Scootaloo complied while also covering her eyes with her ears.

(Can't say it wasn't going to happen.)

Taking a deep breath, he mentally groaned.

"FUS RO DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!"

He shouted, the sheer force of the shout fought against the terminal velocity they had achieved creating an air cushion. "You can stop now!" Shouted Scootaloo, even though she had her ears closed the shout was still deafening.

At the hot air ballon, Twilight was freaking out. "Oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh! Hold on you guys!" She shouted as she fired off what she thought was an air cushion spell. "There all better!" She said as she closed her eyes and dusted off her hooves in satisfaction.

Interesting think happened then and there, as Nightshade continued to roar, the air force pushing the two beings downwards were no more, now there was only the force of the shout that kept them suspended in mid air. This is interesting because the force was so great that it sent the two flying through the forest.

Now back to the Twilight spell. She thought it was an air cushion spell designed to make an air cloud appear underneath a falling pony so that instead of the ground they impacted a much softer surface.

That day, due to a crazy schedule with the upcoming talent show, Twilight had accidentally mixed the air cushion spell with a binding spell that was to be used on some of the costume stitchings and sets.

The details of said stunt entailed.

"Watch out! Your gonna hit the-" Scootaloo was cut off as the duo crashed into an old maplewood tree, covering the duo in sap. "Well at least that sap is good for something." She said, right then they were hit by a binding spell Twilight was so sure was the other spell.

This had an unintended side affect; It turned Scootaloo+Nightshade+A Huge old Maple Tree+ Tons of sap= A giant ball of sap and ponies.

"Bout time y'all showed up! Ah was beginning to get worried-" Started Applebloom before she saw the giant ball of golden. "Here we go again." She rolled her eyes as the ball passed over both her and Sweetie Belle trapping them as it spun and spun.

"Now what in tarnation are you doin?!?" She screamed as she spun around and around due to the ball. "It was Scoots's fault!" Shouted Nightshade as he passed within hearing range. "Was not!" She countered. "Was too!" He retorted. "Guys! What happened!" Shouted Starlight Harvest as she too was caught.

"It was her fault!"

"It was his fault!"

They shouted in unison.

"GUYS!" Shouted Sweetie Belle as she pointed a hoof to a steeply curved rock outcropping that looked suspicously like a.....ramp.

"Oh Faust no." Groaned Nightshade closing his eyes as they approached the inevitable.

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"Ah'm tellin ya Rainbow after Nightshade and Starlight joined the CMC things have gotten perdy quiet around here." Said the farm mare as she put a couple apples in a bag for the spectral maned mare. "Yeah I know! He's a really low maintenance kid and he keeps Scoots in check when I'm out." she puffed out her chest proudly but just as quickly deflated. "I just wish I could see him smile some more." She said in a thoughtful tone.

"Yeah that kids pretty quiet, ya know he never did tell any of us how he came to be." She said reflecting on Nightshade's sudden appearance in the small town.

"I kinda wanted to get them their favorite apples, you know for being such good kids." She said blushing a little. "I just can't believe it, Rainbow Dash a mother? I woulda laughed at anypony back then but now?" She said laughing. "Hey I'm good at everything I do! Mothering included!" She said crossly. All of a sudden Applejack's expression switched from happy to mortified.

She pulled the rainbow mare behind the stand shouting "INCOMING!"

Right then and there the giant ball of sap impacted the center of Ponyville and splashed warm gooey sap all over everything.

"Woooowe! Remind me never ta take Scootaloo's suggestions seriously." Said Applebloom as she dizzily made her way out of the remnants.

"I second that." Said Sweetie as she freed herself from a nearby wall the explosion had pinned her to. "Though I have a question, when have any of our quests ever ended in anything else but tree sap?" Asked Starlight as she crawled out of a hole in a nearby building holding her head with a hoof.

Despite the sheer mess of things Rainbow and Applejack had to laugh at the sheer absurdity. "Oh man! That's priceless! A giant, a giant sap ball!" Said Rainbow before breaking out in a fit of laughter.

The two mares heard another voice then, a scratchy male's laughter emanating from the mass of sap. Surprised, Rainbow made her way over and unearthed a laughing Nightshade.

"Oh man, Sweet Celestia." He got out before he collapsed on the ground rolling about in laughter. Despite herself Rainbow had to smile "Seems he's learning how to act like a colt his age again." She thought to herself as she watched him roll back and forth clutching his stomach.

The mess could wait, this was more precious.