Rainbow Faded

Monochrome was flying really fast through the night sky. On his saddlebag, he had a sample of his parent's hair. Getting the samples was not an easy task... The colt didn't found any scissor on the hose, so he had to use a kitchen knife and almost cut too much from his mother's hair. He only hoped that she didn't notice.

At his current speed, in a few minutes he reached the borders of the Everfree forest and, without a second thought, he dove in. His vision instantly adapt to the lack of light... Monochrome landed in a branch that could hold his weight and took a deep breath.

"NEVARIUS!" He shouted as hard as he could.

In response he heard a roar that made his blood freeze... after the roar several howls and other sounds that made the colt's heart race at full speed. For some reason, shout in that forest during the night didn't seem the best idea he had...

"You are really crazy, you know?"

"GAAHHH!" Monochrome jumped in startle and turned to see the horned creature standing right next to him on the tree.

"You just alerted every single predator that an easy prey is here…" Nevarius sighed. "Lucky for you that you are my friend... or else I would let you to turn into monster's snack! Come... let's get out of here." The creature said and jumped from the tree, landing hard on the ground... he didn't seemed to be affected by the fall... any other pony would probably have died.

Mono flew to the ground and got real close to the blankflank being. Nevarius eyes started to shine and them he started to run. The colt followed him through the woods for a few minutes, until both got inside the place where Nevarius lived. The place was the same as the first time Mono had visited it... a caldron over a fireplace... a simple bed... and shelves containing books and potion ingredients... among the new ingredients, Mono could see some pots with different feathers on it... each pot had a label on it indicating the age of the foal.

"So... what brings you here at the most dangerous time of the night?" Nevarius said turning to see the colt.

"Well... you said you could help me and my family if I got you some hair from them... so, here it is..." Mono said grabbing his saddle bag and showing Nevarius two strands of hair…

"Hmm... and why in the middle of the night? Why not tomorrow?" Nevarius asked.

"Because I don't think that my parents would understand you... And I don't want them being afraid of you just because you live in this place..." Mono explained.

"I see... well, I'm happy that you are concerned about me..." Nevarius said smiling... but suddenly changed his expression to an enraged one."But next time you dive into the forest during the night and start to shout, I swear you are going to have the beating of your life, do I make myself clear young colt?"

Mono simply nodded fast in response with his ears laying low on his head.

"Good..." Nevarius said turning to face the caldron. "Now... hand over the hair and a feather of yours..."

For the next hour, the horned creature worked on his caldron... He put the hair and the feather in three different bottles and then filled them with a weird gooey green mixture. After closing them and giving each one a good shake, Mono could see that the substance had lost its green color and now had the same color of the hair that was inside.

"This tonic will last for twenty four hours... It will give a boost on the principal aspect of each individual..." Nevarius started to explain. "For you, your wings will be strong as a dragon's wings... Your father, the earth pony, will have the strength and the energy of a thousand ponies! Your mother will have her magic strong enough to wipe out a city with a single spell..."

Mono's eyes shined at those words... they would definitely finish all the fields work in a single day!

"BUT!" Nevarius continued. "This have a side effect... after the potion's effect is gone your body will experience an extreme exhaustion... be prepared to sleep at least for eighteen hours."

"Ok... if that is the only side effect then there is no problem! Mono said confident.

"Good... now, be gone. It's almost three in the morning and I need to rest a little." Nevarius said suddenly looking tired.

"Ahm... something happen?" Mono asked a little worried.

"Kind of... A big event is going to happen on this forest in a few months... and I'm working to have everything ready." Nevarius said going outside the hut with Monochrome "But nothing that you should worry about..."

Both walked outside Nevarius shelter and a hole opened above Monochrome, letting the moonlight shine inside the forest. The colt smiled at his horned friend and then flapped his wings, going back at home.

Next day, when the couple woke up and went downstairs, they were surprised to see his son already awake and making breakfast. Far as they knew, Monochrome didn't know how to cook.

The pegasus was putting a plate of hay-bacon over the table. Bread, butter and some slightly burned eggs... but nothing that couldn't be eaten. What really caught the attention of Earthy and Petal was that there was three cups filled with some liquid with different colors.

"Morning mom, morning dad!" Mono said happily.

"You did it all by yourself?" Petal said approaching the table with her husband.

"Yeap! I hope you enjoy! Ahm... and sorry for the eggs..." He said a little embarrassed.

"Don't worry son." Earthy said chuckling and sitting on the table. "What count is that you at least tried."

Petal sat right next to her husband.

"And what are those juices?" She said pulling the one that had the same color as her coat.

"As especial juice full of vitamins!" Mono said gently placing one cup near his father... the liquid has the same color as his coat.

"I... I see..." Earthy said a little hesitant, picking the cup and looking at the content... it was a little... gooey.

Mono sat on the table, pulling his own cup near him and then starting to drink it. As the liquid touched his tongue he had to hold a spasm to throw up. The taste was simple DISGUSTING. To young colt took a deep breath and started to swallow it all at once... faking a smile while the gooey liquid passed through his mouth.

Petal and earthy looked at each other and shrugged, each one f them taking their cups and taking a sip... Earthy Touch felt his throat closing in a strong spasm when he tasted the drink. Petal's eyes filled with tears when she also fought the urge to throw up.

"T-This is... an interesting... drink you made Mono..." Petal said trying to be nice.

"I hope you two like it" Mono said forcing a smile. "I did it using a lot of love... knowing how much we will need to work today, you simply MUST drink it all to have energy!" Mono said hating himself for resorting in emotional tricks to force his parents to drink that... thing.

"I think I already have enough... Hehe.." Earthy said with a fake smile, putting his cup down.

"But... you only took a sip!" Mono said looking at his dad. "You have to drink it all!"

"Mono..." petal started a little hesitant... afraid of hurting the feelings of the young colt.

"Please?" Mono said pouting, appealing to the 'abandoned puppy face'

Petal and Earthy looked at each other... they knew that would be no easy escape from that situation... So... both did the only thing that they knew that would hurt less... Drink that thing. For the two adults, those were the longest seconds of their life... feeling that gooey fluid going down their throats... that awful taste and texture... Petal shed a pair of tears as she was using all her might to hold the urge to throw up.

When both adults rested their cups on the table, they looked pale and were panting slightly. It was a far worst experience for the adults than it was for the young colt. Monochrome preferred juices with a lot of sugar on it, so he had already mix a lot of the sweet powder on his potion. But the adults didn't like anything that was too sweet, and so, Mono didn't put a single spoon of sugar on their cups... If he at least knew that the tonic tasted so… horrible….

Mono sighed in relief as both had drunk it all and started to get up.

"I'll make some orange juice for us and - ..."

"NO!" Both adults shouted in unison. Mono only arched an eyebrow.

"You... You already worked so hard to make this... erm.. delicious breakfast for us darling." Petal said. "I can't allow you to overdo yourself."

"Yeah kid!" Earthy said "Let your mother make the juice this time ok? A nice and sweet... SWEEEEET orange juice." He said looking at her wife that nodded.

In just a minute, Petal came back bringing a jar full of juice and served them all. It was too sweet even for Monochrome, but perfect to take that awful taste from the mouth... After breakfast, the small family went outside to start working... they still got plenty of land to plow and then finally start planting.

"Hey son... come help me bring the plow to the fields..." Earthy called Mono from the barn.

The pegasus tied a few ropes to the tool and then to his body. When he started to fly to lift the heavy plow... he didn't felt it weighting him down. Earthy stared at his son, flying in place while lifting the heavy object as if it were nothing... Before the earth pony could say anything, Mono quickly brought the plow to the fields, to where they stopped the day before.

As the light brown stallion arrived on the fields, the farming tool was ready to be attached to his body.

"I have to say son... you are getting strong… I guess.." Earthy said a little hesitant.

"Guess it was the tonic" Mono shrugged, faking innocence.

"Yeah... maybe..." the stallion said unsure.

Soon Earthy Touch was strapped to the farming tool and let out a sight. It would be a long day of work on those virgin fields… He tensed his muscles and pulled the plow with all his might and fell face first on the ground when the tool went through the grass and earth like it was nothing at all. It was like the earth was made of butter or some other soft material.

"What the..." He said looking at the plow behind him... He stood up and started to pull it a little more gently… it was hard to believe that he was pulling it alone.

Each step seemed to be easier than the previous... soon the earth stallion was trotting while pulling the plow. Monochrome watched with a huge smile, seeing his father walk so casually while doing what was supposed to be hard work.

Mono soon went back to the barn to grab an older plow that they had, to help out his father. Flying closer to the ground, the purple pegasus didn't had any problems to make the heavy tool move around... Petal Wind soon found out that her magic was unbelievable strong now... following her son and her husband, the female unicorn was using her magic to plan and water the field... By the end of the day, the new and the old fields were ready... and now all that rested was to wait until the crops had grown enough to be harvest and turned into flour.

Nopony was really asleep that night... After dinner, Mono saw Earthy whisper something to Petal that made her giggle… and when she whispered back at him, the stallion grinned and let out a chuckle. The colt just arched an eyebrow, expressing his confusion.

"Don't worry son..." Earthy said passing the pegasus and rubbing a hoof over his head. "One day you will understand..." With that said, the couple went to the room and locked themselves.

Without any kind of sleepiness and a lot of energy to spend thanks to the tonic, the young colt simply went outside to fly. It has been a while since he last enjoyed a nice night of flying around... And as he felt the cold breeze on his face, he remembered the short, but precious, time he spend at the flight academy. After a long time of him flying and making a few stunts with the new powerful wings he had, the colt let out a yawn... suddenly feeling tired. Probably the effect from the tonic was starting to pass.

A quick nap would not harm... not at all... and he was feeling so tired that it he wouldn't be able to reach his house. Monochrome landed on a nearby cloud... and fainted.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

A/N: Hope you guys enjoyed this short chapter ^^

Don't forget to leave your comments!

Ciao.