• Published 1st Apr 2014
  • 4,082 Views, 52 Comments

Sins of the Mother - Chelis



The children of the main six embark on a quest to save their parents in a foreign land.

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Cliffside

The Frozen North was once described as "Nowhere in the middle of nowhere, in the middle of nowhere.”

When daylight broke, it became evident for the horde of riders that they were in fact in the middle of nowhere. They left the Crystal City hours before dawn, but when it arrived, the city was nowhere in sight. The only thing visible was the mountains to the north, only a few bumps on the horizon. When they reached its foothills, it looked like it literally pierced the heavens, and then some.

"It's a crazy idea starburst, but it sounds like you’re out of choices." Valiant Heart said, trying to be heard by his cousin from the noise of the horses' hooves galloping on the hardened ground.

"Yeah! It's not going to be easy, but I think we can do this," Starburst said with sincere determination in her voice.

Valiant heart began to laugh. "Look at you. All grown up and giving orders. Your father would be so proud."

Between Equestria and the Griffon Kingdom is a large tract of unclaimed land that both used as a buffer to each other, in case one became aggressive and decided to invade another. Still, that did not stop nervous patrols into the unoccupied territory, with each side bringing a case of alcohol with them in case they ran into their counterparts where they would exchange them in a sign of peace.

The group found itself at the literal edge of Equestria: a 150-foot cliff dropping off into the buffer lands.

"That's one hell of a fall," Golden Delicious said as he looked down the cliff.

The three guards escorting the group wasted no time in setting up the ropes. Armed with three 200 ft ropes, they dropped two down the cliff face and made an audible "thud" when it hit the ground. The third tied it to the wagon that was tied to one of the horses, it was filled with bars of iron used to anchor the ropes themselves.

Starburst and Bolt Prism were the first ones down the line, their muskets sling around their backs. They rappelled down in increments, intentionally pressing vigorously on the rock they land onto to jar loose any rock that was not stable enough.

"Is this considered our first date?"

Starburst began to laugh. "No."

"Damn, okay."

The second pair to get down was the brother and sister. They were also carrying everyone's equipment, slowly rappelling down the cliff face.

"You think our parents are okay?" Turquoise asked. They believed that their parents were fine, but they still had that nagging feeling that wouldn’t go away.

"It's our parents. They are fighters, survivors. They are fine," Crystal Clarity replied.

"When I see them, I'm going to give them the biggest hug."

"Same."

They landed without incident, moving the equipment to the edge of the forest around thirty feet from the cliff face.

Cotton Candy went by herself, screaming in joy with each jump.

Anthea and Golden Delicious were the last ones to rappel down. They were also the slowest.

They took their time going down the cliff face. Anthea was adamant about taking her time, Golden Delicious was patient, but wanted to get out there and find his parents as soon as possible. Halfway down the cliff face, they felt a jolt, followed by a shaking feeling

Earthquake.

"We have to get down now!" Golden Delicious commanded, unfortunately it didn’t make Anthea go any faster. It was hard to rush someone with a blurry eyesight.

Down below, Turquoise was being held down and dragged away from the cliff face by the rest of the group. He was trying to climb up there himself. Above him, Golden Delicious saw the cracks in the rock near the top the cliff, and if it gave way, would crash into Anthea.

Wasting no time, Golden Delicious ran opposite of Anthea, trying to get as much of a pendulum momentum when the time came. He reached down and pulled his flintlock pistols out and fired as he began his swing down, adding a boost to his speed. The rocks gave way as Delicious swung straight for her..

Seconds before the rocks smashed into her Golden Delicious flew past her, grabbing the rope above her and moving her out of harm’s way. He cut the rope with the knife that was strapped in a holster on his outer thigh.

"Hold on to me," He said as he began the slow movement back to where he was rappelling before.

It ended up being faster than the original plan of each going down by their own rope. As they landed, Turquoise gave Anthea a giant hug.. He had to lower himself to his knees to do so.

He apologized for not being there. All she had to do was tell him it wasn't his fault and give him a kiss on the cheek.

The group grabbed their gear and began the march into the woods, not before seeing the rope that was used to lower them being thrown off the cliff, being left behind by the Prince and giving Golden Delicious a chance to take enough rope as he humanly could.

The bond and love between the two cousins was strong; a mere nod to each other was enough. The Children of Harmony began their journey in earnest, disappearing into the thick pine forest.

Author's Note:

[Now the fun begins....]

I have a Skype group for fans of my work, pre-readers, proofreaders, and editors. If you want to join this group (and Skype is free to get and register btw) add me (louisros1990 is mine skype) and tell me you want to join the group.