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Chapter 8: The Cliff

April, Rose and I made it out of the dense foliage after ten minutes of searching. We saw Cherry, Summer, and the pegasi gathered at the edge of a steep cliff. We joined them to hear what news they had to share.

“What’s up?” April asked. “Did you find anything?”

“You bet we did,” Jigsaw answered. “Speedy, Fluttergust and I were looking around the cliff side.”

He then pointed his hoof down the side of the cliff. We all glanced at what he was pointing to. Though I could barely make it out, I could see a hole entering the bottom of the cliff that was possibly big enough for a filly to climb into.

“That hole may be the one we’re looking for,” Jigsaw predicted. “It’s just as the way Celestia described it: a small hole at the edge of the cliff.” He then pointed to a large boulder sitting right next to it. “That might have been used to block the entrance, but I think someone must have opened it. There were drag marks on the ground in front of the hole.”

That could possibly mean one thing: that sneaky stallion must have found it before we did.

“I hope that Shadow Sneak didn’t find the amulets yet,” April said.

“That’s the problem: I didn’t see any hoof prints going into the tunnel, so I don’t know if he did,” Jigsaw pointed out.

While the others were thinking aloud, I began to have a strange feeling like something was watching us. I interrupted, “Guys, do you have the feeling that we aren’t alone here?”

They looked around, up and down to see if anybody was indeed watching us. Cherry Beam even looked behind the forest foliage, but she couldn’t see anything.

“Maybe you’re just a bit nervous, amigo,” Speedy finally responded. “It’ll make you feel like that.”

It was that very moment that I could barely see a strange, glowing bolt fly in our direction. Before I could shout, it hit the edge of the cliff with a big bang.The explosion badly startled everypony as they screamed.

“What was that?!” Rose shouted.

“He knows we’re here!” I responded.

Suddenly the ground crumbled beneath us, giving away and dragging the unicorns and earth ponies down the steep cliffside.

“Guys!” The pegasi cried in shock. They then dived down in an attempt to catch us.

It now seemed like everypony was falling at once, unsure of what fate would now come of us. I kept getting hit by rock after rock, slowly losing my consciousness before hitting the ground. All suddenly fell silent. My sight, the sounds, all fading….

I couldn’t recall how long I was out, but I woke up feeling a sharp pain in my stomach. I groaned at the pain, trying to look around with what eyesight I could regain. I thought I could see the fluttering of wings at a fair distance away, and two blurs slowly lowering farther down. I could barely hear anything, but as I slowly regained consciousness, I thought I could hear ponies shouting.

Then, I heard a loud cry. “Help! Somepony, help!”

I tried to stand back up on my hooves, but I still felt weak from the fall.

“Help!” the voice cried out.

I then looked over to my right side and saw what looked like a pony’s hooves gripping onto the cliffside. As I crawled over, I could see that the pony was Summer Shine, her face horrified as she looked down at the ground a couple meters below her.

“Summer,” I cried, “take my hooves! I’ll help you up!”

She looked up and saw me lend my hooves, seeming unsure whether to let go.

“C’mon, Summer,” I said, “I won’t let go! Trust me!”

Without a moment of thought, the edge suddenly cracked, causing her to lose her grip. I quickly grabbed her forelegs and held on to her with all the might I had left. Summer and I were both scared, and she could clearly see that I was, but I tried to keep a determined attitude and pull her up.

“I’m… I’m losing my grip!” she shouted.

She was right. I felt our grip beginning to loosen up, telling me one thing: if I don’t work fast and pull her up in time, she’d slip and fall down the steep cliffside, landing with serious injuries. I took a deep breath and attempted to pull her up again.

Then, right before she could touch the ledge with her back hooves, our grip finally gave away.

“Aaaaaahhhh!” Summer cried.

“No, Summer!!” I shouted, horrified for the worst.

But surprisingly, she did not fall. Her back hooves looked like they were almost perfectly touching the ground. It was as if she was held up with magic. Her back torso then began to rise over the edge, forcing her to step forward onto the cliff ledge.

“That was a close one, amigos,” a voice suddenly announced.

Summer turned around and saw Speedy flapping his wings over the ledge, looking down at her and me.

“Whew,” Speedy exclaimed as he slowly landed onto the ground. “I’m glad I caught you in the nick of time, Summer.”

“Oh, thank you so much, Speedy!” Summer cheered as she quickly brought him into a big hug.

“Uh… you’re welcome, Summer.” Speedy started to blush.

For a moment, I smiled, feeling lucky and grateful that Speedy came to help at the right time, but then I frowned at the thought of my efforts failing to save her first, seeming somewhat useless without any magic or strength.

But Summer noticed the frown on my face, possibly thinking I thought I had little part in this, and slowly approached me. “Red,” she began, “I wanna thank you, too.” She gave me a big hug.

To be honest, I felt kinda surprised at that moment as she hugged me.

“Yeah, if you hadn’t held on to her, I probably wouldn’t have caught her on time,” Speedy added. “You’re a good amigo after all, Red.”

I am? I thought to myself. True, I actually did help save her from the fall, but does one good deed actually make me a good pony? Would that really make me look like a friend? At this point, I’m guessing that it does. After all, I didn’t want to just let her fall. I guess I did feel good about helping her, even if I didn’t know her.

Speedy slowly flew Summer and me down to the ground, one at a time, with the assistance of his sister, Fluttergust. Once we touched the ground, we were joined by the rest of the group, each of them eager to know if we were all right. April and Jigsaw were the only ones who came up to me as April asked, “Red, are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” I answered, brushing some dirt off my mane, “and so is Summer Shine.”

We looked over to Summer, who was smiling at us as the others gathered around her.

“That’s probably the most selfless and bravest thing I’ve seen anypony do in my life,” Jigsaw declared.

“You really think so?” I asked.

He nodded. “But I am curious: couldn’t you have just used a levitation spell to catch her?”

At that moment, I looked down at the ground, hiding the frown on my face.

“Oh,” Jigsaw said, “I forgot that you-” He fell silent.

“Well, he still helped save Summer,” April said with a more positive attitude. “I think that shows how brave and caring he was.”

“I couldn’t have said that better myself,” Speedy added as he approached us, along with the others.

My head slowly tilted up as I looked at each pony looking back at me. All except Cherry, who still seemed a bit skeptical of me, smiled. It was that moment that I started to feel-

We suddenly hear a sinister laugh in the wind blowing past us. April, Jigsaw and I recognized the frightening voice and knew we had to hurry.

“C’mon, everypony,” Jigsaw ordered. “We gotta find those amulets before Shadow does.”

One by one, we squeezed into the hole and found ourselves inside an unexpectedly wide tunnel.

“Rose,” April called, “help me block the hole!”

With the glow of their magic horns, Rose and April moved the boulder outside the entrance, covering it. Hopefully it slow down the dark stallion, but we don’t know for how long.

We were now in the tunnel, pitch black and no sign of an end.

Description
body div#devskin0 hr { }

Chapter 8: The Cliff

April, Rose and I made it out of the dense foliage after ten minutes of searching. We saw Cherry, Summer, and the pegasi gathered at the edge of a steep cliff. We joined them to hear what news they had to share.

“What’s up?” April asked. “Did you find anything?”

“You bet we did,” Jigsaw answered. “Speedy, Fluttergust and I were looking around the cliff side.”

He then pointed his hoof down the side of the cliff. We all glanced at what he was pointing to. Though I could barely make it out, I could see a hole entering the bottom of the cliff that was possibly big enough for a filly to climb into.

“That hole may be the one we’re looking for,” Jigsaw predicted. “It’s just as the way Celestia described it: a small hole at the edge of the cliff.” He then pointed to a large boulder sitting right next to it. “That might have been used to block the entrance, but I think someone must have opened it. There were drag marks on the ground in front of the hole.”

That could possibly mean one thing: that sneaky stallion must have found it before we did.

“I hope that Shadow Sneak didn’t find the amulets yet,” April said.

“That’s the problem: I didn’t see any hoof prints going into the tunnel, so I don’t know if he did,” Jigsaw pointed out.

While the others were thinking aloud, I began to have a strange feeling like something was watching us. I interrupted, “Guys, do you have the feeling that we aren’t alone here?”

They looked around, up and down to see if anybody was indeed watching us. Cherry Beam even looked behind the forest foliage, but she couldn’t see anything.

“Maybe you’re just a bit nervous, amigo,” Speedy finally responded. “It’ll make you feel like that.”

It was that very moment that I could barely see a strange, glowing bolt fly in our direction. Before I could shout, it hit the edge of the cliff with a big bang.The explosion badly startled everypony as they screamed.

“What was that?!” Rose shouted.

“He knows we’re here!” I responded.

Suddenly the ground crumbled beneath us, giving away and dragging the unicorns and earth ponies down the steep cliffside.

“Guys!” The pegasi cried in shock. They then dived down in an attempt to catch us.

It now seemed like everypony was falling at once, unsure of what fate would now come of us. I kept getting hit by rock after rock, slowly losing my consciousness before hitting the ground. All suddenly fell silent. My sight, the sounds, all fading….

I couldn’t recall how long I was out, but I woke up feeling a sharp pain in my stomach. I groaned at the pain, trying to look around with what eyesight I could regain. I thought I could see the fluttering of wings at a fair distance away, and two blurs slowly lowering farther down. I could barely hear anything, but as I slowly regained consciousness, I thought I could hear ponies shouting.

Then, I heard a loud cry. “Help! Somepony, help!”

I tried to stand back up on my hooves, but I still felt weak from the fall.

“Help!” the voice cried out.

I then looked over to my right side and saw what looked like a pony’s hooves gripping onto the cliffside. As I crawled over, I could see that the pony was Summer Shine, her face horrified as she looked down at the ground a couple meters below her.

“Summer,” I cried, “take my hooves! I’ll help you up!”

She looked up and saw me lend my hooves, seeming unsure whether to let go.

“C’mon, Summer,” I said, “I won’t let go! Trust me!”

Without a moment of thought, the edge suddenly cracked, causing her to lose her grip. I quickly grabbed her forelegs and held on to her with all the might I had left. Summer and I were both scared, and she could clearly see that I was, but I tried to keep a determined attitude and pull her up.

“I’m… I’m losing my grip!” she shouted.

She was right. I felt our grip beginning to loosen up, telling me one thing: if I don’t work fast and pull her up in time, she’d slip and fall down the steep cliffside, landing with serious injuries. I took a deep breath and attempted to pull her up again.

Then, right before she could touch the ledge with her back hooves, our grip finally gave away.

“Aaaaaahhhh!” Summer cried.

“No, Summer!!” I shouted, horrified for the worst.

But surprisingly, she did not fall. Her back hooves looked like they were almost perfectly touching the ground. It was as if she was held up with magic. Her back torso then began to rise over the edge, forcing her to step forward onto the cliff ledge.

“That was a close one, amigos,” a voice suddenly announced.

Summer turned around and saw Speedy flapping his wings over the ledge, looking down at her and me.

“Whew,” Speedy exclaimed as he slowly landed onto the ground. “I’m glad I caught you in the nick of time, Summer.”

“Oh, thank you so much, Speedy!” Summer cheered as she quickly brought him into a big hug.

“Uh… you’re welcome, Summer.” Speedy started to blush.

For a moment, I smiled, feeling lucky and grateful that Speedy came to help at the right time, but then I frowned at the thought of my efforts failing to save her first, seeming somewhat useless without any magic or strength.

But Summer noticed the frown on my face, possibly thinking I thought I had little part in this, and slowly approached me. “Red,” she began, “I wanna thank you, too.” She gave me a big hug.

To be honest, I felt kinda surprised at that moment as she hugged me.

“Yeah, if you hadn’t held on to her, I probably wouldn’t have caught her on time,” Speedy added. “You’re a good amigo after all, Red.”

I am? I thought to myself. True, I actually did help save her from the fall, but does one good deed actually make me a good pony? Would that really make me look like a friend? At this point, I’m guessing that it does. After all, I didn’t want to just let her fall. I guess I did feel good about helping her, even if I didn’t know her.

Speedy slowly flew Summer and me down to the ground, one at a time, with the assistance of his sister, Fluttergust. Once we touched the ground, we were joined by the rest of the group, each of them eager to know if we were all right. April and Jigsaw were the only ones who came up to me as April asked, “Red, are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” I answered, brushing some dirt off my mane, “and so is Summer Shine.”

We looked over to Summer, who was smiling at us as the others gathered around her.

“That’s probably the most selfless and bravest thing I’ve seen anypony do in my life,” Jigsaw declared.

“You really think so?” I asked.

He nodded. “But I am curious: couldn’t you have just used a levitation spell to catch her?”

At that moment, I looked down at the ground, hiding the frown on my face.

“Oh,” Jigsaw said, “I forgot that you-” He fell silent.

“Well, he still helped save Summer,” April said with a more positive attitude. “I think that shows how brave and caring he was.”

“I couldn’t have said that better myself,” Speedy added as he approached us, along with the others.

My head slowly tilted up as I looked at each pony looking back at me. All except Cherry, who still seemed a bit skeptical of me, smiled. It was that moment that I started to feel-

We suddenly hear a sinister laugh in the wind blowing past us. April, Jigsaw and I recognized the frightening voice and knew we had to hurry.

“C’mon, everypony,” Jigsaw ordered. “We gotta find those amulets before Shadow does.”

One by one, we squeezed into the hole and found ourselves inside an unexpectedly wide tunnel.

“Rose,” April called, “help me block the hole!”

With the glow of their magic horns, Rose and April moved the boulder outside the entrance, covering it. Hopefully it slow down the dark stallion, but we don’t know for how long.

We were now in the tunnel, pitch black and no sign of an end.