Underworld: Equestria

Chapter 12: It’s a Dog’s Life

“Uh, I swear if the alpha still thinks nothing’s wrong, he’s probably got rocks for brains,” Silver growled angrily under his breath as he walked down the almost empty passageway, his metallic grey coat, and steel shoulder guards, glistening in the light of the flaming torches that hung from the tunnel walls around him.

In years past Silver would never have dreamed of questioning Stone-Paw, or his decisions for that matter. Like all diamond dogs he looked up to the battle-hardened mighty alpha as both a leader, and a shining pinnacle of their race and its strength...

...But nowadays things had changed, and drastically at that.

In the last few days alone the pack had lost a total of five work groups in the southern tunnels, to ambushes from an unknown enemy of all things. Yet despite his high military rank and best efforts, Silver couldn’t get through to the alpha that there was something far from normal about the latest spate of attacks.

And now he once again found himself in the position of having to confront Stone-Paw with the bad news of the latest loses. Said loses being six tunnel workers, whose bloody mutilated corpses had been found roughly an hour earlier.

Whatever the diamond dogs were up against, Silver had absolutely no clue, but judging by the state of the bodies they were pulling in these things we’re unlike any enemy the dogs had encountered before.

And now he just had to convince the alpha of that fact.

“By the bitch that gave birth to him, I just hope Stone-Paw will finally listen to me,” he growled in his throat, the gem encrusted double doors to the high chambers coming into view at the tunnels end. A burly brown spear dog stood on either side of the golden archway, and watching him intently as he neared.

The steel colored dog grasped his spear a little tighter as he approached the two of them, knowing full well that despite their utter stupidity in comparison to him, the heavily built dogs were still a force not to be reckoned with; naturally, however, the white diamonds set in his shoulder guards gave away just who he was to them, and hence the two wordlessly and obediently pushed the doors open, stepped aside, and allowed their grey brother to pass.

“Hail to Stone-Paw, the mighty alpha!” Silver bellowed as he entered the chamber, raising his spear above his head in salute of the packs’ leader.

Across the natural stone cavern that formed the high chambers, a huge beast of a dog nodded in acknowledgement of his title, this one covered in thick steel armour, seated on a throne carved from veined marble, and bearing a spear with a head carved from a single massive diamond; around the massive creature sat eight more smaller dogs on smaller thrones, four on either side as the alphas of the minor pack families, all similarly wearing armor and brandishing spears at their sides.

“Greetings Silver-Fang,” Stone-Paw rumbled as his warrior bowed, the tone of his voice very much like that of a snarling dragon. “What matters of the pack do you carry with you this night?”

There were stirrings from the minor alpha’s and guard dogs in the room, all of them now facing Silver with expressions of interest, causing the metal-grey dog to bite his lip and grasp his spear firmly.

“I fear we have succumbed to another attack, great alpha, one which has claimed six tunnel workers…”

There was a chorus of angry snarls and growls from the other dogs in the room, but a single menacing snarl from Stone-Paw silenced them all at once; he then turned back to his guard commander and nodded for him to continue.

“As I was saying, we lost six tunnel workers… all of them bearing the same wounds as the others we have lost in the last few days.”

“What sorts of wounds do you speak of pup?” asked one of the minor alphas, his snarling black furred face marked by a jagged scar across his jaw line, one that was easily illuminated by the torch light

“Broken or shattered bones, shrivelled flesh and muscle, and teeth marks that resemble a fanged beast,” Silver replied with a touch of growl; he was younger than them but he was no pup. “Those teeth marks coming in large amounts, and especially on the drained corpses… almost like something’s bitten in and sucked their blood from them, alpha.”

The war dog growled and inclined his head in understanding.

“Tell me Silver-Fang,” Stone-Paw interjected, tapping the arm rest of his throne with an armored paw. “What is your opinion on these attacks? Do you believe a pack among us wishes for war?”

The various minor alpha’s glanced at each other, like they suspected their neighbour to be the enemy; it had been some years since the last pack war, but, as Silver-Fang knew too well, some old wounds among dogs took a long time to heal.

In answer to the question Silver shook his head and mentally sighed, if there was one obvious flaw that Stone-Paw possessed, it was his fear of another dog trying to take his throne.

“No great alpha, I do not believe it to be a pack among us nor a rebel group…”

“Then it must be the dragons!” shouted a brown alpha abruptly from Silver’s left, his armored paw pounding on his stone arm rest as he stared up at Stone-Paw. “Great alpha, the pup speaks of fang marks and the draining of blood, and those scaly beasts are the only ones who’d dare to do such a vile thing to us!”

“You are a fool, Iron-Tooth,” shot another alpha, this one a dusty grey-white. “Have you coal for a brain? Do you truly think a dragon would fit into our tunnels? And even if one could why would they leave the meat of a dog behind?”

“And what do you propose then, Marble-Hide?” Stone-Paw asked sternly with an inquiring glance, silencing Iron-Tooth before he could argue.

“It is not my place to speak great alpha, for I have not seen the dead,” Marble-Hide sighed as he rubbed his temples. “But… if there was a race that stood out to me, one who’s past relations with our own has not been so savoury, in my opinion… it would be the race of ponies.”

“Now you are just pulling our tails,” snapped the black dog who had spoken earlier, Silver firmly grasping his spear in case things got out any more of control. “Why would the ponies want to hunt us in our tunnels?”

“You truly know nothing of them, do you Onyx-Claw? Very well… ponies, if you are so ignorant, are actually just as obsessed with gems as dragons are; not as you and I eat them mind you, but rather they adore their bodies with them as a form of… decoration, if you will. To the ponies, gems symbolize wealth, status, and power, and a male pony who wears many gems has a better chance of attracting a female, just as a male dragon does.”

“So why would they attack us then?” Onyx-Claw countered as he leant back and crossed his front paws.

“Ugh! You cannot be an alpha and be that dull? Or is that just one of your pack's common traits?"

"Be very careful with those words, Marble-Hide," Onyx snarled, teeth bared as everydog else went for their weapons. "Or I might just like the idea of making a trophy out of your pelt and bitches."

"I'd like to see you try," Marble-Hide snuffed. "Anyway, as it is, if it's not already obvious to you, we dogs control the vast majority of gem deposits in these lands. As you should know from your history lessons as a pup, the ponies, and their princess, think very little of us other than as barbarians... so in my mind they probably wish to push us out and take the gems we need to survive for themselves.”

Another chorus of angry growls rippled through the room at the words. Most however were not directed at Marble-Hide, but at the non-present race of ponies, and in particular the apparent sun tyrant, one Princess Celestia.

Silver, however, was utterly lost on their argument; he had seen the corpses of the slain himself, an unfortunate fact but a fact all the same, and would've confidently bet his rank then and there that it wasn’t a pony who'd killed Stone-Paw’s subjects... plus the ‘pathetic’ ponies, as his own teachers had pointed out, were totally against violence in just about every shape or form.

The thought of them engaging in brutal underground warfare just didn’t make sense to him.

“May I speak my own mind, great alpha?” Silver asked as he stared up at the hulking shape of Stone-Paw, his voice cutting through the tense silence like the edge of a sword.

“You may, Silver-Fang.”

“I know this is not my place for my opinions to be heard, but I do not believe the ponies are responsible for these attacks... the markings on the dead suggest a carnivorous hunter of sorts, so any suggestion of the ponies being responsible for these attacks, to me, is ludicrous.”

A shallow growl came from Silver’s left, and turning his head he saw an older sandy brown alpha looking at him intently with a paw on his chin, while all the other alphas were staring at him.

"A voice of reason you have, hmm?" the old dog hummed. “You seem somewhat well learned for one of your young age; tell me truthfully, Silver-Fang, if you doubt them as a threat, what then is your opinion on the race of ponies?”

“What does that matter Sand-Stone…” Marble-Hide started angrily, now apparently angry at Silver’s doubting of his opinion.

“I am only speaking my mind here,” Silver jumped in, closing his eyes to focus as he spoke. “But, although they are not a warrior race like our own, from what I have heard they seem well educated in the ways of the world. Why do you ask alpha?”

Sand-Stone sighed bitterly and stroked his chin. “I ask because there is a chance we share a common enemy…”

Most of the dogs in the room growled angrily in opposition at his proposal; the very thought of sharing anything in common with the race of ponies was repulsive.

However, Stone-Paw simply shook his head at them, and nodded for him to go on, silence once again taking its ruler over the chamber.

“…For you see, we do not know, as a race, much of what Equestria has become since our withdrawal into these mountains; perhaps another race of creatures has made home in these lands, and they are responsible for these deaths. That is my own belief based on what I have heard. I’m only speaking my mind here my brothers, but I dare say that perhaps they may know of what we are up against, whereas we do not.”

“So you believe they may have knowledge of our enemy?” Silver asked, the old alpha nodding in approval of his young comrades statement.

“And how would you find that out for a fact pu..” snorted Iron-Tooth, only to find that, before he could finish, Silver’s spear point was at his throat, and Silver had his fangs bared over him.

“Call me ‘pup’ again and you will not live to regret it you waste of hide; a minor alpha you may be, but I am commander of Stone-Paw’s Steel Guard, so show me some respect you son of a whore bitch.”

Iron-Tooth spread his maw to reply, but a rather loud growl from Stone-Paw quickly silenced him.

Satisfied that he knew his place, Silver withdrew his point and returned to his former stance while Sand-Stone, and a few others, chuckled to themselves.

“To answer your question, Iron-Tooth,” Stone-Paw rumbled. “I believe the easiest way to fulfil Sand-Stone and Silver-Fang’s plan, if I'm coming to understand their not so subtle undertones here..." he rolled his eyes. "Would be to confront the ponies face-to-face… but that is, however, not an idea I find particularly enticing. As we all know rather well, you two, our kind and Celestia’s have not gotten along with each other for many years. Since the days of Iron-Fang as I believe. Hence I highly doubt she will welcome me as a ruler of equal majesty… and yet…”

His ancient dark eyes ran over Silver-Fang as his mind put the pieces of a potential plan together, the edge of a grin creeping across his old face.

“…Silver-Fang, since this all partly your plan… would you be willing to go and seek out the ponies of Equestria?”

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

“Mhmf, what… time is it?” Twilight yawned, eyes flicking open as she felt the light of her mentor’s sun.

A quick glance at her bedside clock revealed it to be eight thirty, by which time on most days she would have been up and about, if not walking through Ponyville with her friends.

But, given the time she had gotten to sleep the night before, a late rise was understandable... in her opinion anyway.

Gingerly, she slipped out of bed, and yawned again, before heading for the door, stepping carefully to avoid making any excess noise, and waking her still slumbering scaly assistant, his murmurings and shifting bringing a smile to her face as she momentarily watched him dream.

Upon finding her way to the kitchen of the library her search for breakfast began, the lavender mare hungrily searching through every nook and cranny of the countless shelves for something appetizing to devour; with a slight groan, however, she eventually shut the last cupboard door in defeat, it seemed the result of their wait for Luna the night prior had resulted in her friends eating her out of house and home.

“Uh, if Rainbow and Pinkie actually have a limit to their stomach capacities, I’ll be amazed.”

“I guess that means you’re in need of breakfast then, huh?” came an amused chuckle, one that was layered with a slight growl, and sent a flush of hot air across the back of Twilight’s neck.

Turning around to the kitchen window, Twilight was greeted by the first sight this morning that had made her happy about being awake; said sight was that of Ash’s large black scaled snout sticking through her kitchen window, with three glistening red apples balanced on the end of it.

“You know Applejack’s going to have your tail if she finds out you took those?” the mare grinned as she levitated them off his nose, prompting the black dragon roll his eyes in mock annoyance as she bit into one.

“Can you ever just acknowledge a gesture without an in-depth analysis?” He smiled, a long pink tongue emerging from his maw, and running across her small cheek as she blushed. “Anyway, do you have any plans for Spike today? I was planning on taking him up to the mountains for a gem hunt if I could.”

“He’s all yours Ash, but just make sure he’s…”

“…Back before sundown,” Ash finished for her with a thunderous chuckle and a flick of his tail. “I know Twilight, you tell me that every time I ask to take him out for the day.”

Her lavender cheeks once again turned a fiery scarlet. “Yeah, I guess I’m just a little over-protective of him is all, it’s hard not to be when I’ve cared for him since he was an hatchling… and I guess with you in his life now I just…”

“Twilight, don’t talk like that,” Ash said firmly but gently, nuzzling her lightly with his warm scales as he leant inwards. “You know I would never think to take him from you, nor let any harm come to him... I care about you both too much to have those things happen.”

A smile returned to the muzzle of the lavender mare as she looked up at the smirking dragon before her; she knew their relationship was special, even if it didn’t revolve around the sexual aspects that most relationships did. No, theirs was instead based on a pure love and respect of each other.

How it had started... neither were so sure anymore, other than an interest in acquiring knowledge via interview when he'd settled down in Ponyville, but all that really mattered in Twilight’s mind was that they were both happy, and Spike now had an actual father figure in his life.

Plus, Ash was perhaps the only one in Ponyville, beside her, who found enjoyment in learning.

“Thanks Ash, once he’s awake I’ll send him out for you,” She said happily, rearing up and planting a small kiss on his large snout, causing the usually proud and regal black dragon to fluster like a school-colt as backed out from the window. “And since when do adult dragons get embarrassed?”

“Since cute mares started kissing them,” Ash replied with a cheeky grin and a flare of his massive black wings. “I’ll see you later then Twi, I’ll be waiting out in the park for Spike.”

Without another word, he reared up and jumped into the air, leaving in his wake a cloud of dust and now content purple mare as he sailed off over Ponyville.

Upon turning around, however, her upbeat mood rapidly diminished into a combination of embarrassment and panic, her hooves freezing in place as her eyes were met by the sight of both Lucian and Princess Luna standing in the doorway, and looking between her and the empty window.

Lucian seemed on the surface perhaps a little surprised, but otherwise unaffected by what he had seen, Princess Luna, on the other hoof, was for the first time since the two ponies had met actually looking gobsmacked.

“I… well… umm…”

“So I take it you’re the ‘special somepony’ Ash mentioned to me then, huh?” The lycan chuckled as he leant against the doorframe, Twilight’s cheeks shining crimson as he grinned at her. "I guess being Celestia's student, I can understand why you've tried to keep this a secret."

“It’s more or less just a casual relationship, Lucian, so don't get the wrong idea,” the mare blushed intensely in return, at last setting the two remaining apples down on the table, before turning to the princess of the night. “And princess, I would really appreciate it if you didn’t mention this to Princess Celestia, or my family, I promise you we’re not doing anything… inappropriate… but I don’t want them to know just yet.”

“Your secret is safe with me Twilight,” Luna said with a small smile and a slight nod. “But you know everypony, including my sister and your family, will have to find out eventually.”

Twilight sighed as she played with her hooves. “I know they will, but just not yet.”

A smirk suddenly spread across her face as she looked between the two of them, her nostrils picking up the faint smell of a certain undeniable scent.

“Speaking of romance, and since you're both here… did you enjoy your night, princess?”

The very moment the sultry-layered words met her ears, the princess of the night’s dark cheeks turned a glowing shade of red and her ears dropped in embarrassment, Lucian’s face matching hers in an instant.

“T-Twilight Sparkle, I merely preferred to sleep here then fly back to Canterlot, do not...” she stopped, and grumbled with she realized Twilight was giggling. "Ugh, you and Tia spend too much time around each other."

Lucian went to reply in order to reassure her as well, but the lycan didn’t get the chance to before he was interrupted... by the rather loud crashing open of the library door of all things.

Hastily, both he and Luna spun around to see who had invaded their conversation, only to find Rainbow Dash lying slightly dazed on the colourful carpet of the main room.

“Rainbow what are you…” Lucian started in amusement as he approached the fallen pegasus.

“Diamond dog! There’s a diamond dog heading towards Ponyville!”

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Notes:

Well, I said Ash liked somepony, so now you know who (but seriously I’ve never found a fic where Spike inherits a real father figure, more or less it’s usually just a character in love with Twilight and he gets pushed to the side)

I’m basing the distance between the mountains and Ponyville on the episode which introduced the diamond dogs (I can’t remember the name off the top of my head *sigh*), where everything seemed to happen within a few hours or so, hence I’m guessing the travelling time on foot/hoof would be about three or four hours.