The Front

by Blue Tunes

The Underground

The tunnel was narrow, and extremely musty. With so many twists and turns Dart soon lost his bearings. After a full twenty minutes the young griffon realised that by now, the group could be anywhere in lower Canterlot. The single light source was barely enough for the party to see by, more than once Dart's talons would catch on hidden crevices in the uneven stone, and he would trip. Rosco seemed unbothered, leading the stumbling, bewildered teens through the darkness at a brisk pace without a glance backward at the muffled curses and occasional whine.

The path branched off at irregular intervals, the older dog confidently taking lefts and rights seemingly indiscriminately. At last, the group came to a stop as Rosco held the lantern high, illuminating a sturdy looking grate. Thick vertical bars ran from the roof of the tunnel to the ground.

"Um..." Akua began, confused, before being interrupted by stern look from the old dog.

Gripping one of the central two bars, Rosco pulled sideways. Metal squealed against metal as the bars shifted sideways. They were on a runner, Dart realised with fascination. Had he not been shown otherwise, he would have sworn they had come to a dead end.

Smiling wryly, Rosco beckoned them through the new opening, closing the grate behind them.

"The light up ahead improves" he stated. "We won't need the lantern any more. By the time you're done learning, you'll be running these tunnels without one anyway."

With a sharp exhale, Rosco extinguished the small flame. Sure enough, though it was still very dark, the group could still make out their general surroundings.

"Your eyes will adjust. Follow me."

A short walk down the tunnel later, the visibility began to improve noticeably. All of a sudden, the path widened out into a huge expanse of wide empty space. With a start, Dart gazed around him in wonder.

The group was now standing some distance from the edge of what appeared to be an immense underground canyon, from the bottom of which light shone to illuminate the cave. Unable to help himself, the young griffon ran to the edge of the cliff, gazing down in wonder and the fantastic sight.

Built into the side of the canyon in deep alcoves and atop flat rock ledges was a city. Far from anything the group had been expecting, the noise of thousands of beings filtered through to the top of the canyon. This was no simple militia. This was a fully functioning urban area.

"Stones..." Rafe breathed, as he too peered over the edge, far more cautiously than the winged griffon. "This is..."

"Dog work, aye" Rosco nodded, "The Church of Stone will not go quietly into the day like those before us. The work was long and hard, over twenty years to sculpt the canyon into a place suitable for non-canine species, but today it serves as a safe haven for any and all associated with the Church, including the Front."

"But the guard, surely you can't possibly hide this?" Dart asked, agape.

"Oh they know it exists" Rosco smiled. "We've had our fair share of traitors and informants. But the Earth provides, and the Stone hides us away from prying eyes. The ponies are taught that only unicorns can cast spells, that pegasi and earth ponies have their own subtle magics. They know nothing of dogs. This is our own magic at work. Welcome to Quarry."

"Stay close" Rosco said firmly. "The SUF operates openly here, and is respected, but you'll still come across plenty who'll be willing to take advantage of newcomers."

Falling in behind him, the four young recruits began the descent down the side of the cliff face. Stone steps stretched hundreds of meters down and across the gorge. Certainly, it would be an arduous trek back up.

As they neared the bottom of the steps, four diamond dogs positioned at the sides of the path stood, spears resting on their shoulders. Upon recognising Rosco, they stood at attention, saluting briskly. Nodding back, the old dog led the group onwards and into the city proper.

From atop the canyon the city had looked to be fairly small, but as he swept his gaze from side to side, Dart could see that his estimate had been far from the mark. Over half the city had been obscured from view, hidden from sight in an alcove that looked like it stretched back forever. In all, it spanned an area the size of downtown Canterlot.

Most striking though, were the buildings. Each was seemingly carved from the solid stone wall, and reached from cave-top to ground, with several levels. Rope and wood bridges spanned these upper levels, crisscrossing in a spiderweb. The roads were channels, carved into the rock. Overhead, griffins flew between buildings, careful not to come too close to the many torches that burned with magical flames on the rock face. Diamond dogs, zebras and the occasional pony could be seen crossing the many bridges too, going about their day-to-day.

"It's like a city built on a city, built on a city!" Akua exclaimed in awe, before blushing wildly at the grins and laughs of the nearby locals.

"First things first." Rosco said as they wound their way through crowded streets. "You four will be assigned trainers. Expect to work hard. Many recruits who came from similar situations as yourselves held their existing abilities in high regard. They are always shown how wrong they are."

"Our training covers everything from close quarters combat to field medicine and everything in between. You will learn how to stitch your own wounds shut, kill a unicorn at fifty paces and maintain your weapons and equipment. This will take time and commitment. You are young and have time in spades. You are here because you have shown yourselves to be committed. I am not often wrong about recruits, do not prove me wrong about you."

"Never" Elora replied stoically.

"Never...?" Rosco raised a brow at the griffin, whose eyes widened.

"Never sir" Elora corrected.

"Get used to it" advised the old dog. "While I like to remain informal with the young ones, you will be expected to show due respect to your commanding officers in future. Some of them do not take kindly to laziness."

"Yes sir" Dart spoke more firmly.

As the five of them merged from the tall narrow streets into an open less occupied square, Dart's attention was immediately drawn to the huge building that occupied prime position in the center of the plaza. Unlike all the previous buildings they had walked past in this part of the city, this one did not stretch to the ceiling. Instead, the two-story structure was surrounded by a high wall. No bridges spanned the gap from nearby buildings, nor did anyone fly overhead.

"This is the SUF barracks and training facilities. Do not attempt to fly across this square." Rosco said, seemingly reading Dart's thoughts. "The first warning you will receive will come attached to a crossbow bolt."

Striding up to the gate with the young recruits in tow, Rosco was greeted by a pair of zebra guards.

"Captain Beryl here to drop off some new blood." Rosco stated.

The zebras sized the small group up, one of them making a quiet noise of contemplation. "Bit scrawny looking that one" he said, nodding slightly at Akua.

The other hummed in agreement. "Fit looking bird though" he grinned lecherously at Elora, who scowled back.

As Rafe and Dart made a start forward, each felt a paw on their shoulder. "Chaka, Adisa. I would prefer it if you didn't wind up my new recruits, they have had a trying day."

The guards grinned back at him. "Yes sir" they replied in tandem. Each raised a hoof in signal. Seconds later, the gate rumbled open, revealing a fairly plain building, all straight-edged stone slab with very few distinguishing features to speak of. As the group walked through the gate, they paused, realising that their guide was no longer leading them.

"This is where we part ways" Rosco said. "Someone will see to your assignment and training regimen. Follow their instructions and you shall soon be fighting for what you believe in." With that he was gone, striding off into the streets, the gate slamming shut between them.

"Please follow me" an approaching griffin guard requested. He lead them the the front door of the facility, holding it for them to enter.

With one last furtive glance at his friends, Dart took a deep breath, and stepped forward.

Author's Note:

I've been away for a long time, I know. Life's been throwing curveballs, like it sometimes does and writing/ponies had taken a back seat. I am planning on seeing this story through regardless though.

Thanks for reading!

Comments

[Buzzard]

It lives, nice

[Buzzard]

6001351
well, provided it is a government built/intended for and by non ponies it would at least be better at recognizing them in that regard than celestia's reign in the story, but as for ponies it's up in the air, could be better or worse