Salvation

by Sandstorm Inkwell

Chapter Twenty-Two

Looking at the armored being, the first thing I thought of was that this was no pony. It was bipedal, like me, but with a huge torso. The spear was gripped in what appeared to be a paw while two ears stuck out from the helmet it wore.

Diamond Dog, my mind labeled the being. I suddenly remembered the incident that happened about a day after arriving in Equestria. Surely this can't be the same pack, I reasoned. Same pack or not, I could see the dog foaming at the mouth as it looked at me. Bending my knees, I drew my knife in my left hand and my pistol in my right hand.

Just before the dog charged me, a bark echoed down the tunnels. The bark froze the spear wielding dog in front of me. A new form waded through the black shadows that were beyond the lit area. This new dog stepped into the light and I could see that it wore golden armor without a helm. It also wielded no visible weapon.

“You are not like the others who intruded here,” it spoke. It's baritone voice echoed repeatedly. I felt... fear at this dog. I hid it though as I held pistol and knife in a combat stance.

“My apologies for the intrusion but it was this or get hit by a train,” I stated. The dog looked at me blankly for a second before it threw it's head back and laughed. The laughter shook loose rock from the walls.

“Not like the others, indeed,” it spoke once it had finished laughing and was looking back at me.

“If I may, you are not like some of the Diamond Dogs-”

The thing barked loudly. I felt my ear drums ring in pain as I stood, shocked at the reaction. The speardog took a step towards me but the leader then growled at it, causing it to stop. The dog looked back at me, a hatred in it's eyes.

“Diamond Dogs! That pack of useless wretches. All they do is sniff and dig for jewels! What is the point of doing so?” asked the dog. I knew it was rhetorical question so I just remained silent as the dog angrily blew air out of it's nostrils, “We are the Cliff Dogs. Our tunnels encompass this cliff face. Up, Down, and some distance In, we live. Where the Diamond Dogs,” another angry exhale, “dig for their precious jewels, we mine for metals!”

“I see,” I said, “sorry for the mistake.”

It looked at me before chuckling, “It is a mistake that's often made by outsiders.”

I glanced back at the hole that I had caused when I had broken through the thin rock. Looking back at the golden armored dog, I relaxed my stance slightly before asking,

“Have you seen my partner? He had jumped off the other side of the bridge so I lost track of him.”

“Seen him? No,” my began to race. Did he not grab the rocks? Did he jump too late? “but we have felt him.”

I looked at the dog in confusion, “Felt?”

“Every time your feet touch the ground, you cause vibrations to spread through the rock and soil. If you know what you are looking for, you can feel movement that is happening above you or beside you,” the dog explained. I opened my mouth again but, as if sensing me do so, the dog raised a paw to stop me, “He is alright. A Feeler tracked his movements from the rock face to the surface.”

“I need to get to the surface than,” I stated. The dog stared at me for a couple seconds, as if in thought, before nodding and waving me to follow it. Without waiting for me to catch up, the dog turned and began to walk into the shadows. Great, I thought to myself as I hurried to catch up, putting away my weapons as I did.

/--\

“Come on, Scootaloo, you're late enough as it is.”

I looked up from my saddlebag to look out the door of my room, where I knew Twilight was standing.

“One second,” I called back as I gingerly took the note written by Tyler, my friend, my...

“Father,” I whispered, feeling the tears returning. I used to think that a father had to be related to you to be a father, therefore I knew I would never have a father. Now, I felt like a father didn't have to be related. A father just had to be a male who cared for you like you were related.

Looking at his bed, I saw his camouflaged hat hanging from a bedpost. Carefully folding the note, I put it in the saddlebag for walking to the hat and plucking it off the bedpost. On the front was what I remember him calling a ranktab. I couldn't remember what the symbol stood for though. Turning the hat around I saw a... nametape attached, by something he called velcro, to the back of the hat. I traced the letters with my other hoof. Odom. His last name. I thought sadly.

“Scootaloo. Please hurry,” I heard Twilight call. I looked at the hat before setting it atop my head. The hat was so big that I could fit both ears into it comfortably. With my ears holding it up, the hat sat nicely atop my head. Walking to the saddlebag, I closed it before tossing it on and walking out of the room.

In the hallway, I saw Twilight with her mouth open. She was probably about to call for me again. She closed her mouth when she saw me and I could see the sadness in her eyes as she took in the hat.

“It fits,” I don't know why I had said it. It was obvious that it did but it just... felt like it was the right thing to say. Twilight chuckled sadly before nodding,

“It does,” she replied before motioning down the hall with her head, “Come on.”

/--\

We had been walking for what felt like forever. Though, the walk did allow us to... converse. I had learned, through description, that their “intruders” were a group of insurgents that I had found the Cliff Dogs' tunnels and wanted to use them as their own. According to Yu'ak, the Cliff Dog Alpha I was currently following, they were not “able fighters”. This was intriguing as, in my dimension, the insurgents and their tunnels had been a bane to Coalition troops. Could this have been because of the defensive abilities of being in a cave and not from specialized combat skills? Looking back, that was surely the case.

Of course, the exchange of information wasn't all one-sided. When he asked, I had told Yu'ak of how I came to his world and what was currently happening. Was I scared of him telling our enemies? I just listened to him talk for about twenty minutes about how the insurgents were not “able fighters” and “died like Earth ponies who tried to tread cloud”. In other words: Hell no.

The walk through the tunnels, even without the information, had been enlightening. I had seen aspects of Dog life I had never thought I would see. I saw a mother tending to cubs, two dogs conversing casually about their daily lives, dogs working in an underground workshop. An entire city lay below ground. It was breathtaking to say the least. Though, one thing bugged me.

“Where do you get food from?” I asked Yu'ak, the Alpha walking ahead of me. Every dog quickly stepped aside when they saw him, making room for the two of us.

Yu'ak snorted, “The ground above provides for the ground below.”

What?

“We are nearing the surface, outsider,” Yu'ak continued. I looked ahead of us but all I could see was black, dotted with the flickering orange of lit torches. Turning, Yu'ak came to a stop at a dead end. He turned to me, silent.

“Did the tunnel cave in?” I asked.

Yu'ak laughed, “No, outsider.”

I tensed, my hand going for my knife. Again, there was laughter, “Relax, I do not plan to kill you. If I did, you would be dead at the hole you made in our Cave-Home, your meat used to feed our cubs. No, I do not plan for your death at our hands.”

I took my hand away from knife, “Then why are we at a dead end?” I asked, irritation slipping into my voice.

The dog laughed... again, “The eyes fool you, outsider,” he stated in that irritatingly calm voice. I saw as he put a paw on the rock and push.

The world was suddenly bathed in light.