Cerberus was getting closer, he could smell it!
Only a few more hours, and he'll be able to warn the Prince.
"We're Coming Prince Blueblood!" The Right head barked over the winds that flew by his face, his legs flexing as Cerberus leaped into the air, jumping almost fifty meters ahead, all but flying over a creek in the woods.
Trees fell to the wayside as he bulldozed the path forward with his bulk, stones shattered beneath his paws, branches snapped and critters fled.
He was the greatest guard dog in the world.
And he will not fail at the one order his old master gave him over one thousand years ago.
"Starswirl! Look at me! I'm a good boy!" The Left head howled, his tongue lolling out of his mouth as he panted.
"Shut it! And Focus on locating the scent!" The Right head chastised the left head, who quickly returned to his job as the designated sniffer.
The Middle head simply focused on running, that was his job.
Follow the orders of his right brother, which were currently to follow the scent caught by his left brother, So that is simply what he shall do.
He doesn't need to think, the Right head does that for him. He doesn't need to focus his senses, the left head does that for him.
All he had to do was Run.
And so he Ran.
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Twilight Sparkle took a deep breath as she looked at her checklist of things to fix in order to stop whatever Future Twilight's disaster was.
"Good Job girls," She smiled as she checked the box at the bottom of the list before turning to her friends, "We managed to Disaster proof everything around,"
"Woohoo! We did it!" Her Pink friend cheered in joy.
"So, whatever this Future you said isn't going to happen no more?" Applejack ignored Pinkie Pie as she walked up to Twilight.
"I'm not sure..." Twilight pondered for a moment, "We managed to disaster-proof everything around, but nothing that we would have stopped should have brought enough of a catastrophe that I of all ponies would travel back in time just to warn me about it..."
"And you said that Future You came from next Tuesday, that's only five days away, If anything is going to happen in that time..." Applejack bit her lip.
"Then we'll be ready to stop it!" Rainbow Dash yelled as she wrapped her legs around Applejack and Twilight's shoulders and pulled the two mares into a hug, her wings carrying her over the two ponies.
"But what if we don't? What if the Disaster comes Tomorrow? What if it comes Today?!" Twilight's mind started to race as it worked to figure out what the disaster could possibly be.
"But- What if the disaster comes ten seconds from now?" Fluttershy meekly asked as she joined the group.
"Puh-lease Fluttershy, Like that's gonna' happen," Rainbow Dash waved her concern off, only to freeze as a loud bark sounded from the other side of Ponyville.
ROWR-ROWF!
AWOOOOO!
WOOF WOOF!
"On second thought, Maybe it can come ten seconds from now!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed before flapping her wings and going into the sky, getting a bird's eye view of what was going on.
"Oh no! The Disaster is here! Everypony PANIC!!!" Pinkie Pie yelled before running away, a crowd of fleeing ponies galloping after her.
"Rainbow Dash!" Twilight looked to the sky and called for her friend, "Can you see whatever it is?!"
"Twilight! You might want to look behind you!" Rainbow yelled down from the sky, confusing the purple Unicorn.
"Huh?" Twilight turned to look at Applejack and Fluttershy, confusion on her face, "What is she talking about?"
"Erm, Twilight, You might want to look behind you," Applejack told her, Fluttershy meekly nodding along as she tried to hide behind the larger mare.
Twilight wanted to ask what they were talking about but froze as she felt her back start to heat up as if it was hit by a cloud of hot steam from a sauna.
She slowly turned around to look at what was behind her and found herself staring into three pairs of red eyes.
-------------------------------------
I smiled as I shook hooves with Chancellor Neighsay, A tired smile on the older Unicorn's face as a group of fillies laughed happily behind him.
"Once Again, Your Highness, thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to entertain the girls," The Chancellor said as he wiped some sweat off his brow, his adopted daughter waving goodbye from behind his back, the pink frosting from the birthday cake still staining her mouth.
"It was no problem," I smiled at the politician, "I had some free time, and I would take any opportunity to make orphans smile,"
"Luckily, she's not an Orphan anymore," Neighsay weakly smiled as he turned to look at his daughter.
"Of course," I nodded to the Chancellor, "Have a good day," And I bid the Head of the Equestria Education Association farewell before heading into the carriage that was parked for me, letting the royal guards carry it away.
"So, Neighsay's Birthday surprise is done. Starlight, what's next on my schedule?" I turn to the only other pony inside the carriage, Starlight Glimmer taking a moment to look up from the book she was reading to notice I even returned.
"Oh, Next up is-" She picked up the schedule and read it, "A Spa visit with Princess Luna," She looked away from the paper and raised an eyebrow at me, "A spa visit? Really?"
"What can I say?" I shrugged at my bodyguard, "After Luna turned me intangible for a day, I discovered my love for medicinal hot tubs," I smiled at the memory of floating in the pool after cleansing myself from the Poison Joke.
My smile faltered, face flushed in embarrassment for a moment when I remembered what else happened that day.
"..." Starlight raised a brow at me before sighing in exhaustion, "Lucky bastard,"
I barked out a laugh, not expecting Starlight's reaction to my words.
"Yeah, Yeah, Laugh all you like, you at least have time to go to a spa, I'm gonna' be forced to stand outside like some dumb guardsmare the whole time!" Starlight tossed me my bag before crossing her front legs and letting out a huff.
"You know," I started saying, "You can always go to the Spa whenever you have free time," I told her, "Take Raven with you as well, We both know she could use it,"
"...Fine," Starlight levitated the Sunglasses of her uniform onto her face as the Carriage stopped, the doors opening up to let the VIP in.
"Friend Blueblood!" Luna called with a smile as she climbed into the carriage, taking a seat on the bench beside me.
I wanted to smile as well, but when my eyes locked onto the pest on her back, I knew I was likely to have a bad time.
"Squeak Squeak," The Opossum giggled from on top of Luna's back, a glint of mischief in his black orbs as he locked eyes with me.
"Tiberius..." I growled, glaring at the offending disease carrier.
"Oh, We thought it would be nice for the spa visit if we could bring our pets along," Luna, not noticing the dislike I had for the Opossum, smiled as she tossed a golden plant spider at me.
The gold Plunderseed skittered around for a moment before coming to rest on my legs, my body already moving to pet Comet.
"Driver, To the spa!" Luna banged a hoof on the carriage wall, the Diver nodding as the royal guards started moving once again.
-----------------------------------------
The Left head of Cerberus sniffed the purple unicorn in front of him before barking a confirmation to his brothers.
"So this is the source of the scent," The Right head growled, "If we concentrate, we should be able to find the Prince from here," He turned to look at his left-most brother, "Can you smell him?"
"Oh Yeah! The Prince should be..." The Left head closed his eyes and sniffed the air, his two brothers closing their eyes so he could concentrate better.
Cerberus turned his left head every which way, sniffing the air and the ground, the Unicorn and the Pegasus.
"Hey Twilight, What do we do?" The Orange Mare whispered loudly to the Unicorn, their voices easily caught by the magically enhanced senses of the guard dog.
"Cerberus is a strong creature, If he starts rampaging around Ponyville, it wouldn't surprise me if he was the disaster Future Me was warning us about..." She whispered back, her mind racing with plans and ideas for how she could solve the issue in front of her without causing an unmitigated disaster.
"I got it!" The left head suddenly opened his eyes and barked happily, his brothers following his example and turning to look where he was looking.
At a City on top of a cliff in the distance.
"So that's where we're going!" The Right head turned and barked at his middle-brother, the Central Head merely lolling his tongue out in excitement as he resumed his run.
"Starswirl we're coming!" The Left head cheered as his cheeks flapped backward in the wind.
"It's not Starswirl! It's Blueblood and Luna!" The Right head corrected his brother with a bark.
"Hahaha! I forgot!" The Left head laughed as Cerberus ran towards the cliff face of the mountain, leaping onto the sheer stone wall of the cliff, and dragging his claws into the stone.
It was time for Cerberus to climb.
-------------------------------------------
Twilight stared in horror at the sight before her. Cerberus was climbing up the cliff of Canterlot.
"Girls! We need to head to Canterlot and stop Cerberus from destroying it!" She yelled for her friends. Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie hurried to join back up with the three mares that stood before Cerberus just moments prior.
"So are we done panicking? Because I can continue to scream if we need to, check this out- AAAAAAAAAAH-oomph," Pinkie Pie stopped screaming when Rarity joined the group and threw a hat over her mouth.
"Darling, that's a wonderful Idea and all, but how are we going to get to Canterlot before that thing does?" Rarity asked once she made sure Pinkie Pie would stop screaming.
"Ooh Ooh, I know! The train is pretty fast, why don't we just take that?" Pinkie Pie raised an idea after spitting out the hat Rarity covered her mouth with.
"Pinkie Pie, The Train to Canterlot loops by us only once an hour, and it's a twenty-minute ride, by the time it comes to pick us up, Cerberus would already be most of the way up that cliff," Twilight pointed out the issue with that problem, and issue that would have been taken into account if not because.
"But it's National Posy Day, The train schedules are different on Flower related days," Pinkie Pie pointed out, "And also on Exotic Fruit-related days, but the timing on the train on those days won't help us, National Durian Day isn't for another two weeks,"
"Wait... Pinkie Pie," Twilight turned to the party pony.
"Yes?" Pinkie tilted her head to the side.
"When is the train coming?" Twilight asked.
"Oh, The train should be arriving in two minutes, we'll need to run if we want to buy tickets-" Pinkie Pie was cut off.
"You heard her Girls, Let's go buy our train tickets!" Rainbow Dash yelled, urging her friends to start running to the train station.
The Elements of Harmony had to stop a Disaster.
------------------------------------
The sound of slow and steady hoof steps echoed in the quiet halls of the magical prison.
The inmates kept quiet to themselves in their cells, the usual loud and boisterous monsters, angrily slamming against the bars and clawing at their guard, now stood silent, scared.
"Monsters and Creatures and Devils of all shapes," The Red Centaur spoke as his frail body moved by the cells of the monsters, his mere presence amongst them enough to turn the most rabid of beasts into the most timid of critters.
"All held in the bowels of Tartarus, The archaic visage of the Grand Conquest," He passed by monsters of all shapes and sizes, from giant Snow-beasts to Feral Bugbears, Tartarus held monstrosities of all kinds.
"And yet, For over ten centuries, this Prison held only one sound mind, only one of the sentience to understand the morality of their actions," The Centaur left the cages of the monsters and walked up to a solitary glass box, away from the rabble of the prison.
And as he stared into the Glass Box, his eyes met the singular blue eye that sat inside the blob of shadows.
"And yet here you are, Corruption born of Envy, unfit to even exist in the natural order of things, and yet you still persist," Lord Tirek lowered his body as he sat on the other side of the glass box that housed Nightmare Moon.
"Why is that? Why do you struggle, Envious one? For what purpose does it serve?" Lord Tirek clasped his palms under his chin as he rested his head, His malnourished skin stretching across his weakened body, making him resemble a frail old man.
"You already concluded your Destiny, You returned from the Moon to bring your era of Endless Night, And your Fate has been sealed with your defeat by the Elements of Harmony, Not once but twice. And yet, Envious Corruption, you still cling on to this form you are trapped in, this cage of Shadow and Nightmare, Why?"
Moony stared with a half-lidded gaze at the Centaur, Her singular blue eye staring into his yellow dots before her voice sounded out.
"You smell horrible, when was the last time you showered? You filthy idiot, you should be lucky I do not have a stomach, your mere presence is making me wish to throw up," She made a retching sound as her body shuddered, "Disgusting,"
"....." Lord Tirek stared at the small Nightmare in the glass cage, at all that remained of the evil doubts that once plagued Princess Luna's mind.
And he smiled.
"I will enjoy spreading your crumbling form over the dust and ash of everything you ever wanted," He spoke proudly, as if it wasn't a threat but a fact.
"Because you are not Fated for greatness, you are destined to be a simple note in a history book, barely more than a chapter," His smile spread across his face, a sick and twisted thing, as if he was laughing at a joke that only he knew about.
"...You're Disgusting," Was all Nightmare Moon could reply as she merely turned away from the Red Centaur, not deigning to give him even a fraction of her time.
But Lord Tirek didn't mind, he knew what was to come, He would leave Tartarus.
After all, It was his Destiny.
It was his Fate.
But that time will not be now, The pieces aren't yet in place.
And when they were, Tirek would be ready.
It was his Destiny.
It was his Fate.
"Hurry Along, Guard Dog of this horrid place, Your Prisoner is waiting to speak with a Warden," He said out loud as he once passed by the cages of monster and beast, walking up to his own secluded cage at the edge of the Prison.
And sat down, Waiting for his Warden to arrive.
He already waited a thousand years, what was a few days more?
Don't let anybody say that Lord Tirek wasn't patient.
"Hurry along, Warden, Conquest cannot wait forever"