Chapter 96: It's About Time 3
"I got eyes on the Big Dog!" Applejack Yelled as she held her hat tightly onto her head, poking her head out of the window of the train as she kept her eyes trained on the Large, Three-Headed Dog, climbing up the cliffs underneath Canterlot.
"Can this train go any faster?!" Rainbow Dash complained as she flew circles around their cabin, unable to sit still as the train made its way towards Canterlot at its usual pace.
"Not without breaking down the engine or falling off the tracks," Twilight Sparkle told her friends as she tried to calculate a plan to reach Canterlot before Cerberus could wreck Havoc.
Whatever was going to happen soon, will be disastrous enough to force Twilight to go back in time just to warn herself of whatever was going to happen! Cerberus must be stopped!
"Once we're past the upcoming tunnel, we should be close enough to Canterlot for me to Teleport half of us to the City without suffering from Magic Exhaustion, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Do you two think you can help me stall Cerberus once we reach Canterlot long enough for the train to reach the city?" Twilight turned to ask the two most fit Pony's of her group.
"I don't know Twilight," Applejack brought her head back into the cabin, her spot by the window being replaced by Pinkie Pie, "That Cerberus fella' looks mighty big, This isn't some foe we can just use the Elements of Harmony and blast away, is it?"
"I don't think so, The Elements of Harmony fix Disharmony and Chaos, That's how we turned Discord back into Stone, and Separated Nightmare Moon from Princess Luna, And even when Nightmare Moon returned with Rarity under her control, the Elements shut off all those orbs that shot at us because they were creating chaos. I don't think the Elements will be any use on something like Cerberus," Twilight told the girls what she already knew about the Elements.
"But wouldn't Cerberus also be counted as somebody making Chaos if he starts destroying Canterlot?" Rarity asked Twilight.
"I'm not sure, But even then, The Elements are with Princess Celestia in Canterlot Castle, we'll still need to reach the city first, and we can't do that before Cerberus," Twilight shook her head and brought their conversation back to its original track.
If Spike was there, he would have told her she should try not to let her thoughts wander off during such important situations, but the baby Dragon was instead catching up on some well-earned sleep back in the library.
"Then let's get ready!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed, doing one final circle above the train cabin before landing on the floor beside her friends, "Twilight will teleport with Me and Applejack to Canterlot, where we'll hold that big dog off from ruining those Rich-Pony buildings until Fluttershy arrives to talk him down!"
"Oh...." Fluttershy started to shake at the thought of being in front of such a big and scary Creature, "I'll try my best,"
"That's all we need Fluttershy," Twilight smiled at the yellow Pegasus, "So get ready you two," She turned to nod at Applejack and Rainbow Dash, "We're teleporting out of here once the train passes the tunnel, We have five minutes,"
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I closed my eyes as I let my muscles relax, feeling the smooth oil spread on my back and legs as I lay on the massage table at one of Canterlot's Spas.
"This is nice," I heard Luna say beside me, lying on her own table as a pair of masseuses worked on her wings. I ignored the squeak coming from her Opossum as I hummed an agreement with her, hearing Comet's clicking sound as he floated in a large bowl of herbal water, rose petals floating around the Plunderseed Spider.
"Mi Amore Cadenza is getting married by the end of next month," Luna said, trying to start some sort of small talk that I ignored as I let my massage continue.
"Never mind, that is the spot," Luna seemed to follow my lead and stop talking, letting our spa treatment continue in comfortable silence.
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Cerberus growled to himself, His mighty claws once again piercing the stone face of the cliff, digging into the mountain before propelling himself upwards with another mighty leap.
He could already see the top, he didn't even require his enhanced senses in order to hear the Ponies in the city above.
And with one final leap up the cliff, Cerberus landed in Canterlot.
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Starlight Glimmer was bored, Standing outside a Massage Parlor, a trio of Bat-winged ponies, Luna's Guards, keeping watch beside her.
Usually, whenever she found herself doing her job of being the guard of Prince Blueblood, she spent most of that time just hanging around, the Prince not needing any real protection.
He could also easily take care of himself.
However, with Princess Luna around him, Starlight Glimmer had no choice but to actually take her job seriously, or else she risked earning Princess Celestia's Ire.
At least, More than she already has.
ROWR-ROWF!
Starlight quickly perked up at the loud sound, All sense of boredom gone from her mind as her head turned to where the barking was coming from.
Widening her eyes as she spotted a trio of Ponies appear in the middle of the air and fall onto the street.
Starlight turned back to the Massage parlor where she saw the trio of Bat-Ponies fly towards the source of the sound, leaving her behind as the only one to guard the Massage Parlor.
The very unguarded Massage Parlor that is currently hosting two of the most important individuals in all of Equestria.
Starlight took a deep breath and shook her head, "Welp, Looks like I have a job to do,"
And with that, Starlight Glimmer entered the Building, intent on notifying the royals about what was going on outside.
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"Okay Girls, Remember, We need to hold Cerberus back from rampaging through the town until the rest of the girls get here," Twilight Sparkle told her two friends as soon as they appeared in the streets of Canterlot, "With the speed the train was moving, that means we have to hold him down for fifteen minutes, did you get that?"
Rainbow Dash nodded woozily as her legs wobbled like jelly for a moment, Applejack giving a groan that approximately sounded like an understanding from her spot lying on the ground.
Teleporting for the first time will do that to you.
"Applejack, do you have your Lasso?" Twilight helped her friend up, Rainbow Dash holding onto her as her legs straightened out.
"Of course I do, I never leave without it," Applejack said as she pulled a Lasso from underneath her hat, grabbing it in her mouth as she started to spin it above her head.
"Rainbow Dash, We need Cerberus to focus on us so he won't harm any other ponies. Think you can bring him to us?" Twilight then turned to Rainbow Dash, The blue-furred Pegasus nodded excitedly as a smirk spread on her face.
"Of course I can, That dog won't be able to look away!" The Pegasus said with Cheer before flying into the air, doing three loops in the air before shooting off with a rainbow-looking trail, disappearing over the roofs of Downtown Canterlot.
"Get ready to Lasso his middle head once he gets close, Applejack," Twilight nodded to her friend as the two of them stood at the ready in the middle of the now empty street, hearing the sounds of wood breaking and stone smashing as Cerberus made his way closer.
"Aaaaahg!" An armored Pony with bat wings yelled as his body was thrown over the rooftops ahead of them, crashing down in a nearby alley.
Twilight gulped, her horn glowing with magic as she readied a spell to join Applejack in tying down Cerberus.
"He's too powerful!" A second royal guard yelled as he was also thrown high into the air, landing back in the streets with a loud crashing sound as his body fell into an open dumpster which quickly closed shut, trapping him inside with the trash.
Applejack weakly kicked the ground with her front legs, the Lasso still spinning over her head.
"He's Coming!" Rainbow Dash yelled as she popped over the roofs, flying back toward the girls as the sound of a large canine came closer and closer.
Landing with a slide on her hooves, Rainbow Dash turned to stand beside her two friends as they readied the inevitable fight against the Guardian of Tartarus.
And as they watched the shadow of the three-headed dog leap over the buildings, They prepared to engage, only to balk as the Dog jumped over them, landing directly behind the group and ignoring them completely.
"He's trying to reach the castle!" Twilight quickly reached a conclusion for why Cerberus ignored them, turning quickly to follow the dog, only to once again pause they she watched a trio of Ponies exit the nearby Massage Parlor.
BARK BARK!
Cerberus barked before sitting down, blocking the three ponies from view on the other side of his large body, Twilight being the only one to briefly catch a glimpse of the trio.
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I smiled easily as I felt my neck pop, months of stress washing away from my body as Luna and I walked out of our Spa visit, our pets hanging onto Starlight as if she were a coat rack.
"So," I started as I looked at the familiar dog in front of me, "Pooch, Are you here to tell us that something is trying to escape Tartarus or are you just here to play?" I said as I walked up to the large Dog, "Bark once for the first answer, Twice for the second answer,"
"Bark!" Cerberus's right head barked once, nodding as it stared down at me, The left head was busy licking Luna, covering the freshly massaged Princess of the Night with saliva and drool, and the middle head was breathing heavily, likely tired from how far he ran.
"Did you get that Starlight?" I turned to smile at my friend, watching the Unicorn stare blankly at me as Comet wrapped her tail around her midsection while Luna's disgusting Opossum sat on her head and played with her mane.
"I'll take that as a yes, I need you to go to the castle and tell Celestia to bring a bunch of guards with her, Luna and I are having a quick trip back to Tartarus," I watched as Starlight groaned tiredly as her response.
"What an exciting turn of events we have found today, Friend Blueblood," Luna said as she turned to look at me, seemingly ignoring the giant dog head that was slobbering on her as she smiled at me, "We shall take us to Tartarus, and return Cerberus to his rightful place as guard of the Prison," Luna turned to Starlight, "You, Starlight Glimmer, take Tiberius back to the castle, Prince Blueblood and We will go to Tartarus and Await Celestia,"
I cringed slightly as I felt Luna place a saliva-covered leg on my shoulder, grabbing onto Cerberus with her other leg, before the three of us teleported away in a burst of magic.
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"..." Starlight blinked at where her Boss stood moments prior, before turning to look at the trio of wide-eyed ponies who stared at her from behind where Cerberus once sat.
Feeling the Opossum on her head play with her mane as the Golden Plant-Spider wrapped its vine-like tail around her torso, Starlight Glimmer sighed tiredly.
If she hadn't grown as a person in the last couple of months, Starlight believed she would once again be regretting her past actions.
"...What just happened?" The Rainbow-maned Pegasus voiced up as she asked what everybody in the vicinity was thinking.
"I'm not sure, but we need to get to Princess Celestia to tell her what happened, Quickly!" Starlight watched Twilight Sparkle say before she and her two friends ran away.
"...Why does this always have to happen when we leave the castle?" Starlight asked out loud, even though Blueblood wasn't there to answer her.
"Welp... Still beats spending thirty years in prison," And with a shrug of her shoulders, Starlight Glimmer started to jog back to Canterlot Castle, a pair of pets on her back.