The Hunter and The Hunted

They traveled down through the forest, Cerberus leading the way by only a few inches to the left of Twilight.  She looked at their surroundings, not having been this deep into the forest for a long time.  Even Zecora didn't like to travel this far from her small hut.  Time was passing by very slowly, and Cerberus hadn't spoken in twenty minutes.  Maybe if she talked to him and got to know him better, it would make the trip a bit smoother.

What in Equestria could she ask him?

"So Cerberus, how's your life back at the Gates?"

His ears pricked up and he communicated, "It's okay, I guess.  It's not really a walk in the park, but it's better than being locked up in there yourself."

"You were locked in the Gates of Tartarus?" Twilight asked, hearing this information for the first time.

"Yes, around seven hundred years ago.  They chose me because I was the baddest of the bad the most loyal of the loyal."

"Even more loyal than Dash?" Twilight thought to herself.

"Who's Dash?" he asked.  Twilight forgot that they could hear each other's thoughts.

"Rainbow Dash is one of my friends back home in Ponyville.  She is one of the Elements of Harmony, Loyalty.  Along with my other four friends, we make up the circle."

"Elements? I remember when Celestia made those things.  I was just a pup, smaller than I am now.  There was a big debate between the Council of Darkness in Tartarus, Discord was the boss then.  He was a lot more grumpy after being imprisoned in stone," Cerberus started.

"Wait, the books say that Discord was frozen in stone in the Royal Gardens, never to be touched!" Twilight butted in.

"Who told you that? That's probably just a cover up story.  The stone statue could still communicate with us telepathically like you and I are doing.  We... They were debating over Discord's plans to return to Equestria when his imprisonment spell was finally broken.  I was in the corner listening."

"You must have the memory of Star Swirl!" she said.

"Maybe," he said, "but anyways, things didn't go to well for Discord as you can see.  He was a bit too... ambiguous."

They walked on for another few miles in silence, they were getting to the end of the Everfree, up towards the Grand Bridge of Bail-oh.  It crossed over the Fall River, filled with the leaves of the Running of the Leaves celebrations.  It was a six hundred foot drop.  Over the years, the bridge has seen it's time, now it was a direct version of what it used to be in the beginning of the New Celestial Age.

"Be careful..." Cerberus hushed.

"I know, just watch your footing, if you fall, I fall with you."

"You don't sound happy about that," he smirked.

The bridge was ragged, destroyed, and rickety.

"I remember when they built this, to unite the Northern and Southern Equestrian Borders.  Equestria was a nation divided.  We don't really talk about those times back at Tartarus," the dog sighed.

"Based on you stories," Twilight started, nearing the edge of the bridge, "the creatures in Tartarus seem to be very intelligent."

"Well, that is because we are!  Tartarus isn't just monsters, we have ponies as well.  Don't think of Tartarus as a prison, but more like a city.  A city filled with various types of personalities and skills, most used for evil, but we do have some ponies that have gotten lost on their way."

"That can't be good."

Cerberus started walking to the end and made it across with ease.  The trip was going to take a toll on him just as much as Twilight.

"So, Twilight, I-"

Twilight was gone, and there was a hole in the bridge the size of a pony to fit through, or fall through.

Panic hit him in the face like a bucket of cold water as he raced over, but when he looked in, Twilight was nowhere to be seen, which would surely mean she fell down to the bottom of the ravine.

Cerberus, still being a dog, was lost without an owner, and he sat down next to the hole in disbelief. She was gone.

"No, no, no, no, no."

Suddenly, a sound pounded against his eardrums, it was his name bing called, and it was Twilight.  His tail began to wag as he stuck his heads in the hole, only to notice that Twilight had fallen through, but had caught onto the ledge of rocks underneath the bridge itself.  all she needed to do was shimmy across and pull herself up, which Cerberus helped with.

"I'm sorry if I scared you, Cerberus, I wasn't looking where I was going, it was irony at best."

He couldn't believe what he was hearing.  Twilight Sparkle, who had just fallen through a bridge and almost died at the bottom of a six hundred foot drop, was apologizing to him.  She really must care for him and his tail wagged harder.

"Don't, Twilight, it was my fault.  Let's see if we can keep going with the least interruption.  It's only mid afternoon, it wont be dark for hours."

Twilight smiled.  It seemed like this was going to go a little more smoothly, all it took was a bit of appreciation.