The Hunter and The Hunted

"I was young, my father and mother wanted me to study at the Canterlot Academy, so I studied hard.  Very hard, harder than most ponies would tend to even think of, which was the reason I was alienated from the other foals."

Only a few more hills and they would reach Las Pegasus.

"Do you blame your parents for not having any friends?" Cerberus' middle head asked.

"That's a tough question..." her head bowed, sweat dripping off her nose.  Twilight wasn't comfortable talking about her past, but she felt like as if something was telling her to spill her guts.

"It's okay if you don't want to talk about if, I could just read your thoughts if I tried hard enough," he smiled.

"No, no.  I don't blame my parents, but they are one of the reasons.  I blame myself more than anybody.  I should have been more outgoing, but when I look back, I never would have met my friends in Ponyville if I never tried."

"Time sure does have strange tales to tell.  The only way to fix something is with something stupid like time travel!"

"Stupid?  How?"

"Never mind, I just believe that time travel can be used only when it is a last resort, and if your trying to actually stay back in time, like forever, that takes masters."

"But what about the ones in the Canterlot Archives?" she asked.

"Well, I'm sure if they have some there, then they can only send you back in time for a few moments at best."

"That explains future Twilight coming and visiting me," she said.

"You were talking about your foalhood?"

"Ah yes, well, I was accepted obviously.  I didn't see my parents after that, but all I needed was my brother, or that's what I told myself to help me sleep at night.  I always missed them, but I used my studies to cover the feelings up.  I loved... love my brother, but we started growing farther apart.'

Cerberus took in a deep breath as he trucked up the hill that should be looking over L.P.

"You seemed to be very lonely.  Why didn't you find yourself a coltfriend?"

"I didn't see the point in taking any serious relationship to a farther level than just friends, which I didn't have many of.  It would have taken me away from my studies," she huffed up the hill, noticing Cerberus at a halt on the over looking hill.

She looked over the mound of hill made of sand and L.P. was situated beyond a few more dunes.  The colourful buildings and houses were shining in the hot sun, which was lowering.  The temperature was going to drop soon and the desert creatures were going to start leaving their burrows, hungry.

"The journey is going to be a lot harder if we don't have protection," Twilight said, getting an idea.

"What did you have in mind?"

"We find a body guard, or better yet, two, but just somepony to help out."

"I suppose, but who would take a job going to Tartarus?" Cerberus asked.

"Trust me, you can find anypony to do an job in Las Pegasus."

They trekked up to the gates on the outskirts of the city, there was a huge line stretching for hundreds of feet, the only thing to do was wait until the line shortened.  The line finally started to physically move when the sun was down, night had settled in, and there were strange noises coming from the dunes.

"If we wait out here any longer, we are going to be done for," Cerberus said.

"Please, I'm pretty sure the guards wouldn't let anything happen to its patrons."

A few moments later, the gates opened and a few gryphons were dragging out a colt in a sack, blind folded and gagged, and took him over one of the dunes.  They waited, and the gryphons came back without the colt.

"Never mind," Twilight said.

"We're gonna' die out here," he said back, "we need to find another way in, do you know any other way?"

Twilight though for a moment.  She did know one way, but the odds were crazy off.  They had a better chance getting killed out there, then they did where Twilight was thinking.

"I do know one way, every city has a sewage entrance."