Cerberus has one job, and that job is to guard the Gates of Tartarus so that no evil creatures can escape. He's had this job for a long time, and not once did he defy his duty. Sure, he left his post that one time, but he never intentionally set someone free. Not that he ever wanted to.
But what if somepony was cast into Tartarus through no fault of their own? And what if that somepony is a pony that Cerberus really cares about? Is there a protocol for this scenario? Alas, no. It's never happened before. So, the big question remains:
What now?
Chapters (1)
*tear* W-We need... we need a Cerberus tag. RIGHT NOW DAMN IT!
This is a real diamond in the ruff.
... Darn it, Tundra. Too soon. ...
Excuse me while I perform the closest action to a wrist slap that I can with the limited emoticons.
Pretty well do...SQUIRREL!!
Sorry man had to do it.
Aw I like this story!
4401193 Thanks.
Yay dis get mah faves!
4401298 Thanks. I'm glad you liked it.
4401332 seriously though, this was absolutely adorable. I applaud you. *begins slow clapping*
I always did love that dog. Glad to see I'm not the only one who's contemplated this sort of thing! Well done.
Interesting concept
4401613 That sometimes happens when, in the time it takes you from loading a page to hitting thumbs up, someone else has. I once seemed to give a story 8 thumbs up.
Nicely done!
This is funny, because my headcannon was that Tartarus existed before Celestia and Luna, and Cerberus was a sort of impartial, Lawful-Neutral guardian. Nevertheless, I liked this story. It was a look into a character that's received little to no attention, and a well written one as well. Good work!
You sir deserve a moustache.
4402014 Nice one.
wow, confusion. Ruff
Considering I just read this after my friend let me play with his new puppy I can feel a soft spot for Cerberus now and see him as the royal pet. Good story!
4401943 My headcanon regarding Cerberus comes from the fact that Celestia sent out Lost Dog fliers when he left his post. To me, that implies that he's her pet. Otherwise, she would've sent out a different kind of notification. But, that's just me.
I... I can't really tell whether or not I'm sad or happy right now.
"Shappy!"
You seem great at writing logical paradoxes!
Now correct what should have happend before. In rainbowfalls, rainbowdash has to choose between her friends, and her birthplace. Since she is the element of loyalty, Which is scarily enough what decides your life pattern, this is ofcourse impossible and she thus explodes.
Seriously am I the only one thinking that.
So cute!
Took me a bit to realize Mistress was Celestia. At first, I thought it was Luna.
This story is extremely cute, I don't think I've seen a story on here with a similar premise. Very good job, 10/10 would dawww again.
I really like this :3
This was good. Very good.
This was an interesting story. I rather enjoyed it. 10/10 mustaches.
I liked this story very much. What made it stand out was the Naïf unreliable narrator. Very fun to read.
Head cannon accepted! Cerberus is Celestia's puppy!
This is some good Cerberus characterization
This raises so many of the questions I had about Celestia and Luna being tossed into Tartarus.
Seriously, worst super-villain prison ever. No failsafes. No alert system. Just one fairly stupid two-headed dog guarding the most OP monsters... whom, if you recall, we didn't even get to see. Not even shadows to hint that there was at least a plan in the writing works to expand upon the place in future seasons.
It's even worse than Arkham Assylum!
And at least the Phantom Zone was tricky to work with and had a reason no one could guard it (random entry through portal only, had to be generated on the spot primarily from the outside, and inside it sucked like heck and there's not enough money in the cosmos to tempt someone into voluntarily guarding it).
But anyway, pretty much EVERYTHING in the episode needed more forethought, foreshadowing, and more expansion.
fc07.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2013/354/6/4/clapping_pony_icon___twiscepter_by_comeha-d6ymjpx.gif
4411877 That was honestly the hardest part, and why I didn't think this story would be as successful as it apparently was. I'm really glad I was able to pull this off.
4414681
In Greek mythology, Tartarus is only a small part of the Underworld (a.k.a. Avernus). In addition to Cerberus, a person escaping from Tartarus would have to deal with Hades, Hades' wife Persephone, the Furies, Aeacus, Minos, Rhadamanthus, Hypnos, Thanatos, the residents of the Asphodel Meadows, the residents of Isles of the Blessed, the five enchanted rivers of the Underworld, and Charon the ferryman.
In my headcanon, Avernus is the cave were the bat pony live and Tartarus is their maximum security prison.
Poor Cerberus.
4415844 You have inadvertedly caused me to conclude that Bat Ponies are now a type of Equestrian justicar/warden race
And now I'm convinced they're not actually Luna's guards, but her parole officers
That was nice.
I read this and immediately thought of "The Sun Goddess". (If you don't know, it's a short story told from Winona's PoV, and how Applejack is the Sun Goddess. It was also a sad-fic.)
This had feels, but not too many to handle, so thank you for that.
4415844 Minos? Huh, I always thought he was just an evil king who fed youths to the minotaur until Perseus killed it.
So got to be in charge of something in Tartarus? Damn, that's a justice system more F'd up than ours!
4419783 You're welcome.
4421005
Minos became a judge of the dead. You might want to stay on his good side just in case.
4423125 Wow... and I thought our system for selecting judges was bad!
This story is so many different kinds of amazing, I loved it! So much cute, so many feels!
But seriously, I really enjoyed how you wrote Cerberus' character, especially how you referenced the whole three heads thing in a way that made sense.
Overall, well written, great story, totally awesome.
Have a mustache and a troll
4423941 Thanks. I'm glad you enjoyed it.
This is fabulously well written. A great oneshot.
This was fun.
4403638
Holy Sheet! You just gave me an idea: what if Cerberus was actually Luna's pet, and Celestia just had him guarding Tartarus so he had something to do during Luna's banishment!? It's perfect! An immortal dog for an immortal princess.
You, sir, have just changed my head canon!
Oh yeah, good story. Definitely worth a fav.
Very cute.
HILAAAARIOUS!!!! I loved it!
D'AAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!
There is a whole big ass pile of awesome right here.
well done.
4426297 Thanks. I'm glad you liked it.