A Pony Displaced

Chapters

I Quit [Chapter 1]
1000 Years [Chapter 2]
I need a favor... [Chapter 3]
It sounded better in my head... [Chapter 4]
Rarely Pure, Never Simple [Chapter 5]
My Dream, My Rules... [Chapter 7]
Long damn ride... [Chapter 8]
Love and Tolerance! ...or just tolerance... [Chapter 9]
What we had was special! [Chapter 10]
Horseshoe's Hurt [Chapter 11]
Ow, my knee... [Chapter 12]
The Old Fashioned Way [Chapter 13]
A Ludicrous Assumption [Chapter 14]
Confusing [Chapter 15]
Moving On [Chapter 16]
He's Okay! [Chapter 17]
Manehattan...Again [Chapter 18]
Two to One [Chapter 19]
Drinks and stuff... [Chapter 20]
Seriously Scary Dream [Chapter 21]
It's being well-informed! [Chapter 22]
Adoption [Chapter 23]
Feeling your age... [Chapter 24]
To Appleloosa! [Chapter 25]
Braeburn, get checked! [Chapter 26]
Wrestling is fake... [Chapter 27]
Well, that sucks... [Chapter 28]
Loyalty [Chapter 29]
A Bolt in the Night... [Chapter 30]
Think he has kids? [Chapter 31]
And it was glorious! [Chapter 32]
First of Seven [Chapter 32.5, NSFW]
Classified [Chapter 33]
Come at me bro! [Chapter 34]
Well...crap [Chapter 35]
Beginning of the End [Chapter 36]
Implosion[Chapter 37]
The Question [Chapter 38]
The Crystal Empire [Chapter 39?]
Epilogue
Bonus Chapter
Bonus Chapter 2
Bonus Chapter 3
The Empire's Anniversary
...there's a punchline, right? [Chapter 6]

I Quit [Chapter 1]

"You dare strike your queen!?"

The words echoed through the empty throne-room of the Everfree Castle, their only accompaniment being the sound of a violent energy discharge and a pained grunt, followed shortly after by the sound of stones collapsing to the ground.

“Be grateful, you foal. Did I not have business to attend to, your death would have been long in coming...” the same haughty voice from earlier spat out at the crumbled pillar, followed by the solid clop of hooves-on-stone and then silence as the owner of the voice presumably left.

Hours later, sound once again echoed off of the halls, this time in the form of several grunts and pained groans, followed by the sounds of shifting stone; from beneath the rubble that was once a decorative pillar, a charcoal-grey unicorn pulled himself out into the moon-lit throne room.

With a particularly pained heave, the unicorn hauled himself upright and leaned into one of the walls as he took stock of himself and his surroundings. What little fur could be seen beneath his armaments was a deep charcoal grey; most of his body, his cutie mark included, was covered by heavily-scuffed plate armor, somewhat similar to what the royal guards wore, though it differed in that it covered nearly his entire body and had an empty sword-sheath hanging off the right side of the armor. Both of his sides were covered, as well as his underbelly; in addition, he had a pair of steel slippers that came up from his hoof to just below his knees. Much of his armor was scratched or dented -particularly on the right side where it looked like it had been caved in- and his helm was nowhere to be found, letting his mane -blue with both light and dark-blue streaks- hang free. Pressing hard against the caved-in side of his armor with a hoof, the unicorn took a sharp breath, his eyes narrowing in pain.

“Ribs are busted up...armor’s cracked also...” the unicorn muttered to himself as his deep blue eyes roamed around the room.

It was the throne-room of the Everfree Castle where the final confrontation between Princess Celestia and Nightmare Moon had taken place, though it appeared to have been abandoned for some time. The walls were coated with thick layers of dirt and grime and the plant-life of the Everfree Forest seemed to have reclaimed most of the room by this point. “The hell?” The unicorn glanced around the decrepit room a second time. While he could recall some damage from the dueling alicorns, it sure as hell wasn’t this bad. It was clearly the same place from his memory just…older? “Where in the blazes have I en-” The unicorn fell silent as his ears twitched.

At first, there was only silence, but after a moment the soft clop of hooves-on-dirt could heard. There were at least five ponies, possibly more, if the unicorn’s ears were to be trusted.

As silently as he could, the unicorn limped into the shadows, only now noticing the splitting pain in his rear-right fetlock over the pain pretty much everywhere else. With a silent swear, he hid in the shadows and waited, hoping his presence would go unnoticed by the new arrivals.

The unicorn could make out six ponies - two earth ponies, two pegasi, and two unicorns, with his pain-blurred vision; it was too many to fight in his condition, should they be hostiles. As the six ponies approached the raised platform in the center of the room, the orange one spoke.

"Whoa…” she trailed off for a brief moment. “Come on, Twilight. Isn’t this what you’ been waitin’ for?” She had a thick southern accent and seemed to be addressing the purple unicorn.

“The Elements of Harmony…” Twilight began, seemingly in awe. “We found them!”

Both of the pegasus ponies flew up to the raised platform and began to lower the Elements down.

“Careful, careful…” Twilight advised from the ground.

The charcoal unicorn tuned the six ponies out, focusing on the crushing pains lancing through his side; he could feel his ribs pressing up against something he was pretty sure they shouldn’t be and had the coppery tang of blood in his mouth. Clenching his jaw as tightly as he could, he forced the blood back down his throat and glanced back to the Elements of Harmony, his eyes widening. While he had been focused on staying silent and undiscovered, five of the ponies had left the throne-room, leaving the purple unicorn alone with the elements. This wouldn’t be cause for alarm if not for the fact that a whirlwind of dark mist was circling around the elements while the unicorn had her eyes closed in concentration. “Open your eyes, you damned fool!” he yelled at Twilight, still hidden in the shadows.

“Ah!” Twilight shot upright and stumbled back, only now noticing the whirlwind of dark energies.

“Twilight!” The collective voices of the other ponies could be heard just outside the throne room.

“The Elements!” Twilight exclaimed, followed by her doing the stupidest thing possible -- jumping into the whirlwind of darkness and very likely death.

“Oh for buck’s sake…” The unicorn rushed to where Twilight had been teleported from and into plain sight of five very colorful ponies.

“What the hay did you do to Twilight?!” The blue pegasus shouted as she dive-bombed him.

Is she stupid? The question crossed his mind for a brief moment, before he concluded that yes, she probably was stupid. While it had certainly seen better days, his armor still marked him quite clearly as a member of the royal guard...was the royal guard still a thing? He frowned, just realizing that it very well might not be in this...world? Time? He wasn’t sure anymore, and it was starting to frustrate him.

Clenching his jaw in frustration, completely ignoring Rainbow Dash, who was rapidly closing in on him. In a flash, he teleported, following the trail of energies left behind by Nightmare Moon. Regardless of what was going on and where he was, she was trouble, as well as something he recognized.

Her intended target having vanished, Rainbow Dash’s eyes widened as she face-planted the stone floor with a particularly comical sounding crunch.

“Rainbow, are you okay?” The orange pony asked, moving to help Rainbow Dash off of the ground.

“Look!” The white unicorn pointed a hoof out of a nearby window at a tower, where the flash of teleportation could be seen.

“Gods damnit…” The unicorn groaned as he forced himself upright. His magic had been more drained than he realized and he had suffered a magical burnout with his sudden teleportation, resulting in an immediate headache-from-hell, and the sudden inability to use magic. Glancing around the room, he saw Nightmare Moon charging up a spell to launch at the purple unicorn who was hunched down over the Elements of Harmony.

“I’m not paid enough for this...” The charcoal-coated unicorn muttered and took off as fast as his injured body would allow him, racing towards Nightmare Moon in what he hoped was a great sprint but in reality was more like a broken-ass gallop “A stupid whorse says what!” he yelled out as he closed in on the alicorn of darkness.

“What?” Nightmare Moon turned around, the sheer stupidity of the statement having distracted her for a brief moment.

“Case in point!” he replied as he threw his body around and bucked the alicorn as hard as he could.

As his hindhooves connected with Nightmare Moon’s side, he felt something in his right hind-leg snap, followed immediately by the pain intensifying several times over. He guessed he had completely broken what was previously a fracture; totally worth it, he grinned inwardly to himself as he saw his results. Nightmare Moon, having had minimal time to brace herself against the surprise attack, had been thrown off of her feet and a short distance away, crashing into a nearby wall. “Hope you have a plan, purple!” He yelled out as the alicorn climbed back to her feet.

“But...where’s the sixth Element?” Twilight turned back around to face Nightmare Moon, crestfallen that her plan had failed. What she saw, surprised her. A unicorn -similar to her brother in appearance, with the exception of the coat- was standing -if you could call him swaying back and forth lazily standing- on three legs, across from Nightmare Moon, who was climbing to her feet.

“No sixth Element, huh?” the unicorn questioned almost casually “Well, buck.” As he fell silent, the alicorn began to cackle madly.

“You little foals! Thinking you could defeat me!” she stalked towards the grey unicorn, a cruel grin on her face.

“You have failed! You will never see your precious princess again, and the night shall last forever! But before that, I’m going to enjoy myself…”

As she fell, magic wrapped itself around the unicorn that had bucked her, causing her cruel grin to grow wider.

“Ya’ know, your laugh is hilarious…sounds like something out of a foal’s tale...kinda cute ac-” He started only to be silence by a scream, as it ripped itself from the his throat; he was fairly certain that hind-legs weren't supposed to bend three ways at once.

Over the next few moments, the unicorn’s vision faded in and out of black, courtesy of the alicorn swinging him back and forth across the room like a rag-doll, occasionally slamming him into the walls and floor.

This was the first time he had ever found himself wishing his armor wasn’t enchanted; in the short Nightmare War, Nightmare Moon and her followers employed heavy-duty sleeping spells wherever they could, executing the soldiers that fell asleep. In response, their armor had been enchanted to prevent a pony from falling asleep -or unconscious- so long as the armor held.

His pain was all he could focus on, with the exception of the walls and floor; they repeatedly rushed up to meet him for some reason. It was only when he fell to the ground, free of her magical hold that he realized something had happened. Craning his neck as far as he could, he saw the blurry image of the purple unicorn -Twilight, he believed- rushing over to him.

“Don’t move! We’ll get you to the hospital soon!” Twilight exclaimed, a teary expression on her face.

“Magic Barrier, is that you?!” Princess Celestia suddenly rushed over, joined by Princess Luna and the five ponies from earlier.

“Your majesties…” The unicorn, now identified as Magic Barrier began, “I quit.”

1000 Years [Chapter 2]

A stretcher sped through the halls of Ponyville General, a cluster of ponies around it, all speaking frantically to each other.

“Magical scan shows that the damaged armor caused a severe hematoma!”

“By Celestia, how thick is the armor?”

“Come on, Magical Barrier, stay with us…”

“Prepare to burn that hole shut when we take this armor off…” the voice tapered off for a moment “And somepony sedate him already!”

Magic Barrier could feel the straps of his armor being severed, the heavy plates falling off as leather parted from metal.

“Steady, steady…” said another heavily distorted voice.

“Where the buck is that sedative!”

The breastplate was levitated off, followed immediately by a bloodcurdling cry ripping itself from Barrier’s throat and the most intense pain he had felt thus far.

“I’m sorry” The speaker sounded to be nearly crying…

Magical Barrier opened his mouth to reply that it wasn’t the speaker’s fault, but the tube being run down his throat prevented it. He could only gag weakly and fade into the sweet embrace of unconsciousness as his armor-enchantments faded.

SECTION BREAK HERE

“What do you think happened to him? That armor looked sort of like what the royal guards have, didn’t it?” The voice was feminine and right next to him.

“The princess said that he fought Nightmare Moon, so I would imagine the injuries could be attributed to that…the rest, I’m not so sure. That armor has more enchantments than everything in the hospital combined—hay, the princess had to lift it off of him. None of the staff could use magic on it.” That one was masculine and on the opposite side.

“The princess seems certain that he’ll wake up…wish I shar-” the stallion leapt backwards with a rather feminine shriek as Magic Barrier reached out and touched his shoulder.

“He’s awake! Nurse Redheart, get that tube out of his throat!”

Redheart’s eyes widened and she quickly began to slide the tube out of his throat as quickly and gently as she could.

Barrier stayed as still as he could, only coughing as the end of the tube escaped his throat. “Whe-r- a- I?” he managed to croak out in a hoarse and broken voice. Neither of the ponies could understand him.

“Ah. Nurse Redheart, could you get him a glass of water?” The doctor removed the stethoscope from around his neck, saying, “Don’t try to speak, your throat is drier than the Appleloosan Desert. Just wait until the nurse returns with water.” The doctor began checking vital signs. “I’m Doctor Horse and that was Nurse Redheart,” he spoke as he wrote the information down on a clipboard.

Remaining silent, Barrier decided to take stock of himself while he waited for the nurse to return. From what he could feel, his right hind-leg was completely immobilized, though the left seemed to be unrestricted. Glancing down at his barrel, he could see that it was wrapped entirely in bandages and smelled heavily of antiseptic. With a thought, his horn flared dimly to life.

“Ah, I wouldn’t try magic just yet. You had a pretty nasty burnout when you came in and your magic will need tim-” The doctor trailed off as the bedsheet lifted itself. “Or your magic has already recovered enough for you to use it…” He smiled, slightly surprised.

Raising the bedsheet, Barrier could see that his right hind-leg was in a thick cast from the hoof up; it even covered the cutie-mark on his right flank.

“Here you are.” Redheart had returned, a large plastic cup of water balanced on her back.

Taking the cup from Nurse Redheart in a telekinetic grip, much to her surprise, Barrier took several deep sips. “By Sol, water’s never tasted so fine.” While still hoarse and raw, it was understandable. “As I was trying to ask earlier, where am I, and what happened?” He fell silent for a moment, seeming to slip into deep thought before adding, “And what is today’s date?”

The doctor took a moment to think over the questions, returning his stethoscope to his neck; the last one was a bit odd, and he wasn’t actually positive as to what had caused Barrier so much damage, nonetheless, he took them in order. “Well, to begin with, you’re at Ponyville General, a hospital,” a frown settled on his features, “and I’m honestly not positive as to what happened to you. When you were brought in, you were in armor; the whole right side was smashed in, breaking two ribs and tearing your side open. This caused blood to pool around your lungs and heart.Besides that, your right metatarsal -your hind-leg, that is- was broken in three different places.You had various fractures elsewhere, though they are of little note.” Taking a short breath, he continued, “The worst of it was the wound on your side. Your armor was keeping it sealed, and we had to cauterize the wound for lack of time and information. After that, we drained the blood that had pooled, put your leg in a cast, ribs in bandages, and sealed the fractures. You’ll be in a world of hurt when the morphine wears off, but you’ll live.” The doctor took another short breath. “And to answer your last question, this is the first year of Harmony. Princess Celestia declared an end to the Solar Era in the thousandth year with the return of her sister, Princess Luna, only a few days ago.”

Barrier remained silent for the duration of the doctor’s explanation, simply absorbing the information; his location and injuries didn’t really surprise him - he had worked most of that out in his head beforehand. The date on the other hoof, had his head spinning. The last era he remembered -his era- was the Second Equestrian Era, during which Princess Luna had become Nightmare Moon and plunged the world into a short yet brutal war. Head spinning, he only vaguely registered the doctor speaking to Nurse Redheart and then to him before both of them left him alone.

For nearly an hour, he sat in his bed, simply staring down at the bedsheet, futilely attempting to wrap his head around…whatever it was that had happened to him. He remembered being banished alongside Nightmare Moon, and he remembered returning alongside her. How long had he been banished? One thousand years, at least, if the doctor was to be trusted. As the implications of his situation dawned on him, a choked sob escaped his throat, followed by a steady stream of tears, no matter how tightly he closed his eyes. He was alone; his parents, his wife…gods, his daughter… Pulling the bedsheet up over his head, he rolled onto his left side and quietly cried himself to sleep…

I need a favor... [Chapter 3]

Magical Barrier remained silent underneath the bedsheets, listening to the conversation outside of his room.

“And you’re certain he is okay? There will be no lasting effects?” The soft regal voice of Princess Celestia.

“None, Princess. His side healed up wonderfully and his leg will heal just fine, as long as he doesn’t do anything…unintelligent.” the voice, who Barrier mentally identified as Doctor Horse stated.

“Unintelligent? You mean like fighting an evil spirit with the powers of an alicorn when he can barely stand?” The voice was scratchy and familiar, though he couldn’t quite place it.

“Rainbow, that’s not very nice.” That one was…Twilight?

“What? He looked ready to fall over when we saw him. Just callin’ it like I see it Twi.” So, that was Rainbow; one of five ponies that had accompanied Twilight to the Everfree Castle, Barrier mentally noted.

“I’m surprised he was standing at all, Rainbow Dash. He did spend a thousand years magically sealed with Princess Luna, after all.” Princess Celestia again…Barrier could never get tired of her voice; it had always had a soothing, motherly quality to it that was hard not to enjoy.

“Princess Celestia, is everything okay?” Twilight began, “You look…worried.”

“Yes, everything is fine…I was just thinking about how Barrier is going to handle all of this. He was always very distant towards my sister and I, and everyone dear to him has long since passed…” Celestia’s voice faded into a depressed silence.

Taking a deep breath to steel himself for the coming conversation, Magic Barrier spoke for the first time since he had awaken. “Worry not, Highness…I’ll persevere.” His voice, unlike the previous day, held an air of professionalism; he wasn’t speaking to a nurse and doctor anymore, he was now speaking to his commanding officer and his tone and attitude reflected such.

“Ah, Mr. Barrier, you’re awake.” The doctor turned to the visitors, “I’ll leave you ladies to it…just remember, don’t let him move around, and try not to stress him out. He still has a lot of healing to do.” Bowing his head respectfully to the princess, the doctor trotted away.

The three visitors walked in, Celestia and Twilight each taking a side of his bed while Rainbow Dash floated lazily at the foot, sizing him up.

“Your majesty.” He threw a tired salute, bowing his head as much as he could in respect.

“At ease, Magic Barrier; formality is unnecessary at this time.” Princess Celestia wore a hint of a smile.

“So this is the stallion that looks like your brother huh?” Rainbow floated over the bed, almost muzzle-to-muzzle. “Not bad…not bad at all.” Rainbow raised an eyebrow when she realized that the unicorn wasn’t paying attention to her. Following his gaze, her eyes rested on Twilight’s flank. “Oh-ho-ho” Dash’s grin got wider. “Looks like you’ve got an admirer Twilight.”

Raising an eyebrow, Twilight followed Barrier’s gaze to her own flank, a light blush lighting up her face as she realized that he had been staring at her.

“What can I say, it’s a very nice flank.” Barrier smiled softly, a chuckle escaping him as Twilight turned even redder. “Princess Celestia…I know it’s probably futile to ask, but can you send me back to my own time?”

The Princess’ hint of a smile vanished almost instantly. “I’m sorry my little pony, but I cannot. You were pivotal in the initial banishment of Nightmare Moon; time travel is far too complex to risk sending you back.” Princess Celestia’s gaze drifted down to the ground.

“Figured as much…well, we can’t win all the time. Since I’m stuck here, I guess I should try and figure out where I go from here…I don’t imagine my savings gathered interest for the last thousand years…” he fell silent, briefly tuning the outside world out as he lost himself in thought.

“You know…” Celestia began, snapping the unicorn back to attention, “you could always return to your job as a royal guard. We have a positions open for senior advisors.”

“I quit the guard didn’t I?” Barrier replied matter of factly. “And senior advisor, really? Am I that old?”

“Well, you are over a thousand years old,” Twilight made her presence known “Perhaps you could be a historian of sorts,” her inner scholar was giddy at the possible knowledge, despite Princess Celestia coaching her to remain calm and not ask any questions before Barrier had even awoken. “We don’t have any particularly accurate history books about life before Nightmare Moon!”

Was that payback for the flank comment? Inwardly, Barrier grinned at the unicorns comment about his age. “Maybe. It’s something to consider, if nothing else…I imagine I have a lot of history to read up on myself.”

“Twilight, could you give Magic Barrier and I a few moments in private?”

“Of course, princess. Come on Rainb-” Twilight trailed off, looking around the room. Rainbow was nowhere to be found. “Where in the hay did she go?” Twilight trotted over to the door, sticking her head out and looking around before stepping out of the room, muttering to herself.

As soon as Twilight was out of earshot, Barrier turned to the princess. “Your majesty, is she…?” He trailed off, waiting for Celestia to pick up the thread.

“Is she…what?” Celestia looked at him with a bewildered expression. After a moment, she began simply guessed as to what he was referring to. “Is she single? Even disregarding the one-thousand years, you’re far older than her, Barrier.”

Magic Barrier sighed and pressed both hooves firmly to his face, his horn lighting up as a third magical hoof pressed itself alongside them. “Nevermind, your majesty.” Shaking his head to clear it of the absurdity. “What did you want to speak to me about privately?”

“I wanted to apologize, Magic Barrier…I failed you. Because of me, you’ve lost everything you held de-”

“Stop.” He cut the Princess off. “By Sol, Princess, stop.” Barrier had his jaw clenched tightly as he mentally processed what he was trying to say. “It wasn’t your fault; the fault belongs to Nightmare Moon, and Nightmare Moon alone. Nopony else is at fault. We both did what we had to…I can live with that, no regrets.”No regrets, however, doesn’t necessarily mean no revenge, though Barrier kept that to himself. “Just…don’t blame yourself. I don’t think I could handle it if you blamed yourself, Princess.”

“Of course, Barrier.” The Princess nodded, a forlorn smile on her face. “I suppose I should let you get some rest…you no doubt have a lot of things to think about…“

“Yeah… I really do I guess.” Barrier couldn’t help but stare dejectedly at the bedsheets. “Princess?”

Celestia stopped.

“Can you tell the doctor I want to speak to him? Also, I need a favor…”

***

Several hours after the Princess had departed, Barrier awoke to the sound somepony entering his room; glancing up, he spotted the doctor approaching him, a tray of ever-so-excellent hospital gruel in his magical aura.

“Oh joy.” Barrier commented dryly, the smell of the bland food wafting around the room.

“Ah come on, it’s not that bad is it?” the doctor started “It must be better than the paste we were pumping into you, at the very least.”

“The paste is more desirable…at least I could not taste that.” Taking the tray of food in his own aura, Barrier sat it on the bedside table.

“The princess said you wished to speak with me?”

“Yes…did she mention the favor I requested?”

“She did, although I would ask you to reconsider…it would break doctor-patient privilege and I am not particularly comfortable with the request…”

“Sorry doctor, but this is really important to me,” Barrier felt guilty for forcing the doctor’s hoof on this, but he absolutely had to know. “I promise I’ll make it up to you.”

With a dejected sigh, the doctor nodded and pulled a needle from his coat-pocket. “Very well, but know that I do this against my will.” He quickly took a sample of blood, leaving the room immediately after.

Glancing down sadly, Barrier sighed and began to force the contents of the tray down, his mind running amok with possible scenarios should his hunch pan out.

It sounded better in my head... [Chapter 4]

Every day for the next week-and-a-half repeated itself; breakfast and then physical therapy, lunch and then magical treatments, followed by visiting hours and Twilight…assaulting him with questions. She always seemed to steer wide of personal questions, the princess’ doing, no doubt. He had initially occupied his spare time catching up on history and learning new speech patterns, but there wasn’t a lot to take note of. The last thousand-years had been painfully peaceful and speech patterns hadn’t changed much; a lot less pronouns, but little else of note.

“Guess I should be glad there wasn’t anything interesting to write about…not like it was back before the Nightmare…” He had taken to holding short conversations with himself to help fill the time; most of the nurses were certain he wasn’t in the right state of mind.

“Mr. Barrier?” Nurse Tenderheart, he believed.

“I’m awake.” He replied eagerly, despite knowing that she was only delivering breakfast.

“You sound awfully excited today.” The nurse commented as she deposited the tray of food on the bedside table, ignoring the mild look of distaste that Barrier was giving it.

Turning his attention from the food to the nurse, he nodded. “Yeah, I get out today; gotta take a trip to Canterlot to answer a summons.” The summons had been delivered by Twilight and she had specifically said that there was no rush; fortunately the doctor wasn’t around to hear that part.

“Well then, I’ll leave you to it. If you need anything, just press the call button.” Tenderheart departed, leaving Barrier to climb from his bed and hobble to the bathroom with a tray of food.

Barrier muttered dryly to himself as he scraped the food into the toilet and flushed it, as was his habit with breakfood as of late. Seriously, that stuff was worst than field rations. With that out of the way, he returned to his bed and began to throw a ball that one of Twilight’s friends had left him at the wall repeatedly.

***

As the sun reached its zenith, Barrier was still slapping the ball against the wall in a dull, neverending cycle. It wasn’t until Doctor Horse appeared in the doorway with a wheelchair that his attention failed, leaving the ball to smack him square in the horn.

“I meant to do that.” He lied as he rubbed his sore horn; that ball was a helluva lot harder than it appeared.

“Of course you did.” the doctor shook his head as he lifted Barrier in his magic, depositing him in the wheelchair,

“Were you able to find what I asked for?”

“Yes, it was in the armor as you said, though I’m afraid it’s a little bloody.” The doctor removed a necklace from his labcoat, passing it to Barrier with his magic.

“And the other thing?”

“That is a yes as well, though I still wish you had consulted Miss Sparkle beforehand.” The doctor began wheeling Barrier to the front desk, sitting a clipboard in his lap as he did so. “Those are the transfer papers. I expect to hear that you’ve checked in to Canterlot Memorial Hospital by the end of the night, Mr. Barrier. You’d be here for another month were it not for your summons.”As they reached the front door, the doctor fell back to all four legs. “And remember, no strenuous activity, your medication is in the saddlebags, and Canterlot Memorial is expecting you by eight-o'clock.

“Yes mom. If I eat all my dinner can I go outside to play?” He muttered annoyedly as he wheeled himself away.

“I just said no strenuous activity!” Barrier vaguely heard the doctor yell as he gained distance.

***

As he wheeled himself through town, Barrier suddenly felt a chill work it’s way down his spine; all of his instincts were suddenly screaming at him to run. Taking a deep and steadying breath, Barrier gazed around, trying to figure out why he suddenly felt this way; after a moment of scanning, his eyes settled on a gingerbread-house with a large cupcake hanging above it. Without a doubt, it was the origin of his fears. As casually as he could, he began to wheel himself away, praying that whatever had him frightened wouldn’t pursue.

“Barrier! You’re out of the hospital already?” Ah Twilight Sparkle…of course she would be the one he ran into. “I thought it’d be at least another week!” Twilight had to maintain a brisk trot to keep up with the wheelchair. “Where in the hay are you going to so fast?”

“In order, I’m being transferred to Canterlot Memorial so I can answer the summons from the princess, there is no way in Tartarus that I’m that I am staying in any hospital for another week, and I’m in a hurry because I am fairly certain I’m in mortal peril.”

The train station had just come into view; on the tracks was easily the fruitiest damn thing he’d ever seen. He had never seen a train in-person before, only briefly reading about their creation. The idea had fascinated him as such machines would have been tremendously helpful in his time; in person it was kind of underwhelming.

“Yeah, okay,” Barrier couldn’t help but press a hoof to his face “next I’ll find out that their using gold to make the guards armor.”

“Well of course they’re using gold. It’s the most readily available metal, after all.” Twilight spoke very matter of factly.

With an elongated sigh, Barrier wheeled himself to the ticket booth. “How in hell do you downgrade] armor!” Barrier shook his head annoyedly, I’m just going to stay quiet I think.” Purchasing a ticket with a handful of borrowed bits, Barrier couldn’t but frown as he did so. He really needed to attain some bits of his own; being broke sucked. “Huh, maybe I shouldn’t have quit.”

Turning to Twilight, Barrier’s expression softened and a genuine smile -the first since he had woken up- crossed his face. The situation sucked, but maybe it wasn’t all bad. “I’ll see you on the return, Twilight. Peace until then, friend.”

***

Canterlot was, for lack of a better word, disappointing. The city walls were clearly more for display rather than actual usage; and why the hell was the city on the side of a mountain? That was a disaster waiting to happen.

Departing the train station, Barrier carefully wheeled his way toward the castle looming in the distance, taking care to avoid the many ponies meandering through the street; most of them were clearly of the upper class and said nothing to Barrier as he wheeled along. It wasn’t until he had reached the castle and was waved through the front door that one of the nobles finally spoke to him…sort of; it went about how he had expected it to.

“Honestly, they’ll let any pathetic commoner roam the castle these days!”

Raising an eyebrow, Barrier turned his chair around to face his new best friend, a slight grin on his face. He loved snobs; they were easily one of his top five favorite things. This one looked ripe for the picking; blond well-cut mane, a unicorn, and a high-ranking noble if his attire was any indication.

Putting on the most snobbish tone he could muster, Barrier began “Oh, I know…what were they thinking letting a bumbling oaf like yourself wander the halls? Honestly, were it up to me we would nae allow you inbred fools entry to the city, much less our castle.”

The blond unicorns expression turned from superior to contemplative to stupefied over a period of three seconds and no retort seemed to be forthcoming; all in all, in was quite amusing.

Finally, the silence was broken, a choked giggle escaping the guards-mare who had been escorting Barrier to the throne room.

“Y-yo-!” The noble sputtered to life, his brain finally firing back up “You dare laugh at me!”

Barrier was surprised that he had lashed out at the young mare rather than him; it made him suspect that this noble had no actual authority over civilians.

“I’ll have you discharged, you harlot! I’ll-” the noble went into a rant, detailing all of the punishment he would personally oversee.

The guard’s expression fell as soon as Blueblood said that she would be discharged -- nothing seemed to bother her more than that. “I’ll see to it that you spend the rest of your days in poverty you who-”

“Hey pillow-bitter!” Barrier cut him off, unintentionally trading his usual voice for a far icier and threatening tone; nobody talked to his fellow guards that way.

Blueblood fell silent and the guard’s jaw dropped. Most ponies wouldn’t dream of throwing such an insult at a fellow pony, much less at the nephew of Princess Celestia.

“Until three weeks ago, I killed ponies for a living…open that meat-hole of yours again and I’ll have all the reason I need to come out of retirement.” a short breath, followed by Barrier’s horn flaring ominously black “Do yourself a favor, colt…run home before I ship ya’ there in a pine box.”

Blueblood seemed like he was going to make a retort until their eyes met.

Rage, power, wrath…Barrier’s eyes seemed to threaten Blueblood in ways unimaginable. They weren’t the eyes of an injured pony anymore, they were the eyes of someone who could and would kill if he deemed it necessary; they almost seemed to be begging him to make a retort.

As fast his legs would carry him, Blueblood turned tail and sprinted down the hallway, stumbling once or twice.

“I…is it true?” The young guards-mare asked timidly, uncertain about the sudden personality shift her ward had undergone. “Did the royal guard really kill ponies back then?”

Letting a sigh escape him, Barrier mentally chided himself; he had let his attitude get the better of him.

“What’s your name, private?”

“D-Daisy Chain, sir.”

“To answer your question, Miss Chain, Equestria was a very different place a thousand years ago. Few of the other races saw an opportunity for easy conquest. We did what we had to do for our fellow ponies…nothing more and nothing less. Come on, let’s get to the throne room before I do something else stupid.”

“Yes sir.” The guards-mare stood up behind the wheelchair and began down the hallway towards the throne room.

“Announcing Sir Magic Barrier.”

“Magic Barrier?” Celestia questioned from her throne, her eyebrows furrowing in annoyance; she hadn’t expected him this soon.

Barrier bowed his head as best he could as he was wheeled in.

“Magic Barrier, what are you doing here?” Celestia glanced down at the unicorn doubtfully “you shouldn’t be out of the hospital for another week, at the very least.”

“Needed another favor and to talk to you about your job-offer, so I escaped the institution and came here to see you.”

“Hospital. It’s a hospital, Barrier.” Celestia pressed a hoof to her head. “Right, the job offer. I’ll speak to the involved parties and get back to you on that, what favor would you ask of me this time?”

“My hunch was correct and I’d like to meet the others, if you’ll permit.”

“Of course, my assistant will get you their address. Is there anything else?”

“No, your highness... “ Barrier turned his chair around and wheeled himself to the door, mentally noting how annoyed the princess seemed to be ”Oh, there is one thing. Militarily, your city sucks. Honestly, a hive of insects could lay siege to this city and you’d be defenseless.”

Wheeling himself out, Barrier found the assistant waiting for him, a slip of paper in hoof.

“Thank you, sir.” Barrier tilted his head slightly and wheeled himself away slowly, his escort behind him. As he made his way to the gate, Barrier mentally took note of every little detail he could, from guard positions to the various rooms. His eyes perked up at the sight of one room in particular. It was an ornate door with a crescent moon on it. Noting it’s location, he departed, looking at the scrap of paper only after he was a safe distance from the castle.

***

Despite the confidence he had felt before, Magic Barrier’s mouth was fairly dry for reasons he couldn’t understand. Raising his hoof to knock, he hesitated. What would he say? What did he hope to accomplish by confronting these ponies?

“This was a bad idea…” Barrier lowered his hoof, a familiar sensation running through his stomach; he was nervous. “Just turn around and leave, Barrier.” The door opened as he spun his wheelchair around.

“Hah! I told you someone was at the door, Velvet!”

Turning around to explain that this was an accident, Barrier’s brain shut down temporarily. It was like looking at a carbon-copy of his long-deceased father.

“How can I help you today, mister…”

“Barrier. Magic Barrier. I’m here to speak to you actually, Night Light.” Barrier realized he might have come off as rude, having skipped the use of honorifics; it probably wouldn’t matter much here soon anyways.

“I see. And what did you need to see me ab-”

“Who’s at the door, Night Light?” the mare cut her husband off as she approached the door, taking position up alongside her husband. “Oh wow, he looks a lot like Shiny!”

“I really have to meet this Shining character. That’s the third time someone has said I look like him.” Or would it be that Shining looks like Barrier? “Anyways, I’m here to ask you some questions about you,“ He nodded at Night Light “your daughter Twilight, and especially this Shiny character.

“That’s quite an interesting request,” Velvet pointed out. “Why don’t we discuss this inside? I just put the kettle on.”

Stepping aside to usher the unicorn in, Night Light pushed the door shut and followed his wife and guest into the living room.

“So, why do you want to know about our family history?” Night Light asked as soon as Velvet left to check the kettle. “It’s a fairly random topic, all things considered.”

“”Well, Night Light…you probably won’t believe me when I tell you this, but know that I have evidence to support this statement.”

Velvet stood in the doorway, observing the conversation curiously.

“Heh…this is kinda hard to say really. It sounds stupid when I play it out in my head.”

“Just say it dearie. It can’t be that bad.” the unicorn mare pitched in.

“I’m your great grandpa.”

And silence.

Rarely Pure, Never Simple [Chapter 5]

“There’s a punchline to that, right?” Night Light finally broke the silence, a frown on his face. Who the hay was this nutcase? “I think you should leave Mr. Bar-”

“Hold on dear.” Velvet cut her husband off. “You said you had evidence to back up your statement, Mr. Barrier?”

“Yes mam, but before that, I should probably explain how the situation came about. When Princess Luna became Nightmare Moon and the war started, I was one of the ponies in charge of preparing our operations, both defensive and offensive. In the final confrontation, Princess Celestia and Nightmare Moon engaged each other in the throne-room of the Everfree Castle…” As he began to recall the past, he found himself reliving the memories in his mind. Though they had happened a millennium ago, it still felt like yesterday. It sort of was yesterday, he supposed.

***

It was pouring rain as the battle raged inside of the Thestral’s war-camp. One of the scouts had discovered the camp by chance and reported that he had seen Nightmare Moon in the camp; they had launched a surprise-attack to try and bring a rapid close to the war. So far, it had worked almost perfectly to sketch. The only problems that had arisen was that neither Nightmare Moon or Princess Celestia were anywhere to be found.

“Captain!” An orange-coated stallion rushed up to Magic Barrier, sliding to a stop in front of his captain and throwing a sharp salute.

“What’s the word, Flash? How long until we can go home?”

“The thestrals are giving us a hard time but we should have the camp mopped up by daybreak.” The lieutenant took several deep breaths before continuing his report “As the report said, there were roughly a thousand thestrals in the camp. We managed to put about half of that number down while they were still asleep before one of them called an alarm. After that, we sent up the flare and we collapsed in on them from all sides.”

“Well done, lieutenant. Keep an eye on things down there for me.”

“Sir!” The orange pegasus saluted once more before he flew back towards the now-burning camp.

Barrier couldn’t help but gaze down at the burning camp in frustration; not being able to join the battle was disheartening. Both he and the princess had agreed to meet at the top of a nearby hill and wait for Nightmare Moon to make an appearance; from there, Princess Celestia would engage while he played support.

“Where are you, Princess…”

***

Realizing he had drifted off into a daydream, Barrier cleared his throat and began again. “Anyways, when I got to the throne room, Nightmare Moon was lobbing rocks everywhere. The princess managed to avoid most of them, but one slipped through and she took it hard in the face.” Stopping to take a short drink of tea, “Anyways, I jumped in to buy her time to recover. After she recovered, I climbed atop Nightmare Moon and and yelled for the princess to do it. Next thing I know, something hot washed over me. Cut forward a thousand years when Nightmare Moon returned and here I am.”

Finishing his tea, he made to explain the blood-comparison he had requested the doctor to run only to stop as he realized both ponies were beet-red.

“Is everything okay? You’re both rather red…”

Coughing awkwardly, Night Light waved a hoof. “Fine. I mean, we’re fine. Just taking in the story is all. Nothing more.”

Shrugging off the awkward response, “The evidence I mentioned earlier,” Barrier fished an envelope from the saddlebags. “is this. Initially, I had asked the princess to do some research for me, to check my hunch. She informed me of an easier way, that being this blood-test.”

Levitating a pair of reading-glasses onto herself, Velvet began to peruse the test-results.

“So Barrier, I have some questions,” Night Light began. “First and foremost, and not to sound rude, but what do you hope to accomplish by telling us all of this? While I am admittedly interested and would love to discuss this all with you, I would like to know all of your reasons for seeking us out instead of discussing all of this with our daughter.”

Resting his chin on a hoof, Barrier smiled sadly at Night Light before responding, “I honestly have no clue. When I woke up I felt…broken. Everything I had bled and fought for…all of it was gone while I remained. I guess I just wanted to know that it wasn’t all in vain.”

“Well, the blood-test certainly checks out,” the mare passed the paper to her husband. “does Twilight know about this all yet?”

Shaking his head a negative, Barrier explained. “I wasn’t afraid to bring it up. I wasn’t sure if she would react positively or negatively; I decided I would talk to you two before-hoof.”

Returning the paper to the chair-bound unicorn, a slight smile on his features. “Well, blood doesn’t lie. You’re a Sparkle. Welcome…back to the family, I guess. As for Twilight, I honestly think she’ll be ecstatic at the prospect of having a relative from so long ago, so long as you’ll answer her questions. So, how did you come to meet our Twilight upon your…” Night Light fumbled briefly “re-entry to Equestria?”

“Well, when Nightmare Moon returned to Equestria, I was still mounted upon Nightmare Moon. My first instinct of course was to strike her as hard as I could between her wings.”

Night Light flinched at the thought; pegasus wings were extremely sensitive and a solid strike at the nerve-bundle between their wings could cost them their ability to fly.

“She didn’t take very calmly; the next thing I knew I was face-down with Nightmare Moon beating my flank like it was her job.”

Shining Armor stopped his hoof as he heard a voice he didn’t recognize. Glancing over at Cadance, he turned back to the door just in time to hear: “Face-down with Nightmare Moon beating my flank like it was her job” Shining’s face began to heat up at the mental imagery conjured up and Cadance had choked back a giggle. “when all of a sudden I felt a sharp pain in my lower back. After that, everything went black.”

Cadance couldn’t take it anymore and began to laugh.

With a sigh, Shining Armor pushed the door open.

“Shiny, Cadance!” Twilight Velvet jumped upright, galloping over to embrace the two.

The laughter stopped abruptly as the air left their lungs.

“Ah, so this is the boy I keep hearing looks like me.” Wasting no time, he climbed out of his chair with both great effort and a groan of pain, Hobbling over to Shining Armor and Cadance, circling around Shining a couple of times..

“Excuse m-” Shining's voice left him as he saw Barrier limping over to him. Much of his coat and body was hidden under his bandages, but the mane and face were like looking into a mirror.

Stopping nearly muzzle to muzzle with Shining, Barrier gazed deeply into his great grandson’s eyes. “Hm…” Taking a few steps back and limping to Shining’s side, Barrier took in every detail he could, from the cutie-mark to the condition of his fur.

“Um, and you are…?” Shining Armor shifted uncomfortably under the grey unicorn’s gaze. He couldn’t quite pinpoint why, but he felt like he was back in his first day of guard-training.

Running his gaze over Shining Barrier, he finally stopped, a wide grin on his face. “Damn we look good. If we weren’t related I’d jump right on you…then again, it’s a pretty distant relation, so maybe if your mare-friend consents…seriously, your flank looks like it was sculpted out of pure marble.”

“Uh…thanks? I think…” Shining took a back away from Barrier a bit.

“I consent-" A wide grin broke out onto Cadance's features "-as long as I get to watch it happen."

***

“So, you were the captain of the royal guard one-thousand years ago?” After running Shining Armor and his mare-friend through the same story he had given their parents, Shining had wasted no time in peppering him with questions, most of them pertaining to the royal guard in the Second Equestrian Era. He was definitely Twilight’s brother.

“I was a captain,” Barrier couldn’t help but smile at Shining Armor’s enthusiasm. Thus far, he had learned that the stallion was only recently promoted to the Captain of the Royal guard as the youngest in Equestrian history. “One of five or so. The guard was much bigger back then as opposed to what it is now, from what I’ve seen. As terrible as the Nightmare War was, it told the rest of the world just how capable the Princesses were. Either one of them has the capacity to end all life on our planet.”

Shining frowned at that; it wasn’t something he had ever considered, but now that he thought about it, he couldn’t refute the statement.

“Contrary to belief, our princess’s aren’t infallible. They’re ponies with emotions, same as us.”

Cadance simply nodded in reply, knowing all too well that her aunt was as much of a pony as all of her subjects.

“Hey, I meant to ask earlier.” Night Light intervened. “How did you know you were related to Twilight when you first met her?”

“What do you mean? It’s...oh right.” He realized that none of the ponies present had seen his cutie mark; he had only stood up once they had all been focused on him sexually harassing Shining Armor at the time.

With a pained grunt, he climbed upright and exposed his non-bandaged flank to the family.

His cutie mark was similar to Shinings -it seemed to be a pattern at this point- in that it was a simple heater shield with the six-point arcane star in the center. Mounted behind the shield was a plain broadsword. It was a very generic guard cutie-mark. As he fell back into the chair, he didn’t wait for any further questions. “I suppose I should be heading out soon.” The sun was rapidly descending beyond the horizon.

“Where are you staying at while in Canterlot?” Night Light asked. “We have a guest room if you’d like to stay.”

“Thanks, but I have a room waiting for me at Canterlot Memorial. I may or may not have snuck out of the hospital in Ponyville two weeks before I should have. I’ll probably be in town for another week or two, so I’ll stop by if circumstances permit.” Waving a hoof behind him, Barrier wheeled himself out of the door.

“Barrier, wait up!” Cadance was trotting up behind him. “I thought I would walk with you part-way, since I have to see my aunt.”

“Of course, princess.” Barrier tilted his head slightly, much to Cadance’s annoyance.

They walked in silence for several long minutes before Cadance asked a question that Barrier had been waiting for all evening.

“What was my aunt like one-thousand years ago?”

“Ah I wondered when you’d ask that, princess.” Barrier chewed on his lower lip for a moment before continuing “Are you sure you want to know this, Cadance? The truth is rarely pure and never simple.” he dropped the formality, his tone becoming more serious.

Cadance, slightly taken aback by the sudden shift in tone, nodded at him, donning a determined expression. “When I was younger, she was always sad. Not many ponies noticed, but I could tell she was upset. She always told me it was because she missed her sister, but that never felt like the whole truth.

“If you insist, princess,” lowering his voice as they made their way to the castle, he began, “As I mentioned earlier to Shining Armor, Equestria was a very different country back then and Princess Celestia was very different than she is now. Her and Princess Luna both did whatever it took to protect us- to protect their little ponies. Unfortunately, one of the most effective ways to do that was to eliminate problems before they could become a threat. If I had to wager a guess, I’d say she regretted far more than just the banishment of her sister.”

“I don’t quite understand what you mean, Barrier.” she didn’t seem to grasp the concept.

“An example that comes to mind was about seven years before Princess Luna was corrupted. I was a lieutenant at the time. The griffins had been getting aggressive; the king of Griffonia was old at the time and needed to announce his successor. Now, the old king didn’t want war with Equestria, but his brat of a son did. He was convinced that the land we lived in belonged to the griffins and the griffins were the superior race. Despite his young age, he was very vocal about his beliefs. When the old king announced that his son would succeed him, Princess Celestia ordered five ponies, plus myself to sneak into Griffonia and…deal with the problem before it became a threat. By whatever means necessary.”

Cadance had all but stopped when Barrier finished that statement. The idea of her aunt - the benevolent Princess Celestia, beloved by all - ordering such a thing. “And...how did you deal with the situation?” she was fairly certain that she already knew the answer, but she needed to hear it.

“We killed both the old king, his son, as well as several members of his immediate family. By the time we left Griffonia, we had made certain that a more desirable griffin would take the throne.”

Cadance stopped walking, trying to process Barrier’s response and emotionless delivery; the unicorn kept wheeling along casually.

“Just remember, Cadance. If your aunt hadn’t ordered us to do that, we would’ve lost thousands of ponies in a war with the griffins.”

A twinge of guilt sparked through Barrier’s stomach as he dug the transfer papers from his bag and left the princess in silence.

No doubt this would strain the relationship between Cadance and Celestia when Cadance confronted her aunt.

“Just a little longer and it won’t matter.” Barrier commented, biting back the guilt as he rolled into the hospital lobby.

My Dream, My Rules... [Chapter 7]

Manehattan. A city where the rich get richer and the poor get trampled underneath. Tall, dull-colored buildings lined the streets. Some offered food, or cheap apartments, others looked to be abandoned. This was a city where anything could be bought if you had the bits and knew where to get it; at least, that’s how his doctor had explained it to him when he asked about it.

To Barrier, it sounded a lot like Old Equestria.

Taking a deep, steadying breath of the morning air, Barrier departed the train, stopping only to grab a map from a nearby kiosk; the first order of business, to find an inn. The train-ride had been an overnight affair and the beds provided were not comfortable in the slightest.

“Excuse me miss, could you direct me to the nearest inn?” Barrier fell silent as the mare sped past, not even giving him a glance. This was turning out more difficult than he had anticipated. He couldn’t find an inn anywhere and anytime he tried to ask a pony for help, they would either ignore him completely, or laugh at him for some reason; it was a frustrating situation and he could feel his temper steadily building at his lack of results over the last hour.

Under normal circumstances, he would not have come to a place such as this; it was far too crowded for his tastes. Sadly, it was the only place he suspected he could get what he was hunting for.

Grumbling annoyedly to himself, he turned to a building with a large sign above it, reading CLUB PON3; Perhaps he would have better luck seeking help inside.

“Hello?”

The building showed obvious signs of habitation, but was eerily quiet. What establishment didn’t conduct before noon?

“I already told you buckers that I’m not payin’ you crap!” A mare’s voice rang out from the back of the establishment. “Now get out before I call the guard!”

Barrier sighed and pressed a hoof to his face. Less than a day out of the hospital and he had already walked face-first into a conflict of some sort. With a trot, Barrier made his way towards the back, instinctively moving silently as his mind tried to work out the details.

“Get that ring on her! We’ll teach this whorse a lesson.” A masculine voice this time, followed by the sound of a struggle.

Pushing the door with a hard shove, Barrier bolted into the room, taking in his surroundings as rapidly as he could.

The room contained five ponies; two unicorns, one stallion, one mare, and two moderately-sized earth ponies, both stallions. The last pony was a pegasus who was huddled up in the corner, groaning in pain with both hooves between his legs. Barrier sympathized with the stallion.

The unicorn mare was pinned by one of the earth ponies and the unicorn was huddled over her trying to fix a ring on her horn while the second Earth Pony stood a short distance away, watching the scene unfold.

Sprinting up to the lone earth pony, Barrier’s horn flared as he turned and bucked as hard as he could, grinning in satisfaction when he felt something give way beneath his hooves, followed by an audible crack.

The ring clamped into place and both the unicorn stallion and remaining earth pony turned just in time to see their compatriot fly across the room like a sack of potatoes.

“Don’t suppose I could convince you gentlecolts to take your friend there and leave, could I?”

Leaving the mare groaning in pain on the ground, both stallions reoriented themselves, taking positions on either side of the new unicorn.

Barrier could feel the adrenaline flood him as the ponies responded to his request by trying to circle behind him; it was a feeling he was all too familiar with.

Not waiting for them to get behind him, Barrier took off towards the unicorn, avoiding the bolts of energy directed at him with chain teleports. Within seconds, he was face to face with the unicorn, much to his surprise. Seeing the unicorns horn light up frantically, Barrier lashed with his right hoof, striking the base of his opponents horn, his metal horse-shoe sending a crack up the length of the horn and sending a surge of magic back down into the unicorns skull; he was unconscious before he hit the ground..

With a rapid-teleport, Barrier vanished and the earth-ponies hooves travelled through empty space. Surprise written across the ponies face, he wildly threw a hoof at Barrier, aiming for his face. Throwing his right hoof in front of him, Barrier redirected the punch and countered with a left cross the moment the right hoof landed on the ground. Almost immediately after, Barrier threw both hooves up and latched onto his opponents shoulder; three times in rapid succession he brought his forehead down on the dome of the earth-ponies skull, being careful not to headbutt with his horn. At the end of the third strike, he teleported above the now-wobbling earth-pony and crashed into his head with a knee; with a thud, the pony collapsed to the floor beneath Barrier, his eyes rolling into the back of his head.

Taking a few shaky breaths to help clear the adrenaline, Barrier trotted over to the mare on the floor who seemed to be coming around.

“Oooh, what the hay happened?” She gingerly touched her horn, wincing as she did so, and sat upright just as Magic Barrier reached her.

Barrier’s first thought as he stood across from the mare was about her mane. Was two-tone blue a really common color or something? This made three ponies he had seen with what in his time was unique. “Are you okay?” Barrier asked as he opened a nearby window with his magic.

“I’ll live. Bastard caught me on the horn.”

With a burst of magic, Barrier sent a dark-red burst of magic into the sky. From what Shining had told him, if the guard saw a red flare that they went to investigate; sort of like an emergency call-button for unicorns to get the guards’ attention.

“Can you get this ring off of me?” as the mare asked, the pony who had been huddled in the corner slowly climbed upright; taking one look at his compatriots and then at the two unicorns, he huddled right back down into the corner.

Chuckling slightly as the pegasus huddled down, Barrier flared his horn. With a pop, the magic inhibitor disengaged and floated off of the mares horn.

“Man, you really did a number on these guys.” the mare approached the earth-pony he had dealt with first. He was gasping for air painfully, but didn’t seem to be suffocating. “Thanks for that. These jerks have been giving me trouble all month and I couldn’t get the guards to do anything about it. I’m Vinyl Scratch by the way, though most ponies refer to me as DJ PON3 these days.”

“It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Miss Scratch.” Barrier tilted his head formally. “I’m known as Magic Barrier.”

“So, not that I’m complaining, but what’re you doing in a club at this hour? We don’t open for like seven or eight more hours.”

“I actually entered to ask for directions. Fate must have a sense of humor, as I walked into this,” he motioned to the collapsed ponies, “not twenty-four hours out of my month-long hospitalization and I’ve already gotten into a fight with multiple ponies.” Barrier fell silent as the front door of the club opened and a voice called out.

“Did somepony here call for the guard?” A stallion’s voice came from the front of the building.

“We’re in the back office!”

By the time the guard had collected enough information, it was well past noon.

“Ah, that explains why nopony would help me.” When he had explained why he came into the club, Vinyl had explained to him that the term ‘inn’ was rather archaic and had long-since been swapped for motels; only a handful of rustic towns in the outskirts of Equestria still had inns.

“So, you said you planned on moving here? Any particular place you’re lookin’ for?”

“Somewhere out of the way where ponies won’t ask any questions or bother me under any circumstances.”

“Well, you picked the right city for that. Most of the ponies in this city couldn’t care less as long as ya’ don’t cause problems.”

He and Vinyl proceeded to talk for several more hours, Vinyl giving him a brief rundown of what he needed to know.

By the time all was said and done, it was nearly three in the afternoon; his stomach was not happy about that.

Vinyl trotted towards the door with her new employee. “I gotta start getting things set up to open. You should swing by sometime.”

“I suppose I can manage that. Til’ then, Miss Scratch.” Barrier bowed his head slightly and trotted out the door.

***

Settling for an early dinner at a small cafe, Barrier ate a quick meal consisting of a grilled-cucumber sandwich and a bowl of vegetable stew, before he once more took to the streets, this time having no issue finding a place to stay, now that he knew what a motel was.

With a quick fee of forty bits, he had a room for the night in downtown Manehattan; the room itself was okay, but the neighborhood was not. The streets reminded Barrier of why the royal guard in his time had night-patrols. Using the few remaining hours of daylight, Barrier took a brief walk around the decrepit neighborhood, making mental notes of alleyways and manhole covers, mentally mapping out choke-points and escape routes should the need call for it. As he did this, he unintentionally stood straighter and pushed his chest out slightly; it was something that guards did while on patrol even in this day and age to make their presence more pronounced. Were he still a guard in Canterlot, it wouldn’t have mattered, but appearing as guard in a particularly rough patch of Manehattan did not cater to one’s well-being.

Walking along, Barrier could feel various gazes on him, some from the alley’s, some from the buildings that surrounded him. Most didn’t bother him, but some triggered innate instincts; he felt as if he were some prey-animal walking into a lions den.

Deciding he had a suitable mental map of his immediate surroundings, he turned and walked back towards his motel as confidently as he could, making sure to lock his door before he sat down on the stiff bed. A part of him felt he shouldn’t stay the night here after his earlier trip, whereas another part of him was too tired to care. Ultimately, he decided it was too late to find another place to stay; the sun had already set, giving way to Luna’s moon. Shifting himself slightly, he fell into a deep sleep, his conscience giving way to dream.

***

No matter how hard or fast he ran, he couldn’t catch up to them; he could see both his wife and daughter - Radiant Smile and Radiant Sparkle - in the distance and no matter how hard he sprinted, they kept growing in distance. As the duo vanished, Barrier fell to his haunches panting desperately for air, not evening noticing as his surroundings shifted from the plain-white to the ruins of the Everfree castle. In front of him were a pair of ponies; his wife, a slender pale-blue unicorn mare with a matching mane and tail and piercing green eyes, and a small, charcoal-grey unicorn-filly with the pale-blue mane of her mother and the piercing blue eyes of her father. Glancing up with teary eyes, he watched helplessly as the pair rapidly grew old and turned to skeletons and then dust in front of his eyes. Forcing his eyes shut in an attempt to stem the flow of tears; even though he was well aware it was a dream, he could do nothing to stop it.

With a speed that would give most ponies whiplash, Barrier turned around to see the one pony he wanted to see least in all of Equestria.

“Leave. Now.” Barrier’s voice was low and dangerous.

The mare backed away several steps before staring at the ground dejectedly. With a deep steadying breath, she straightened her back and matched eyes with the unicorn. “I cannot, Sir Barrier. Regardless of what thou think of me, it is our solemn duty as princess of the night to ensure that dreams such as the-”

“It was not a request, Luna. Leave, or I will remove you myself.” Barrier horn flared dangerously “My dream, my rules.”

The alicorn stared at the ground dejectedly, hurt clearly written across her face. “Of course, Sir Barrier. My apologies for intruding on this night.” With a flash of her horn, the alicorn had vanished.

His horn fettering out, Barrier collapsed onto the cold stone floor his dreamscape had produced, sniffling slightly. Part of him felt guilty for how he had reacted to the Princess; the expression as she left…he did that. What would his family think? What would his daughter have thought? With another choked sob, Barrier curled up into a ball and waited for his return to the waking world.

Long damn ride... [Chapter 8]

Magic Barrier settled in to a comfortable routine over the next several months; he would wake up, usually hungover, and eat breakfast. Afterwards, he would run through the various exercises such as push-ups, sit-ups, and magical conditioning where he flared his horn and magic as strongly as he could for extended periods of time. From there, he would run to the Manehattan library and study every article he could find, both fiction and nonfiction about Canterlot Castle and the princess of the moon. After that, he would return to his apartment to shower and drink himself to sleep.

After his nightmares started, he turned to the age-old remedy of alcohol to suppress them. This pattern continued for nearly four months until Barrier finally decided it was time to act out his plan. He had a near-perfect mental map of Canterlot Castle and an impressive understanding of the Princess of the Night’s powers and capabilities; all he needed now was a weapon capable of killing an alicorn. While weapons did exist, they were far and few inbetween and the vast majority of them were housed in the Canterlot Vault, beyond his reach. It was because of this, that he found himself standing outside a particularly impressive looking mansion on the very outskirts of Manehattan.

***

“Mr. Melody is expecting me.” There were a pair of unicorns at the door, both roughly the same size as him and clearly trying to appear intimidating. Without a glance, they pushed the front door open and one of them led Barrier inside and up a flight of stairs.

The interior of the mansion was even more lavish than the exterior; everything from the light fixtures to the paintings on the walls screamed high-class and expensive. It would probably make most ponies feel little, but Barrier had enough experience with wealthy nobles to not care; to him, it amounted to a pony with a little-pony complex.

“Mr. Melody will see you shortly, please wait inside.”

The office wasn’t as impressive as what Barrier had seen so far. In contrast to the rest of the house, the office was plain; composed of a single desk, two comfortable-looking chairs, and a single bookshelf pressed up against the wall.

For nearly fifteen minutes, Barrier sat in one of the chairs and waited in silence, consumed in his thoughts.

This was a turning point for him; assuming this pony could help him, there would be no turning back. As he ran over his plan one more time, he couldn’t get the image of Princess Luna out of his mind; because of her immaturity, he and thousands of other ponies suffered. All because she felt underappreciated; truthfully, he could sympathize with her on some level. Nopony enjoyed their work going unnoticed. Then again, most ponies didn’t sell their soul and bodies to a dark entity and try to plunge the world into eternal darkness. To Barrier, it was only fair; she took his life, so it was only fair he took hers as recompense. At least, that’s what he kept telling himself.

“Mr. Barrier, was it?” the voice was deceptively friendly and belonged to an earth-pony with a coat similar to his, a midnight-black mane and a cutie-mark of a piano’s keyboard.

“Yes sir.” Barrier sat up straighter as the pony sat behind the desk, pulling out two cups and a bottle of scotch, filling both glasses.

As the two of them sipped the drink, the dark-maned pony began.

“I’ll cut straight to business…you seem like a stallion who can appreciate that. I understand you were asking about specific objects of interest and were directed to me. I was also informed these objects might be frowned upon by society. Tell me, what specifically are you hoping I can help you find?”

Taking a sip of the whiskey, Barrier met eyes with his host. “I need a bladed weapon forged of magicite. I have more than enough to purchase it, but finding someone who deals in them has been…difficult.”

“And why, if I may, do you need a weapon capable of killing an alicorn?”

“Revenge.” the one-word response rolled off of Barrier’s tongue with practiced ease. “Princess Luna took my life from me, I plan to take hers as recompense.”

Draining the glass of whiskey, the earth-pony sat the glass down on the desk.

“A simple enough reason, but before we discuss this further, I’ve a question.” The earth pony locked eyes with his guest.

“Is vengeance going to bring your family back to you?”

The question stung, but Barrier was quick to respond. “No, it won’t bring back my family, nor have I ever expected it to.” Barrier threw back the whiskey in the glass and felt the pleasant burn in his throat as he placed his glass on the table. “Can you help me or not?”

“For a price, I can help you.” The pony held up a hoof, cutting Barrier off before he could even start. “The price won’t be in bits. I have plenty of bits. What can you offer me that I couldn’t find elsewhere?”

That was a good question, actually; the pony clearly had far more bits than Barrier did and realistically, there was very little that bits couldn’t buy.

“I’m more combat-inclined than most unicorns due to my old-world guard training. I’m one of perhaps the top five most capable magic-users in Equestria. Beyond those, I have nothing of particular note.”

“Are you willing to kill?”

That a good question; Barrier had always been a very moral pony. Even with his plan to kill the Princess of the night, he hadn’t planned on harming any other ponies in the process. Sure, he’d killed dozens of his fellow ponies one-thousand years ago, but it was for a fairly justifiable cause, what with the risk of the world freezing over and the oceans rampaging. Could he still consider himself a good pony when he was here plotting to take revenge?

Licking his lips slightly to moisten them, Barrier took a deep breath “If it’s justifiable, I can and will kill.” Mentally, he ran over his attempts to justify the life of Princess Luna. A life for a life; she took his life, he’d take hers, so he kept telling himself.

“A bodyguard.” the earth stallion finally stated, finishing his own drink.

“A threat was made on the life of my daughter, three days ago. A rival family has decided she is worth the efforts, despite her own efforts to distance herself from our family name. My daughter and I have not been close for many years; she doesn’t approve of some of my business ventures. Protect her until I can deal with those that would harm her, and you will have your magicite weapon. Is that acceptable?”

“You have a deal.” Barrier firmly shook his host’s hoof.

***

Nearly a week had passed since his meeting with Clavier Melody; the pair had worked out that Barrier would return when he had convinced his daughter -Octavia Melody, Barrier later found out- to pay him a visit in regards to her safety. It was for this reason that Barrier once again found himself outside the mansion. Unlike last time, Barrier had taken care to groom his coat and mane, deciding he should at least look professional. As he was shown into the mansion once more, he could hear a mare shouting faintly in the distance. His ears swiveling slightly, he could just make out the shouts.

“...nd I’ve told you, I’ll not have one of your thugs following me around! It’s bad enough for my image that I have your last name!”

The guard waving him through the door, Barrier briefly met eyes with Clavier, directing a slight nod towards the business pony before he took in the mare; her coat was a light shade of grey and her mane a dark shade of grey, not too dissimilar from his own coat. She was a beautiful mare, overall…minus the attitude she seemed to have with her father. That would have gotten him and other foals beaten one-thousand years ago.

“And another thing-” The mare fell silent and turned to face him when she realized her father’s gaze was directed elsewhere.

Barrier kept both his tone and expression professional as he swept a foreleg across his chest, bowing respectfully to the mare and spoke. “With all due respect, I don’t work for your father, Miss Octavia.” he turned to Clavier and added: “No offense, Mr. Melody, but your line of work isn’t one I think I would particularly agree with.”

Octavia was momentarily caught speechless before clearing her throat and responding. “Yes, my apologies for that…outburst. I was unaware we were having guests.” She briefly sized the unicorn up before turning to her father. “This doesn’t change anything, father. I still have no need for a bodyguard. Besides, I’m sure this gentlecolt has more important things to do than follow me around Canterlot.”

A frown on his face, Clavier pressed a hoof to his forehead. “I’ve tried to be patient about this Octavia, but you leave me no choice. If you refuse a bodyguard, I will see to it personally that you do not perform at the Grand Galloping Gala next month. In addition, I will have my men watch you from afar, regardless of your wishes.”

The two ponies locked eyes and Barrier would’ve sworn the rooms temperature dropped several degrees.

“Very well, Mr. Melody, but do not think this is over.” A flash of pain briefly perched itself on the stallion's face as his daughter referred to him by name.

Locking eyes with the unicorn, the mare spoke, “We board our train at seven o’clock sharp, tomorrow morning. I expect you’ll be there. Good day, sir.”

The only thought that worked itself through Barrier’s mind was that the mare’s amethyst eyes were gorgeous, though he didn’t vocalize the thought.

“I’m sorry that you had to see that.” The stallion pulled the bottle of whiskey out from behind the desk and skipped the cups entirely, taking a shot from the bottle and then holding it out to the unicorn.

With a shrug, Barrier took the bottle in his magic and took a mouthful of the nectar-of-the-gods that was whiskey himself. “I suppose I should head on home then. It’s been quite awhile since I had to wake up that early. I don’t think we’ll see each other again, so it’s been a pleasure, Mr. Melody.” Bowing his head respectfully, Barrier turned and departed, meeting eyes with Octavia only very briefly as he passed her on his way out.

***

Six-thirty in the morning came far too early for Barrier’s tastes. Rolling off of his bed with a grunt, he took a bottle of vodka in his magic and took a quick morning-shot before he glanced around at the poor state of the room. Not like he hadn’t paid more than enough to pay cleanup costs. It wouldn’t be his problem, soon enough. With a quick shower and another shot of vodka, Barrier found himself groomed, wearing a set of plain-white saddlebags, and trotting out the door, stopping only to hand his key in at the office.

The Manehattan train-station was dreary as-is, but when you take away pretty much any and every pony that usually frequents the area, it just looked sad and pathetic.

With a sigh, Barrier plopped onto a nearby bench and waited; no doubt little-miss-sunshine would be along shortly to brighten his day.

As if on cue, Octavia trotted into view, posture straight and head-held-high. Stopping only to glance over at him distastefully, she trotted towards the train that was just pulling up.

With a sigh, Barrier climbed upright and boarded alongside Octavia, only smiling weakly at the mare who only glared and turned away in response.

“Don’t suppose it would help if I told you I’m not anymore eager to do this than you are, would it?”

The mare ignored him completely, not even acknowledging his presence with a glare anymore.

“Yeah, didn’t think so.”

As the train departed the station, Barrier took a seat across the aisle from the mare, pulling off his saddlebags and setting them in the seat next to him. Fishing around in the bags, he pulled out a bottle of vodka and a pair of glasses. Offering one to the mare, he sighed when she continued to ignore him.

“One of these days, Octavia, there will be a breakthrough in medical-science that will allow doctors to remove the tree you have lodged up your ass.” That got the mare’s attention as she turned to him and stared with a mixture of disbelief and pure, unadulterated hatred.

“You’ve got a few years until your stare is remotely threatening. Believe me when I say, you’ve got nothing on Nightmare Moon.” Pouring himself a shot and throwing it back, he turned away from the mare, openly ignoring the rage on her face.

This was going to be a long train ride.

Love and Tolerance! ...or just tolerance... [Chapter 9]

As the two walked through the dimly-lit streets of Canterlot, Barrier noted a pair of thestrals in guards armor; if looks could kill, Barrier would have trisected the two bat-ponies. The two guards, new recruits if he were to guess, smiled nervously, sweat trickling down the stallions’ brow.

“Honestly, to believe I’m forced to associate with a racist drunkard such as yourself.” The mare’s snooty voice started up once again.

Barrier tuned her out as they continued towards the hotel, doubting she had anything particularly insightful to impart and focusing more on his surroundings; there weren’t any ponies, save the occasional Thestral, which he mentally dissected, patrolling the streets. Occasionally, he would catch a glimpse of what he thought was a trio of unicorns, though they were so rapid that he wouldn’t doubt his eyes were playing tricks on him.

The rant continued until the reached the hotel; it was a fairly impressive building, standing nearly six stories high and being decorated in the traditional white and gold of Canterlot. ”Oh thank the gods, you stopped talking.” He commented dryly, as they entered the lobby and fell silent.

Ignoring the snide remark, Octavia trotted to the counter elegantly and spoke to the peach-colored mare at the reception desk. “I have a reservation under Octavia Melody.” She waited as the mare flipped through the book, a frown on her face.

“My apologies miss, it says here that your reservation was cancelled twelve hours ago. We’ve since rented your room out.”

“What do you mean my reservation was cancelled? I made it over a month ago, and I most certainly did not cancel it!”

Barrier once again tuned her out in favor of his surroundings; specifically, the five ponies that had entered the lobby; there were three unicorns and two pegasus ponies. The moment the ponies pointed in Octavia’s direction, Barrier turned to the mare, apparently still arguing with the receptionist, and grabbed her roughly by the hoof. “We’re leaving.” He pulled Octavia towards the door, speaking rapidly as he went. “Don’t say a word.” His voice was cold and calculating, his eyes roving over the five ponies who followed them out of the hotel, and once again taking in every detail he could, mentally trying to work out how to deal with them. No matter what scenario he ran through his head, there was no way to beat them without aiming to kill. Perhaps if he got the jump on them, but he was certain they were aware of him and vice-versa.

“Unhoove me!” Octavia finally jerked her hoof away as they entered the streets of Canterlot once more; the five ponies had disappeared. “You have some nerve, dragging me along like that! Who do you think you are!”

“For the love Celestia, shut the buck up!” Barrier finally snapped at her, raising his voice. “I’ve listened to you bitch for the last fifteen hours!” Octavia opened her mouth to retort only for Barrier to cut her off again. “No! Not a bucking word. I swear on Celestia I will gag you if you speak before we reach our destination! Shut up, follow me, and do NOT lag behind.”

“My father will hear of this.” Was Octavia’s only retort as she followed behind Barrier, practically steaming mad; any attempt to veer from his path was met with magic tugging her back into line; she didn’t seem to notice the stallion’s eyes roaming endlessly, particularly watching alleys and roofs.

As quickly as he could, Barrier directed himself and the mare towards the Sparkle household, taking care to go into the path of every guard he could find. As the house came into sight, his horn flared to life and a veil of light washed over him as he cast a low-level illusion spell on himself; the spell turned his coat white and altered his cutie mark slightly. Trying to ignore the sweat on his brow from the intensity of the spell, he suddenly called out to a pair of passing thestral-guards. “Guards! Attention!” whispering, he turned to Octavia, “Not a word, I’m doing this for a reason.” The tone of his voice told her that he wasn’t joking by any means. Both guards galloped over to him and snapped a sharp salute. “Captain Armor, sir! Apologies, we weren’t aware you would be in our sector tonight!”

“At ease soldiers, I need a favor.” Shining Armor’s voice once more rolled off of the unicorn's tongue. “A group of ponies have been following my cousin and I for the last fifteen minutes or so. As of now, I’m changing your patrol orders. You’re to stand guard outside of my parents’ home until dawn. I’ll see to it personally that you’re compensated for the sudden change in plans.” Both guards saluted, something in their captain’s tone telling them that it would be unwise to refuse.

***

It was nearly eleven o’clock at night when they finally arrived. Glancing around once more, completely ignoring the thestrals accompanying them, Barrier pounded roughly on the door.

Octavia, while mad before, now seemed to be a mixture of both frustrated and irritated. She did not like being an accessory to a felony-crime, nor did she look forward to waking these ponies at such an hour. Nonetheless, she held her silence. Something about Magic Barrier’s tone and demeanor told her that silence was the best option available. She hadn’t been particularly afraid of the unicorn before, but now something about him radiated a cold professionalism; the change was rather shocking.

“Who is it…?” Night Light answered the door, his eyes half-shut. “Shining? What are you doing here? And who's this mare?” The unicorn’s eyes widened as he noted their guard escorts.

“When dawn comes, knock four times on the door and then you may leave.”

Both guards saluted and stood on either side of the door.

“Can we talk about this inside, Night Light?” Barrier’s image flickered and for a brief moment, strain was evident on his face; he hadn’t even bothered to mask his voice.

“What’s going on?” Night Light stepped aside to let the two ponies in. Only when the door shut did Magic Barrier drop the illusion and collapse to the floor in a panting heap.

“Barrier!” Night Light trotted over to the unicorn, helping him up. “What the hay is going on? It’s almost midnight! And who is this mare?”

“Second, Night…” Barrier plopped on the couch wearily. “Illusion magic can get bent."

Though Night Light remained silent, he was clearly curious, and more than a little irritated.

“Right, in order, I’m a bodyguard for this mare, yes, it’s a quarter until midnight and this mare is Octavia Melody, a musician and my current client, even if she has been…a rather difficult individual.”

“That still doesn’t explain why you dragged me across Canterlot!” Octavia snapped, clearly irritated with the situation.

“Doesn’t explain why you were disguised as Shining Armor either, or why there are guards.” Night Light pointed out.

“I dragged you across town, because your father’s fears were well-founded and we needed somewhere safe that a group of ponies couldn’t follow us.” Annoyance was clear in his tone as he addressed Octavia.

“And I was disguised as your son so I could convince those two…” Barrier fell silent, an upset expression on his face. “thestrals, to watch the door for the night. So long as they’re there, the ponies after us aren't likely to try anything.” a tired sigh escaping him, Barrier continued, “I’m sorry to drop in on you like this, Night Light, if I had an alternative, I would have taken it. The specifics are painfully convoluted, but the gist of it is that Octavia and I need a place to stay and this was the only safe place besides the castle, and the night-guard is apparently composed of thestrals…so yeah. Sorry.”

“Just hearing that much sounds convoluted, but I trust you, Barrier." Night Light let an exasperated sigh escape him, "If this was the only option you had, I’ll take your word for it.” Finally addressing the mare, Night Light bowed his head respectfully. ”Miss Melody, a pleasure to meet you. I’m Night Light, close family of Magic Barrier.”

“A pleasure, Mr. Light. I apologize for dropping in uninvited.” Octavia bowed her head in return. Unlike when she spoke with Barrier, her voice was soft and almost friendly, with a more pronounced accent. Barrier could almost enjoy the sound, if it weren’t attached to her.

“Right, well, you can take Shining’s old room, Barrier, and Miss Melody can take the guest room. Upstairs, last two doors on the left.” Night Light yawned deeply, reminding everypony of the late hour. “Help yourselves to anything you need, I’m going back to bed.” With that, he trotted off up the stairs once more, leaving the two ponies in silence.

Glancing down at his hoof, Barrier noticed it had seemed to shake slightly. Stumbling upright, still magically drained, he left Octavia alone in silence for a moment before he returned with a teapot, a pair of cups, and a bottle of whiskey.

“Honestly, have you no shame?” Octavia scoffed, pulling her gaze from the bottle of whiskey and focusing on the teapot which Barrier was heating with a notably dim stream of magic.

“Nope.” Barrier took a shot directly from the bottle before setting it aside and preparing two glasses of chamomile tea. As the leaves steeped, a deep sigh escaped Barrier and he began to speak.

“Okay, look. It’s clear that we loathe each other. I’m not any happier at this situation than you are, so I’ll make you a deal. You cut me some slack and stop being so stuck-up and difficult to be around, and I’ll stop being an ass and do my best not to cause you any troubles.”

Octavia seemed to contemplate the thought before finally nodding her acceptance. “Very well, but I expect you to keep your end of that bargain, otherwise I’ll make your every waking hour difficult.” Was that a slight smirk on her face?

“Fair enough.” Handing Octavia a cup of tea, Barrier drank his own in a few swallows. “I’m going to go ahead and go to bed. I’m exhausted. Your room is the last door on the left. Make sure that your window is locked before bed.” With a tired yawn, Barrier drug himself up the stairs and onto Shining Armors bed; he was out before he hit the sheets, the illusion magic having taken its toll on him.

***

Barrier groaned as four rapid-knocks sounded from the front door. Rolling off of the bed, he made it to the window just in time to see the two thestrals trotting away and for the sun to shine right in his eyes, alerting him to the migraine. Good kids, for thestrals, he supposed. With a slight rumble of his stomach, he dashed from the room to the bathroom, quickly holding his muzzle over the toilet as he emptied his stomach’s non-existent contents. After several minutes of dry-heaving, he stumbled through a quick shower and into the kitchen, where Velvet was preparing breakfast and Octavia appeared to be enjoying a glass of tea.

Levitating a bottle from his bag, Barrier started to fish out the whiskey, before he turned to see Octavia frowning at him. With a sigh, he replaced the bottle and took a seat at the table where Velvet poured him a cup of tea.

“My, you don’t seem to have slept well.” Velvet commented as Night Light joined them in the kitchen.

“Morning, Barrier, Miss Melody.”

Octavia responded in kind while Barrier moaned unintelligibly.

With a slight chuckle, Velvet levitated a bottle of ibuprofen over to the table.

“Thanks…” Barrier mumbled out as he swallowed several pills.

“So, what will you two do now? I don’t think Velvet or I mind you staying here, but if you’re in trouble, maybe you should talk to Shining. I’m sure he’d be willing to help.”

“Yeah, we’ll have to stop and see him. I have to apologize to him for my stunt last night anyways. What all do you have to do today, Octavia?”

Octavia frowned at the use of her first name. “I’ve practice with my quartet from noon to seven. Before that, I’d like to find another hotel to stay at.” she turned to Night Light and Twilight Velvet. “Your hospitality is greatly appreciated, but I don’t want to intrude.”

Twilight Velvet tittered slightly, “Oh, don’t worry about that, dear. It’s nice having some ponies other than Night Light and I in the house. It gets fairly dreary sometimes when it’s just us.”

Night Light only nodded his agreement.

“Right, Miss Melody.” Barrier smiled slightly at her. “After breakfast, we’ll go see the captain of the guard, Shining Armor. After that, I’ll follow your lead. Deal?”

Octavia looked as if she wanted to argue, but visibly deflated when she remembered they were guests. “Very well.” She nodded curtly.

Barrier smiled inwardly as the four ponies ate in silence.

Things were starting to look up…at least, he was fairly certain they were.

What we had was special! [Chapter 10]

“Honestly Barrier, you committed a felony!” A hoof slammed itself down on the desk.

“Oh, so I should have splattered their insides all over the neighborhood?” Barrier’s delivery was casual, causing both of the ponies in the room to cringe.

“No! You just...gah!” a sigh of frustration. “Seriously Barrier…” the unicorn pressed a hoof to his forehead in annoyance. “I’ll make sure that the rumors don’t spread and that those ponies get the overtime YOU promised them, but you owe me. Honestly, those two probably think I have a mistress now…”

“So…” Now that the subject had died down, Barrier climbed to his hooves and headed towards the door, “any plans for tonight?”

“No, I’ve got a date with Cadance…big plans for this one. I’ll probably be there tomorrow night though, so maybe we’ll catch each other then.”

“You’re already seeing other people?!” Barrier suddenly shouted, “It’s only been three months! I thought what we had was special, Shining!” Barrier made an active effort to be heard by the guards outside of the office.

Shining’s deadpan stare greatly amused Barrier for some reason, while Octavia simply face-hoofed with a resigned sigh.

***

“Right, my business for the day is done, where to Miss Melody?” Barrier’s tone was once more professional.

“The concert hall.” The answer was curt as the mare took the lead.

As the streets of Canterlot slowly came to life and the noise picked up, Barrier groaned, holding a hoof to his head as his headache flared up. Pulling the bottle of painkillers from that morning out of his saddlebags, he dry-swallowed two pills, much to Octavia’s irritation.

“Honestly, have you no decency? Yesterday it was drinking in public on the train, then it was yelling nonsense in the castle, now you’re eating pills like candy in the streets of Canterlot!” Despite being no more than a hushed whisper, Octavia still managed to portray her irritation flawlessly.

“What can I say, you bring out the best in me.” Barrier retorted quietly as the concert hall came into view.

Turning to Barrier, Octavia glared at him as the two of them entered the lobby. “I am going to practice. I trust you’ll not cause me any trouble as per our earlier agreement.” It wasn’t a question.

“What time should I expect you to be done?”

“I will return at eight o’clock.” She turned and walked off, leaving Barrier to stare at her backside.

After several seconds of staring, Barrier coughed slightly and turned away as he realized what he had been doing.

As soon as she was out of sight, he fished around in his saddlebags for a brief moment before he found the nectar of the gods that was whiskey and took a deep swallow. Stashing the bottle once more, he took in his surroundings, mentally noting what he deemed weak points. The interior, like most of Canterlot, was far too lavish for his tastes; white stone and gold trimming, everywhere.

***

Over the next few days, he found himself in yet another routine; wake up, eat breakfast with Night Light, Twilight Velvet, and Octavia -who was surprisingly polite and presentable to the couple- go to the concert hall and wait for Octavia’s practice to end, which seemed to get gradually longer each day. He couldn’t complain too much, being a fan of classical music, but Octavia seemed to get more irritable each day, and that was beginning to grate on him. The mare could bitch with the best, no doubt.

This day, like many others, started in the same pattern.

““What does the fox say…” Barrier softly sang to himself as he trotted around the lobby; practice was set to last nearly ten hours today; it was a long day. As his brief song came to a close, he took a seat on a bench and lapsed into memory.

***

“I swear to Celestia, Sergeant, if you sing one more word of that song I’ll have you discharged!” Barrier found himself all but shouting at the young lieutenant in front of him.

The lieutenant, an orange pegasus with a dark-blue mane, only grinned widely as he clearly took a deep breath and opened his mouth to speak, only for a sharp rap on the barracks door to silence him.

“Oh, thank whatever gods exist.” Barrier rolled off of his cot and onto his feet as he eyed the pony that saved him from committing an act of murder.

The filly couldn’t have been more than six or seven years of age and she seemed to be trying to hide behind her pink mane.

“Um, the princess asked me to get a…” the filly quickly pulled a piece of scrap-paper out and continued shyly, “Lieutenant Magic Barrier.”

“Relax kid, I’m not going to eat you. Give it another year or two and I can talk to the chefs, until then you’re fine,” Barrier joked as he sidestepped the filly.

“Honestly Barrier,” Flash sighed as he kneeled down to the filly’s level. “you’re just terrible sometimes.”

Magic Barrier ignored the remark and trotted away, leaving Flash Sentry and the small earth-filly to chat. Poor guy had a bunch of kids himself and always seemed to get along with them; Barrier didn’t envy him.

“What does the…” Barrier stopped as he realized he had been singing that accursed song. “Damnit Flash! I KNOW WHERE YOU LIVE!” He yelled out to nobody in particular as he face-planted the wall one good time before trotting off to meet the princess.

“I worry about that pony…” A nearby guard who had seen the display mentioned to his compatriot.

“You can’t be an officer and stay sane in the guard. Heard he spent more of the last three years in Griffin territories than in Equestria. Probably drive me bonkers, too.”

“You wished to see me, highness?” Barrier soon found himself kneeling before both princesses.

“Ah, Magic Barrier. Tis’ good that thou hath arrived.” The princess of the sun began, “As thou may be aware, the King of Griffonia announced his successor less than a fortnight ago.”

“I am aware.” Barrier kept his head kneeled and answered respectfully.

“Then thou also know he declared his son his successor.”

Barrier remained silent, his answer not needing to be spoken.

“We hereby promote you to captain of the Celestial Sabers, per Captain Iron Hide’s recommendation, and deliver unto you new orders.”

The last statement caught him off-guard and he almost raised his head to question it, though he managed to keep his gaze on the floor.

“Thou and five ponies of your choosing are to depart immediately for Griffin Lands to ensure the succession does not happen. We leave the method up to your choosing, captain.”

***

“We’re no strangers to love...” Barrier was still singing to himself after nine-and-a-half hours after his flashback; it was a rather sad sight. At the sound of hooves-on-wood, he fell silent and turned to see Octavia once more.

“Honestly, now you’re singing in public? At least sing something good; that song sounds dreadfully irritating.”

Octavia unintentionally began to hum the short snippet of the tune she had heard as they departed the concert hall, “Oh by Celestia, now you’ve got me doing it! I can’t take you anywhere!”

“Yeah, yeah, sorry. Can’t help it really. The damn tune was something they sang back when I was in the guard. It’s stupid but damn catchy.”

“You were a royal guard?” Octavia glanced over at him, seeming to size him up once more. “How do you go from a royal guard to an alcoholic and public nuisance?”

Barrier clenched his teeth at the mare’s tone of voice and silently reminded himself why he hadn’t smothered her in her sleep yet.

“Spend a thousand years on the moon with a princess who is stuck going through buckin’ puberty, that’s how.”

Octavia was unable to form a response, instead remaining silence as they wandered aimlessly.

The mare stopped at a small café, causing the unicorn to stop as well.

“I’m stopping here so I can grab a late dinner.” Octavia finally stated, choosing to ignore the absurd earlier statement.

“Why? We can just eat when we get back to Night Light’s place. We’ve done it the last few days, why break routine now?”

“You really have no sense of decency, do you? They were kind enough to house and feed us this long and you would further impose?” The mare scoffed as she trotted into the establishment.

With a sigh of resignation, Barrier trotted after the mare, muttering angrily to himself about the methods of arguing with a mare and how none of them worked.

Initially, the two had eaten in silence, both having ordered a salad, while Octavia ordered tea, and Barrier ordered ‘whatever you have that’s alcoholic’, much to Octavia’s silent fury.

“Honestly, how did you end up with this role?” Octavia finally broke the silence.

“What, babysitting you?”

“If that is what you wish to call it, then yes.” she replied moodily, “From what I’ve seen, you’re a jerk with an alcohol problem who is possibly insane; I know my father and I don’t get along, but he must really loathe me if you’re what he decided on.” The entire statement had been made very matter-of-factly, as if Octavia didn’t believe the statements could be refuted.

Normally, he would have shrugged the mare off, but a hooful of whiskey-shots during dinner had given him a different attitude.

“A jerk? Seriously, I’m the jerk?” the statement was one of disbelief “Are you honestly that conceited? You’ve done nothing but glare and openly loathe me since I stepped into your dad’s office. I’ll be the first to admit, I’m a bit of an ass, but when you treat somepony like dirt, you should expect to be treated the same in return.”

A flash of irritation crossed the mare’s face and she opened her mouth to respond, only to be cut off.

“And insane? Yeah, I’m out of my bucking mind.” Barrier continued, raising his voice slightly, “You try being sealed with an avatar of darkness for a millennium and we’ll see how straight-minded you are. Lastly, an alcoholic? Yeah, I guess I am, but considering everyone I ever held dear is dead, I think I have a little leeway!” Barrier shot upright, startling the mare and several ponies who were watching the affair; with a flare of magic, he levitated a handful of bits onto the table. “I’m not a particularly great pony. I’m an ass sometimes, and probably a jerk more often than not, but at least I don’t delude myself into thinking otherwise.” Barrier turned and trotted away, leaving the mare and surrounding ponies in a stunned silence.

***

He was alone on the sidewalk for nearly fifteen minutes before Octavia finally left the establishment.

“...sorry. I’ve been very difficult, I suppose.” Octavia finally broke the silence as the two them walked through the dimly lit lights of Canterlot.

“Yeah, me too.” Barrier sighed. “My usual attitude of fight fire with fire didn’t really help, and I shouldn’t have lost my temper like that, earlier.”

“Yes, though I fear I didn’t give you much option in the matter. I didn’t realize it until you yelled it back there, but I really have been impossible towards you since day one…you must think I’m a terrible pony.” Octavia glanced down at the ground.

“Well, it is the only impression I have of you up until this point.” Barrier commented without hesitation, much to the mare’s irritation.

“Honestly, have you no tact?” Octavia’s tone faded from irritated to dejected.

“Well, it was, until this conversation, anyways.” Halting the mare with his magic, he trotted in front of her and stared into her eyes intensely.

Octavia, unsure of what was happening, only stared back, her amethyst eyes meeting his. With a faint blush, she tore her eyes away from his and huffed. “So, what is your opinion of me now?”

Smiling softly as the mare turned away, Barrier trotted back to her side. “You’re not a bad pony, you were just angry, is all. As I said before, I didn’t really help the issue any with my attitude.” Holding his hoof out to the mare, Barrier smiled and finished with a simple question, “Fresh start?”

After a moment of thought, Octavia nodded and returned the smile, shaking his hoof with one of her own. “Fresh start.”

Horseshoe's Hurt [Chapter 11]

“I just don’t understand why practice starts earlier each day.”

“I’ve told you, Magic, the closer to the Grand Galloping Gala we get the longer practice will last. We must be at our absolute best.”

“I guess,” Barrier started with a yawn, “I just don’t see why it has to be this early. Even Celestia doesn’t get up this early. Trust me, I know.”

It was no exaggeration; the sun wasn’t due up for nearly another half-an-hour; even the streets of Canterlot were utterly deserted.

“And you didn’t let me take my alcohol today...you have any idea how long today is going to be without it?” Another yawn.

“Oh you’ll be fine. You don’t need the alcohol.” Octavia brushed his concerns off listlessly.

“You’re a cruel mistress, Miss Octavia.” As the two of them passed by the front gates of the castle, Barrier stopped.

A hoof full of guards were outside the castle; one guard in particular wasn’t in the standard uniform; he seemed to be directing the ponies to various spots, no doubt for the Grand Galloping Gala coming up soon.

“Besides, your liver will thank me for…” Octavia trailed off when she realized Barrier wasn’t following her. “Barrier?” She turned to see the unicorn staring intently at a pegasus guard who had yet to realize he was being watched.

***

The group was comprised of six ponies; two of each type. Rather than typical guard armor, a suit of soft fabric covered the ponies from head-to-hoof. Their hooves were thickly padded to help muffle their sound at the expense of traction, while the cloaks were specially woven to reflect as little light as possible. Any exposed parts of the pony had been dyed black for the duration of the missions; wings, horns, faces. Anywhere there was fur, it was black.

“The informant pulled through. Southwest gate is open.” Flash Sentry landed in the group of ponies. “Patrol passed by every ten minutes or so. Getting in shouldn’t be a problem, nor should getting out, as long as we don’t get caught.”

“Right, we’ll move as soon as the next patrol passes. Remember ponies, this mission is black. If something goes wrong, you all know what to do.” Each pony carried an unstable crystal somewhere on himself; Barrier would charge them all minutes before the mission started; they would have an hour at most before the energy dissipated and they would have to leave. A pony caught in the Griffin capital would spark a war that neither side would be able to prevent. Though Barrier didn’t say it out loud, everypony knew that if they were unable to escape within the one-hour time-frame, they would have to self-terminate; grim, but necessary.

“Right, let’s go Sabers.” Barrier and Flash Sentry both trotted off, the four remaining ponies following behind them.

***

Barrier remembered that night particularly clearly; Flash had managed to run down a Griffin that spotted them from afar before the griffin could shout an alarm; he didn’t think he’d ever seen a pegasus fly that fast in such a narrow corridor; it was that feat in particular that got him bumped up to Staff Sergeant.

“Barrier? Equestria to Barrier!” Octavia was waving a hoof in front of the unicorn, consternation clear in her expression. “Stop staring at the poor guard, it’s rude!” She finally hissed at Barrier, tapping him slightly on the head.

By now, Flash Sentry had noticed the two; he seemed particularly nervous as the unicorn stared at him intensely. Without really knowing why, he straightened his posture ever-so-slightly and slightly flared his wings, subconsciously trying to appear more impressive.

"What's your name and rank soldier?"

“Uh, Lieutenant Flash Sentry?” The lieutenant backed up slightly; who was this crazy unicorn? And why was he smiling?

Sizing the pegasus up, Barrier couldn’t help but smile a sad smile. He was almost a carbon-copy of his old friend, minus the tacky gold armor.

“You look a lot like your grandfather, Flash.” Barrier’s voice was almost sad; a stark contrast to the usual happy-go-lucky tone and attitude he had.

“Um...thanks?” Flash wasn’t really sure what to make of the odd unicorn.

“Honestly, I can’t take you anywhere.” Octavia shook her head, bemused. “Come along now, I’d rather not be late for practice.”

“Right, right.” The carefree attitude returned. “Still think you should have let me bring my whiskey. What am I supposed to do for the next twelve hours while you practice?”

“That is up for you to decide. Perhaps you’ll think twice the next time you decide to be a bodyguard, hm?”

“Won’t be a next time I’m afraid. This was a one-time thing. After your performance, you’ll never have to worry about seeing me again.”

The way Barrier had said that; the sense of finality unnerved the mare a bit. “Yes well, maybe I shall, maybe I shan’t.” Silence reigned for the remainder of their walk, Barrier having nothing more to say and Octavia uncertain of what to say.

“I’ll see you when your practice ends, Miss Octavia.” Barrier bowed his head slightly as the mare turned to trot away.

Taking a seat on the familiar bench, Barrier glanced down at his shaky hoof. Though he had hid it well, his head was killing him and for some reason, he couldn’t stop his hooves from shaking, unless he was actively using them.

“It’s because of the alcohol, you know that, right?” Octavia had returned to find him staring at his hooves, his face scrunched up in thought.

“Yeah, maybe.” He was well-aware that he had an alcohol problem, though Octavia had, in no uncertain terms, stated that if he continued drinking on the job and in public, she would make his life a living tartarus. He had no choice but to agree; he still needed her father’s help, and in all honesty, he knew she was right; drinking while actively working was a problem. “Not to be rude, but I thought you had practice?” Barrier questioned.

“Yes well, I decided that, if you wish, you may move to the auditorium and listen to my ensemble and I practice.”

Barrier grinned slightly and climbed off of the bench; outside of a show, the auditorium was usually off-limits to everypony without the proper permissions. Up until this point, Octavia hadn’t arranged for the permissions, likely on account of their poor business relationship. While it had posed a security risk, the unicorn had taken to feeling around with his magic as best he could, focusing specifically on the back-entrances for performers. As the doors were never disturbed, and he honestly loathed the mare, he never brought the issue forth.

“So long as you don’t cause problems.” Octavia added with a slight glare. “No yelling out, no sarcasm. You’re to be a perfect gentlecolt for the duration of this practice. Is that understood?”

“Dang, foiled again.” His grin faded, replaced by a soft smile. “I’ll behave, promise.” The two trotted through the doors into the auditorium. “Also…thanks for this. It really is dull sitting out there for that long.”

Practice was...practice, Barrier supposed. The musicians were all very talented, but Octavia outclassed most of them in Barrier’s opinion. While he wasn’t a musical savant, there was something wonderful about the mare and her ability to play. Octavia seemed to tune the world around her out when she played; nothing existed but her and her cello.

It wasn’t until the practice session came to a close that Barrier realized he had lost himself in the sounds of music for nearly twelve hours. Mentally, Barrier noted a pony approaching him from behind and was almost instantly on guard.

“Quite the talented cellist, wouldn’t you agree?”

“She has a bright future ahead of her.” Barrier agreed as he turned around to greet what had to be the biggest damn unicorn he had ever seen. Barrier was a fairly large specimen of the unicorn race, so the fact that he had to crane his head upward to meet this pony’s eyes was worthy of note.

“Mm, I don’t know. I’ve a feeling her career might be cut a little short. It’d be a shame for you to be drug down with her.”

“I’ll have to disagree. I see her having a long and prosperous career, and I plan to do whatever necessary to ensure it happens.”

“Then you’ve made your choice.” The giant of a unicorn turned and trotted away as Octavia approached.

“I’m surprised. Not only did you behave the entire time, but you even made a friend.”

Barrier turned to the mare and smiled slightly. “Yeah, the guy’s…interesting. So, practice is over. Wanna go grab an early dinner?”

“Are you asking me on a date?” The mare raised an eyebrow inquiringly.

Coughing slightly and turning away to hide his face, Barrier responded as he walked into the lobby. “You just played an instrument for like...twelve hours without stopping for lunch or anything. It might just be me, but dinner sounds really good right about now.”

The mares stomach rumbled its agreement, much to her displeasure.

“It wasn’t twelve hours. It was like ten, at most.”

“The sun wasn’t even up when we got here. It’s…” Barrier glanced at the clock as they departed the lobby. “ three o’clock. You practiced for like...eleven hours.”

“Oh, quit whining.” Octavia waved a hoof in Barrier’s general direction.

“I’m not whining, I’m complaining.” Barrier reasoned. “Can’t complain too much, though. You’re the best cellist I’ve ever seen.”

“Yes well, I do try.” Octavia turned her head away to hide the slight smile.

“It shows. You’re better than Mr. Casal could have ever hoped to be. Granted, I only ever heard him in pony twice, but I still stand by my statement.”

Octavia blushed slightly at the praise, until a flash of recognition crossed her face.

“You said you’d seen him in pony?” Octavia stopped walking and turned to face Barrier.

“You keep saying odd things like you were with Nightmare Moon for one-thousand years. Forgive me if this sounds rude, but do you know how asinine that sounds?”

“I’m well aware, but the difference between me and other crazies is that we can go to the castle right now and I can prove my statement.” A grin crept onto Barrier’s face; he knew what Octavia was about to say.

“Hah! I’d like to see that.” The mare scoffed.

“Alright, the Princess isn’t in bed yet, so I’m sure I could get a quick word with her.” Barrier turned and trotted off towards the castle.

“It was a joke, Barrier!” The mare followed after him, taking his tail in her teeth and trying to stop him, to little avail.

“S’cool. I need to see the princess about something anyways. Might as well do it now rather than later.” Barrier continued to trot, dragging Octavia behind him flawlessly, much to the amusement of some passerby and the irritation of others.

***

“Honestly Barrier, stop it!” A loud clop resounded as Octavia smacked him on the head with a hoof.

“Damn it mare, that hurts.” Barrier whined.

The two guards Barrier had been staring down in the hallway took this opportunity to flee.

“Honestly, what do you have against the bat-ponies? I understand that they’re different, but that’s no reason to be so rude to them.”

“It’s a personal thing.” The humor was gone from his voice as he responded; the levity of the conversation vanished almost instantaneously as Barrier turned back to the door and the two day-guards standing on either side of it.

Octavia fell silent when Barrier turned around; for some reason, she felt bad, despite Barrier clearly being the one in the wrong.

“Barrier, what are you doing here?” The motherly voice of the princess came from behind the pair.

“Y-your majesty!” Octavia bowed respectfully.

“Sup Celestia.” Barrier greeted casually. “The guards said you had business in Ponyville and I decided to wait here for you. Needed to discuss a couple of things, if you’ve a moment.”

“Barrier, bow to the princess!” Octavia hissed from her place on the ground.

“Why? She explicitly told me I didn’t have to months ago.”

“Rise, my little pony.” Celestia giggled slightly. “Tell me Barrier, who is your friend?”

“Ah right. This is Miss Octavia Melody, my current employer.”

“Unwilling employer, mind you. I apologize for my companion’s rudeness, your majesty.”

“It’s fine, Miss Melody. Barrier and I have enough history that he doesn’t have to stand on ceremony with me.” Celestia trotted into her room, Barrier and Octavia following when she motioned for them to do so.

“So, Ponyville huh? How’s Twilight?” At this, the princess frowned slightly.

“She enchanted her doll with a want-it-need-it spell,” Celestia pressed a hoof to her face.

“Yeesh.” That was a fairly serious crime, “What’s the punishment for that these days? Mind-altering magic would cost you your horn back in the day.”

Octavia cringed at the thought; while she didn’t have a horn, she was well-aware that losing it could very well lead to the death of a unicorn; the sudden backlash from the loss of such a connection was the stuff of nightmares for unicorns, or so she had heard.

Celestia cringed as well, frowning. “No, penalties such as that were abolished centuries ago. The worst we have now is banishment from Equestria.” The princess explained. “Twilight, however, won’t face such a punishment for obvious reasons.”

Barrier actually scoffed at the ‘worst punishment’ when the princess said it; Octavia reached over and swatted him once more, causing him to shrink back.

“Damnit mare, those horseshoes hurt.” Barrier whined, much to Octavia’s annoyance; this had the unexpected effect of making her reach over to swat him again.

A light giggle escaping her, the princess spoke once more.“So, Barrier, what is it you wanted to talk to me about?”

Octavia and Barrier both sat upright again.

“Ah, right. First and foremost, Miss Melody here doesn’t believe I’m over a thousand years old. I need you to confirm that for me, if you’d be so kind,” Barrier stopped as the Princess consented.

“As odd as it sounds it is the truth, Miss Melody; Magic Barrier spent a millennium imprisoned in the moon.”

Barrier continued, completely disregarding Octavia’s sudden expression of confusion, followed by disbelief, followed by realization, “And secondly, I’d like you to close out my bank account and donate the funds in it to whichever charity or orphanage needs it most and can do the most good with it.”

“That’s very generous of you, Barrier, but I must ask. Why?”

“Because I’ll never use one-hundred eighty million bits. I’ve got a few hundred-thousand put up at my place of residence at the moment. That will be more than enough until I figure out what to do in this day and age.”

Octavia’s jaw had unhinged itself; while she herself came from a very wealthy family, that was still an impressive amount of money, especially for an uncouth joker such as Magic Barrier; Had the princess not maintained such a straight expression, she’d have thought he was joking.

“If you insist, Barrier, I’ll not turn down the offer. Thank you for your generosity.”

“No problem, princess. Come on Miss Melody, we should be on our way before night falls.” Barrier levitated the mare in his magic and departed, placing her on the ground when they made it to the front gates.

“So when you said that you had seen Pablo Casals play the cello…”

Ow, my knee... [Chapter 12]

Dinner was once again a simple and quiet affair, though a bit late. Octavia seemed to be digesting the newest information dropped on her while Barrier was simply glad for the peace and quiet. Octavia had a LOT of questions regarding the past; specifically, the music and instruments of the time, but a lot of questions nonetheless. Barrier, having been a guard, had very little knowledge on the subject, much to the mare’s irritation.

The pair had left just before the restaurant closed and the sun had nearly completed it’s descent beyond the horizon, leaving them as two of only a handful of ponies that remained on the streets. Much to Barriers dismay, one of those ponies was a pair of pegasus ponies. Normally, he wouldn’t have minded, except they were the same two pegasi that he had seen at the hotel. It wasn’t paranoia if ponies were out to get you, Barrier reasoned to himself. Would they attack in such a public space?

“Octavia, hold.” Barrier held a hoof out, stopping the mare. Guess that answered that; a pair of pegasus ponies and a unicorn blocked off one end of the relatively narrow street; craning his neck around, Barrier noticed that another two unicorns, one of whom was the giant from a few days prior blocked the other path.

Swallowing hard, Barrier turned his back to the building, trying to keep the ponies on either side of him.

“Barrier, what’s going on?” Octavia had a fairly good idea -she wasn’t naive- but confirmation would be nice.

“Shite is about to go down.” Mentally, Barrier analyzed their location and tried to decide where the closest safe-house would be; the Sparkle household was closest, but there were no guards and it likely wouldn’t deter these ponies a second time. Barrier couldn’t see himself putting the couple at risk anyways. That left the castle and a small handful of other places where the guard-presence was heavy, such as bars.

“When I tap my hoof four times, close your eyes as tightly as you can. Be ready to run.” Barrier whispered from the corner of his mouth to Octavia, who had backed up against the wall with him.

“Honestly, five stallions sent to eliminate a single mare. Your parents must be ashamed of you.”

One of the pegasi made a step forward, his face set in a scowl, only for the giant unicorn to hold a hoof out, stopping him.

With a wave of the unicorn's hoof, the five ponies began to carefully trot forward together. As soon as the ponies grew close, Barrier began to carefully tap his hoof on the ground.

One tap, two, three… Octavia slammed her eyes shut as Barrier’s horn erupted into a painfully blinding light that illuminated the entire street.

With a tug, Barrier took off at a dead sprint, all but dragging the mare behind him. A notable metallic scent filled the air, and the five ponies were groaning and rubbing furiously at their eyes as Barrier and Octavia sprinted towards the pair of pegasus ponies and their unicorn compatriot.

“Keep running until you get to the castle! Don’t stop for anypony!” They were approaching the three ponies; with a burst of magic, Barrier shoved one of the pegasus ponies aside, creating a small gap for Octavia to shoot through. Rather than following the mare, Barrier charged headlong into one of the pegasi, burying his horn forehead-deep with a wet thud. The ponies had recovered just in time to watch Barrier flare his horn and jerk out; the smell of charred flesh filled the air.

“After her!” The giant unicorn finally spoke, calling to the remaining pegasus, who took flight.

“Oh no you don’t!” Barrier glanced upward and vanished with a pop, re-appearing above the unfortunate pegasus. The sudden additional weight caused the pegasus to swerve unstably; wasting no time, Barrier brought a hoof crashing down in-between the ponies wings several times in rapid succession. Each time his hoof connected, the pegasus screamed in pain before a wiry snap rang out between the two ponies and the pegasus’ wings fell limply to his sides.

With an ungraceful thud, the two ponies crashed into the ground, the unconscious pegasus on bottom.

Ignoring his bruised and aching body, Barrier rolled upright and back up to the three unicorns who were now advancing on him from all directions, his back to a wall.

Licking his lips in a sadistic manner, Barrier grinned creepily at the three unicorns. “It’s been a long time since I got to kill a pony.” Barrier’s eyes gleamed dangerously as his horn lit up, the gore caked on it glowing as well.

The statement caused one of the unicorns to pause in his approach, only to continue a moment later when his companions ignored the remark.

“Don’t blink!” Barrier called out, accompanied by a flare of his magic. All three unicorns slammed their eyes shut, as Barrier had hoped. The moment they did, the unicorn disappeared in another pop of light, rather than the bright flashbang-like spell they had expected. Rather than using the second of darkness to run, Barrier reasoned it would be better to stop the threat dead in its tracks, and reappeared in front of a particularly unfortunate unicorn. With a swift wave of his horn, Barrier cut his fellow pony’s throat wide open with the sharp tip of his horn. Most unicorns didn’t use their horn in such a manner, what with it being such a vital part of unicorn physiology, but Barrier was one of the few who saw it as an effective weapon in certain situations.

“And that leaves two.” Barrier grinned the sadistic smile once more. The unicorn who had faltered before licked his lips nervously before he turned and sprinted off, leaving Barrier alone with one freak-of-nature unicorn.

“Or one. Don’t suppose I could convince you to give up and turn yourself in can I? I don’t actually like killing if I can help it.”

A slight grin crossed the giant’s face. “I’m afraid that I’m a professional, Mr. Barrier same as you. Just as you refused to back down, so shall I.”

“I’m afraid you have me at a disadvantage mister…?” Barrier mentally ran over how to combat the giant. Unlike the ponies had just slain, the unicorn was clearly a cut above; his body was toned and his eyes sharp. Only now did Barrier note the actual color of the unicorn. The stallion was a deep crimson color with a baby-blue mane. His magenta eyes gazed at Barrier with a sadistic glee, similar to what Barrier had tried to portray moments prior, only his was genuine. The fact that the death of his allies clearly didn’t bother him, meant he had likely seen such things before.

I should’ve killed this one first. Barrier mentally berated himself for such an obvious oversight.

“Iron Hide.” The unicorn started off at a trot after he stated his name; no reason to further delay.

Well that explains the size. Barrier briefly thought back to his long-dead CO and one absolute giant of an earth pony.

Barrier took off at a sprint as well, meeting the unicorn’s charge. As the two approached, Barrier's horn lit up and he vanished with a flash. Unexpectedly, he felt a freight-train catch him in the ribs as he reappeared behind Iron Hide.

With a meaty thud, Barrier crashed into the window of a pony’s house, going clean through the glass.

“I deserved that…” Barrier climbed to his feet wincing. Those were definitely cracked ribs he felt. “Why is it always the ribs?” He muttered as he glanced around the house. It showed clear signs of ponies living in it, though they were nowhere to be found. Hiding, perhaps? Ah well, irrelevant.

“I guess I choreographed that one.” Barrier carefully climbed out of the window. He could feel the adrenaline pumping through him once more as he locked eyes with Iron Hide. With a single teleport, Barrier closed the distance between the two and lashed out with a hoof; he had to end this before the adrenaline wore off and his ribs put him out of commission.

With practiced ease, Iron Hide fell to the side, the hoof missing him by centimeters. In response, he lashed out again at Barrier’s injured side, only for his hoof to be met with the solid surface of a hard-mana shield.

Momentarily caught off guard, the shield bashed Iron Hide in the muzzle, forcing him to take several steps back and press a hoof to his muzzle.

His own horn flaring to life, Iron Hide tried to cast a spell only for the shield to bash him once more the instant his horn lit up.

Barrier was glad; combat-casting had never been a particularly easy art and it wasn’t widely practiced beyond basic defensive spells; most creatures had an innate resistance to magic that made it all but impossible for it to affect them and many never bothered with learning to concentrate and fight hoof-to-hoof at the same time. Lucky for Barrier, this unicorn was no exception. His horn still flush with power, Barrier charged once more, determined to end the fight as soon as possible.

The shield, floating alongside Barrier lashed out at Iron Hide; with a frustrated grunt, the unicorn lashed out at the shield, bashing it with a hoof. His eyes widened as the shield shattered like brittle glass. Reversing the same hoof, he swung it towards the unicorn, only to rear back and yell in pain as dirt released itself from Barrier’s magic, directly into his eyes.

The moment Iron Hide’s eyes shut, Barrier reared onto his hind-legs and latched a hoof onto Iron Hide’s head. With a jerk, he yanked the unicorn's head down and, gripping his horn, lashed out with his second hoof, striking the base of the unicorns horn as fast and hard as he could.

With a sudden blood-curdling yell, Iron Hide felt his horn snap. Shoving his hooves into Barrier’s underside, he reached up with a hoof to feel his horn.

As soon as he felt himself shoved away, Barrier squatted and shoved the now-severed horn of Iron Hide into his knee, driving the sharp bone clean through the joint. With one final scream, Iron Hide collapsed on his side as his knee gave out.

Falling to his haunches, Barrier touched his side gingerly; why was it always the ribs?

“Over here!” A mare’s voice yelled out from around the corner, followed by the sound of many hooves on stone. Octavia, and a half-dozen night-guards all rounded the corner.

“Bloody thestrals…” Barrier murmured angrily as he turned towards Octavia, only to see her eyes wide in horror.

“This isn’t as bad as it looks…” Barrier finally vocalized, only to take in the scene. There were two dead ponies -one whose throat had been torn open, still leaking life-fluids and another with a charred hole in his chest- while the giant of a unicorn was unconscious with his broken horn driven through his knee, and finally, there was the unconscious pegasus.

“Okay, scratch that. It’s exactly as bad as it looks.” Barrier wiped some of the blood from his mane.

***

“Sorry Octavia.” Barrier sighed and rested his chin on the cold floor of the dungeon. He had willingly surrendered to the thestrals until the situation could be sorted out; much to his surprise, Octavia had come to his defense when they cuffed him. In response, the night-guards arrested her as well. For some reason, that had pissed him off and he laid two of the night-guards unconscious before they piled on and subdued him. If he hadn’t been injured, he might have tried to fight back. At least they had bandaged him up and given him a painkillers.

“It’s fine, Barrier.” The mare’s resigned voice responded. She had come to terms with the death surprisingly well, though the gore had clearly unsettled her stomach. “I shouldn’t have lashed out at the guards like I did.”

“Not that I’m complaining, because it means a lot that you’d defend me, but why did you do it?”

“Honestly, I don’t know. Something about seeing them put hoof-cuffs on you bothered me. You fought and killed in self-defense and they were treating you like a criminal. In hindsight, I understand you looked like a criminal, but…” The mare trailed off, uncertain of how to continue.

“Well…thanks. And sorry you had to see that. I hadn’t planned on you coming back with the guard.”

“It was…shocking, but I don’t know what else I expected. I’m not as naive as other ponies, I know ponies die…my father made certain that I wasn’t blind to the world. And besides, it was ultimately my fault you had to do that. They were after me, after all.”

“Hey ‘Tavi” Barrier still had his chin on the floor, his eyes half-lidded as he bordered on falling asleep.

The mare frowned at the shortening of her name, but responded all the same. “Yes Barrier?”

“Wanna go out to lunch when we get out of here? Somewhere nice maybe?”

The mare blushed slightly and glanced over the half-asleep unicorn, her expression softening as she did so. He looked surprisingly peaceful when he was asleep.

“Yes Barrier, that would be lovely.”

The Old Fashioned Way [Chapter 13]

Barrier shot a look of pure hostility at Cadance through the bars, much to Shining Armor’s confusion. As soon as Shining Armor turned to look at Cadance with a questioning glance, Barrier winked subtly at the princess. Much to his pleasure, she adopted a hard expression.

“I don’t want to hear it, Barrier. You could never love Shining Armor like I could. He’s too much stallion for you and you know it.”

“You’re a homewrecker, princess!” Barrier spat back, throwing himself at the bars causing both guards on each side of the cell to jump at the sudden clang. “Shining Armor is mine and always has been! You just wait, I will have him back, Princess.” Barrier turned his gaze to Shining Armor, his expression softening. “Shining, darling, surely you remember all the good times we had? The nights we spent cuddling on your parents couch while we showed your little sister what true love was…”

“You’ll never have him back Barrier. Shining is mine and nothing you do will ever change it!” Cadance stepped in front of Shining Armor, blocking the stallion from view.

“If I can’t have Shining Armor, then neither will you!”

Shining, deciding the best course of action was to ignore the antics of his friend and fiance, levitated a key to the cell-door.

The moment the cell-door opened, Shining was all but tackled by the charcoal unicorn.

“Oh thank you, Shining, I knew you’d choose me over that tramp!” Octavia raised an eyebrow at the curious scene.

“Barrier, get off of me.” Shining’s voice was blunt and deadpan.

Taking a particularly loud breath through his nostrils, Barrier whispered just loudly enough to be heard by all of the dungeon’s occupants.

“You smell nice today.”

“Oh get off of me!” Shining shoved the charcoal unicorn off of him with a huff, causing both Cadance and one of the cell-guards to giggle.

***

“Self-defense or not, this is serious Barrier. You killed two ponies, crippled two others, and assaulted two members of the guard. In the middle of Canterlot no less.” Shining rubbed his forehead with a hoof. “Princess Celestia was livid, Barrier.”

“So, what’s the verdict? Lock me up, throw away the key? Do I publicly apologize for being incapable of fighting five ponies with no fatalities?”

“You know that’s not the problem here Barrier. Equestria has its fair share of deaths, but this is a whole different creature. It was messy and in public. Over fifteen ponies saw you gore a unicorn with your horn.”

With a pronounced sigh, Shining continued.

“You probably won’t see a trial for it. Nearly everypony wants this to go away it seems, not that I can blame them too much. The princesses have both agreed that it was self-defense, but Celestia wanted you watched and followed. Lucky for you, something happened to change her mind. Your dungeon-fees have already been paid, and you’ve been given …you’re both free to leave at any time.”

“Not that I’m complaining, but who paid our fees?”

“A mister…” Shining glanced down at the papers on his desk and leafed through them briefly. “Clavier Melody.”

A sour expression flashed across Octavia’s face, while Barrier simply nodded in understanding.

“Well, I guess that explains why I’m not catching ten tiers of flak for this whole incident.” With a heave, Barrier climbed out of the chair. “I suppose we’ll let you get back to the grind, Shining.” Glancing over at Cadance, who had been in the room with them, albeit completely silent, he tilted his head in respect. “Princess.”

“I suppose I owe my father an apology.” Octavia commented as the two of them meandered through the castle corridors. “I can’t believe I was so foolish as to bel-” Octavia fell silent in favor of bowing.

“Princess Luna.” Barrier’s tone caused the Princess of the Night to take a few steps back, and her two accompanying night-guards to take two steps forward, in front of the mare.

“Magic Barrier, we-”

“Don’t.” Barrier cut her off with a hoof. “There isn’t anything to be said between us.” Though Barrier knew that statement to be a lie, he simply didn’t want to speak with the mare.

One of the night guards took a step towards him, raising a hoof, only for Barrier’s gaze to turn on the thestral, freezing him in his tracks.

“Step off foal, I’ve already killed two ponies this week, no need to make it a third.”

“If thou chooses to be hostile towards us, we understand Barrier. You have that right, but it will not extend to my guards.” Princess Luna had stepped forward as Barrier made the threat..

“Or what, you’ll threaten to plunge the world into an ice-age again?” Barrier’s hard gaze met that of the princess who visibly shrunk back, hurt at the comment.

“You’ll order the thestrals to attack mares and foals in favor of splitting your sisters attention again?” Barrier didn’t move from his spot, and Luna cringed back even further, her bravado leaving her almost immediately as her eyes began to moisten up ever-so-slightly.

Silence reigned for all of ten seconds before a resounding smack shattered it. Octavia had smacked the ever-living tar out of the unicorn, much to the guards and princess’s surprise.

Rubbing his cheek slightly, Barrier turned to the mare; the bitch had just knocked a tooth loose.

“How dare you speak to the princess that way!” The mare began almost immediately, giving the unicorn no time to react. “I understand now that there is some bad blood between the two of you, but that gives you no right to act that way! She clearly suffered as much, if not more, than you!” the mare proceeded to smack the unicorn again and continue to berate him for several long minutes.

“No matter how you feel, she is still a pony, same as you and I!”

There wasn’t a sound to be heard; neither the guards, the princess, nor Barrier could say or do anything beyond watch Octavia catch her breath and glare at the unicorn.

“Now, what do you have to say for yourself, Magic Barrier?” She was akin to a mother lecturing a child in tone.

With a deep breath, he met eyes with the seemingly dumbstruck princess of the night.

“Miss Melody is right, I was out of line, Princess. I went too far in my anger and I apologize.” Even in Barrier’s mind, he knew he had said too much. He couldn’t help it; everytime he looked at the princess of the night, all he could do was think about what he lost and what he’d never have again.

“I apologize for his behaviour as well, Princess. He’s had a very stressful last couple of days.” Octavia seemed to have calmed down and bowed once more to the princess.

“No apology necessary, Sir Barrier.” The night princess finally found her voice, though she still sounded quite nervous. “We are well aware that you lost that which was most precious to you due to our mistakes. For what it's worth, know that we blame ourselves. Our past haunts us every day and I’ve no doubt that it shall continue to do so for the rest of our lives.”

Barrier didn’t respond to the princess, instead turning to Octavia.

“We should go before it gets too dark. I believe I still owe you a dinner-date, Miss Melody.”

“O-of course.” Octavia blushed slightly at the sudden shift in subject and tone, and bowed a final time to the princess before she trotted after her unicorn companion.

“Well, that was unexpected.” Shining commented to his fiance after Barrier and Octavia had departed. “Honey?” Shining noticed that the mare’s attention seemed to be focused entirely on the departing ponies.

The princess of love had a sly grin on her muzzle, her eyes glimmering slightly. Shining knew that look all too well and could only face-hoof in response.

***

“Thank you for that, Octavia.” The pair had just left the castle. “I was out of line and…not in the right mind.”

“Um, sure. Uh, sorry I smacked you back there. I didn’t intend to lose my temper, it just sort of happened.” The mare chuckled sheepishly.

“Eh, I needed it. So, dinner, do you want to eat out or do you want me to cook us something back at Night Light’s place?”

Octavia snorted slightly at the question.

“Honestly, inviting me to your…” Octavia fell silent for a moment. “I don’t believe you ever specified your relation to the Sparkle family.

“I’m Night Light’s great grandfather times…well, a lot. Same for Shining Armor.”

“...that will never stop being mind-numbing will it?”

“Probably not, no. Hell, it still confuses me. Physically, Night Light is like...twenty-five years older than me. In any case, dinner.” Barrier’s stomach grumbled at the statement, as did the mare’s, much to her embarrassment. “Night Light and his wife are visiting Twilight in Ponyville for the weekend, so how about I cook us something?”

“Going to serve me field rations, are you?” the mare smirked as they trotted towards their temporary place of residence.

“Hay no, I’ve got a brick of dirt in the fridge with your name on it.”

The mare giggled slightly but didn’t respond.

“So...two more days until the Grand Galloping Gala. I know you missed practice yesterday, but do you think you’ll be ready?”

“Mm, I’ve no doubt my ensemble will not be particularly pleased with my absence, but I’m certain we’ll manage. I suppose we’ll probably go our separate ways by the time the grand-galloping gala rolls around.” The mares voice trailed off towards and the rest of the trip was spent in silence for both ponies.

***

Barrier found himself staring at the oven, a frown adorning his face. At least, he was fairly certain it was an oven. It was a far-cry from the rock ovens he had grown up with and he wasn’t entirely sure how this thing worked. Glancing at the ingredients he had dug out of the fridge and then back to the oven, he pressed a hoof to his face. Glancing out of the kitchen window at the backyard for a brief moment, Barrier trotted out the front door and looked around the slowly-darkening neighborhood suspiciously. With a flare of magic and a grunt, several moderate sized stones ripped themselves out of the neatly-paved streets. The stones held in his magic, Barrier trotted through the house, stopping to grab several logs from the fireplace in his magic, and out into the backyard. With fifteen minutes of precision magic, Barrier had a makeshift rock-oven built in the backyard and a fire sparking up underneath it. Within another thirty minutes, during which the sun completely disappeared beyond the horizon, he had portobello mushrooms stuffed with onions, various cheeses and garlic. With a quick smear of butter on the exterior of the mushrooms, he found himself sealing them inside of his makeshift oven just as Octavia trotted out back.

The mare could only scrunch her eyebrow and stare speechlessly at the rudimentary rock oven.

“Couldn’t figure out the oven in the house.” Barrier explained as he trotted past the mare. “Dinner will be ready in like…twenty minutes, though.”

Octavia only continued to stare at the dimly glowing rock-oven. With a silent facehoof, she shook her head and trotted after the stallion who was now sitting at the kitchen table, a glass of water in hoof.

“Where did you get the stone for that oven?” Octavia finally asked, finding the words that had escaped her before. “The street. It’s surprisingly good stone, believe it or not.”

Pressing a hoof to her face, the mare shook the absurd statement from her head; it wouldn’t pay for her to question it.

“So, where did you learn to cook? I didn’t think they taught culinary in the guard.”

“A pony in my squad taught me the basics when we were out in the field. Had to get creative. All we had in the field back then were bars of condensed hay and mineral blocks. Those things were disgusting, but they kept you going I guess. Anyways, Flash Sentry was the squad’s field-chef. He taught us the basics and I just sorta built off of that. I wouldn’t cook for a living, but I could live comfortably in the wild.”

Octavia raised an eyebrow. “Flash Sentry? The same guard we met outside the castle the other day?”

“Yeah. Well, his great-grandfather, I’m fairly positive. Guy is almost a carbon-copy of him, minus the cutie mark. Wonder if this era’s Flash Sentry has a freakish amount of kids…” A sad smile found its way onto Barrier’s face, lapsing into memory as he occasionally did.

***

“You’re a rabbit. That’s the only feasible explanation. You and your wife are secretly rabbits.” Barrier declared from his place in the hospital waiting room.

“Oh shush, Barrier. We just really want a big family is all.” The pegasus huffed and rested his chin on a hoof.

“I’m not loaning you anymore bits, and I can’t give you another raise for like...seven or eight months.” Barrier also had his chin resting on a hoof.

“It was one time! You loaned me bits one time!”

“No, I loaned you forty-five thousand bits as a down-payment on your house one time. You still owe me most of it that, by the way.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know. I’m good for it, don’t worry.” Flash fell silent for a moment. “So, Fleetfeather and I were talking about the godparents…” Flash glanced over at his unicorn friend. “We wanted you to be the godfather, if you’d be willing.”

***

Barrier snapped back into reality with Octavia’s face only centimeters from his, a marker held firmly in her mouth and her eyes wide as Barrier’s eyes came back into focus. A slight blush showing through her coat, she pulled back and cleared her throat lightly, setting the marker on the table, a slight snicker escaping her.

“Mature Octavia, very mature.” Barrier commented dryly as he created a reflective plate of magic and took stock of his face. He had a particularly impressive marker-monocle with a half-finished mustache.

“It’s not my fault you zone out like that. You were practically begging for it.” She somehow managed to sound dignified while biting back her chuckles.

“If this marker is permanent, I’ll eat you.”

Octavia’s eyes widened and a blush spread across her cheeks while Barrier slammed his face into a hoof.

“That sounded a lot better in my head.” He glanced at the blushing mare intensely as a sly grin wormed it’s way onto his face. “Though I suppose there are far worse things to eat in that regard.”

“How dare you!” Octavia’s face was redder than a tomato -a rather impressive feat, given her grey coat- as she sat upright and bolted towards the unicorn, a hoof raised threateningly as Barrier bolted out the back door.

A Ludicrous Assumption [Chapter 14]

Dinner was a surprisingly vocal affair for the pair; over the past two weeks they had spent together, they hadn’t really talked until the last handful of days, and even then it had been mostly business between the two, just with noticeably less hostility.

“Manehattan University?” Barrier hadn’t been familiar with the different tiers of education in present-day; most ponies in his time had only went through four to six years of primary before they went to work and learned a trade by hoof. “Apologies, I’m still trying to wrap my head around going to school for more than ten years.”

“Well, how long was school one-thousand years ago?”

“Ponies had four years of primary and then you would apprentice under somepony to learn a trade for another year or two. We didn’t have any schooling beyond that, with the exception of a few personal tutors for nobles and the guard academy for enlisted ponies.”

“I see. Well, present-day, ponies have primary school which ranged eight to ten years, and then a large number of ponies will proceed to further schooling in the form of colleges and universities. I myself studied music at Manehattan U for six years after primary school.”

“Ten years of school…that sounds awful.” Barrier shuddered at the thought of spending that much time in a classroom studying the same subject.

“It wasn’t too terrible. A little tedious I suppose, but the subject matter was enjoyable, so that certainly helped. So, what about you? You said that you went to the guard academy which was akin to a college from this era. What did you study?”

“Well, it may be different today but the guard academy wasn’t a school as you know it. We learned how to…well, we learned how to guard. It was mostly just defensive,”and offensive, Barrier thought to himself, “measures and the associated protocol. Some guards were pulled aside to specific units and occasionally given a specialty. I suppose my specialties would fall under hoof-to-hoof and magical combat.” As well as assassination and espionage. “That was about the extent of it as far as I know.”

“I see. So, a few days ago you mentioned that being a bodyguard was a one-time thing. What will you do next, now that you’ve signed away the vast majority of your money?”

I plan on killing a princess, not sure where I’ll go after that. Barrier mentally noted to himself, though his heart was even less into the thought of regicide after the incident with Luna earlier in that day. “Not sure, really. Honestly, the only reason I agreed to this was because I needed a favor from your father. Until a few days ago, I honestly regretted taking it, because holy mother of Tartarus you were insufferable. But, once we agreed to tolerate each other…well, you’re a good pony and I’m honored to have met you.”

Octavia smiled slightly as Barrier’s statement came to a close. “Yes, I’m afraid I was taking my frustrations out on you when you were no happier with the situation than I was. Again, I apologize for that.”

“Eh, don’t worry about it. We both made some mistakes when dealing with each other, we’re past them at this point.” Neither of them brought up that in two days they would go their separate ways. Barrier would have been elated had he known that four days ago, but now that he was getting to know the mare underneath the anger, he found himself slightly saddened by the prospect. He couldn’t help but wonder whether the mare felt the same.

“Thank you for dinner, Magic Barrier.” Octavia smiled softly and stood up. “Surprisingly, it was quite good. Certainly not the gruel I had expected of you. I suppose we should turn in for the night, so that we can get up for practice tomorrow.”

Barrier snapped out of the newly-discovered depressing thought and nodded, levitating their dishes into the sink and making a mental note to remove the rock oven the following day. “Good night Octavia.” Barrier watched as the mare turned and trotted up the stairs, his eyes lingering on her backside for a brief moment. He couldn’t help but bite his bottom lip slightly as he followed her up the stairs.

***

“S’too early. Gimme like….another hour.” Barrier pulled the blankets up over his head and curled up into a ball.

“So help me Celestia, Magic Barrier, if you make me late for practice after my absence yesterday I will beat you.” The charcoal mare took the blanket in her teeth and yanked it off of the unicorn, exposing him to the cool morning air.

“You’re a really cruel mistress ‘Tavi.” Barrier yawned and sat on his haunches in bed, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

“Oh, you love it.” The mare shot back, glancing at her sleeping companion before blushing and turning to the door rapidly. “Honestly, have you no shame!” The mare trotted to the door and slammed the door shut. “I leave in ten minutes, with or without you!”

“Yes master, please don’t abandon me, master!” Barrier called out as he looked himself over, trying to figure out what caused the mare’s sudden shift in tone. With a chuckle, he realized he had been saluting the mare from the time the covers were yanked off of him.

“You’re the one who pulled the covers off of me. And besides, it’s a perfectly natural reaction for a stallion my age.” Barrier chuckled slightly as the two of them trotted through the city, the sun only barely beginning to rise.

“For the last time, Barrier, drop it.” Octavia was once again redder than a tomato, and her voice was reduced to little more than a squeak.

“Fine, fine.” Barrier chuckled again as the two of them entered the familiar building, complete with it’s painfully extravagant decor.

“Come along, Barrier, today is the last day of practice before the Grand Galloping Gala.” The mare trotted through the lobby, followed by her unicorn companion.

As with the practices before, the ensemble went for nearly ten hours, with the closest thing to a break being them discussing the finer points of the performance. Barrier could appreciate good music, but ten straight hours of music, broken only by the occasional bathroom break, tended to suck most of the joy out of a day.

“So, you’re Magic Barrier.”

Barrier turned the knob of the sink, cutting the flow of water. “Really? We meet in the bathroom?” Barrier turned to greet the pianist of the ensemble before sighing and acknowledging the statement. “Yes, I’m Magic Barrier, how can I help you?”

“I was wondering what your intentions with Octavia are.” Well that was straight-to-the-point. “Octavia is a dear friend to myself and the ensemble and we want to ensure she’ll not be hurt.”

Barrier could only raise an eyebrow. “I have no intentions with Miss Melody. She’s a client and acquaintance, nothing more and nothing less. What gave you the impression it was anything more than that?”

“She missed practice yesterday in favor of spending time with you in a jail-cell.” The pianists deadpan delivery made Barrier chuckle slightly.

“Yeah, that was a bout of bad luck, not really anything beyond that.”

“With all due respect, Mr. Barrier, a ‘bout of bad luck’ doesn’t end with a night in jail for our cellist. She’s a very punctual pony. Might I request details as to what happened?”

“Haha, nope.” Barrier stated in a deadpan manner. “So much nope. You want to know, you’ll have to ask Octavia. If I tell you, she might very well hit me again.”

“...she does have a strong right hoof.” The pianist noted with a nod. “Very well, thank you for the chat, Mr. Barrier. It has been enlightening.”

“Sure thing...uh pianist.” Barrier commented as the pony departed the bathroom. “Huh, well that happened.” Barrier returned to his seat in the auditorium, his horn flaring slightly as he checked his sentry-spells and plopped down into the soft chair. Thank the gods this was the last day of practice; he might very well take up knitting or something if it were to continue.

As the final hour slipped by, Barrier once more found himself chatting amiably with Octavia, the pair discussing what they should do for dinner. They ultimately decided on the same small cafe where Barrier had finally snapped at her.

“Perhaps we’ll actually get to eat dinner this time, hm?” Octavia teased slightly.

“I don’t know, I think we should make it a tradition. Me blowing up at you should become a regular thing. I rather like the idea myself…”

The mare frowned and stared at her companion. “The only reason I let you get away with that was because I deserved it. I trust you enough to not embarrass me in public like that again.”

Barrier chuckled at the menacing tone the mare’s voice had taken. “What’s in it for me? The day after tomorrow, I’ll be free to harass you however I please, you know.”

“So help me Barrier, I know where you sleep.” The mare hissed as they continued to trot through the streets of Canterlot, the light rapidly fading to give way to the night sky.

Barrier adopted the same mischievous grin as he had the day prior and opened his mouth to make a retort only for the mare to cut him off with a swat to the head.

“Not a word, Magic Barrier.”

“You’re no fun.” Barrier ruefully rubbed the back of his head as the two trotted up to the door of the cafe.

Dinner was a short but amusing affair; once more, the pair of them ordered a simple salad, Octavia for her own reasons, and Barrier because it was the only thing on the menu he recognized the name of.

“So as I was saying…” the mare trailed as Barrier’s gaze drifted off to the side, her gaze following his.

A thin piece of lettuce found itself on the mare’s nose the moment she took her eyes off of her companion, much to her irritation.

“Honestly, you’re like a big foal.” A facehoof, followed by a groan and the removal of the lettuce.

“Would you have me any other way?”

“Yes. I can literally think of a half-dozen different ways I would prefer you.”

“...are any of them bound, gagged, and on the bedroom floor?” Barrier grinned slightly.

The mare opened her mouth to respond, but nothing came out; all she could do was stare blankly as her brain rebooted.

“You know, you’re kind of cute when your brain shuts down like that.” Several of the cafe’s patrons were staring in slight amusement.

“I hate you.”

“You really do say the sweetest things sometimes.” Barrier began to pick at his salad, the fork levitating in his magic.

“I hate you.” The mare reiterated, also returning to her salad.

“So, two more days until your performance at the gala. Nervous?”

“Not terribly so. My ensemble and I are the best at what we do and we’re given a free-day before the gala to collect ourselves. We are more than capable of performing at a function such as the gala and I’ve no doubt that we’ll do splendidly.”

“Well, you’ve no lack of confidence.” Barrier chuckled slightly. “You know, your pianist asked me some questions earlier, towards the end of your practice.”

“Ah yes, they were asking why I had missed practice. What did you tell him?”

“I told him that if he wanted to know they could ask you. He asked why we spent the night in jail. I didn’t think you’d want me to tell him it was for murder, so I kept silent. Why, what did you tell him?”

“I told him that it was a personal issue and that it wasn’t anything he or the ensemble should worry about. He didn’t press, so I didn’t elaborate any further.”

Silence reigned for a brief period as the two of them mopped up their salads, Barrier breaking it as he pushed his now-empty plate away.

“I think your pianist thought I was courting you also.”

The mare choked slightly on her last bite of salad. Clearing her throat, she posed the question, “And pray tell, why did he believe that?”

“Hay if I know. He just asked me what my intentions were.” Barrier chewed the question over for a moment before adding, “I guess it makes sense, if you think about it. I’m hot, you’re hot, hot ponies date each other.” A brief chuckle, followed by Octavia blushing awkwardly before he added, “In all seriousness though, I accompanied you to and from practice for like a half-a-month. We arrived and departed together. It’s fair that they would think we’re seeing each other.” The pair paid their bill and stepped out into the chilly night air of Canterlot before Octavia finally replied.

“What a ludicrous assumption on their behalf.” The mare didn’t seem to speak with the same intensity Barrier had expected.

“Yeah, a ludicrous assumption indeed.” Barrier chuckled humorlessly. Why did that statement leave him feeling sad?

Confusing [Chapter 15]