Six days had passed since Vanhoover had finished celebrating the coming of the new year. Swift had returned to her home in the manor while Minty had gone back to Canterlot. Things seemed to be going well for the household until one particular morning, Barrier found himself awaking nearly an hour before he’d intended.
The umbra unicorn tried to return to the peace of slumber, but all his efforts had failed. With a sigh and disinterested in reading one of his books, he pulled himself from the comfort of his bed and headed out into the city.
Despite having lived in Vanhoover for several months now, Barrier found that he was still unfamiliar with a vast portion of the sprawling coastal city. To try to rectify that and occupy his time, he set off into the dark city for a pleasant early morning walk.
***
A faint snow was falling in the twilight as Barrier quietly arrived at the manor’s front steps. The charcoal stallion lightly brushed some snow from his coat as he gently nosed his way inside.
At the breakfast table, he caught the sight of his housemates all enjoying a breakfast of scrambled eggs and toast while Wind Whistler was finishing off a glass of orange juice.
As Barrier drew closer, the pegasus filly gave Barrier a warm smile. “Hi, Uncle!” she excitedly said from her seat just before he teleported over to the one unoccupied chair.
“Good morning, everypony,” Barrier said as he sat down, seeing that whoever had cooked breakfast had made sure to prepare a plate of food and coffee for him. “How’re things going on your end?”
He received a collection of responses that amounted to “Same old, same old” before Windy stood up in her seat.
“Uncle, there’s something I’d like to ask you,” she said as she reached into her school saddlebags.
“And what would that be?” Barrier’s right eyebrow rose as she pulled a few papers from her bags.
“My class is going to have a field trip to a museum in Canterlot next Friday,” she said as Barrier picked up the forms in his magic. “We could use some chaperones to go with us, but everypony here’s gonna be busy with work. Could you help chaperone for us?”
Barrier hummed as he brought a hoof to his chin and quickly read over the papers. He saw that Fleet had already given the filly permission to go on the trip and there was a cheque attached to pay for it.
“I don’t see why not,” Barrier replied with a shrug as he floated the papers back to Windy, making the filly grin widely. Besides, I still haven’t gotten word from Pink Devil II about the job at the community center yet, so it should be a good way to kill time.
“Thanks, Uncle!” Windy joyfully said as she pulled one other form from her bags. “I just need you to sign this and I’ll give it to Ms. Schoolbag.”
Barrier picked up the form and quickly looked it over. Everything seemed to be in order, so in a flash, he’d vanished from the kitchen and reappeared in the study, where he pulled a pen from one of the drawers to quickly write down his name.
In a second flash, Barrier had reappeared in the kitchen and returned the paper to Windy. “Here you go, Kiddo.”
“Thanks, Uncle!” Windy said before she stuffed the paper away and jumped down from her seat to rush over and give the unicorn a hug. After a rather brief hug, she pulled away and darted for the front door. “Bye, everypony! I’m off to school!”
The household all gave Windy warm goodbyes before they too went about their daily routines.
***
When the day’s mail arrived, one of the letters Barrier had received was from Heavy Weight.
Opening the envelope, Barrier found that the message was written in a glittering pink ink, much to his annoyance.
Hey there, Barrier! I’ve got some good news!
All your background stuff finally went through and now you’re all set to start teaching your self-defense course starting on Monday the 21st. I’ll leave forming the lesson plans to you. I’ve already taken care of all the other paperwork you’d need, including the liability, advertising, signing some ponies up and stuff. Plus, I’ve included a copy of your schedule, so you’ll know just when to do stuff.
I just know you’ll do a great job with this.
Love, Heavy Weight.
Barrier let out a sigh of annoyance as he headed back towards the house. “Did she seriously need to make it that the dots on her I’s were little hearts?”
Soon he’d made his way to the living room, where Daring was writing down some notes as she sat back in a lounge chair.
“Hey there, Barrier,” Daring began as she looked up from her notes. “Looking forward to the museum trip?”
“Well, I will so long as the kids are well behaved,” the onyx unicorn replied as he trotted over to the couch.
“If it helps, there’s gonna be some really cool stuff there,” Daring said as she set her quill behind her right ear. “I found out earlier that they’ve recently got some neat Neighponese artifacts, including Kazemaru, the famed sword of the Ran ninja clan, made famous when it was used by Ran Saki in a legendary battle against Dokuro Dayu.”
“Oh?” Barrier’s ears perked up. “Y’know, I knew Ran Saki back in my time. She was my first love, before I met Ember.”
“Really?” Daring’s eyebrow rose, skepticism clear on her face.
“It’s true. My father hired her to train me before I joined the guard.” Barrier sat down on the couch across from her and pulled his flask from his saddlebags. “Not only did she give me my flask, but part of me’s thinking that this ‘Kazemaru’ is the sword I gave her as a parting gift.”
“Oh, come on, Barrier!” Daring said with a roll of her eyes that turned into a light glare. “I can buy a lot of the historical connections you and others here have told me about, including Verdant’s connections to Minty the Third and Mirror Shine, but I seriously doubt you knew one of Neighpon’s most historic ninja and even gave her her famed sword.”
A sly smirk then crossed Barrier’s face. “Tell me, does her sword have a sixty centimeter blade, an etching of two six pointed stars on the collar, and a hidden screw-on compartment at the bottom of the handle?”
A look of stunned shock graced Daring’s face as she looked to the stallion across from her. Silence hung in the air for a prolonged period until she found her voice once more. “...There’s a hidden compartment in the handle?”
“I should know. I’m the one that commissioned and paid for it,” Barrier replied with a hint of smugness in his voice as Daring slowly rose from her seat.
“If you’ll excuse me, I need to send an urgent letter.” No sooner had Daring finished speaking before she gave a hard flap of her wings and flew upstairs, drawing a chuckle from Barrier.
***
The day had come for the large museum trip and save for having to put up with his usual troubles on trains, things were going alright for Barrier. The group was composed of Windy’s class, a collection of other parents Barrier had made a pointed effort to avoid bothering and Ms. Schoolbag who was at the front of their group leading the way.
The gathering of ponies had soon made their way to the museum’s front entrance, where upon the front steps was the instantly recognizable green coat and blue mane of Dusty Tome.
“Good morning, Everypony. Welcome to the Canterlot Museum of Equestrian History!” The older mare warmly said as she addressed the crowd. “My name is Dusty Tome and I’ll be guiding you through the museum today while providing some interesting historical facts for you.”
“I suggest you all take notes, class,” Schoolbag said as she stepped up to Dusty’s side. “There will be a test next week to see what you learned.”
A collection of childish groans came from the foals as Dusty started to lead them into the building.
“I can’t wait to show you guys Grimhilde’s skull!” Wind Whistler enthusiastically said. “She was this evil griffin that Uncle Barrier and my dad fought long ago.” The little filly’s words made Dusty’s ears stand on end before she faced the crowd.
“Oh, I’m sorry dear, but the skull of Grimhilde was stolen some time ago,” Dusty glumly said, making many of the foals groan and Barrier flinch. “Still, we do have plenty of other neat things I’m sure you’ll like.”
“Excuse me, Dusty,” Barrier spoke up, stepping ahead of the crowd of foals. “Might I ask when the skull was stolen?”
“Well, it was the darndest thing. It happened during the chaos back when Discord broke free.” The mare’s words made a pit form in Barrier’s stomach. “The glass shards seemed to go outward, but considering that my toilet suddenly turned into fly paper, we think that may just be a strange quirk of what was happening at the time.”
“I see.” Though he put forth a calm front, the unicorn couldn’t help but be worried. That was the day I’d have swore I saw her on the train… Did Discord raise her from the dead? … Can he do that? But, what about when I thought I saw her during that storm? Was that just a trick of the light?
“Well, children, at least Miss Tome will be able to show us a sword that was used by a legendary ninja in many great battles,” Ms. Schoolbag tried to assure the crowd of foals, only for Dusty Tome to cough into a hoof.
“Actually, thanks to a letter we received by one of our experts, Ran Saki’s sword, Kazemaru, had to be reexamined due to a recent discovery. Sadly, this means it won’t be available today.”
Another collection of groans came not just from the foals, but several of the parents.
“However, we do have several other items donated by the Ran clan, including the twin wakizashi that were used by Ran Saki’s daughter, Ran Yoru.” Dusty was rather grateful that her latest statement managed to cheer some of the visitors up.
“Now, shall we get started with the tour?” she asked as she gave a warm smile.
***
After a long examination of the ninja weapons and equipment, the next stop on the tour of the museum was to a selection of portraits that depicted historic moments in Equestria history.
While Barrier ignored some paintings that were even older than he was, his attention was captivated by a portrait that depicted Princess Celestia shaking her hoof with a golden coated griffin hen donning a crown. Behind the regal hen was a second one with a black coat and striking blue eyes. However, the thing that caught Barrier off guard was the fact the dark coated hen’s tuft of tail fur was two shades of blue, much like his own.
“And here we have a portrait depicting Princess Celestia offering her hoof in peace with Queen Farica Imperator shortly after the signing of the Pony-Griffin Concordat, which made Equestria and The Griffin Kingdom official allies. Also depicted in this painting is Ambassador Varia LeGrande.” Dusty said as several ponies stared at the work of art.
“Miss Tome, was Varia LeGrande related to Grimhilde LeGrande?” Windy asked, her foreleg outstretched.
“Yes, she was,” Dusty replied. “It’s rather surprising to many that the hen that helped to make our two kingdoms allies was the daughter of the Butcher of Gallopfrey.”
“Excuse me, Miss Tome, but could you tell me why Varia LeGrande has such an oddly colored tail?” Barrier asked as he slowly drew closer to the portrait.
“Ah. Very good question, Mr. Barrier,” Dusty said as she gestured towards the tail in question. “Once things started to become more prosperous in the Griffin Kingdom after the war, something that became a fashion trend with griffin hens for a while was dyeing the tips of their tails like this. If you look closer, you may see that there’s a red streak in Queen Farica’s tail.”
Turning to the image of the crown-wearing griffin, Barrier then noticed the red streak on her tail that contrasted against her white and golden fur.
“Tell me, who was Varia’s father?” Barrier turned his attention back to the dark coated griffin, still getting an unshakably odd feeling from her image.
“Sadly, the identity of Varia’s true father is currently unknown,” Dusty Tome Answered. “A common theory among historians is that Varia’s father was King Alarick due to how close Grimhilde was to the king and how many illegitimate children he had sired. It’s believed that nearly ten percent of griffins today are descended from King Alarick.”
“I see.” Despite his words, the old stallion still couldn’t shake the strange sense of unease the image of Varia brought him. Is it because she looks so much like her mother…?
After a few more minutes, the tour had moved on to an exhibit Barrier had previously visited, a display depicting a fight between the pony and griffin forces. The charcoal unicorn’s unease grew somewhat as he saw the mannequin of Grimhilde. It may have been his imagination, but it somehow seemed more frighteningly lifelike than before.
“And here, we see a display depicting a hypothetical battle between pony and griffin forces from approximately a thousand years ago. Some of those depicted were some of the most important soldiers of the era, such as Brigadier Grimhilde LeGrande and—”
“Daddy?” Though Wind Whistler’s words were quiet, it seemed to drown out all other sound in the room as she slowly made her way towards the model of her father. The eyes of everypony were locked on her.
“It… It looks so real… But it’s not…” The sadness in voice was clear as a bell before she quickly turned around and ran towards Barrier, grabbing his foreleg before she silently started to cry.
“It’s okay, Wind Whistler,” Barrier whispered softly as he kneeled down and stroked the filly’s back. “I’m here for you.” He then shot a glance up to the crowd of ponies. “If you’ll excuse us.”
The crowd gave him a quiet nod as he gently guided Wind Whistler a little further away from the group. Barrier could faintly hear Dusty starting to explain some of the display once more, but paid it no attention as he focused exclusively on Wind Whistler.
Soon enough, the tears stopped and she pulled away from Barrier with a sniffle. “Thanks, Uncle Barrier.” Her eyes were bloodshot and Barrier could see some of the lingering sadness behind them.
“Are you okay, Windy?” he asked as he kneeled down to face her directly once more.
“I think I will be in a bit… It’s just weird to see that statue of Daddy after so long and… I still miss him.”
“It’s okay dear, I miss him too,” Barrier quietly said as he pulled her into a hug. “He was my best friend and he still means a great deal to me.”
After a moment of silence, Windy spoke up as she looked up to Barrier. “Uncle, I think I’m ready to continue the tour.”
Barrier gave the filly a soft nod as they started to turn back towards the group, Windy keeping her eyes firmly locked on the floor in front of her while Barrier looked ahead.
It was then, while the rest of the tour was focused on the displays that Barrier saw something that made his blood run cold.
At the far end of the hallway, running across it was the clear and towering form of a black-coated, muscular griffin hen.
“Windy, stay with the group…” Barrier quietly said before his face contorted into a vicious sneer. Igniting his horn, the stallion vanished from Wind Whistler’s side and reappeared at the end of the hallway, where he spotted Grimhilde’s form turning a corner into another corridor.
You’re not getting away from me this time! His mind roared as he charged after her, skidding to turn the corner.
To his shock and horror, the hallway he’d entered was empty, save for an assortment of stone statues that lined it.
No, no, no! How does this keep happening?! Barrier managed to keep himself from snarling as he cautiously made his way through the corridor, carefully examining the stone statues.
Starscream… Charlatan… Porcina… Tirek… some Raptorians… Is this some sort of hall of villains or something? He thought to himself as he assessed the statues, coming to halt as he stopped at the statue of a unicorn mare he didn’t recognize. Wait, why doesn’t this statue have a name plate beside it?
Barrier was pulled from his thoughts as he heard a set of footsteps approaching from the left corner ahead of him. Acting quickly, he rushed down the corridor to find the source.
When he rounded the corner, he found himself face to face not with the griffin of his nightmares, but another face that was, while to a lesser extent, still quite irritating to him. “Starshine.”
The golden coated mare was rather taken aback by the obsidian unicorn who’d suddenly appeared in front of her.
“What the— Barrier? What are you doing here?” She asked in confusion as she took a step back from him.
“I was one of the chaperones for a class field trip when I thought I spotted something,” Barrier bluntly replied. “May I ask what you’re doing here?”
“I knew about the field trip and was hoping to surprise my daughter by stopping by during my lunch break,” she replied, now obviously irritated. “Now, could you please guide me to the tour?”
“Sure,” Barrier replied before slowly starting to make his way back to the tour with Starshine in tow.
Why? Why does this keep happening? Why do I keep seeing the damn griffin!? Barrier silently fumed behind a calm expression as he tried to figure out what was going on.
“Mom-Two!” He paid little mind as High Stakes ran up to Starshine and the two shared a hug.
“Uncle?” The soft, concerned voice of Wind Whistler snapped Barrier from his thoughts.
“Sorry about that, Windy. I thought I saw something… I guess I was wrong.” Barrier leaned down and gave Windy a nuzzle. “Ready to continue the tour?”
“I think so,” the filly said unsurely. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
“I’m sure,” Barrier offered her a reassuring smile. At least… I hope so…