A Pony Displaced: Homeward

by NoLongerSober


Chapter 04 - Lunch & Lamentations

Barrier grumbled angrily to himself as he was forced to sit the bags down in order to open the door. “I’m back,” he called into his shared room before taking the bags in his mouth once more.

“And that’s why we don’t—”

Barrier didn’t get to hear the rest of the statement from Daring, courtesy of the small ball of fluff that had latched herself to his head.

“Hello, Wind Whistler,” Barrier mumbled through the fluff and bags, glad that his smile was concealed.

“Tis…” Wind Whistler frowned as she corrected herself. “I mean, it’s good to see you again, Uncle Barrier.”

Barrier continued forward several steps before dropping his bags and tugging Wind Whistler free with a hoof. “And you, little one.” The unicorn deposited her on his withers and turned to face the others.

“About time you got back,” The mare mirrored a smile shared by everypony else in the room. “Perfect timing as well. I was just about to call a break, so that this stuff hopefully sinks in and sticks.”

“Likely they’ll commit to memory…” Barrier gazed over his cadets, his eyes resting on Hat Trick briefly. “Well, most of them anyways.”

Hat Trick scoffed when he realized what Barrier had implied, though the faintest smile crossed his features.

“I picked up some comics and liquor. An acquaintance suggested the comics would be useful for teaching the cadets to read.” Barrier fished the comics in question out of their bag.

“Good call on his part,” Daring said satisfactorily and began to sort through them.

“I seem to recall Sir Spike making mention of these comics books. May I ask which ones tho— you purchased, sir?” Swiftsword asked through a raised eyebrow.

“I’m honestly not certain,” Barrier admitted. “I just had the pony working there choose them.”

“Hey Barrier, why don’t you take Fleetfeather and Wind Whistler out for lunch or something? I can start on the comics with the others while you’re out, see if we can’t get them reading.”

“Thank you for doing all of this, Daring.” Barrier gave the mare a light nuzzle.

She returned the nuzzle. “No sweat.” She gave a slight smile before she turned back to the cadets. “I’ve always kinda liked teaching. May even become a teacher if I get out of the archaeology and treasure hunting business. Something to supplement my writing, you know?”

“I’d imagine it helps that you can pump all of us for ancient information as well, doesn’t it?” Barrier turned to Fleetfeather. “Shall we go out to lunch, Fleet?”

“Doesn’t hurt,” The tan pegasus replied. “Oh, and see if they have any boneless wings wherever you guys go.”

“Very well.” Fleetfeather stepped towards the door with Barrier. “Shall we go see what this city is like in the daylight, Wind Whistler?”

Wind Whistler nodded from her spot on Barrier. “I can’t wait to get out of this hotel.” Wind Whistler stretched her tiny wings. “Too cramped.”

***

For the second time in two days, Barrier found himself nosing the door to the Four D’s open, this time with a mare and filly to his right.

Fleetfeather had taken the trip fairly gracefully, not appearing too overwhelmed at her surroundings, while Wind Whistler was staring up in awe, and occasionally had to be nudged forward by her mother’s wing.

“Is this where you purchased those…” The mare seemed to struggle with the word momentarily. “Pete-zah’s from last night?”

“Aye,” Barrier responded as the door clicked shut behind them. “The potatoes and garlic bread as well. Apparently they carry a wide assortment of things.” He shifted his gaze towards the counter where a light brown unicorn with a darker brown mane stood to greet them.

“Ah, welcome back…” the stallion thought for a moment before continuing, “I’m sorry, I don’t think my wife or I got your name last night.”

“Magic Barrier.” Barrier held out his hoof, which the unicorn stepped out from behind the counter and took.

“Pleasure to meet you, Barrier. I’m Clean Cut. Is this your wife?” The sandy unicorn turned to look at Fleetfeather and almost immediately knew he’d said something wrong once registering the flash of pain that played out across the mare’s face.

Barrier rested a hoof on the mare in question’s back. “She’s a close family friend. This is Fleetfeather and Wind Whistler, her daughter and my goddaughter.” Barrier leaned in slightly. “Her husband passed away recently and she’s still recovering.”

Clean Cut winced, taken aback a slight and expressed remorse, nodding as he understood. “Ohh... I’m so sorry.”

“It’s fine.” Fleetfeather managed to say in a fairly normal manner, though there was still an undercurrent of pain. “It’s just a fresh wound is all.”

“My apologies again.” Clean Cut slowly made his way back behind the counter. “So, how can I help you today?”

“A table for three?” Barrier asked, receiving a nod shortly after as Clean Cut retrieved three menus.

“Sure thing.” Clean Cut motioned them to follow him to a nearby table. “And to make up for my faux pas, I’ll give you some breadsticks, on the house.”

“Thanks.” Barrier pulled Fleetfeather’s and Whistler’s chairs out for them with a light magical shove. As he sat down in his own, he gave his horn a rub and winced slightly, managing to mostly conceal the near-crippling lance of pain he was rewarded with.

“Barrier,” Fleetfeather fixed a hard stare on him. “I wish thou wouldst stop acting so foolishly. If th…” Fleetfeather seemed to catch herself. “If you wanted to pull our chairs out for us, you could have simply used your forelegs.”

“I know,” the unicorn groaned. “Sorry. It’s a hard habit to break. Doing stuff with my horn is like breathing at this point. It’s hard to remember not to do it.”

“Please, Uncle. Try harder,” Wind Whistler said as she hopped into her chair. “I don’t like seeing ponies I care about being hurt.” She looked around the room before her eyes fixed onto the table cloth.

“I’ll try.” Barrier winced, “I promise.”

The pegasus mare let the issue drop, feeling the point had been made. “So, what would you suggest we order for our meals, Barrier?”

Barrier skimmed over the menu. “Stir fry would probably be pretty nice. Hard to go wrong with a hayburger and fries as well.”

“We also need to get the others something,” Wind Whistler reminded them.

“Aye, we do. I wonder if there’s a way to have the food taken to them, so we can spend a bit more time on the town…” Barrier mused mostly to himself, though Clean Cut was close enough to hear, carrying a basket of breadsticks in his magic.

“We do deliveries, if you’re interested.”

“Anything in particular you would suggest for lunch? I’m afraid I’ve done very little explorative eating beyond fast food and pastries.” The image of a pink mare flashed in his mind for a fraction of a second and the unicorn shivered.

“The stir-fry is really good. We’ve also got a surplus of fries right now, so we’re selling fries and poutine at a discount,” Clean Cut answered without hesitation. “They both reheat pretty well, also. Can I get you ponies a drink to get started on?”

“Water for me, and....” Fleetfeather glanced at Wind Whistler.

“Do you have peach juice?” Whistler looked up at Clean Cut, who smiled and nodded.

“A peach juice for Wind Whistler,” Fleet finished.

“Water for me as well. Also, Stir Fry and… what is poutine, exactly?”

“It’s something we started doing here. We take a layer of fries, cover it with a layer of curds, and then we repeat the process before covering it with piping hot gravy,” the pony explained, pointing it out on the menu for them.

“That sounds fine.” Barrier closed the menu and slid it towards his host. “Is it possible to get three orders of that for here and have another six orders delivered to a room at the Delta Hotel?”

Clean Cut blinked, but nodded. “Sure. What’s the room number for the delivery?”

“Two-thirty-seven,” Barrier answered. “We’ll pay for it now.” Barrier moved to fish bits out of his bags.

“That’s fine. I’ll just put it on your dine-in bill.” Clean Cut waved the unicorn down. “Right, anything else you’d like before I call for our delivery colt?”

“Add an assortment of bottled juices to the order, if possible. I’ve no doubt they’re tired of water.”

Clean Cut nodded. “Alrighty then. I’ll have your orders out here shortly, and the delivery will be underway within the hour.” Spinning around on his hind hooves, Clean Cut departed from the table, leaving the three to converse at their leisure.

“So,” Fleetfeather started once Clean Cut was away, “What is the state of the guard in these times? Would there still be a place for me?”

“It’s… changed with the times. I know it hasn’t quite sunk in yet, but Equestria doesn’t have anything on the same scale as what we grew up with.” Barrier glanced briefly at Wind Whistler who was entertaining herself with her mother's wing. “Minus a few exceptions, they’re soft. Not much of a place for ponies like us anymore, sadly. Though you will receive back-pay for a thousand years of service under the crown, if I know the princess. Same for the cadets.”

“After what you’ve told us of Nightmare Moon, especially following Sombra’s return, I fear that the guard will soon be needed more than ever before.”

“Maybe, but that’s not our decision to make. Princess Celestia is smart enough to cover all of her bases. If she needs us, she’ll call for us.”

Fleetfeather hummed in acknowledgement and began to stare at the table in thought until a somewhat familiar scent tickled her nose. “So, peace with griffins...” She watched a waiter pass by with a platter of cooked meats.

“Surprised me too. I actually got into a fight with a cub shortly after my return, but that’s the worst experience I’ve had with a griffin since my return.”

Fleetfeather shook her head in confusion. “It seems so… strange. I honestly thought the war would only end with the extermination of the griffins.”

“I thought the same once, but after the whole Nightmare Moon incident and what happened to the thestrals, Celestia was apparently just fed up with the whole thing. Basically told them the war was over or they were over after storming Gallopfrey and personally delivering Brigadier Grimhilde to King Alarick.”

“Couldn’t she have done that way sooner and saved a bunch of lives?” Wind Whistler asked from beneath the larger mare’s wing.

“Perhaps,” Barrier conceded to the filly, remembering that she was intelligent beyond her years sometimes. “I believe Yearling would say that how such a grand display of force would cause a lot of problems for ponies on an international scale.”

Fleetfeather nodded in understanding. “What could anyone do if they knew the leader of a nation could raze their lands with a thought? They’d be afraid of her, or view her as a tyrant. It would hurt all of ponykind in the long run.”

“Who knows, it’s possible that’s what happened after she freed Gallopfrey. Honestly, I only researched the specifics of Grimhilde’s death. Yearling would be a much better pony to ask.”

“That reminds me.” Fleetfeather tapped her hoof lightly against the floor. “How exactly didst thou… did you and Miss Yearling meet?”

“Aye,” Wind Whistler piped up. “She seems really nice, so how’d you end up with her?”

Barrier snorted, but smiled. “It’s a long story involving the old Castle of the Two Sisters.”

“We have plenty of time,” Fleetfeather pressed.

“Fine, fine,” Barrier relented. “It started when I returned to the place of my departure. Perhaps seeking some kind of closure…”

“Barrier, your order will be up here in just a moment!” A familiar voice called out. “Crispy Wings, got a job for you!”

***

Three plates sat on the table before the trio. All three clean save for trace sauce smears which were largely unnoticeable at a glance. And they went ignored as the trio continued to converse.

“And that’s when the Empire returned.” Barrier had spent most of the time regaling the pair with the story of his life since his return while they ate. “The rest, you already know.”

“How was it?” Clean Cut asked as he approached with his usual smile… though that faded as what appeared to be a smaller version of himself with wings instead of a horn crashed awkwardly onto the table, landing on Wind Whistler’s empty plate.

“Uh, sorry.” the intruder smiled sheepishly after a moment spent regaining his wits.

“Crispy, what have I told you about flying indoors?” Clean Cut’s voice shifted several octaves to a more ‘dad-like’ voice.

“Sorry, Dad. One of the customers said that I had to deliver a message ASAP,” he commented from the table where he was recomposing himself. After that, he looked around at the three he had disturbed and noticed Wind Whistler. “Oh, you’ve got some gravy on your face.” Crispy moved a hoof towards Wind Whistler’s face almost absentmindedly, only for the filly to shy away and his father’s aura to wrap around him.

“Personal boundaries, Crispy,” the father chastised. “My apologies.” He frowned slightly at Crispy, who returned the frown with a sheepish smile. “Now Crispy, you said you had a message?”

“Oh yeah!” The foal perked up. “The pegasus lady said that you forgot her boneless wings and that you’d better bring some back with you or else your lower horn will match your upper one!”

All of the adults present coughed in surprise.

Fleetfeather was the first to speak. “She really wants those wings, it would seem.”

“Apparently.” Barrier shook his head. “Never had her be quite this testy before. Guess she really likes those wings. Mr. Cut, can I get an order of boneless wings to go, if you have them?”

Clean Cut chuckled slightly. “Sure. One order of boneless wings, coming right up.”