The afternoon sun blazed high above while Barrier and Swiftsword attempted to land a blow on each other; Barrier with magic blasts and Swift with a foam sword.
“You’re going to have to be faster than that, Swift!” Barrier barked as he easily leapt to the side and fired.
“While I appreciate that you’ve joined me in my exercises,” Swift huffed as she bolted away from the blast. “I still don’t understand why I must use this toy instead of a wooden sword of some kind.”
“Because frankly, I don’t want to have cuts or bruises on my date night,” Barrier replied as he charged another blast.
“Hold your fire!” Verdant’s voice called forth from the front door, stopping as Forge placed a hoof on his shoulder.
“Verdant…” Forge worriedly pleaded. “Just… be very careful. Please?”
“Rest assured, Forge,” Verdant smiled as he set his friend’s hoof down. “I’ll be just fine with Erica.” The green stallion set off down the path, giving Barrier and Swift a wave which the mare returned.
“Farewell, Verdant,” Swift said before giving a stretch. “I hope your class goes well.”
“I’m sure it will,” he replied as he reached the gate, passing by a grey pegasus. “Hey, Snow.”
“Hiya, Verdant.” Snow Sweeper nodded before spotting his worried boyfriend at the door and ran forth.
“Well sir,” Swift tried to sound casual while shifting her eyes toward the pair. “I think I’ll take five and get something to drink. Would you care to join me?”
“Eh, I figure I could go for a hard lemonade or something.” Barrier rolled his shoulders before following Swiftsword into the manor towards the kitchen.
“Snow…” The two heard Forge say as they came to the kitchen’s threshold. “Do you know of a griffin named Erica?”
“Hmm… Erica… Erica…” Snow tapped his chin before recollection dawned on him. “Yeah, we were in highschool together. I think she was on the swim team.”
“Is there anything else you can tell me?” Forge looked pleadingly into Snow’s eyes.
“Not really, Forge.” Snow frowned and looked down. “We didn’t really run in the same cliques in school. I just know she was on the swim team because I had to polish this trophy she got us after I…” He suddenly blushed. “Uh, I mean after a freak hockey puck accident caused the trophy case to be smashed to pieces.” He placed a hoof on the unicorn’s shoulder. “Forge, what’s going on? Please, tell me.”
The unicorn took a deep breath and sighed. “Two days ago, I found out that Verdant not only made friends with a hen by that name, but he’s also in a romantic relationship with her.” He placed his hooves over his eyes. “I was hoping you could tell me something to make me feel better about what he’s doing, give me something to assuage my fears and make me think she’s not a threat, but I still think he’s doing something insanely dangerous.”
“Forge,” Snow laid his hooves upon Forge’s and gently lowered them, seeing water starting to well up in them. “Could you please explain to me why this is so dangerous?”
“Because in our time, the griffins were our enemy.” Barrier stepped forward with Swiftsword at his side, drawing the pair’s attention. “Not only were they killing and eating us, but Forge’s hometown was eventually conquered by them, resulting in the largest loss of civilian life since the war began.”
“I just can’t stand to think that what happened to my father, my cousin and neighbors will happen to my friend.” Forge shuddered before Snow draped a wing over his back.
“It’s okay, Forge. I’m here for you,” Snow softly spoke as he tightened his embrace. “You can take it easy. I’m sure she’s not gonna harm him.”
Forge’s shoulders relaxed slightly as he turned to face him. “Are you sure about this?”
A reassuring smile came to Snow’s face before he gave his cobalt friend a nuzzle. “I’m sure. I haven’t heard a thing about any griffin hurting a pony like in your days in centuries, and I think she’s lived in Equestria her whole life.”
“Aye.” Forge stretched out a foreleg to place a hoof on Snow’s shoulder. “She did say she was born in Vanhoover.” He gave a bemused chuckle as he shook his head. “Still surprising to hear that griffins were allowed to live here, much less breed.”
“Well you’ve got nothin’ to sweat about, Forge.” The snowy stallion placed a hoof upon the unicorn’s, drawing a small smile from him. “Your friend’s gonna be fine, I swear.”
“I guess…” Forge sighed as he looked away from Snow. “But I wish I could make this worry go away.”
“Well I’m not sure what I can do about that,” Snow said as he removed his hoof from Forge’s and placed it onto his own chin. “Hmm… y’know, I don’t really know your friends that well.”
Forge tilted his head, confused by what his boyfriend was saying. “I suppose…”
“Well, how about tomorrow night, all five of us have a guys’ night?” Snow said as he wrapped a foreleg around Forge’s back. “We can have some fun, blow off some steam, pig out on snacks; it’ll be great!”
“You’re going to have to count me out,” Barrier said as Winter Gem and Hat Trick came in from the back yard, “I promised Fleet that I’d help her chaperone a slumber party for Wind Whistler.”
“Oh well.” Snow shrugged before focusing on Forge again. “Only four then. Still, doesn’t it sound like a good idea?”
“Maybe you’re right. Blowing off some steam with friends might do me some good,” Forge said before glancing to the purple pegasus. “Hat Trick, would you like to join us for a guys night out?”
“I don’t know,” Hat Trick said as he trotted over to the water pitcher. “I don’t want to have fun while leaving Gem all alone.”
“Maybe while we’re doing our thing,” Snow spoke up as he slid out of his seat, “Gem, Swift and my sister could have a girls night out.”
“Well…” Winter rubbed her chin in contemplation. “It has been a while since I’ve had fun with just other mares.” She set her hoof down as a smile came to her face. “Alright, I’ll give it a try.”
“Mayhaps we should bring Erica along.” Swiftsword made her way to Gem and slung a foreleg around her shoulder. “It would give us a chance to know her better.” Her eyes shifted over to meet Forge’s. “And allow us to get a better understanding of her.”
“I suppose you raise a good point.” Gem gave her friend a smile as she slipped away from her grasp. “Count me in! Just give me a day to get a new hairstyle. I’d like to make a good first impression.”
“Awesome!” Snow exclaimed as he took to the air. “Forge, Hatty, Verdant and I will have our night out while you two, Erica and Snowy will have your night out.”
“Meanwhile, Fleet and I will have to keep track of a bunch of foals partying. Wonderful.” Barrier rolled his eyes as he lit his horn and drew his flask to his face.
“Well I’m sure it won’t be too bad.” Snow settled back onto the floor before shrugging. “A couple of movies and a bag of chips or two should keep them satisfied.” He then glanced around the room, realizing something was off. “Say, where’s that mare with the glasses?”
“Right now she’s getting prepped for a dinner date we’re gonna have. Tomorrow, she’ll have to head out to Manehattan,” Barrier answered before taking a swig of his flask. “Something about a book signing.”
“Well, hopefully that and your date goes well, Barrier,” Snow said before stretching. “Hey Forge, would you like to show me some of the smithing stuff you’ve made recently?”
“Sure thing.” A smile graced Forge’s face as he and Snow made their way to the back door. “Some of the best stuff came straight from the Pony Rangers comics. You’ll love it.”
“We’d better get back to practicing our tricks, too,” Winter Gem suggested as she gave Hat Trick’s shoulder a light pat.
“Right,” Hatty replied with a swallow. “Gotta make sure we’re ready for Fiesta Flair.” He lightly shuddered before the earth pony mare wrapped a foreleg around his shoulders. The two trotted off to the backyard.
“I’ll go ask Verdant and Erica if they’d be interested.” Swiftsword started to make her way to the door, her muzzle scrunching up as she approached Barrier. “Sir, you may want to take a shower before you head out.”
“You’re one to talk, Swift.” Barrier rolled his eyes, the mare giving him a flat look. “You worked up more of a sweat than I did, and you’re about to head out to talk to someone.”
“Maybe so, however,” The mare smirked as she continued onward. “I’m merely stepping out to have a causal word for a moment that will likely be dismissed by my running there.” She flipped her mane as she looked over her shoulder to face him. “You, on the other hoof, are going on a fancy date soon. I rather doubt the professor would appreciate the smell.” Swift then closed the door behind her, leaving Barrier to grumble before he headed for the shower.
***
As the sun started to set on the seaside restaurant, the charcoal unicorn and yellow pegasus were having a merry laugh over shared stories.
“After that, I just wanted to strangle that damn bird.” Daring chortled and shook her head. “Sure, the princess apologized and paid for my laundry bill, but it didn’t make me any less pissed off.”
“Yeah, Philomena can be a bit of a pain in the flank.” Barrier took a breath and settled back down into his seat. “So what happened after that?”
“Well it was a while before I needed to see the princess again, but I made a plan for that.” A wicked grin crossed her face as she rubbed her hooves together.
“Don’t keep me in suspense, Daring.” Barrier drew closer, his grin almost as big as hers.
“Right before my meeting with her, I used phantom pepper hot sauce as a mane and tail shampoo.” Daring shook as she held back her laughter. “When she tried to bite down this time, she got a taste of something hotter than her own flames!”
The two broke down laughing once more, barely avoiding covering themselves with their meal.
“Oh, how I wish I could have seen that,” Barrier said as he moved back into his seat. “River always hated that damn bird.” He sighed contently.
“Glad you liked that, dear.” Daring smiled before gobbling up another bite of her pasta. “You’ve seemed pretty worried about the others over the last couple days.” She gave a swallow before grasping her wine glass. “Wanna talk about it?”
“Not particularly,” Barrier replied as he impaled one of his shrimp on his fork. “But it might do me some good.” He sighed as he twirled the food on the fork before looking into Daring’s eyes. “What happened when Erica visited made me think about how the others have been adjusting recently.”
“I’d say they’ve done pretty well, Barrier.” Daring reached across the table, patting Barrier’s hoof before grabbing a roll. “Going from ‘kill all griffins on sight’ to ‘be fairly friendly with them’ for the most part is quite the big step for them.”
“Yeah, but I still worry about them.” Barrier bit down on the shrimp, savoring the taste before swallowing. “Winter Gem’s still a bit leary around them, and then there’s Forge…” Barrier shook his head before stabbing another shrimp. “I can’t really say I blame him too much, but I wish I could do something to help him with this.”
“Maybe this is something for that therapist Celestia mentioned way back when.” Daring stretched for another roll as she spoke. “They could probably be more helpful there than we could be.”
“You’ve probably got a point.” Barrier idly poked at the shrimp once with his fork. “They could probably help with the griffin issue. Plus, Faust knows what they saw in the empire.”
“If you want, I can ask Celestia for contact info about that doctor after we get back home.” The yellow mare took a bite out of her roll. “In the meantime, let’s finish this food and have a nice little walk on the beach.”
“Didn’t your mother teach you not to talk with a mouth full of food?” Barrier asked with a raised eyebrow. Daring responded by glaring daggers at him. The two held their expressions after several moments before grins came to their faces and the two giggled. “Alright. That sounds like a plan. Remind me to leave a good tip here.”
***
Barrier and Daring leaned closely against each other as they trotted along the moonlight shoreline, a golden wing draped over the charcoal unicorn’s back. The only sounds to disturb the pair was their hooves against the sand and the calm crash of the ocean.
“It’s been far too long I’ve felt like this.” Barrier broke the silence as he nuzzled the top of Daring’s head. “I just feel so… Faust dammit, I can’t put it into words.”
“I was feeling the same way, Barrier.” Daring raised her hoof to the back of his head, gently caressing his mane before pulling him into a soft kiss.
“You had trouble putting it into words?” The stallion paused for a moment before chuckling at his question. “And here I thought you were a writer.”
“I am a writer, smartass.” The pegasus gave Barrier a strong hip check as she rolled her eyes. “Even the best of us have trouble articulating their thoughts at times.”
“At any rate,” Barrier leaned closer, draping a foreleg over Daring’s back and giving her a kiss on the cheek. “I’m glad to have you with me. Who would have thought we would end up like this after we first met? I wanted to feed you to a manticore back then.”
Daring giggled and snorted, her wing rubbing against his dark coat. “Yeah, we did not have the best first meeting.” She brought a hoof up his face once more as she brought them to a stop, her magenta eyes staring into his. “But now, I’ve found somepony I just feel great with. Somepony who cares, makes me laugh. Somepony I really care about.”
Barrier leaned forward and gave Daring a soft kiss that she quickly returned and deepened. “If I were more poetic, I’d say the same to you and so much more, Daring. You’re wonderful.”
“Thank you, Barrier,” she said as the slightest shade of pink crossed her features in the darkness. “Say, did I ever tell you what’s my favorite drink?”
Barrier’s head tilted in confusion and his ear twitched. “Peach schnapps?”
“Not quite,” she replied with a wicked smirk before giving the stallion a shove, knocking him onto his back. Barrier tried to get back up, but was halted by the golden pegasus crawling on top of him. “It’s sex on the beach.” A raised eyebrow joined the smirk she sported.
A similar smirk came to Barrier’s face before he pulled Daring into a deep kiss.
***
“That was the single worst idea we’ve ever had!” Barrier exclaimed as he and the pegasus came through the manor’s door, dripping wet.
“It always goes better in movies and books,” Daring muttered as she pulled a piece of seaweed out of her mane. “Bleugh. I’m soaked, freezing, sticky, I’ve got sand in the worst places and part of me’s pinker than that party mare. I’m gonna hit the showers.” She stretched out her wings as she reached the stairs, removing another strand of seaweed.
“Mind if I join you?” Barrier asked as he lit his horn, pulling away more seaweed from the both of them. Daring looked back at the stallion and smirked once more.
“Only if you can get rid of this sand and have enough left in you for round two.” She gave him a sultry wink before she sauntered up the stairs.