Hours had passed since Barrier had taken to the skies from Baltimare. The journey to Canterlot had become quite an annoying and tiring trip for him and the mare pulling him along.
Barrier’s eyes strained to stay open as he and Crimson Tide flew as fast as her wings could carry her, partially due to the wind in his eyes and partially from the rain made of fried shrimp. He tired of it quickly.
“Any signs we’re near Canterlot?” Barrier asked as he caught some of the falling shrimp in his aura and took a bite.
“‘Fraid not, boss,” Tide huffed as she tried to keep them level, her face starting to look as red as her mane. “Bad news, though. I don’t think I can keep us going much longer.”
“How much farther can you take us?” Barrier asked as calmly as he could with a mouth full of shrimp and trying to hide his worry. A quick glance to the side was enough to tell him they were high enough to die from a fall.
“I think…” her breathing was deep and hard as the pair started to glide downwards. “I’m gonna hit the ground… and then I’ll just die…”
The pegasus kept her wings going as long as possible, but the two eventually dropped. Barrier’s horn ignited, swiftly forming an angled but otherwise flat magic shield for the pair to slide down before the two of them could crash face first into the ground.
To the surprise of the pair, instead of grass and hard dirt, the ground they struck was made of green frosting and soft chocolate cake.
“Sorry I…” Crimson Tide wheezed as she tried to pull herself up, only to collapse back into the chocolatey frosted ground beneath her hooves. “Sorry I couldn’t get you to Canterlot, boss.”
“You tried your best,” Barrier replied as he pulled himself from the orange chariot and used his magic to wipe some of the frosting and shrimp from his face as he gazed around, trying to spot any familiar landmarks in the warped world. “That looks to be Rambling Rock Ridge, so you got us pretty damn far.”
“Thanks there,” the mare weakly waved from her spot in the sugary ground. “If you give me an hour or three to recover, I think I can get us the rest of the way.”
“I have a better idea,” Barrier said as his horn lit once more, picking up the giant orange and the exhausted mare and placing her on the stallion’s back while the orange continued to float behind him. “You recover and I’ll try to get as far I can on hoof until you’re feeling up to flying again.”
“Here’s hoping we can get pretty far before WHAT IN THE NAME OF FAUST IS THAT?!” Tide screamed at the sight of a dome of rainbow light stretching across the land. The pegasus braced herself while Barrier stood stock still as the light washed over them.
Once the light had swept over the two, the land had returned to a state of normality. The green covering the ground was once again fresh grass with the ground beneath a firm soil with not a sign of cake, frosting or fried seafood in sight.
“Hope this just means things have taken care of themselves without too much trouble.” Barrier marched on, headed towards the tiny speck that was a mountain far in the distance.
***
In Vanhoover, Erica had just finished eating away the last bit of cheese that kept Verdant bound to the giant pizza.
“Alright everyone,” Swiftsword addressed the freed soldiers, a groaning Punch who looked more salamander than pony at this point, and the two griffins with them as she tried to pull some leftover cheese from her mane. “Now that we’re free, we should head out and check on everyone in the park before—”
“Swift, over there!” Gem interrupted and pointed a hoof towards the horizon, where a wall of rainbow light barreled towards them.
They shut their eyes as the glaring light washed over the city. When the light had died down, they opened their eyes to see the buildings had been restored to their former appearance and substances while any trace of the giant oven or pizza had been wiped away.
“Well…” Swift clicked her tongue as her eyes swept over the street, looking for any trace of lingering strangeness. “That seems to have cleared things up. Still, we should head for the park to check on the ponies we guided there. Ready to move out?”
“Gimme a minute or two,” Punch groaned as she emerged from an alley, leaning against its wall. “My…everything is killing me after whatever the hay that was.”
“Very well, my friend.” Swift gave the pink unicorn a nod before looking at the others there, seeing how Erica had become a sickly green. “Erica, are you alright?”
“Yeah,” Erica groaned and dismissively waved. “I just had too much to eat. Give me a minute to—” The hen’s face became a much brighter green as her cheeks bulged out. Covering her mouth, the griffin bolted over to a nearby trash can. “BLAURGH!!!”
Verdant winced at the sickening sound coming from Erica before darting to her side, where he started to rub the sick griffin’s back. “Swift, request permission to stay here until Erica’s feeling better.”
“Granted, Verdant.” The azure unicorn looked away and started to march. “The rest of you, with me. We’re heading for the park.”
“Yes, ma’am!” Hatty, Gem and Forge shouted back in unison as they quickly followed behind her with Punch dragging her sore self along after them.
“Eh,” Jaylin gave a shrug before following after the five ponies. “In for a bit, in for a bunch.”
“Thanks for sticking around, Verdant,” Erica hoarsely said as she pulled her head from the can, showing the sickly griffin’s face no longer matched Verdant’s coat.
“Don’t sweat it,” the earth pony tenderly replied, giving her a pat on the back. “I’m staying here as long as you need.”
“Thanks. I think I’m gonna be here a whi—” Erica plunged her head back into the can’s opening, where the sound of violent retching could be heard from within.
***
Night had fallen by the time Barrier had managed to pull himself and Tide up to Canterlot, where things seemed peaceful, for the most part, save for the sight of some ponies fixing the occasional sign and some police by the museum as Barrier made his way to his way to the palace gate.
“Sir!” Moonstone saluted before she opened up the front gate for him.
“Thank you, Moonstone,” Barrier nodded as he passed by the unicorn. “Have a good evening.”
Shortly after making his way into the palace, Barrier came upon Shining Armor with Celestia’s assistant at his side as he was giving orders to a collection of thestrals in violet armor.
“Evening Brew, Esi, check the north-western quadrant and report back in thirty. Ruby Delfino and Moonbeam, same for the south-west. Understood?”
“Yes, sir!” the four barked in unison before they took to the air and flew off.
“How are you holding up, Shining Armor?” Barrier drew closer, watching the alabaster stallion’s shoulders slump.
“Tired, Barrier. Really tired,” Shining sighed as he looked to the obsidian unicorn. “Things were crazy once Discord got loose, not helped by him making most of the guards think they were puppies and turning our weapons, armor, even our Faust cursed wings and horns into plastic.”
“Well, I’m sure you did everything you could,” Barrier gave the tired stallion a pat on the shoulder. “Not much you can do when you’re dealing with a reality warper.”
“Thanks,” The faintest trace of a smile graced Shining’s features, only to vanish just as quickly. “Still, this sort of thing isn’t good for morale or the guard’s public image. In a matter of months, we had no less than three superpowered threats show up and the guard wasn’t able to do much for a single one.”
“I know you and the guards did everything you can, captain,” Raven spoke up as she adjusted her glasses.
“Thanks, Raven. I appreciate it,” Shining replied before letting out a tired sigh. “Still, having a group of six untrained civilians always saving the day while the guard is left helpless doesn’t reflect well on… well anybody really, but especially the guards.”
“Excuse me, Miss Raven,” Barrier interjected and rolled his shoulders, showing the sleeping pegasus he was carrying. “Could you please find a room for this mare? She provided emergency transport for me today from Baltimare. Also, send me a bill for her train ticket back and a thousand bits for her payment.”
“I’ll… see what I can do,” Raven’s head tilted and her horn lit, taking Tide off Barrier’s back and placing the pegasus on her own before trotting away.
“Thank you, Miss Raven.” Barrier gave a wave as the mare walked away. Once he was sure she was out of earshot, the charcoal unicorn looked to his alabaster counterpart. “Alright Shiny, no need to put a front up around me. I know something’s eating at you, so what’s up?”
A moment of silence passed between the two before Shining Armor let out a sigh of annoyance. “Alright, if you must know, after Twily and her friends came here and got their medals for beating Discord, I heard a lot of the ponies in attendance and around town bad-mouthing the guard… and me especially.”
“How so?” Barrier’s eyebrow cocked as he pulled his flask from his saddlebags.
“It’s something I’ve been hearing for a while,” annoyance was clear in Shining’s voice and he rubbed his temples. Barrier levitated the flask towards him, but the snowy stallion just pushed it away. “A bunch of ponies have been saying for years that the only reason I became captain, especially at my age, was because I was sleeping with Cadance.”
“Well Shiny, let me tell you this,” Barrier said before taking a quick swig from his flask. “Don’t pay attention to them. The ones that say that kind of crap don’t know about the kind of things guards risk their lives dealing with everyday. In addition to that, I saw your fighting ability when we were dealing with Sombra. I know for damn sure you didn’t get this job by sleeping your way to the top.”
“Thanks Barrier,” Shining gave a short chuckle. “That means something coming from you. Still, it’s kinda hard to ignore all the ponies saying it.”
“Well at the end of the day, you’re the one engaged to a mare you love who is the ruler of an empire and you have amazing magical powers that most ponies can’t even dream of having.” Barrier patted Shiny on the shoulder before pulling away. “Count your blessings, Shiny.”
“I intend to.” Shining smiled as he followed Barrier for a bit. “Anything else I can do for you?”
“Well, I was wondering if I could check in on Princess Celestia or Luna while I’m here.”
“No problem. Princess Luna’s in court right now, but Princess Celestia’s probably still awake in her bedchamber.”
“I’ll see if she is since Luna’s probably busy,” Barrier said as he turned a corner towards the royal chambers. “Good night, Shining. Tell Princess Luna I said hello if you see her.”
Barrier traveled through the palace halls for several minutes until he came across Celestia’s chamber with two guards who seemed to recognize him. As he drew closer, he could hear Celestia angrily shouting at someone within.
“How could you be so stupid?! Why would anypony think keeping one of the biggest threats the world has ever faced available to the public in a damn garden was a good idea?! Honestly, with your past screw-ups, it’s like you actively want Equestria to be conquered!”
Barrier winced as he drew closer to the door. “May I?”
The guards only nervously nodded before Barrier quietly pushed the door open. The charcoal stallion quietly shut the door behind him where he spotted the towering alicorn from behind, immediately noting the surprising sight of a holstered dagger on her hip as she continued to bellow at some unseen figure.
“Your incompetence is disgusting! I hate—”
“Princess Celestia?” Barrier softly spoke up, drawing the princess from her tirade.
“Oh, Barrier,” the alabaster mare was somewhat flustered as she trotted over to her nightstand, revealing that she had been shouting at a large mirror in a violet horseshoe shaped frame. “My apologies, I didn’t hear you come in. May I offer you a drink?”
“No thank you, Princess,” the stallion said quietly as he slowly made his way over to her. “Are you alright? I heard quite a bit.”
The alicorn sighed sadly as she sat down by her fireplace. “I’ve been better. Thankfully we haven’t received any reports of anypony being badly injured thanks to Discord’s escape.” A golden light emanated from her horn as she brought a glass and a bottle of brandy from her nightstand and began to pour.
“Twilight and her friends were able to take care of him… something only necessary because of how badly I handled his containment. He has since been moved to a secure and private location while a replica of his statue is being carved to take his place in the garden,” she stated quietly as she stared into the fireplace, looking more her age than normal.
“You’re a pony, princess. Not some all-knowing god… and ponies make mistakes. You can’t hate yourself over a misstep such as this.” Barrier kept his voice low as he drew closer to the mare while she took a long sip of her drink.
“Oh, but I can, Barrier,” she replied as her sad eyes turned into a hot glare at the flames. “I was the one who had his statue placed in a garden where anyone could visit, ultimately causing him to be unleashed by accident. I’m the one that let my relationship with Luna deteriorate until the Elements of Harmony no longer worked for us.” The mare’s voice began to rise, “I’m the one that didn’t think of enchanting the elements so that he couldn’t send them away!” Her voice softened, “I’m the one that let myself fall so out of shape and practice that when I lunged at him...” the princess quickly drew her dagger up to her face, glaring at her reflection once more, staring into eyes filled with nothing but immeasurable self-loathing, “he turned my weapon into a bar of soap and tossed me aside like an old rag…”
“You did the best you could, given the circumstances—”
“And it wasn’t good enough!” Her volume spiked once more as she angrily interrupted, before releasing a sigh and looking to the charcoal unicorn. “I’m sorry, Barrier. I didn’t mean to shout or lose my temper.”
“Don’t apologize for it. You’re a pony, it happens to the best of us. Beyond that, I’m uncertain that a dagger would do too much to a being like Discord anyway.” Barrier laid down across from Celestia as she continued to stare at the blade, offering her what little comfort his presence could.
“It’s not so much the dagger that would have stopped him, but what’s coating it,” Celestia said as she slipped the dagger back into its sheath and levitated it back into a drawer. “The blade is coated in a specially made poison that I’ve worked on for several decades. The poison causes pain throughout the entire body proportionate to the magical power of its victim.”
“So a small foal would probably feel very little while somepony like yourself or Discord would be in agony.” Barrier said as the alicorn took another long drink.
“Indeed. I created it as a way to even the odds against Nightmare Moon should the elements be unable to cleanse her upon her return,” Celestia stated softly as she set her drink aside. “Still, I appreciate you coming, Barrier. How has your day been?”
“Chaotic, but who's hasn’t today?” Barrier and the princess both chuckled before he looked more seriously at her. “Also, I need some replacement ribbons for our letters.”
Celestia’s horn glowed for an instant the same time a matching light seeped out of Barrier’s saddlebags. “That should take care of things for a while.”
“Thank you.” Barrier gave the princess an appreciative nod. “That aside, how are you holding up, Celestia?”
“A bit tired, but I’ll live.” The princess gave her wings and neck a stretch. “The day was saved, Twilight and her friends have received medals for their heroism and things have started to settle. Still, I’m going to be taking my exercises more seriously from now on, as well as schedule some combat practice with Luna.”
“Very well then,” Barrier said as he stood up. “I wish you well, Princess Celestia.”
“And I you, Barrier,” Celestia gave him a small smile as he trotted towards the door.
Just before his hoof touched the handle, a thought occurred to him. “Before I go, I’ve just one more question, Princess.”
“And what would that be?” Celestia’s eyebrow rose as the charcoal unicorn looked back at her.
“Who did you test the poison on?” he asked with a sad look in his eyes, knowing the answer already.
Princess sighed as she looked him in the eye. “A mare who did so willingly… who endured the suffering knowing her efforts were to protect the kingdom she was blessed to be a part of.”
“I see…” Barrier glumly said as he slowly pulled the door open. “Good night, Princess.”
***
Barrier yawned as he made his way through the darkened streets of Canterlot, tiredly making his way to the train station and discovering that the first train to Vanhoover since things had settled down was about to depart.
After getting a ticket, barely counting the amount of bits he gave the teller, the charcoal stallion climbed aboard the metal death trap and slowly trudged along to the passenger cars.
When he opened the door to the car, his eyes slammed open in shock.
At the far end of the hall was a single, black-coated griffin that stood nearly a head taller than him. A wicked smirk crossed her beak as she looked at him with unmistakable golden yellow eyes.
“Grimhilde…” Barrier croaked before gritting his teeth. The charcoal stallion dashed down the halls and nearly tore the door the griffin had disappeared into off of its hinges… only to see a familiar and tired looking pegasus with some shopping bags.
The mare gave a yawn before looking over to the unicorn and giving him a tired smile.
“Oh hey, I remember you. Barrier, right?” The raven haired pegasus gave a stretch before offering a hoof to him. “I’m Sweet Honey. Remember, from the apple harvest?”
“I...yes, I do.” Barrier slowly shook her hoof as the light from his horn died down. Looking about the room, he spotted no sign of the griffin he was pursuing. “Um, you didn’t happen to see a griffin hen with a black coat pass through here, did you?”
“No, can’t say I have,” Honey replied as she pulled her hoof away and gestured towards the seat across from her. “How about you take a seat? I could use someone to talk to on the ride home.”
“Of course, Ms. Honey,” Barrier said before taking his seat. “Might I ask what brings you to Canterlot?”
“Not a problem, Barrier.” Sweet Honey smiled as she looked over the collection of bags at her sides. “My mom asked me to go pick some stuff up from a fancy shop in Canterlot for her. Not long after my shopping trip, my bits suddenly turned into pickles, all of the train tracks curly fries and it was all I could do to keep sane until everything was fixed… and then I found out that the trains, though fixed, weren’t even ready to go to Vanhoover. If you can believe it, they sent them to a rinky-dink town like Ponyville before anywhere else.”
“I can believe it,” Barrier replied as he leaned against the back of his seat.
“At any rate, I got what I was supposed to get and I’m finally getting home.” Honey stretched once more before leaning back as well. “How about you, Barrier? What brings you all the way out here?”
The tired stallion sighed, feeling too drained to even bother reaching for his flask. “I wanted to see if I could offer some help, but I made a mistake and ended up in Baltimare of all places, so I spent the next several hours just getting here.”
“Sorry to hear that, Barrier. Anything I can do for you? I got some vodka in one of these bags.” Honey reached over for one of her bags, but halted when Barrier held out a hoof.
“Thanks for the offer, but no thanks,” Barrier covered his mouth with his outstretched hoof. “Right now I just want to get home, sleep until noon and forget all about this crazy day.”
The train started to lurch forward, drawing a groan from the charcoal stallion.
“This day has been a total nightmare,” Barrier groaned as he leaned against his seat, gazing out at the now-distant city, watching as the lights of Canterlot started to fade away.