Barrier… I wasn’t there.
Those four words seemed to echo in Barrier’s mind as he made laps around the gymnasium of the community center. In the few days since Verdant had said that to him, they seemed to haunt the charcoal unicorn.
Did I just imagine the whole thing? His brow furrowed as he slowed to a trot and continued to pace about the large room, occasionally glancing at the clock as he waited for his class to arrive.
The gnawing thought was dispelled as he heard the door open up. To his mild surprise, it seemed that only Fruity Punch was there.
“Good afternoon,” Barrier said as the warm colored unicorn walked up to him. As she drew closer, Barrier caught a rather strong lavender scent. “Did you see any of the others on their way?”
“Yeah, about that…” Punch rubbed the back of her head as her hindlegs rubbed together. “I saw the class earlier and most of them are sick or injured. Shorty and Nicky have the stomach flu, Bea’s got a really bad case of the trots and Holly cracked a leg bone after she got drunk and tried to fly off a roof, so it looks like it’s just the two of us.”
“How unfortunate. Hopefully they recover quickly,” Barrier stated as he noticed Punch biting her lower lip and fidget. “Punch, is there something wrong?”
“Um… About that?” A faint hint of red appeared on Punch’s pink cheeks before she quietly muttered. “I’m in heat.”
“Did you just say you’re in heat?” Barrier’s question made the rosy unicorn wince a little.
“Yeah. It’s a really strong one and I forgot to get any meds for it.” Embarrassment and annoyance were drizzled over her words as she slowly looked Barrier in the eye. “Best I could do is take a bath in air freshener to try to cover my scent.”
“Well, you certainly did that,” Barrier said as he noticed an uncomfortable twitch in her right hindleg. “Do you still want to train today? I know how much of a pain estrus can be, so we can just call this day a wash since there’s no one else here.”
“No! I mean, no. I want to do this,” Punch said as she slowly fell into a combative stance. “Please. I need something to take my mind off this.”
“Very well, so be it,” Barrier replied as he moved over to one of the training mats. “In that case, come at me.”
Taking a breath, Punch launched herself at Barrier. She jumped into the air and tried to deliver an axe kick to the charcoal stallion, but he dodged out of the way.
“Flashy, easily signaled,” Barrier stated before Punch spun around and tried to land a buck on his chest, the stallion quickly rose onto his hindlegs to block her hooves with his own.
The spar lasted nearly a half hour as the two exchanged blows. Punch managed to land a few on Barrier and while he could have blocked nearly all of them with the aid of his magic, he chose not to, feeling it would provide too much of an edge.
As Barrier used his forelegs to block a jab meant for his chest, Punch followed that up with a sweep of her hindlegs that managed to catch him off-balance and caused him to start tumbling backwards. The red-maned mare quickly seized her opportunity and tackled the larger pony, sending him onto his back with her on top.
The obsidian stallion soon found Punch’s forelegs harshly planted on either side of his head as she huffed. Her body was drenched in sweat as she leaned down closer to him.
Suddenly, Barrier’s cheeks turned crimson and Punch’s breath hitched as she felt her lap grinding up against his.
“Sorrysorrysorry!” Punch exclaimed as she leapt off, looking away from Barrier in shame. “I didn’t mean to do that! It was just… Oh, Faust dammit!”
“It’s okay, Punch.” Barrier coughed into his hoof as he tried to push that incident aside. “I know you didn’t mean to do this and that heat makes things all the more awkward.”
“Yeah…” Punch remained stock still as she kept her eyes focused on the entrance door, clearly wanting to avoid eye contact.
“You can take some pride in how well you performed today,” Barrier said as he came up to the rosy mare’s side. “Since time’s just about up, we’ll call it a day and head home.”
“Alright then.” Punch bit her lip as Barrier trotted towards the door. “Say Barrier, there’s something I wanted to ask.”
As Barrier faced the unicorn, he saw her face had grown much redder as she rubbed her right foreleg. “What is it?”
“Well…” Punch swallowed as she nervously looked Barrier in the eye. “I was thinking that since you have a herd, I was wondering if you… would have me as a herdmate?”
A tense silence hung in the air as Barrier was caught off guard by the mare’s question.
“That is… a rather surprising request, Punch,” Barrier said, watching as her face somehow grew even redder.
“I know. It’s just you’re a pretty attractive stallion, pretty nice and really smart. Got a sort of tall, dark and handsome thing going on,” Punch started to ramble as she avoided making eye contact.
“Well, I am flattered, Punch, but there are several issues with what you ask,” the charcoal unicorn stated, making the smaller unicorn wince. “First off, there is the age difference between us.”
“Well, I’m twenty-six and you’re like what, thirty-eight? I figure since we’re both adults, it’s not really that huge of an issue,” Punch anxiously replied.
“Another is that I am currently your self-defense teacher,” Barrier added.
“And we first got to know each other outside of your class. We’ve known each other a good deal longer than I’ve been your student.” A hopeful smile graced Punch’s face.
“Fair point. However, there is one more important thing to consider,” Barrier said as he took a step closer to Punch. “Now, I fully admit I’m no expert on herds, but from what I do know based on the word of others is that if you wish to be in a relationship with me, you’d need to get approval and enter a relationship with the other herdmates.”
“I… I understand,” Punch said as her smile quickly faded. “So I’d need to date the other two mares if we were to be together.”
“Indeed,” Barrier said before he sighed. “Just remember, Punch. It would probably be a bad idea to try to enter a romantic relationship while you’re under the effects of estrus.”
“I… Yeah, you’ve got a point,” Punch lightly fanned her face before she trotted past Barrier. “I think I’ll go take a nice cold shower. I’ll see you tomorrow, Barrier.”
“Very well. Have a good day, Punch,” Barrier said before following Punch out the doors and heading for home.
***
As Barrier reached Starflower Street, he was rather relieved how quiet it was. No foals were gathered outside the house to visit the Candy Casino, thanks to the fact High Stakes was busy with her parents' wedding anniversary.
Taking a deep breath, Barrier enjoyed the scent of spring flowers and freshly cut grass. Along with a cool breeze, it was as if a relaxing aura was washing over the weary stallion wearing.
As Barrier reached the front gate, any positive feelings he had vanished as he saw, standing in front of the manor door, the familiar form of the massive black griffin that haunted his nightmares.
Baring his teeth, Barrier charged forward as he fired a volley of magic blasts towards the griffin. Alerted by the sound of the approaching shots, she quickly leapt to her left, the shots striking the door and leaving scorched indents in it.
Quickly charging a strong blast, the unicorn shot a larger shot at Grimhilde. With a look of horror on her face, she spread her wings and took to the air. The shot barely slipped under her tail before it obliterated the vegetable patch behind her.
“I won’t miss next time!” Barrier barked as he prepared to teleport directly above the frightened hen so he could blast her in the head point blank.
Just before Barrier was ready to teleport, something struck the back of his head, shattering his concentration and making him fire another volley that the griffin dodged and shattered the window for the upstairs bathroom.
Turning to face what had struck him, Barrier only got the barest glance on a pink hoof before it slammed into his left eye, knocking him back.
Before he could gather his bearings, he saw a furious Fruity Punch landing on top of him with a vicious sneer on her face taking up his field of view.
“WHAT THE TARTARUS IS WRONG WITH YOU?!” Fruity Punch screamed in the stunned unicorn’s face before his face turned into a snarl.
“What does it look like?!” Barrier spat back as he pushed the pink mare off of him and quickly rose to his hooves. “I’m trying to…”
The words died in Barrier’s throat at the sight before him. In the place of a massive and vicious black griffin hen was a frightened yellow pegasus in a postal uniform. A look of pure terror was plastered all over her face as she slowly lowered herself to the ground.
“I run all the way here after seeing you forget your saddlebags, and I find you trying to kill my Faust damn sister!” Punch’s shout made Barrier quickly turn to face her. “What is wrong with you?!”
“This… this is impossible.” Barrier felt his mouth going dry as he felt his stomach twisting itself into a knot. “I… I’m sorry, Punch. I don’t know what—”
A bundle of letters smacked Barrier in the face, cutting the charcoal unicorn off.
“There’s your damn mail! If it weren’t for the fact I’ve got a super strict schedule, I’d be pressing charges.” Sweet Honey glared at Barrier as she straightened out her ruffed uniform. “C’mon, Punch. Let’s get outta here. This guy’s as looney as a lightbulb-battered bug.”
“Right.” The venom in Punch’s tone was something that managed to make Barrier’s already twisted-up belly feel even worse. Sweet Honey took to the sky while Punch reached the gate just as Verdant came to a screeching halt as he turned a corner.
“I heard magic blasts and shouting! What’s going—”
“Ask him,” Punch angrily replied before she turned and gave Barrier one final glare. “And don’t expect me to show up for any more classes!”
As Punch walked past Verdant with her snout upturned, the shamrock stallion surveyed the damage to the house.
“What the… Barrier, what the heck happened that made—” Verdant suddenly gasped before he rushed past the unicorn to the remains of what was once his vegetable patch. “My… My tomatoes… My carrots…”
“Verdant, I’m so sorry,” Barrier said as he saw a faint tear in the stallion’s eye. “I thought I saw… Well, an old enemy and I tried to stop her… but it was only Honey.”
“I just… How?” Verdant asked in sadness and perplexment as he rose up to look at Barrier. “How do you mistake Sweet Honey for an old enemy? Who’d you even mistake her for?! Starscream?! Grimhilde?!”
“I… I can’t say.” Barrier found it hard to look the white-muzzled stallion in the eye. I can’t tell him what I saw. That would only make things worse.
Verdant took a deep breath before walking past Barrier, heading for the door. “I’ll ask Fixer Upper to handle the house repairs since I figure she could do it cheaply, but I’m not taking care of dinner.”
“That’s completely fair and I’ll pay for all the damages. And Verdant,” Barrier said as the earth pony reached the door, halting to look Barrier in the eye. “I’m deeply sorry about your vegetables. You know I’d never intentionally do anything to hurt you or the other cadets.”
“I know.” Verdant sighed before he pushed the door open. “I… I need some time to cool off. I think I’ll take a hot… Oh, right.”
“I’ll sweep up the glass and if you wish to use my bathroom, feel free to do so,” Barrier said as he followed the earth pony inside. “And after that, I’ll go get dinner.”
Verdant muttered his thanks before he started to slowly pull himself up the stairs.
A few minutes later, after Barrier swept up the glass, the obsidian unicorn headed downstairs, letting out a tired sigh just before he slipped out the door. Spotting his saddlebags on the lawn, Barrier picked them up and quickly tied them into place.
Well, it seems despite all your protests, you might really be crazy. Barrier’s mind chided as he made his way out the front gate.
“I can’t be crazy,” Barrier muttered to himself. “We have physical evidence that the Lemon Stallion’s behind the Grimhilde sightings. Spectral was killed because of those photos.”
And yet, all the times you saw the griffin before were when there was nopony else around. But this time, there was no way Punch couldn’t have seen Grimhilde. Instead, she saw you blasting at her sister as she tried to drop off your mail!
The charcoal unicorn winced at his own mental chiding as he walked.
“First thing tomorrow, I’m seeing Dr. Sound Mind to see if she’s gotten any word on my bloodwork. I can’t wait any longer.”
I think we both know what the end result of that will be.
***
A light fog held in the early morning air as Barrier stood outside the large building that held Sound Mind’s office. His sleep had been restless the night before, so he decided to walk about the city until he eventually came to the office building’s front door.
Looking down the street to the left, Barrier saw a nearby clock that read the time as twelve past seven.
“Barrier?” The stallion’s ears perked as he quickly turned to his right, where he spotted the glasses wearing purple unicorn. “What are you doing here this early?”
“I’m sorry, Doctor, but there’s something I need to know that’s very important,” Barrier stated as he rubbed one of his tired eyes. “I need to ask you if my test results said anything.”
To his surprise, the doctor looked somewhat annoyed at him. “I’d like to know that too since I haven’t gotten anything from the clinic about it! Heck, they can’t even say you were there!”
“What?!” Barrier was taken aback by Sound Mind’s words. “That’s impossible! I know I was there! I had my blood drawn by a Dr. Lovely Brew! They have to have my blood!”
With a deep sigh, a cyan light came from Sound Mind’s horn as she plucked her glasses off her face and started to rub the bridge of her snout.
“Maybe the paperwork and sample got lost. I don’t know.” Sound Mind placed the glasses back on her snout. “Still, we’re going to have to wait about a month before we can take another blood sample.”
“Are you sure they can’t take another one right now?” Barrier nearly pleaded as she trotted past him to reach the office building’s door.
“Unfortunately, no. It’d be too dangerous to drain the amount of blood needed for a sample so soon after the last time.” The doctor took one last deep breath before looking at Barrier one last time. “I suggest you go home and take it easy. I’ll be sure to send you a letter when it’ll be safe for you to get tested again.”
“I… I understand. Thank you, Doctor.” Barrier sighed before he pulled away and took a short swig from his flask before heading off once more into the fog-covered streets.
Just before the doctor fell out of earshot, Barrier heard two words from her.
“I’m sorry.”