//------------------------------// // Chapter 7 // Story: A Pony Displaced: Another Path // by NoLongerSober //------------------------------// Daring pawed idly at the damp cloth resting against her shoulder. After the nightmare she’d known the stallion had unresolved issues, but that had been more than she had expected. “What would happen if he lost control of his emotions in a worse way?” Daring asked herself aloud, glancing at the stallion in the distance, on his way to work. An emotionally unstable military unicorn from one of Equestria’s worst periods with enough raw power to move that memorial… *** “Well howdy Barrier, I see ya made it.” Barrier turned to face the mare, putting on a smile. “Mine apologies, Mistress Applejack. I would have arrived sooner, but I experienced…delays.” “Just call me Applejack.” The mare chuckled, taking in the stallion’s appearance for a brief moment before finally settling on his eyes, her smile fading slightly. “Ya doin’ okay? Yer eyes are awfully red an' puffy.” Barrier reached up and pawed his eyes before nodding affirmation to the mare. “I am well, I just recently began…a-taking care of something personal in nature.” “Well, if ya say so.” Applejack shrugged, finding no deceit in the stallion’s statement. “Well, come on this way, and I’ll get ya started in the fields.” As she spoke she moved along the side of the farmhouse, glancing back to make sure the unicorn was following. “While it is still fresh in mine mind,  Mis...err, apologies, Applejack, couldst thou please define the word ‘fuck’ for me? An acquaintance used it recently, but I believe the parlance is different from what I’m accustomed to.” *** “Welcome to Golden Oaks Li…” Twilight trailed off as the cloaked Daring Do made her way into the library again. “Oh, you’re back!”  The mare giddily clapped her forehooves together. “I ha…” the words died in Twilight’s mouth when the pegasus raised a hoof. “First, I need to ask you something.” Twilight frowned slightly but nodded her agreement. “How well do you know Magic Barrier?” “Um…not very,” Twilight admitted honestly. “He said my great grandfather several times over was his brother, so I guess he’s my uncle times…” Twilight ran the numbers briefly, “twelve or so generations back I think, why?” “Has he talked to anypony about his return or how he’s dealing with the change?” Daring pressed, glancing around the room, eyes settling on the desk that Barrier had attained paper and quill from earlier that morn. “Uh, not that I know of? The day he got out of his casts, he went job-hunting. Why, what’s going on?” “And what would you say he rates in power as a unicorn?” Daring Do moved to the desk, fishing out quill, ink, and parchment, making to scribble something down. “Uh a seven or eight maybe?” Twilight offered weakly. “He’s a Sparkle and was a captain in the guard so he’s certainly capable of some power I guess, but again, why?” “You’re the princess’s student, one of the most powerful unicorns of our time. What happens when you lose control of your emotions, or have a breakdown?” Daring asked as she continued to pen the letter. Twilight’s ears drew back. “My mane and tail burst into flame, I get manic, and I usually destroy my surroundings.” She remembered all but leveling one of the castle’s many rooms some years back. “But I’ve been taught how to reign that all in. I’d imagine Barrier was too, as a captain.” “A captain during one of the bloodiest periods of Equestrian history and constantly warring with the Griffins,” Daring pointed out, “where he had tons of opportunities to vent physically and magically? A pony whose magic is probably geared almost exclusively for combat?” “Okay, so it’s dangerous to have him not deal with everything, but we can’t really force him to, can we? I don’t think he’s going to talk to us about it if he doesn’t really want to.” Twilight knew him well enough to know the stallion was accustomed to dealing with things alone; there was no way he’d intentionally come to them for help. “What’re you writing?” “A letter to the princess.” As Daring spoke, she fished a ribbon out of her saddlebags. “She needs to know that he could be dangerous. Better safe than sorry, after all.” Rolling the letter and wrapping the ribbon around it, Daring watched as it turned into ash and vanished. “You have ribbons enchanted by the princess?" Twilight asked, interest sparkling once more in her purple eyes. “You’re not the only one she gets and sends important letters from and to.” Daring chuckled slightly. “I only spend most of my time hunting dangerous, possibly world-ending artifacts, y’know.” “So…not to sound rude, but why are you so worried about it?” Twilight quirked her eyebrow, trying to puzzle the mare out; only that morning she’d been ranting about how he was ‘insufferable’, and it was ‘no surprise he’d never been married’ and various other things. “Because he’s not a bad pony, but he’s capable of doing some really bad things, intentionally or unintentionally,” Daring confessed quietly. “I’m not doing it for his sake or anything, but I don’t want anypony around him getting hurt or anything if they don’t have to.” A soft smile worked its way onto Twilight's muzzle before she shifted the subject, “So you said that you really hunt artifacts for the princess. Tell me everything.” The smile turned almost-creepy, quill and parchment floating from somewhere to write everything down. *** Barrier felt good for the first time in the weeks since his return. Sure, he’d been content before, but it felt great to do something physically demanding again. It also felt good to feel the soft shifting of the bit-bag dangling from his neck. The Apples paid based on how much work the laborers did each day, and he’d worked like an animal, venting his frustrations on the trees. He’d not broken down like that since he was a foal, much less in front of a mare as frustrating as Daring Do. Though he’d never admit it, it’d felt good to talk about it, even as little as he had. You are becoming weak in this peaceful era, his mind started in. You broke down before a mare you barely knew after years of constant fortitude. What kind of captain are you? “I am a Captain no more,” Barrier replied to himself aloud, dejectedly. Your comrades would be disappointed and ashamed of you… the voice responded before fading out; only then did Barrier realize he’d made it back to the library. “I have returned!” Barrier called, out nosing the library open. The sight that awaited him was not what he’d been hoping to see; Daring Do sat at the center-table of the library with a number of quills, parchment, and inkwells resting on the table. “We’re gonna learn you some modern Equish.” The mare grinned an almost predatory smile, driving a slight chill up Barrier’s spine; whether it was abstract fear or excitement, the stallion wasn’t entirely certain. *** “Daring, wake up… th... err you are drooling upon me again…” Barrier frowned as he tried to recall the endless hours of torment. “Dammit pillow…stop it. Why you’s movin’?” a sleepy voice responded, followed by the mare shifting, removing her wing from the stallion’s side and sitting up, only vaguely noting the thin trail of drool connecting her lower jaw to his shoulder. “Honestly, have th… you no dignity?” Barrier hefted himself upright, leaving the half-awake pegasus on the couch, “Did you know that you tend to gnaw in your sleep, in addition to drooling?” “Seriously, how do you both keep ending up on the couch? I set the spare bed up weeks ago!” Twilight huffed from the doorway to the kitchen with Spike right next to her, watching the spectacle. “Wait, there’s a spare bed?” Daring shot a glare at the unicorn who was still cleaning scrubbing his shoulder with a damp cloth. “Aye, there is indeed a spare bed. Forsoothly, I simply find the couch more desireable.” Daring’s eye twitched slightly. “I swear, with speech like that, you belong in a museum display case. Seriously.” “Fair Applejack has already taught me the modern meaning of the word ‘fuck’, I shall learn more with time, if your teaching last night was any indicator.” “Don’t swear in front of Spike!” Twilight chastised, “and what do you mean ‘teaching last night’?” Twilight’s eyes widened slightly. “I gave him a crash course in the use of modern speech.” Daring rolled off of the couch, stretching her wings out and arching her back like a cat. “Guess next I should try to fix all of those innuendos he’s throwing around.” “…breakfast is done.” Twilight shook her head in resignation before turning and disappearing into the kitchen once more, soon returning with plates of pancakes. “Oh!” Spike raised his hand sharply, suddenly making his presence more known. “That reminds me! The princess sent both of you a letter!” The dragon sprinted up the stairs on his stubby legs. Barrier glanced curiously at the pegasus, raising his eyebrow in silent questioning. “Why does everypony give me that look when they find out I write to Princess Celestia and she writes back?” Daring asked with a stamp of her hoof. “Th-you are not the company she would typically keep. Princess Luna would seem the more likely one,” Barrier stated bluntly with a shrug. “Though, I am curious as to the subject of thy message.” “I spend my time hunting dangerous artifacts and magical items,” Daring reiterated yesterday’s statement. “Is it so hard to believe she’d be interested in stuff that could harm Equestria, or worse?” “I see,” Barrier said simply as he took up his usual seat at the table across from Twilight. “It seems I owe you some degree of apology, Miss Do.” “Yeah, that’s gotta stop. Firstly, don’t call me Miss Do. I’m not that old. Just call me Daring or something. And secondly, what? Apologize for shocking the ever-loving Tartarus out of me? Kind of a jerk-move, I agree.” “I shan't apologize for that,” Barrier responded with a flat stare. “After what thou didst unto my siring staff, methinks I should have done worse. However, rules are rules, and Princess Celestia informed me of hers. No, I apologize for assuming thou wert a common bandit and graverobber. Nothing more, nothing less,” Barrier said, turning back to the table and glass of orange-juice. “You were asking for damage there and you know it,” Daring snorted as she too turned back to her breakfast. “So, Daring, how long do you think you’ll be around?” Twilight cut in, trying to ease the mood. “Until horn-head here,” she motioned to Barrier, “agrees to give me that memorial for the museum.” “I would recommend buying land then,” Barrier responded as his eyes drifted towards Spike, who was fumbling back down the stairs, a scroll in each claw. “For you, and…you.” He handed the scrolls to their respective owners. Daring dropped her silverware while Barrier simply took the scroll in his magic and continued to eat as he read in silence, Daring doing the same. “So what did yours say?” Daring asked as she rolled her scroll back up and tossed it to Twilight, who quickly opened it and began reading it herself. “It was simply Her Highness granting me permission to keep the monument.” Barrier smiled smugly at the pegasus before he also gave his letter to Twilight. Like Daring Do, he too had seen the curiosity in his fellow unicorn’s eyes. “So, you’ve got permission to keep the monument,” Daring began at a surprisingly soft tone rather than the scratchy voice Barrier was accustomed to, drawing his eyes to hers. “Indeed…” Barrier started hesitantly. “So I guess there’s no chance of me convincing you to give it to a museum?” Why are you so insistent on keeping it? Barrier mentally asked himself, You are angry that the princess left it there to rot, but that can’t be the only reason… Daring Do casually poked the stallion in the shoulder, garnering no response. “He always do that?” she asked Twilight uncertainly. “I’ve seen him do it once or twice when he gets caught up in his thoughts,” Twilight said with a shrug, going back to her pancakes. “Just give him a bit, he’ll probably come out of it.” It is a tether to your past, his mind finally settled on the idea You have latched onto it…like some morbid reminder of where you came from. Sooner or later, you will have to let go of your past. Now may be a good time to begin. “Very well, Miss Do,” Barrier sighed, “I shall give thee the monument, but I wish to personally accompany it to the museum. If I find that its new home is not satisfactory, mine offer shall be retracted. Do we have a deal?” Daring grinned widely. “Deal.” The pair were torn from their thoughts as Spike belched out a stream of flame. “Am I the only one who worries about frequent open flames in a library… in a tree?” Daring asked, eyeing the scroll curiously. “It’s for you two.” Spike held the scroll out to them, Barrier popping it open his magic and glancing it over before an expression of confusion settled on his face. “Well, what’s it say?” Daring asked, moving to lean over his shoulder. “I have not the faintest idea. It would appear that written Equestrian has changed to become unrecognisable. The previous messages I have received were written in the language of my time.” Barrier passed the letter off to Daring. “You can’t read modern Equestrian? If you want, I could teach you,” Twilight offered with her usual soft smile. “Afraid that’ll have to wait. The letter is a summons to Canterlot.”