“Honestly Barrier, you committed a felony!” A hoof slammed itself down on the desk.

“Oh, so I should have splattered their insides all over the neighborhood?” Barrier’s delivery was casual, causing both of the ponies in the room to cringe.

“No! You just...gah!” a sigh of frustration. “Seriously Barrier…” the unicorn pressed a hoof to his forehead in annoyance. “I’ll make sure that the rumors don’t spread and that those ponies get the overtime YOU promised them, but you owe me. Honestly, those two probably think I have a mistress now…”

“So…” Now that the subject had died down, Barrier climbed to his hooves and headed towards the door, “any plans for tonight?”

“No, I’ve got a date with Cadance…big plans for this one. I’ll probably be there tomorrow night though, so maybe we’ll catch each other then.”

“You’re already seeing other people?!” Barrier suddenly shouted, “It’s only been three months! I thought what we had was special, Shining!” Barrier made an active effort to be heard by the guards outside of the office.

Shining’s deadpan stare greatly amused Barrier for some reason, while Octavia simply face-hoofed with a resigned sigh.

“Right, my business for the day is done, where to Miss Melody?” Barrier’s tone was once more professional.

“The concert hall.” The answer was curt as the mare took the lead.

As the streets of Canterlot slowly came to life and the noise picked up, Barrier groaned, holding a hoof to his head as his headache flared up. Pulling the bottle of painkillers from that morning out of his saddlebags, he dry-swallowed two pills, much to Octavia’s irritation.

“Honestly, have you no decency? Yesterday it was drinking in public on the train, then it was yelling nonsense in the castle, now you’re eating pills like candy in the streets of Canterlot!” Despite being no more than a hushed whisper, Octavia still managed to portray her irritation flawlessly.

“What can I say, you bring out the best in me.” Barrier retorted quietly as the concert hall came into view.

Turning to Barrier, Octavia glared at him as the two of them entered the lobby. “I am going to practice. I trust you’ll not cause me any trouble as per our earlier agreement.” It wasn’t a question.

“What time should I expect you to be done?”

“I will return at eight o’clock.” She turned and walked off, leaving Barrier to stare at her backside.

After several seconds of staring, Barrier coughed slightly and turned away as he realized what he had been doing.

As soon as she was out of sight, he fished around in his saddlebags for a brief moment before he found the nectar of the gods that was whiskey and took a deep swallow. Stashing the bottle once more, he took in his surroundings, mentally noting what he deemed weak points. The interior, like most of Canterlot, was far too lavish for his tastes; white stone and gold trimming, everywhere.

Over the next few days, he found himself in yet another routine; wake up, eat breakfast with Night Light, Twilight Velvet, and Octavia -who was surprisingly polite and presentable to the couple- go to the concert hall and wait for Octavia’s practice to end, which seemed to get gradually longer each day. He couldn’t complain too much, being a fan of classical music, but Octavia seemed to get more irritable each day, and that was beginning to grate on him. The mare could bitch with the best, no doubt.

This day, like many others, started in the same pattern.

““What does the fox say…” Barrier softly sang to himself as he trotted around the lobby; practice was set to last nearly ten hours today; it was a long day. As his brief song came to a close, he took a seat on a bench and lapsed into memory.

“I swear to Celestia, Sergeant, if you sing one more word of that song I’ll have you discharged!” Barrier found himself all but shouting at the young lieutenant in front of him.

The lieutenant, an orange pegasus with a dark-blue mane, only grinned widely as he clearly took a deep breath and opened his mouth to speak, only for a sharp rap on the barracks door to silence him.

“Oh, thank whatever gods exist.” Barrier rolled off of his cot and onto his feet as he eyed the pony that saved him from committing an act of murder.

The filly couldn’t have been more than six or seven years of age and she seemed to be trying to hide behind her pink mane.

“Um, the princess asked me to get a…” the filly quickly pulled a piece of scrap-paper out and continued shyly, “Lieutenant Magic Barrier.”

“Relax kid, I’m not going to eat you. Give it another year or two and I can talk to the chefs, until then you’re fine,” Barrier joked as he sidestepped the filly.

“Honestly Barrier,” Flash sighed as he kneeled down to the filly’s level. “you’re just terrible sometimes.”

Magic Barrier ignored the remark and trotted away, leaving Flash Sentry and the small earth-filly to chat. Poor guy had a bunch of kids himself and always seemed to get along with them; Barrier didn’t envy him.

“What does the…” Barrier stopped as he realized he had been singing that accursed song. “Damnit Flash! I KNOW WHERE YOU LIVE!” He yelled out to nobody in particular as he face-planted the wall one good time before trotting off to meet the princess.

“I worry about that pony…” A nearby guard who had seen the display mentioned to his compatriot.

“You can’t be an officer and stay sane in the guard. Heard he spent more of the last three years in Griffin territories than in Equestria. Probably drive me bonkers, too.”

“You wished to see me, highness?” Barrier soon found himself kneeling before both princesses.

“Ah, Magic Barrier. Tis’ good that thou hath arrived.” The princess of the sun began, “As thou may be aware, the King of Griffonia announced his successor less than a fortnight ago.”

“I am aware.” Barrier kept his head kneeled and answered respectfully.

“Then thou also know he declared his son his successor.”

Barrier remained silent, his answer not needing to be spoken.

“We hereby promote you to captain, per Captain Iron Hide’s recommendation, and deliver unto you new orders.”

The last statement caught him off-guard and he almost raised his head to question it, though he managed to keep his gaze on the floor.

“Thou and five ponies of your choosing are to depart immediately for Griffin Lands to ensure the succession does not happen. We leave the method up to your choosing, captain.”

“We’re no strangers to love...” Barrier was still singing to himself after nine-and-a-half hours after his flashback; it was a rather sad sight. At the sound of hooves-on-wood, he fell silent and turned to see Octavia once more.

“Honestly, now you’re singing in public? At least sing something good; that song sounds dreadfully irritating.”

Octavia unintentionally began to hum the short snippet of the tune she had heard as they departed the concert hall, “Oh by Celestia, now you’ve got me doing it! I can’t take you anywhere!”

“Yeah, yeah, sorry. Can’t help it really. The damn tune was something they sang back when I was in the guard. It’s stupid but damn catchy.”

“You were a royal guard?” Octavia glanced over at him, seeming to size him up once more. “How do you go from a royal guard to an alcoholic and public nuisance?”

Barrier clenched his teeth at the mare’s tone of voice and silently reminded himself why he hadn’t smothered her in her sleep yet.

“Spend a thousand years on the moon with a princess who is stuck going through buckin’ puberty, that’s how.”

Octavia was unable to form a response, instead remaining silence as they wandered aimlessly.

The mare stopped at a small café, causing the unicorn to stop as well.

“I’m stopping here so I can grab a late dinner.” Octavia finally stated, choosing to ignore the absurd earlier statement.

“Why? We can just eat when we get back to Night Light’s place. We’ve done it the last few days, why break routine now?”

“You really have no sense of decency, do you? They were kind enough to house and feed us this long and you would further impose?” The mare scoffed as she trotted into the establishment.

With a sigh of resignation, Barrier trotted after the mare, muttering angrily to himself about the methods of arguing with a mare and how none of them worked.

Initially, the two had eaten in silence, both having ordered a salad, while Octavia ordered tea, and Barrier ordered ‘whatever you have that’s alcoholic’, much to Octavia’s silent fury.

“Honestly, how did you end up with this role?” Octavia finally broke the silence.

“What, babysitting you?”

“If that is what you wish to call it, then yes.” she replied moodily, “From what I’ve seen, you’re a jerk with an alcohol problem who is possibly insane; I know my father and I don’t get along, but he must really loathe me if you’re what he decided on.” The entire statement had been made very matter-of-factly, as if Octavia didn’t believe the statements could be refuted.

Normally, he would have shrugged the mare off, but a hooful of whiskey-shots during dinner had given him a different attitude.

“A jerk? Seriously, I’m the jerk?” the statement was one of disbelief “Are you honestly that conceited? You’ve done nothing but glare and openly loathe me since I stepped into your dad’s office. I’ll be the first to admit, I’m a bit of an ass, but when you treat somepony like dirt, you should expect to be treated the same in return.”

A flash of irritation crossed the mare’s face and she opened her mouth to respond, only to be cut off.

“And insane? Yeah, I’m out of my bucking mind.” Barrier continued, raising his voice slightly, “You try being sealed with an avatar of darkness for a millennium and we’ll see how straight-minded you are. Lastly, an alcoholic? Yeah, I guess I am, but considering everyone I ever held dear is dead, I think I have a little leeway!” Barrier shot upright, startling the mare and several ponies who were watching the affair; with a flare of magic, he levitated a handful of bits onto the table. “I’m not a particularly great pony. I’m an ass sometimes, and probably a jerk more often than not, but at least I don’t delude myself into thinking otherwise.” Barrier turned and trotted away, leaving the mare and surrounding ponies in a stunned silence.

He was alone on the sidewalk for nearly fifteen minutes before Octavia finally left the establishment.

“...sorry. I’ve been very difficult, I suppose.” Octavia finally broke the silence as the two them walked through the dimly lit lights of Canterlot.

“Yeah, me too.” Barrier sighed. “My usual attitude of fight fire with fire didn’t really help, and I shouldn’t have lost my temper like that, earlier.”

“Yes, though I fear I didn’t give you much option in the matter. I didn’t realize it until you yelled it back there, but I really have been impossible towards you since day one…you must think I’m a terrible pony.” Octavia glanced down at the ground.

“Well, it is the only impression I have of you up until this point.” Barrier commented without hesitation, much to the mare’s irritation.

“Honestly, have you no tact?” Octavia’s tone faded from irritated to dejected.

“Well, it was, until this conversation, anyways.” Halting the mare with his magic, he trotted in front of her and stared into her eyes intensely.

Octavia, unsure of what was happening, only stared back, her amethyst eyes meeting his. With a faint blush, she tore her eyes away from his and huffed. “So, what is your opinion of me now?”

Smiling softly as the mare turned away, Barrier trotted back to her side. “You’re not a bad pony, you were just angry, is all. As I said before, I didn’t really help the issue any with my attitude.” Holding his hoof out to the mare, Barrier smiled and finished with a simple question, “Fresh start?”

After a moment of thought, Octavia nodded and returned the smile, shaking his hoof with one of her own. “Fresh start.”

Author's Notes:

Thanks to:

Alticron for editing/proofreading.
Izanagi for editing/proofreading.
Havokwithak for getting me to write this.

Have these guys babies, I know I will.