Barrier shot a look of pure hostility at Cadance through the bars, much to Shining Armor’s confusion. As soon as Shining Armor turned to look at Cadance with a questioning glance, Barrier winked subtly at the princess. Much to his pleasure, she adopted a hard expression.

“I don’t want to hear it, Barrier. You could never love Shining Armor like I could. He’s too much stallion for you and you know it.”

“You’re a homewrecker, princess!” Barrier spat back, throwing himself at the bars causing both guards on each side of the cell to jump at the sudden clang. “Shining Armor is mine and always has been! You just wait, I will have him back, Princess.” Barrier turned his gaze to Shining Armor, his expression softening. “Shining, darling, surely you remember all the good times we had? The nights we spent cuddling on your parents couch while we showed your little sister what true love was…”

“You’ll never have him back Barrier. Shining is mine and nothing you do will ever change it!” Cadance stepped in front of Shining Armor, blocking the stallion from view.

“If I can’t have Shining Armor, then neither will you!”

Shining, deciding the best course of action was to ignore the antics of his friend and marefriend, levitated a key to the cell-door.

The moment the cell-door opened, Shining was all but tackled by the charcoal unicorn.

“Oh thank you, Shining, I knew you’d choose me over that tramp!” Octavia raised an eyebrow at the curious scene.

“Barrier, get off of me.” Shining’s voice was blunt and deadpan.

Taking a particularly loud breath through his nostrils, Barrier whispered just loudly enough to be heard by all of the dungeon’s occupants.

“You smell nice today.”

“Oh get off of me!” Shining shoved the charcoal unicorn off of him with a huff, causing both Cadance and one of the cell-guards to giggle.

“Self-defense or not, this is serious Barrier. You killed two ponies, crippled two others, and assaulted two members of the guard. In the middle of Canterlot no less.” Shining rubbed his forehead with a hoof. “Princess Celestia was livid, Barrier.”

“So, what’s the verdict? Lock me up, throw away the key? Do I publicly apologize for being incapable of fighting five ponies with no fatalities?”

“You know that’s not the problem here Barrier. Equestria has its fair share of deaths, but this is a whole different creature. It was messy and in public. Over fifteen ponies saw you gore a unicorn with your horn.”

With a pronounced sigh, Shining continued.

“You probably won’t see a trial for it. Nearly everypony wants this to go away it seems, not that I can blame them too much. The princesses have both agreed that it was self-defense, but Celestia wanted you watched and followed. Lucky for you, something happened to change her mind. Your dungeon-fees have already been paid, and you’ve been given …you’re both free to leave at any time.”

“Not that I’m complaining, but who paid our fees?”

“A mister…” Shining glanced down at the papers on his desk and leafed through them briefly. “Clavier Melody.”

A sour expression flashed across Octavia’s face, while Barrier simply nodded in understanding.

“Well, I guess that explains why I’m not catching ten tiers of flak for this whole incident.” With a heave, Barrier climbed out of the chair. “I suppose we’ll let you get back to the grind, Shining.” Glancing over at Cadance, who had been in the room with them, albeit completely silent, he tilted his head in respect. “Princess.”

“I suppose I owe my father an apology.” Octavia commented as the two of them meandered through the castle corridors. “I can’t believe I was so foolish as to bel-” Octavia fell silent in favor of bowing.

“Princess Luna.” Barrier’s tone caused the Princess of the Night to take a few steps back, and her two accompanying night-guards to take two steps forward, in front of the mare.

“Magic Barrier, we-”

“Don’t.” Barrier cut her off with a hoof. “There isn’t anything to be said between us.” Though Barrier knew that statement to be a lie, he simply didn’t want to speak with the mare.

One of the night guards took a step towards him, raising a hoof, only for Barrier’s gaze to turn on the thestral, freezing him in his tracks.

“Step off foal, I’ve already killed two ponies this week, no need to make it a third.”

“If thou chooses to be hostile towards us, we understand Barrier. You have that right, but it will not extend to my guards.” Princess Luna had stepped forward as Barrier made the threat..

“Or what, you’ll threaten to plunge the world into an ice-age again?” Barrier’s hard gaze met that of the princess who visibly shrunk back, hurt at the comment.

“You’ll order the thestrals to attack mares and foals in favor of splitting your sisters attention again?” Barrier didn’t move from his spot, and Luna cringed back even further, her bravado leaving her almost immediately as her eyes began to moisten up ever-so-slightly.

Silence reigned for all of ten seconds before a resounding smack shattered it. Octavia had smacked the ever-living tar out of the unicorn, much to the guards and princess’s surprise.

Rubbing his cheek slightly, Barrier turned to the mare; the bitch had just knocked a tooth loose.

“How dare you speak to the princess that way!” The mare began almost immediately, giving the unicorn no time to react. “I understand now that there is some bad blood between the two of you, but that gives you no right to act that way! She clearly suffered as much, if not more, than you!” the mare proceeded to smack the unicorn again and continue to berate him for several long minutes.

“No matter how you feel, she is still a pony, same as you and I!”

There wasn’t a sound to be heard; neither the guards, the princess, nor Barrier could say or do anything beyond watch Octavia catch her breath and glare at the unicorn.

“Now, what do you have to say for yourself, Magic Barrier?” She was akin to a mother lecturing a child in tone.

With a deep breath, he met eyes with the seemingly dumbstruck princess of the night.

“Miss Melody is right, I was out of line, Princess. I went too far in my anger and I apologize.” Even in Barrier’s mind, he knew he had said too much. He couldn’t help it; everytime he looked at the princess of the night, all he could do was think about what he lost and what he’d never have again.

“I apologize for his behaviour as well, Princess. He’s had a very stressful last couple of days.” Octavia seemed to have calmed down and bowed once more to the princess.

“No apology necessary, Sir Barrier.” The night princess finally found her voice, though she still sounded quite nervous. “We are well aware that you lost that which was most precious to you due to our mistakes. For what it's worth, know that we blame ourselves. Our past haunts us every day and I’ve no doubt that it shall continue to do so for the rest of our lives.”

Barrier didn’t respond to the princess, instead turning to Octavia.

“We should go before it gets too dark. I believe I still owe you a dinner-date, Miss Melody.”

“O-of course.” Octavia blushed slightly at the sudden shift in subject and tone, and bowed a final time to the princess before she trotted after her unicorn companion.

“Well, that was unexpected.” Shining commented to the pink mare after Barrier and Octavia had departed. “Honey?” Shining noticed that the mare’s attention seemed to be focused entirely on the departing ponies.

The princess of love had a sly grin on her muzzle, her eyes glimmering slightly. Shining knew that look all too well and could only face-hoof in response.

“Thank you for that, Octavia.” The pair had just left the castle. “I was out of line and…not in the right mind.”

“Um, sure. Uh, sorry I smacked you back there. I didn’t intend to lose my temper, it just sort of happened.” The mare chuckled sheepishly.

“Eh, I needed it. So, dinner, do you want to eat out or do you want me to cook us something back at Night Light’s place?”

Octavia snorted slightly at the question.

“Honestly, inviting me to your…” Octavia fell silent for a moment. “I don’t believe you ever specified your relation to the Sparkle family.

“I’m Night Light’s great grandfather times…well, a lot. Same for Shining Armor.”

“...that will never stop being mind-numbing will it?”

“Probably not, no. Hell, it still confuses me. Physically, Night Light is like...twenty-five years older than me. In any case, dinner.” Barrier’s stomach grumbled at the statement, as did the mare’s, much to her embarrassment. “Night Light and his wife are visiting Twilight in Ponyville for the weekend, so how about I cook us something?”

“Going to serve me field rations, are you?” the mare smirked as they trotted towards their temporary place of residence.

“Hay no, I’ve got a brick of dirt in the fridge with your name on it.”

The mare giggled slightly but didn’t respond.

“So...two more days until the Grand Galloping Gala. I know you missed practice yesterday, but do you think you’ll be ready?”

“Mm, I’ve no doubt my ensemble will not be particularly pleased with my absence, but I’m certain we’ll manage. I suppose we’ll probably go our separate ways by the time the grand-galloping gala rolls around.” The mares voice trailed off towards and the rest of the trip was spent in silence for both ponies.

Barrier found himself staring at the oven, a frown adorning his face. At least, he was fairly certain it was an oven. It was a far-cry from the rock ovens he had grown up with and he wasn’t entirely sure how this thing worked. Glancing at the ingredients he had dug out of the fridge and then back to the oven, he pressed a hoof to his face. Glancing out of the kitchen window at the backyard for a brief moment, Barrier trotted out the front door and looked around the slowly-darkening neighborhood suspiciously. With a flare of magic and a grunt, several moderate sized stones ripped themselves out of the neatly-paved streets. The stones held in his magic, Barrier trotted through the house, stopping to grab several logs from the fireplace in his magic, and out into the backyard. With fifteen minutes of precision magic, Barrier had a makeshift rock-oven built in the backyard and a fire sparking up underneath it. Within another thirty minutes, during which the sun completely disappeared beyond the horizon, he had portobello mushrooms stuffed with onions, various cheeses and garlic. With a quick smear of butter on the exterior of the mushrooms, he found himself sealing them inside of his makeshift oven just as Octavia trotted out back.

The mare could only scrunch her eyebrow and stare speechlessly at the rudimentary rock oven.

“Couldn’t figure out the oven in the house.” Barrier explained as he trotted past the mare. “Dinner will be ready in like…twenty minutes, though.”

Octavia only continued to stare at the dimly glowing rock-oven. With a silent facehoof, she shook her head and trotted after the stallion who was now sitting at the kitchen table, a glass of water in hoof.

“Where did you get the stone for that oven?” Octavia finally asked, finding the words that had escaped her before. “The street. It’s surprisingly good stone, believe it or not.”

Pressing a hoof to her face, the mare shook the absurd statement from her head; it wouldn’t pay for her to question it.

“So, where did you learn to cook? I didn’t think they taught culinary in the guard.”

“A pony in my squad taught me the basics when we were out in the field. Had to get creative. All we had in the field back then were bars of condensed hay and mineral blocks. Those things were disgusting, but they kept you going I guess. Anyways, Flash Sentry was the squad’s field-chef. He taught us the basics and I just sorta built off of that. I wouldn’t cook for a living, but I could live comfortably in the wild.”

Octavia raised an eyebrow. “Flash Sentry? The same guard we met outside the castle the other day?”

“Yeah. Well, his great-grandfather, I’m fairly positive. Guy is almost a carbon-copy of him, minus the cutie mark. Wonder if this era’s Flash Sentry has a freakish amount of kids…” A sad smile found its way onto Barrier’s face, lapsing into memory as he occasionally did.

“You’re a rabbit. That’s the only feasible explanation. You and your wife are secretly rabbits.” Barrier declared from his place in the hospital waiting room.

“Oh shush, Barrier. We just really want a big family is all.” The pegasus huffed and rested his chin on a hoof.

“I’m not loaning you anymore bits, and I can’t give you another raise for like...seven or eight months.” Barrier also had his chin resting on a hoof.

“It was one time! You loaned me bits one time!”

“No, I loaned you forty-five thousand bits as a down-payment on your house one time. You still owe me most of it that, by the way.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know. I’m good for it, don’t worry.” Flash fell silent for a moment. “So, Fleetfeather and I were talking about the godparents…” Flash glanced over at his unicorn friend. “We wanted you to be the godfather, if you’d be willing.”

Barrier snapped back into reality with Octavia’s face only centimeters from his, a marker held firmly in her mouth and her eyes wide as Barrier’s eyes came back into focus. A slight blush showing through her coat, she pulled back and cleared her throat lightly, setting the marker on the table, a slight snicker escaping her.

“Mature Octavia, very mature.” Barrier commented dryly as he created a reflective plate of magic and took stock of his face. He had a particularly impressive marker-monocle with a half-finished mustache.

“It’s not my fault you zone out like that. You were practically begging for it.” She somehow managed to sound dignified while biting back her chuckles.

“If this marker is permanent, I’ll eat you.”

Octavia’s eyes widened and a blush spread across her cheeks while Barrier slammed his face into a hoof.

“That sounded a lot better in my head.” He glanced at the blushing mare intensely as a sly grin wormed it’s way onto his face. “Though I suppose there are far worse things to eat in that regard.”

“How dare you!” Octavia’s face was redder than a tomato -a rather impressive feat, given her grey coat- as she sat upright and bolted towards the unicorn, a hoof raised threateningly as Barrier bolted out the back door.

Author's Notes:

Alcohol and writing mix surprisingly well. I can't remember if it's this one or 14 I wrote while drinking, but I think it worked since I woke up to like...a chapter and a half written.

Thanks To:
Izanagi for editing and proofing! Also for letting me watch him sleep. The way he kicks his leg when he registers a noise? Adorable.
Alticron for editing and proofing as well as defending me in court on the stalking charges. That was nice of him.