“These trains suck.” Barrier complained as he and Octavia departed with a hoofful of other passengers. They had been on the train for an entire day after their leave from Appleloosa, on their way home to Manehattan, arriving around the time the sun had begun to set beyond the horizon.

“Yes well, while not terribly comfortable, they are the fastest way to just about anywhere in Equestria.” Octavia rolled her shoulders, trying to work out the stiffness that came from being cooped up far too long.

“You’d think they could put better seats in.” Barrier, like Octavia, was stretching his back out, arched rather similarly to a cat. He groaned in relief as several pops and snaps rang out.

“Oh, that sounded good.” Octavia commented, arching her back as well, similar pops filling the air.

“Felt as good as it sounded.” Shaking his head a few more times, he sighed in relief. “So, should we pick something up for dinner, or do we want to make something back at the apartment?”

“Mm, let’s grab something on our way home. I can’t imagine you feel like cooking after such a long trip, Celestia knows I don’t.” The mare trotted off at a slow pace, Barrier following behind her.

Biting his lower lip, Barrier tore his gaze from Octavia’s backside and sped up enough to walk alongside her.

With a flick of his horn, the apartment door flared open and Barrier trotted inside, a half-dozen envelopes floating separately in his magic.

“Anything interesting?” Octavia asked, following the stallion into the apartment. A thin layer of dust had settled over most everything and a slightly musty smell pervaded the apartment.

With a further flick of his magic, the lights flared to life and several windows opened, Barrier responding at the same time. “Electric bill, a letter about renewing our lease, something from my boss, a letter from...the hospital?” Barrier’s eyes narrowed in confusion at that one, “and…” Barrier took a sharp breath of air as he described the last letter. “A letter from your dad.”

“You can throw the last one away.” Octavia closed the apartment door with a hind leg and slid the pizza onto the countertop. “Can’t imagine he has anything terribly important to say.” The mare trotted off to the bathroom, leaving her companion alone in the kitchen.

Biting his lip in uncertainty, Barrier set the letter off to the side and opened their electric bill, scanning over the numbers before setting it off to the side with the letter about their lease and then opening the letter from Vinyl.

“What did Ms. Scratch have to say?” Octavia asked as she rejoined him at the table, taking the electric bill in her hooves.

Letting a long, drawn-out sigh escape him, Barrier tossed the letter onto the table in minor frustration. “Said that her club burned to a crisp while she was gone. Electrical fire, apparently. Nopony was hurt, but one of the DJ’s that was playing in her absence lost some equipment. She doesn’t know when she’ll have the club up and running. Said I should probably try to find another job, but that she’ll be able to pay me my usual wage for a couple of weeks while I look. Soon as things start to look up, kicks me right back down.”

“That’s unfortunate, but at least nopony was hurt. I don’t think you have too much reason to worry. There are plenty of other employers that would love to have you on board, even outside of security.” Octavia rattled out in her slight accent before she noticed the letter from her father and frowned, reaching for it, no doubt to throw it away, only for a magical aura to stop her.

“Barrier, we’ve been over this.” Annoyance crept into her voice.

“I know, I know, I’m sorry just…” Biting his lip in uncertainty, Barrier released his hold over the letter. “Just skim over it, please. I’m not asking you to make amends with the guy or anything, I know you two don’t get along. Hay, I don’t care much for the guy myself, but he does care about you, Tavi, and believe me when I say that he’s hurting when you ignore him.”

“Good, after some of the things he’s done to ponies, he deserves to hurt.” Was the mare’s only response and with that, the subject was dropped.

Clavier Melody had been the subject of their first argument as a couple, nearly two weeks after they had moved in together. Barrier had suggested the mare try to make amends and at least tolerate her father, but she hadn’t taken well to it, and the pair fought. Ultimately, they made up, though the issue remained unresolved.

“Want me to open this letter from the hospital? S’in your name.” Barrier levitated the pizza and a pair of plates over to the table as he held the letter up in a hoof.

“Go ahead. Not really sure what they’d write me for, I’ve not been to a hospital in years.” Octavia popped the box of pizza open and doled out a couple of slices on the plates. “Barrier, is something wrong?” Octavia had moved his plate towards him, only to see a tight expression as he read the letter.

“Not really sure, Tavi, but well…” Barrier wasn’t really sure how to approach this subject. He had written plenty of letters to the family of fallen ponies in his time, but this was completely different for him. The letter wavering uncertainly in his aura, Barrier levitated over to the mare, who took it in her hoof, skimming over it.

The room was silent, even as the letter fell from Octavia’s hoof, the pizza long-forgotten. The mare went through several expressions, seemingly uncertain what to feel at the moment.

“Octavia?” Barrier asked softly, resting a hoof on the mare’s withers.

A choked breath escaped the mare as she tried to speak, her shoulders visibly slumping. “He’s gone.” She managed to get out, “How am I supposed to react to this, Barrier?” She turned to her companion, their eyes meeting.

“I don’t know, Tavi.” The stallion sighed and leaned forward, resting his chin on the top of her head. “I can’t tell you how to feel about the stallion.”
“You know the last thing I said to him?” A hollow chuckle escaped the mare as she buried herself further into his fur, wrapping her arms around him tightly. “Told him I hated him.” Another choked sob escaped the mare. “Told him I hated him and to stay out of my life.” The mare’s grip loosened and she slumped lifelessly into the unicorn. “I can’t ever take that back.”

Barrier could only wrap himself tighter around the mare as she half-sobbed into his chest, clearly trying to stifle the noises.

“And why should I want to take it back?” She choked out. “I hated him and everything he stood for, so why am I so damned sad!” She pounded weakly on the unicorn and it seemed a dam broke as the half-restrained sobs became full-on tears.

“No matter how you felt about him, he was your dad, Tavi. Even if we hate our parents, we’ll always love them, Tavi.”

Barrier stirred slightly as the sun filtered through his bedroom window and onto the bed. His mind briefly flashing back to the prior night. They had gotten off of the train relatively late, grabbed a pizza, and read their mail. After Octavia read the letter from the hospital, she had cried herself to sleep in a maelstrom of emotions. Though he hadn’t thought about it at the time, more focused on comforting Octavia, Barrier was curious as to what had happened now. Clavier Melody had looked to be a fairly healthy pony when the two had met, and that had been less than six months ago. He had been in conflict with another crime-family at the time, leading to his employment as a bodyguard. Had the family gotten the better of him? Did Octavia have reason to worry? Biting his lip, he resolved to write a letter to Shining Armor and request a thorough investigation of the situation. It wasn’t paranoia if ponies were out to get you.

“Mm…” Octavia stirred slightly, glancing up at him, her eyes still slightly red from the previous night’s crying. A weak smile adorned her muzzle and she buried herself right back into his chest.

Returning the weak smile with one of his own, the unicorn broke the morning’s silence. “How’re you feeling?”

“…lost and uncertain.” The mare replied softly. “What should I do, Barrier?” The mare gazed at him once more, her sad expression still present.

“I wish I could tell you, ‘Tavi, but I honestly don’t know. Only you can decide what to do. All I can do is suggest that you don’t bottle it up. Don’t let it eat you up from the inside, try to talk about it with friends or family. I know I’ll be here if you ever need to talk.” Tilting his head down, Barrier pecked the mare slightly. “Why don’t I go make us some breakfast?”

Feebly, Octavia nodded and released the stallion from her grip, still rolling things over in her head.

“Delivery!” Several sharp knocks rang out from the door.

Opening the door with his magic, Barrier called out, “Just drop it on the table!”

“Need a signature!” The voice replied.

“Ah, bring it to the kitchen then.” Barrier replied, trotting over to the divider, briefly meeting eyes with the stallion carrying both a long package on his back, in addition to a pony-sized box, which was tethered to him and on wheels.

“Uh…” The stallion stared at the multitude of objects all doing something completely different. Several pans moved themselves onto the stove which self-ignited, pancakes were being mixed in a bowl, while scrambled eggs were mixed next to them, as well as a package of hay-bacon being opened, as well as multiple utensils, plates, and glasses, all floating themselves out of drawers and cabinets to their spots on the table. “This one is B.O.D for five-hundred bits.” The blonde-coated pegasus finally managed out, tearing himself from the spectacle that was breakfast and putting the long package forward.

“Hm, one sec. Gotta go grab the bits.” Barrier trotted out of the kitchen and back into his bedroom.

“Is somepony here?” Octavia asked sleepily, glancing up at her companion, who was counting out bits.

“Yeah, delivery-pegasus. Couple of packages I ordered from Canterlot arrived. Breakfast will be done in about twenty minutes.” Pecking the mare quickly, Barrier trotted out with the required bits.

Even as he left, the magically held items continued preparing breakfast, though nothing actually went on the stove until the unicorn trotted back in. Almost all at once, pancake batter, eggs, and hay-bacon all floated onto the stove while teabags floated from the cabinets, dropping themselves in the cups on the table.

“Here are the bits, just one second while I check this…” The lengthy package tore itself open, revealing a simple wooden box. Popping the box open, he levitated a sword and sheath out, a narrow grin perching itself on his face. The blade gleamed dully in the light, having been made to his exact specifications. Measuring out to exactly thirty-seven inches, the blade ran all the way through the hilt, which looked to be a dark shade of mahogany, as he had suggested. In addition, the sword felt sturdy and he couldn’t bend it in his magic like he had been able to do to the display blades. The sheath, like the blade, was made to specifications, being made entirely out of brass, with a thin padding inside of it and a plain leather strap fixed at the end.

The pegasus swallowed nervously as the package was unveiled. Weapons weren’t unheard of, but full-on swords were unheard of in a large city such as Manehattan, and the unicorn clearly went over it with a discerning eye.

“Well then, that concludes our business.” Levitating another one-hundred bit piece to the pegasus as a tip, Barrier sheathed his blade and placed it on the counter, turning his focus back to breakfast. Going to throw the wrappers and egg shells away, Barrier glanced sideways at the trash can. Glancing uncertainly at his bedroom door and back to the trash-can, he quickly levitated the letter out of it. He wasn’t one to push the issue, especially now, but he couldn’t help but wonder what the letter contained, and some part of him was certain Octavia would want to read it at some point or another herself.

Lured by the promise of a much-needed breakfast, Octavia pushed her way out of the door, glancing at her lover with a grateful smile before she noticed the letter in his magical aura. With only a slight waver of her smile, she trotted over to the table, taking a seat.

“We’ll read it after breakfast.” The mare all but whispered in defeat.

Author's Notes:

Sorry if the whole April Fools bit upset anybody. If it helps any, was damn fun seeing reactions to it. ;) As stated in the joke chapter, it'll be taken down and the complete tag removed at midnight (Ten and a half hours) and regular updates are still on schedule.

Thanks as always to my proofers/editors, the guy give me serious wood as they should you. Uh, happy april fools as well, that was fun. So yeah, read, enjoy, hate, masturbate in public, etc,.