After a quick shower and mane-trim, Barrier found himself trotting down the streets with bit-laden saddlebags. He and Octavia decided he would go pay the bills, stop by City Hall to collect whatever information he felt necessary and then he would meet her at a local real-estate office to look into available housing, followed by lunch. Afterwards, they would - assuming he found the information he needed at City Hall - go to deliver a letter to a certain lavender pegasus. From there, Octavia had a short shift at a restaurant and Barrier had to go find a job.

“Electric, paid. Rent, paid…” The unicorn muttered to himself as he crossed off his checklist. “water…just leaves City Hall.” The unicorn rolled the checklist up neatly and tucked it into his saddlebags, and then took off at a light trot, a map levitating loosely in his magic.

As he made his way through a nicer part of town and towards City Hall, he stopped as his eyes drifted to a jewelry store. Biting his lip nervously, he took a furtive glance around before adjusting his sword-strap and trotting into the store.

“Can I help you?” The mare behind the counter was a dull brown with a grey mane and a pair of eye-glasses perched on her muzzle. She, like the building - as did most government buildings - looked old, and incredibly dull.

“I’m looking for any public information regarding…” Barrier fished around in his saddlebags before pulling out a list of names. “These individuals. If there are any pictures to go with the profiles, that would be most excellent.” Barrier maintained an even and professional voice, once again standing up straight and making himself appear larger, as was his habit.

“Wait here, please.” The mare drolled out emotionlessly. Taking the list from the unicorn, she trotted into one of the many doors lining the hallway. Mentally, Barrier noted the location of the room, in case he needed to get the information he sought a different way.

After nearly fifteen minutes of deafening silence, Barrier felt nothing but sympathy for the mare. This place was boring. He desperately hoped the mare was well-compensated. After another horrific five minutes, the mare returned with four manilla folders of varying size. With a quick thank you, Barrier levitated the four files in front of him, emptying them all out at once and levitating them around him. Almost immediately, he found what he was looking for.

“Well, hello professor.” A slight smile crossed his face as he glanced at a pale lavender physicist. Committing a handful of the information to memory, Barrier levitated the papers back into their folders, handed them back over to the bored-looking mare who seemed to be staring off into space, and trotted out of the building with a slight hop in his step.

“Took you long enough.” Octavia eyed the approaching unicorn, amusement clear in her expression. “You should know better than to keep a lady waiting, you know?”

“Good thing I didn’t keep one waiting then, huh?” The unicorn teased right back, walking alongside the mare and into the real-estate office.

Playfully hard, the mare smacked him on the back of the head. “I know where you live unicorn, don’t push it.” A mischievous glint lit up her eyes, seemingly begging him to say something.

“Oh yes mistress, please, punish me more!” Barrier called out loudly, making certain the surrounding ponies could hear.

Octavia, with all the grace of a refined cellist, promptly smacked him in the back of the head again, to little avail.

“Oh mistress, it hurts so well!” The unicorn all but moaned out for other ponies to hear, but in actuality was near doubling over with laughter at the mare’s bright blush and absolutely livid expression. Totally worth it.

By the time that one of the ponies had left their desk to check on the situation, Barrier was once again underneath Octavia, the pair wrestling in what - to an outsider - looked fairly violent, no doubt.

“Oh mistress ye-” Barrier started only for Octavia to accidentally sock him right in the jaw. All he could do was chuckle when a look of profound terror overtook the mare. “Dammit, I love you.” Barrier pushed his lips to the mare before she could begin to apologize. With another chuckle, he forced himself upright, taking the mare with him.

“Sorry about that. The mistress can get a little randy when it comes to doling out punishment.” Barrier flinched in expectancy of an impact. When none was forthcoming he turned to his mare, only to be met with a flat stare.

With a silent chuckle, the mare turned to the stallion who had come to check on them. “I apologize for his behaviour. He is a rather…uncouth stallion from time to time, though he means well. We’re here to look at available housing. We’re looking to move out of our apartment and into something a little more long-term.”

The stallion’s expression lit up, going from skeptical to excited. Must be paid on commission, Barrier mentally commented. They were probably going to make his day.

“Room two-fourteen, Professor of Physics, Wing.” Barrier glanced up at the impressive three-story building.

“That’s rather interesting architecture.” Every other brick seemed to jut out slightly, giving the building a fairly unique appearance. “It almost looks like a pony could climb it, don’t you think?”

“Challenge accepted.” A wide grin etched itself on his face.

“Barrier, I was joking. You can’t climb a three-story building. You’re only a day out of the hospital.” The mare gave him a flat stare.

“I’ll meet you there!” Barrier galloped off towards the side of the building, mentally counting the rooms on the second-story of the building.

“Barrier! BARRIER!” Octavia shouted out in frustration before finally sighing and resigning herself to a possible life with that stallion. “Where did I go wrong…?” She muttered to herself as she trotted inside.

Barrier grunted as his hoof shot upward, gripping another brick. With a pained heave, he jerked himself up to the desired window. What he saw, wasn’t terribly surprising. The pegasus Wing sat at a desk, and across from him, was Octavia. The pair seemed to be in a fairly interesting conversation and it didn’t seem like he’d been noticed yet. Flaring his horn quickly, he teleported silently into the room, popping into existence behind Wing and breathing heavy. “Challenge…” he sat down on his flanks on the floor behind Wing, “complete.”

Octavia snorted in amusement as the stallion sat down. “Good for you dear, I knew you could do it.”

Wing leaned back in his desk chair and stared at the unicorn with a rather enjoyable expression plastered upon his mien. “Hello there, Magic Barrier. We’ve been expecting you, but I must say, given your state the other night, it probably would have been better to just take the stairs. Clearly, Ms. Octavia is the better half of this relationship.” He winked, utterly unable to restrain the grin forming upon his countenance. “Of course, that’s pretty much always the case when pertaining to our mare counterparts.”

“I certainly can’t argue with that.” Barrier chuckled softly, “I’m getting way too old for that stuff.” The unicorn flopped uselessly onto his back. “Good exercise, though. Might start coming here to keep in shape.”

“Eh-hem, so long as you do your sit-ups, push-ups, and stretches at home. Those are rather fun to watch.” The mare grinned teasingly, hoping to fluster the unicorn.

Not one to be outdone, Barrier shot right back, “Well, I guess I could do it all at home. You can get pretty wild, if last night is any indicator, and that alone could count for a lot.” Octavia blossomed into a full blush, coughing and turning her head away from their host.

“As amusing as it would be to watch you exercise on a routine schedule, I’m afraid it’d be really difficult to explain to students and faculty. Trust me when I say that I get enough flak for the crap Trigger pulls around here. He, by the way, is the stallion who escorted Ms. Octavia following our little flight. To be honest, I’m a bit surprised to see you so lively, but all things considered, I’m not really one to take any pony’s abilities for granted.” He chuckled and waved his forehoof. “It’d actually kind of make me terrible at my job if I did so.”

“Well, Professor.” Barrier finally climbed upright, adjusting the sword-strap for comfort. “You certainly showed your form the other night, at least from what I’ve been told. We came to thank you for saving our lives.” Barrier fished a letter out of his pocket. “Not much, since I don’t really know how else to thank you, but consider this letter an I.O.U of sorts. You ever need anything and I’m your pony. I’d imagine you’re already familiar with my capabilities and the sort.”

“The same goes for myself as well, within reason of course. I can’t help but wonder though, why save us? Barrier said that the DOC would prefer to stay hidden, so why risk it?”

Wing tapped his forehooves together and leaned over his desk. “The official answer is that Magic Barrier is an asset to this country. The more correct answer is that we look after our own. He paid his dues long ago. It’s about damn time somepony repaid the favor. Then there is the other obvious point, which is that you were the target, Ms. Octavia. Despite the risk, protecting the common pony from the shadows is what the DOC does…”

After a lengthy and rather enjoyable chat, the pair had decided to depart. Octavia, of course, wanted to take the stairs. Barrier, on the other hoof, figured the window worked just fine.

“I’ll meet you outside, ‘Tavi. Professor, it was an honor.” Barrier saluted the pegasus sharply.

Wing, realizing what was about to happen, eyed the stallion after a wave of seriousness gripped his expression. “Before you go, Barrier, I just that you’d want to know that your sights should fall on Chaconne.” The unicorn gave an affirmative nod of understanding and returned his attention to the banter at hoof.

“Barrier, so help me if you don’t get off of that windowsill right this moment, I’ll-” The mare fell silent and bolted over to the window that he had just dove out of, only to vanish in a flash of light halfway to the ground.

“That pony is absolutely, indisputably, incorrigible.” Octavia sighed and turned to the door, departing the conventional way as chuckles arose from their host’s muzzle. “Oh, and professor?” Octavia turned briefly and smiled, “Tell Trigger, that he most certainly can be made to squeal.”

Focusing intensely in the center of a small circle, Barrier’s horn had two layers of magic flared up. With a pop, the mare’s new cello popped into life in a circle across from him. Panting slightly, Barrier allowed the magic to dissipate, his horn dieing out as he did so.

Pulling him into a deep kiss, Octavia smiled at him. “I’ll see you at home tonight, love. Make sure to bring your a-game.” Her half-lidded eyes told him everything he needed to know, though the way she flicked her tail at him as she grabbed her new cello-case certainly helped to reinforce the point.

Barrier couldn’t help but bite his bottom lip as the mare walked away, her hips swaying slightly. Tearing his gaze away, he glanced up at the three-story building once again. With a slight smile, Barrier turned and went the opposite way of Octavia, heading to the nearby ‘Manehattan Times to put an ad in the paper.

Magic Barrier had a fairly specific skill-set that didn’t lend its way to tons of civilian jobs. Ultimately, based on his cutie mark, he qualified for security and security-type jobs.

With the upcoming purchase of a house - as soon as his and Octavia’s credit and references came back - he was going to need a decent job if he wanted to keep anything in savings, so, at Octavia’s suggestion, he decided to put an ad in the paper, offering himself as a bodyguard. He had no doubt the Crown and Octavia Melody would validate his references.

After that, he had to make a house-call with a certain Mister Chaconne, if Wing’s information -which he was certain it was- was to be trusted. He wasn’t losing any sleep over Clavier having likely been killed by the family, but they had attacked Octavia with clear intent to kill, not threaten or intimidate. Octavia had lost sleep worrying for his safety as well as her own. They done goofed.

So, with a clear destination in mind, the unicorn trotted purposefully towards the building in question, already running over plans as to how to his house-visit would pan out later, and whether or not he should tell Octavia he had made said visit.

“And you’re certain this is what you want the ad to say?” The pink pegasus mare with the newspaper cutie-mark glanced skeptically at the stallion across from her desk.

“For the third time, yes.” Barrier said in exasperation. “And before you ask again, I can prove that I worked for the princesses as well as the late Clavier Melody if it’s such an issue. I’m friends with his daughter and have my discharge papers at the apartment. If I offer another fifteen bits, can we wrap this up? I have an appointment to keep.” Did he ever.

With a sigh and a shake of her head, the mare finally nodded. “Very well, I’ll see to it that your bit makes it into the classifieds for the week. Anything after that and you’ll have to come back to make another ad.”

“Thank you.” Barrier all but leapt out of the chair, poured the necessary bits - seventy-five of them - onto the desk and trotted out.

Another tidbit of information ran through his mind as he once again found himself outside of a large mansion on the outskirts of Manehattan, with, go figure, another pair of burly guards standing on each side of the gate. This mansion, belonged to the illustrious Chaconne family. They were another crime-family, similar to the Melodies and also, go figure, a family of rival musicians. What is it with fancy musicians and crime families? Feels like I’m probably missing something. Barrier mused to himself as he trotted up to the two stallions - a brown earth pony and a green unicorn - and grinned and grinned at them.

“Gentlecolts, I’m here to have words with your boss regarding his blunder in Canterlot. I’d prefer it if you could tell him I’m here, if not I guess I can tell him myself by writing it out in your entrails.” The happy and pleasant way he had made the threat had made both guards shift nervously, one of them - the unicorn - opening his saddlebags with magic.

“No, please go on. I’ve been looking to vent my frustrations after that goon buried an arrow in my lung, and you guys look perfect for the role.” An almost-hopeful smile wormed it’s way onto his face as Barrier’s own sword levitated a half-inch out of its sheath, gleaming viciously in the bright light of day.

“That won’t be necessary.” A third voice called out. A small unicorn in a maid’s outfit galloped out onto the lawn, stopping to catch her breath. “Master Chaconne said he’d meet you.”

Author's Notes:

So, guess who had a hand in writing this one! That's right, Wing! So, as stated before, go, love him. You will love him. YOU'LL LOVE HIM! LOVE HIM! If that's okay, anyways.

So, as usual, thanks to Alticron and Izanagi. Also, Izanagi is starting to get uppity. He's demanding cheerios {no milk} and a half-can of pepsi. Not sure if he's going to get it, but if I'm not careful they'll end up forming a union or something, and that is terrifying.