Every day for the next week-and-a-half repeated itself; breakfast and then physical therapy, lunch and then magical treatments, followed by visiting hours and Twilight…assaulting him with questions. She always seemed to steer wide of personal questions, the princess’ doing, no doubt. He had initially occupied his spare time catching up on history and learning new speech patterns, but there wasn’t a lot to take note of. The last thousand-years had been painfully peaceful and speech patterns hadn’t changed much; a lot less pronouns, but little else of note.

“Guess I should be glad there wasn’t anything interesting to write about…not like it was back before the Nightmare…” He had taken to holding short conversations with himself to help fill the time; most of the nurses were certain he wasn’t in the right state of mind.

“Mr. Barrier?” Nurse Tenderheart, he believed.

“I’m awake.” He replied eagerly, despite knowing that she was only delivering breakfast.

“You sound awfully excited today.” The nurse commented as she deposited the tray of food on the bedside table, ignoring the mild look of distaste that Barrier was giving it.

Turning his attention from the food to the nurse, he nodded. “Yeah, I get out today; gotta take a trip to Canterlot to answer a summons.” The summons had been delivered by Twilight and she had specifically said that there was no rush; fortunately the doctor wasn’t around to hear that part.

“Well then, I’ll leave you to it. If you need anything, just press the call button.” Tenderheart departed, leaving Barrier to climb from his bed and hobble to the bathroom with a tray of food.

Barrier muttered dryly to himself as he scraped the food into the toilet and flushed it, as was his habit with breakfood as of late. Seriously, that stuff was worst than field rations. With that out of the way, he returned to his bed and began to throw a ball that one of Twilight’s friends had left him at the wall repeatedly.

As the sun reached its zenith, Barrier was still slapping the ball against the wall in a dull, neverending cycle. It wasn’t until Doctor Horse appeared in the doorway with a wheelchair that his attention failed, leaving the ball to smack him square in the horn.

“I meant to do that.” He lied as he rubbed his sore horn; that ball was a helluva lot harder than it appeared.

“Of course you did.” the doctor shook his head as he lifted Barrier in his magic, depositing him in the wheelchair,

“Were you able to find what I asked for?”

“Yes, it was in the armor as you said, though I’m afraid it’s a little bloody.” The doctor removed a necklace from his labcoat, passing it to Barrier with his magic.

“And the other thing?”

“That is a yes as well, though I still wish you had consulted Miss Sparkle beforehand.” The doctor began wheeling Barrier to the front desk, sitting a clipboard in his lap as he did so. “Those are the transfer papers. I expect to hear that you’ve checked in to Canterlot Memorial Hospital by the end of the night, Mr. Barrier. You’d be here for another month were it not for your summons.”As they reached the front door, the doctor fell back to all four legs. “And remember, no strenuous activity, your medication is in the saddlebags, and Canterlot Memorial is expecting you by eight-o'clock.

“Yes mom. If I eat all my dinner can I go outside to play?” He muttered annoyedly as he wheeled himself away.

“I just said no strenuous activity!” Barrier vaguely heard the doctor yell as he gained distance.

As he wheeled himself through town, Barrier suddenly felt a chill work it’s way down his spine; all of his instincts were suddenly screaming at him to run. Taking a deep and steadying breath, Barrier gazed around, trying to figure out why he suddenly felt this way; after a moment of scanning, his eyes settled on a gingerbread-house with a large cupcake hanging above it. Without a doubt, it was the origin of his fears. As casually as he could, he began to wheel himself away, praying that whatever had him frightened wouldn’t pursue.

“Barrier! You’re out of the hospital already?” Ah Twilight Sparkle…of course she would be the one he ran into. “I thought it’d be at least another week!” Twilight had to maintain a brisk trot to keep up with the wheelchair. “Where in the hay are you going to so fast?”

“In order, I’m being transferred to Canterlot Memorial so I can answer the summons from the princess, there is no way in Tartarus that I’m that I am staying in any hospital for another week, and I’m in a hurry because I am fairly certain I’m in mortal peril.”

The train station had just come into view; on the tracks was easily the fruitiest damn thing he’d ever seen. He had never seen a train in-person before, only briefly reading about their creation. The idea had fascinated him as such machines would have been tremendously helpful in his time; in person it was kind of underwhelming.

“Yeah, okay,” Barrier couldn’t help but press a hoof to his face “next I’ll find out that their using gold to make the guards armor.”

“Well of course they’re using gold. It’s the most readily available metal, after all.” Twilight spoke very matter of factly.

With an elongated sigh, Barrier wheeled himself to the ticket booth. “How in hell do you downgrade armor!” Barrier shook his head annoyedly, I’m just going to stay quiet I think.” Purchasing a ticket with a handful of borrowed bits, Barrier couldn’t but frown as he did so. He really needed to attain some bits of his own; being broke sucked. “Huh, maybe I shouldn’t have quit.”

Turning to Twilight, Barrier’s expression softened and a genuine smile -the first since he had woken up- crossed his face. The situation sucked, but maybe it wasn’t all bad. “I’ll see you on the return, Twilight. Peace until then, friend.”

Canterlot was, for lack of a better word, disappointing. The city walls were clearly more for display rather than actual usage; and why the hell was the city on the side of a mountain? That was a disaster waiting to happen.

Departing the train station, Barrier carefully wheeled his way toward the castle looming in the distance, taking care to avoid the many ponies meandering through the street; most of them were clearly of the upper class and said nothing to Barrier as he wheeled along. It wasn’t until he had reached the castle and was waved through the front door that one of the nobles finally spoke to him…sort of; it went about how he had expected it to.

“Honestly, they’ll let any pathetic commoner roam the castle these days!”

Raising an eyebrow, Barrier turned his chair around to face his new best friend, a slight grin on his face. He loved snobs; they were easily one of his top five favorite things. This one looked ripe for the picking; blond well-cut mane, a unicorn, and a high-ranking noble if his attire was any indication.

Putting on the most snobbish tone he could muster, Barrier began “Oh, I know…what were they thinking letting a bumbling oaf like yourself wander the halls? Honestly, were it up to me we would nae allow you inbred fools entry to the city, much less our castle.”

The blond unicorns expression turned from superior to contemplative to stupefied over a period of three seconds and no retort seemed to be forthcoming; all in all, in was quite amusing.

Finally, the silence was broken, a choked giggle escaping the guards-mare who had been escorting Barrier to the throne room.

“Y-yo-!” The noble sputtered to life, his brain finally firing back up “You dare laugh at me!”

Barrier was surprised that he had lashed out at the young mare rather than him; it made him suspect that this noble had no actual authority over civilians.

“I’ll have you discharged, you harlot! I’ll-” the noble went into a rant, detailing all of the punishment he would personally oversee.

The guard’s expression fell as soon as Blueblood said that she would be discharged -- nothing seemed to bother her more than that. “I’ll see to it that you spend the rest of your days in poverty you who-”

“Hey pillow-bitter!” Barrier cut him off, unintentionally trading his usual voice for a far icier and threatening tone; nobody talked to his fellow guards that way.

Blueblood fell silent and the guard’s jaw dropped. Most ponies wouldn’t dream of throwing such an insult at a fellow pony, much less at the nephew of Princess Celestia.

“Until three weeks ago, I killed ponies for a living…open that meat-hole of yours again and I’ll have all the reason I need to come out of retirement.” a short breath, followed by Barrier’s horn flaring ominously black “Do yourself a favor, colt…run home before I ship ya’ there in a pine box.”

Blueblood seemed like he was going to make a retort until their eyes met.

Rage, power, wrath…Barrier’s eyes seemed to threaten Blueblood in ways unimaginable. They weren’t the eyes of an injured pony anymore, they were the eyes of someone who could and would kill if he deemed it necessary; they almost seemed to be begging him to make a retort.

As fast his legs would carry him, Blueblood turned tail and sprinted down the hallway, stumbling once or twice.

“I…is it true?” The young guards-mare asked timidly, uncertain about the sudden personality shift her ward had undergone. “Did the royal guard really kill ponies back then?”

Letting a sigh escape him, Barrier mentally chided himself; he had let his attitude get the better of him.

“What’s your name, private?”

“D-Daisy Chain, sir.”

“To answer your question, Miss Chain, Equestria was a very different place a thousand years ago. Few of the other races saw an opportunity for easy conquest. We did what we had to do for our fellow ponies…nothing more and nothing less. Come on, let’s get to the throne room before I do something else stupid.”

“Yes sir.” The guards-mare stood up behind the wheelchair and began down the hallway towards the throne room.

“Announcing Sir Magic Barrier.”

“Magic Barrier?” Celestia questioned from her throne, her eyebrows furrowing in annoyance; she hadn’t expected him this soon.

Barrier bowed his head as best he could as he was wheeled in.

“Magic Barrier, what are you doing here?” Celestia glanced down at the unicorn doubtfully “you shouldn’t be out of the hospital for another week, at the very least.”

“Needed another favor and to talk to you about your job-offer, so I escaped the institution and came here to see you.”

“Hospital. It’s a hospital, Barrier.” Celestia pressed a hoof to her head. “Right, the job offer. I’ll speak to the involved parties and get back to you on that, what favor would you ask of me this time?”

“My hunch was correct and I’d like to meet the others, if you’ll permit.”

“Of course, my assistant will get you their address. Is there anything else?”

“No, your highness... “ Barrier turned his chair around and wheeled himself to the door, mentally noting how annoyed the princess seemed to be ”Oh, there is one thing. Militarily, your city sucks. Honestly, a hive of insects could lay siege to this city and you’d be defenseless.”

Wheeling himself out, Barrier found the assistant waiting for him, a slip of paper in hoof.

“Thank you, sir.” Barrier tilted his head slightly and wheeled himself away slowly, his escort behind him. As he made his way to the gate, Barrier mentally took note of every little detail he could, from guard positions to the various rooms. His eyes perked up at the sight of one room in particular. It was an ornate door with a crescent moon on it. Noting it’s location, he departed, looking at the scrap of paper only after he was a safe distance from the castle.

Despite the confidence he had felt before, Magic Barrier’s mouth was fairly dry for reasons he couldn’t understand. Raising his hoof to knock, he hesitated. What would he say? What did he hope to accomplish by confronting these ponies?

“This was a bad idea…” Barrier lowered his hoof, a familiar sensation running through his stomach; he was nervous. “Just turn around and leave, Barrier.” The door opened as he spun his wheelchair around.

“Hah! I told you someone was at the door, Velvet!”

Turning around to explain that this was an accident, Barrier’s brain shut down temporarily. It was like looking at a carbon-copy of his long-deceased father.

“How can I help you today, mister…”

“Barrier. Magic Barrier. I’m here to speak to you actually, Night Light.” Barrier realized he might have come off as rude, having skipped the use of honorifics; it probably wouldn’t matter much here soon anyways.

“I see. And what did you need to see me ab-”

“Who’s at the door, Night Light?” the mare cut her husband off as she approached the door, taking position up alongside her husband. “Oh wow, he looks a lot like Shiny!”

“I really have to meet this Shining character. That’s the third time someone has said I look like him.” Or would it be that Shining looks like Barrier? “Anyways, I’m here to ask you some questions about you,“ He nodded at Night Light “your daughter Twilight, and especially this Shiny character.

“That’s quite an interesting request,” Velvet pointed out. “Why don’t we discuss this inside? I just put the kettle on.”

Stepping aside to usher the unicorn in, Night Light pushed the door shut and followed his wife and guest into the living room.

“So, why do you want to know about our family history?” Night Light asked as soon as Velvet left to check the kettle. “It’s a fairly random topic, all things considered.”

“”Well, Night Light…you probably won’t believe me when I tell you this, but know that I have evidence to support this statement.”

Velvet stood in the doorway, observing the conversation curiously.

“Heh…this is kinda hard to say really. It sounds stupid when I play it out in my head.”

“Just say it dearie. It can’t be that bad.” the unicorn mare pitched in.

“I’m your great grandpa.”

And silence.

Author's Notes:

Not a lot to say about this one. S'longer than the others and I honestly am not sure how I feel about it. Going to try and find a way have things pick up a bit. Maybe go with partially episodic chapters...maybe have Barrier be a third-party observer to season 1. Hell if I know where this will go. x.x

Thanks to:
Havokwithak for helping see me through this chapter at like 3 in the morning. Seriously, go check that guy out.
Izanagi for editing. Still waiting for his answer to my sexual advances, but we'll see.