Magic Barrier settled in to a comfortable routine over the next several months; he would wake up, usually hungover, and eat breakfast. Afterwards, he would run through the various exercises such as push-ups, sit-ups, and magical conditioning where he flared his horn and magic as strongly as he could for extended periods of time. From there, he would run to the Manehattan library and study every article he could find, both fiction and nonfiction about Canterlot Castle and the princess of the moon. After that, he would return to his apartment to shower and drink himself to sleep.

After his nightmares started, he turned to the age-old remedy of alcohol to suppress them. This pattern continued for nearly four months until Barrier finally decided it was time to act out his plan. He had a near-perfect mental map of Canterlot Castle and an impressive understanding of the Princess of the Night’s powers and capabilities; all he needed now was a weapon capable of killing an alicorn. While weapons did exist, they were far and few inbetween and the vast majority of them were housed in the Canterlot Vault, beyond his reach. It was because of this, that he found himself standing outside a particularly impressive looking mansion on the very outskirts of Manehattan.

“Mr. Melody is expecting me.” There were a pair of unicorns at the door, both roughly the same size as him and clearly trying to appear intimidating. Without a glance, they pushed the front door open and one of them led Barrier inside and up a flight of stairs.

The interior of the mansion was even more lavish than the exterior; everything from the light fixtures to the paintings on the walls screamed high-class and expensive. It would probably make most ponies feel little, but Barrier had enough experience with wealthy nobles to not care; to him, it amounted to a pony with a little-pony complex.

“Mr. Melody will see you shortly, please wait inside.”

The office wasn’t as impressive as what Barrier had seen so far. In contrast to the rest of the house, the office was plain; composed of a single desk, two comfortable-looking chairs, and a single bookshelf pressed up against the wall.

For nearly fifteen minutes, Barrier sat in one of the chairs and waited in silence, consumed in his thoughts.

This was a turning point for him; assuming this pony could help him, there would be no turning back. As he ran over his plan one more time, he couldn’t get the image of Princess Luna out of his mind; because of her immaturity, he and thousands of other ponies suffered. All because she felt underappreciated; truthfully, he could sympathize with her on some level. Nopony enjoyed their work going unnoticed. Then again, most ponies didn’t sell their soul and bodies to a dark entity and try to plunge the world into eternal darkness. To Barrier, it was only fair; she took his life, so it was only fair he took hers as recompense. At least, that’s what he kept telling himself.

“Mr. Barrier, was it?” the voice was deceptively friendly and belonged to an earth-pony with a coat similar to his, a midnight-black mane and a cutie-mark of a piano’s keyboard.

“Yes sir.” Barrier sat up straighter as the pony sat behind the desk, pulling out two cups and a bottle of scotch, filling both glasses.

As the two of them sipped the drink, the dark-maned pony began.

“I’ll cut straight to business…you seem like a stallion who can appreciate that. I understand you were asking about specific objects of interest and were directed to me. I was also informed these objects might be frowned upon by society. Tell me, what specifically are you hoping I can help you find?”

Taking a sip of the whiskey, Barrier met eyes with his host. “I need a bladed weapon forged of magicite. I have more than enough to purchase it, but finding someone who deals in them has been…difficult.”

“And why, if I may, do you need a weapon capable of killing an alicorn?”

“Revenge.” the one-word response rolled off of Barrier’s tongue with practiced ease. “Princess Luna took my life from me, I plan to take hers as recompense.”

Draining the glass of whiskey, the earth-pony sat the glass down on the desk.

“A simple enough reason, but before we discuss this further, I’ve a question.” The earth pony locked eyes with his guest.

“Is vengeance going to bring your family back to you?”

The question stung, but Barrier was quick to respond. “No, it won’t bring back my family, nor have I ever expected it to.” Barrier threw back the whiskey in the glass and felt the pleasant burn in his throat as he placed his glass on the table. “Can you help me or not?”

“For a price, I can help you.” The pony held up a hoof, cutting Barrier off before he could even start. “The price won’t be in bits. I have plenty of bits. What can you offer me that I couldn’t find elsewhere?”

That was a good question, actually; the pony clearly had far more bits than Barrier did and realistically, there was very little that bits couldn’t buy.

“I’m more combat-inclined than most unicorns due to my old-world guard training. I’m one of perhaps the top five most capable magic-users in Equestria. Beyond those, I have nothing of particular note.”

“Are you willing to kill?”

That a good question; Barrier had always been a very moral pony. Even with his plan to kill the Princess of the night, he hadn’t planned on harming any other ponies in the process. Sure, he’d killed dozens of his fellow ponies one-thousand years ago, but it was for a fairly justifiable cause, what with the risk of the world freezing over and the oceans rampaging. Could he still consider himself a good pony when he was here plotting to take revenge?

Licking his lips slightly to moisten them, Barrier took a deep breath “If it’s justifiable, I can and will kill.” Mentally, he ran over his attempts to justify the life of Princess Luna. A life for a life; she took his life, he’d take hers, so he kept telling himself.

“A bodyguard.” the earth stallion finally stated, finishing his own drink.

“A threat was made on the life of my daughter, three days ago. A rival family has decided she is worth the efforts, despite her own efforts to distance herself from our family name. My daughter and I have not been close for many years; she doesn’t approve of some of my business ventures. Protect her until I can deal with those that would harm her, and you will have your magicite weapon. Is that acceptable?”

“You have a deal.” Barrier firmly shook his host’s hoof.

Nearly a week had passed since his meeting with Clavier Melody; the pair had worked out that Barrier would return when he had convinced his daughter -Octavia Melody, Barrier later found out- to pay him a visit in regards to her safety. It was for this reason that Barrier once again found himself outside the mansion. Unlike last time, Barrier had taken care to groom his coat and mane, deciding he should at least look professional. As he was shown into the mansion once more, he could hear a mare shouting faintly in the distance. His ears swiveling slightly, he could just make out the shouts.

“...nd I’ve told you, I’ll not have one of your thugs following me around! It’s bad enough for my image that I have your last name!”

The guard waving him through the door, Barrier briefly met eyes with Clavier, directing a slight nod towards the business pony before he took in the mare; her coat was a light shade of grey and her mane a dark shade of grey, not too dissimilar from his own coat. She was a beautiful mare, overall…minus the attitude she seemed to have with her father. That would have gotten him and other foals beaten one-thousand years ago.

“And another thing-” The mare fell silent and turned to face him when she realized her father’s gaze was directed elsewhere.

Barrier kept both his tone and expression professional as he swept a foreleg across his chest, bowing respectfully to the mare and spoke. “With all due respect, I don’t work for your father, Miss Octavia.” he turned to Clavier and added: “No offense, Mr. Melody, but your line of work isn’t one I think I would particularly agree with.”

Octavia was momentarily caught speechless before clearing her throat and responding. “Yes, my apologies for that…outburst. I was unaware we were having guests.” She briefly sized the unicorn up before turning to her father. “This doesn’t change anything, father. I still have no need for a bodyguard. Besides, I’m sure this gentlecolt has more important things to do than follow me around Canterlot.”

A frown on his face, Clavier pressed a hoof to his forehead. “I’ve tried to be patient about this Octavia, but you leave me no choice. If you refuse a bodyguard, I will see to it personally that you do not perform at the Grand Galloping Gala next month. In addition, I will have my men watch you from afar, regardless of your wishes.”

The two ponies locked eyes and Barrier would’ve sworn the rooms temperature dropped several degrees.

“Very well, Mr. Melody, but do not think this is over.” A flash of pain briefly perched itself on the stallion's face as his daughter referred to him by name.

Locking eyes with the unicorn, the mare spoke, “We board our train at seven o’clock sharp, tomorrow morning. I expect you’ll be there. Good day, sir.”

The only thought that worked itself through Barrier’s mind was that the mare’s amethyst eyes were gorgeous, though he didn’t vocalize the thought.

“I’m sorry that you had to see that.” The stallion pulled the bottle of whiskey out from behind the desk and skipped the cups entirely, taking a shot from the bottle and then holding it out to the unicorn.

With a shrug, Barrier took the bottle in his magic and took a mouthful of the nectar-of-the-gods that was whiskey himself. “I suppose I should head on home then. It’s been quite awhile since I had to wake up that early. I don’t think we’ll see each other again, so it’s been a pleasure, Mr. Melody.” Bowing his head respectfully, Barrier turned and departed, meeting eyes with Octavia only very briefly as he passed her on his way out.

Six-thirty in the morning came far too early for Barrier’s tastes. Rolling off of his bed with a grunt, he took a bottle of vodka in his magic and took a quick morning-shot before he glanced around at the poor state of the room. Not like he hadn’t paid more than enough to pay cleanup costs. It wouldn’t be his problem, soon enough. With a quick shower and another shot of vodka, Barrier found himself groomed, wearing a set of plain-white saddlebags, and trotting out the door, stopping only to hand his key in at the office.

The Manehattan train-station was dreary as-is, but when you take away pretty much any and every pony that usually frequents the area, it just looked sad and pathetic.

With a sigh, Barrier plopped onto a nearby bench and waited; no doubt little-miss-sunshine would be along shortly to brighten his day.

As if on cue, Octavia trotted into view, posture straight and head-held-high. Stopping only to glance over at him distastefully, she trotted towards the train that was just pulling up.

With a sigh, Barrier climbed upright and boarded alongside Octavia, only smiling weakly at the mare who only glared and turned away in response.

“Don’t suppose it would help if I told you I’m not anymore eager to do this than you are, would it?”

The mare ignored him completely, not even acknowledging his presence with a glare anymore.

“Yeah, didn’t think so.”

As the train departed the station, Barrier took a seat across the aisle from the mare, pulling off his saddlebags and setting them in the seat next to him. Fishing around in the bags, he pulled out a bottle of vodka and a pair of glasses. Offering one to the mare, he sighed when she continued to ignore him.

“One of these days, Octavia, there will be a breakthrough in medical-science that will allow doctors to remove the tree you have lodged up your ass.” That got the mare’s attention as she turned to him and stared with a mixture of disbelief and pure, unadulterated hatred.

“You’ve got a few years until your stare is remotely threatening. Believe me when I say, you’ve got nothing on Nightmare Moon.” Pouring himself a shot and throwing it back, he turned away from the mare, openly ignoring the rage on her face.

This was going to be a long train ride.

Author's Notes:

Usual thanks go out to Izanagi/Havokwithak for editing and keeping me company respectively.

Not much to say about this chapter other than please wait until I have my umbrella open to throw shite at me.