In old Manehattan

by Askre

Chapter 12. The storm is axed.

Chapter 12

“Is he goin’ to be alright?” Applejack asked, watching Barbell talking quietly with Barricade who had finally risen up. Next to her stood Blue, who was now standing guard over Trail. The colt didn’t really dare to move with the towering earth pony over him.

“I think so, never seen the boss like this,” Blue said with a heavy frown.

“I heard he’s been changin’,” the apple farmer remarked, eyeing the blue pony who simply nodded.

“You don’t mind it?” she then asked. This time the blue pony just shrugged. Applejack grinned a little. This was a bit familiar territory.

“You don’t question the boss,” she held back a chuckle when Blue shook his head.

“The boss does what he does, not mine to question what he does. He wants to quiet down, that’s fine,” The stallion then did gave a bit longer answer than the mare was expecting.

Oh well, guess he is different enough, Applejack thought.

Their ‘lively’ conversation was interrupted by Barbell and Barricade approaching them. After giving Trail a stinging death glare, causing the teen to shrink back, the unicorn looked at Applejack questionably.

“Don’t tell me the fillies are on the run again in Hoofington,” he grunted, clearly trying to pretend nothing had happened.

“No, Ah came here to warn you about Caballeron. Ah think Ah know what kind of trap he’s plannin’ for ya,” Applejack said before glancing at Trail. “It just hit me when my cousin told us she had seen this pony with your daughter and Paper Scribbler told us you and he have a rivalry going and with him working for Caballeron now.”

Although Applejack’s telling was very abridged it was enough for Barricade to puzzle the pieces immediately together. Slowly his gaze turned back to Trail who was really wishing he could sink into the ground right now.

The unicorn activated his horn, pulled the colt up with his magic and dragged him up to be right in front of Barricade’s face. The stallion continued to stare coldly at Trail before whispering in a very deadly tone:

“What. Did. You. Do?”

“I was told to lure Cara away so Caballeron could capture her and use her as a bait for his trap.” Any resolve that had been left in Trail was quickly gone and the colt was really fearful for his life right now.

“One more thing.” Barricade sneered, tightening his magic hold on the frightened teenager. “Did you slap my little girl?”

Too upset now to talk, tears just streaming down his cheeks, Trail could do little but nod. He had seen furious ponies with murderous intent before, it just came with gang life. He had even seen Barricade at what the colt thought was his angriest. None of it compared to the cold fury that now stared him right in the face.

“Barricade!” An orange hoof was put on the unicorn’s back. Applejack had scooted closer. “There is no time for this. You have to go home to make sure Cara is still safe. There might still be a chance.”

“Leave Manehattan, Trail. Get out of here. Because if Caballeron has so much as ruffled a feather on Cara. I will not rest until you are nothing but a smear of blood on the streets of this city!” Barricade snarled and threw the colt away and started galloping away with Blue and Barbell right behind him.

Applejack started after them, but paused to glance back at Trail. The teen was rising up, visibly shaking and trying to hold back the sobs. The colt then glanced up at the mare, still looking fearful. Then he sprung off in the other direction. Shaking her head, Applejack hurried to catch up with the others.

It didn’t take her too long to at least catch up with Blue who was heavy built and thus ran much slower than the others, but he at least clearly knew where his boss was going. Further up ahead were Barricade and Barbell. Applejack figured though she would hang back.

“Thanks,” the big stallion addressed her.

“Hmm?” Applejack glanced up at Blue, wondering what he was thanking her for. “Uh for what?”

“Stopping the boss. Don’t get me wrong. Once I wouldn’t have minded watching him do some serious injury to Trail. But if he is serious about quieting down, then hospitalizing a kid isn’t how ya go about it,” the stallion said and came to a halt in his gallop. Applejack stopped as well, wondering why they had.

The mare didn’t need to worry about losing sight of Barricade and Barbell, she now saw that they had arrived at the apartment complex and the couple were rushing inside. Blue started to walk towards it at a slower pace.

“The boss can be a difficult friend, but he is a friend. Barbell also loves him and I know she doesn’t mind these changes at all. She wouldn’t even mind settling down and have foals of her own if she could have them,” he continued, being a bit more talkative than previously. Applejack arched her eyebrow.

“She can’t have foals?” the mare asked curiously.

“No, something wrong in her body, dunno what they call it, ‘infar-’ something. Anyway, she and the boss just click somehow. She’s been a good mom to Cara,” Blue explained.

Applejack just nodded. The stallion had fallen silent now as they got closer to the apartment complex. As they approach the front door, Barricade came rushing back out, along with Barbell and Tango.

“Cara snuck out,” the unicorn growled, in his magic there was a note. “She went to meet Trail, or so she thinks.”

“We found the note in her room,” Barbell explained.

“Where would she go meet Trail?” Applejack asked quickly, realizing they were on a time limit now, if it wasn’t too late already.

“The note doesn’t say, but I would guess outside Hoofington,” Barricade snorted and tossed the note to the ground.

“Isn’t the shopping district near Hooflyn a popular meeting place for teens?” Blue asked, causing everyone to look at him.

“Worth a shot,” Barricade grunted. Before they could go, Tango addressed him.

“Barricade, I’m really sorry about this…” he started but fell silent when the unicorn turned to look at him. What the former officer wasn’t expecting was a smirk.

“To tell you the truth, Tango, I would have been more surprised if she hadn’t snuck out on you. Don’t worry about it - this is on Trail and Caballeron. You just get back in there and tend to your pregnant marefriend,” Barricade told him before he started to gallop away with the others. “Oh and you don’t have pay the rent for a month. Cara’s allowance will cover it!”

Applejack considered talking with Tango before heading off after the others, but realized quickly they were pressed on time and she didn’t know the route the others were going, so it would be best to stick by them. She intended to help as she could, now that she had both seen and heard that Barricade was really changing, the apple farmer intended to see this through. She had been especially impressed how Barricade had laid no blame on Tango for Cara sneaking out. That was a clear sign to her the unicorn was improving.

Tango was given a nod and a smile from her though before she rushed after the others. This time she increased her speed a bit so she could run closer to Barricade. She did have one more question and if she got the right answer, she would have a plan brewing.

“Barricade, what does your cutie mark stand for?” she asked, knowing that sometimes cutie marks weren’t always that obvious in telling what ponies talent’s were. Having witnessed her sister and the rest of the Crusaders in action had told her that plenty of times.

“Is this really the time to be asking about the picture on my flank?” Barricade asked, glancing briefly at the orange mare. On the other side of him, Barbell was chuckling.

“Just answer the question,” Applejack demanded, figuring with Barricade it was better just to press for an answer instead of going into in-depth explanations. The unicorn raised his eyebrows, looking a little impressed.

“It will sound nuts to you, Applejack, especially since I know you know how I used to be,” Barricade took a brief moment to glance at the brick wall on his flank before moving his head forward again since he was still on a full gallop. “I’m very good at building communities. Seems whatever power that be that puts those stupid things on our flanks figured it was best represented by a sturdy brick wall.”

Applejack almost laughed at the idea but then it just hit her. The gang and actually whole of Hoofington. Despite having ruled Hoofington in fear it had still been somewhat stable according to Paper. The gang was clearly loyal to him - he seemed to know who should have what positions and it shone even better now with Barricade’s change. He had cleared out all the other gangs and Paper actually had said things were better in Hoofington.

“So, you are building a better community now in Hoofington?” Granted this was second question but her one more question had brewed another.

“Well somepony has to. The city council certainly doesn’t seem to care one bit about this district. All the city money goes into Bridleway and the other touristy places. You should have seen this place when I first got here, this was far more of a Tartarus-forsaken pit before I took over…” Barricade started to rant but then caught himself and glared at Applejack. “Alright, what are you up to?”

“Let’s make sure Cara is safe, then I’ll tell ya,” Applejack smirked, noticing that Barricade now looked very intrigued. Even Barbell looked curious.

---

High on top of a building, Silver Axe stood and observed as Caballeron and his henchponies dragged bags full of struggling fillies into an abandoned building in Hoofington Junction. Though silent on the outside, inside his mind a dark voice kept speaking.

“It seems Caballeron has already caught the bait for the trap he hopes to spring on Barricade,” The dark voice growled. “Seems my warnings came a little too late.”

Silver Axe himself was silent, even in his mind. He had fully accepted that he was no longer in control of his own mind or body and just let things happen. His wing spread as he was compelled to fly up and head to another part of Hoofington.

“Just as I suspected, they are going the wrong way. They probably still think they have time to prevent Barricade’s daughter being captured.” The dark voice sighed when seeing Barricade, the earth pony siblings and Applejack running on a street much further away from Junction. “I guess I better clue them in.”

The big pegasus sped up before diving down, landing with a heavy thud in front of the four ponies, spreading his wings as he did so to further block their path. They all stopped and looked surprised to see him once again.

“You are going the wrong way. Caballeron already has your daughter. They are hiding in Junction, preparing to spring their trap.” the voice spoke through Silver Axe before swiftly taking back to the air.

Meanwhile on the ground, very confused ponies were still trying to figure out what had just happened.

“Okay, who is this guy? Why does his voice sound so familiar and why is he helping us?” Barricade growled, trying to hide the anxiety he had felt when hearing that disturbingly familiar voice again.

“His name is Silver Axe, my brother and sister had a run-in with him back in Ponyville during an incident involving a foal napping…” Applejack explained, but then glanced up to the sky. “But he’s supposed to be in an institution, he’s mad and he’s supposed to be mute.”

“Well he certainly talks well for a mute pony,” Barbell remarked. Applejack couldn’t disagree, but that voice didn’t sound natural.

“Let’s figure out that later. He did tell us where to go and he’s so far been helpful,” the apple farmer suggested. Then it finally clicked with Barricade what Silver Axe had just told them.

“CARA!” He shouted and dashed away with the rest barely being able to keep up with him.

Up in the sky, Silver Axe was headed back towards Junction.

“This will not do. Caballeron is perhaps just a small bug compared to the likes of me, but even bugs can have nasty bites. I have plans for Barricade far greater than his and I will not allow him to disrupt them,” the voice growled as the pegasus made his way back to the building that overlooked Caballeron’s new hideout. Already he could see that two of the henchponies discreetly watching the entrance from two different alleys.

Silently Silver Axe glided over to the building and then dropped down into an unoccupied alley. He made his way to a nearby window and carefully peeked in. He saw Caballeron standing there along with one of his henchponies, not far off from where the filles were all tied up and gagged.

“You see, his parents have been digging in the San Palomino desert and I happen to know they have uncovered many valuable artifacts. In the past before he quit, I could use Barricade to secure these kind of items for me to sell,” Caballeron could be heard saying.

“I want his assistance in doing it again. Some of these items will sell for a hefty profit and he will do it again…”

Outside, the forces controlling Silver Axe were having him slapping a hoof on his face, resisting an urge to groan out loud.

“Oh you have got to be kidding me. He’s spelling out his plan to one of his minions? This guy is more pathetic than I thought. I bet he’ll probably monologue the moment Barricade arrives here,” the dark voice snorted. Silver Axe glared back into the building.

“You and I are going to have a little talk, but not just yet…” he fell silent when overhearing that Caballeron was still talking about his plan.

“We will force him to comply using his daughter and if he still doesn’t comply, we will perhaps go further. Perhaps his brother...”

Silver Axe’s frown changed into a scowl, his muzzle twisted into a sneer. His eyes turned red and green and purple mist began sprouting from the corner of his eyes.

Inside the building, Caballeron and his lackey jumped when suddenly the wall exploded and they heard a loud growl. From the dust cloud, they barely could make out a large figure of a pony and its glowing eyes. Suddenly shadow-like tendrils shot out, grabbed the amoral archeologist and dragged him out of the newly-formed hole. He didn’t even have a chance to scream.

The henchpony stared where his boss had just been and now there was only a hole. The big pony was gone and the dust was settling. Strangely enough, the debris had completely missed the girls. They didn’t even have dust on them.

“Screw this, I’m not paid enough deal with something like this,” the stallion said and quickly galloped out of the building.

Okay, that just happened. Cara arched her eyebrow, she glanced at the Crusaders and blinked when seeing that Scootaloo was already in the process of getting out of her ropes.

“Finally. I thought they were never going to leave,” the pegasus filly grunted after removing her gag. Then she proceeded to untie her friends and Cara.

“Wait, you could escape from the ropes?” Cara remarked stunned.

“Pfft, it was easy. I read in Daring Doo that she would always flex her leg muscles when being tied up, so when she relaxes them the ropes are no longer tight around her and she can slip out. It was Caballeron and his henchponies...she deals with them all the time. Granted, I didn’t know this was something they actually did in real life,” the crusader explained to the teen.

“Speaking of, what happened to Caballeron? And who was that pony in the dust cloud with the glowing eyes?” Apple Bloom asked, eyeing the big hole in the wall warily.

Cara opened her mouth to say something, but she was suddenly bathed in an indigo-colored magic aura and pulled into a tight hug by her father. The Crusaders meanwhile were cringing when face to face with Applejack.

“Girls! What are ya’ll doing here!?” the apple farmer snapped.

End chapter 12