Chapter 31 - The Start of Something Big
On a sunny autumn morning, Barrier sat at his chair, pouring croutons and ranch sauce onto a salad. With his creation complete, he stabbed into the saucy, leafy pile with a silver fork.
He smiled as he brought the crisp leaf close to his mouth, only to pause as a knock came to from the front. With a brief sigh, he set his fork down and focused, teleporting to the door. Upon pulling it open, he saw a bright yellow earth pony with a pink mane, wearing a pair of star shaped sunglasses.
“Can I help you, Miss?” Barrier tilted his head as she perched her glasses upon her forehead, revealing a pair of light blue eyes.
“Mrs. Fiesta Flair, at your service,” she said with a thick accent as she shot her forelegs out and grabbed one of Barrier’s, rapidly shaking it. “I’m supposed to see a magic show by a Mr. Hat Trick.”
“Ah, yes, of course.” The dark unicorn nodded, stepping aside as she came into the house. “Hatty should be ready for you in the backyard.”
After a brisk trot, the pair arrived at the back door where they spotted Hat Trick and Winter Gem setting up on a stage made of wooden crates.
“I hope you have a good time, ma’am,” Barrier said, lighting his horn and opening the door. “Hatty’s really been hoping to get this job.”
“Well as long as he doesn’t magically turn fiestas into siestas, he should be good in my books.” Mrs. Flair nodded before strolling out into the yard. “Hope you’re ready, Mr. Trick! I’m pretty hard to impress!” she exclaimed before sitting down on the grass, drawing a yelp from the purple pegasus. As Hatty and Gem rushed to finish setting up, Fiesta Flair pulled a bottle of soda from her saddlebags.
“Best of luck, kiddo,” Barrier called as he closed the the door and quickly made his way back to the kitchen.
Taking his seat, his horn flared once more and lifted the fork up. Licking his lips, the stallion brought the leaf close to his lips once more.
He was stopped as another round of knocks came from the front. With a sigh and an almost imperceptible twitch of the eye, the fork was set aside as he teleported once more to the front door.
Opening the door, he saw muscular grey mare with a light blonde mane on his step.
Careful to keep his annoyance from showing through, Barrier spoke. “Can I help you, Miss?” Barrier eyed the mare closely, spotting a few tools poking out of her saddlebags.
“Hello, sir.” The mare extended her foreleg, which Barrier politely shook. “I was wondering if a Mr. Iron Forge would happen to be here.”
“And who, if I may ask, is looking for him?” Barrier’s eyebrow rose as he inquired.
“My name’s Silver Swirl.” She beamed as she pressed her hoof to her chest, standing proudly. “I’m the owner and manager of Silver Swirl’s Smithing Shop. I heard some good things about Mr. Forge from one of my employees. I’d like to see some of his work and ask a few questions.”
“Alright then, Ms. Swirl.” Barrier turned away, facing the stairway. “Forge! Get down here!” he bellowed out, making the mare flatten her ears against her head.
A clatter of hooves and plastic came from the second floor, followed swiftly by the blue stallion dashing down the stairs. “What’s wrong, sir?” The winded unicorn asked upon reaching the bottom.
“Nice to meet you, Mr. Forge.” Silver smiled as the stallion tried to smooth out his mane. “I’m Silver Swirl and I’d like to examine some of your smithing work.”
“Oh!” Forge’s eyes seemed to light up as a giddy smile fell upon his face. “Yes, of course. Right this way, ma’am.” He quickly pulled an about face, making for the back door.
“Mr. Forge…” the silver mare spoke up, making the young unicorn pause. “You do know there’s some Kre-O brick in your mane, right?” A blush quickly spread across his cheeks as he rushed his fore hooves into his mane, trying to smooth it out and clear away any plastic pieces.
“Sorry about that, ma’am. I was just caught by surprise,” Forge said to the mare as she came to his side. “Still, rest assured that you’ll be more than satisfied with my craftsmanship.”
As the two pulled away, Barrier sighed and gently pushed the door closed with his hind leg. He took a mere two steps away from the entrance before another series of knocks came from the door.
“Oh for the love of…” Barrier groaned as he spun around, putting on the realest smile that he could. With a quick flare of magic he pulled the door open once more. Standing on the steps before him were two mares. Strawberry Sundae, with her face buried deeply in hoof stood on his left, while on the right was a madly grinning and twitching Summer Eve.
“HI THERE, BARRIER! I WAS HOPING YOU’D HAVE A FUNNIER LOOK ON YOUR FACE WHEN WE LANDED AND YOU OPENED UP BUT OH WELL!” the thestral happily exclaimed, swiftly followed by a gasp and clasping her hooves over her muzzle as she practically vibrated in place with a wild look in her eyes. “Sorry ‘bout that. I’m always like this after I’ve had two pots of coffee.”
After shaking his head to rid himself of the ringing in his ears, Barrier’s eyebrow rose. “You mean cups, right?”
“Oh I wish.” Strawberry groaned as she dragged her hoof across her face. “She needs a lot to be awake at this hour.”
“One of the pros of having a dad with a cup of coffee as a cutie mark and cons about working the graveyard shift,” Summer chirped in a chipper tone. “Anywho, can we come inside? There’s something we’d like to talk to you about.”
Barrier’s brow rose slightly higher as he stepped away from the door. “Alright. Hope you don’t mind if I bring my lunch with us.”
“Not at all.” Strawberry placed a wing over Summer’s back and pulled the purple pony along. “Thanks for seeing us.”
A moment later, the three arrived in the living room. Barrier vanished in a flash of blue light, only to return a moment later with his salad in tow. As the couple sat down on a couch, Barrier laid back in a comfortable old chair.
“Well ladies,” Barrier said before taking a bite of lettuce. After savouring the flavour for a moment, he quickly swallowed down the leaf and stabbed his salad once more. “What brings you here?”
Strawberry coughed into her hoof and ruffled her wings before taking a deep breath. “Well, Mr. Barrier-”
“No need for the formalities with me.” The stallion waved a hoof dismissively. “Just call me Barrier.”
“Right then,” Strawberry said with a swallow before Summer draped a leathery wing over her back. “Barrier, there’s something my wife and I have been considering for a while now, and we’d like to ask you about… about…” She swallowed again.
“If this is about a job offer, I’m going to stop you right there.” Barrier held up a hoof while having another bite of his salad and smiling slightly. “Nothing personal, but I don’t really think I’d be the right kind of pony to work in a shop like yours.”
Summer let out a hard laugh, her forelegs wrapping around her belly as her legs kicked like a ticklish foal. “Trust me, that’s not what we’re here for.”
“You see, Barrier...” Strawberry swallowed once more before Summer placed a hoof upon her own. The two gazed into each other’s eyes as smiles stretched across their muzzles. Taking a breath, Strawberry spoke up once more. “My wife and I have been planning on having a child for quite a while now. We’d-”
“We’d like you to supply some of the baby batter for the bun we’re gonna put in her oven!” Summer exclaimed as she leapt from her seat into the air, causing Barrier to choke on a leaf of lettuce.
Coughing hard, Barrier managed to right the food’s course and gasp for air. “That’s a bit of a shock.”
“Summer, sit down!” The red mare hissed, her words making the thestral’s cheeks match her coat. “This is hard enough to do without you stressing me out like this.”
“Sorry, hun…” Summer floated down back onto the couch, her face turned away from the room’s other occupants. “I’ll… I’ll try to rein myself in…”
“Ladies,” Barrier stepped forth, placing his salad aside. “May I ask what’s going on?”
With a deep breath, Strawberry spoke once more. “To be a bit less blunt than my wife, she and I have been thinking about having babies. We plan on using her ovums and my womb so we both share a part in our children’s creation.”
“I see.” Barrier sat back into his seat, placing a hoof to his chin. “But why bring this up with me?”
“Berry,” Summer slowly turned to face her wife, an apologetic look in her eyes. “Can I be the one to handle this part? I promise to be calm about it.” After a moment of gazing into the thestral’s eyes, Strawberry smiled and nodded.
“Thank you, dear.” Summer leaned forward, giving the crimson mare a quick kiss on the cheek. As quickly as she leaned forth, she pulled back and coughed into her hoof. “The thing is, Barrier, we wanted to have it that our foals were not only sired by ponies we know and trust, but with someone they could meet and hopefully have a good connection with.”
“I see.” Barrier nodded, shaking slightly. After what happened… can I really connect with a thestral…? Having one serve under me is one thing… but one wanting me to be their parent?
“We were browsing through the catalog of those who’d willingly donate to thestrals in Vanhoover and you came up first.” Summer broke Barrier from his thoughts, oblivious to his trepidation. “You seem like you get along with your daughter-”
“Goddaughter, actually,” Barrier interjected. “Wind Whistler’s my friend’s daughter.”
“At any rate, the point is you seem to get along with her pretty well.” Summer dismissively waved her hoof as she spoke. “You seem like you’d be pretty good father material.”
Would I? After a few moments thought on his experiences with his own father, he supposed that he knew what not to do, at the very least. I suppose I could rely on Fleetfeather for the finer points of parenting. Faust knows she has plenty of experience…
“Not only that, but let’s just say you’ve got some traits that’d be…” Summer paused to lick her lips. “Desirable.” Strawberry rolled her eyes at Summer’s emphasizing.
“I… suppose?” Barrier’s eyebrow rose slightly as he drew his salad back, taking a quick bite.
“Well,” Summer seemed to have taken Barrier’s statement as a request for elaboration, “for one thing, your colors are pretty dark,” Summer said as her eyes roamed Barrier’s charcoal form. “Lots of thestrals like their mates to have darker colors in their coats and manes, so that’d be a big plus for them hopefully passing thestral genes down.”
“Your file also noted how you’re rather strong and fit, so that would be quite the plus” Strawberry spoke up.
“I suppose that makes sense,” Barrier softly replied, his eyes locked upon his salad. “If nothing else, it certainly explains why you’d ask me.”
“Are…” Strawberry leaned forward. “Are you okay with this, Barrier? If you’re not, it’s fine. We could find another if you don’t want to.”
“No, it’s not that,” Barrier spoke up as he set his salad to the side. “It’s just a bit of a shock having someone directly asking me for this. It just makes it have more of a mental impact, y’know?”
“I see.” Strawberry leaned close to the couch’s edge, nervously shaking ever so slightly. “So would you be willing to let us use your donation?”
Barrier gave the pair a firm nod, drawing a delighted squeal from Summer.
“Yes! Barrier baby batter for the batty!” she bounced in her seat with joy. “Donor Number One’s totally secured!”
“Donor Number One?” Barrier’s brow rose as Summer’s bounces came to a halt. “Do you plan on using more than one donor?”
“Yeppers!” Summer casually answered and she hopped of the couch. “I figure we should add some more variety to the thestral genepool. We’re gonna try for twins with different daddies!”
“I wasn’t too crazy about the idea when she first pitched the idea,” Strawberry spoke up as she gently rose from her seat. “But she can be pretty persuasive. Her arguments made a lot of sense to me after a while.”
“Well I’m glad I could help you two out.” Barrier slid out his chair, quickly finding his foreleg grabbed by Summer and rapidly shaken. “If you ever need help financially or just babysitting with this, you know where to find me.”
“You got it, Barry!” Summer shouted before quickly pulling Barrier into a hug. Just as quickly as she initiated the embrace, she pulled away. “Say, could you help us with one last teensy-tiny thing?”
“What would that be?” One of the charcoal stallion’s eyebrows rose once more as Strawberry sauntered forward.
“Could you tell us where Mr. Verdant Range is?” Strawberry inquired as Summer pulled a wing over her. “We’d like him to be our other donor and the file said he lives here as well.”
“He went out with Fleet and Swiftsword to get their manes cut.” Barrier’s horn started to glow once more, bringing his salad back to him. “They’ll probably be back before too long.”
“Thanks again, Barrier.” Strawberry brought her foreleg out, which Barrier quickly accepted in a shake. “We’d best get going. Hopefully we’ll see him on the way back to the shop. Farewell.” With a polite nod, the pair departed from the living room and out the front door.
Once certain the two were out of earshot, Barrier sighed.
Certainly wasn’t expecting that particular turn of events… better than them not asking, to be certain. And I’ll have a chance to know my child. He strolled over to the couch and laid himself down on his side, placing the salad on the coffee table. I suppose I’ll also know the foal I’ll have with Swift, if it comes to that. The stallion couldn’t help but take a deep breath, that particular thought still weighing on him. Glancing at a half-empty bottle of scotch on the table across from him, he snorted, knowing it was far too early for him to have a drink, especially after the night prior.
Barrier’s ears shot up as he heard the back door start to open, followed by two sets of hooves against the floor. Quickly straightening up, he saw Forge and Silver Swirl walk past.
“Any other questions, Ms. Swirl?” Forge asked even as he was sweating bullets. Barrier briefly pondered if the sweat was due to nerves, the heat of his mini-foundry in the back yard or a combination of the two.
“Yes, Mr. Forge. Just one.” Silver Swirl turned back to face Forge, the smallest trace of a smile on her muzzle. “We’ll have a position available on the eighteenth of next month. Will you be able to start then?”
“O-of course!” Forge beamed. Barrier had to bite his lip to keep from chuckling. “Thank you, ma’am! I’ll be counting down the days til then.”
“Splendid.” Swirl nodded as her hoof reached the doorknob. “Oh, and one more thing, Mr. Forge. Please have your mane brushed when you’re working. I don’t want my employees to look like they just got out of bed.”
“Yes, ma’am!” Forge blushed as he gave a salute. “I’ll have my mane in tip top shape.”
“Fantastic, Forge,” Swirl replied as she headed out the door with a wave. “Toodles!”
“Way to go, F-” Barrier was interrupted by the sound of a loud boom coming from the back yard. Bolting towards the window, the two breathed a sigh of relief as they saw the sound of the explosion was caused by one of Hat Trick’s fireworks displays, apparently ending his performance.
“Bravo, Hat Trick!” Fiesta gleefully clapped from her spot on the grass. “I’ll start writing up a contract for you by the end of the day!”
“Thank you, ma’am,” Hatty replied with a gracious bow, matching smiles on his and Winter Gem’s faces. “It’ll be a pleasure to work for you.”
“Well I’d best be going.” The yellow mare rose with a toss of her bouncy mane. “Buenas tardes!” She called out with a wave as she made her way to the front door.
“Well, Hatty,” Forge beamed as the pegasus and his paramour came into the living room. “Now that we’ve both got jobs, I’d say some celebrations are in order!”
Hatty moved to answer, but paused as Barrier laid a hoof on his shoulder.
“Maybe you should hold off on that for now. You remember what’s in a couple weeks, right?” Barrier watched on as shock and realisation dawned upon Hat Trick.
“Oh right, Pinkie’s Party! I forgot!” Hatty chuckled as he pulled off his hat and wiped his brow.
“Also, it’d probably be best to wait on making party plans until after we hear from V—” Forge was cut off by the sound of a loud, squeaky squeal that had come from the front of the house. The noise grew closer until the front door burst open as a green squeeing stallion dashed into the room.
“This is the best day of my life!” Verdant merrily squealed as he ran around. “I got the job, I’ve got my gala haircut and I’m going to be a sire!” He squealed again as he ran back out, dashing right past Fleet and Swift.
“Well, he’s certainly… excited.” Fleet rolled her eye as she saw the happy pony zoom past the front gate into town. “So how’s everypony doing?”
“Pretty well here, Fleet,” Barrier replied as he moved back towards the couch. “The colts got jobs and I had a nice little meeting with the mares from the sweet shop. By the way, nice hair, ladies.”
“Why thank you, Barrier.” The slightest hint of a blush came across Fleetfeather’s cheeks as she ran a hoof through her now much shorter, sleeker mane. “I rather like it.”
“And I mine.” Swift beamed as she stepped forth, her bangs now much shorter, with a golden hairband atop her head. “I’m sure Verdant will say something similar once back from his…” As the unicorn paused to consider her words, a loud “Woo-who!” echoed forth from somewhere in town. “Celebrations.”
“Just remember to save some of that for the Pink Devil.” Barrier chuckled as he stabbed his fork back into his leafy treat. “If you don’t, you’ll be eaten alive.”
Alticron: Hey folks, hope you enjoy this new chapter of Homeward. Now we have almost the entire cast with their new hairstyles. Only two to go.
Next time, something even bigger will happen. What will it be? We'll just have to wait and see.
In the meantime, I'm gonna be playing Mortal Kombat 11 diligently writing future chapters of Homeward. Until next time, see ya!
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Nice-o-rino. I wonder what Daring'll think; that is, if I'm remembering the stories I've read, properly.
9585877
Well, we've said before she has no problem with Barrier being a sperm donor.
I'm very happy for Hat, Forge, and Verdant getting their ideal jobs. Speaking of whom, I honestly hope that Verdant's beloved Erika doesn't mind him being a sperm donor.
Also is it possible for ponies and Griffins to breed with one another.
9585940
Yeah. Verdant became a donor before he met Erica and she's cool with it. Also, in this universe, they can crossbreed with the end results being a variety of different possibilities from a 50/50-ish mix to the child looking like only one of their parents' species.
9585953
Awesome!
Oh I very much enjoyed reading this chapter, it's good to see the family get the jobs they're after. Extremely excited to see what bigger things are going to happen.
9585877
I'm sure Daring will certainly have something to say about this. Support for sure but I certainly can see her using this at the expense of Barrier.
9597949
I've never read Terry Pratchett so anything that seems like a reference to his works is likely a coincidence. What seems like a reference to you?
Considering the kind of Ponies Barrier's blood line produces he'd be a very popular choice of donner. Both Night Light and Twilight show the "night color" genes are still strong to this day a plus for Thestrals.
Nice chapter and I hope this will help Barrier deal with what his friend did. I'm curious to waht happens in the next chapter.