• Published 4th Nov 2019
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The sons of Barricade. Part 2. Chisel - Askre



A tragedy caused by the magic drain forces Barricade to face a very dark spot in his past and a young colt to meet the father he never even knew existed.

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Chapter 2. Aftermath of the accident.

Chapter 2

Magic disappeared all around Equestria. The authorities have given their assurances that they are looking into it. Reports of accidents related to magic spells failing are still coming in.

A near miss happened in Cloudsdale. A field trip from The School of Friendship, run by Princess Twilight Sparkle and being lead by Student Counsellor Starlight Glimmer, had a nearly fatal accident when cloud walking spells vanished of non-flying students.

A tragic accident occurred in Vanhoover when construction workers lost control of materials being hauled in. One fatal injury was reported.

Sharp Spear gritted her teeth and stopped reading the paper. The mare folded it up and tossed it to her side on the seat. She sighed deeply and looked down at the floor. Outside the window, the landscape flew by as the train continued its trek towards the Crystal Empire.

It wasn’t even a current newspaper. It was from a few days ago; someone had left it on the seat the mare decided to occupy. The magic was back, the situation had been solved, and those responsible punished. But it didn’t bring back those lost during it.

Sharp had read about other accidents happening all over Equestria. Some were lucky others were not.

‘I’m sorry, ma’am, there was nothing we could do. She was gone before she even got here.’

The voice of the doctor at the hospital still haunted her mind. She kept replaying it over and over again.

‘I understand she had a child?’

‘Yes, a young colt,’ she had responded.

‘Did she have any family here in Vanhoover?’ She had been asked. Sharp had been too numb to respond vocally, just shook her head. What had snapped her out of it was the next question.

‘What about the father of the child?’

‘He is not available.’ She had responded coldly.

‘What do you mean not available, is he also…?’

‘Yes,’ she had bluntly responded, adding in her mind. As far as Sunny was concerned anyway.

‘Don't worry, doctor, I was her closest friend. I’ll take care of the boy,’ she had then assured him.

Sharp Spear glanced to her left. Chisel sat beside her, showing no expression on his face. The boy was clutching his mother’s purse; he had absolutely refused to let it go. Sharp Spear let him hold it. For now, she just wanted to concentrate on getting them out of Vanhoover and to the Crystal Empire.

“I’m sure you will like it there, you’ll make lots of new friends,” she said, trying and failing to sound cheerful. There was no response. Chisel just hugged the purse tighter.

Sharp Spear realized this was probably not what the boy wanted to hear right now. He had just lost his mother, and his whole world turned upside down.

But I will be damned before I let them deliver you to that asshole who hurt Sunny, she thought and glanced around. So far, nopony was paying them much attention. She did hear some chatter. There were ponies still talking about the magic drain that had occurred.

“Did you hear that a colt was abducted from Vanhoover?”

Sharp Spear froze and carefully glanced back. Two elderly ponies were talking in the seats behind her and Chisel.

“What?” the other pony blinked in surprise.

“Yes, his mother died in that terrible accident when the magic drain first happened. Apparently, a pony claiming to be the mother’s friend was in the hospital and told the staff there that the mother had no family and even that the father was dead. Then she just waltzed out of the hospital, ignoring child service officers who had arrived to make sure the child was alright,” the previous pony told her friend.

“Despicable, using that tragedy to abduct a foal,” the friend snorted and shook his head. “What is Equestria coming to. We have a terrible magic drain and ponies use it to steal children.”

That is not quite what happened, Sharp Spear cringed and turned her head back forward.

Yes, she had told the doctor that Chisel’s father was dead, as far as she was concerned anyway. Then after assuring the staff that she would take care of the boy, the staff informed her that child service was on their way to make sure Chisel would be all right and had somewhere to go.

When they arrived, she had panicked. They would probably know that Chisel’s father was alive, Sunny was still getting child support. She had collected Chisel and just left the hospital with him, she heard ponies call something, but since her name wasn’t being spoken, the mare chose to ignore it.

Instead of going back to Sunny’s apartment, she had taken Chisel to her family’s house. They were not at home at that time. Sharp had quickly written them a note, explaining she had to leave, saying that the magic drain meant she had to report back to the Crystal Empire. Then she found a hotel, stayed there with the boy for a few days before leaving and managing to sneak aboard the train bound to the Crystal Empire.

Who am I kidding, that’s exactly what happened. Sharp Spear hoofed her face. No matter how many times she replayed the events in her head, she could not find any way to paint it otherwise than how the ponies behind her had described it. Yet deep down she did not regret it; she did not want the boy to be sent to his father, which would probably happen.

“Next stop, the Crystal Empire!” the train conductor announced.

Sharp Spear sighed in relief. She looked through the window and could see the station approach. Her relief vanished, on the platform were guards, headed by Flash Sentry, her squad commander and Shining Armor, Princess Cadance’s husband, the captain of the entire crystal guard.

Oh, horseapples. She thought and looked down at Chisel, who had not moved the entire trip.


Shining Armor entered his office in the crystal castle, followed shortly by Flash Sentry. The prince walked over to his desk and sat behind it. Flash took a position beside it. As they did, two guards escorted Sharp Spear in, the mare had her head hung and ears bent.

“You two can leave,” Shining addressed the guards who saluted and left. Then he fixed his gaze on Sharp Spear, who now stood in front of his desk, his eyes narrowed hard.

“Care to explain yourself, soldier?” he asked sharply.

“I was thinking of Chisel’s best interest, sir,” Sharp Spear said.

“Look at me, when you say that!” the captain snapped, the mare raised her head with a defiant expression.

“I was thinking of Chisel’s best interest and what his mother would have wanted, sir!” she announced.

“By abducting him and not consulting the local authorities?” Shining Armor could hardly believe one of his best soldiers would behave like this.

“They would send him to that shitbag who harmed Sunny,” Sharp Spear protested.

“You mean his father?” Flash Sentry asked, not even flinching when receiving the withering glare from Sharp Spear.

“That piece of shit is NOT his father. He’s never been his father. That craphole sent Sunny to the hospital!” she snarled.

“You’re out of order, soldier!” Shining Armor snapped and rose from his seat in a very sharp movement. Sharp Spear glared over at him.

“You don’t understand, sir. Sunny loved him, and that shit repaid her by tossing her across a living room when having one too many drinks. Then he just left her, pregnant, alone. She was living in Vanhoover to be as far away as possible from him. He does not deserve to have Chisel,” she seethed, not caring right now that she was facing her commanders.

“That is not yours to decide!” Shining Armor barked and now glowered at the mare. “Sharp Spear, you are one of my best soldiers. Your performance here has been exemplary, especially during the possession crisis. There is a good reason Sergeant Flash Sentry requested you to be in his squad. However, right now, you are facing possible child abduction charges. This does not reflect very well on you, no matter how you try and justify it.”

“I have no regrets, sir,” Sharp Spear muttered and looked away.

“Who is his father?” Flash Sentry asked calmly.

“We already have that information. Equestrian child service is already on their way to take care of the boy.” Shining Armor looked at the sergeant, then he sat down and returned his attention to Sharp Spear. She had frozen when hearing that. “What did you expect, Sharp Spear? The Crystal Empire is a protectorate of Equestria, all of us who moved to the Crystal Empire when it first returned, have dual citizenship. You thought you could hide the boy here?”

Sharp Spear didn’t respond; her head started to lower.

“I asked you a question, soldier!” Shining snapped. The mare reluctantly raised her head to look at him.

“I don’t know, sir,” she said quietly.

“You are confined to the barracks and your quarters until further notice,” the captain declared and with a sharp order called the guards back in.

“Escort soldier Sharp Spear to the barracks; she’s not to leave her quarters unless with specific permission,” he told them, the guards saluted and escorted Sharp Spear out of the room. When she was gone, the captain groaned heavily.

“You are not discharging her, sir?” Flash Sentry wondered.

“I’m keeping her contained. You saw how she was behaving. I do not want to risk her disrupting things when child service comes to take care of the foal. When it has been decided what will be done with the boy, then I will consider what I’ll do with Sharp Spear,” Shining Armor grunted.

“So who is the boy’s father that’s causing all this fuzz, it was rather startling to hear that the Vanhoover kidnapper was her,” Flash Sentry said and shook his head.

“It’s Barricade,” the captain told him and refrained from chuckling when seeing the look come on the sergeant.

“Of course it’s Barricade. Seriously, how many kids does this guy have around Equestria?” the pegasus groaned himself and placed a hoof over his face.

“I haven’t been counting.” Shining Armor rolled his eyes over this mess.

It had been bad enough to deal with the whole incident surrounding the magic drain. Then the Vanhoover police had contacted them about the foal abduction. They had figured out Sharp Spear was the one who took the colt who lost his mother in the accident over there. Just going through Sunny Daze’s apartment had produced pictures of the soldier and witnesses confirmed she was the one, then Sharp’s own family produced the note from the mare when they were contacted. Shining Armor had assured them they would keep an eye on all incoming trains to the Crystal Empire since Sharp Spear had at that time not returned.

“Guess telling her that Barricade has changed will not placate her,” Flash wondered and was not surprised that Shining Armor just shook his head no.


“I’m busy!” Barricade growled as he continued to shift through papers, examining some closely. The door to his office opened and an opal earth mare poked her head in. It was his wife, Barbell.

“You’re always busy, we have special visitors,” she said, not remotely affected by the death glare from the dark gray unicorn. That glare instantly vanished at what she said next. “Child service.”

“Ah crap, what has Cara done now,” he asked, mildly alarmed. Then he opened a cabinet and pulled out papers from there. “Wait, I’m not late on any payments, am I?”

“I don’t think they are here about that,” Barbell assured him and stepped inside, followed by two ponies, one was a greenish-blue pegasus while the other was a light orange earth pony. Barricade dropped the papers and rose up.

“Mr. Barricade, we are from the Vanhoover Child Service department, I’m Sea Blossom and this is Soft Silk,” the pegasus introduced herself and the other pony.

“Vanhoo…” the words froze in Barricade’s mouth when he heard where they were coming from. The stallion sat back down. Barbell immediately walked over to be at his side; both ponies now looked concerned at the two officers.

“We regret to inform you that the mother of your son, Chisel, Sunny Daze, was lost in that tragic construction accident that happened on the first day of the magic drain,” Sea Blossom said as she sat down and started pulling out papers from her suitcase.

“Oh Celestia, she was the mare who died?” Barbell gasped. She and Barricade had read about that in the papers, but no name had been published yet.

They both winched when both Blossom and Silk nodded sadly. Then Barricade recalled something else he read in the papers. He started to scowl.

“Wasn’t the child of that mare abducted right after the accident!?” he growled and started to rise, Barbell had to restrain him with a hoof.

“Have no fear, Mr. Barricade. The pony was apprehended in the Crystal Empire,” Soft Silk immediately assured him. Sea Blossom was already walking closer to put the papers on the desk, they were snatched up by Barricade’s magic and he started to read them.

“Crystal Empire? Good… I can’t believe I can say this now, but I have friends there. High ranking friends,” the unicorn growled and sat back down, he gave the papers to Barbell who scanned them briefly before putting them on the desk.

“Yes, we have people from our department already there, making sure your son is alright,” Sea Blossom told him and backed up a little from the desk.

“Mr. Barricade, as the boy’s father and his closest living relative, you will no doubt be granted immediate custody since Sunny Daze has no living relatives. We have already been in contact with the Manehattan department. Since there are no outstanding issues with you, there is nothing in the way for you to go and collect Chisel,” Soft Silk then explained. “In fact, we would highly recommend it. The boy is clearly in desperate need of his living family to come and comfort him. He’s suffered a terrible loss at such a young age.”

Barricade took a deep breath, let it out slowly and then just nodded. Barbell patted him gently on the back.

“He’s currently staying at… huh, the Crystal Castle?” Sea Blossom blinked, she had picked up another paper from her briefcase, both mares looked at the couple behind the desk.

“As I said, I have high ranking friends up there,” Barricade said quietly.

“We will then notify our ponies up there that you will be on your way to collect him,” Sea Blossom said, Soft Silk nodded, after saying goodbye the two ponies left.

“The poor boy,” Barbell whispered, she sat down now but still kept a hoof on her husband.

Barricade was still quiet, just stared down at the new set of papers now on top of the ones he had previously been going through.

“Sunny Daze, wasn’t that the one…” Barbell looked at him.

“I was a very bad pony to know back then,” he whispered, a tear slowly started trickling down his cheek. “She met me at my worst. I drank more then; I was much more deeply involved in dealings… I was lashing out…”

“She was just another young mare I snatched up to satisfy myself, then I… Celestia… I should be in Tartarus alongside Sombra and Tirek for what I did to her,” Barricade started to sob.

Barbell grabbed her husband and wrapped her front legs around him in a tight embrace. The unicorn continued to cry in her chest. The couple stayed like this for a little while. Then the stallion broke away from the embrace and sat up straight.

“Sorry… I just lost it there for a minute,” Barricade muttered, his head hung low.

“It’s okay, babe, just shows how much you have changed,” Barbell said and smiled, she reached with a hoof to dry the tears from his face. “You actually got a heart now.”

“I was happy just to pay the support and stay out of their lives,” the unicorn grunted and raised his head again, looking upwards to the ceiling now. “He shouldn’t have to meet his father like this, losing his mom…”

“Well, we can’t change that. But now we better put Blue in charge of the gym and get our asses to the station to catch a train,” his wife told him.

“Right,” Barricade rose up, as he did a thoughtful frown came over him. “Let’s swing by the telegram office first.”

“Why?” Barbell asked, confused.

“We need to let mom and dad know… and we need Foxy,” the stallion said and grabbed up the papers the child service ponies had left behind.

“Why do we need her?” Barbell still looked confused.

“Believe it or not, Foxy is a trained therapist. Child therapist, my son is going to get the best in the business,” her husband said and started trotting towards the office door.

End chapter 2