The sons of Barricade. Part 2. Chisel

by Askre

Chapter 4. Shadows of past memories.

Chapter 4

Barricade held back many emotions flowing through his head as he regarded his youngest child. A son he’s never met, never even knew how he looked. The unicorn had only known his name and that he sent regular child support to the mother. But the name was no longer just a word on paper; now he was face to face with the colt.

“You, my daddy?” Chisel whispered, looking unsure and confused.

“I am,” Barricade confirmed and sat down right next to Foxy by the bedside, facing the boy.

“Why mommy never talk about you?” the boy asked and hugged the purse.

“For a very good reason, Chisel,” Barricade said, feeling the regret and shame wash over him again. “I hurt your mommy, and because I hurt her, I decided to stay away.”

“Why you hurt her?” the boy scowled, Foxy went on guard, whatever Barricade said now might make or break this current conversation. Clearly, the boy had adored his mother.

“I was stupid. Your mommy was the best pony I could have ever been with, but I was stupid, what I did was wrong, and I have been punished for it,” Barricade told the boy, Foxy noted that Chisel seemed to relax a little when Barricade described her as ‘best.’

“You say you sorry?” Chisel then asked, still sounding unsure, but his scowl did ease, and so did the hold on the purse.

“I wrote her a letter to tell her that I was sorry,” Barricade answered, reminding himself that he needed to keep things a bit simpler; however, the unicorn was determined not to hide anything from the boy, no half-truths, nothing.

“Chisel, did mommy sometimes complain about her back hurting?” he asked, prompting Foxy to look at him, stunned and mouth ‘what are you doing?’

“Yes, her back sometimes hurt,” Chisel nodded.

“That was my fault and the marks on her cutie mark,” Barricade told him and looked down. “Kid, I am not going to lie to you. I was horrible too your mommy.”

Foxy was astonished to hear Barricade so blatantly confess this to Chisel. She quickly looked at the boy who had become even sadder, as he stared at his father, confused and puzzled. Yet he wasn’t looking angry.

“Why?” the boy asked; there were tears in his eyes now.

“As I told you, I was stupid, very stupid,” Barricade said and sighed. “But as I said, I wrote to her and told her I was sorry and that I would stay away.”

“Barricade, he’s barely in an emotional state to be told this right now,” Foxy whispered sharply to the stallion. Chisel had fallen silent and now just hugged the purse.

“I am not lying to my son, Foxy. I’m done lying to my children,” Barricade said between his teeth, just as sharply.

You weren’t lying at all, he just didn’t need to know all the details right now, Foxy shook her head, though she could see where Barricade was coming from, it didn’t mean it was appropriate right now.

“She say I live with you now, you gonna hurt me?” Chisel suddenly asked.

“No… Chisel… that stupid pony who harmed your mommy is gone. Yes, you are going to live with me now, but I promise you, I will not hurt you like that, ever,” Barricade said quickly and mildly alarmed.

Can’t blame the kid for asking, after that confession, Foxy rolled her eyes but did not interfere for now.

Barricade laid his head on top of the bed with his eyes fixed on Chisel; it was as if the stallion was trying to make himself look smaller than the boy right now. That did catch the colt’s attention, who tilted his head in wonder.

“Look, kid. Your daddy can be a bit of an idiot sometimes,” Barricade confessed, ignoring the smirk coming on Foxy right now. “I sometimes talk too much. But I am really sorry that I hurt your mommy. I can go to the corner if you want, or go to my room without supper.”

Foxy’s attention snapped instantly to Chisel, who started giggling. Her jaw dropped a little, so utterly surprised was the pegasus. Then she looked at Barricade. He still had his head on the bed but was smiling a bit more now.

“I miss mommy,” Chisel then said when he stopped giggling and looked sadly at the purse.

Barricade rose up and climbed to the bed, there he got seated next to the boy and gently put a leg around him, but did avoid the purse as he had been instructed before.

“I know, son,” the stallion just said and allowed the colt to curl up next to him.

---

“I don’t know how you did it, but you were really walking on a minefield there for a moment,” Foxy said as she and Barricade entered the room he and Barbell were staying.

“I know, but better he knows it now from me than somepony else,” Barricade said and turned to face the pegasus.

After spending some time with Chisel, the boy had fallen asleep again, and Foxy figured it was time to leave him be for now. Soon though, they would have to take Chisel to his new home and get him accustomed to a new life.

“I suppose I can’t argue with that,” Foxy grumbled, she did have to admit that Barricade had handled the situation very well.

“I know the kid is currently in pain. His world has been thrown upside down, but I like I said, I’m done lying to my kids. He wanted to know why his mom never talked about me, I gave him full disclosure, minus the full details, I’m not that crazy,” Barricade said and sat down. “He should be with his mother right now, but that’s no longer an option. But he is going to get to know who he is moving in with. His family is expanding substantially.”

“Speaking of family, did your parents respond to the telegram you sent them?” Foxy asked, recalling that Barricade had contacted them as well as her.

“Yeah, they said they would go and handle things in Vanhoover,” Barricade explained, Foxy nodded and turned to leave. The stallion rose up and walked to one of the windows.

Great, two of my kids don’t even have their mothers anymore, Barricade thought as he looked out and took in the view of the Crystal Empire.

Fuzzy Cloud didn’t want anything to do with Cara, dumped her in an orphanage before they found my parents, and she was eventually given to me. Now Chisel, losing his mother like this. He shook his head, wondering how things would have been if he hadn’t started to turn a new leaf. Nobody saw the magic drain coming. There was a good chance that at this point, if certain events hadn’t happened that he would still be the same jerk he used to be, holed up in Manehattan with his gang.

Six years ago, he had still been on Caballerons’s payroll, just one of his many lackeys. Yet strangely enough was always left out of A.K. Yearlings novels, Barricade sometimes wondered if his parents had something to do with that. He had never spoken to her or her alter ego, Daring Doo.

As he had told Barbell, Sunny Daze had just been one of the many mares at the time he had used, but six years ago, he really had been at his worst. He was still steaming at having been forced away from Foxy, hated his parents for having sent him to military school, resented his brother for throwing him away from Foxy. He started drinking more heavily, was often intoxicated, even during jobs.

Finally, it had just exploded. A job had gone wrong, Caballeron blamed his second in command, the second in command blamed the next in line until finally Barricade was blamed. He became enraged, pissed off over how his life was turning out, angry at his boss and just everyone around him. Then he took it out on poor Sunny who had done nothing, except asking him if he was alright.

That’s all she said. ‘You okay, Barri?’ All she did, Barricade sighed and let his head lean out of the window. And next thing she knew, I was tossing her across the living room, harming her, taking things out on her.

Oh, I was sorry when I sobered up. But the damage was done. The unicorn closed his eyes; a tear managed to force its way down.

That was when I realized, time to tone it down. Stop following that scheming mad pony, who thought he was so smart. Barricade sneered and looked up. I reunited with Barbell and Blue, who I hadn’t seen for years. They asked me if I could help them take care of their father’s apartment building, he was too old. I agreed. We opened up a gym, started a gang, built our influence in Hoofington… then I blew it up with my family.

“That was the second dumbest thing I ever did,” the stallion muttered. The dumbest being having signed up with Caballeron.

“Then King Sombra happened,” Barricade shuddered and stepped away from the window. He sat down and hung his head low.

‘You are hilarious Barricade…You actually think you can have it both ways… You want to have normal family life and at the same time behave like you’re some criminal big shot.’ The words of King Sombra ran through his head, words spoken to him back when his brother was possessed.

‘You’ve deluded yourself into believing that you can make this work…. Two of your daughters now hate you… you are holed up in some rundown part of a city where you barely manage to make ends meet…Tell me Barricade, are you really living in the paradise you envisioned for yourself?’ Barricade closed his eyes tight as he continued to hear Sombra’s mocking voice inside his head.

‘You naive fool… You are merely a tool, Barricade, a rather useless tool I must admit…’ The unicorn grit his teeth; he could feel fresh tears in his eyes.

‘You certainly have done some damage in your idiotic ambitions… she still hates you…Your grand apology didn’t amount to much… Do you really think they will give you a second chance?’ Those words were spoken later. After King Sombra captured Barricade and his family.

“Barricade?” a voice snapped him out of it, he slowly raised his head and turned towards it. Barbell stood at the entrance of the room.

“Hey, babe,” Barricade lowered his head again. “Just remembering what a colossal idiot I have been throughout my life…”

Barbell immediately walked over to her husband, sat down next to him and drew him in a hug. Barricade wasn’t sobbing, but tears still trickled down his cheeks.

“Sunny did not deserve to die. Chisel shouldn’t have lost his mother…” Barricade whispered. Few sobs managed to escape his lips. “She loved the kid, and the kid loved her. She didn’t dump him in an orphanage. She didn’t leave him just because I fathered him as Fuzzy did with Cara. He doesn’t deserve this. Sunny even had a friend, ready to protect them both from me.”

“No, they didn’t deserve this. But we can’t change what has happened. At least Chisel got to know his mother and remember that she loved him. That’s far more than Cara ever got,” Barbell said quietly and gently caressed her husband’s back.

“You are Cara’s mother, as far as she or I am concerned,” Barricade muttered and lifted one leg to put it around Barbell, who just smiled.

---

“Thanks, Flash, that is actually helpful.” Foxy nodded, she had been stopped on her way to her room by Flash Sentry, who then told her about Sharp Spear and what she had said.

“Yes, I figured what she told me about Sunny might be relevant for the boy,” Flash Sentry said. He had been on his way to report to Shining Armor to suggest Sharp Spear be provided some counseling when he spotted the pegasus.

“It certainly confirms some of the flags I was spotting,” the mare frowned in thought and started to rub her muzzle.

“Oh?” Flash arched his brow but received an apologetic look from the maroon pegasus.

“Sorry, I really shouldn’t discuss that right now, that should be heard by his father first,” Foxy said and proceeded to turn around and head back the way she had come.

“Right, sorry,” Flash nodded in understanding and changed his direction so he would eventually arrive at the captain’s office.

Foxy, in the meantime, was already at Barricade’s door and knocked before opening and peeked in. Barricade and Barbell sat at the window and had been looking out, but glanced back when the pegasus had knocked.

“I have some further information about Chisel,” Foxy said and walked in, the couple turned around to face her.

“What is it?” Barricade asked a little worried.

“Well, aside from just helping Chisel in his grief, I have also been doing a little bit of an evaluation on him,” the pegasus explained and found herself a seat close to them.

“Already these few times I’ve spoken with him, few alarm bells rang in my head with the way he spoke and behaved. He’s six, but in many ways, he reminded me more of a four-year-old colt,” she continued, not surprised both Barricade and Barbell arched their brows in confusion.

“I’ve just gotten it confirmed that Sunny was fairly isolated in Vanhoover, kept to herself, never really went out unless Sharp Spear coaxed her out. Chisel really only knew his mother and Sharp Spear and apparently had not managed to make many friends in school,” Foxy told them. “His social pool has been fairly shallow. The way he talks and acts, he’s probably been babied a lot by his mother, not spoiled, but Sunny may have accidentally stunted his development a little.”

“Now it’s not the worst case I have seen, it’s fairly mild. I’ve seen far worse cases. I do not doubt that Sunny both loved and adored her son. However, you should be aware that socially he’s probably a little underdeveloped,” she finished and half regretting telling them that. Barricade looked horrified.

“She must have been scared meeting me…” Barricade whispered. Barbell was already patting him reassuringly on the back.

Foxy felt a little guilty now but didn’t try and contradict Barricade, since he was most likely correct. There was no doubt in her mind that Sunny had been very traumatized by the stallion. Yet Sunny had cared for her son and Chisel spoke clearly enough, Foxy was almost sure that Sharp Spear unknowingly was a great help in preventing serious issues from cropping up in Chisel.

“I’m not going to prescribe any treatment for that, not unless something comes up that seriously hampers him. Right now it’s just best to help him with his grief and cope with the loss; he needs his family,” Foxy told them.

Barricade took a moment to compose himself and nodded. Then he put a leg around Barbell before looking at the pegasus.

“Don’t worry, Foxy, he has one,” he assured her.

End chapter 4

Author's Note:

I was almost tempted to name this chapter, Shadows of the past.

Sombra's quotes come from Possession in The Crystal Empire and Last of the Dark Ponies.