The sons of Barricade. Part 2. Chisel

by Askre

Chapter 5. Sharp Spear meets Barricade.

Chapter 5

“So am I fired, sir?” Sharp Spear asked while escorted into the office of Shining Armor. The captain watched her quietly as the yellow unicorn took a position in front of his desk.

“For your actions, you really should be discharged,” Shining Armor said, narrowing his eyes a little.

Sharp Spear held her breath. If there was one annoying trait she felt about the captain, was how long he could hold the moment. Often letting the guards sweat for a little while until he made his decisions.

“However, no charges have been pressed; you were genuinely under the impression that the boy needed protection from his father; you did this off duty. You should be commended for saving that boy’s life, even if you could not save his mother,” he then said.

“So in lieu of your service in the crystal guards, especially during the possession incident, I am instead going to demote you a rank and taking you out of Flash Sentry’s squad for two years,” the captain then announced.

Sharp Spear had to restrain herself from looking surprised. She had been waiting and dreading this moment, fully expecting to be drummed out of the guards. Then she realized that Shining Armor was expecting a reaction from her.

“Yes, sir, thank you, sir,” she quickly saluted.

“Now don’t make me regret this, Private Sharp Spear,” Shining Armor then grunted, his eyes now slits. “Dismissed.”

The mare just nodded and hurried out of the office. Once out of sight from the captain, she let out a sigh in relief. That had been close. She barely knew any other life than being a guard and couldn’t picture herself doing anything else.

The worst part about this whole thing was that she had missed the funeral. It was today, but Shining Armor hadn’t let her out of the barracks until she was pretty sure it was all over. With a deep sigh, the mare made her way back to her quarters.

“What are you still doing here?” someone asked her, she looked back and saw Bright Spark standing there in the hallway.

“Captain Shining Armor didn’t discharge me, just demoted me and took me out of the squad for two years,” she explained as she continued her way to the quarters.

“You misunderstand me,” the crystal pony smiled when the unicorn eyed him confused. “Don’t you have a funeral to attend to?”

“It’s over, isn’t it?” Sharp Spear asked, puzzled.

“If I understood the time table, it has long started, but Vanhoover isn’t that far away from the Crystal Empire. If you take the next train, you might just make it to the end,” Bright Spark said.

Sharp Spear started to lit up, but then immediately shimmered down as something came to her.

“I don’t have money for a ticket,” she groaned. A green hoof suddenly waved a train ticket in front of her eyes.

“Next train is to Vanhoover in fifteen minutes, chop, chop,” Emerald announced as she held up the ticket in front of the unicorn.

“What… but…” Sharp Spear blinked, taking the ticket in her magic. Bright Spark, due to his size, leaned down, so he was muzzle to muzzle with the unicorn.

“No buts. Go. Say goodbye to your friend, that’s more than some of us could do under the King,” he said sternly.

The unicorn eyed Emerald unsure; the crystal mare just smiled at her. Sharp Spear then turned back to the stallion. He just gave a single nod.

“Thanks, guys,” she then whispered tearfully, before taking off at top speed with the ticket.

Emerald and Bright Spark watched her go, both smiling. Then the mare looked at the stallion.

“Can I shake my head ruefully and mutter, kids?” she asked playfully.

“You are technically a thousand years older than her.” Bright Spark looked at her with a small grin. “So, yes, yes, you can.”

---

Sharp Spear kept to the far back, well out of the way. There weren’t many ponies there but enough that she didn’t really want to be seen by them. She had arrived in Vanhoover a few minutes ago and made her way to the graveyard, as Bright Spark had told her, the soldier had just caught the tail end. Sunny had been buried, and the crowd around her grave was doing their final goodbyes. Everyone was clad in black.

It was then that it hit her, that the unicorn didn’t know what Barricade looked like. Sunny had never described him; she really only knew the name and had long ago learned to hate it after hearing what he did to her friend.

Scanning the small gathering, the unicorn tried to get some idea who it might be. She was sure he would be there. Sharp had been told that his family was taking care of the funeral; after all, Sunny had no family.

Then she spotted Chisel and had to restrain herself from rushing over to him. Chisel was next to an older mare, bluish-gray with a dark blue mane. He looked so sad, but the old pony hugged him and spoke to him with a gentle warm smile. An older unicorn was also there, dark tangelos with a dark blonde mane. At one point, he would pat Cisel reassuringly on the head.

Then she saw two unicorn stallions. They were practically identical, except one had blue eyes and the other indigo. The blue-eyed one had a longer mane than the indigo eyed pony. There were other ponies there, adults and children, but Sharp Spear paid them no mind, probably just more family.

She risked going a little closer, pretending to be visiting another grave. She had no desire to get acquainted with Barricade’s family. No matter what Flash had told her about them. The service seemed to be over; she saw the indigo eyed unicorn walk over to the old couple and smiled down at Chisel.

“Mommy will now stay there?” the boy asked sadly.

“Yes, but we can visit, plant more flowers and decorate,” the unicorn assured him.

“Okay, daddy,” Chisel nodded and smiled a little.

So that’s Barricade, Sharp Spear frowned and felt strangely tempted to go over there and pummel him. She didn’t, just watched discreetly.

The ponies seemed ready to leave and started to walk away. Chisel did stop when seeing that his father wasn’t following the crowd, the colt trotted over.

“Oh, hey sport,” Barricade looked at the boy as he had been turning back towards the grave. “I’ll be there in a moment, why don’t you go with your grandparents. Tell them what’s your favorite treat, they will give it to you.”

“I like cookies,” Chisel nodded, then he looked at the grave. “You need to say sorry to mommy again?”

“You are smart, yes, I do. Now go get cookies from grandma,” Barricade chuckled and waved the boy off. The colt smiled before turning away and hurried to join the crowd.

Sharp Spear frowned and wondered when Barricade would leave. She rather be alone now with Sunny’s grave. The stallion continued to watch the other ponies go, before turning back to the grave, looking grimmer.

“You can stop spying on us now,” he said and glanced to where Sharp Spear was.

“I was not spying!” Sharp Spear snorted and walked closer. “I was waiting for you lot to leave so that I could say goodbye to my friend in peace.”

Barricade faced her, looking the soldier up and down. His expression never changed. Sharp Spear felt a strange urge to bury her hoof in that face, however, she managed to hold back. She had a strong feeling that something like that would get back to Shining Armor, and he would not be happy about that.

“So, does your son know what kind of pony he’s now stuck with?” Sharp Spear remarked.

“Yes, he does,” Barricade inclined his head in a single nod. Sharp Spear narrowed her eyes, almost positive that the pony was playing with her now.

“Oh really, does he know that you hurt his mother?” she snapped, her anger was momentarily replaced by surprise when the unicorn in front of her nodded again. “What? How? Sunny never told him anything.”

“Simple, I told him,” Barricade shrugged.

“You told him?” Sharp Spear couldn’t believe it. “You actually told a six-year-old colt that you hurt his mother? What, you told him that you threw her across a living room and slashed her with your horn?”

“Oh please,” Barricade rolled his eyes before looking unimpressed at the soldier. “I’m not crazy. I didn’t give him graphic details. But he asked why his mother never said anything about me, so I told him that I hurt her, and that’s why I stayed away.”

Sharp Spear was at a loss of words. She looked at the grave. It was simple; flowers were laid on it, a purse was placed next to the gravestone that had Sunny’s name engraved.

“You wish I were responsible for her death, don’t you,” Barricade addressed her. “You wish you could blame me for her death.”

“Yes,” Sharp Spear whispered and looked back at the unicorn, he wasn’t facing her anymore, he had turned back to the grave. “Or better yet, that it was you under that pile of bricks that killed her.”

“Why couldn’t you DIE!” the soldier suddenly screamed. “Then Sunny wouldn’t have had to live in fear of you! Every day of her life!”

“I did die,” Barricade said quietly.

“What?” Sharp Spear blinked, little unprepared for that response.

“King Sombra killed me,” the stallion whispered and gritted his teeth. He glared at Sharp Spear. “I’m afraid he got me first. He tore into my head, ripped me apart. At the roots of Sombra’s Maw, King Sombra slaughtered the pony I used to be. Not for justice, not to avenge all the ponies that I had hurt. No, just for shits and giggles, to subdue me, make me his slave.”

“What was left was a withering husk, a pathetic heap of pony who could no longer even look at his own shadow without recoiling in fear.” Barricade started to turn away. “So go ahead, if you want to punch me, punch me. But you aren’t punching the pony who hurt Sunny. He was killed in Crystal Empire when the Shadow King possessed his brother.”

“Is that flowery prose supposed to make me feel better?” Sharp Spear snorted in contempt.

“Wasn’t trying to make you feel better,” Barricade shot back as he continued to walk away. “Just giving you the facts. Whatever you do to me, whatever you say to me, King Sombra already did, ten times worse.”

The mare narrowed her eyes and opened her mouth to respond, but her words died in her mouth when Barricade stopped and glanced back. He didn’t look grim or angry. His eyes almost looked lifeless, barely a glimmer, his face was drawn and tortured. For a brief second, it was almost as if the pony looked… Sharp Spear gulped, as the Crystal Ponies had looked shortly after their return, still under King Sombra’s curse.

“Barricade, wait,” Sharp Spear rushed after the unicorn who had resumed his walk. Barricade halted but did not look back at her. He seemed somewhat normal now. “What did I just see there?”

“What King Sombra did to me,” Barricade muttered and now looked at the soldier.

“Have you been getting help?” she asked, remembering the long therapy sessions some of her Crystal Pony friends had gone through.

“Recently, yes, my brother’s marefriend, she’s a therapist,” he nodded.

“Recently? The possession incident was…” Sharp Spear blinked and was starting to see what Flash meant that the Barricade she had hated no longer existed.

“Quite a while ago,” Barricade finished and looked away. “Now, if we are finished, I need to catch up with my family.”

Sharp Spear just nodded and watched the stallion head for the exit of the graveyard. She glanced towards Sunny’s grave then back to Barricade.

“Please take good care of Chisel,” she called.

“I will,” Barricade responded.

The unicorn kept watching him for a little while, before turning back to the grave. Sharp Spear stopped in front of it and looked down for a moment before raising her head a little.

“Well, I almost made an utter and complete fool out of myself there,” she muttered and sighed. “I don’t know who that pony was, but that was not Barricade you described to me.”

“I have seen what King Sombra does to ponies. I have friends who lived under his reign. He was right, the pony you were afraid of is dead. Not sure if I should thank King Sombra for that or not,” Sharp Spear frowned in thought. Then she looked more properly at the grave and became sadder.

“I’m sorry… I shouldn’t have pushed you to go out… I just wanted you to have fun. Fun with your son, he loves you so much, but he could never understand why you were sometimes so sad,” the unicorn choked a little.

“I miss you already,” Sharp Spear whispered and fell to the ground and started to sob.

“Tears for friends, so often bitterly bought,” a soft voice whispered near her.

Sharp Spear looked up, standing next to her was tall unicorn mare, dark gray and with black mane and tail. She wore nothing and curiously had no cutie-mark on her flank. She smiled warmly, almost motherly.

“What do you mean?” Sharp Spear asked, there was something uncanny about this mare, something familiar.

“Why the loss, of course, the heartache, the knowledge you will never see them again,” the mystery mare explained, she offered a hoof to help the unicorn to stand up.

“I… guess you have a point there,” Sharp muttered and accepted the help.

“You two were close?” the stranger asked curiously. Sharp Spear nodded.

“I have known her for a long time, then she started to be in bad company and sometimes I wouldn’t see her for days. Then one day, I was told she was in the hospital, cracked spine, slashes on her cutie mark. She was lucky she could walk again, then we learned she was pregnant,” the soldier sighed. Her head and ears lowered. “I wanted to help her more, asked her to live close to where I lived. At least she moved back to here, to stay as far as she could from the pony who harmed her.”

“Unrequited love.” The strange mare now smiled knowingly. Sharp Spear flushed, and her head shot up, she looked sharply at the stranger.

“What? No… I mean… she didn’t swing… I…” the soldier cringed and realized she might just as well have confessed everything with an airhorn. Thankfully only the stranger was there, smiling.

“Have no fear, your secret is safe with me,” the stranger chuckled softly.

Sharp Spear sat down with a soft thud, looking even sadder at the grave now. She now spotted a small picture of Sunny buried amongst the flowers. The unicorn sniffed.

“Yes, I loved her. I was so in love with her, but I knew she would never be mine. She was too broken, too burned, so I was just a friend, an aunt to her son,” the unicorn cried softly.

A hoof was laid gently on her cheek to turn her head to the side. Sharp Spear looked tearfully straight into the red intent eyes of the mysterious mare. The unicorn suddenly found that she could not look away, she was utterly lost in them; the sound of wind and birds and the distant noise of the city died out. The mare just stared directly into red orbs that completely captivated her.

“Hm, pity, you didn’t directly engage my son after all,” the mysterious mare sounded somewhat disappointed as she raised her head away from the unicorn.

“I was hoping to learn a little more about his resurrection, ah well, there are plenty more I can investigate.” She shrugged and glanced down at the soldier who stared forward in a trance. A devilish smirk crossed the dark gray unicorn, she raised her hoof and placed it on top of Sharp Spears head.

“One little twist and I can have you join your secret love,” she mused. The smirk turned demonic for a second; then it reverted back to a small smile. “But no, you will live. There is no rage there feed on anymore, no wrath, just a broken heart. Pity, you had it a second ago. So delicious when you recognized the pony you hated and I inflamed it.”

“Alas, rage and wrath can be fleeting, it all turned to pity when you saw what that pony suffered from at the hooves of my son,” the mare shook her head and removed her hoof from her head.

Sharp Spear snapped awake and looked confused around. She was still sitting in front of Sunny’s grave, but she was alone. The strange mare was gone, no sign of her anywhere.

Oh wow, I must have zoned out, the unicorn thought and rubbed her cheek with a hoof. She looked down at the grave and tilted her head; it was now lined with black roses. Where did those come from?

“Okay, this is a little creepy.” Sharp Spear stood up and looked nervously around. “Goodbye, Sunny, uh… I’ll visit you later.

With that, the unicorn hurried for the entrance of the graveyard, soft sound that could be the wind but was eerily like soft, quiet laughter echoed around her, giving the mare chills.

“I’m being ridiculous; there is no such thing as ghosts,” Sharp whispered to herself and adjusted her speed and practically galloped out of the graveyard. Not knowing and probably glad not to know that red eyes had watched her the entire time from the shadows.

End chapter 5