> The sons of Barricade. Part 2. Chisel
>  by Askre
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Chapter 1. Meet Chisel and Sunny.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 1

Sunny Daze groggily woke up because something was bouncing on her bed. Something blue-green, the dark orange mare rose up slightly, the giggle slowly registered with her mind as belonging to her son, Chisel.

“Wake up, mommy,” Chisel giggled and kept bouncing up and down, a massive smile on his muzzle which was brown, unlike the rest of his coat.

“Oh, just five more minutes,” Sunny mumbled and slumped back down, she used her magic to throw a blanket over the little colt.

“Eep.” Chisel stopped bouncing and instead started roaming around the bed, like a green ghost covered as he was under the blanket. The occasional giggle still escaped from him.

“Am a ghost, boooooo,” the boy put on his best spooky voice.

Sunny started laughing, looking up, she grabbed the blanket again with her magic and picked it up of the boy. He was grinning wide at his mother.

“Well, that is the cutest ghost I’ve ever seen,” she told the boy and smiled warmly. The little unicorn rushed forward and pounced his mother in a hug, she put her legs around him and cuddled him against her chest, nuzzling his blue mane gently.

“You are too cute,” she mumbled and let him go and started to rise. The boy bounced off the bed and continued to jump towards the bedroom door.

Sunny yawned as she finally relented to leave the bed. It was morning, and she knew her son was hungry and excited for a new day, then again, the mare couldn’t remember a day when he wasn’t excited. The unicorn chuckled a little; she remembered being this bouncy once.

The bedroom led straight to the living room and the kitchen corner. It was not a big apartment; she had repurposed the walk-in closet into the boy’s bedroom. Sunny wished she could afford something a little bigger, give her son a proper room. While he was still this young and small, the big closet would do, but it would be a problem when he got bigger. She had even removed the door of the closet, worrying about letting her son sleep in this enclosed space with no window.

Chisel was still bouncing around the living room. For a moment, Sunny wondered if her son had turned into a rabbit, chuckling she went to the kitchen corner to prepare breakfast.

“You want Crunchies for breakfast?” she asked and opened one of the cupboards.

“Yes, please,” Chisel called from the other end of the living room.

Sunny pulled out a cereal box and put it on the counter, then she got milk from the fridge and grabbed from another cupboard a bowl. She filled it with the cereal and poured milk over it. While she did that, the mare also put two slices of bread in the toaster.

“Come and get it, bouncy boy,” she called and put the cereal bowl on the table. Chisel came rushing over and sat at the table. Seeing her boy starting to eat, she turned back to the counter to make her breakfast.

The toast finished and she put some jam on it, then grabbed a bottle of orange juice and poured it into a glass. Sunny glanced back to her son, who was still gobbling up his cereal.

“You want some juice?” she asked, Chisel nodded eagerly. Sunny got another glass and filled it with orange juice. Then she took the two glasses and her breakfast to the table and sat down.

Ugh, glad I’m not working today, I’m just not up for it, the mare thought while nibbling on her toast. She had a bit of a backache, result of an old injury that sometimes bothered her.

Sunny glanced at the fridge; it hadn’t escaped her attention while preparing the breakfast that it was starting to get empty. The mare grumbled; she would have to go to the bank and see if she had enough on her account to do some groceries.

“Am done.” Chisel announced and pushed the empty bowl and glass away.

“Then go play,” Sunny told him. The colt didn’t waste a second; he was already off and rushed to the corner where most of his toys were; they didn’t all fit in his room.

The mare pushed the groceries to the back of her mind. She smiled and continued to eat while watching Chisel get his toy train and a few toy figures and started playing with them on the floor.

When Sunny finished her breakfast, she took the dishes and the glasses and put them all in the sink. Then she went to the small bathroom to clean up. Brushing her light orange mane and tail before tying both in a knot, then she went over her coat with another brush. For a moment, she stopped over her cutie-mark on her left flank, a beam of light like a sunray. There was a visible scar over it.

Sunny stared at it silently for a moment before finishing the brushing. Then she put the brush away and returned to the living room. Her son was still playing on the floor, making choo-choo noises. The mare returned to the kitchen corner and started doing the dishes.

A knock on the apartment door caused Chisel to jump away from his toys and race to the front hall. Unfortunately, he still hadn’t quite learned to use his magic and was too small to reach the doorknob, that didn’t stop the colt from trying. He went on his hindlegs, supporting himself on the door with one hoof while poking at the doorknob with the other.

“Just a minute!” Sunny called, turning off the faucet and went to follow her son. She chuckled a little when seeing his valiant attempt at opening the door.

Sunny grabbed the colt up and placed him on her back, then unlocked the door and opened it. Both smiled when seeing the yellow unicorn with a gray mane and tail and a spear cutie-mark standing outside.

“Sharp Spear,” Sunny cried and reached out to hug the visitor.

“Auntie Spear!” Chisel cheered and jumped off his mother back and rushed to hug the newcomer as well.

“Heya, Sunny, hi, you little ragamuffin,” Sharp Spear grinned as the mare was squeezed from both sides. When Sunny let go of her, she grabbed up Chisel to hold him and peered at him teasingly. “You aren’t causing any trouble, are you?”

“Nooo.” Chisel shook his head frantically, trying to look as innocent as he could.

“Oh, come on in,” Sunny stepped back inside and let the other pony enter. When Sharp Spear had passed the doorway with Chisel, the orange unicorn closed the door again.

“So, what brings you here all the way from the Crystal Empire?” Sunny asked as she led the visitor into the living room. She and Sharp Spear were old childhood friends and still stayed in touch, even if the yellow pony had moved quite a while ago to join the Royal Guards before she transferred to the Crystal Empire.

“I’m on leave from the Crystal Guards, figured I would visit family and friends in Vanhoover,” Sharp responded and bounced Chisel for a moment in her blue colored magic before letting the giggling boy back to the ground. The colt now jumped around the mares.

“Figured you would be awake already. You have often lamented that this bouncy bean over here has made you forget what sleeping in meant,” Sharp Spear chuckled as she watched the boy.

“Yeah, the sun appears, he is up,” Sunny mock glared at her son but was still smiling.

The two adults laughed before heading to the dining table, followed by the colt. Sharp and Chisel got seated while Sunny went to prepare some drinks. There wasn’t much to offer, but there was still coffee for the older ponies and orange juice for Chisel. Sunny did find the last pack of biscuits and put it all on the table.

“I got a new train,” Chisel informed Sharp and turned in his seat to point proudly where his toy still lay on the living room floor.

“Oooh, that’s nice,” Sharp Spear nodded as she glanced over.

“It goes choo-choo!” the boy helpfully informed her. “And it carries my other toys.”

“That it does, how is school?” Sharp looked at the boy, recalling this was his first year in school.

“It is fun, I started to write letters,” Chisel told her, then he jumped off the chair to race off to his room.

Sharp Spear looked quizzically at Sunny, who was giggling as she poured them some coffee in mugs. Chisel soon came running back, holding a paper in his mouth, on it were several letters scribbled together in mouth-writing.

“I do this, Miss Sweet gave me a star,” Chisel beamed as he gave the paper to Sharp, who levitated the paper up. It did have a star stamp on it, not a gold star but still a star.

“He did have trouble starting first, but the foals who show the most improvement over the year, get a star,” Sunny explained to her, looking a little proud herself.

“Very nice,” Sharp smiled and gave the paper to Chisel. “You’ll be writing me letters soon enough.”

Chisel grabbed the paper in his mouth and trotted back with it to his room. Sharp grabbed up her mug and took a swig from the coffee, then looked at Sunny, who was more just slowly sipping hers.

“So how is life treating you? Back still bothering you?” the guard asked, having noticed that her friend had to shift a little to sit more comfortably in the chair.

“A little, have a day off today, so it should be fine for tomorrow,” Sunny told her. “As for life, I can’t complain, wished I could live in a little bigger. Chisel isn’t going to remain small forever. He’s already small for a six-year-old colt.”

“You know, you could move to the Crystal Empire. Princess Cadance implemented affordable housing for struggling single parents, I’m sure you could find some work,” Sharp Spear suggested with an innocent grin.

“You don’t give up, do you?” Sunny chuckled. This was not the first time Sharp Spear had tried to get her to move closer. “First Canterlot, now the Crystal Empire.”

“What can I say? I miss you guys. I hated leaving you behind for boot camp in Canterlot and the when I moved to the Crystal Empire. I Want to help you,” her friend told her, sounding a little regretful.

“You know why I live here,” Sunny sighed and continued to sip from her mug. Chisel returned and climbed back to his seat. He grabbed the glass of orange juice in his hooves and took a large gulp.

Sharp Spear fell silent and just nodded, she looked at Chisel who had been given a biscuit by his mother and was munching on it. The unicorn turned back to her friend.

“He hasn’t tried to contact as he?” she asked quietly and carefully, turning more solemn when seeing Sunny’s eyes grow a little colder.

“He sent a letter…” Sunny whispered and looked away. “Claiming to be apologizing.”

“Apologizing!?” Sharp Spear had to hold back a snarl, not wanting to startle the colt sitting next to her. Chisel was already looking confused at the adults.

“Chisel, why don’t you go and play,” Sunny told her son.

“Okay,” the colt nodded and climbed off the chair and trotted back to his toys in the living room.

When they could hear that Chisel was playing with his toys, Sharp Spear leaned over the table. Now she was not hiding her disgust as she frowned heavily at her friend.

“How in Tartarus does that bastard think apologizing will change anything?” she hissed.

“Actually he didn’t, said it would change nothing… I burned the letter…” Sunny shuddered and put her mug down on the table, staring down at it.

“He damn right it changes nothing,” Sharp Spear growled and put down her mug, she was seething now. “I swear if I had known it was him I was looking for during the possession incident, I would have refused and told them King Sombra could have him.”

“What?” Sunny raised her brow. Sharp Spear had told her quite a while back that King Sombra had returned, possessing a pony. The guard had been involved in the search, only to locate an inn where the Dark King had driven the patrons and the innkeeper mad and killed six Crystal Ponies.

“Yeah, the pony King Sombra possessed was his brother. I never told you that part, because I didn’t want you to have a fit,” Sharp Spear sat up, her eyes drifted downwards, still looking grim.

“I appreciate it,” Sunny whispered and closed her eyes.

“Ugh, here I come for a friendly visit and I’m dredging up that asshole, sorry,” Sharp Spear grumbled and looked up, doing her best to smile again.

“It’s alright,” her friend assured her though it didn’t sound very convincing.

Sharp Spear felt guilty now. She glanced back to where Chisel was busy playing with his toys, having them go on a merry adventure on the train.

“Tell you what, why don’t I take you both out for ice cream, my treat?” she offered.

“It’s early morning,” Sunny pointed out somewhat skeptical, her friend rose up from her seat with a wide grin.

“Never too early for ice cream. Hey Chisel, want some ice cream?” Sharp called to the boy, causing his mother to drop her jaw in shock.

“Yes, please!” Immediately the boy was right back in the kitchen corner, jumping up and down with an eager smile.

“Using my own son against me, that’s just evil,” Sunny stuck her tongue out at the still grinning mare.





Although it was early morning, there were already ponies out and about. Now included were Sharp Spear and Sunny Daze, walking towards midtown. Bouncing ahead of them was little Chisel.

“So she told me, ‘I’m really flattered but sorry I really don’t swing that way.’ Just my luck,” Sharp Spear laughed as the two mares continued their walk. Sunny chuckled during the story.

“I’m sure you’ll find somepony,” Sunny reassured her.

“Eh, I’m not desperately seeking, but you can’t blame me, she was really cute,” Sharp Spear shrugged, though she was talking with her friend, she also did keep an eye on the boy bouncing ahead of them.

“Oh, we are approaching where they are building that new building, we probably should go to the other side, so we don’t walk past it,” Sunny remarked.

“It should be safe, looks like they have both fencing and magic guards up,” Sharp Spear eyed towards where a partly finished building was further down. Chisel had already stopped, staring in awe at the construction and especially the various cranes in operation.

“Better be safe than sorry,” her friend said, Sharp couldn’t argue with that. Then Sunny’s magic grip on her purse vanished, and it dropped to the ground.

The two unicorns stopped, puzzled. Sunny tried to pick her purse up again, but her magic fizzled out. Then they heard shouts and looked up. Both gasped in horror.

At the construction site, one of the unicorn workers had been assisting a crane operator with putting a bag of heavy building materials onto a platform. He had grabbed hold on the bag and was trying to steer it further onto the platform. Suddenly his magic fizzled out, the tow cable of the crane hadn’t lined up yet, sending it and the bag swinging off the platform.

The worker watched in shock and terror as the bag swung like a pendulum, going high enough to spill some of its contents out and send it raining down to the street below. Most of it would land within the fences of the site, but some were going to the road.

“WATCH OUT BELOW!” another worker snapped to her senses to send the alarm, other unicorns had tried to grab the bag, but their magic didn’t work either. Down below, ponies were already scattering.

“CHISEL!” Sunny screamed, but Sharp Spear was already running.

The soldier dashed madly for the boy. She didn’t bother with her horn, having already figured out that something was wrong with magic. Sharp Spear then jumped for the colt who still hadn’t realized the danger he was in. The mare grabbed the boy in her forelegs. Then she rolled quickly out of the way just as bricks and girders slammed down to the ground.

Sharp Spear didn’t move where she lay on the ground for a moment, shielding Chisel with her body. Then she looked up and was relieved to see that most of the things coming down had landed in the construction area, only a few girders and bricks had gone outside of it.

“Am scared… where is mommy?” Chisel whimpered, there was commotion around them. Ponies were running; there were panicked shouts all over the place.

“It’s okay, it’s okay, we’ll go to your mommy now,” Sharp Spear said, she hugged the boy for a moment, before letting go and rose up, then she called. “It’s okay, Sunny. I got Chisel.”

“Sunny?” Sharp Spear frowned when not hearing anything from her friend nor saw her.

“Mommy?” Chisel called as he looked frantically around.

Sharp Spear quickly scanned the area. She noticed that ponies were congregating around one spot on the sidewalk. Not that far away from where she and Sunny had been. Her heart stopped beating; ponies were hurrying to remove bricks of something, or someone.

“She’s injured!” someone was calling.

“No…” Sharp Spear whispered, she tried to grab for Chisel but was to late, the boy was running towards the crowd of ponies.

“Somepony call an ambulance carriage!”

“Mommy!”

End chapter 1
> 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
> Chapter 3. Chisel and Sharp Spear get help.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 3

Chisel sat on the bed, hugging the purse. The boy still had no expression on his face. He was numb, felt nothing. He hadn’t even reacted when Sharp Spear was arrested on the train platform. As long as nobody touched the purse, he just let the other guards lead him away.

Ponies had talked with him, but he just ignored them. They had brought him to this room, a pink one with a crown had told him he would be staying here for a little bit. He showed no reaction to hugs given to him. They brought him some food, but he didn’t want it. He just wanted the purse.

The boy’s mind was still on one image, his mom, lying motionless on the sidewalk. Stil half-buried under the bricks, not responding to his cries. They had tried to take the purse away, he grabbed it and refused to let go. He would allow no one to take it.

“Let me see how he is; then we’ll see how it goes.” A voice said as the door to the room opened. Chisel ignored it.

Hoofsteps approached the bed, and a pony came into view. She was maroon colored, but her muzzle and back were white. Her mane and tail were navy blue and on her flank were three small suns.

“Hey, Chisel,” the pony smiled gently. The boy didn’t respond.

“My name is Foxy Stripes,” she introduced herself and placed her left front hoof gently on the bed, revealing it was white. “I just want to talk with you for a little bit, is that okay?”

Chisel just hugged the purse tighter. Foxy continued to regard him, never dropping the gentle smile on her muzzle.

“Is that your mommy’s purse?” she asked gently. Chisel nodded. “It’s really pretty.”

Chisel slowly turned his head to look at the mare. She made no move to take the purse. She didn’t try to hug him. Didn’t tell him everything was going to be okay.

“What’s in it?” Foxy asked gently, but there was a hint of playfulness in her voice. “Or is it a secret? If it’s a secret, don’t tell me.”

The boy tilted his head; she sounded different than the others. She wasn’t telling him things; she wasn’t talking about how his mother was gone or trying to comfort him or anything like that. She just wanted to know what was in the purse.

“Mommy’s stuff,” finally the young colt spoke. Slowly he relented his iron grip on the purse, slowly he raised one hoof and tried to open it. It was a little bit of a struggle, but Foxy made no moves to reach over to assist. Finally, Chisel managed to open the purse and looked in.

“She has a brush… an’ napkins… an’ bit pouch…” he counted up slowly. He reached in with his hoof to rummage a little in it. “Mommy…”

The floodgates opened, the tears started streaming down his cheeks and the boy curled up, clutching the purse as he cried. Foxy deftly climbed up to the bed, lay down next to the boy, but still avoided touching the purse. Gently she laid her red right hoof on the boy’s back and started to caress his back gently. Then she began to hum a song softly as the boy sobbed.

“I lost my daddy when I was even littler than you. I never got to know him,” she said gently. Chisel slowly looked up, the tears still flooding down.

“Whut happened to him?” he whispered between the sobs.

“He got very sick, one day the doctors said to my mommy that they could do nothing more for him. Then he was gone,” she explained to the boy.

Chisel sniffled, then he let go of the purse, crawled over to Foxy and climbed between her forelegs. There he curled up against her chest. The mare gently put her legs around the boy.

“Why is mommy gone?” Chisel whispered and started to sob again, burying his face in Foxy’s chest.

“Because a very mean pony drained all the magic away, which caused the accident to happen,” Foxy told him sadly, she started to hum the song again as Chisel continued to cry.





Three concerned ponies watched as Foxy Stripes exited the room. The maroon pegasus had an uncharacteristic frown on her face. Princess Cadance, Barricade, and Barbell almost dreaded hearing the verdict.

“He’s sleeping right now,” Foxy told them quietly. “He had closed off, which can be a natural reaction to shock. I will need to talk with him some more to see if there is anything more, he’s naturally traumatized, but he’s managed to get some emotional relief. If we continue to work with him, he should be fine.”

“That’s good to hear, I was getting a little worried how little he reacted to things unless you came too close to the purse,” Cadance said and put a hoof on her chest in relief.

“Yeah, that’s his security blanket right now, no touchie, unless he allows it,” Foxy warned them, then she turned to Barricade. “We’ll let him meet you when he wakes up.”

Barricade nodded in understanding. He was himself a little nervous about meeting Chisel, as far as he knew the boy didn’t even know he existed. He and Barbell had arrived several hours ago, but after meeting and talking with Princess Cadance, they held off rushing to the boy until Foxy Stripes arrived who thankfully didn’t take too long to come.

“Now tell me, who was it who had the bright idea to remove him from the hospital his mother was in, hide him for a few days, then run for the Crystal Empire?” Foxy looked at Cadance, her frown slowly changing to a scowl. Barbell and Barricade instantly turned to the princess as well, looking about as angry as the pegasus right now.

“One of our soldiers, Sharp Spear. She’s originally from Vanhoover and was a friend of Sunny Daze. She is confined to barracks until Shining hears more about how things will proceed with Chisel,” the princess calmly explained to them. Barricade’s eyes narrowing even more, told her that he needed to hear much more than just that.

“As I told you, she was a friend of Sunny. She only knows about old you Barricade, the one who hurt her. She thought she was doing Chisel a favor by preventing child service from sending him to you.” Cadance noticed that Barricade’s scowl eased up instantly. Foxy and Barbell, however, still looked highly unimpressed.

“I know Barricade used to be a jerk, but that’s no excuse to practically abduct his currently traumatized from mother loss child to hide it from him,” Foxy snorted.

“Foxy, I tossed Sunny once across a living room in a drunken rage. I nearly broke her back and then I… slashed my horn across her cutie mark,” Barricade hung his head, his face expressing the regret and guilt he was feeling right now. Barbell was already placing a hoof on his back, while Foxy’s scowl instantly vaporized and was replaced with shock.

“I’m so glad I never met that Barricade,” the maroon pegasus muttered, but said no more, already seeing how guilt-ridden the stallion was over the whole thing.

“Six years ago, Sharp Spear may have been justified in her actions, but that was six years ago. If you want to place charges against her, Barricade, for abducting your son, that is your right,” Princess Cadance told him.

“Five seconds ago, sure, but no… she was just trying to protect him… from the pony who hurt his mother. I would expect nothing less from a friend of Sunny,” Barricade muttered and turned around to walk away, followed by Barbell, leaving the princess and Foxy behind.

Cadance seeing that the couple wanted to be alone, motioned for the pegasus to follow her. Foxy shrugged trotted after the princess.

“What didn’t you tell us, Foxy?” the princess asked once they were well out of earshot.

“As I said, I can’t tell anything definite until I’ve had a more proper talk with Chisel,” Foxy said and furrowed her brow. “He’s six, already in school, but talks more like he’s four or five. Granted, right now, he’s going through grief and trauma that no child should have to suffer through, that can play into things. But there were still alarm signs. I don’t know enough about Sunny and Chisel. I would need to hear more about how they lived their lives in Vanhoover.”

“Tell me what you think you’re looking at?” Cadance asked curiously but with a hint of worry.

“Not a spoiled child, but a babied child, small shallow social pool, probably knew barely anyone except his mother and maybe this Sharp Spear. Probably having some problems already in school that ponies will dismiss as him being still young, no friends in his age group,” Foxy counted up and sighed. “Of course, now I’m just drawing up from my experience of meeting other such children, but as I said, I saw alarm signs.”

“In other words, you need more data,” the princess guessed.

“To quote Applejack’s brother, eeyup,” Foxy nodded.

“You’ve met him?” Cadance chuckled a little.

“No, but Coal has,” the pegasus told her, referring to her own daughter.





In the barracks of the crystal guards, Sergeant Flash Sentry was approaching guarded quarters. He nodded to the two armored ponies before opening the door and entering. The first thing the pegasus noted was how dark it was. Then he spotted the unicorn mare on the bunk.

“Has Chisel been given to that bastard yet?” Sharp Spear snorted without turning around, keeping her back facing Flash.

“Chisel’s father has arrived in the Crystal Empire along with his wife and a therapist to help the boy cope with his recent loss,” Flash Sentry told her neutrally. There came a snort of contempt from the bunk.

“Jeez, wonder what brainless ditz he managed to rope into marriage,” Sharp retorted.

“I dare you to say that to Barbell’s face,” Flash Sentry remarked right back at her.

That prompted Sharp Spear to raise her head and turn it a little so she could see the sergeant, the soldier was frowning.

“You’ve met her?” Sharp Spear asked, unsure.

“Met her, attended the ceremony. The pony you were trying to protect Chisel from no longer exists Sharp,” Flash told her flatly.

“Hah, yeah right!” the soldier snorted and laid her head back down.

Flash Sentry shook his head, he did have a feeling that would be the reaction, but he had to try. As Shining Armor had said, Sharp Spear was one of their bests. He had personally requested for her to be in his squad when he was made sergeant.

“Sharp, you are a smart pony, if he was still like the pony who hurt your friend, you honestly think child service would even let Chisel remotely near him?” he asked, there was no response from the bunk.

“There is more to this irrational behavior than just him, isn’t it?” Flash wondered and walked a little closer. “The Sharp Spear I knew would have cooperated with the local authorities, not hidden a child who just lost his mother, then try to make a run for it with him.”

There was still no response. Flash stopped before he got too close and sat down. Things were not adding up. He felt he had known Sharp long enough to know how she worked. She had kept her squadmates safe while being barraged by crazed ponies and creatures driven mad by King Sombra himself. The pony on the bunk didn’t sound like the pony who had kept her shield up while being taunted and attacked by the Crystal Empire’s most dangerous enemy.

“What happened, Sharpy?” Flash dropped into the nicknames; he was here as a friend, not her commanding officer.

“I went to Vanhoover on my leave, decided to drop by Sunny’s place to surprise her and Chisel,” Sharp whispered, her tone was hard and emotionless. “I offered to take them out for some ice cream, even got Chisel to convince her to go. Sunny never goes out unless I manage to push her to go.”

“She never goes out at all. I was her only friend. I even told her if she needed anything, she could go to my family. They would be completely welcoming to her. Chisel doesn’t even have any friends at school, he practically only knows her and to lesser extend me, I was the only family they had,” Sharp looked up, cracks were starting to form in her voice and face.

“I killed her Flash! I killed my friend. I went to save Chisel from the falling bricks but left her behind, and she got buried in it. Just because I conned her into going out for stinking ice cream!” Sharp was shouting these last few words, then she dropped her head back down and started crying.

“And now I’m just supposed to accept that the bastard who hurt Sunny, the pony she was mortally afraid of gets Chisel. He doesn’t even know his father exists; they are sending him to complete strangers!” she continued to sob.

Flash listened calmly, letting Sharp rant as she cried. Then he rose up and walked over, going to the side the unicorn was facing. There he lifted one foreleg and used it to draw the soldier closer. He felt legs go around him as Sharp Spear clung to him in a hug as she continued to cry. The sergeant spread out one of his wings to drape it around her.

“Sharp, you did not kill her. Yes, this was a terrible accident that happened, you couldn’t have known this magic drain would occur, none of us did. It just suddenly happened. The ones responsible have been punished,” Flash Sentry told her gently.

“You did well. You didn’t lose your cool, you rushed in and saved Chisel. I’m pretty sure that is what Sunny would have wanted. You couldn’t have known how far the spread was,” he continued to reassure her gently. He made a mental note to suggest to the captain that Sharp Spear get some counseling.

They stayed like this for a little while before Sharp broke free from the embrace and lay back down. Her head rested on the pillow, partly concealed by the unkempt mane as she stared forward. Flash put his leg back down and folded his wing back but continued to watch her.

“What happens now?” Sharp Spear whispered.

“I don’t know, sorry. The captain is still pretty furious about the whole thing. I do know though that Barricade is not pressing charges,” Flash told her, this prompted the unicorn to look at him puzzled.

They were interrupted by a green crystal pony who burst through the door, peeking in was a blue crystal pony and a purple pegasus, the two stallions looked apologetic, while Sharp Spear was being squeezed in a hug by the mare who had rushed inside.

“Apologies, sir, we could not contain her any longer,” the blue pony confessed.

“I’m surprised you two managed to contain Emerald this long at all, Bright Spark,” Flash Sentry remarked and chuckled softly.

“Shush, Sharpy needs cheering up,” Emerald stuck her tongue out at them.

“Well, I’m being hugged by a cute mare, that’s at least something,” Sharp Spear smiled weakly, trying her best to breathe through the bear hug and returning the hug at the same time.

“She is supposed to be confined to quarters,” Flash Sentry pointed out, seeing that his entire squad was now in the room.

“She is, I’m not and we all share these quarters,” Emerald immediately pointed out while finally letting Sharp Spear go.

“Good Grief, Sparky, what reps have you been making this girl take while I’ve been off,” Sharp Spear remarked to the blue pony, feeling a little crushed after the hug but was nevertheless grinning a little now. That just prompted Bright Spark to smile in amusement.

“Blackberry, any word?” Flash Sentry looked at the purple pegasus.

“None, sir. I think the captain is still waiting for further development,” the pegasus reported. “Though I have a feeling that once the father has properly met the child, they will disembark from the Crystal Empire.”

Flash just nodded, considering her emotional state right now, Sharp Spear might attempt something to disrupt things. That was probably the reason Shining Armor had only confined her to the barracks and her quarters instead of immediately discharging her.





“I have a daddy?” Chisel frowned in confusion. He was awake again and Foxy Stripes had arrived shortly after to talk with him. The colt still hugged the purse but not nearly as tightly as before, he also no longer had that blank expression but still looked sad.

“Mommy never said I had a daddy,” he said and looked down.

Foxy nodded, she sat right next to the bed, not wanting to intrude on Chisel’s personal space. After making sure that the boy was still talking and not reverted to how he had been before, the mare started to explain to him what was going to happen slowly — telling him about his father and where he would now live.

“Your daddy had a good reason to stay away from your mommy, but I am going to let him explain that reason,” the pegasus said.

“Auntie Sharp Spear say I would live in the Crystal Empire,” Chisel looked up at Foxy again, he still looked confused, almost lost.

Foxy sighed, wondering what more this Sharp Spear had told the boy that wouldn’t be true right now. Personally, she wanted to meet that pony and shake some sense into her but knew that wasn’t why she was here. Barricade also did have a point; Sharp Spear had been trying to protect Chisel from the pony Barricade had used to be.

“Sharp Spear didn’t know, maybe she thought you would live there, but your daddy does not live here,” Foxy said, she knew this must be very confusing for Chisel. He was effectively being given over to ponies he had never met and didn’t know.

However, since Barricade was his father and he was by now on moderately good terms with the mothers of most of his other children. He was raising one daughter already; courts would see no issue granting him automatic custody. There was currently no one to contest it. Sharp Spear even made it look worse for her by being willing to practically steal Chisel away before the authorities could assess his situation.

“Where is daddy?” Chisel asked unsurely, Foxy detected a hint that he didn’t quite believe her.

“He’s right outside, want me to call him in?” she asked, Chisel hesitated almost as if he hadn’t expected that answer. Foxy wondered if he was confused by the mix of messages, Sharp Spear, a pony he trusted had told him one thing, now a complete stranger was telling him something entirely else. Slowly the colt nodded.

“You can come in now,” Foxy called.

The door opened, and Chisel was already looking at it. The boy watched as a dark gray unicorn with blonde mane and tail, and a brick wall on his flank walked in.

“Hey, kid,” Barricade greeted him with a solemn smile.

End chapter 3
> 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
> 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
> Epilogue. The end so far.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

 Epilogue
 
“Look, I’m seriously busy, I’m behind in going over these insurance papers I need to turn in for the customers and employees who got injured during the magic drain!” Barricade snapped when there was a knock on his office door. He narrowed his eyes when the door opened and Barbell peeked in, smirking.

“You have an important visitor,” she simply announced and opened the door a little wider to let Chisel in.

“Hi daddy,” the boy greeted him with a wide smile.

“Oh, hey sport,” Barricade dropped the papers and the frown. He rose up to walk around the desk and to the boy. Chisel was looking around his office with mild wonder. “Something wrong?”

“What you doing?” the colt asked and turned to his father.

“Well, I’m going over papers, so that the ponies that got hurt in my gym when the magic drained get compensated,” the stallion explained to the boy.

“What compinsat?” Chisel asked, furrowing his brow a bit over the big word.

“That means, if they needed to go to the hospital to help with their owies, I pay it for them,” Barricade explained, thankfully there hadn’t been that many serious injuries.

“Oooh,” the boy nodded, though he probably didn’t understand fully what all of this meant.

Barricade chuckled and sat down close to him. The boy was adjusting to his new life. He had by now met most of his new family. Chisel had been stunned that he had so many sisters and one older brother.

He couldn’t complain about his new grandparents. Mirage Rock and Hard Shovel were already sneaking him treats when dad wasn’t looking. Barricade just thanked his lucky stars that they lived in Trottingham and not next door.

There was still grief. Sometimes Chisel would remember his mother and cry. Barricade was becoming aware when that was about to happen. The stallion was quick on the scene to comfort the boy. They had already gone two times now to visit the gravesite and decorate it some more, with pictures the boy drew.

Barricade and Barbell also learned it the hard way that the boy woke early, when few days after he first arrived, Chisel was bouncing on their bed just as the sun was coming up, while they were still sleeping in it.

“Well, now you know how your father and I felt when you were that age,” Mirage had remarked to her son when he had grumbled about it. Barricade absolutely refused to acknowledge that.

“Come to think of it, you and your brother sometimes both did it together,” his mother had then added. Both Barricade and his brother Private claimed to have no idea what she was on about.

Dinky had been thrilled to meet her younger brother finally. She had been so long the youngest of the known children Barricade had. Coal was several months her senior, so she was practically jumping off the walls. Chisel, for his part, was just happy to meet the siblings he never knew he had.

“Daddy, you sometimes miss mommy?” Chisel asked and sat down with his father. Barricade looked at him, then placed a leg around him.

“Sometimes, yes,” Barricade said solemnly. The boy nodded and hugged his father.

The door to the office opened again and Barricade’s oldest daughter, Cara, peeked in. The stallion immediately mock glared at the gray-brown pegasus filly, then pointed at the colt next to him.

“You were supposed to watch him,” Barricade claimed.

“I had to go to the bathroom, give me a break, I asked Thunder to keep an eye on him while I did,” Cara grunted and walked inside.

“Thunder Cloud say you were in da office, so I come here while wait for Cara,” Chisel helpfully explained.

Oh, when I get my hooves on that lazy featherhead, Barricade grumbled in his mind, outwardly he just nodded. “Very well then. Chisel, I have to get back to work. You will be okay with your sister, right?”

“Come on, Chisel, I’ll show you the exercise balls you can play with here,” the teen filly offered her brother, who jumped to his legs again and rushed over to her.

“Okay, bye, bye, daddy,” Chisel called and then hurried back out with Cara.

“Have fun,” Barricade waved after them, then he walked to the office door and looked outside.

As usual in his gym, ponies were working out and his employees were assisting. He looked further in and saw where Cara had gathered some of the gym balls for Chisel to play with; Barbell had trotted over to join them.

Barricade’s eyes then rested on the light yellow pegasus stallion operating the counter. The unicorn’s eyes narrowed a little, the pegasus noticed, gulped and sunk a little as if trying to hide from view. Then Barricade just chuckled and pulled his head back into the office.

The stallion returned to his desk and started going over the papers again. After a few minutes, he realized there hadn’t been that much left to do actually, and he completed going over the last one.

Since he was done, the stallion rose back up and headed out of the office. He stopped just outside of it and watched where Cara, Barbell and Chisel were still playing around with the exercise balls.

Barbell had known from the start that she would be in a tricky situation. Chisel had really loved his mother and there was a big chance he wouldn’t accept a new one, even though the earth mare was his stepmother. However, there didn’t seem to be any outstanding issues so far. Barbell was different enough in attitude that she never came across as if she was trying to replace Sunny.

The unicorn was distracted from the playful scene when a pony in a postal uniform came rushing into the gym.

“Telegram for Mr. Barricade!” the pony announced.

“What? Why is it being delivered to my gym?” Barricade asked as he walked over to the pony, who offered him the telegram.

“It was addressed to your gym, marked urgent,” the delivery pony shrugged.

Barricade arched his brow, but then grabbed the telegram from the pony and looked at it. He noticed immediately that it was from his parents. For a second he just read what it said, then his eyes opened wide in shock before his expression twisted into a sneer.

“Private is going to be the custodian of WHO!?” he snapped furiously.

To be continued in Rage of a Queen, Wrath of a Mother.