//------------------------------// // Chapter 3: The Purple Stallion // Story: Sides Of Two // by CakeHatColt //------------------------------// The news article lays on the table. Shield, stoically stared down the paper with his brown eyes and Colt's figure. He sat on the couch thinking with Flame Cloud flying next to him. For the past 15 years he hid himself from the world. But now, everyone knows he's alive and because of that his fears began to wonder. What if his past comes to haunt him? What if someone comes along and want to challenge him to a battle to the death? What if they find out about him and Colt?  What if they find out about Colt's magical capabilities? All of these thoughts and fears of what could happen only made his feelings towards this even worst. "Hey," Flame tried to comfort Shield, "Cheer up. You're seen as a hero! You're finally getting recognition for all the good you've done." "All, they know, I've done was fight off some bad guys." Shield responded, "And that doesn't really help my situation." "Well what would help?" Colt took control once again. "Go around town, grabbing all the newspapers we can find and have Flame burn them?" He said in a joking manner. "Ooo, really!" Flame added, "I love that idea!" "Stop it! Both of you!" Shield took control and caused their silence. He took a breathe, "I can't understand why you guys see this as a good thing." He stood up, "I was careless and caused one of our secrets to be revealed. Now what if they find out more? What'll we do when these ponies find out we're part changeling?", He referred to Colt,  "They'll see us as an actual changeling. As a threat!" He stared at Flame Cloud, "Or what if the Crystal Empire hears about this? They'll try to take me to jail, which will take Colt in the process." He sat on the floor staring at the ground, "…I don't want you two to suffer for my actions." He turns away, knowing what Colt and Flame are thinking, "I know, I'm over reacting. But I see this as a serious problem, and I wish you two can take this a bit more seriously too." He then retreated back into his thoughts and Colt regained control. Colt turns to Flame, both having faces of worry for Shield. They knew Shield said he never wanted to be seen as a hero but they saw him as one. And they were so happy to find out others see that too. However, they also know that Shield has fears of his own that he can't conquer. All they can do now is to wait for Shield to figure things out on his own. ______________________________________________________________________________ Colt walked into town alone. Flame Cloud stayed home and slept, hoping Shield will get over it soon, but Colt thought he had to do something about it. He never liked it when a friend was sad so he hoped that if he kept to the plan it could cheer him up. The plan was to visit Princess Twilight for answers then go out and look for a job. True he had plenty of money, given by his deceased father, but as Shield put it. “It’s only for traveling expenses. If we just live off it without any stable income we won’t survive for very long.” This also gives a chance for Colt to learn how life is somewhere else in Equestria. After Colt finds a job they would go back to the house and set up the basement. Back at his home in Canterlot, there was a basement where his dad use to work. To Colt's understanding, his dad was an inventor. He used to create enchanted items, such as the wheels, the hologram, and the necklace Shield used to fight the mercenaries. Once Shield got settled with his new life with Colt, he learned from the father's notes and created many more enchanted items. For example, he modified Colt's hat as an space of itself. Think of it like a magician's hat but with cotton candles on top. When they left their home they brought all the enchanted items with them in Colt's hat. So now all they have to do is organize all the items into the basement. Colt, knowing he'll probably take forever with the organizing, knew that would take him the rest of the day, or he’ll get Flame to help. So he planned to sleep afterwards and meet up with RazorShot at the train station the next morning. But first things first, he has to find a job. But he's still new in town and doesn't know anyone, with the exception of Pinkie Pie and Princess Twilight. So he headed to Sugarcube Corner. Hoping Pinkie Pie could give him a job or know someone who's hiring. He reaches the front of the sunda looking building, the entrance still destroyed, and found Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie. Pinkie was behind the counter and Rainbow was complaining about Shield. "Just who does that guy think he is?" Rainbow said with her head on the counter. "Thinking he's some kind of hot shot just because he beated some baddies." "Cheer up, Dashie." Pinkie said, "Princess Celestia said he didn't mean it." "What about Celestia?" Colt bargged in the conversation. Rainbow lifted her head, thinking she heard Shield, "Oh you better be here to apologize or I'm gonna..." "Hi, CakeHat!" Pinkie greeted, seeing him walk up. "What?" She stared towards Colt. "Oh... Sorry about that." She put her head back down. "Thought you were somepony else." "That's a first." Colt was shocked, with a smile. "How often do you see a stallion wearing a birthday hat everyday?" "That's not what I meant..." She said. "You sounded like an asshole I just met today." "And who's that?" Colt acted like he didn't know. Pinkie pulled out the news article with Shield. "This guy." Colt reread the article. "'The Purple Stallion'? Never heard of him?" "No pony ever heard of him," Rainbow explained, "He just came out of nowhere." "Actually, Princess Celestia said he used to work for her." Pinkie corrected. "whatever…" Rainbow remained in her gruchy state. "When I find that guy I'm gonna demand an apology for Twilight! Even if I have to beat it out of him." She stood up. "You know what. I'm gonna look for him. He has to be somewhere!" She flew out of the shop in a blink of an eye. "Well alright," Colt said with no fear at all. She wasn’t going to be able to find Shield anywhere, because she just passed him. Colt giggled a little thinking about Rainbow’s unself-seeing perdicturment. “Oh right!” He remembered why he came here. “Pinkie, I got to ask you something..." ______________________________________________________________________________ “So...I'm a hero now. I mean, yes I have done heroic deeds in the past but I never took credit for them. I'm the kind of guy that stays in the shadow. Let someone else, like Princess Celestia, take it. I didn't need it. I don't need it! Especially now, right when the Crystal Empire is finally safe and free, and probably still hates or fears me... I just wanted to stay in hiding, let the Empire think I'm still dead. I just wanted to give Colt a life I could've had but lost. A life of freedom, of hope, having all and only the great moments. Yes I do know it's impossible to be happy all the time, but Colt is very close to impossible. He always looks on the bright side, every single time something bad happens he has a smile and say "it's not too bad, Shield, stop worrying so much." ...Maybe I should try that too. Alright here we go. My existence is discovered, oh well. At least only Ponyville knows. But then again Princess Twilight also knows of me so she might tell Princess Cadence, which may lead to the rest of the Crystal Empire knowing...which will lead to their attempt to imprison me...and that’ll most definitely lead to Flame and I to fight back, making are situation worst!... Alright, so I'm not good at that. That's great to know. ...How about this, when the Crystal Empire finally comes into the picture I'll just stay in hiding. I just won't transform to my figure. And in case of emergencies, I'll just use the wheels to deal with the situation before us to make sure no one sees Colt doing any of it. That's better, I'm getting the hang of this. I wonder if Colt's doing alright without me? ______________________________________________________________________________ Colt walks out of Sugarcube Corner, with a smile. Pinkie said that she could ask her bosses if they're hiring when they come back from grocery shopping. To Colt, that meant that he got a job, so he decided to head back to the house and start organizing, or at least attempt to. "I'll see you later!" Colt shouted. "Thank you." He proceed walking down the stairs when he paused, hearing Shield. "Alright," Shield started, "I'm back. What did I miss?" "Oh," Colt replied walking down, "not much, just got a job." He said hoping Shield would be happy. "Really?" Shield said surprised, "Wow, Colt. I'm impressed. You managed to settle something without me." "Thank you, thank you," Colt succeed. "I am amazing." "So what's the job?" Shield asked. "Oh I don't know." Colt replied with glee. "Pinkie said she would ask her bosses if they're hiring and she would tell me if they were." "That's…." Shield should've expected this, "That doesn't mean you got a job.” "What?" Colt said lacking understanding. "Yeah," Shield explained, "That only means they may or may not be hiring. If they are then they'll have an interview with you to see if they want to hire you. If they want to hire you, then you have a job." "Oh…" Colt said, "Oh well. We’ll see what happens.” "Because you're lazy?" Shield retorted. "Nope," Colt responded, "Because I trust." "If you say so," Shield went along. He wasn't rushing for Colt to get a job. They still have a month until their bills comes along. Waiting for a least a week won’t be the end of them. "So what to do now?” He wondered. “You want to look around or something?" "That would be cool," Colt thought about it. "But I want to go through with the plan for today." "Fair enough." Shield began to think of how to organize the basement. Where should everything go and in what order? Colt just thought about making Shield happy. And it's a good thing he got over the Purple Stallion situation before he got to the house. Thinking realistically It would have taken at least a week to just set up the table, let alone the enchanted items, the magic books, and the containers. While Colt was walking towards the house Shield was looking through Colt's point of view. Colt was literally looking everywhere out of boredom. He stared at the ground, then the sky, the ponies walking by, and the buildings. Now because of this, Shield spotted a balcony that didn't look right. An old stallion was on it, sitting on a relaxing chair enjoying the sunlight. However, Shield noticed that a part of one of the supports of the balcony was broken. A chunk was missing with burnt marks on the edges. Maybe it happened when the mercenaries were blasting their magic left and right, Shield thought. Either way, the balcony was not safe to be around. It could collapse at any moment. Colt looked down under the balcony, and Shield saw a child playing with his toys. Probably trying to escape the sun. "Colt," Shield questioned, "Do you notice that balcony over there." "You mean the one that's about to fall?" Colt obliviously looked at it. "Yeah." Right as Colt said that the balcony slanted quickly. It was about to finally break. The old stallion was in panic, not know what's going on, and the child mindlessly still played. Shield acted quickly, "Gosh darn it," He took control and ran into a dark alley way to change into his figure. By the time he came out the balcony just snapped apart of the building. The old stallion scream grabbed the child's attention. The kid was too shocked to move when he looked up. All he felt like he could do was cover his face hoping everything will be fine. He heard a loud noise, and noticed that he wasn’t dead yet. He looked to see The Purple Stallion, right next to him, holding the balcony. Shield was breathing heavily. The balcony was expectedly heavy for it's size and giving him some trouble. He stared at the kid and said to him, "Hey! Get out of the way, Child." The kid wouldn't budge. "I SAID GET OUT OF HERE!" He was forced to shout. The kid realized his situation and ran, out of the way, to his mother. Now that everyone was cleared out, Shield slowly put the balcony down. Once he did so the old stallion ran out as well and everyone who was watching was cheering. They were amazed! They never saw a pony bear handedly lift a balcony before. It was unreal. Shield was just focusing on the safety of everyone he didn't realized that some ponies were taking pictures for the next newspaper. "Gosh darn it." Shield noticed the flashing lights then ran away immediately. He ran into the dark alley which brought him to Town Square. He looked back to see if anyone was following. He didn't see or hear anyone nearby so he changed back to Colt's figure and allow him to take control. "And you don’t want to be called a hero." Colt mocking Shield, coming out the dark alley. "Face it, Shield. It’s your calling!" "Okay first off, shut up." Shield demanded. "Second, can we please continue this conversation when we get to the house? You’ll look weird talking to yourself." "Oh!" Colt realized Shield still wasn’t over the hero thing. “Sorry, my bad." "It's fine." Shield reassured. “Just now’s not the time.” They continued on their way home until Colt noticed a crowd forming. There was a Crystal Pony on a wooden box, calling for Ponyville's attention. Shield knew her. Her name was Snow. He also knew that whatever she was going to say was going to be bad. "ATTENTION! Citizens of Ponyville, there is a menace in your society!" Snow shouted. Once she said that the crowd grew and sounded worried. "He is the Prince Of Shadow, Shield Strong! 1,000 years ago he was the son of King Sombra, who enslaved the Crystal Empire. And just like Sombra, he has returned to follow his father's hoofsteps!" The crowd gasped! There it was. The “truth” that Shield tried to hide has finally been revealed. All he could do now is stay in hiding for a while. Stick to the plan he made. "Hey Shield…" Colt asked him in whispers. "Should we go? This isn't really comfortable…" He worried for Shield, he could feel his fear and regret. "No," Shield answered. "This was bound to happen anyways. Might as well see through it all so we can plan ahead." "What does this guy look like?" One of the ponies in the crowd asked. Snow pulled out the newspaper and had the crowd stare at it. "This 'Purple Stallion' is the Prince of Shadow!" The crowd was in silence then quickly burst into laughter. "What?" She asked in worry. "What's so funny?" "The Purple Stallion can't be the son of Sombra!" One laughed. "All he has done was save ponies ever since he showed up!" Another said, not laughing at all. "Yeah!" The mother from earlier agreed and complained, "Just five minutes ago, he saved my son from a falling balcony." "What!" The Crystal Mare exclaimed. "He must be plotting something. He's only trying to convince you he's a hero, just so he can stab you in the back and take control!" The crowd started to decrease in numbers. None of them believed her. "Wait!" She reasoned. "I'm telling the truth!" "Yeah right!" One of the leaving crowd members shouted back. Shield didn't expect this. He thought there was going to be a hunt or something, but everyone thinks she's lying. She wasn't necessarily right. She was just wrong in some parts. Yes, he was titled the "Prince of Shadow" and was second in command under King Sombra, but he's not trying to seek vengeance. He's just trying to live a new life. He wanted to set the record straight. Tell her the truth, but she wouldn't believe him. It's best to stay away. He can feel the hatred she carries for him. The sense of justice she wants to strike Shield down with. If she were to discover his situation, she will go back to the Crystal Empire and they'll send Royal Guards after him. Nowhere will be safe. Not for him and especially not for Colt. "Let's go, Colt." Shield said to Colt still staring at her. Colt saw her walking away with a face of anger and her head staring to the ground. "Yeah," Colt agreed starting to head in the direction of the house. Then suddenly Shield and Colt heard a distinct voice of the mercenary that went by Speed. Colt looked towards the direction of the voice and saw a blue unicorn, with orange hair and a knife dripping in blood as a cutie mark. She just began a conversation with Snow. "Umm… That doesn't sound good." "Yeah it doesn't," Shield responded knowing that something was going to happen. "Well finally!" The Crystal Pony shouted in rejoice. "Somepony with some actual common sense." "Listen, we can't talk here." Speed whispered to her ear. "It's not safe. I know a place where it is." She lead her to an dark alley. Coming across this "Crystal Pony" was the luckiest break ever. Even though she didn't believe that this mare was an actual Crystal Pony, because they died a long time ago, she does know about Shield Strong. Which makes her a good info broker. After this she was planning to gloat in Rookie's face for saying going into town was a bad idea. Colt followed them and hid on the edge of the alley. Shield listened in on the two talking. "Alright," Speed continued the conversation. "Tell me everything you know about 'Shield Strong'." "Besides of what I said earlier," Snow started, "He's terrifyingly strong." "Yes I know that." Speed became impatient. "Tell me something useful! Like, how many enchanted items does he have? What are his weaknesses?" The Crystal Pony was confused. "En-enchanted items?" "Yeah, all of his weapons. What are they?" Speed began to shout in anger. "Do you not know?" "That's impossible." She shouted back, "Enchanted items take too much magic and time to make. Shield couldn't even be able to make one in a span of little over a year." "Then we must be talking about a different 'Shield Strong' then." Speed was angry now, realizing this was a waste of time. "The 'Shield Strong' I'm talking about kicked the shit out of me and my group with three enchanted items just yesterday. And you're telling me he shouldn't have any? WHICH I SHOULD ALREADY KNOW, BECAUSE HE'S A FILTHY EARTH PONY!" "W-wait… Yesterday…?" The Crystal Pony gasped, realizing her situation. "Y-you're one of the attackers on the newspaper!" "Yes, I am..." Using her magic, Speed levieted above the ground, and teleported her cloak and one of her daggers on her. "And since you pissed me off and you've figured out who I am. I'm gonna have to kill you." She was beyond mad at this point. The Crystal Pony was only frozen thinking this is where she'll die. "Oh, and don't worry about 'Shield Strong' we're planning on killing him next…" Speed then flies into stab her but before she could a blur took the Crystal Pony and left a gusting wind, pushing her back. When she got back up she saw she was alone. The Crystal Pony was just gone. "Damn it!" She knew Shield took her. The Crystal Pony was confused. She thought she was about to die but she was still alive. Along as being carried on a random ponies back. She was in a position where she couldn't see the stallion's face but he was able to notice him being purple and having a black and white shield as an cutie mark. She knew this was Shield Strong. Shield finally stopped in an dark alley a mile away from where they were previously. He put the Crystal Pony down and made a poor decision to speak. "Snow?" He asked. "Are you okay?" She closed her eyes and backed away frailly. "STAY AWAY FROM ME, MONSTER!" She was scared and for good reason. Shield only had a face of regret as he began to do as asked. He expected this, but he underestimated how much it would hurt to actually hear it. "Listen," Shield said. "I need you to go back to the Crystal Empire. Ponyville isn’t safe anymore for you." "No shit, this place isn't safe anymore," She agreed, "because you're here!" Shield should have expected this. He took a breathe. "Fine. Believe what you want. I'm not going to stop you. I don't even care if you tell the whole Crystal Empire about me at this point. But if you don't leave now…the three who attacked the Princess of Friendship and their leader who just tried to kill you moments ago…they will find you and kill you." He stared her in the eyes. "Don't do this for me. Do this for yourself." Shield started to walk away. Snow looked at him. He looked so different from the last time she saw him. His hair was spikier and he didn't have any features that resembles a Crystal Pony. "S-shield!" Snow got Shield to stop. "What happened to you? You don't look like a Crystal Pony anymore?" "Yes…" Shield said. "I believe that was the point." He then ran off looking like he just vanished with the wind. Shield made sure no one was around for Colt to take control with his own figure. When Colt took control he tried to cheer Shield up. "Well," Colt started. "On the bright side, we saved three ponies today." "But it also gave us more publicity." Shield countered. "And having Snow confirming my existence isn't really such a great thing." "Speaking of which," Colt asked. "how did you know her?" "I know everyone in the Crystal Empire." Shield answered. "I used to rule it, remember?" "Ah, right." Colt said. "So back to the house?" "That would be nice." Shield said yawning. "I'm going to sleep. It's been a long day." "Good night, buddy." Colt said to Shield before his slumber. Colt got to the house past noon. Flame Cloud was at the front of the house unlocking the door with groceries hovering around her with her smoke. "Oh you went to buy food?" Colt asked Flame, walking up to her. She opens the door. "Yep." They both walked in. "What you get?" Colt explored through the bags. He found, to a disappointment, many healthy foods. He found fresh vegetables and fruits, milk, cereal, yogurt, slices of bread, and a bunch more for cooking. "Aw what! Where's the muffins? Or junk food?" "I didn't get any junk food," Flame explained. "And they didn't have any muffins at the store." "Lame." Colt said disgusted. "Oh don't be like that." Flame walked past him and grabbing the bags to organize them in the kitchen. "Just watch, at dinner time you're gonna be saying 'wow this food is amazing! Thanks Flame Cloud for cooking!'" Then she adds. "Besides, there's a reason junk food is called 'junk food'." "But ice cream and cake is literally a daily lunch for ponies." Colt argues. "Yes." Flame rebuttals. "Because they're delicious and sweet to eat. But having too much leads to diseases, organ failure, stomach ache…" "I get it." Colt said knowing she's just caring for Shield's and his health. "Besides your cooking is amazing…" "Thank you." Flame said before he was able to finish. "When you don't burn it." Colt laughed. Flame was insulted by Colt's words. So she decided to ignite a small fire on Colt's butt. "Hmm?" Colt smelled the air. "Where's that smell of smoke coming from? Are you cooking already?" He hasn't realized the fire on him spreading. "Yes actually," Flame laughed back. "it's you." "What?" Colt turned to his side and realized his circumstance. He jumped into the air in panic. He ran through the whole house while begging for help. All Flame did was just watch and laugh. The fire wasn't going to kill him. Flame could never hurt Colt, or Shield. But she does love to screw around from time to time.