Silver Shield was relieved when he saw a town peeking over the horizon. He had been walking for the entire day, after the morning's encounter with his old friend Shadow Blade. He was still upset that his friend had changed so much, but it gave Silver a purpose. He was going to stop Shadow and get his best friend back, no matter what.
The sun was setting as Silver tiredly trudged into the small town of Appleloosa. Despite the late hour, many ponies were still out working, or just enjoying the evening. Silver saw the sign for the in and walked in.
The innkeeper welcomed him with a hello and a warm smile. "Where'ya from?" he asked.
"Baltimare," the tired Pegasus replied.
"Ah, then you had a lengthy journey on hoof. Lemme get you a room," he smiled and turned toward the keys.
Silver thanked him and walked to where he would be staying. Upon seeing the bed he immediately threw down his saddle bag and collapsed on it. He could wait til tomorrow to start his new life...
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Silver awoke the next morning after a long nights sleep, feeling well rested. He slowly unpacked his saddle bag and got ready for his day. But as he was organizing his temporary room, he realized that he didn't know where to go. Even if some pony listened to his story, would any pony help him? His ideas were as far-fetched as Shadow's, even if they were rooted in better places. He began to lose hope as he walked outside. But there he saw an opportunity.
Two ponies were arguing with each other near an overturned wagon. The produce that was in the wagon was scattered all around, clearly not fit for eating anymore. The angry ponies seemed to be the driver of the cart and the person he ran into. Silver caught some of their conversation.
"It's not my fault if I didn't see you coming!"
"How can you not see a giant produce wagon headed straight your way? I tried to stop in time, but you wouldn't even move!"
"Oh, excuse me if pedestrians have the right of way! You need to be looking out for me!"
"Well, this is a special delivery and I don't want to be late!"
Silver had heard enough to try to resolve the conflict. He stepped up to the ponies and stated, "Pardon me, sirs, but I believe I can help with your situation here."
The driver of the wagon spat. "Heck, if you can get him to see a shred of reason, by all means."
"You're the one that needs to be reasonable!" the pedestrian yelled in reply.
"Hold on, let's just calm down for a second," Silver said. Other ponies had begun to watch him. "Now, you were carrying this wagon of produce and ran into this gentleman here?"
"That's right," the driver stated.
"In all fairness, your responsibility as a driver is to make sure that you don't run into anyone. I know that you were rushing to get your delivery in on time, but you still need to be careful." Silver turned to the other pony. "And you really need to watch your step. You're lucky that you weren't trampled flat. You may have the right of way, but you have to watch out for him as much as he needs to for you."
The ponies looked at each other and shared a nod. "I'm sorry," the driver stated, "No delivery is more important that keeping people safe."
"I'm sorry too," the other replied. "I really need to be more aware of my surroundings. Now, let's pick up these vegetables, and I'll buy you some more, if you need them.
The delivery pony smiled. "Thank you, that would be nice."
Silver smiled and began to blush when the onlookers started to clap for him. He could hear certain conversations from the crowd.
"Wow, that Pegasus sure knows how to lead!"
"He just came in and calmed them right down!"
"I would definitely trust that guy!"
He felt proud of himself. Then he had a realization. It could be a stretch, but this is where he could spread the word about Shadow Blade. He had the crowd's attention and was in their favor; at least if he sounded crazy the two actions would cancel out. He decided to give it a shot.
"Attention Appleloosa!" he shouted over the crowd. "I come from Baltimare, warning of an evil over the horizon. There is a pony by the name of Shadow Blade that plans to bring Equestria to ruin. I believe that I can stop him, but I cannot do it alone. I need your help, Appleloosa; help me defend Equestria from this eminent evil."
The crowd was silent for a second, and Silver was unsure if he had gone too far. But one pony stepped out from the crowd and said, "This pony needs our help. If this evil is as dangerous as you say it is, than I will stand with you and defend."
A couple of other ponies from the crowd stepped up and joined him, and his confidence in his idea swelled. He realized he would need a place to meet with all of these supporters. He asked the nearest pony if there was any place to hold a meeting.
"Well, there's an abandoned warehouse on the edge of town that'd be able to hold some ponies," he responded.
Silver nodded and spoke to the crowd again. "Attention every pony! If you are interested in helping me, meet me at the warehouse in one hour!"
The crowd cheered and Silver blushed again.
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Silver sat and his room and tried to calm down. He had gained these ponies attention; he didn't want to ruin the small chance that he had just gained. He thought about what he would say, and ended up with a pretty good outline. But he didn't want to overthink and prepare too much; his nerves would get the better of him. So he decided to go for a walk through the town.
News traveled fast in Appleloosa, and Silver got a nod, smile, or acknowledgement from nearly every pony he passed. It felt amazing to be this popular for just doing a good deed. He knew that the people that lived here were well-meaning and good-hearted. After grabbing a snack at the local diner, he asked a passerby for directions to the warehouse and got there a couple of minutes early.
To his shock, it was already packed with ponies. Some he recognized from his good deed earlier, but many others were newer faces. He was relieved to see that there was a platform that he could stand on to address the crowd. As soon as he made his way through the crowd and stepped on the platform, the large meeting room began to grow quiet.
He started to grow nervous, but he remembered what he wanted to talk about. He took a deep breath and began to speak. "Thank you all for coming here. My name is Silver Shield, and many of you witnessed my first call for help. I will now explain in more detail.
"The pony known as Shadow Blade was once my friend, many years ago. But after his father was killed in prison, he disappeared for a long time. Just the other day we reunited and talked, but he had changed. He talked of revenge for what happened, and he intended to get it by any means possible. He talked about overthrowing Princess Celestia and changing Equestria as we know it. I could see that his intentions were to destroy any pony who did not join him. I intend to stop him before he can bring Equestria to ruins. But I cannot do it alone. This is where you come in. I realize that this is a big task that is being asked of you, and I understand if you do not wish to help me. But for anyone who is up for the challenge, I appreciate your dedication to some pony that you barely know. I am honored that you put your trust in me."
A round of applause arose from the crowd, and Silver blushed once again. A couple of hooves were raised in the air for questions. Silver called on the first one he saw.
"Where was this pony that you met?" an Earth Pony asked.
"I saw him outside the mountains of Baltimare, our hometown," the light blue Pegasus responded.
"That's a mighty far ways away," the pony said. "How will we get close enough to do anything?" There were murmurs of agreement in the crowd.
Silver hadn't thought of this problem. "So what do you suggest?" he asked.
Somepony else raised his hoof. "Well, there's a good flat patch of land a bit east of here. It's a long shot, but maybe we could get some help and set up a town there. Appleloosa didn't take long to build; I'm sure we could do this town even faster!"
Cheers rose out from the crowd, and Silver couldn't help but be excited too. Everything that he had hoped was happening, and he couldn't have had any more luck here. His dreams were becoming reality before his very eyes.
˜˜˜
Months passed, and development of the town was well underway. Many of the buildings had already gone up, and the railroad tracks were just starting to get laid down. Silver worked just as hard as every pony did, whether it be with the heavy-lifting or the paperwork side of creating a new town. He also began to scout for a place even closer to Shadow's hideout so he could spy on him. After an afternoon of walking, he found Rambling Rock Ridge, and with a telescope, he had a clear line of sight to Shadow's operations in the mountains. He started bringing extra supplies there and showing other ponies as well.
After some discussion, the name of the town came to be Dodge City. Others still wanted to call it Dodge Junction, and eventually it came to be known as both. Nearly all of the citizens wanted Silver to be the mayor, but he respectfully declined, claiming that running an organization and a city was too much for one pony. But Silver offered the positions to the pony that brought up the idea of a town, and every pony agreed that he would make a fine mayor.
Word had gotten around Southern Equestria about this new town, and ponies started to come in from Las Pegasus, Baltimare, and even Ponyville. To each newcomer, Silver explained the idea of the Defenders and offered for them to join. Some declined and just came for the city, but others were intrigued and accepted. They had meetings often to discuss policies and certain aspects of the organization. It was decided that every member of the Defenders was to wear a pair of silver bracelets on their right hind legs, to let others know that they are Defenders.
Silver couldn't have been more proud of what he had accomplished in this short amount of time. But he also remembered why these ponies had faith in him and what they were there to do. He looked over toward the mountains with determination and vowed to protect Equestria from Shadow, no matter the cost.