Shadow exited the inhabited city and began to work his way into the deeper ruins. He had no idea where others had scavenged, so he was hoping he would get lucky. For now, he wasn’t going to wear the suit. He was working to gain capital, not scalps.

Shadow headed towards a torn apart skyscraper. The door no longer was present, so Shadow proceeded. Slowly. It was, at least at some point, occupied. The elevator still worked. Which shocked Shadow. He stepped inside and hit the top floor. The elevator dinged every time he passed a floor. Shadow watched the numbers go higher and higher until the top.

The doors opened and Shadow stepped out onto an almost intact floor. He wasn’t expecting it to be so intact. Not the way the center looked. The floor was cleared out, by hoof, with a few beds in a protected corner. It had a metal workstation and some other items that you wanted to protect, like a trunk. The stairs had been caved in. The only way to the floor was the elevator.

“It’s about time!” A gruff voice said. “I have been waiting for you to come back from your shit.

Shadow dove for cover.

“Wrath?… Who’s there? This isn’t funny. That joke ended a long time ago.”

Shadow peaked out and finally saw where the pony had to be. A collapsed section of the roof served as a ramp to get on top of the building. Shadow was positioned behind it, so he couldn't see the pony.

For now, Shadow waited it out. A good choice as he heard the elevator ding and several ponies came out.

“Guys?”

“Yeah, we are here. Did someone come up?”

“I was about to ask you the same thing,” The pony said stepping into view.

“Spread out,” The one in charge ordered. “Let’s make sure its just a ghost.”

Shadow rolled out to take advantage of them while they were still together. He let loose a burst, taking down one and injuring a second. The third, fourth and, the one from the roof got away clean.

One of them threw a grenade and Shadow dashed away, out of the blast zone. He slid around and found himself alongside the one who threw the grenade. Shadow’s guns were at the ready and he fired his shotgun.

The last ones weren’t very smart. Shadow slipped up onto the ramp and let them stalk around until they had their back to Shadow. It was simple to kill them with a single shot to the head. By then, the one he had injured had bled out.

Shadow grabbed their guns and ammo, including two grenades, and then he trotted over to the trunk. He wanted to move fast in case more decided to show up. It was, as expected, locked. The cloud key opened it immediately and Shadow scrounged through it. Several pieces of nice armor were inside, including an old Equestrian military combat helmet with goggles.

A shotgun and three pistols made up the rest of the grab-ables. Why they were locked away here Shadow didn’t know, but he put them in his bag. A hefty cache of caps were inside and several boxes of assorted ammo, including more than enough 5.56 to resupply the little he fired.

The elevator dinged, signifying it had been called down. Shadow moved into a forward position. He lined up himself so that when the doors opened, his shotgun’s spread would fit within the elevator doors. Nopony would escape and nothing would be wasted.

Shadow saw the floor it started on and set his stance. As it opened, Shadow fired three times, shredding them. Shadow was unsure how many more were below, so he took one of their weapons his buckshot had pierced and jammed it so the doors wouldn’t close and it wouldn’t descend. As he finished picked their goods apart, the doors tried to close.

Shadow backed out, bucked the gun so it broke and let the doors close. Shadow retook his position and waited. And waited. They had decided to let him come to them. Shadow called the elevator up and then sent it down, empty.

It came back up, empty.

Shadow chuckled. “If they want to play, let’s play.”

Shadow took a grenades and rigged it so that when the doors open, the pin would be pulled and it would swing out of the elevator.

Shadow sent it down and slipped out as the doors closed. Nopony sent it back up. Shadow waited for a while and then called it up. It came up, empty. He sent it back down. After waiting a good while, Shadow called it back up. This time he sent it all the way down.

That got their attention. It stopped on their floor as they intercepted it with their call button. It went all the way down and then all the way back up. The doors opened, revealing yet another empty elevator.

Shadow stopped playing the game. He could do it all day long. But he decided to check out his options. From the roof he examined the other buildings. Shadow could undo his wings and descend in short hops. Bypassing them and disappearing like a ghost. It was daytime, risking exposure, but the area was quiet.

Before Shadow made that move, he set another grenade trap. When they doors opened, it would pull the pin and the countdown would start. It was one last ‘fuck you.’ Shadow hit the button to go all the way down and dashed off to the roof and to his target.

He made it safely and quickly went to the nearest stairwell. He was soon forced out by it’s collapse and onto a decaying floor. It had a hole in it and Shadow began to work his way down through his acrobatics. It was tough on him with the load he was carrying.

By late afternoon his decent was finished. Shadow peaked his head out, searching for enemies. He looked back up to the building he had flown out of. The roof gave a great view of the street. Perfect for catching ponies unaware beneath them.

Shadow maneuvered to a blind spot and made his way back. It was late when he got back. All of the stores had closed down for the day. The only places open served food and drink. Shadow just headed to his home. He didn’t feel like socializing, even after dropping his gear off.

Shadow grabbed Kifo Herixleta and sat in his chair. He drew the blade, holding it with the oil cloth. He needed to get oil for it. Shadow looked over the enchanted blade. Gold inlays and several small gems made up the blade. The gemstones were gutsy, but they held more magic, specific to the blade.

“You are shiny,” Shadow told Kifo Herixleta.

There was no response.

“You would be easy to recognize by my enemies. The costume thing isn’t enough to hide me. My signature blade must be plain and unmarked. I need to find a way to cover the blade.”

“You wouldn’t dare! My handle and hilt are one thing.”

“You know I am right,” Shadow said, cutting him off. “I need to find somepony to mask you. Probably a unicorn. Paint would be a bad thing.

“You would lose my fire and ice,” Kifo Herixleta warned.

“Touche,” Shadow replied.

The word brought a smile to his face as he thought of their wedding. The impromptu action that was the best thing he had ever done. Even in these conditions, Cardinal Spitfire would be happy. Just being with her would brighten this wasteland and turn it into a garden of life.

Shadow made sure Kifo Herixleta was attached to the band and lifted it up. He sent heat until it was glowing red hot, no flames. The details of the blade were lost to the glow. Shadow began to let the heat on and off, finding that balance to send the blade to so that it’s special details never were seen by those who escaped his wrath.

Shadow flipped it around so he iced over the blade. Shadow hadn’t worked so much on the ice aspect. The fire was more dramatic and what the enchantment was truly designed to do. The frost did a good job masking things. Shadow had to work hard to completely cover the blade in white ice. He worked late into the night with the magic in the blade. He was not going to let the image fall apart because of his sword’s ornate blade.

In the morning, Shadow ignored food as he grabbed only the bags he needed. He stopped at a place for a quick bite to eat and then headed to Red Tip’s shop.

“Back so soon?” Red Tip smiled at him as he came in. Red Tip turned back to the customer at hood.

“You really should get something heavier,” Red Tip said to the Unicorn. “You are trying to be hired as a caravan guard.”

“I am supposed to guard, not shoot up the place.”

“If you get into a scrap, you will want higher ammo capacity and some back up. You won’t have time to pick your targets. But it is your head, not mine. And I know your training is poor if this is your first gun.”

Shadow's ears perked up. “First gun?”

“Yep,” Red Tip said. “Care to help?”

Shadow chuckled as he trotted to the counter.

“You don’t want to go cheap. My first rifle was. When I got my upgrade, my shooting got a whole lot better. I became a dead shot. I’ve had a few weapons since then and now I am with these. A good soldier, or guard, is accentuated by their weapon. But you need a good one to be an excellent one. A poor weapon will fail you.”

“You have a few options as a Unicorn. What are you trying to be?”

“A caravan guard,” He said. He was young.

“A young one,” Shadow chuckled. “Now don’t make that face. Everype-”

Shadow coughed. And then coughed again. He put himself into a coughing fit to cover his mistake.

“Sorry,” Shadow smiled. “Everypony has to start somewhere. I started young as well. But to survive, you will need a rifle that will hold up to the ages. One you don’t need to replace for years to come. And you need the equipment to back it up. If you want to survive, you need to set yourself up for success, because the enemy can be anywhere, including right in front of you.”

“What did you do yesterday?” Red Tip asked Shadow.

“I went into the ruins to scavenge. Popped into this skyscraper. I don’t know which one. I was headed northwest. I didn’t know ponies were inside. Shoot first, ask questions later. But they had a nice perch to watch for ponies to pass so they could jump them.”

“You killed them all?” The Unicorn asked shocked.

“No, Shadow chuckled. “I don’t think I did. It was a bit of a game getting free. I think some were still around. I got pinned and had to work my way down, the hard way. Stairs were out and the elevator most likely had guards.

“Which is why you need good equipment. Because for a time, I didn’t have the ability to reload my guns, outside of a mag change.”

Red Tip raised an eyebrow at Shadow. “Did you hit the Hawks?”

Shadow shrugged. “I got in a tight spot, they didn’t look like they wanted to talk outside of spitting lead, so that is what happened.”

“Yeah, but you,” The Unicorn said looking at Shadow’s guns.

“Got set up well,” Shadow finished. “Without it, I have the same skill, but am limited. I have experienced quite a few different weapons changes in my time.”

“And that is your favorite?”

“No,” Shadow chuckled. “Not in the least. But its what I have and its optimized for me. I am not from near here. I just am currently in the area. My job as guards or soldiers or whatever you want to call me back then allowed me to have a better… selection. But a friend and I were able to optimize what we had available.

“Have you seen the set I brought in and sold to Red Tip the other day?”

“No,” He said. “My name is Dash.”

“Mtoaji,” Shadow said shaking his hoof.

“That isn’t a name from here,” Dash replied.

Red Tip set the gun on the counter. Shadow smiled and explained the gun.

“This is a premium, Striker Semiautomatic Rifle. She is a predecessor of some of the rifle designs here. I am guessing she was picked up with the rest of the equipment. I dragged her off a raider who was about to jump a caravan. They were distracted and it made them easier targets.”

“Durable iron sights with a great sight picture, reliable action, even when you haven’t been able to clean her in a while. Good rate of fire. And she has 30 round magazines. Also the suspenders were made for the gun and it’s magazines.”

“I have never heard of a Striker before,” Dash admitted.

“Neither have I,” Red Tip chuckled. “Out here, this is known as an assault rifle. And it’s military markings means it’s an M17.”

Shadow shrugged. “I know what I am looking at. But I was taught the design model. The rest is accurate.”

“That it is,” Red Tip replied with a quick nod.

“All this will make me a better guard?” Dash asked.

“All of that will help you be a better guard,” Shadow clarified. “What you become is up to you. But this will make sure you are not limited by the rifle.”

“How much?”

“800 caps,” Red Tip said. “Suspenders and half of the ammo in the mags come free when you buy it all.”

“You will only sell it as one package, won’t you.”

“No point it breaking it apart,” Red Tip replied.

“That’s a bit more than I was expecting. Or have right now. I will have to see if I can borrow some from my parents. They won’t like me becoming a guard.”

“At least you will do it with quality equipment that will last,” Shadow said. “Don’t leave that out.”

“Yeah,” Dash said, a bit down. “But what did you bring to sell?”

“I picked up some armor, in a chest, but these are what I wanted Red Tip to see. These were locked away with the pieces of armor.”

Shadow set the two pistols on the counter.

“Wow,” Red Tip said. “These are C9s. An early 9mm pistol. And in really good shape.”

Red Tip picked one up and worked the action. “Fluid. Smooth. It had work done on it. It was sitting in a chest?”

“Locked and guarded,” Shadow nodded.

“They obviously didn’t know what they had. This is better than my C9. No trigger surge. Somepony knew what they were doing. It really goes to show there are still gems out there to find.”

Red Tip set it further down the counter so he could privately purchase it. Shadow put the shotgun in front of him.

“A DCD shotgun. 6 round tube.”

“A what?” Red Tip asked. “We just call this a pump shotgun. You are all technical.”

Shadow chuckled with a shrug. “I learned technical stuff over the years. This specific design was made by Walter Arms. I don’t know the producer.”

“Walter arms?” Red Tip asked. “Can you prove it?”

Shadow pulled the grip down, opening the action. Along the underside of the barrel it was stamped ‘Designed by Walter Arms 12 Gage Dash’s Civilian Defense Shotgun.’

“Well I’ll be,” Red Tip marveled. “A real Walter. Not a knock off. A licensed firearm. Sure, some of the military ones are Walters, but they don’t get that stamp. This wasn’t made by Ironshod. The maker mark is scuffed off on the action, but they stamp their shit.”

“Nopony will want to pay for the value this holds,” Red Tip said. “Walter is all but forgotten about. But it does still stand for quality.”

“Dash’s as in Rainbow Dash?” Dash asked.

“I assume,” Shadow replied.

“Yes,” Red Tip nodded. “Rainbow Dash. Well, not officially licensed by her. She didn’t do that. But it was made with her in mind. You can’t own that.”

“You are going to put me out of business,” Red Tip smiled at Shadow. “You keep bringing me stuff like this, it’s going to be hard for me to move. And I see that you have plenty of other regular guns. I am going to have to figure out how to move my stock faster.”

Shadow chuckled. “I need my caps, but you know what I really need. And you know those rounds are not going to be bought by anypony else.”

“I will go see if I can get the extra caps,” Dash said.

“I’ll hold it for two days,” Red Tip said.

Red Tip moved the set into the back so that he could deal with what Shadow had. It was all basic stuff. Cheap. But Red Tip was willing to trade them their value for the armor piercing rounds.

“I have ammo as well,” Shadow said placing it on the counter. He had to organize the loose stuff.

“Blah blah,” Red Tip said, placing armor piercing rounds on the counter for his bid.

They made their ammo swap and then they focused on the unique pieces.

“Damn,” Red Tip sighed. “This shotgun had to have sold for 5000 bits, easily. But here, I can’t get that. I am surprised you don’t want to swap it out with yours.”

“I already have the DCD,” Shadow smiled. “Except mine is the rare 10 round magazine. Limited release.”

“Damn,” Red Tip said shaking his head. “Rifle?”

“A basic, old school one,” Shadow said. “I don’t know the name of it. Except it’s light and powerful. It was military issue, late war. I wish it fired a larger round, but she is a beauty. Even before we customized the action.”

“Well, I will give you a 1000 for the DCD,” Red Tip finally said. “It’s probably just going to sit, mounted behind the counter, while customers look at it funny when they see the sales tag.”

Red Tip shrugged. “Maybe I won’t even mark it.”

“That’s something you will have to work out on your own,” Shadow chuckled. “But I get keeping it for yourself.”

“I can’t collect them all,” Red Tip chuckled. “I am supposed to sell, and to some degree, work on guns.”

“The pistols?”

“Right! I will give you 200 for this one. It’s for myself so I’ll buy it at face value. 100 for the other.”

“That sounds good,” Shadow nodded.

“Can I make it out in a check?” Red Tip asked. “I have the caps if you want.”

“Check is fine,” Shadow replied. “I would just end up banking that much. I still have this armor to sell.”

Shadow showed him the armor.

“Fine pieces. Have you been in Pauldron’s? Steam will love to see this helmet, and buy it.”

“I have not,” Shadow replied. “I typically don’t have viable armor to scrounge. It ends up with a hole or two. Or just bloody. I prefer to keep clean bags.”

“I don’t blame you there. I am surprised you don’t want this helmet for yourself.”

“Eh, I have nothing against helmet. I should be wearing one. But its, not my thing right now. The stetson is.”

“Got it,” Red Tip nodded. “Too much connected to your past.”

Red Tip passed Shadow the helmet. The door opened, but it wasn’t Dash. Two Steel Rangers hulked in, helmets off.

“What can I do for you?” Red Tip asked.

“Got any rockets?”

“No,” Red Tip shook his head. “You guys know I send Gadget a message if I get the big stuff like that in. Is that it?”

One hesitantly walked over the counter. He looked at Shadow before speaking in a low tone.

“Do you have 308 rounds? The good stuff. I have a job that might require some distance.”

“I have some of our Signature Red Tips in stock and ready for sale. The 308s are really well balanced and have a flat trajectory. As flat as I can make them. But those are going to cost you 20 a piece.”

“I’ll take 50. I’ll pay with caps.”

Red Tip stepped into the back.

“What do you have for a 308?” Shadow asked.

“The target is irrelevant, citizen.”

“I don’t give a shit about the target,” Shadow spat. “I asked about the rifle.”

“A Palomino Scout.”

“Not heard of it,” Shadow said. “I assume they are hard to find.”

“They are a strict military weapon, used only by the Ministry of Wartime Technology for special assignments. No civilian models were ever produced.”

“Right,” Shadow nodded. “When the Equestrian military had to move south of Las Pegasus and prevent the Zebras from attacking it. They needed a long range rifle for that job.”

“How do you know that?” He asked, taking a step into Shadow.

Shadow chuckled. “It’s easy enough to guess from the name. What does it shoot, 308? Effective to what, 1600 yards?”

The Steel Ranger’s eyebrow rose in question.

“Hey,” Shadow shrugged. “Its just an estimated guess. A good sniper rifle should reach out that far. I’ve never used a long range rifle for sniping.”

All of Shadow's time spend with Soarin’s Lightning was short distances, within 600 yards.

“You won’t find anything like it in the wasteland,” The Steel Ranger assured him.

Red Tip stepped out from the back. He counted out the 50 rounds, showing the ranger each shiny round’s perfection. The ranger paid and they departed.

As soon as the door closed Shadow whipped his head around to Red Tip. He whispered to him. “How many do you have in the back?”

“Two,” Red Tip whispered back. “But both are brown tobiano pinto patterns. And the barrels have ridges that ring it. They are the civilian model, it was marketed very differently by Mustang Marathon Arsenal. It was a sport’s shooting gun for long distance competitions. I seriously have a problem with guns. Like I said, I end up collecting them.”

“How much?” Shadow asked.

“Those will run you an even 6000 caps. I can’t help you there. I have a few regular 308s on the wall, but none of them will reach past 800 yards, even with a scope. I also have a suppressor I could attach to it, but again, that’s a ton of caps. I make my own suppressors. Better for the ears.”

“Intriguing,” Shadow said. “A quieter sniper rifle like that is intriguing. Something I would love to own.”

“It weighs 14 points,” Red Tip warned.

Shadow shrugged.

The lights flickered a few times and then went out.

“Shit,” Red Tip swore. “Some jackass blew a transformer or worse, knocked out a grid.”

“Where does the power come from?” Shadow asked as Red Tip got candles lit.

“South. There is a hydroelectric plant south of us. It’s been running for ages on it’s own. Magic or some shit. But it was well protected from the start. Still is.”

“Raiders?”

“They have no use for it,” Red Tip replied. “It’s got automated systems and enough to deter them. Enough to stop us from trying to secure it. If it is raiders, wait for the city to form a team and join up then. Probably in the morning. They are fast at checking out the power failures.”

“Right,” Shadow nodded.

“Before I go, I have one question. We have been discussing behind the counter and powerhouses, do you have big ammo?”

“I buy, but do not sell, anti-machine ammo. I make that a rule.”

“So you have some of those rifles back there,” Shadow said thinking. “No way? If I already have a rifle?”

“If you actually have a rifle, I might consider it.”

“I don’t have spare caps anyway. I need to put this into the bank. I need food and some housing stuff. Like new paint for my walls.”

Shadow headed out. The whole city’s power was down, but ponies were not rushing around like it was a catastrophe. Gambit’s shop was usually well lit, but now it was dark. A lot of shadows had been cast from the outage. Shadow slipped into one and tossed on the Zebra cloak. There was no better time.

It was simple. Gambit was distracted further in the shop, getting candles lit. His store was well organized and he had a big sign to point to the ammo. The 44 Magnums were on the top shelf. Shadow swiped several of the loose ones and moved the one box a few shelves down like somepony had examined it.

On the way out, Shadow spotted candles and a matchbook. He slipped two into his bags and the matchbook. Kifo Herixleta would melt the entire candle if Shadow tried to use it to light the wick. Shadow was out before Gambit was done lighting the candles by the register.

The Bank had candles on standby, so it was well lit. It was mostly paper transactions, so the deposit went smoothly. Shadow took some more caps out and departed. On his way out, he used one of the candles to light one of his. Free fire.

The lights were still out when he got to his home. The candle provided just enough light to work with. Shadow set them down on his table as soon as he got in and went to his room. He had the light from the window to work with. It was just enough. The armor sale would wait for later.

Shadow changed into his suit. He was going for the electrical plant. If the raiders were there, they needed to be slain by his other side. The city couldn't get there first. Shadow had to make them fear whatever came at them.

Next Chapter: Chapter 107 - Power Estimated time remaining: 8 Hours, 52 Minutes