Shadow Flare slowly opened the file cabinet. He was in the city records, trying to find guard reports for both cases the week before and hopefully, the murder case from ten years ago. He was only in his Black Widow costume. He couldn’t risk them finding out about the Zebra cloak, so he kept it securely in his bags.

He was slow and trying to be quiet, but the drawers groaned and squeaked. Shadow was keeping as attentive as possible, but it was difficult to listen and read at the same time. Shadow heard the door squeak open too late.

“Don’t move!” The guard, a stallion, ordered. “Stay where you are and make no sudden movements. I am going to turn on the lights. Make no sudden movements when the lights come on.”

The light was flicked on. Shadow’s lenses filtered the light and didn’t blind him.

“Are you Black Widow?”

“That’s what I have been called,” Shadow Flare replied, still facing the file cabinet. “I didn’t name myself.”

“The policy is to bring you in for questioning and potential charging.”

“You don’t sound convinced.”

“No, I am not. You haven’t caused a problem for the guards, and you have gone out of the way to not harm us, or anypony but the target. And I was on Red Team when we breached the Power Plant. I saw first hoofed your skill.

“But, what are you doing here?”

“Hunting for clues,” Shadow replied. “Two others used my name to cover their choices. That isn’t acceptable.”

“Well you won’t find those records in that cabinet. I want them to come to justice. The guards haven’t followed up with anything. And the reports are the same. Black Widow as the description. They are just leaving them alone. Justice isn’t being explored. Even after finding out you were not the actor.”

“Why don’t you do something?” Shadow asked.

“I work nights. I can’t just walk up and knock on a door in the middle of the night for these cases. And I like working nights. It’s a very different job.”

“I need information on a murder ten years ago, which may have caused one of the copy cats.”

The guard trotted over to another cabinet and opened the bottom drawer. He pulled out the file and set it down on the table. It had nothing inside of it.

“The murder case from ten years ago. They didn’t do a good job. I remember it, but I was a young colt still in school. I looked at the file the other night, after his death.”

Shadow flipped it open. They had done little on the case. Justice hadn’t been given a chance.

“That gives me what I need to know,” Shadow replied. “For that case. Nothing on the other?”

The guard shrugged. “He was a caravaner. He had been in town several times. It was his third day in the city. Those in his party were with him when he was killed, so it wasn’t them. There were no leads and no real evidence given.”

Shadow nodded and turned to leave. “Thank you. You did a good thing to help clean up this city.”

Shadow ducked out and before the guard could get to the door had his cloak on. He was safely gone. For now.

Black Widow had claimed that both would be brought to justice publicly. He had a three days to figure it out before the came to do his lighting. Shadow couldn’t act too fast on the murder either. He needed to appear like he was digging up other sources.

He was going to confront the wife, Twilight Garden. She was the probable suspect for copying him. But he had to do it properly. Shadow was going to take the day off and sleep in a bit after being up so late. The day after he would search her house.

Shadow stalked her house, waiting for her to leave. When she finally did leave to go to work, Shadow quickly broken in with the cloud key. He locked the door behind him and the search began. She couldn’t know somepony had poked around, because if he found nothing he didn’t want her to have a reason to believe he she had been close to being killed by Black Widow.

It didn’t take long to find the costume stuffed away in the back of a drawer. With that secure, Shadow had to figure out how to confront her. He decided to wait in the bedroom. She would be gone for several more hours, but there was no better way in his mind.

Shadow finally heard the lock on the front door be manipulated and he readied himself. He stood in the corner, so that she wouldn’t easily see him. He wanted to scare the shit out of her to make sure she gave a good confession.

It didn’t take long for Twilight Garden to enter her bedroom. She half jumped.

“I was wondering when you would show up,” Twilight Garden said confidently.

Shadow gave a slow nod. “Your husband was brutally murdered and the city guard didn’t do anything of value. You voice was nothing, despite who you told or how loud you shouted.

“Your actions the other day solidified the restless sleep of your husband. He can never have justice served because you tried to deal it. Because of that, I can not find out if the stallion you murdered actually killed your husband.

“But that isn’t why I am here.”

Shadow threw the costume at her feet.

“You chose to act outside of the law here, to take things into your own hooves.”

“How is it different than you?” She calmly challenged.

“I was chosen by Equestria and brought here to break and destroy the very things that are stopping it from healing. I am answering it’s call. Trottingham has not been one of those problems. Yet.”

“But I am here not for that. I am here for you. Because you chose to act as me when you do not have that blessing. That is a serious crime against Equestria.”

“What are you going to do?” She asked with her chest out, defiantly. “You claimed it will be public. I am here, the public is not.”

“Oh, it will be,” Shadow replied.

Shadow struck faster than she had anticipated, deadening her nerves in her rear legs, forcing her to the ground. She was helpless as he gagged her and then bound her up tightly. Shadow limited her oxygen until she passed out and then got her on his back.

He took her to the Municipal Building. Once there, he slipped to the dark ally behind and carefully flew her to the roof. Shadow tied a noose and then anchored it on a sturdy vent on the roof. Shadow flare untied her and dressed her in her copy cat uniform, keeping the gag on under the mask. It was a snug fit. She had done a decent job.

Once dressed, Shadow tied her up again and then moved her to the edge of the building. He double checked the noose and then secured it around her neck. Then it was time to play the waiting game. Twilight Garden woke up several times. Shadow calmly limited her oxygen until she passed out.

As the morning dawned and the city awoke, she too came out of her latest sleep. Shadow waited until the market was defiantly awake. He put her on the very edge of the building, lifted her hood enough to rip the gag out.

She immediately began to scream in terror. The marketplace searched for the source. Shadow expertly popped her ties off until she was free, outside of the noose. He tipped her off the roof and confidently stood on the edge as she dropped below.

Twilight Garden didn’t die by suffocation. Her neck snapped and ripped. It was a significant enough drop to begin to tear her flesh at the point of the unyielding rope. She hung there, twisting as she settled down, above the entryway. Shadow wanted her lower, but had misjudge that. And they were not on center like he wanted. But he had a crowd to address.

“TWILIGHT GARDEN NOT ONLY ADMITTED THAT SHE TOOK MY NAME, BUT ALSO WAS FOUND WITH A POOR COPY OF ME. SHE KILLED IN AN ATTEMPT TO BRING PEACE TO HER HUSBAND, BUT SHE ONLY BROUGHT HIM ETERNAL RESTLESSNESS. I CAN NOT INVESTIGATE AND SPEAK WITH THE PRIME SUSPECT. I CAN NOT SOLVE THAT MYSTERY BECAUSE SHE KILLED HIM.

“TEN YEARS AGO THE CITY GUARD FAILED HER AND HER HUSBAND. THEY BRUSHED OFF THE MURDER AND DIDN’T LISTEN TO HER PLEAS. I HOPE THEIR CONDUCT IS NOT THE SAME AS IT WAS BACK THEN. AND I HAVE MY VALID CONCERNS. THEY PASSED TWO KILLINGS OFF AS ME WITHOUT EVEN TAKING A CLOSER LOOK. WITHOUT EVEN QUESTIONING TWILIGHT GARDEN ABOUT THE DEATH. THEY LET OBVIOUS COPY CATS ROAM FREE BECAUSE THEY DIDN’T CARE ENOUGH TO FACE ANY FEARS THEY MIGHT HAVE.

“THERE IS ONE MORE COPY CAT. I ALONE AM THE ONE EQUESTRIA CALLED TO DESTROY THOSE THAT WILL STOP HER FROM HEALING AND MOVING FORWARD. THE OTHER WILL BE FOUND AND KILLED, PUBLICLY. TROTTINGHAM DESERVES PEACEFUL STREETS.”

Shadow stepped down off the edge and quickly wrapped himself in the Zebra cloak. As expected, the guards were already making their way up the fire escape to get to the roof in search of him. Shadow stood on a corner as they reached the roof and rushed to try and find him. When it was clear, he used the fire escape to descend and secure his retreat.

Shadow retreated to his condominium to plan how to catch the last copy cat and pack. He had enough bags to wrap everything incriminating up to safely take with him. Soarin’s Lighting was also tucked away. Shadow went to a good hotel and payed up front for a room while they fixed his lighting.

The mare at the front knew him because of the lighting job. It had spread around that a new stallion in town was having his place renovated because he wanted to, not out of necessity. At least it was the opposite of what ponies would expect out of Black Widow.

Since Shadow had vacated his condo, he had no way to cook. Shadow went to the same place he had before, where Strawberry worked. She came over immediately.

“I thought you were not a fan of the pre-war stuff you had?” She asked.

“I’m not,” Shadow shrugged. “They are beginning the work on my lighting tomorrow, so I packed up what I needed to and I am in a temporary room until they are done. So I have to eat out, no cooking.”

Shadow certainly did hate the pre-war food. But it was still better than the field rations the Enclave provided them. And he enjoyed them on the days when he was really hungry.

“What do you want?” Strawberry asked.

“The apples and the instamash,” Shadow replied. “And a Sparkle Cola.”

“Alright, coming right up,” Strawberry smiled.

Shadow sat there, watching the crowd. It was a good place to work to read the city. And it was inconspicuous. You were supposed to sit back and relax at a restaurant. Looking around wasn’t too weird.

Shadow Flare fiddled around the market, killing time until he could justify going to bed. Shadow perked up as two guards met in front of the shop.

“I just got word that the other copy cat, the one who killed that random scav, she turned herself in for us to prosecute. To be safe from Black Widow. At least she will get a fair trial.”

“And how will she be safe?”

“The Mayor is going to make a public address in the morning. She will make it clear that the mare is ours, not Black Widow’s. That justice will be served.”

---

“Good Morning Trottingham,” Mayor Parchment said behind the pulpit and through the speakers that had been set up. “I am happy to stand before you today with some good news. For a few weeks, we have had the mysterious Black Widow on our minds. For some very good reasons, but now things have turned.

“We here at Trottingham have our guards. They do a good job keeping the peace and bringing justice to our city. They have their bad moments, but I believe that all in all, they are better than those and do real good.”

“Yesterday, the mare who killed another scavenger turned herself in. She killed him on our streets and will face our judge and a jury from Trottingham.”

A mare stepped forward, cuffed and flanked by two guards.

“This is Ruby Rivet. She killed Prismatic Mineral out over a long standing argument. She created a costume to mimic Black Widow and capitalize on our guards’ hesitation shown before. She turned it in along with herself.”

“So to Black Widow I say: yes, she faked being you. But justice will come for both that and killing Prismatic Mineral. We have the situation under control.”

CRACK!

Ruby Rivet stumbled back and tripped over the cuffs. The guards tried to catch her but failed. Her head hit the stone stairs with a smack, but the gash didn’t do her in. The bullet had fragmented inside her head, shredding her with tiny little claws that sought to devour flesh. A perfect shot between the eyes.

“FIND HER!” Mayor Parchment ordered.

“THERE!” A guard yelled. “In the window up there. Tenth floor!”

Shadow Flare ducked back out of the window. They had identified Black Widow and that was all he needed. He was cloaked and out of the room in a matter of seconds, locking the door behind him. He did leave behind the spent shell casing, just to confirm his actions and baffle them with his ability to lock and unlock doors.

The building was the same one that had Shadow’s condominium nestled inside it, but his was on the other side. Besides, it was being torn apart for the lighting job. However, one of the other single bedroom condominiums Shadow had looked at was on the face towards the Municipal Building. It was a stretch, but Shadow had made the shot with his rifle. Soarin’s Lighting was too big for this mid distance job. Plus, it was too recognizable.

Shadow got back to his rented room and stripped. He could finally relax. Shadow exited uncloaked and was greeted by the pony at the front desk. To him, Shadow Flare was leaving after sleeping in late. Shadow Flare hadn’t left through the only exit available. Leaving cloaked was easy.

Now he was off to hunt down the Hawks.

---

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