Shadow was up at 6am and began a simple workout. He skipped wings for fear that he was being watched after peaking their interest the day before. When it came to breakfast, Red Tip and Earthen Charm were nowhere to be seen. But Shadow hadn’t been around to make plans.

Shadow ate a solid meal and loaded up. He made his way out of Generosity Wing into the courtyard and towards the gate. Red Tip and Earthen Charm were right there, waiting to catch him at the gate.

“Hey,” Shadow greeted them as he came to a stop.

“Look who we got out here,” Red Tip said.

“Hey!” Strawberry chirped.

“I thought you were going to work through this,” Shadow said shocked. “Somepony needs to be back there.”

“Yeah, but nopony said you were going to decimate the Reactive Rifle Course like you did. You were blowing it off since you signed up. Red Tip got a note back to me last night. So of course I had to come out here and watch the fun.”

“Well,” Shadow stammered, unsure what else to say.

“Incoming,” Earthen Charm warned.

Shadow looked in the direction she was. It was Knight Yellow Quartz. And she was on an intercept mission. But it wasn’t for him. Shadow looked at where she was focusing on and gulped. Dahlia. And their meeting point would be right at the gate, next to them.

“Welcome Crusader,” Knight Yellow Quartz greeted Dahlia. “Perfectly timed too, because I want to speak to you about him.”

“It is good to be here,” Dahlia replied, taking off her helmet.

Shadow had never seen Dahlia’s head without it’s helmet on. It was a pity her light blue mane was cropped almost all the way off. It had the hint of real beauty. Her mint green coat was obviously soft to the touch. There were no blemishes on her head at all. Shadow was expecting to see a rougher, tougher face than the middle aged, joyful eyed one he was looking at.

“I am sad I missed yesterday’s rounds,” Dahlia continued. “But which him?”

“The small white one.”

“Ha ha,” Shadow sarcastically laughed.

“Know him?” Yellow Quartz asked.

“No,” Dahlia said shaking her head. “I certainly would know a pony like him. Is there a problem?”

Shadow rolled his eyes. “I’ve got her rattled about the Reactive Rifle Competition. I am a threat to her winning, that is all.”

“Good morning Crusader,” Pea Soup said stopped on his way to somewhere.

“Yay,” Shadow groaned. “The gang is all here. The young blood who is pissed she will lose, the one who wants me to join and was baiting me with history lessons last night, and then the one who loves to fuck ponies over.”

“You know her?” Yellow Quartz asked.

“Unfortunately,” Shadow spat.

Pea Soup was confused. “Crusader Dahlia, you don’t know him?”

“No, I have never met him.”

“Up until yesterday he was wearing a heavy red jacket with a black under suit, Stetson and cape. Same symbol.”

“No,” Dahlia confidently shook her head. “But a lot of ponies know me.”

Shadow grinned. Now he had Dahlia on edge as well. “We have met, face to face. But, you thought I was a mare in that encounter.”

“That I can understand,” Red Tip bravely interjected. “I assume you were wearing something else.”

“Combat armor,” Dahlia stated annoyed. “Blue. No, gray. Gray plated combat armor with that same star symbol painted in dark blue on the chest and a protective helmet and hood. And you had guns on both sides. Where are the other four? Two stallions in the same gear and two mares.”

“In better places,” Shadow replied stoically.

“You change equipment a lot,” Red Tip stated. “How can you afford to.”

“Got lucky,” Shadow replied, fighting off the encroaching sorrow. “But each time I have to switch, I keep getting further and further away from the good stuff.”

“What happened to that combat armor?” Red Tip pushed.

“I buried it,” Shadow replied. “Along with the last two of my comrades. The game changed, so I had to change. Equestria loathes me, Luck favors me, Fate called me. But at least I am not you, Dahlia. Equestria must be warming up something special for all of your atrocities.”

“I protect this wasteland,” Dahlia defended. “I keep the monsters out of the cities. I catch them and bring them to justice. I patrol the dark places the main bulk of Steel Rangers can’t. I am their hunter. I serve a tough but important roll.”

Shadow was ready with his accusation. “You use brute tactics and force to bring submission by fear. You shoot before you protect. You do not risk your life by making sure you are in the right. You have no compassion, citing your rehearsed defense as reason to have none.”

Shadow took a definitive step into Dahlia’s personal space.

“You are going to want to take a step back, now!” Dahlia warned. “Citizen.”

“I know how your armor work,” Shadow said challenging her. “You are not safe inside of it. I can make it buckle just like I can make you buckle outside of it. You are nothing without it.”

Dahlia stepped in to push Shadow back, but she found a stunningly strong wall instead.

Shadow brought their heads together so they locked eyes as close as possible. “I may be small, especially to you in that armor, but you have never scared me.”

Dahlia responded with a growl and step in to try and force him back. Shadow had guessed the move and made his own. Dahlia found herself pushed back as she made her step. She had lost to a tiny stallion with no power armor because she threw herself off balance.

“I am going to stop this right here,” Pea Soup said, forcing them apart. “There are citizens around. Dahlia is far from perfect. I am sorry she mistook you as a mare.”

“I usually get a kick out of that,” Shadow interjected. “Especially that time.”

High Scribe Pea Soup had taken charge.“And we are working to make sure she represents us in the best light possible on her long and difficult routes. For instance, she is here to learn more about Black Widow. She will be hunting her across all of the wasteland.”

“Yeah,” Dahlia grinned. The grinned turn malicious. “You know a lot about me. Where have you been every time she pops up?”

Shadow rolled his eyes. “Trottingham.”

“Just sitting there?” Yellow Quartz pushed.

“Now hold on,” Red Tip said stepping in confidently. “I can account to Mtoaji not being Black Widow. She has to hide as the Trottingham guard rips apart the city. Mtoaji is a savvy business pony who practically lives in the market. He is never gone when Black Widow strikes.”

“Plus, he saved me from a horrible life in the Lux,” Strawberry defended. “Black Widow doesn’t save ponies. But He got me out of a fourth floor window. We had to drop that last ten feet. His ability to roll and tuck saved him from a hard landing.”

And right then, it was worth saving Strawberry. Kifo Herixleta was not on Shadow to hear it. The sword was back in Trottingham. Safe.

“That’s how you took out the Hawks!” Red Tip said switching topics. “You can jump!”

Shadow let out a few chuckles. “Its not jumping. Its vaulting and rolling. The basics of acrobatics. I grew up learning it and performed, besting obstacle courses built for me. But yes, that is how I could out maneuver the Hawks in the buildings.

“At one point, I had to drop three stories onto a small ledge that may or may not hold me. And to dissipate the energy or break bones, I rolled off of it into another fall. At least I was able to kick off an I beam and land two floors down in a proper roll. It hurt like hell but I lived. And then I had to go back up to come in from below where they had secured. That’s how I got myself into position to kill Razor.”

“And then you never turned the bounty in,” Yellow Quartz said annoyed.

“I was only after them for their guns,” Shadow shrugged.

Pea Soup coughed to get their attention. “Black Widow is a Unicorn, not an Earth Pony like Mtoaji. Unicorns have horns.”

“I have a Unicorn horn,” Shadow stated. “It doesn’t work. I was dealing with Disciples in Fillydelphia and I got into a fight. I was, unsurprisingly, outnumbered. To get them to back off, I popped it off her head. Its currently back in Trottingham.”

Nopony knew what to say and they they stood there for a minute in silence.

Pea Soup got them back on track. “Knight Yellow Quartz, Mtoaji, you both have a competition to get to. Or else you will be disqualified and it will be a huge disappointment to everypony.”

“Yes Sir,” Shadow said immediately and doing a perfect, clean turn to head out. He easily out shined Yellow Quartz.

“I want to know what uniform he wore so badly,” Pea Soup said.

“Uniform?” Dahlia asked.

“He won’t give specifics, but he is out here for a reason. Something we might get in the way of. So he won’t speak anything close to details. That Blue Beret uniform fits him perfectly. And I am talking mentally, not physically. Although it fits him physically quite well.”

“I don’t trust him,” Dahlia spat.

“You don’t trust anypony,” Pea Soup shot back.

“I have to go too,” Earthen Charm said. “I have stuff to win. Red Tip, Strawberry, I will see you at the Long Distance Competition. Go watch Mtoaji. Its going to be a lot more exciting than watching us in the Marathon. And most of the time you can’t even see us.”

“Alright,” Red Tip said. “This way Strawberry.”

Shadow had made sure to add Strawberry to his entrance list so she could get prime seating for both events. And so she didn’t have to fight for a spot to watch.

“Good morning,” Primer greeted them before freezing. “My my, you two are already at each other’s throats. And we only just passed qualifiers. This is a competition of you against the course, not a direct action against the others. You two will want to cool off if you are to stand a chance to go past round one.”

Shadow took a deep breath in and began think back on his training. It failed. His mind was drawn to the Blue Berets and the combat footage he saw the night before. The Steel Rangers might not know he has wings, but he would carry their legacy on. And he would show them their training tactics were piss poor compared to the Enclave’s system.

Round One started and Shadow just sat there, waiting. Their group grew smaller and smaller as one by one they stepped out to face a new course. After every five competitors, initiates would sweep the brass off to the sides to keep it clear.

Shadow readied himself on deck. He might be the 29^th to go, but he was still #41. They kept their original numbers to make things easier. Shadow has a magazine partially out of his saddlebag, but zipped down so he didn’t loose it. 30 targets, 30 shots. The most shots he had heard was 35. Shadow was in trouble if he had to do a mag change.

Shadow stepped out into the course. It now had a lot of walls and columns. There was only one way to see the back of the first half from the starting point. They had increased the number of targets on the field to make things much harder. Shadow took a deep breath and crouched down, ready to pounce.

The light beeped and switched from red to yellow. With that annoying buzz it turned green and two targets popped up on different sides. Shadow shot the one on the right wall and then easily picked off the one that came out from behind a wall further down as he moved.

The ching as metal unlocked and a target swung out keyed Shadow in on the new one and he drilled a round into before it was fully extended. It bounced back and forth erratically and then glowed as a unicorn manually set it back. Just because he shot it before it could flip all the way out didn’t diminish the shot’s truth.

Shadow moved on, diving and rolling. He dove into a roll behind cover as he he heard two targets pop up. Shadow vaulted out of the roll over the low wall and put a round in each of them. It was easy. They were relying on more possibilities to divert attention and the obstacles to slow down competitors and block line of sight.

But it wasn’t even a challenge to Shadow as he rounded the corner. For fun he popped the trigger bar up to his shotgun and took down the three waiting targets with ease. Shadow heard the cheers rise as he did the switch, impressing the crowd who was waiting for it to happen. He popped the trigger bad back to his rifle, keeping his shotgun as backup.

Shadow kept moving steadily through the course, picking the targets off as soon as they came up. He was also paying attention to every target location that wasn’t used. Every advantage was an advantage. The last three targets were along the wall a he came around that final turn. They were too spread out to take two down at once with his shotgun, but Shadow easily knocked them out with a single round per target.

Shadow stood up on his hind legs in victory as the crowd raged. He did a back flip to their enjoyment and waved as he exited.

“Very good Mtoaji,” The Initiate said as he stepped into the pit. “30 for 30, meaning a score of 0 in 48 second. You are in first by a solid six seconds. Primer now holds second.”

Primer came down from their stands to congratulate Shadow.

“Hey, you are in next too,” Shadow replied. “I wish I could’ve watch you go.”

“Oh you will,” Primer grinned. “Round two reverses. It is not an advantage to be in first. But lets get up there to see how Knight Yellow Quartz does. Scope out her skill.”

Shadow followed after him. They made it as the light turned green. Shadow watched as she dealt with the course with extreme military precision. She wasn’t playful like Shadow. She would make a deadly adversary. If Shadow was going to take out any of the Trottingham Steel Rangers, he would have to start with her.

As she rounded the last turn to face the final three targets her gun jammed. A round was stuck out, caught in a stovepipe jam. Her front hoof expertly slid back with tremendous force, pushing the bolt back as she forced the round out. It continued, cycling the bolt back to get a round in the chamber. She slammed it back to kick that round out and then opened fire, cleanly picking them off. She had easily landed herself in the top 10 and the crowd loved to see her clear a jam with such skill.

Shadow zipped down to the pit with Primer on his flank.

“How often does that happen?” Shadow immediately asked.

“I need my kit!” Yellow Quarts yelled to an initiate. The she focused on Shadow. “Every so often. I am used to. Cycle out to the round after to be safe.”

“What are those, 60 round magazines?”

“Yeah,” Yellow Quartz nodded. “But some oil will take care of it.”

“Is your ejector spring strong enough?”

“Yes, the gun is to specifications. Springs, rods, everything. Its old. It happens. The ammunition is usually old. We never use reloads for a reason. We need quality rounds we can count on, despite their age.”

Shadow stepped right beside her and jammed both hooves onto her rifle, dragging her down and toppling her. Everypony was stunned. She was furious but froze when she saw Shadow’s smiling face and outstretched hoof to help her up. She grabbed a hold of it and Shadow easily pulled her up.

“You have a lot of force for being so small,” Yellow Quartz said confused. “And a lot of strength. You beat power armor.”

“Dahlia knows bruit strength, I know form,” Shadow explained. “Real power comes from proper form. But your jamming because your front bolt is a tad loose, causing limp shouldering. It causes failure to eject when it can’t provide enough rigidity and resistance. It stops the cycle from properly happening. You need to remount it with new bolts and a washers. Double washers would be wise.”

“How do you know that?” Yellow Quartz stammered.

“Because when I first learned to shoot from a battle saddle, I was the limp shoulder. If my trainers could see me now, performing like this, they would be shocked and proud. Well the first one would be shocked. The second taught me heavy weapons and saw me actually fix that. Ever wear a heavy machine gun on your side?”

“A heavy machine gun?” Yellow Quartz said with wide eyes.

“Damn thing was longer than me, but the instructor wanted me to feel it. To better understand the relation the weapon has to the saddle and to me. That and get a good laugh. I had to take this really wide stance. And she wanted accurate burst fire so I couldn't cherry pick. I had to show full control. It made it a lot easier to handle basic rifles like these.

“But lets go get that rifle mount repaired.”

“We can’t leave,” Yellow Quartz reminded him.

“Can you get washers in?”

“Uhhh… Initiate, get me mount bolts and washers for that size! Now!”

“Yes, Knight!” the initiate who had brought her repair kit in said.

“They will have to take some time to get the next one set up,” Yellow Quartz said. “But not much. And you are first.”

“I got this,” Shadow said. “But lets get to the starting pit.”

They rushed out and around. Shadow ignored Red Tip and Strawberry. They saw he was busy with something.

Shadow had her saddle off before Yellow Quartz could explain how to unmount it. She was shocked beyond words. The initiate bounded in with a bag in his mouth. Shadow ripped it from his mouth and poured it out on the table. In a few seconds he had the rear bolts set up but the front bolt would not back out from the saddle frame.

“Initiate!” Shadow called. “You are a Unicorn, get that bolt free.”

“Uhhh, I can’t. My magic doesn’t work like that.”

“Well who can?” Shadow asked frustrated.

“I’M HERE!” A scribe said sliding into the wall in an attempt to make the sharp turn.

“The front mounting bolt if jammed.”

“You took it apart! That is why it’s jammed!”

“I’m not that dumb,” Shadow shot back. “I wear one too. I’ve been dealing with maintenance for a long time. Just get it undone!”

Her horn glowed and the bolt glowed before shattering.

“Idiot,” Shadow said pulling the frame off the table. “That doesn’t get all of it out. It needs to be backed out properly. Now I have to try and clear out all of the threads.”

Shadow hit it several times before tossing it back on the table.

“I’ve got this,” The scribe said, putting her hoof in the way.

“Are you the one who has been helping maintain her rifle? Who missed this?”

The scribe’s eyes narrowed but she withdrew his hoof. Shadow threaded the new bolt and secured it with washers. He pulled and tugged, feeling the connection. Without a word he slapped it onto Yellow Quartz, shocking her into a yelp as he got closer than she wanted to in certain areas. She was ready as Shadow pushed down like before.

“That should do it,” Shadow stated definitively. “We need to get you onto the course to let loose with some ammo.”

“I will do that,” the Scribe said, heading over to the entrance.

A minute later they were waved into the course. Shadow intently watched the rifle as she took a shot. She fired another.

“Just let loose,” Shadow told her, still rushing to the time line.

Yellow Quartz shrugged and let it all go.

“How did that feel?” Shadow asked before the brass was settled.

“Perfect,” Yellow Quartz said shocked. “I have never felt her better.”

Shadow Flare looked up to where they were controlling the targets. “Give us something to hit to make sure its calibrate!”

A target popped up and Yellow Quarts hit it. Two more it quick succession popped up and she knocked them down, dead center. They sent off a series of other targets and she promptly put them back down in their resting positions.

“Wow,” Yellow Quartz said stunned.

“You might want to look at that saddle after the competition to work on something without washers. And this a short distance, so you will need to sight her in to longer rangers. But it will be more than sufficient with you skill.”

“I doubt you knocked the accuracy off,” Yellow Quartz smiled.

“Lets go back in,” Shadow said. “We have a course to dominate.”

“I can’t believe you fixed it so easily,” Yellow Quartz said, still trying to wrap her head around it.

“I think I did,” Shadow corrected her. “I can’t be certain all the way yet, its not undergone stress testing.”

“Stress testing? I have never gotten to fire full auto for 60 rounds. She usually stove pipes at least once, hopefully any other jams are stove pipes.”

“Well, now you know,” Shadow said, tapping his magazines to make sure the bullets were seated correctly.

“Mtoaji, you are up,” An initiate said stepping into the area.

Shadow nodded to Yellow Quartz, gave the magazine a final tap and trotted to the opening. He checked his spare magazine was out but secure. He had 45 targets to knock down. He was going to have to do a reload at some point.

The light turned green and three targets popped up and were knocked right back down. Shadow played through the whole course. At one point he jumped off the wall into a back flip, shooting a target as he turned. It was pathetically easy.

Until Shadow messed up and was a step ahead of the targets. His time flying under Marble Falls helped him identify the mistake in time. He turned, bumping his shotgun into gear and put 00 buck into the back of it, slamming the mechanism down.

At the end, Shadow did another flip for the crowd and walked off. “45 for 45, meaning a score of 0 in 1:15. Not bad. And very good catch on the mistake.”

“They better double check that target,” Shadow warned him. “I probably broke it.”

“They are repairing it right now.”

“Repairing, or replacing? Shadow asked.

“It’s easiest and fastest to outright replace any potentially damaged targets.”

“Right,” Shadow chuckled.

Shadow headed up to watch the others. Shadow wasn’t the only one to get ahead of himself. But unlike him, the others bolted back to shoot the target from the front. And all seven who also made the mistake dropped below the top ten. Primer showed exceptional reaction, but he was cautious. Still, he ended with a score of 1:14, edging out Shadow.

Yellow Quartz looked a thousand times better as she swept through the course. She halted at the right spot and hit that trick target from a tough angle across the course. Without needing a magazine change, she slid into first at 1:12.

“Nice job,” Yellow Quartz sarcastically said to Shadow. “You hit the target but broke the course.”

Shadow shrugged. “Shooting metal at metal, something is going to break. But you hit it from that angle. That was impressive.”

“Both of you got ahead of yourself,” Primer said. “Both of you got lucky.”

“He has a point,” Shadow said. “He subbed 1:20, and he didn’t pass or almost pass the target.”

“Your shotgun echoes through the entire set up,” Yellow Quartz complained.

“I know,” Shadow smiled. “Its awesome. The crowd loves it.”

They were herded over to the starting pit where the scribe overseeing the course was waiting for them. “Now that we have our finalists, congratulations. Now there can be no errors. Only three of you will walk out with awards and only three of you will be remembered. Some of you will have to push if you want to get one of those slots. 60 targets. Shot them all when they pop up. Each bullet is a point, each target struck is negative point. I can guarantee that you will not win this if you have to fire 61 bullets. Now, we are setting up a roulette, so that you do not know when you are going until its time to enter.”

The scribe left and Shadow began to ready himself. He cleared both weapons and loaded fresh magazines. He kept the actions open for safety. There was no need to close them until he stepped out onto the course.

Primer was up first. The crowd cheered, the buzzer rang and the shots were fired. The crowd cheered as he finished. They thought he did marvelous. There was no obvious moments where he made a mistake.

Shadow sat there waiting as the others were called first. The Initiate poked his head around the corner. “Knight Yellow Quartz, you’re up.”

Shadow locked eyes with Yellow Quartz. She was concerned with him going after her, but she wasn’t going to give up. Shadow forced himself to not count the seconds she was in there. The crowd cheering pulled him out of his distraction.

Shadow stood up, took a deep breath in, and walked forward. Pictures of the Blue Berets flashed in his mind. Pieces of the courses Marble Falls had them fly were added in. Along with it came their first bumbling days, trying to stay out of the laser pointers brought a smile to his lips. Shadow Flare was ready.

Shadow entered with no antics and crouched down, staring at the red light one last time. He closed his eyes as it turned yellow to just listen. The crowd died down, waiting for the buzzer. Shadow heard it’s pitch and heard the first five pop, one at the end of the course.

Shadow shifted right as he opened his eyes and fired. The first target went down and then Shadow swept right to left. Unlike others, he shot the position, not the distance, cutting down on his time. Shadow moved forward, recognizing that he had 60 targets in a space that was perfect for 30. It was a lot slower. The first area had to hold the first thirty targets to space things correctly. Shadow was spot on as he basically walked forward. Multiple targets glowed as they were manually forced to react because he was so fast. 28 targets had him at the turn.

Shadow stepped out and saw the next three. Shadow chose his two targets. The last round always ejected up, and he was going to have some fun to loosen the mood.

The last round ejected. Shadow saw the case go straight up and shifted so that his back hoof kicked it back up as he bashed out the empty magazine. The new magazine was pulled out, Shadow spun backwards and kicked the shell casing at the third target. He snapped the magazine it place, dropped the bolt and aimed as the target fell backwards.

Shadow grinned. For show or not, the target obviously couldn’t tell the difference. He would have to remember it for the next time he faced raiders. Anything to keep the enemy heads down as he was forced to reload.

29 targets were left. Shadow moved with precision, adjusting to the sound of a target popping out. It was slow work moving forward. The last turn came and Shadow dove out to the other side. As he expected, the best angle was from the far wall.

Shadow slid to a stop out of the roll, bumping the trigger bar to the shotgun. From the far wall, Shadow almost had a double lined up. He fired at another target as he skipped into position, fired and bumped his rifle back online. Two targets dropped and Shadow picked off the other two that were immediately up.

Shadow was panting as he put the last target down with his rifle. The crowd’s noise assaulted his ears as he let his focus widen. Shadow reared up with a howl and jumped into a font tuck, flipping over perfectly to their enjoyment.

Shadow didn’t get a chance to leave as the others came out from the pit and the Scribe came around the corner to run the announcements.

“Thank you. Thank you,” The Scribe said, calming the crowd. “Yes, that final round by number 41, Mtoaji was a stunning run. All of our finalists gave us an amazing show. The raiders need to watch out for all of them. I certainly don’t want to be on the business side of their rifles.”

The crowd laughed.

“We have other competitions to see, so I will cut to the chase. In third place with a score of zero and a time of two minutes and thirty-six seconds, last year’s winner, Primer!”

A scribe pinned a yellow ribbon on Primer’s chest as the crowd cheered.

“Second place goes to a first timer with a score of zero and a time of two minutes and sixteen seconds, Knight Yellow Quartz! Our very own!”

Yellow Quartz’s head dropped. She was smiling, but she was so pissed she was second. She lifted it back up after the red ribbon was pinned on her blue cloak so it was draped onto her chest.

The Scribe let the crowd quiet down.

“First place gave us the best show each time. And we have never had anything like this happen, but with a score of negative two, meaning his slightly longer time of two minutes and twenty-four seconds doesn’t matter, Mtoaji! Our flipping friend!”

Shadow heard him say “flipping” so he immediately did a back flip in place. Once he was back on all fours, the scribe was able to pin the blue ribbon on his chest. He pinned it below his star, where a military medal would go. Shadow just smiled in shock as the Scribe said more to the crowd.

Shadow filed into the pit with the others.

“NEGATIVE TWO!” Yellow Quartz immediately protested. “How the fuck did you get negative TWO!”

“The last turn,” Shadow said. “I went out wide, and had the perfect shot for the way my shotgun spreads. You had to just be in the right spot, which I only caught as I dove out wide.”

“What about the other one?” Yellow Quartz asked furiously. “I had the better time too!”

Shadow chuckled. “I kicked a spent shell casing as it was ejected. The target was twenty yards away as I came around that first corner. I was reloading. It was showboating. But I guess I really knocked it hard. When the reload was done, the target fell before I could shoot.”

“You kicked a shell casing?” Primer said shocked. “I bet you couldn't do it again.”

“I bet I can’t either,” Shadow grinned, “But I would love to try.”

“Oh you will,” Yellow Quartz said accusingly. “Tonight, to end everything, is our challenge showcase. After some other rodeo awards are given out, challenges are allowed to be placed. You technically do not have to accept.”

Yellow Quartz growled. “You are going to accept and you are going to prove it wasn’t a fluke. Got it!”

Shadow stood there as she yelled the last part in his face.

“I got it,” Shadow said calmly. “Even if it is a fluke, I still would be at negative one.”

“I had the better time!” Yellow Quartz said sitting down hard. A tear began to form. “I had you beat by eight seconds. Eight whole fucking seconds. If it wasn’t for that stupid shotgun, I would of had that round. I would have the blue ribbon, not the red.”

“You reclaimed territory the Steel Rangers lost years ago in the competition,” Shadow pointed out. “Second by a good deal. I don’t know how you had eight seconds on me. They came up and I shot them down, with no hesitation.”

Yellow Quartz gave a chuckle. “Most of mine were hit as they came up.”

“You know how to read their patterns,” Shadow chuckled sitting beside her. “It wasn’t hard to figure out after the first round which ones were going to be used and be ready for them. They had a pattern to their techniques.”

Yellow Quartz chuckled again. “I kept telling them that. This year was a lot harder because I stopped a lot of it. It was a lot more dynamic than last year. I ran last year’s course after the Expo and I beat Primer by a whole 36 seconds. And I had to wait for targets to pop up.”

“It was a lot harder this year,” Primer agreed. He was the only other one in the pit. “They did a much better job at making it reactive. So I am glad that neither of you were here last year so I could win one. I don’t know about you Mtoaji, but Knight Yellow Quartz will be sticking around and dominating. Plenty of blue ribbons for her to come.”

“They probably will ban shotguns next year,” Shadow said.

“No, they wont,” Yellow Quartz said, pulling in a sniff. “Shotguns have low capacity. No known shotgun could compete against a rifle with a 30 round magazine. There just isn’t time to reload all those shots. But nopony ever enters with two guns. Most unicorns can’t shoot with two at the same time. At least not for sustained accuracy. You have a unique system. But your unique system requires a lot of training to make use of that little window where you can hit two targets at once. And, that is what can happen in real combat, which this is supposed to simulate. So no, they won’t ban shotguns. Even weird ones like yours with a detachable box magazine. What is that anyway?”

“A Walter DCD,” Shadow said. “This particular variant never hit the market. The DCD is designed for nonlethal bean bag rounds. But the box magazine had problems during production for feeding. I have one that was actually made on the benches of Walter Arms.”

“You got into Walter?” Yellow Quartz said shocked. “The Fillydelphia Contingent hasn’t been able to do that!”

“Well, they didn’t have control of it when I went in,” Shadow chuckled. “Had to clear a group out of there.”

“And that’s when you ran into Dahlia,” Yellow Quartz added.

“After, yes. Once we had left Fillydelphia. But no, we got in, found some cool shit, and locked it back up. Most of it was useless or the wasteland had better models out. But yeah, this was uncovered. And then we had to work on it. And then mount it on my saddle.”

“You didn’t get the saddle there?”

“Nope,” Shadow said. “We already had them. But after that, we removed my left gun and mounted the shotgun on top. I needed more power, but we didn’t have anything in a larger rifle caliber. And I didn’t want to have my left side taken up. I needed that for a large saddlebag, so it was mounted on top.”

“It was expertly done,” Primer said.

“Well, my friend might have been a mechanical genius. He is the one who got us into Walter.”

“That had to be nice,” Yellow Quartz said. “Our scribes are good, very good, but they work with old stuff mostly.”

“Yeah, he had some specialized equipment available and used it to his advantage. Some was hoof tooled.”

Yellow Quartz sighed. “Washer and two new bolts fixed my gun. Without your help, I would have jammed on that last course. And that would have eaten up a good six seconds. Still enough to take second, but you would have take first. Assuming it was only a single jam. Either way, you deserve first. You are going to prove that was a fluke with the shell case, but ignoring that, you still hit two targets with one shot. And I know its possible because I have done it before by clipping the forward target on the edge, shredding the bullet in two. I also had a lucky shot that was redirected into another target. It happens when it’s metal slamming into metal.”

“Mtoaji,” An initiate said trotting up. “I believe this is your magazine.”

“Thank you,” Shadow smiled. “I forgot about it.”

Shadow stood up with a groan. “I’m getting stiff from all that jumping around. But more importantly, I have a friend to beat in the Long Distance Competition. I need food and to swap out guns.”

Shadow popped the spent magazine in his saddlebag and walked out. Primer was right behind him. Shadow was met with open hooves and smiles from Red Tip, Strawberry and Earthen Charm.

“Earthen Charm,” Shadow said surprised.

“I got to get in and see you on the last run. I barely made it, but I saw you. And I didn’t believe it as you did things never seen before.”

Shadow gave a chuckle. “I need food. Lets talk over lunch.”

“You should need food,” Red Tip chuckled. “You were prancing around out there. It was a miracle you moved through the course as fast as you did.”

“His flourishes showed real skill,” Strawberry said. “And he kept moving forward. The others did a lot of stopping and starting which takes time.”

“Thank you,” Shadow said to Strawberry. “But yes, I was having fun out there. Until that last round. I was going to win. I was going to be the fastest. And if I hadn’t been able to line that shotgun round up right, I would have gotten second. I was 8 seconds behind.”

“I think they timed her faster,” Red Tip stated. “Steel Ranger Unicorns were controlling everything. While they never slowed anypony down, they might had been a little quick on the draw.”

“She was quick on the draw,” Shadow replied. “That is why. Its all timed out in segments. They don’t have direct control over the timing. Its set up on a timer of sorts, but each set of targets has to go down before the others can go up.”

“And that is why paper targets are better,” Red Tip declared. “And this line is going to suck. Will we even have time to eat?”

“Yes you will,” An initiate said coming over to them. “I am instructed to move you two ahead of the line since you are needed for the next competition and you need to have a solid meal in you to steady your blood sugar levels. All four of you, follow me.”

“This is unexpected,” Red Tip said. “I haven’t ever had this.”

“Well you are with Mtoaji,” The initiate said. “Mtoaji didn’t have a chance to eat earlier to compensate for the Long Distance Competition. We knew you would be watching him compete.”

“Thank you,” Shadow said as they were rushed to the front and seated at a saved table.

“We better eat fast,” Red Tip said catching the time. “We have time, but we don’t have time. And… you are done.”

“What?” Shadow shrugged as he swallowed the last bite. “You think I learned how to shoot and move like that lounging around is mess halls? Fuck no. My instructors would have none of that. It was always move move move move move!”

“Yeah, well did they teach you to shoot targets at a mile?” Red Tip popped back.

“Nope! I learned 300 and that was it. I never needed more. Until I got to Equestria. Fuck, that changed everything. Damn I have to get back home.”

Shadow stood up abruptly. “My equipment is in my locker. I will meet you on the roof, after I ditch this stuff.”

“Right,” Earthen Charm said for Red Tip who was trying to stuff his face.

Next Chapter: Chapter 117 - Trick Shot Estimated time remaining: 5 Hours, 46 Minutes