Shadow sat down in his chair, relaxing after finally getting home. It felt amazing to take his armor off and stretch his wings. They had been cooped up too long. The bruising was extensive, but healing. Health potions were a marvel. In a day or two he would be fine.

Shadow’s undershirt was wrecked. It was sweaty and cracking from his body’s juices. He would need to secure a new one. Better yet, he could use the basic pattern from the Mare-Do-Well to build a suit that would work. There was the extra fabric from his first set that he could use. The chance that somepony would recognize the same fabric was slim. It was just normal fabric after all.

Shadow used the bathroom tub to wash his shirt. For now, that needed to be done. It would take some time to stitch the other together. He didn’t have the energy to keep powering through everything without a real respite.

Shadow stayed in the next day, just resting his mind and body. His little gardens were growing well. A lot better than he had expected. In another week or two he could start making tea.

The next day meant Shadow had to go to the bank to check in and drop off a good chunk of his caps. They didn’t bother him with any questions as he banked 12,000 caps. Shadow found a lunchbox in a junk pile in a shop. He figured it would make a good place to stash a hefty set of the caps as a hidden back up reserve. He bought it.

Red Tip was happy to see Shadow.

“We found out that the Hellhounds had been neutralized a few days back. A Steel Ranger scout team found the battleground. Plenty of vacant tunnels, dried bloody dirt, spent shells, and dead Hellhounds. But no word about y’all.”

“Yeah, we had a fight,” Shadow sighed as he leaned against the counter. “We ended up having to work to just cripple their legs as they got around us. The Tri-Balls did their job, but I really want magnum rounds.”

“Yeah, we can get you those,” Red Tip nodded. He was more interested in the battle. “So, how many dead?”

Shadow sighed. “Most were killed close up, including bloody hoof to hoof, er paw, combat. I might have stabbed one or two with my combat knife in their eyes. It got really rough. I took a hail of bullets across the chest and need to secure new armor.”

“Damn,” Red Tip swore. “They had guns?”

“Some,” Shadow nodded. “But we cut them down. Knight Yellow Quartz took a swipe from an injured paw, but it still punctured her armor. I’m still healing from the broken ribs and deep bruising. The Star Paladin didn’t seem injured, but I can’t confirm anything.

“Most of our time was spent at the Lux healing.”

“Nice,” Red Tip chuckled.

“Even better,” Shadow smirked. “I took them for a good ride after they came us 100 complementary chips. I kept most in an account there, but I brought back several thousand.”

“Damn,” Red Tip grinned. “So I guess you need a restock?”

“Yeah,” Shadow nodded. “I need more shotgun rounds. I only fired a few 50 cal rounds. Everything quickly changed to close combat. My 5.56 rounds were all armor piercing, and I assume you are still cleaned out?”

“Yep. You bought them all.”

“I need new armor? Any ideas?”

“Try the shops, but I haven’t seen anything like what you wear. I try to keep up with their stocks to help patrons. You need something light enough to move with your agility. Because you solo way to much. If you find nothing here, head to the Citadel to their Quartermaster. Their citizen one might have something, but I doubt it.”

“It’s good armor,” Shadow sighed. “I can make a patch in the mean time. I don’t want to blow protection off, but I don’t know if I have a choice. I have worn a lot of different armor styles. I know what I need is rare. I know this piece is special.”

“But it saved your life,” Red Tip affirmed. “It did it’s job.”

“That it did,” Shadow smiled. “That it did.”

Shadow finished the restock and headed to the market. He didn’t find any armor that would do the job. His biggest problem was size.

He bought fresh food and made himself a home cooked dinner. It wasn’t the best meal he had ever cooked, but it beat the pre-war stuff still floating around. And it made him feel useful.

Shadow spent the evening cleaning his gear and planning. He decided to head north. It was time for him to check in with his message. He would need a light source. He would go at night.

The biggest problem was that to get there, he had to cross close to Hellhound territory. If they caught a whiff of him, he was dead. But he had to check.

Shadow deliberated well into the night and finally decided the risk was worth it. Death was inevitable, staying down here would make it come sooner. Right now, he had no better option to find his answer with the way he was doing things. He was getting nowhere and had enough caps to survive for a while. He could devote himself to going home without that worry.

In the morning Shadow didn’t feel bad. He felt like he was healed. So he headed out to get supplies. Once he was supplied with food, he checked in with the bank. It was recorded and he began to make his final preparations.

Shadow wanted to travel light, but he couldn’t risk the trip back if he had a recall message. Shadow packed up everything and prepared for an early more. Tent, plenty of ammo, all weapons – including Soarin’s Lightning – the Zebra cloak, the Blue Beret uniform, and his collectibles. The Rainbow Dash statuette was his most interesting piece. It gave him feelings of invincibility and he would not abandon it.

Shadow hadn’t fully loaded out in a while, so he was a bit unsteady for a while. Not because the load was settled improperly, rather that he hadn’t carried the weight of his whole home on him. Stuff had been left in Trottingham on each outing.

Shadow had decided the west coast was the best choice. Northeast was the straightest shot, but took him right through the center of Hellhound territory. The coast gave him something along his back to protect him. After making the trek to the mountains, he could use them for cover and then make it to the cave. His PipBuck had it’s location, he would find it easily this time.

The trip was entirely uneventful. It was wonderful to have a tent to keep the weather out as he slept. Shadow felt secure in it. Something he had lost once he was alone.

In the mountains, the North still had it’s bite below. Above had to be worse. Shadow didn’t expect it to be as bad as it was. Shadow settled in below the clouds for what might be his final rest in exile. He was going to avoid all trouble by going up at night.

Digging up through the clouds produced a beautiful chime as he broke ice fragments against each other. Shadow popped up and frowned. The northern sky was clouded over. The stars were still hidden from him.

The cold was certainly worse above. It was above freezing, but it was late to be this cold. The ice was gone, melted into rain or captured for use. That was a good sign for farming. The crops wouldn’t freeze, but they would hesitate to sprout.

Shadow was, again, unprepared for the cold. He couldn’t risk staying out in the open in the current conditions. His core body temperature was already dropping. Going even higher to get to see the stars was out of the question.

He rushed to the cave entrance and put the headlamp he had bought on. Shadow moved quickly through the winding passage into the cave and lit the wall up. Nothing had been written. The wall next to it was completely bare as well.

Shadow checked every wall and the floor. The hidden room didn’t recognize him, which was no surprised. There was no evidence that anything had been disturbed since he had last been here. Shadow wanted to update the info on the wall, but he didn’t have the hoof laser. And he couldn’t last much longer in the conditions. He was shivering as the cold pressed it’s claws into his coat, going straight for his heart.

Shadow dashed out, begging his muscled to work and not freeze. He found his hole and dove back down. But being below didn’t drive the cold away.

Shadow set his tent up and lit a very small fire. He coaxed it to life and then forced it to coals. He dragged them into the tent to provide warmth as he slept, without smoking himself out. It was a rough sleep as he tried to warm up.

Morning came and Shadow forced himself to get up. It was a risk since his core body temperature was still low, but he had to move for his mind. And he only had so much food left.

Shadow just kept himself moving. He pushed further than he should have, but he got home to Trottingham safe. It was late and he almost got shot by the guards, but he got to the warmth of his bed.

Shadow slept with his hoof pressed into his chest, the necklace sandwiched between. Shadow skipped breakfast to enjoy the warmth of his sheets. He had spent the past few days freezing and concerned with hypothermia. He had no leads and nothing to do, so he stayed in bed.

Bed was warm. It felt safe. It felt like home.

---

A note from the Author:

If you are wondering where Cardinal Spitfire's or the Wonderbolt's recall message are, they are not there yet. I would like to remind you that Book 3's timeline and Book 4's timeline run parallel to each other. I wrote them side by side. If you lined them up, it means they missed each other by days.

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