Shadow stood looking over the Lux from a nearby crumbled house. The light was fading, which meant the scouting would begin. He had explored the southern region and the central entrance area was where the casino was. All around that was housing used by the workers. Then the northern section was a bit separate. It could barely be seen, but that was where the elites of these elites had lived before the war.

Shadow decided to go in from the north. They had stripped it clean to furnish the casino and such. But the Lux was a place of secrets and lies, all in the name of providing the wasteland ponies a good time and helping them forget their miseries.

Marjoram was the head that he had seen. But Shadow found it hard to believe that it all sat squarely on her shoulders. That was a big thing to balance while still being as available as she was.

As the light finally faded the Lux lit up. The center for the Casino was bright and vibrant as expected, and there were some lights to its north where workers were going to sleep and others were waking up. But the surprising lights were the ones in the far north in the mansion villas. One specific house had lights coming on.

Shadow dropped off the house he was perched on and made his way over the Lux’s well maintained wall. The place was deserted outside of the lit areas. It made for easy movement through the ruins.

The upper villas were physically above the others. They had probably been built on top of a hill, but it had been flattened and reshaped, requiring a tall retaining wall. It had held up remarkably well for 200 years, but the retaining wall had more than enough holds for Shadow to easily slip up.

Inside the villa were ten older mares and stallions. They were enjoying the luxury of being at the top. Their furniture was neatly restored, the walls perfectly painted, and they were drinking from sparkling clean glasses.

“What was the report?” One of the stallions asked the youngest of them.

“Very positive. The monthly income projection overpowers that big loss. So even if that stallion came to withdraw the rest in his account, we still made a good profit. Tomorrow, 30 Bricks are being moved from the casino to Vault 3.

“As to supplies, things are a bit low, but our caravans are a tad late. They should arrive in the morning and with fresh food and the other materials we need. The casino kitchen is needing some new hardware, and that is costing us. But that will hold for years when they are fixed.”

Shadow slipped away from their conversation. He need to find these vaults. They had at least 3. Whatever the bricks where, it didn’t matter. But he needed to figure out what they were holding.

Shadow worked his way around the mansions, trying to find one in good enough repair to slip up top and spy out the best options for movement. He didn’t need to strike right away, but once he struck, it had to be quick and clean. Which most likely meant striking as the morning crested when the bulk of the workers were asleep. They would be easy prey and take no time to put out of their misery.

Shadow looked around from the balcony he had slipped up onto. To the east of him was a bunch of houses that had been in the process of being built. Everywhere from needing final coats of paint to just the ground being blasted apart in preparation for their foundations to be laid down. Those holes would need explosives. And explosives were not something the Lux would just leave lying around. One of their vaults had to hold those materials. And explosives would be a better option than trying to burn the casino down with Kifo Herixleta.

Shadow searched the mansion and found that it did have a basement. He searched the crumbling ruins of the next one and it did not. He began to search the others. Most didn’t. One didn’t, but it had armored doors in the back, tucked away under bushes. On the doors were painted a 1. They were unlocked and a bit squeaky, but Shadow was small and slipped in with minimal movement.

The door beneath them was heavily reinforced and protective. Shadow smiled. This was designed to provide protection in case the worst happened. If the number on the outside doors meant anything, this was their first vault.

The door required a complex, push pin key. The Shadow wasn’t as skilled with the cloud key as Slice was, but it didn’t take long for the key to conform and open the door. The heavy steel door opened without a sound.

The lights were easy to switch on and Shadow found himself in a room full of boxes and bins of stuff. Much of it was building supplies, and plenty of it was in unmarked crates. A clipboard with paper was on the closest pile of boxes. There was paper on it.

Shadow picked it up and blew off the dust. It was a complete list of everything inside. The most important thing Shadow found as he scanned through the files was the blocks of explosives. And they had remote detonators.

Shadow had left his equipment back in the ruins to the south of the Lux, tucked away in hiding. In a place only a Pegasus could get to. Or Griffon. But Shadow hadn’t seen any Griffons in the area.

There were saddlebags in the storage. Big ones for the construction workers. They were sturdy and he began to load them up with the explosives. Shadow planned to move them out into the ruins and plan them in locations they wouldn’t be found, but he could easily retrieve them.

Once the set was fully loaded, Shadow grabbed a can of oil from the shelves and began to liberally apply it to the outside door hinges. They were dripping and could easily be set on fire, but they didn’t squeak by the time he was done.

After 8 loads were hidden, Shadow went back for one last thing. The last thing written on the list was “60 x Cap Brick”. He had no idea what that meant. He found the boxes and pulled out one of the bricks. It was wrapped in sturdy paper like a nice parcel.

“1000 Caps” was written on the paper. They had compressed 1000 caps into neat rows and then into bricks for storage. Shadow loaded one more set of saddlebags down with 10 bricks and slipped out for the last time. He locked up behind him and set the bricks in the attic of a mansion with the other bags.

Shadow grabbed a set of explosives and began to scout his way through the houses south. It was just harmless shadows. Nothing was even making noise outside of the casino. When Shadow got as close as he dared, he hid the explosives in an attic and repeated the process.

He grew bolder as he felt out the Lux. Shadow began to find the occupied houses and which ones were the day shift and which ones were the night shift. As he mapped it all out, he hid bags of explosives. Most of the houses would receive of a single brick to take them out.

Shadow was getting tired. He had traveled and then stayed up to work. But he wanted to do one thing before he got some rest. He moved the bricks of caps closer to the epicenter so they would be easier to grab.

Shadow took a few hours rest in the attic of a mansion. The goal was to start by killing the head of the snake. Once he was awake again, Shadow began to slip through the houses and find the guards.

With the Sound Dampener, the guards were easy to dispatch. They traveled in pairs, and he could knock both heads off in less than a second. The 5.56 round was too small to take out the pair with a well timed shot.

Shadow left them where they were at. Let them find the bodies. Let them find out they were killed without a shot heard. He was Black Widow, here to kill them for their crimes against the wasteland ponies. Their choices had caught up to them.

As the evening came, Shadow slipped back to the Mansions. There was a pair of well dressed workers heading up the road to the mansion. Shadow followed them up the road where they entered the mansion.

He listened in from under an open window. “Your lordships, there seem to have been some problems. The shipments came in as planned, but a pair of guards were killed. Bullets to the head but no shots heard. We are searching, but it seems to be an isolated case.”

“We can’t let it be Black Widow,” One of the ponies said. “Wake up the guards and begin a full sweep of the area. Leave nothing unturned.”

Shadow heard another pony running up the road. He slid into the bushes more.

The pony burst into the mansion. “Multiple guards found dead. All in their pairs and none appear to have know their attackers. Clean shots, one bullet to the head on each. It’s like they fell over and died side by side without a reason, except they were shot!”

“All shot!” A mare interjected. “Are you sure?”

“Yes,” The pony panted. “All shot. And some were close enough that there was no way they couldn’t have heard a shot. But no, no blades. All bullets.”

“It still could be her. We must protect the ponies. They can not know about this, or they will lose faith in us. If they lose faith, we will have one hell of a time repairing our name and getting them to come play. They won’t trust us to help them forget their woes. We will be a woe.”

The three of the ponies left the leaders and Shadow shifted to follow them. He gunned them down with three quick shots to the backs of their heads. Then it was time for the real rulers of the Lux.

Shadow crawled into the house and silently drew Kifo Herixleta. They were all sitting around the dinner table. It was laid out with a nice assortment of food. They were in the perfect spot to have their heads rolled off and served to them.

Shadow struck with one leap across the room. He cut off half their heads in the clean move. He decapitated the Unicorn at the head of the table as he jumped to the other side and then bolted down the table again, knocking off the other half.

They were dead. But Marjoram was still in charge, and she could organize everything if need be. Shadow put all of their heads in a bag and then began to sprint toward the Casino.

Shadow entered a house. They were all in their individual rooms, asleep. Shadow knocked their heads off with ease and left the sack of heads in the kitchen.

Unencumbered, Shadow began to kill any pony with a gun. The game had changed. They were actively hunting him. He left each ambush where they dropped. Their numbers were quickly thinned.

Shadow finished hunting them as the night grew late. He turned his attention to the Casino. Inside was plenty of ponies who needed killing. Ponies who were leeching off the misfortune of others. Taking joy from those forced to dance and give their bodies for their own joy. Take, never give. That was the law here.

Shadow slipped into the Casino through a side entrance and danced his way to the front. He was after the information at the front desk. It was occupied by a pretty, young mare. Shadow drove a red hot Kifo Herixleta into her without her knowledge. It was through the neck. She never got a sound out.

Shadow pushed her under the desk as much as possible so she was hidden and then grabbed the guide. It was the book with the rooms that were rented out. But he needed an all access card, and one was easy to get.

He slipped over to the room where ponies could hire a mare or stallion for the evening. To do whatever they pleased. He put a bullet in the Stallion’s head. The Stallion’s shirt pocket had a key. Shadow slipped the key into his wraps. It was an easy way to carry the key and it was hidden, and looking like more magic if he was seen.

Shadow went to the closest set of stairs and went up one floor. He went room by room, opening them with a wave of his hoof in front of the reader. It was late, so most ponies were out cold from drugs, alcohol, or too much fun. They received their just reward for their hedonism.

If they were out of the room, Shadow locked up and let it go. It didn’t matter. Their lives were spared in that moment, and maybe forever. It took time, but Shadow was quick as he hit each of the floors.

As the morning was cresting, Shadow slipped out of a window. He moved to the night shift’s houses.

The first one he entered had five mares in it. Two were in the kitchen, one in the shower, and the last two were in their room. Shadow killed the two in the kitchen and then went into the room. They were asleep, in the same small bed. It was easy to slice their heads off in the same swing.

Shadow stepped into the restroom. She was using an old tub with a semi clear curtain around it. Plenty of steam was in the air.

“I will be out in a minute,” She yelled over the water.

Shadow saw where she was and thrust the blade through the curtain. She screamed in pain and Shadow withdrew the blade and she thudded into the tube. Her tears and blood mixed with the fresh water pouring out of the shower head.

Shadow left the house and continued to the others. They were easy to dispose of most of them while the occupants slept. The last place Shadow had to worry about was the main floor of the Casino. It was odd to him that there were no alerts being made. There was no way they couldn’t have found others.

Shadow undid the sound dampener. Now was not the time to be silent. He wanted to be heard. A rare magical piece could be tied back to him, so he wasn’t going to risk it when he made his big move. But outside was quiet. So Shadow walked to the casino. Inside was where the party was. Marjoram was with seven guards, a crooked smile on her face.

“I have been waiting for you. You killed a lot of us. You probably have some grand, moral reason that we deserve this. That our patrons deserve this. But it simply isn’t so. We provide what they want.”

Shadow just let his unblinking eyes speak for him.

“Fine,” Marjoram spat. “If that is how you want it, come kill me.”

Shadow did a back flip to the side, out of the torrent of bullets. As he rolled to the side, he let loose a stream of bullets, knocking out four. With a bounce forward, he sliced off two heads and then drove the bayonet into the neck of the last guard.

Marjoram stood there, a grin on her face. “Well, I guess I am out of tricks. Kill me if you wish. But the Steel Rangers are on their way. We sent for them immediately when we realized you had come. I have a friend there and he will not sit idly by as you destroy us. We are essential to the area around Trottingham.”

Shadow shrugged and sliced her head off with no ceremony. The rest of the place was deserted. The mare was still under the desk, but it was deserted.

Shadow exited the building and looked down the street. A large group on ponies were running down the street. Patrons, Dancers, Workers, they were all fleeing. Shadow opened fire, cutting down as many as possible. But the rifle was limited, and the ponies were far away and moving quickly.

Still, they knew it was Black Widow. Now, to finish the job. To bring the Lux down. And if the Steel Rangers had been called, he was on borrowed time.

Shadow dashed off to get the explosives. He loaded the Casino first. Bricks were armed and tossed into the exchange office where the caps were stored. Several were set in the main floor to rip the games apart. Each corner had bricks and at the structural supports. Shadow finished the Casino off by tossing bricks down the halls of the rooms.

Shadow exited it and began to move through the housing. He tossed armed bricks into each house, being as thorough as he could with his speed. As he tossed the last brick into a house, Shadow sped off to get the caps.

With them secured, he had one last task. He took a board, hammer, and nails. He drove the long nails though the board and then stuck a leader’s head on each nail. The board was placed in the street where it wouldn’t get knocked over from the blast. They were lined them up neatly. They would stand as a testament to how easily Black Widow did her work.

Shadow dashed down the road to check the gate. He passed a good 20 bodies. All had bled out by the time he passed them. The gate was left locked, but unguarded.

The Steel Rangers had to be close. Shadow went south to get over the walls and then hid in the ruins. He had a clear view of where the Steel Rangers would have to travel. They wouldn’t get hurt from the blast unless he set them off while they were inside a building, but that wasn’t his goal. He wanted them to believe that they were closer to catching them than he was.

It wasn’t a long wait. Shadow had time to put the sound dampener back on his rifle. But it was long enough that Shadow almost decided to blow the place and leave. It was satisfying to see them hit the deck as they reacted to the blast. They weren’t even at the gates but they all ran for cover like little foals in a thunderstorm.

It gave Shadow all the security he needed to make his final exit to his gear and get clear. There was no break. He had to get south. South enough that no one would really believe that he had gone anywhere else. Which meant he would have to risk it all and run.

Out of his Black Widow costume, he ran, using all his endurance training to the max. He was out of shape compared to when he was above, but he still knew how to run. His body was trained, and although the point had been dulled, it was still sharp enough to split apart flesh with ease.

Night wasn’t far away and with darkness set in, Shadow took to the sky, all the way to the clouds. He slid along, under the clouds, hidden from most eyes. He was fast enough to be difficult to track, and he blended in enough to their dark underside.

Shadow pushed harder than he had ever pushed in training. That was what training was for. To give him the edge he needed to do the toughest things in battle. So that survival was not only possible, but plausible.

His wings burned, he couldn’t suck in enough air to satisfy his body’s lust, his vision faded to focus only on his goal. He blocked out everything he could to fight the pain. To fight the urge to stop hurting himself. But he was a soldier. He was in control. He had a mission, and that was what mattered.

Shadow’s legs didn’t catch him when he tried to land. It was a difficult, hard landing as he rolled and tumbled. The bags made it incredibly awkward. He slammed into some rocks and groaned from the pain.

Shadow awoke past morning. He wasn’t sure how long he had been out, or his exact location. But he knew he had to show up in Trottingham soon, and coming in from the south. He needed to find the power plant. That was in the hooves of the Steel Rangers and they would know him and give an account that he came up from the south.

Shadow stumbled up and tried to find his bearing. As he stumbled around, he heard gruff orders. Orders and laughing. The kind of raiders. Raiders preying on the weak.

Shadow fought his tiredness and moved off towards the noise. It was a small, snarly farm. A family of 5 were trying to pull a living out of the soil. And a band of 8 was pressuring them for food and caps. He had the height advantage since the land sloped down. The farm was using the pooled water.

Shadow took a deep breath in and stepped out of cover and confidently walked towards them, being careful to not lose the height advantage.

“Cease and desist!” Shadow ordered.

The raider leader turned to look up at Shadow and laughed. His left eye was just a dry socket with a giant scar covering most of his face. It was unnerving to look at, but Shadow wasn’t going to waver.

“So you, one pony, think getting involved is smart?” He laughed.

Shadow shrugged. “Smart and the moral thing are two different things. And I wouldn’t get involved in anything I couldn’t win. Back out now, or face death.”

A unicorn cocked a pistol and put it to the head of a young mare. “This is our response.”

“Leave,” The one eyes pony grinned.

“Please,” Shadow laughed. “That is a dumb ass move. You Leave!”

He had their attention except for the Unicorn with the pistol. Now that the farmers were safe, Shadow shot the Unicorn and dove out of the way. All of them shots were at where he had been. Shadow chucked a grenade, with the pin still in place. It did it’s job scattering them. They didn’t stand a chance as he picked them off with perfect precision.

The precision that Marble Falls had drilled into him. The precision of a elite Enclave Pegasus. The precision worthy of the title Command Sergeant Major of Reconnaissance.

Shadow chuckled in victory as he trotted down to them. “Are you alright?”

“Yes,” The oldest stallion said, shaking a bit. “We are. But you, you saved us?”

“It was nothing,” Shadow shrugged as he picked up the grenade. “I was in the area when I heard their foolish voices. They never stood a chance.”

“Not much is good down here,” The Stallion said. “What has you so far out of the way?”

“Searching for something specific,” Shadow said, dodging the question. “But I didn’t come out where I thought. I am a bit turned around. Where is Trottingham?”

“Its north,” He replied confused. “About a day’s walk north.”

“Then I must be going,” Shadow stated. “Keep their shit. I don’t care to loot their bodies. I don’t need the caps or gear. It should fetch a decent price, judging from the sounds they made when they shot at me. Or you could learn to use the guns.”

“Thanks,” One of the younger stallions said. “I keep saying we need to know how to defend ourselves since we are so far out of the way.”

“Wait!” The mare who had the gun to her head called out.

Shadow looked over his shoulder at her.

“What’s your name?”

“Mtoaji,” Shadow replied with a nod. “My name is Mtoaji.”

Shadow trotted off north. He picked up his speed. It hurt, but that wasn’t going to stop until he got rest. And the best place, only place, for that was his home in Trottingham.

As the night neared, Shadow came upon the power plant. It had changed, a lot. There were guards in every tower and more guard posts around the wall. Almost all of them were occupied by attentive Steel Rangers.

Shadow was forced to stop and he was questioned. His visit was recorded and he was sent off. They knew who he was, and they didn’t want to mess with a friend of their Star Paladin. Shadow heard them discussing the previous mission. It was enough to dispel any further questions and they didn’t push to see his packs. The Black Widow uniform was buried as deep as he could bury it, but the cap bricks were not buried deeply.

It was securely night by the time he arrived at Trottingham, but not too late for the occasional traveler. Not like the other night when they almost shot him. He headed straight to his condominium and bed. It felt good to have his wings out an stretched open. The long push on his wings and then keeping them locked in tight was not good for them.

Shadow woke up late. The first thing he needed to do was hide the bricks of caps. He pulled up the floorboards in the inside corner of his bedroom. A quick examination of the space proved very promising. The room below him had a major wall segment right under it, and there were no pipes or wires running through the space. There was little chance of it being found in repairs or construction.

Just two boards were enough for him to slip the bricks into the small space. There was plenty of room to hide more if needed. He didn’t need it right now, but it would be there if he needed it.

Shadow didn’t feel like cooking. He went to eat out. After, he went to check in with the bank and then headed to Red Tip for ammo. He had spent plenty of rounds on his escapade.

“Coming,” Red Tip yelled from the back. It took him a while to come out, and Shadow heard some angry muttering.

“Ah, its just you,” Red Tip smiled. He was covered in grease.

“Repairs?” Shadow asked.

“Painful ones,” Red Tip nodded. “Somepony got their hooves on an old medium machine gun. And some links for the ammo. Its chambered in 5.56mm, but its well rusted. And some of the parts are fused. I am trying to determine if its repairable, at a hefty price. But, do you need something?”

“Ammo,” Shadow said with a nod. “5.56. And I want to stock up on it too.”

“You had a stockpile,” Red Tip said. “I assume that is.”

“Some, but not enough.”

“What did you get into?”

“Uh, not sure,” Shadow replied with a grin. “Ghouls. Ferals. And an old military bunker. I came out in a different place than I went in. So I was turned around for a bit. South of here.”

“Did you go to Las Pegasus?”

“No,” Shadow replied dryly.

Shadow was avoiding the ground side ruins of Las Pegasus. It was too close to home.

“Avoid it at all cost,” Red Tip advised. “If you think the Steel Rangers are tough, or the Enclave are monsters, you haven’t met The Remnants. The whole city is ghouls. Nasty ones that include Pegasi. A Pegasus ghoul doesn’t even have feathers for their wings.” Red Tip shook his head in disgust and fear. “No, just bones for wings. Don’t ask me how they fly. But they are all remnants of the old Equestrian Military. And they are sour about being abandoned by the Enclave. They keep their territory closely guarded, and I am pretty sure they don’t hesitate to eat pony flesh. They are insane. Thankfully, they stay in the city ruins.”

“Why?” Shadow asked. “Why stay there?”

“Uh, no idea,” Red Tip said. He was concerned that they would finally snap and go on a rampage.

“Because,” Knight Yellow Quartz said coming over. They hadn’t heard the door open. Her helmet was off and secured on her back. “The Steel Rangers have an agreement with them. They stay there, and we don’t put them down. It would be a nasty war between the last bits of the Equestrian Military. And now we have the larger force. We would win, but it would be an ugly, horrible civil war. As far as I know, we don’t really speak with them.”

“Okay,” Shadow said, concerned. They would torture him, and if he was lucky, kill him. It was the last place he would ever go.

“What has you here,” Red Tip asked Yellow Quartz. “Its odd for any new Steel Rangers to come to town. You are not a regular. I have never heard of you coming here, and the Steel Rangers keep a tight control on who is allowed to visit.”

“I have a job. News actually,” Yellow Quartz said with a nod. “But I hope neither of you will make me regret telling you that bit of classified information. Its not the worst thing to become common knowledge, but we still prefer to keep it quiet.”

“Of course,” Shadow said with a nod. He knew the concern was still plastered all over his face. If it could get any whiter, it would be.

After Red Tip assured her with a nod, Knight Yellow Quartz continued. “I came here personally, with permission, to inform Mtoaji of some bad news. Black Widow destroyed the Lux.”

“WHAT!” Red Tip yelped in surprise. “She had the power and guts to hit it.”

“Yep,” Yellow Quartz said with a nod. “She killed workers and patrons. And then she blasted it apart. A good amount escaped, mostly patrons. But she gunned maybe 20 of them down as they made their final run for the gate. Just opened up with a full auto gun. It seems like it was small caliber from what we could recover. But she was killing guards silently. We think a special pistol since they couldn’t hear any shots and it was close up. A rifle that close, it was too precise.

“Anyway, I am not here about the hit. I am here to inform you that all the caps you had in that account are gone. She blew up the exchange counter and vault. Even if we could gather your caps, we don’t have the records to double check.”

Red Tip shook his head with a grin. “So the valiant Steel Rangers who went to the rescue get to scour the Lux and recover everything they had hidden there. Every cap and worthwhile item.”

Knight Yellow Quartz shrugged. “I was part of the initial response force, that was all. The scribes are there doing work, but I don’t know what is happening. I was sent home, but requested to come here first. I could confirm that you lost thousands in the hit.”

“I can only lose what I actually owned,” Shadow said with a shrug. “I didn’t need the others. I won an exorbitant amount by accident. I just had fun. I pulled what I needed. I don’t consider it a lose.” Shadow smiled warmly at Yellow Quartz. “But thanks for coming all the way here to tell me. It is appreciated.”

“What have you been up to?” Yellow Quartz asked, just chatting.

“He was down south,” Red Tip said. “And he was just getting to the good stuff when we got side tracked by Las Pegasus.”

“Its pretty boring,” Shadow said. “But I dove into some underground installation. I was killing feral ghouls for a day or two. I didn’t exit the same place I entered in, so I got pretty well turned around. It fucked with my mind. I got down to hoof to hoof combat a few times when I was out of ammo. But they had more 5.56 for me. Just different mags. So I had to pull them out and reload them into mine.”

“And you didn’t bring me anything?” Red Tip asked shocked, and annoyed.

“I was fighting for survival,” Shadow said, with a bit of a whine. “I was trying to get out. I opened a can of worms that I didn’t mean too. It was something I stumbled upon, and something I barely escaped. I probably couldn’t find it again. I hurt from it all. It took all my skill to escape.

“Besides, all of their weapons were rusted to shit. It was wet inside and little but their bodies survived. Killing some of them created clouds of rust as it destroyed their armor. That was difficult to breath in.

“After I got out, I ran into a small farm being accosted. The raiders wouldn’t back down, so they made me kill them. I tried to not, but by then I was exhausted. I just left the stuff for the farmers. They were struggling and on their own. They directed me back to Trottingham.”

“I have heard about those installations,” Yellow Quartz said. “Hidden bases dug into the ground. Often they used the natural caves. They didn’t keep good records of their locations, and they can be rather large. Ghouls makes sense. But tough.”

Shadow just shrugged. He had been pulling from his experience diving into Kifopiga. But if Equestria had done the same, he wasn’t going to argue with it. The more vague the better. It was safest to let Yellow Quartz fill in the blanks.

“I will let the Star Paladin know about the farm. He likes to keep up with the solo farms. We probably will head out soon. He was only at the Lux an hour tops. The heads of their leaders were chopped off and laying neatly in the street for us to find. It was unnerving.

“As you know, he liked to use the Lux to work out of. It was conveniently placed. It will hinder his patrols.”

“Sucks,” Shadow shrugged. “But it was a dark place. The dancers and consorts, they were basically slaves. Once you go in, there was no getting free.”

“What exactly do you know?” Yellow Quartz said narrowing her eyes at him.

“Uh, he got one of them out the first time he was there,” Red Tip interjected.

“Right,” Yellow Quartz said with a nod. “Which is why you were not allowed back in. You almost got shot when we dragged you in against your wishes.”

“Mhm,” Shadow nodded. “Nasty scene from what she told me. I risked a lot to get her out. But I don’t recall telling you that.”

“It was obvious,” Red Tip shrugged. “You coming back with a pretty mare who was loaded down with gear. She was fresh, with that naive, new look in her eyes. But she handled the crowd fine while we sold those weapons. That was a good day for business. Black Widow had whipped the city into quite a frenzy.”

“Damn,” Red Tip spat. “I can’t believe she had the balls to target the Lux. She had to be planning that hit for weeks, casing the whole thing to plan the timing of it all.”

“Then why did she let some go?” Yellow Quartz asked.

Shadow snorted. “Do you really think she could kill them all? She can’t freeze time. Not even you or I could do that. Or both of us together even. We would get locked into some combat and anypony with half a brain would get the patrons out while their guards kept us busy. The same goes for Black Widow for an all out assault.”

“Plus,” Red Tip shrugged. “It was a nice way to announce to the world that she had the skill and balls to do it. Some survivors don’t matter. She had to have wrecked the place bad enough that rebuilding it, well it would never be the same.”

“She blew it up,” Yellow Quartz said. “Right as we got to the gate, boom! We just missed her. Its all rubble now.”

“Damn,” Red Tip swore. “She has an innate knowledge of events to keep pulling off what she does.”

“Or really high luck,” Shadow said.

“There have been records of ponies with a bit of a fortune sense, before the war,” Yellow Quartz added. “But none were unicorns. Still, its not unfathomable.”

“Speak for yourself,” Shadow said. “That is something I can’t comprehend.”

Knight Yellow Quartz sighed. “I have to get back. And the streets of Trottingham are beginning to become dangerous again. The Hawks’ territory is being taken by smaller gangs looking to make a name. Our attempts to quell their advances are proving useless. They just hide.”

“Stay safe,” Shadow said with a nod. “I need you alive for a rematch next year.”

“And you will get your ass beaten next year,” Yellow Quartz smirked before she put her helmet on.

Shadow turned back to Red Tip. “I need 5.56, in bulk.”

“What? Three thousand rounds?”

“Only two,” Shadow said. “That’s all I should need. For now. Also, when can we get the Magnum shotgun rounds started?”

“We can do that tomorrow! I still have to finish with that machine gun.”

Next Chapter: Chapter 123 - Contract Estimated time remaining: 3 Hours, 36 Minutes