Fallout Equestria: Shaping Shadow - Book 5

Shadow cruised high, well above the normal flight levels, even for a cloudship. It required him to be in cold weather gear under his power armor. From his height, he could see Las Pegasus and the clear distinction of Nelly Airbase beside it.

He had two targets identified. They were retired generals. One had a foal still in the military, the other had just lost his below. Both were very vocal advocates for destroying the wasteland, even after the clouds were gone and Operation Cauterize had failed.

Black Widow was going to finally strike above, in the clouds.

Shadow began his descent. It was a sharp angle. He meant business and wanted to not be seen. He landed on a small balcony and the cloud key quickly unlocked the door. The inside had not been attended to in a while. It was one of the various safe houses the Wonderbolts had across the Enclave. Shadow swiped a key card to disarm the security.

He didn't swipe his own keycard. He had swiped the keycard that he had made while Gunmetal was out of her office. The keycard was identified as Black Widow. If anyone came in at this time, Shadow would be in trouble. But he had to disable the alarm somehow. He was only going to be there overnight before he moved on.

Shadow reset the house alarm and bedded down for a few hours. The hunt would begin at night. He was hidden under Mwokozi's cloak. His armor was stashed in a closet for safety.

Shadow woke up a few hours later as his alarm went off. He quickly got up and got changed. It felt weird to once again wear the Black Widow costume. But as the mask settled around his face and he looked out through the lenses, he knew he was right where he needed to be.

Black Widow was back. She would make the Renegades who claimed to be the Grand Pegasus Enclave pay for their crimes. Both those below and those above. With their separation and replacement of the Council, they would be the ones to reap the consequences. The others got off easy, for now. Black Widow would judge them when she had the chance. Her scale said Grand Pegasus Enclave, not the Pegasus Race.

With cloak on, Shadow exited out the front door, arming the safe house as he departed. The corner stairs were easy to go down without the threat of meeting anypony. He had his cloak on, but it was safer. And safety was key.

The first target, Blessed Ray, was easy to find but harder to get to than originally planned. The address didn't state that he lived in a retirement community. It took up several floors, and half of it was for recreation, not living space. They were their own little community inside the skyscraper.

Shadow was concerned that the timing would put him in bed, but the community had an active social life. He found him in a room full of old stallions and mares playing bingo. Killing him would take nothing. Shadow had to make sure he sentenced him well. Especially with this crowd.

Shadow stalked forward, trying to figure out how to get to him. He was in the middle of the room, and the tables limited access.

"BINGO!" Blessed Ray exclaimed!

"Alright!" the announcer said. "Come on up and get your payout!"

That was all Shadow needed. He moved to the front of the room. Blessed Ray was old, but he moved well enough. The tables made it difficult for him to get to the front. By the time he did, Shadow was on stage, on the other side of the announcer.

Shadow uncloaked and the room froze.

"So, you finally have come to claim my life," Blessed Ray declared. "I knew this day would come."

Shadow nodded before making his declaration. "Your crimes below have been collected by me. I am Black Widow. Equestria called me to clean it up so it could be mended. I have cleaned up below. I raked off the evil and put it to the blade of justice or into a righteous fire.

“Now I have arrived above. I can finally right the wrongs done up here and bring the Pegasus Race closer to below to be bound once again to its sister races. Equestria needs all three working together. I am going to forge the final links to ensure that they stay united. For the good of all."

"Please don't burn me," Blessed Ray asked. "These others do not deserve to lose their homes or lives on my account. I led that slaughter below. I murdered those ponies. Your scale is weighing me, not them."

The announcer had stepped out of the way and exited the stage. He wasn't going to be any closer than he had to be.

"Now stop right there!" a staff member exclaimed. "This is not the proper way to do things here! I have called the police!"

"That isn't how it works," Blessed Ray said to her with a warm smile. "I did evil things and I knew that one day, I would have to face the punishment Equestria decided I deserved. I could have told my superiors that we had it wrong, but I didn't. I wanted to bury my mistake under more bodies so it could not be traced back to me. But the clouds being gone, well it just isn't to be. I have regretted it for too many years now. In my age I realized how wrong I was."

Shadow didn't want to kill a repentant pony. He knew he was hesitating and with the Law Enforcement officers coming, he couldn't afford for it to happen.

"Dear," Blessed Ray said to the mare who had been sitting beside him. "I knowingly killed several families. Old and young because we stumbled upon them during our mission. They were peaceful and it was getting dark. They offered us housing in their barn, free because they saw we were travelers. We decided that since they were not Pegasus Ponies we should kill them. I decided. And I shot him in the head without a second thought. None survived our massacre. Even the newborn foal was killed.

"I love you. I always have and always will. You were the reason I made it back. You were what I was protecting. I knew this time might come, and it has. I am sorry I am leaving you with this great pain. It is just another thing I am guilty of."

Blessed Ray nodded and Shadow stepped forward several paces. Blessed Ray deserved the swiftest and most painless death possible for his admission of guilt and acceptance of the punishment. In a blink of the eye the sword flashed out to claim the flesh of Blessed Ray's neck and then was sheathed. He was decapitated with one easy swing. Shadow was on a stage. He had to make it look like magic as best as possible.

"Equestria forgives you of your mistakes," Shadow declared. "Your debt is repaid and you received a merciful death for your acceptance. None have moved me as you have in your wisdom. But payment must be made. The links I forge to save us all from the brink of destruction must be forged in blood. Below was cleansed and I made those links. Now I must cleans the sky and build the final ones."

The hall was silent as the body just laid there. Shadow stood silent for a moment. Then he turned sharply in a 180. His cape billowed out as it caught the air and shadow pulled out the Zebra cloak, using the cape to hide the method of his disappearance.

Shadow was able to quickly exit the room. He moved to go up. It was a smart move as he heard the building getting stormed by Law Enforcement officers.

His arrival above could not have gone any better. But that left the second target. His real targets were in New Cloudsdale. But he needed to look like he could show up anywhere, at anytime.

The next target was easy. He was retired, with his wife, to their home. They had been out for the evening. Shadow waiting for them. He gave them no warning as he cut them down. He let their blood bleed out and stain the carpet fibers. It was a warning.

Shadow had prepared several different types of letters to leave. They declared their generic crimes against the citizens and it included the statement that their spouse knew and backed those crimes. It was stamped with his Black Widow emblem, the one that pinned his cloak on. It had started as an M and became a W. Shadow taped the declaration letter to the front door for any passersbies to read. That was all he needed after the way he killed Blessed Ray.

Shadow got back to the safe house, disabled the alarm with Black Widow's keycard and changed. It was going to be a big push to fly all the way to New Cloudsdale and begin to hunt his next set of targets.

Geared up in his power armor Shadow exited back out the patio, arming the security alarm with Black Widow's keycard one more time. He had different plans in New Cloudsdale.

Shadow made his way to the edge of Las Pegasus. He tipped off the edge and dove to the ground, letting gravity do the work for him. He opened his wings and zipped above the ground, exploding past the ground as he kicked himself into high gear. The air began to resist his presence and he pushed harder. To get to New Cloudsdale, he needed to engage a sonic rainbow.

BOOM!

Out of sight of any of his winged brothers and sisters, Shadow Flare rocketed off at the fastest speed a Pegasus could achieve, the legendary sonic rainboom.

With speed on his side, Shadow made good time. But the distance was substantial. He pushed his endurance to the limit. He had a schedule to keep.

As New Cloudsdale came into view, Shadow began to prepare to slow down. He had to be careful of any watchful military eyes. They didn’t need to know somepony like Shadow Flare had arrived, yet. Shadow kept to the south and then climbed straight up beneath the city. He skirted around beneath it until he found the edge.

Shadow stopped after he climbed up onto the edge of the city and looked out. South was where the South Cloudsdale District had been. It was a farming community. Now he could see some farms still standing, and a good deal of solo homes, but the majority of it had been ripped away. All across the Enclave he knew, it was gone. It was a sobering moment. He had flown past much of it, but his focus had been elsewhere. And he had flown free in the Zebra Lands too long to really remember the sea of clouds.

Shadow turned back to focus on his goal. He had to get to the safehouse. It wasn’t easy for him to find it in the city, but he finally got his orientation correct and found the location. His armor was dangerous. If the wrong military ponies saw it, they would know what side he was on.

Shadow entered the building through the main door and worked his way up the stairs, unhindered, and got to the door. The cloud key unlocked the door and then he swiped his personal keycard at the alarm to disarm it.

Shadow locked the door behind him and surveyed the safehouse. It definitely had residents using it.

“Anypegasus home?” Shadow called out.

Nopony answered so he went to one of the bedrooms. One was occupied by two individuals, the other two rooms were empty. This was a Wonderbolt safehouse. A quick glance at their wardrobe and it was clear they were Wonderbolts.

Shadow went to an empty room, chose a bottom bunk, dropped his saddlebags, and then exited his armor. He unpacked his bags. Alongside ammo supplies and Soarin’s lightning, he had brought several outfits to fit whatever he needed while he ran reconnaissance about the New Cloudsdale food distribution center.

He had a regular dark grey uniform issued to normal troops and one of his ACU uniforms. The appropriate hardware for Sergeant Major was attached to the regular uniform and Command Sergeant Major for his ACU uniform. He also carried a dress uniform with various ranks, ribbon bars, and hardware he would need to fit any role. Alongside those, he had brought his tux and one of the outfits he had picked out with Cardinal Spitfire while he was here in New Cloudsdale, all those years ago. Of course, his armor was also one of the things he could wear for his reconnaissance mission.

If the Wonderbolts realized he had set up in the safehouse, they would see his armor and his various uniforms. They would realize his job and what he was doing. It was easy to look like you were doing reconnaissance and be Black Widow.

Shadow took a quick nap to recover and then prepared to leave. Night would soon fall, but the Wonderbolts had not come back yet. Shadow packed up his gear and grabbed his real ACU uniform. He put on his Black Widow costume and slipped out the door under the cover of Mwokozi’s cloak.

His target was Mareland Joint Operations Base. First and foremost, he needed to raid their quartermaster shop. He was going to get even more ammo. He had brought a large supply with him, especially armor piercing rounds, but he was going to need more if the civil war fully broke out.

But his primary goal was to get explosives. He was going to make a literal explosive entrance for Black Widow. He would kill some guards, leave a calling card talking about retribution and cleansing the clouds, and head on. Enough deaths that nopegasus could deny his arrival or power, but he had to destroy several hard targets.

Shadow flew in just the suit, no mask, hat, wraps, or cape, to the edge of Mareland. He put the invisibility cloak back on and hopped past the warning barriers. He ran on hoof over the clouds. Most Pegasi could not track him with the cloak engaged, even as it shimmered because of his speed.

At the main base he slowed down. He walked cautiously around. They were on alert and busy, but they were looking for an army, not a soul infiltrator. Shadow caught sight of two Lieutenants entering a building and followed them in. It held several offices for various Lieutenants and Captains. They were the only two in the building. Shadow chose the mare and killed her, leaving a calling card and the stallion alone.

Killing only one when they believed they were safe and couldn’t identify when somepony came in was more dramatic. And Shadow needed dramatic. They had to not be able to comprehend that a single pony could make the distance between cities in such a short time. He had to look like a ghost. He had to look like a Unicorn with teleport magic.

Shadow continued to move. He located the main quartermaster, but it was busy. He skipped it in favor of killing more soldiers and officers. The night would allow him to target the guards, both stationary and roving. For now, he found another random building to go in. He went from office to office and killed all of the soldiers inside with Kifo Herixleta. Most were senior NCOs, Staff and First Sergeants.

With that office cleared, Shadow moved on. He found the clearly marked office of General Yew. Shadow slipped inside and passed the staff offices. General Yew was still in his corner office. Shadow had to flatten himself against the wall to avoid being hit as an NCO entered the office. Shadow popped inside behind him and moved to a clear corner. General Yew was a low level mechanical logistical officer. He took care of minor electronic repairs all across the base. But it was a high enough profile rank that Black Widow needed to strike.

As soon as the NCO departed, Black Widow moved in. A quick slash with Kifo Herixleta cut off General Yew’s head. Shadow pulled out of a cloth and began to soak up the blood. He used it to write on the wall in big letters: “BLACK WIDOW HAS ASCENDED.” Shadow left a calling card on the body and began to time when he would slip out. He used the window on the door to time it and made a clean exit. The General’s staff would find him soon enough.

The moon also had begun its ascent. Shadow transitioned to eliminating guards whenever he could. Most of them were stationary and easy to kill. He carved a path of destruction as he made his way back to the quartermaster office.

Right before he got there, alarms began to blare all over the base. The piercing alarm continued to ring until a speaker come over it. “WARNING! WARNING! WE HAVE AN UNKNOWN INTRUDER ON THE BASE! EXECUTE OMEGA PROTOCOLS! ANY UNKNOWN INDIVIDUALS MUST BE REPORTED. ANY SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITIES MUST BE REPORTED.”

The loudspeaker continued to play the message in between segments of blaring alarm.

Shadow got to the quartermaster shop. They had just locked the entire cage up under the announced protocol. Locked doors didn’t matter to Shadow. He pulled out the cloud key and got in through the back. He had to dance and dodge a bit to avoid the panicking quartermasters, as he got to the desired equipment.

Shadow first loaded up with explosives. He only got a single can of 500 rounds into his bags. The rest was stuffed to the brim with bricks of C4, and a good helping of timers. He was going to make sure Blade Widow exploded multiple places at the same time.

Loaded down, the game changed. Shadow focused on moving slowly. He didn’t need to rush. He had a plan for the timing.

The entire base was on alert and looking for anything wrong, or off. But he was covered by the cloak. And they were not as good at finding enemies as the raiders were, which explained why they got slaughtered below. And that was not even trying to compare them to the Zebras.

The first target Shadow had in mind was to cripple their fleet. First, the Air Traffic Control tower would be destroyed. Second, the Victorious needed to be crippled, if not destroyed. The Victorious was the last surviving ThunderHead Class cloudship. The Overcast and Glorious Dawn had been lost in Operation Cauterize. It was the biggest threat to the small fleet the Equestrian Pegasus Military had. The bulk of the explosives would be for the Victorious.

The ATC tower was on the other side of the base where they had room for the cloudship terminals. It was 0245 when Shadow got to it. It was earlier than planned, but he didn’t have a better option available. He was exhausted and needed to make his move before he began to make mistakes.

Shadow slipped into the tower, not caring to rely on the cloak. The ATC tower had to have security cameras. If they ever watched the security footage, he needed to not uncloak. He needed to be there as he entered.

Most of the tower was stairs up. Below the top floor where the controllers kept things flowing smoothly was a break room and bathroom. Shadow checked everywhere. They were empty. He slipped up, peeking his head into the top room. It was occupied by five ponies. And they were spread out. It wasn’t a problem for Black Widow. They were not the fittest soldiers and they didn’t even have any weapons. They ran instead of fighting. And it got them nowhere.
Shadow left their bodies there and began to plant bombs. He set their timers to go off at 0615, before the next shift change. But he wanted them to go off at the same time they would go off on the Victorious. Each one was hidden as best as possible. He stuck them in drawers under computer equipment, popped off panels to put them inside the equipment, and back under openings in the desk to try and hide them. He didn’t want somepony finding the bodies and the bombs, disarming them before they could do their job.

Shadow locked the ATC tower behind him to stall them even more and began to make his way to the Victorious. It was parked in Terminal A. The massive ship required an entire half of a terminal to park. Terminals A, B, and C were set up exclusively for the ThunderHeads. It would be preferable to capture her, but there was no way Shadow could clear the ship and then take command on his own. And he didn’t have a strike team to work with. This was the best option.

Black Widow would destroy one of the most iconic Grand Pegasus Enclave symbols; alone.

Shadow was worried about finding his way, but the ship was so large that it had maps in certain sections. Under his cloak, he began to slip through the mostly quiet ship. It was hard to avoid ponies in the tight passageways.

Eventually that ended. Two sailors were walking side by side, giving Shadow no way to avoid them. He flipped the cloak off with practiced ease and sliced the right one in half with a blazing Kifo Herixleta. The left pegasus barely had time to turn and run before Kifo Herixleta pierced her coat and heart in a perfect follow up stab.

Shadow left them where they were and put the cloak back on. It would alert them to an intruder, but they still didn’t know what they were looking for. And that gave him the advantage.

Shadow didn’t go for the engine rooms. He didn’t have the explosives to actually cripple the Victorious from the engines. He did have enough to blow up the fuel and power plant. Without those, they would at least be unable to leave port.

A crew was inside doing checks. They were using the quiet hours to do maintenance instead of fighting for space. Shadow checked the time. It was 0342. He was making too good of time. He couldn’t change the time of the explosion. He would have to stall, somehow.

Shadow backed out and found the living quarters. They were rooms with six bunks, three high on either side and a locker unit on the back wall. Very cramped quarters. But it made it easy for him to slip in, stab the sleeping occupants and slip out, closing the door behind him. If the ship survived the explosion, which it probably would, they would be short hoofed and also see his power to kill and not just explode.

At 0500, Shadow struck back at the power center. He jumped in, slicing apart the Captain in charge of the operations. He threw Kifo Herixleta, running through a pair that were side by side. The Zebra combat knife went flying into another victim as Shadow skipped to the other side to address two more.

The first had their hoofs swept out from under them. The second was punched in the throat and then took a hoof to their right eye. While they choked for the air he would never get, Shadow beat the first down with his bare hooves. It was bloody, but it worked.

Shadow retrieved both weapons and began to stalk the rest of the team. They had gone off to other rooms and were distracted. They expected noises to be made, making it very easy to kill them. Once the area was cleared, Shadow checked the time. It was 0520.

Shadow armed the last of the C4 and buried them in a similar fashion. He hid them in open panels, under bulges, and behind pipes. He had gotten enough of a look to make the best guess on how the power and fuel transfer happened.

At the last moment, Shadow didn’t place the last brick. He had a better idea. And it would burn through some of the extra time he had too. He went to the bridge, taking the quickest route there without the cloak on. He met nopony on the way.

As he got to the bridge, he stopped to listen.

“Sir!” a soldier reported. “A soldier found two bodies in passage R, deck 4. Both were killed by a bladed weapon. We are sweeping the ship, but it is slow work. I don’t suggest we raise the alarm.”

“And why not?”

“Because, Sir, at this time we have the advantage. They do not know we know. We could lose them in the hustle to get to stations if we raise the alarm. It would be very easy for them to blend in and slip away. We have sent teams to the engines, but they are clear.”

“Good, we need this ship operational. The Victorious will earn her name once again when we lead the fleet into battle against the Rebels. Whatever their name is.”

“Equestrian Pegasus Military.”

“It doesn’t matter,” he snorted. “We are the Grand Pegasus Enclave and we will crush them.”

Shadow took that as the best cue and stepped into the bridge. “Perfect,” Black Widow laughed. “I am looking for the Grand Pegasus Enclave.”

There was only a small crew on the bridge. The reporting soldier was sliced down and the officer in charge was struck in the hind leg by Shadow’s hoof, deadening the nerves to force him to drop. The rest were stuck in their seats or trapped as they tried to get out of them quickly. The failed because of the cramped layout.

Black Widow walked back to the officer in charge. He had captain bars on his collar. “Well, well, Captain,” Black Widow taunted as Kifo Herixleta casual touched the neck of the captain. “Looks like you are in a precarious situation. Your ship is mine.”

“Fuck off!” He growled. “I won’t bow to you. We won’t bow to you. Especially some pony in a costume and mask who won’t dare show her face!”

Black Widow chuckled. “I don’t show my face for your mercy. I am the bane of the wasteland. I cleaned up below, dredging out the filth and burning the wasteland in a righteous fire. Equestria was being patched up because I cleaned the festering wound that she was. Then the Light Bringer came and brought peace to the land I had prepared. I made the chains to bind Equestria together. The Light Bringer got to pull them together and be the unifier for below. And now I get to finally come above and finish what I started. And I can’t let this ship fly again. You can’t stop me.”

Black Widow paused, glancing at the clock. It had ticked down to 0603. “Well, I guess I will be kind. I am taking your ship from you, but I will give you the chance to leave and save yourself. I know your leg is good enough to run.”

Kifo Herixleta was lowered and Black Widow took a few steps back. For a second the captain hesitated and then he ran. It was a bit of a stumble at the start, but he ran. Whether it was for his life or for help, it didn’t matter.

The last brick of C4 was put on the Captain’s Chair and Black Widow walked to the front of the ship. Kifo Herixleta easily broke the front glass and Black Widow disappeared out the front of the bridge to safety.

Wrapped in the invisibility cloak, Shadow got to the front of the ship at the start of the terminal when 0615 hit. The ship was large enough that Shadow didn’t feel the blast. He saw the flash in the ATC tower as they went off and the sound from behind him was a deep boom. It was more than the C4 going off. Shadow looked behind him and he saw smoke begin to rise out of an engine. It was soon followed by flames.

The Victorious was out of commission and Mareland Joint Operations Base no longer had an Air Traffic Control tower to direct the fine movements needed to launch the available fleet. It was a tough blow to recover from. They wouldn’t recover before the civil war finally came to blows.