//------------------------------// // Chapter 34 // Story: Unshaken // by The 24th Pegasus //------------------------------// Try and convince her to stay: 45% The two mares sat in silence, one afraid to move, the other unsure of what to say next. There was no coming back from this, Kestrel knew. If Sienna left, she’d be as good as dead. But Kestrel doubted she could force the earth pony to stay. Sienna was small and scrawny, but she was an earth pony and she’d put up quite a fight if Kestrel tried to drag her back to camp, probably tearing out her stitches in the meanwhile. And if she tried to shoot Sienna… well, the mare might survive the shot and shoot back. Kestrel knew she was in no position to take another bullet today, not after nearly dying on the train. That meant all she could try to do was plead with Sienna to stay, for her own good. “What’re you even gonna do if you leave here?” Kestrel asked her, breaking the silence of the night. “You ain’t gonna make it in Rock Ridge, you know that well as I do. You been a Viper for years, and them scars on your face ain’t exactly somethin’ somepony’s likely to forget. You go there, you’re on them oversized gallows in a day.” Sienna clenched her jaw. “Then I’ll go somewhere else.” “Where’s somewhere else?” Kestrel asked her. “Quite a ways from Rock Ridge to any other town ‘round here. Damn town’s an oasis in the middle of the desert. You follow the railroad north, it’ll take you a week through the San Palomino to get to Appleloosa. You go south, you gotta get through Rock Ridge and your former gang without gettin’ caught. Don’t even know what’s down that way, anyhow.” “I’ll go west,” Sienna said. “Las Pegasus is by the sea.” Kestrel scoffed. “Right into one of the most populous cities on the whole west coast. You really that dumb?” A brown hoof scuffed the sand and grit. “Lots of ponies in Las Pegasus,” she said. “It’d be easy to disappear there.” “Better hope no posters with your pretty face are decoratin’ any walls,” Kestrel said. She touched her cheek with a hoof. “You know why.” Sienna ran her hoof down along the scars on her cheek. “I’ll make do.” “Will you?” Kestrel cocked her head to the side. “Forgive me if I ain’t got the most confidence in you, Sienna. You tried to jump me an’ Silvie by yourself. You stood by and did a whole lotta nothin’ durin’ the train robbery, which was your chance to prove yourself as one of us. And now you’re tryin’ to leave us behind and break the oath you swore just to go be miserable and die somewhere else.” She shook her head and shifted her weight from one side to the other. “Bad choices and you go together like bread and butter. I’m tryin’ to help you right now, I really am. Please, just listen to me if you don’t want to end up six foot under.” Kestrel uses Sweet Talker (4) to convince Sienna to stay: Fail But the earth pony only shook her head with increasing vigor. “I ain’t,” she insisted. “I… I-I know you’s just tryin’ to help me, but…” She took a step backward. Kestrel felt her wings sag. “Don’t do it, Sienna.” Sienna opened her mouth to say something more, but no words came out. Instead, she slowly closed it, raised frightened eyes to Kestrel’s and nodded once. “Goodbye, Kestrel,” was all she said, and before Kestrel could shout out to stop her, she turned tail and fled. Kestrel watched in dismay as Sienna began to gallop down the path away from the camp. She’d done it. She’d broken her oath. That meant her life was forfeit. And as much as she didn’t want to, she knew what she had to do. “You damn idiot,” she growled, and her wing reached for her revolver. Kill her: 40% Her feathers slotted through the grip on her revolver and she drew it in one smooth motion. She grimaced in dismay as she lined the bead on Sienna’s retreating figure and squeezed the trigger. Fire shot forth from the end of the barrel, and Sienna yelped and staggered forward as the bullet cut into her flank, nearly taking her off her hooves in surprise. Sienna is Significantly Injured. Survivor reduces her Healthiness damage from -2 to -1. When she finally caught her balance, Sienna stopped and turned back to Kestrel, hurt and betrayal clear on her face even from afar. Kestrel thought she was going to turn tail and run again, but the mare instead shook her head and began to reach for her gun. Does Sienna turn and fight? Yes Kestrel tried to muster the willpower to fire again, but she simply couldn’t. The betrayal stung too deep. She’d tried to save Sienna from her former life, and the stupid young mare had thrown it all away. She had the bead on the earth pony’s face, but something in her stopped her from pulling the trigger. How had it come to this? Did the gunshot alert the rest of the gang? Yes The next few seconds happened in a blur. Kestrel heard shouting from up the rocks as the Gang scrambled to respond to what they’d heard, but before they could, Sienna put her gun on Kestrel and fired. Kestrel ducked down as the bullet went wide over her head, Sienna’s nerves shaking her grip too much to aim straight. A second report cracked out from the top of the rocks, and Kestrel could only assume that meant Snapshot had got his gun. She saw the bullet strike across Sienna’s muzzle, grazing her nose, and the mare dropped her revolver in the dirt. But instead of running for the hills, Sienna leapt onto the revolver, trying to scoop it up between her teeth and fight back. Again, Kestrel had a chance to shoot Sienna, and again, she hesitated instead of firing. “Put down the gun!” she growled at Sienna instead, moving off to the side to get a little cover between her and the earth pony. “Stop it or you’re gonna get killed!” “Kestrel!” It was Silver’s voice, and Kestrel looked up to see a wobbly silver pegasus fluttering down from the camp. The drinking had affected her flying, and she hit the ground hard when she landed. “What’s goin’ on?!” she shouted, only to look over at Sienna raising her head from the ground with her revolver in her teeth. Silver cursed and tried to draw her own revolver, but Sienna fired first while Silver fumbled with the holster at her side. “Down!” Kestrel shouted at her, dragging Silver to the ground a split second before Sienna fired. Silver shrieked in surprise and managed to draw her weapon, aiming it at Sienna. The revolver jumped in her feathers, and Sienna rolled backwards as the bullet tore through her ear. When she came to her hooves, the earth pony took one look at the Gang rallying to fight her and—finally—turned tail and fled. Kestrel watched in dismay as Sienna fled into the night. She looked like she might disappear once and for all, but another crack of gunfire roared out from the Gang’s camp. She recognized the sound of a high powered rifle, not just a revolver, and the bark of thunder flattened her ears against her head. She watched as Sienna lurched and fell, spinning to the side with hooves clutching her throat, a spray of blood illuminated by the ghostly moon. Her body hit the ground like a sack of rocks, and she spasmed and choked in the desert for several seconds before her hooves fell away from her neck. Kestrel looked up to see Snapshot lowering a scoped rifle and frown at the body in the desert before turning away, apparently satisfied with his shot. The rest of the Gang made their way down the path moments later, drunken stagger to their step, wondering what had happened. But Kestrel didn’t answer them; she could only stare blankly into the desert, Silvie panting by her side, as the body of an oath breaker cooled beneath the moon. Sienna has died. [NO POLL FOR THIS CHAPTER]