Kestrel stared into the flames. She thought she could see Sienna’s face in the campfire, but then again, that could have merely been guilt. It was too difficult to focus on the flames anyway; they hurt her eyes, and the smoke threatened to pull tears from them. But no matter how guilty she felt, she knew she would not look weak in front of the Gang.
Guilty… why did she feel guilty? Sienna was an oath breaker. She threatened the safety of the Gang by trying to leave on her own. She knew the risks, and she still went on and tried to do it anyway. She deserved to die. Kestrel knew she shouldn’t feel any guilt about keeping her family safe.
She shook her head as a thought tried to worm its way into her skull. No, Sienna was never part of her family. She’d only been with them for a day. The outlaw scoffed at that. Had it only been yesterday that she cut the mare free from the wagon wheel and let her eat? It felt like a lifetime ago already.
Tumbleweed sighed and sat down on a rock across from her. Wanderer uncomfortably stood off to the side, the flickering flames illuminating his face like a ghost from Tartarus. The rest of the Gang was elsewhere; this was a discussion for the leaders of the group, the ones whom everypony else listened to. Even drunk, the rest of the Gang could understand that.
It took a few minutes before Tumbleweed finally looked Kestrel in the eyes. “What happened out there, Kessie?” he asked her. “I need to know.”
Kestrel let her wings fall to her sides. “She tried to run on us,” she said. “She thought she’d slip away in the middle of the night while we was all distracted. Trixie mentioned something about not knowing where she was, so I went and took a look.”
Wanderer slowly shook his head. “That filly was a troubled one,” he said. “She never was cut out to be like us.”
“You think I don’t see that now?” Kestrel retorted, biting back any venom from seeping into her voice. “I just… I dunno. I wanted to help her, and this is how she repays me.”
“This is why we don’t let our hearts guide us,” Tumbleweed said. “We have to have cold hearts, Kessie, cold hearts locked behind a suit of armor like the knights of old. We help ponies as need helpin’, save ponies as need savin’, and kill ponies as need killin’. Pragmatism, Kessie, that’s what keeps us alive. We do what we have to to survive, and we think with our brains, not our hearts.” He gestured out into the darkness of the night beyond the campfire. “You thought with your heart, not your brain, and let somepony who clearly weren’t ready to be one of us into our family. Now she’s dead, and she coulda done worse. She coulda done a whole lot worse. You remember Poinsettia?”
Kestrel slowly nodded her head; that traitor was a touchy subject around Tumbleweed. “I remember, Boss.”
Tumbleweed watched her for a few moments more before sighing and taking a sip of his beer. Even though he’d been drinking as long as anypony else, he always seemed to sober up when things grew serious. “I thought with my heart on her, y’know,” he said, beginning a story Kestrel knew all too well. “I… I thought she loved me. I did. I really did. And she betrayed us to the Law. She didn’t love me none. That was her alibi. But a mare’s breath on your neck, her warmth by your side… they make you miss things. They make you miss things you shoulda seen comin’.”
“I hope you ain’t suggestin’ I was gettin’ cozy with Sienna,” Kestrel said.
“No, no I ain’t. I’m suggestin’ you put aside your caution for another pony because your heart told you to—same as me, once upon a time.” Tumbleweed leaned closer, his face peering out above the flames. “You made a mistake, Kessie, but I’m glad you tried to fix it. You coulda let her run off into the night, but you didn’t. So I’m glad your honor and your family still means somethin’ to you.”
Kestrel bristled at the subtle jab. “I ain’t never been nothin’ but loyal to us, Tumbleweed,” she reminded him. “It was you and me who founded this whole thing years back. When have I ever wavered?”
Tumbleweed relaxed and slouched back on his rock. “Never,” he said. “You always did right by me, and you always did right by the rest of us. It was you who stopped that train today, and I ain’t gonna forget that. When your recruits messed up, you shouldered the burden.” Kestrel thought she saw a hint of a smile on his muzzle. “That’s why I’ve always liked you.”
Wanderer nodded in agreement. “Tumbleweed’s got a point. I don’t think anypony here can doubt you after today. You did what you had to do, and you picked up the slack where it appeared. And even if one of your new recruits turned out to be a failure, that showmare has some potential in her. I can feel it.”
Kestrel looked back over her shoulder toward Trixie’s wagon. The faint glow of candlelight illuminated the interior; she figured Trixie must have been preparing to sleep. “She knows what we are now,” she said. “And she saw we mean what we say. I don’t think she’ll run on us.”
“No, I don’t think so either,” Tumbleweed said. “She ain’t brave enough. But she tried to stop the train when her dynamite failed, so she’s got a good head on her shoulders. Give her some time, I think she can be one of us.”
“You think so?”
The unicorn shrugged. “Maybe. Maybe not. We’ll just have to feed her more tasks and see if she’s up to it. At any rate, that’s all yesterday’s worries, so we can put that all behind us and think about what’s next.”
Kestrel nodded in agreement. “What’re you thinkin’?”
“At the very least, we need to lie low for a few days,” Tumbleweed said. “They’ll be lookin’ for us now that we stole a huge payroll like that. Gotta wait for the heat to blow over, then… I ain’t sure.” He looked up to the moon and shook his head. “Our time’s comin’ to an end, my friends. We ain’t got much time left before Equestria deals away with us once and for all.”
“He’s right,” Wanderer agreed. “We’re on borrowed time. We need to save up money and get out of here before it’s too late. We need to flee the country, go someplace the Pinks will never find us. A few big scores… I think we can do it, then.”
Kestrel blinked in surprise. “Fleein’ the country? Well… where’re we gonna go?”
“I ain’t quite sure yet,” Tumbleweed said. “South past the badlands, maybe. Or east to the Griffon Confederacy. Maybe even Zebrica. The Law ain’t gonna follow us that far. Soon as we leave Equestria, they’ll leave us alone.”
“Zebrica…” Kestrel shook her head, trying to imagine what that would be like. “Zebras and savannah… how we even gonna get over there?”
“Money,” Tumbleweed said. “I figure… we need ten thousand bits a head. Ten thousand bits a head’ll get us outta Equestria and give us somethin’ to start with.”
Kestrel quickly ran the numbers. “You’re lookin’ at eighty thousand bits to get all eight of us outta here.”
“We got seventeen thousand put away right now,” he said. “Half the take from the train. The rest we’re usin’ to stay alive in the meanwhile.” He leaned forward again, and Kestrel could see the fire in his eyes. “We’re already almost a quarter of the way there. But we need more money. We ain’t getting’ far without it.”
Kestrel rubbed her feathers against her chin. “Alright. So we lay low, wait for the heat to cool down… then what? We gotta get the money from somewhere.”
“I know,” Tumbleweed assured her. “But we have our options. Them Vipers are sittin’ on a lot of gold, but Rock Ridge’s mayor… you see what he’s done with the place? He’s rich as can be, too. I figure we got a good crack at either of ‘em. That’ll be a start.”
Wanderer nodded and sat down to Tumbleweed’s right, putting his hooves over the fire to warm them up. “Rock Ridge is hot right now,” he warned. “I saw that army officer come in shortly after you lot robbed her train. She went right to the mayor’s office to talk, and afterwards she flew south toward Fort Harmony. I bet she’s putting together a company to go look for us after they secured the train. That Chatter gun we got’ll help, but it might be too much heat to handle.”
“Point is, we can’t sit around doin’ nothin’,” Tumbleweed said. “Time is somethin’ we don’t have a lot of. We can take a few days to rest and get back up to fightin’ shape—we can’t go runnin’ off while you and Silvie are hurt. But we need a plan and we need to act on it, otherwise we’re gonna be intimately acquainted with those gallows in town.”
Kestrel slowly bobbed her head and looked down into the fires. She swore she could see Sienna watching her from the flames, watching and judging her…
Kestrel siding with the Gang over Sienna and trying to stop her from fleeing has restored Tumbleweed's confidence in Kestrel... for now.
1. Take on the Vipers for their gold. We need eighty thousand bits, and the Vipers are sittin’ on ten thousand in gold. We take that gold from them, that’ll be a good chunk of change to get us outta here. [HIGH RISK, HIGH REWARD]
2. Rob the Mayor. Stallion like that’s likely got bonds and other assets we could make better use of than him. We might even be able to get a good ransom to leave Rock Ridge alone. Lotta money to be made there, but who knows… [UNKNOWN RISK, UNKNOWN REWARD]
3. Flee the area. Rock Ridge is too hot for us, like Wanderer said. We stick around, we’re askin’ for trouble. Sure, we’re givin’ up on lots of potential loot, but it’s better to keep our heads, right? [THE GANG WILL LEAVE ROCK RIDGE, NEVER TO RETURN]
4. Sit around and do nothing. We gotta wait and see what’s goin’ on before we make our move, no matter what Tumbleweed thinks. Maybe an opportunity will open up, and maybe we won’t get found long enough to take it. [50% CHANCE OF LAW ATTENTION -1, 50% CHANCE OF LAW ATTENTION +1]
(Confidence Required: 40 Votes)