//------------------------------// // Chapter 38 // Story: Unshaken // by The 24th Pegasus //------------------------------//   Silver Wings: 30% Kestrel’s hoof scuffed the wagon’s floorboards and she looked away from Trixie. “I reckon… reckon you’re right about somethin’,” she said. “I see Faith in my dreams, and Highball too. But sometimes I see Silvie’s face. I ain’t quite sure what to make about that.” Trixie remained quiet, simply tilting her head to the side as Kestrel wrestled through her thoughts. “She just… reminds me of Faith too much,” she finally said. “Not sure if you know, but Faithful Heart…” “A previous lover?” Trixie asked. Brown nostrils flared for a moment, and Kestrel slowly lowered her head. “Yeah. Somethin’ like that. I loved her, and she loved me, but it weren’t meant to be. Her father threatened to kill me and everypony else if he caught me with his daughter. Faith weren’t brave enough to leave everything she knew behind and follow me. That was the end of that. “But Silvie…” Kestrel’s voice trailed off, and she caught a glimpse of a silver mare bumbling back to her lean-to through Trixie’s window. “She’s like Faith from another life. Same spirit, similar background. Tartarus, they even look similar.” She frowned and chewed on her lip. “’Cept, difference is, Silvie cut free of her old life. She wanted the freedom of our life, not the rules and traditions of where she came from. She threw away luxury and bein’ a proper lady to rob and shoot and kill with us. She threw away her inheritance, which probably was a lot, and now she’s livin’ in fear from the Law like the rest of us when she didn’t have to.” After a moment, Trixie scoffed. “Sounds like a foolish mare.” “Yeah… maybe. But she’s a happy foolish mare. And sometimes… I wonder if she’ll make me happy, too.” Kestrel sighed and waved her wing as if she was shooing away the topic, banishing it into the night where it wouldn’t bother her anymore. “But I ain’t gonna worry about that for now. Got too much other crap to deal with. Like gettin’ us outta here in one piece.” “Getting us out of here?” Trixie raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?” “Rock Ridge is gettin’ too hot right now,” Kestrel said. “We’re plannin’ on what we’re doin’ next. Leavin’ the area for greener—and safer—pastures. Tumbleweed’s workin’ on it, we just gotta get things put together and get ready to leave when he calls for it.” Trixie frowned at that. “Has Trixie just joined a bunch of ponies who run at the first sign of trouble?” “Nah,” Kestrel said with a shake of her head. “More like the second or third. You only last long two ways in this life: bein’ faster than the Law, or bigger than it. And nopony bigger than the Law, so we gotta be faster.” “Those Vipers you keep mentioning seem big enough,” Trixie said. “They’re well known, so I would imagine the Law knows all about them.” “They’re big enough to be too much hassle to take down,” Kestrel said. “But with all the noise we raised, I doubt they’ll last very long.” Yawning, Kestrel shook out her wings and turned around. “Well, any rate, figure I should get some rest. You hang in there, you’ll be one of us in no time. Make me proud.” “Proud?” Trixie scoffed. “You’ll be more than proud. Even Tumbleweed will wonder how he got by without me.” Her horn lit up and her magic snuffed out the candle, shrouding the wagon in darkness. “Goodnight, Kestrel.” “Goodnight, Trixie.” Kestrel shut the door to the wagon behind her and wandered over to her lean-to. She was the last mare awake, and she caught a rare glimpse of Snapshot yawning by his post. She wondered if she should say something to him, help him stay awake, but a glance at the night sky made her think otherwise. Besides, her gut still ached, and she knew she needed rest. Miss Irons would be up before dawn, and Snapshot would get his sleep then. He also didn’t need to be talked to about what happened like Trixie, anyway. The stallion probably didn’t care that he’d killed Sienna. She betrayed the Gang, and that meant she died. Snapshot was good at thinking in black and white like that. So, with another yawn, Kestrel crawled under her lean-to and sighed as her tense muscles relaxed and she stopped straining her guts. Her eyes fell on a closed locket by her head, and her mind wondered to the picture of the mare inside, but instead of Faith’s face, she saw Silver’s. What would that be like? She couldn’t picture it now—Silver was still something of a sister to her in many ways. But would that relationship evolve? That was a question she knew she was too tired to answer, so she didn’t try. Instead, she simply closed her eyes and pushed those thoughts away. Sleep took her immediately thereafter. ----- The next two days in camp were uneventful, yet tense all the same. The entire camp seemed to hold its breath, waiting for the Law to come find them. But it didn’t, not in those two days at least. The tension built and built, but it never came to a head. Kestrel wasn’t sure whether to be grateful about that or not. Sienna’s body was dealt with as Tumbleweed suggested. Silver flew it off far away from the camp and did some scouting afterwards. When she returned, she reported that the train they’d robbed was long gone. The officer who’d accompanied it had probably taken it back to Fort Harmony, and the rails were clear once more. Perhaps that meant that the Army would lose interest in them… or maybe it meant that Officer Rainbow Dash was suddenly free to root them out and gun them down. Nopony knew. Kestrel and Silver Wings consume the last two health potions and recover Healthiness while resting. They are both now Grazed and suffer a -1 penalty to Healthiness. At the very least, Kestrel felt stronger with the rest and the last of the tonic they’d stolen from the train. She could move and fly almost as well as before, apart from a lingering ache in her gut that got worse whenever she exerted herself. Silver had also recovered nicely from her wound, though it still seemed to bother her when she walked. Pretty soon, Kestrel figured, they’d be back in top shape. They just had to wait a few more days and they’d be ready to move out. But they never got those days. Wanderer returned from Rock Ridge one afternoon with a dour look on his face. Kestrel looked up from cleaning her guns long enough to see him flag Tumbleweed down, so she decided to see what was up. She approached him shortly after Tumbleweed did, just in time to see him toss a rattlesnake’s tail onto the ground in front of him. Tumbleweed chewed on his lip, while Kestrel could only stare dumbly at the severed rattler in front of her. It was fresh, she could tell; the blood on the end hadn’t yet turned into a crusty brown. When she cocked her head at Wanderer, the old stallion pointed at it. “Rattlesnake wants to parley.” “Parley?” Tumbleweed asked, raising an eyebrow. “About what?” “He knows we’re the ones who took down the train,” Wanderer said. “He must have seen Kessie’s face in town and known who we are. He also knows that we took Sienna, and he wants her returned to him unharmed.” Kestrel bit down hard on her lip, and Tumbleweed only shook his head. “He’s gonna be disappointed in that. He’s gonna be disappointed in all this, then. I ain’t plannin’ on meetin’ with him over nothin’.” “You met with him?” Kestrel asked. Wanderer shook his head. “No, not him. One of his goons, I assume. No way a stallion like him would show his face in town with how notorious he is.” “He must think we’re stupid, askin’ us to meet with him.” Kestrel shook her head. “Good a way as any to get murdered under a false flag of peace.” “He likely knows that we’re not going to meet with him,” Wanderer said. “But he knew who we are. His lackey was able to find me, and I’m usually the one who goes to town because nopony knows who I am. He knows a lot more than he’s letting on, and that concerns me.” “Yeah, me too.” Tumbleweed pursed his lips. “Any sign of the Pinks?” “Not yet,” Wanderer said. “But I expect they’ll be here soon.” Tumbleweed sighed and rubbed at the base of his horn. “We’re stuck in a pickle now. I’m worried how much more this Rattlesnake pony knows. Meetin’ with him is almost certainly a trap, and he has to know we’d think that. So what angle is he goin’ at?” His eyes fixed on Kestrel and Wanderer. “What do we do?” [ALL OPTIONS ARE CONSIDERED DANGEROUS TO UNKNOWN DEGREES] 1.     Leave immediately. Things are far too hot right now. We need to go, and the sooner, the better. If Rattlesnake knows who we all are by face and name, who knows how much more he knows. What if he knows where our camp is? 2.     Wait it out. Our camp is heavily defended, and we’ll mount a better defense here than if he jumps us while we’re tryin’ to leave Rock Ridge. If he attacks us here, and that’s assumin’ he even knows where our camp is, we’ll have a better chance at walkin’ out of this alive—unless he tips the Law off about us. 3.     Meet with Rattlesnake. He wouldn’t expect us to actually take him up on the offer. Maybe we can learn more about him, find out what we’re up against, and maybe have an opportunity to settle things between us before they get worse. If not, we might get the chance to put a bullet ‘tween his eyes then and there. 4.     Strike first. Rattlesnake’s lookin’ to do us in, that’s for sure. So how about we get the jump on him, strike first, and scatter them Vipers before they can be a serious threat to us. (Confidence Required: 45 Votes)