//------------------------------// // Chapter 95 // Story: Unshaken // by The 24th Pegasus //------------------------------// Security: 9 Votes It didn’t take Kestrel much thought to pick the role that best suited her. “I ain’t nothin’ like what them Apples expect from their wait staff,” she said, snatching up the remaining security outfit with her wings. “I think I’ll do much better standin’ around, holdin’ a gun, and bein’ all menacin’ like.” “Awww,” Silver pouted as she took one of the wait staff uniforms. “I wanted to play security…” “You’ll look better in that plain service uniform, little lady,” Wanderer assured her, taking one for himself as well. “You’re not quite as grizzled as our two illustrious leaders are. You don’t exactly throw off that menacing security vibe, if you don’t mind me saying.” “I do,” Silver grumbled, but she nevertheless unfolded the uniform and held it against her chest to check its size. “This oughta fit, though I’ll have to cut some slits in the back for my wings. Ain’t no way in Tartarus I’m spendin’ this whole ordeal stuck on the ground.” “Good idea,” Tumbleweed said. “We might need you and Kessie in the skies ‘fore this whole thing’s done and over with. Maybe get Miss Irons to hem in the slits a little bit once you cut ‘em out. Slashed fabric’ll draw curious eyes.” Silver nodded and trotted off, tossing the uniform over her back. “Yeah, reckon that’s a good point. I’ll get it taken care of, don’t worry!” Kestrel watched her go, then looked at her own uniform. Thankfully, it already had wing slits in the back, though it looked a little large for her. “Pull this off an earth pony, Starlight?” “We didn’t really have much choice in who we went after,” Starlight said, shrugging. “Though that brings me to something I figured we should discuss. Obviously, my team and I didn’t spend the day at the conference shadowing what ponies were working where, so as not to draw attention to ourselves. That means we don’t know where the ponies we took these uniforms from were supposed to be tomorrow. I think it’s too much to hope that all of them just happened to conveniently be assigned to the auction tent tomorrow.” “Right,” Tumbleweed said, folding up his uniform and resting it on his back for the moment. “So that means we’re likely gonna need to talk our way around tomorrow.” “At least for the two of you, yes,” Starlight said. “The four of us that will be on the wait staff can likely get to where we need to go without too much trouble. And if there is trouble, I can talk us out of it. We should be fine.” “Well, that’s good.” Tumbleweed gestured for Starlight and her posse to come closer into the Gang’s camp and sit around the fire. Then, dragging some stools away with his magic, Tumbleweed gave a fire poker to Starlight and pointed to the dirt. “Well, now that we got our uniforms taken care of, how’s about we plan out our attack tomorrow. Go on and sketch us up a layout of the conference, would ya?” “Very well.” Starlight’s blue magic took hold of the poker and she started to scratch lines into the dirt. “The whole conference is spread out along one long thoroughfare that runs through it like a circle,” she said, drawing a circle and then scratching in a few lines inside and outside of it. “The auction tent and some of the more important things are in the very center, here,” she said, drawing a few rectangles inside of the circle. “The smaller tents around the periphery are more trivial things. Food, simple displays, information, even a few carnival games to make it fun for the whole family. There’s not going to be a lot of attention on the outside of the thoroughfare, but the tents on the inside of the circle are a different matter altogether.” Tumbleweed thought that over for a moment, then nodded, apparently satisfied. “If security’s light on the outside, then that means we ain’t gonna have much trouble gettin’ into the conference,” he said. “And once we’re inside the conference and have our disguises on, ain’t nopony gonna question whether or not we should be there. Gettin’ to the auction tent, though, that might be the tricky part.” “Yeah. Any noise we make at the auction tent’s gonna be heard throughout the entire conference,” Kestrel said. “At least we’re tryin’ to do this as quietly and quickly as we can.” “We just gotta hope that the distraction’s good enough to draw the Pinks away; they’re the only things we really gotta worry about.” He looked to Roughshod and Trixie. “I trust you two have a plan in place?” “As much as a plan as Trixie could come up with, given the unknowns involved,” Trixie said. “Trixie will use her stunning displays outside of the hotel to gather the attention of everypony nearby, after which Roughshod and the rest of Starlight’s group that is helping us will stage a robbery on the hotel. If that is where these Pinks are really staying, it should get their attention almost immediately.” “We’ll hope for the best, then,” Tumbleweed said. “I don’t think you’ll be served best by using disguises, either, now that I think about it. The Pinks need to recognize Rough at least if we’re really gonna drag ‘em down. But that brings up an interestin’ question for the rest of us.” He turned back to Kestrel and Starlight. “We’ve been runnin’ ‘round Hoofston using disguises to stay clear of the law and the Pinks, but Kestrel’s little run in with a pair of Pinks earlier this week showed us that they can sniff out illusions. Now, I ain’t sure just how good they are at findin’ the magic of an illusion in a crowd, but I bet my lucky horseshoes that they’re gonna be on the lookout considerin’ just how big this conference is gonna be, paired with the fact they know we’re here near Hoofston. The question I have now, given that we ain’t got a better alternative to Trixie’s magic, is whether or not we disguise ourselves with her magic before moving into the conference, or we do our best to hope that our uniforms and a little mane and tail stylin’ is enough to get us by ‘til we’re ready to spring?” “If anypony is looking out for illusions, they’ll be able to sense the magic from thirty, maybe forty feet away,” Starlight said. “Only if they’re trained to sense it, though, but it sounds like the PPDA detectives have that training. Once they catch ahold of that magical trail, they’ll be able to follow it back to the source in a minute or two.” “But not hidin’ our faces means that we could get spotted by ponies that recognize us,” Tumbleweed countered. “I ain’t seen many wanted posters for us around Hoofston, but that don’t mean they ain’t there. Do we just hope that our uniforms are enough to make sure that nopony pays us much mind ‘til we’re ready to go, or do we risk drawin’ out the Pinks and makin’ the whole distraction effort moot by usin’ magic to hide our looks?” 1.     Use Trixie’s illusions to disguise ourselves. The risk of gettin’ spotted by random passers-by outweighs the risk of drawin’ over a few Pinks. Let’s just try to lower the chance of gettin’ recognized until we’re ready to go. 2.     Go without Trixie’s illusions and trust the disguises. If we use Trixie’s magic, the Pinks ain’t even have to see us to know we’re about. Sure, it’ll keep us safe from the average pony, but if a Pink catches wind of our magic, they’re gonna follow it ‘til they sniff us out, and we might not even have the benefit of knowin’ they’re comin’.