Unshaken

by The 24th Pegasus


Chapter 109

The very first thing the Gang did upon reuniting was let out a cheer and go grab the alcohol. They opened up their last crates of beer and whiskey and started passing bottles around, determined to celebrate the day’s success while any response from the Law would still be chaotic and disorganized. Tonight was the best time to party and relax, and they all knew that come morning, they’d have to keep looking over their shoulders for any Pinks creeping up on them. It was best to celebrate while they still could.

Kestrel went straight for a bottle of whiskey, pulling the cork off with her teeth and spitting it out into the rushes at the edge of camp. She waited for Silvie to get a beer of her own, and then, clinking bottles together, the two took a swig from their respective drinks. Kestrel pushed away the grimace that accompanied the harsh burn of alcohol and instead gave her wings a little flutter as she swallowed the whiskey, then let out a sigh of pleasure. After a long day like today, nothing hit the spot better than some strong alcohol. She was going to get drunk tonight, she just knew it.

“I can’t believe we got outta that whole mess in one piece,” Silver said, joining Kestrel as the two walked toward the fire where the rest of the Gang was gathering. “I was expectin’ to get cut down at any moment. Them Pinks weren’t so tough.”

“Lady Luck was on our side for once,” Kestrel said. “We got the drop on the Pinks almost every time we encountered ‘em. Things mighta been different had it gone the other way, or if we’d encountered more of them at once.”

“Well, I’ll take it for a job like this,” Silver said. “Much less frightenin’ then when we was chased all the way across the San Palomino.”

“That’s because there was thirty or forty of ‘em on our tails the whole time,” Kestrel said. “Here, we got to pick ‘em off piecemeal, and I don’t expect that luck to hold out forever.”

“Shame,” Silver said with a shake of her head. “I like it when things are easy for us.”

“All the more reason to get outta Equestria ‘fore things get harder,” Kestrel agreed.

The two mares were too late to get seats by the fire, so they instead sat down on the ground a little off to the side and used each other’s backs for support as they listened in on the conversation. Tumbleweed was wrapping up the robbery team’s side of the story, including how they decided to keep Applejack for ransom money, money they desperately needed.

“We’re runnin’ out of chances to get the bits we need to leave,” Tumbleweed said. “And this conference business, ‘specially after foalnappin’ our new friend Applejack here, ain’t gonna make things easier on us. We’ll be dogged by the Pinks good from here on out. Probably the army too; we never did put an end to that pegasus officer in Rock Ridge. She’s probably got a vendetta ‘gainst us somethin’ fierce. On top of that, if our bounties go up to somethin’ with a lotta zeroes after it, then we’re gonna get the attention of professional bounty hunters. Pinks are one thing, and the military another, but professional bounty hunters are somethin’ else entirely. They’re willin’ to play dirty and use every cheatin’ trick in the book to bring a target in. Doubly so when they don’t care if the pony’s brought in dead or alive.”

“Let ‘em come, I say,” Roughshod proclaimed. “If we can bend a whole city over and pull a few grand outta its rear despite the odds stacked against us, what are a few bounty hunters gonna do? Ponies should just stay outta our way if they know what’s good for ‘em.”

“Money makes ponies do stupid things,” Kestrel cut in. She chuckled and added, “It certainly made us do somethin’ pretty damn stupid today. Just because it worked out for us don’t mean it weren’t stupid.”

“And things certainly coulda gone much worse,” Tumbleweed said. “We only survived our run-ins with the Pinks because we managed to get the drop on ‘em every time. How about your team, Rough? Things went alright, I take it?”

“About as well as it coulda gone,” Rough said, crossing his forelegs. “Trixie got a whole bunch of ponies in real close with her magic show, and once it was time to strike, me and Double Diamond fired a few shots into the air and started roughin’ the crowd up some. We got a little bit of pocket change, but not much, since we was worried more ‘bout gettin’ in good positions for when the Law responded. It was mostly cops at first, and they was too scared to get in real close, so we played bullet peekaboo up and down the street for a little while. Snapshot kept their heads down great with that scoped rifle of his. Anytime somepony stuck their head up for a little too long, they lost it.”

Eyes turned toward Snapshot at the compliment, and the Gang’s reserved markspony just shrugged. “None of the police had any military experience, that much was obvious,” was all he felt like saying.

“It’s not every day the police gotta fight somepony who was a sharpshooter in the military,” Kestrel said. “Cut ‘em a little slack.”

“It bought us time ‘til the real target came in,” Roughshod said. “Wasn’t too long ‘fore some Pinks started showin’ up. At that point, we high-tailed it outta there, though things got off to a bit of a rocky start when Trixie got her graze. We really coulda used your magic some in the getaway.”

Trixie huffed and looked away. “Trixie has been shot at before, but she hasn’t ever been shot before. Forgive her for being a little bit concerned.”

Night Glider guffawed at that. “You were crying to the high heavens that you were going to die! That was more than just a little bit concerned.”

“It was a lot of blood and you know it!”

“You haven’t seen what ‘a lot of blood’ actually is, I’m sure.”

Kestrel snickered as Trixie pouted and glared off into the distance. One day, the magician would be able to laugh at this, she was sure. So long as they survived long enough for ‘one day’ to be a reality.

“What happened next?” Silver asked, steering the conversation back on track. “We had Pinks crawlin’ all over us ‘fore too long. It don’t seem like your distraction was all that good in keepin’ their attention on you.”

“Well, despite how much we tried to court ‘em to dance with us, the Pinks ran off after a little while,” Roughshod said. “Probably ‘cause you lot pissed ‘em off somethin’ fierce up at the conference. That just left the cops chasin’ us, and they weren’t all that into it, not with Snapshot pickin’ ‘em off from the rooftops and Night Glider keepin’ their pegasi away from him. They gave up rather than get more of ‘em shot for nothin’.”

“Wish our part was as uneventful as yours,” Tumbleweed said. “But no matter. As it stands, we all made out well. Better than we coulda hoped, really. I was expectin’ somepony to get hurt bad from all this nonsense, but I’m happy to say that ain’t the case. So, let’s enjoy ourselves tonight and get ready for what tomorrow brings. Who’s with me?”

A chorus of cheers went up in agreement.

Surviving her encounters in Hoofston and the conference job has allowed Kestrel to gain more experience and can advance one of her attributes or progress toward a quirk or skill.

  1. Healthiness: +1
  2. Gunslinger: +1
  3. Muscle: +1
  4. Sweet Talker: +1
  5. Scholar: +1
  6. Instincts: +1
  7. Lady Luck: +1
  8. Showmare: +2
  9. Survivor: +1
  10. Interrogator: +2