Applejack didn’t bother anypony from the Gang for the rest of the day, nor did she make any more escape attempts, knowing that the Gang was just going to ransom her back to her company alive and unharmed, so long as she cooperated. A dark mood hung over her ever since Kestrel threatened her younger sister, but that didn’t bother Kestrel much. She would seeth and rage if somepony captured her and then threatened the Gang if she continued to cause trouble for those ponies in the future, but after a little bit to cool down and think about it, she’d be less inclined to bother those ponies again, for fear of a terrible retaliation. Hopefully Applejack would be much the same way; so long as the Conglomerates didn’t get involved in bringing the Gang to justice once the ransom was done, then she wouldn’t have to worry about anything bad happening to her little sister, and the ponies would never have to see each other ever again.
She did go and share what she learned with Tumbleweed over a bottle of beer after dinner, however. Applejack had provided them with the possibility of another target to go after to get their money, and Kestrel was happy for the excuse to not keep picking on the Apple Conglomerates after the ransom deal, knowing that only bad things could come out of it. Miss Belle and her textile empire, on the other hoof… that was a promising target.
Which was an idea that Tumbleweed agreed with. “The Apple Conglomerates are wealthy, but they got so many family members runnin’ the dang thing you ain’t gonna see an obscene amount of wealth on any one of ‘em on their own,” he said. “Miss Belle, on the other hoof, ain’t got nowhere near as much family as Applejack. It’s just her and her little sister, but even then, her sister’s too young to be a part of runnin’ the business. All that money’s sittin’ under her hooves and her hooves alone.”
“Maybe we shoulda gone after her instead of the Conglomerates,” Kestrel said. “She’s got a big office here in Hoofston. That wagon we robbed in Rock Ridge was on its way here ‘fore loadin’ the goods on a train back to Manehattan. We mighta walked outta this whole ordeal much richer than robbin’ Applejack and her family.”
“The opportunities didn’t align themselves,” Tumbleweed said. “We met Starlight and she pointed us to a golden opportunity for the Conglomerates we could immediately seize on for some quick bits. There weren’t no guarantees that we’d be able to find an openin’ in Miss Belle’s businesses here in Hoofston that would be better than what we got from the conference.”
He paused for a moment, finished off the last of the beer in his bottle, and chucked it aside, before his magic dug a cigar and a match out of his vest pocket. “Hoofston ain’t one of her biggest headquarters, if I’m rememberin’ correctly. She’s got a pretty big one a bit further east in New Oatleans. The city itself’s a big tradin’ hub with ships comin’ and goin’ from all across the world. Perfect place for a mare who makes textiles and fancy dresses to pack ‘em up and ship ‘em out. Plenty of immigrants and their children, too. Easy place to pick up cheap child labor, if what Miss Applejack is sayin’ is true.”
“Guess that’s where we’re headin’ next, then,” Kestrel said. “Seems like our best place to go. Plus, havin’ a port right nearby’ll be a boon for us, supposin’ we get the bits we need to get outta Equestria while in New Oatleans. Then we can just hop on a ship and set sail.”
“I wouldn’t count on it, but it’s a nice though,” Tumbleweed said. “We still got fifty-some thousand bits we need to get outta Equestria. We’ll get ten thousand more if we pull this ransom off, but that still only puts us a little under halfway for the eight of us. It ain’t likely we gonna find forty thousand bits we can pull from Miss Belle in one go, but we certainly can dream.”
Kestrel hummed her acknowledgement and looked out over the camp, where the rest of the Gang had gathered around the campfire to listen to Wanderer and Miss Irons trade stories from their youth. Kestrel would have wanted nothing more than to conjure up the bits needed to give all of her friends a safe life somewhere away from Equestria with one last heist, but unless they robbed Miss Belle’s personal bank, they weren’t likely to get that much in one go. “I’ll keep dreamin’, alright. Maybe one of these days my dreams’ll come true.”
“Maybe the Mare in the Moon’ll come and visit you one night, and bless us all by makin’ your dreams come true,” Tumbleweed teased her. “I’d certainly like to have a goddess’ blessin’s on our side for once.”
Has the situation in Hoofston changed? Yes
Kestrel snickered, but her ears twitched at wings beating against the night air. She looked upwards, spotting a figure descending into camp, its dark figure blotting out stars in the night sky, and her wings immediately went to her revolvers. She drew them as the pegasus landed in camp, hammers readied to fire, and only recognized the blue mare at the last moment as one of Starlight’s companions.
For her part, Night Glider froze in place when she realized she had two revolvers pointed at her face, and she didn’t dare move until Kestrel muttered a relieved (if annoyed) curse under her breath and set her revolvers down on the table. “I’m… guessing I should have announced myself by the roadside,” she said with a sheepish grin.
“That woulda been a good idea,” Tumbleweed said, frowning at her. Then he pulled a seat back with his magic for Night Glider to join them at the table. “The last thing a bunch of outlaws like is gettin’ surprised. A lot of surprises in our line of work usually end up with somepony dead, and we make damn sure that it ain’t gonna be us.”
“I’ll… keep that in mind, then.”
“So,” Kestrel began, sitting back in her chair and letting her racing heart calm back down now that she was certain the Gang wasn’t about to get attacked by bounty hunters or Pinks. “What’s the news?”
“Starlight’s set up a ransom at the quarry north of Hoofston,” Night Glider said. “It’s far away enough from the city that the police and the PPDA won’t stumble across it on their own. Now, if they’re brought there by the Conglomerates, that’s another issue altogether, but Starlight made it clear that if any funny stuff happened, Applejack would be dead before anypony could blink.”
“And they agreed to our terms?” Tumbleweed asked. “Twenty thousand bits in exchange for Miss Applejack?”
“They did,” Night Glider said. “It’s happening in two days at dawn. Each side can only bring two ponies into the quarry. Starlight and the rest of us are acting as the intermediaries. They’ll give us the bits first, and once we count that they’re good, then you all bring Applejack down into the quarry, and we go our separate ways.”
Kestrel frowned as she tried to picture the lay of the land; she’d only seen the quarry from a distance, but there were things that were common to all quarries by their nature. “If we’re doin’ this meetin’ in the middle of the quarry, that means the exchange is happenin’ in the low ground,” she said. “Ponies with rifles can get posted up on the cliffs and heights and control everythin’ happenin’ down below. Fightin’ our way out won’t be easy, if it comes down to it.”
“But neither will it be easy for them,” Tumbleweed countered. “They’re goin’ to have ponies on the cliffs with guns. We know that much. We can do the same, make use of them scoped rifles we got in Rock Ridge. It’ll help keep things evenly matched. So long as we scout the area beforehoof and make sure that the Conglomerates didn’t bring any friends of theirs, then it’s the best we can hope for, really. If this deal’s honest, then we ain’t got nothin’ to worry about. If it ain’t, then there weren’t any way we woulda been able to do this ransom at all.” After a moment to think it over, he nodded to Night Glider. “Go and let Starlight know that we’re in. We’ll make our own plans here; sounds like if you lot are bein’ the intermediaries, you got your own plannin’ to do to make sure this thing works fair and square.”
“I will,” Night Glider said, and she pushed her chair back and stood up. “I’ll let you know if anything changes between now and then. Oh, and I’ll, uh, make sure to come in announced next time.”
“We would all be much obliged,” Kestrel said, and within moments, the dark pegasus lifted off again, her dark blue coat melting into the dark blue of the night sky, and her wingbeats fading into the distance.”
Tumbleweed finally lit his cigar and stuck it in his mouth, taking a few seconds to nurse the ember on the end until it was strong enough to keep burning on his own. “Only two ponies’ll be goin’ down into the quarry,” he said to himself, thinking out loud. His eyes then shifted to Kestrel. “I’m goin’ to be one of ‘em. Only fair that the leader of our little gang does things face to face. Where should I put you, Kessie? Where do you think you’ll be the most help?”
1. In the quarry. If Tumbleweed’s gonna go in as the Gang’s number one, then I oughta be beside him as its number two. At least I can move ‘round the quarry more freely with my wings, should the need arise.
2. On the cliffs. Best place to be is on the cliffs with a gun. I ain’t good at talkin’, and I ain’t strong enough to really rassle with Applejack should she try to make a run for it or somethin’. I am good at shootin’, though, and so that’s where I’d be put best.
3. In the skies. Get me a cloud and a rifle to watch things from above, and I can see a lot more of the surroundin’ countryside, and I might be able to spot any incoming trouble ‘fore it gets to us. I ain’t gonna have anywhere to hide, though; anypony lookin’ for a pegasus in the sky’s just gonna have to look for a stationary cloud hoverin’ over the ground, and they’ll know where I’ll be easy as that. On top of that, I ain’t gonna hear nothin’ that’s happenin’ in the quarry with all the wind in the sky.