Kestrel could hear the shouting and crying before she could even see the wagon, which didn’t bode well at all. Even though it was what she expected after everything that happened at the quarry, the last thing the Gang needed was the noise drawing any Pinks to their little hideaway by the road. At any rate, time was ticking away, and Hoofston was very quickly becoming a death trap.
She was the last one to arrive in the camp, carrying Wanderer’s frail and limp body over her back. Roughshod had already dug out two graves by the side of the road, and Miss Irons shuddered against Tumbleweed’s side, her features a mixture of rage and sorrow. That was just another blow that ripped Kestrel up inside, seeing the normally resolute and stern matriarch of the camp so hurt and raw in the aftermath of the bad news she’d just been told. She felt her split lip sting again as she wondered if Tumbleweed wasn’t going to be the only pony to give her face a makeover today.
Steeling herself for another few unpleasant minutes, Kestrel trudged forward along the road, Miss Irons her destination. The eyes of the Gang settled on her one after the other as she approached, until she had the attention of everypony present, including Starlight’s gang. Miss Irons looked up at Kestrel, and then choked on a sob when the pegasus gently lowered Wanderer’s body onto the ground in front of her. Taking a step back, Kestrel’s throat bobbed as she awkwardly cleared it. “Miss Irons, I… I-I’m so sorry. This is all my fault…”
Miss Irons closed her eyes and shuddered, tears staining the sides of her muzzle. “This whole thing, I had a bad feeling, I… I knew this could only end poorly.” Then to Kestrel’s surprise, when she opened her eyes her fierce, heartbroken glare wasn’t pointed at her, but at Starlight. “You damn revolutionaries, you brought all this on us! We should never have gotten caught up in your dreams and delusions! Taking hostages, intentionally bucking the strongest ponies in Equestria in their flanks just to see what loose change comes tumbling out—you have set us down a path to ruination that we shall never recover from!”
Starlight merely frowned back at Miss Irons. “Death is part of the revolution,” she stated. “I’ve seen plenty of it in my life. Strikebreakers try to break strikes by breaking skulls all throughout Manehattan and Fillydelphia. Bittsburgh was one of the most miserable places to be a worker, thanks to that magnate, Cart, and his lackey, Clay. But with every death, the revolution comes a little closer to reality.”
“We ain’t care nothin’ ‘bout your revolution!” Silver proclaimed from atop Trixie’s wagon. “We just wanna get outta here! Outta Equestria ‘fore more of us die!”
“Quiet!” Tumbleweed barked, asserting himself before things spiraled out of control. Giving Miss Irons a pat on the back, he strode forward into the middle of the group and looked around, his eyebrows low and forboding as he looked from pony to pony. “What happened today was a disaster. Ain’t no other way of goin’ ‘bout it. It was ill-advised, ill-conceived, and damn near got more of us killed than it did. All of us still standin’? We’re lucky to be alive and breathin’. They ain’t.”
He emphasized those last two words by pointing at Wanderer’s body, and he bared his teeth for a moment. “This should never have happened. Takin’ Applejack for ransom was a mistake in hindsight. I shoulda shot her back at that conference. But even then, we coulda jumped them Apples first, but we didn’t. Kessie had grand notions ‘bout our honor and all that. Mistake after mistake brought us here, and I’ll be damned if we make another!”
“Biggest mistake we can make right now is snappin’ at each other’s necks,” Kestrel said, frowning first at Tumbleweed, but then shifting her focus around the rest of the Gang. “I made a mistake. Anypony wanna blame Wanderer’s and Trixie’s deaths on somepony, pin ‘em on me. But we gotta move now and get on the road to New Oatleans ‘fore the Pinks catch up to us. We bury the dead and get a move on. We’ll mourn ‘em on the road.”
Nopony responded to Kestrel’s plan of action, but nopony objected to it either, so Kestrel gave herself a little nod. That was about as good as she could expect for the moment. Maybe after a day or two, things would start to smooth over… but first they had to get to that next day.
Even that was a big question mark Kestrel wasn’t so sure about.
Finally Tumbleweed turned away and started pointing with his hoof. “She’s right. Rough, Snapshot, lay Trixie and Wanderer to rest. Silver, you’re the eyes in the sky. You see any Pinks comin’, you let us know immediately. We ain’t gonna get jumped again. Miss Irons… I’ll give you some time to yourself, if you need it.”
“We’ll stick around, at least for a little while,” Starlight offered. “In case the PPDA does find you before you’re ready to head off, you could use the extra support.”
“Thank you kindly,” Tumbleweed said. “I’ll borrow Party Favor from you if you don’t mind. Could use another earth pony to make sure things are all packed up and ready to go soon as we can manage.”
“What ‘bout me?” Kestrel asked.
Tumbleweed’s eyes narrowed at Kestrel. “Do what you want, Kessie. You’ve done quite enough damage for the day.”
With that chilly remark, the Gang’s leader turned around and started checking over the wagons, Party Favor joining his side in a few moments. Kestrel stood in place, bristling in frustration, but forcing herself to keep calm and let it slide… for now. After all, she’d just lectured the Gang on snapping at each other’s necks. The last thing she needed was to make a hippocrate out of herself now.
Instead, she turned away and joined Starlight, watching down the road for any signs of trouble. It was still in the morning, which made it easier to see through the trees surrounding them, but it left Kestrel uneasy and worried. How long until somepony wandered down this road, Pink or not? And what if they saw the dead bodies, or the blood staining their clothing? For now, the roads were empty, but they weren’t guaranteed to stay like that for long.
Finally, it was Starlight who broke the silence. “There’s no negotiating with the fat cats,” she said, though she kept her eyes looking down the road. “There is only the revolution. Kill or be killed. And if nothing else, you’re good at killing those who dserve it.”
“And getting’ those who don’t killed as well,” Kestrel bitterly added.
“Sacrifices are necessary to bring about a better Equestria,” Starlight assured her. “It hurts, I get it… but if you take action, you’ll make their deaths mean something. Run away, and they don’t mean anything. But stay and fight…”
“I ain’t turnin’ my back on my family.” Kestrel frowned at Starlight and pinched her wings by her sides in a show of discomfort. “I’m with ‘em ‘til the end, no matter how bitter it’ll be. And right now, it’s lookin’ pretty damn bitter.”
“I can’t fault you for loyalty.” Starlight sighed and shook her head. “But living with meaning is better than living for nothing but yourself. Even if you get out of Equestria, then what? You’ll spend the rest of your days rotting away on some ranch somewhere?”
“Or a tropical island,” Kestrel said with a shrug. “There’s worse fates. Like the noose.”
“Or you could fight to make a difference. Like me.” Starlight shrugged. “My group can’t stay in Hoofston. Not after everything that’s happened. But we did strike a blow at the Apples, and the workers in the city saw it. Things’ll be agitated for sure around here, which means that we’ve planted another seed of revolution. Once we plant enough, a thousand movements across Equestria will bloom into one, and we’ll be able to harvest the fruit of our labor in creating a better society. But we have to keep planting seeds where we can. And honestly, it sounds like New Oatleans could be a pretty fertile field.”
Kestrel frowned at Starlight’s flowery metaphor. “Just hit me plain what you’re gettin’ at. I hate word games.”
“We work well together, my group and yours,” Starlight said. “Instead of separating here, why don’t we travel to New Oatleans together? At the very least, we can help each other with our goals. And maybe, you might realize you could do something with your life other than running with it. The Revolution could always use more patriots.”
“I don’t know…” Kestrel turned that proposition over in her head. Would traveling with Starlight and her crew really be a good idea? Or would it get them into more trouble like today’s business at the quarry did?
1. Go our separate ways. Starlight and her posse were helpful for what we needed to accomplish in Hoofston, but they’re gonna be more trouble than they’re worth, especially if they aim to rile up the hornet’s nest while we just want out. Travelin’ with ‘em any longer could be dangerous to us.
2. Join forces in New Oatleans. Starlight is a resourceful mare, and havin’ more ponies on our side could make any jobs we wanna accomplish in New Oatleans easier. After losin’ Wanderer and Trixie today, we need more bodies if we’re gonna get the bits we need to get out of here…
3. Revolution sounds pretty interesting… Maybe Starlight’s right… maybe we do need to fight for somethin’ more than our own hides. Workin’ together in New Oatleans could leave a lastin’ legacy for us… (Kestrel gains the following Quirks: Revolutionary [Equality], Anti-Revolutionary [Capitalism])