Unshaken

by The 24th Pegasus

Chapter 119

On the cliffs: 8 Votes

“You ain’t gonna want me in the quarry with you, that’s for sure,” Kestrel said after a moment to think things over. “I ain’t the strongest nor the toughest, and my wings mean nothin’ if I’ve got ponies already above me shootin’ down on me. I’d probably be best up on the cliffs; Silvie’s our fastest pegasus, and she’s got sharp eyes, so I’d put her on the cloud and pull watch for us.”

“True enough,” Tumbleweed agreed. “I’d like to have our best shooters up on the cliffs with our best guns anyhow. That means you and Snapshot for sure. We’ll figure out where to put everypony else once we have a word with the rest of ‘em. Speakin’ of which…”

At that, Tumbleweed popped his cigar out of his mouth, keeping it aloft in his magic, and turned to face the rest of the Gang over by the fire. A second flare up of his horn seized ahold of the tin cup on the table in front of him, and he clattered it against the table a couple of times to get the attention of everypony else. When they looked his way, pulled out of one of Wanderer’s many engrossing stories, the unicorn gestured for the crew to come closer. “Gather ‘round, folks,” he said. “We got some talkin’ to do about this upcomin’ ransom.”

Wanderer chuckled and gingerly rose from his seat, offering Miss Irons a hoof to help her do the same as the rest of the Gang began to move. “I’ll finish that story another time,” he assured them. “But matters of life and death do come first. I figured that blue pegasus flying in was the harbinger of something to come.”

“Trixie didn’t even see her,” Trixie said, her eyes suddenly darting skyward as if she could catch a glimpse of Night Glider flitting between the stars above them. “She was here?”

“You have to keep your eyes open,” Miss Irons scolded her. “Don’t ever let your guard down because you think you’re safe. Ignorance is hardly bliss when you’re an outlaw, it’s the difference between life and death.”

Trixie frowned, but Roughshod gave her a little pat on the shoulder as the Gang formed up around Tumbleweed and Kestrel. It was Silver that seized the first opportunity to speak. “So? Is the ransom happenin’ or not? I’m tired of sittin’ on my flank waitin’ for things to happen. I can’t even go for a leisurely flight in case some Pinks happen to spot me from afar, and my wings need the exercise.”

“Then you’ll be happy to hear that you’ll be gettin’ some,” Tumbleweed assured her. Then he broaded his address to the rest of the group. “Night Glider just dropped in real quick-like to let us know that Starlight and her little posse have arranged our ransom with the Apple Conglomerates in two days’ time. The spot’s the quarry north of town, at dawn. Starlight’s group’s actin’ as the third party intermediary between us and the Conglomerates—I guess with how much heat we picked up, she and her crew ain’t on the Conglomerates’ watch list after the Conference job. They’re playin’ themselves off as distanced from us to set this thing up, and if it works, then all the better.”

“They’re only lettin’ two ponies go down into the bottom of the quarry where the tradeoff’s gonna happen,” Kestrel said, picking up for Tumbleweed. “Now, we ain’t dumb enough to believe that they ain’t gonna try to pull somethin’ if they think they can get away with it. The deal’s happenin’ in the low ground of the quarry, so they’ll be certain to have rifles up on the cliffs lookin’ down into the middle. We’d be best served doin’ the same, and better yet, we should put somepony in the clouds to watch the surroundin’ area, make sure that this ain’t an obvious trap that we’re stumblin’ into.”

That made Silver perk up. “Is that where I fit in?”

“Yes it is, Silvie,” Tumbleweed said. “We’re gonna have you set up a few clouds over the quarry and go hide in one, makin’ sure you can see the whole area without bein’ noticed. You can take a rifle, too, to make sure that you can shoot down on ‘em if we need you to, but the most important thing’s to keep your eyes peeled and watch out for yourself. We don’t need you gettin’ shot outta the sky on us.”

“Pshh, they ain’t ever gonna see me up there,” Silver said, her wings momentarily opening in excitement. “I’ll blend right in, easy peasy.”

“Good.” Tumbleweed nodded his approval. “I’m gonna go into the quarry with Applejack to make the trade. I’ll take one other pony with me; we’ll figure out who in a bit. The rest of you, save for Miss Irons, will be up on the cliffs to help out should things go sideways.”

Trixie tapped her hooves together. “Erm… Trixie isn’t exactly the greatest with guns… should she still be coming to help out with this?”

“You said you was familiar with the quarry before we pulled off the Conference heist,” Kestrel said. “Might be that your knowledge comes in handy durin’ the ransom. Even if you can’t shoot a rifle to save your life, you’ll still be useful to us to take along.”

“Maybe we can put her down in the quarry with Tumbleweed,” Silver suggested. “She’s almost as good as talkin’ and lyin’ as he is!”

“At any rate, we ain’t gonna sit idle ‘til the ransom,” Tumbleweed said. “Likely it’s that the Conglomerates tipped off the Pinks and the police ‘bout what’s goin’ down at this ransom. Even if they don’t try to get us, could be that the Pinks’ll be ready to leap soon as it’s over. Truth is, we ain’t gonna be able to loiter in Hoofston after we pull this deal off. Which is why tomorrow, we need to pack things up and start movin’ toward New Oatleans. It’s our best bet for more bits, and the city’s big enough we should be able to hide from the Pinks easier. We’ll load the wagons up, get them situated someplace safe by tomorrow night, then go do the ransom the followin’ mornin’ and get outta there ‘fore anypony can track us down. Miss Irons, you and Gizmo will guard the wagons, and we’ll meet back up with you two soon as we can.”

“Ain’t anything new to me,” Miss Irons said. “Guess I’ll have company with the metal mare, though. Maybe I’ll find what Wanderer sees in her.”

“Well, she doesn’t scold me as much, for one thing,” Wanderer said, winking at the elderly mare.

Kestrel cut in to save Wanderer’s hide from Miss Irons’ wrath in front of the rest of the Gang—she’d probably still get him when they were alone, but that wasn’t her concern. “That’s the plan we got, anyhow, and it’s the one we gotta run with. All we need now is to figure out who’s gonna go down into the quarry with Tumbleweed. So, Rough, Wanderer, Trixie… any volunteers?”

1. Roughshod. The big guy’s the toughest one we got, and he’s the strongest, too. But he’s a better shot than both Trixie and Wanderer, so we might want him on the cliffs too… not to mention he’s like to say somethin’ down there we’re all like to regret.

2. Wanderer. Wanderer’s got a silver tongue almost as good as Tumbleweed’s, and he’s got wings to get him outta danger quick, should it show its ugly face. But he’s gettin’ old, and throwin’ him right into the middle of danger makes me worried.

3. Trixie. Trixie’s best use for us is knowledge of the area and the ability to keep up with Tumbleweed in a conversation, and she sure ain’t gonna be helpful with a gun on the cliffs, but I ain’t sure she got what it takes to go into the belly of the beast and do everythin’ right should somethin’ go sideways.

Author's Note:

Please comment your decision down below. Only comments expressly stating your choice will be considered. You cannot vote for multiple choices. Polling will be considered closed after a few days and a sufficient number of comments.

This story is a CYOA comment-driven story, where you, the readers, decide the outcome of the story. Each poll contains several options, each with sub-optimal choices thrown into the mix, with nothing but the prose to clue the readers into what each option entails. The will of the masses, alongside a few unbiased dice rolls, will decide the outcome of the story.

You can find Kestrel's character sheet, along with some key information about her and the Gang, here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1xAGDlcd5mlMTAHwexlsrXOffQMMLoQc12u9itAa-io0/edit?usp=sharing

If you want to see the dice rolls in action, check out my Discord server: https://discord.gg/RsVkdD

Comments

[Blaster M]

2: Wanderer. Trixie is the wildcard, we want to wait to play that one.

[Pope AlexanderVII]

1

[terrycloth]

2

[Quick Fix]

Honestly, I'm not a fan of any of the picks we've got for this one. Roughshod's obviously a no-go since odds are he'd blow the deal by the time we made eye contact with the cash-carriers. Both other options are good on the ground but one's more likely than the other to stay safe when things go sideways...Option 2, meanwhile we get any info about the area we can from Trixie and maybe see if she can run interference or something on the day.

[MrCakeandRice]

Probably 2.
Although Trixie isn’t good with guns, she’s good with explosives, yeah?
Might be a good way to ensure a smooth escape. Leaving some explody things behind you if things go south

[RoboRed]

2

[Jaro45]

Option one ( 1 ). Roughshod in the quarry.

[JustFalcon]

3. tbh I just wanna see what could go wrong with Trixie.

[Hahapie]

I think we go with 1.

Rough being the strongest of the group gives us the ability to control Applejack should she start getting antsy, and his general demeanour should give the others pause about screwing with Tumbleweed in the exchange.

I also don’t think he’s as dumb as he’s said to be. Yeah he’s a bit thick in the skull, but even he knows if this goes south, we don’t get payed and will likely die. I’m sure he wants to avoid that and won’t say something really stupid down in the pit.

[SolarisLunaris]

3

[djthomp]

2, Wanderer. It'd be funny to send Trixie down, but we need to be careful not humorous.