Unshaken

by The 24th Pegasus

Chapter 130

Scout out the bayou: 14 Votes

Silver thought for a moment, and looked up at the sky again as if it would tell her exactly how long they had until the rain came. “Well… wouldn’t hurt, now would it? Might as well be thorough. ‘Sides, Gang’s gotta make their way up the road some more ‘fore we decide where to take ‘em.”

“Right ‘bout that one.” Kestrel stretched her wings out as far as she could, trying to work out any soreness in them before taking wing again, and then hopped into the air. “Well, doubt it’ll be much better than what we got here, but like ya said, pays to be thorough.”

The two mares climbed into the sky, flying in circles until they were comfortably high enough above the ground that they wouldn’t be spotted unless somepony was scanning the sky for them. Then, when they were ready, Kestrel led the way to the bayou, her wings flapping a little harder through the increasingly humid air. She could feel a mist beginning to cling to her face as she flew just beneath the low-hanging clouds moving in over the area, and she knew that it wouldn’t be too long before the first raindrops started to fall. Hopefully they could be quick about it and get back to the Gang before then; the last thing they needed was to try and drag their wagons through mud and muck if the rain got bad enough to ruin the roads.

As they flew toward the high ground in the bayou, Kestrel did a little preliminary scouting of the approach—or at least, as much as she could see from up above through the canopy of trees. The closest road looked like it was at least a mile away, meaning the Gang would have to drag the wagons through a mile of marsh and soggy soil to get to the high ground in the first place. Maybe there was a path of dry ground under the trees that she couldn’t see, but it certainly wasn’t like the road that led right up to the previous location by the river. That was both a blessing and a curse; the lack of a road made accessing the high ground difficult, but if it was difficult for the Gang, it would be difficult for the Pinks as well.

When they got close enough to the high ground rising out of the bayou, Kestrel banked to the right and began to circle the land clockwise, Silver at her tail. Through the trees, it looked like the high ground was made out of rock rising from the bayou around it, the leftover of some ancient geological activity that had piled stone here while flattening the rest of the surrounding swampland. Still, enough dirt had accumulated on it over time that trees and plants grew on it, enough to provide decent cover from the sky. Kestrel still couldn’t see the ground from up above, but she took her time before committing to a descent to see if she could spot any signs of activity here.

Are Kestrel and Silver able to detect any signs of activity in the bayou? Yes

But while trees could hide lots of things beneath their branches, one thing they couldn’t completely hide away was a faint plume of smoke rising up from between their leaves. Frowning, Kestrel slowly began to descend at a distance, aiming for an opening in the trees a little bit away from the high ground where hopefully she could land silently and without whoever was tending to the campfire noticing them. Once she was low enough, she folded her wings against her sides and dropped down to the ground, Silver following her shortly thereafter.

Once they made sure they hadn’t dropped right in the middle of somepony, Silver and Kestrel crept forward until they found some brambles to hide behind and survey the situation. Down on the bayou floor, they had a much clearer picture of what they were looking at. A worn dirt hoofpath meandered between swampy ponds and crooked trees until it reached the rocky foundation of the high ground, where somepony had erected a set of wooden stairs leading up the rocks to a pair of small shacks on the dry ground. The mossy wood of the shacks turned slightly orange in the glow of the campfire placed between them, and shadows danced along the walls, accompanied by the faint guffaws of the ponies sitting around the fire, just out of sight.

“Guess somepony else got here first,” Silver said. “What’d they be doin’ out here, anyway? They outlaws like us?”

“Can’t say for sure,” Kestrel said. “Could be outlaws. Could be moonshiners. Plenty of ‘em ‘round this part of Equestria. Best way to get the strongest hooch and pay the fewest taxes is to make it out in the bayou illegally.”

Silver stuck out her tongue. “Never did like moonshine. Too strong for me. ‘Sides, who knows what they put in that stuff to water it down?”

“Plenty of ‘em use wood alcohol. Stuff’ll turn ya blind, but you’ll be too messed up to notice ‘til later.” Kestrel frowned and looked around. Sure enough, she spotted a pony sitting on a tree stump, rusty rifle sitting by her side, as she kept a lazy eye out for any intruders. Or, well, Kestrel supposed that was what she was supposed to be doing; instead, her attention was turned toward the book she held in her magic, lazily flipping the pages as half-lidded and tired eyes scanned the words printed on them. Kestrel gathered there must not be a whole lot of activity that the moonshiners had to worry about, but there was just enough of a threat to their business that they had to keep somepony on lookout just in case trouble found them.

Whether or not she and Silver counted as trouble, though, Kestrel hadn’t yet decided.

“What’re we gonna do, then?” Silver whispered, her voice dropping when she spotted the mare a good hundred yards away. “Walk up and say ‘howdy’? Start shootin’ the place up? Go back to Tumbleweed? I mean, looks like if we want this place, we gonna have to deal with the moonshiners some way or other.”

“True enough,” Kestrel said, though her thoughts were interrupted when a raindrop fell through the canopy above and struck her on the nose. She tilted her head skyward and frowned as the leaves of the trees around her began to rustle with the steady wind blowing through them and the pattering of raindrops falling through their numbers. The mare reading her book noticed it, too, and she growled as she turned her head toward the sky and brought forth a blue dome of magic to keep the rain off of her. There were a few grumbles of annoyance from up on the high ground, and the shadows on the huts once more shifted as the ponies up there scurried for cover.

Kestrel didn’t know how the moonshiners would react if they encountered the Gang, but she had to decide how to proceed; it wasn’t like she could just ask them what they were going to do, after all.

1. Approach the moonshiners and hope for the best. Might be we can find a kindred spirit in the moonshiners. Any allies we can make down here in New Oatleans, the better.

2. Try to deal with the moonshiners ourselves. Silvie and me, if we keep quiet and fast, can probably handle them moonshiners by our lonesomes. Seems like they ain’t got good equipment, and the rain’ll help us stay hidden. We might be able to get some use outta their distillery if we take it, too.

3. Go back to Tumbleweed and suggest bringing the Gang to the river. We seen enough here to know that the river’s the better option. Better to get the Gang there than waste time messin’ with the moonshiners.

4. Go back to Tumbleweed and suggest bringing the Gang to the bayou. With some help from the Gang, we could easily take this place by force. And once that’s taken care of, we can quickly get settled in and take stock of the situation.

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

[JustFalcon]

1. I doubt a few moonshiners are going to be too hostile, and better to negotiate with potential allies instead of shooting up someone we don't know and getting an enemy

[Gearsmash King]

I say option 3. We don't know how many or how friendly these folks are. The path to this place is a nightmare for wagons. And, there isn't as much cover from the rain as back at the river. Besides, there might be a time when we meet these shiners, without intruding on them. Let's go and tell Tumbleweed to go to the shanty town.

[MrCakeandRice]

1. I used to do a fair bit of moonshining in my day (I was a broke high schooler, don’t judge me) and had my finger in a lot of different circles. Moonshiners are some of the friendliest people you can meet. (As long as you don’t seem like law) Bad people skills is bad for business after all.

[Six String]

Option 1 is the better solution & if the moonshiners do turn out to be hostile (Like the group of Lemoyne Raiders in one of the missions during chapter 3 of RDR2), then Kestrel & Silver will take them down & dump the bodies in the swamp for the gators to devour. Then once the gang arrives, they get the camp & the distillery.

The Discord link didn't work. You're going to have to redo it, but make it, so that it doesn't expire.

[Fireheart 1945]

3. The gang needs to know.

[Quick Fix]

Well it sounds objectively worse as a base option, we don't need to cause extra trouble by prodding another sleeping nest and the rain is already an issue. Just stick to the plan and let the gang know the situation. Option 3

[RoboRed]

1, But as long as we're quick about it. That rain could mean trouble in a climate like this.

[N4rwh41]

1. it ain't called "friendship is magic" for nothin'

[terrycloth]

Hard choice. 3 is safer for now. 1 is risky but a 'native guide' might help (or might just turn them in for the bounty). Plus, moonshine.

I'd go with 3.

[Jaro45]

Option three ( 3 ). Check in with them once the Gang gets settled. Buy a few gallons, share it around, and make some friends.

DON'T START A FIGHT!!!

[alamais]

10686977

Moonshiners are some of the friendliest people you can meet.

I'll hold ya to that.

10687147
ye

#1. Frieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeends. 🎶
Mayhap we could wheel 'n deal to acquire some of their 'product'. I'd be wary of drinkin' any of it, but it'd make some right quality molotovs, in case of emergency.

[CanadianPony]

3. The abandoned river is at least empty, not a good idea to step into another gang’s territory, especially if we don’t know their connections in town.

[Darthzelda]

I have ideas for other CYOA stories

[djthomp]

Well 1 & 2 are definitely out, don't start a fight or a conversation that can turn into a fight while so outnumbered and the gain of either doesn't justify the risks.

3, let's just go down to the river to stay.

[Darthzelda]

I have a hunch

[Hahapie]

I vote 3. Not much else to say about it that hasn’t already been said here.

[Blaster M]

3: Let's settle on the river, leave these be.

[Darthzelda]

I choose3 but only if we see these people again

[SolarisLunaris]

3