Unshaken

by The 24th Pegasus

Chapter 57

See if Silver wants some company for the night: 9 Votes

After some time to reflect, Kestrel stood up and moved closer to Silver. Her wingtips grabbed hold of the corners of the blanket and pulled them up some, tucking the end under Silver’s chin. “You good for the night?” Kestrel asked her, her voice soft and tender beneath the scratchiness years of smoking and drinking had inflicted upon it.

“Yeah,” Silver said, accompanied by a large yawn. “I’m thinkin’ I should get some rest. Good night’s sleep’ll have me feelin’ good as new tomorrow.”

“I suppose you’ve got a good point there,” Kestrel agreed. “Probably should get some rest myself…” After a moment to hesitate and clear her throat, her eyes momentarily made contact with Silver’s. “Think there’s enough room for two in that hammock?”

Kestrel uses Sweet Talker (4) on Silver Wings: Critical Fail

But Silver awkwardly shifted her eyes away and pulled the blanket a little tighter against her body. “I-I, uhh… f-funny joke, Kestrel,” she said, ears flattening down on her head. The younger mare hurriedly rolled onto her side and pulled the blankets over her head. “B-By the moon, I’m sure tired! G-Goodnight, Kessie! Seeyouinthemorningokaythanksbye!”

Kestrel winced at the rejection and recoiled a few steps. “Uh… r-right,” she said, turning sharply away from the younger mare and stepping out of the wagon. “You get some sleep now, alright? I’ll… might be back in the mornin’ to check on you.” When she didn’t get a response from the younger mare, the gunslinger sighed and used all of her willpower to gently shut the door behind her. “Stupid, stupid, stupid,” she hissed at herself as she talked away from Trixie’s wagon, putting as much distance between herself and it as she could. “What are you thinkin’, Kessie? She just told you you was like a big sister to her. If you wanna get rutted so bad, go find a stable in Hoofston to entertain you…”

She marched clear across the camp and down toward the lake, getting as far away from everypony else as she could manage without completely ditching camp. The last thing she wanted was to get stopped by somepony right now. After bringing up her troubled history and then being immediately rejected in her tentative attempt to get closer to Silver, she needed to be alone to calm herself down and sort out her thoughts. If Roughshod tried to stop her and talk to her, she might just rip off his head and do unspeakable things to his corpse.

Instead, after pushing through a wall of reeds, Kestrel found herself on the shore of the lake, her hooves already dampened by the mud lining the edge. The gunslinger closed her eyes and took a deep breath, letting the cooler air and light breeze blow off some of her mounting stress and bad memories. The past is the past, she reminded herself, and as she sat by the lake and focused on her breathing, she managed to push the past behind her and bring herself back to the present.

And the present was Hoofston, not Kite nor Silver. When she opened her eyes, she could see the sky polluted with light to the east, a faint glow that smeared out the stars above. For some reason, it bothered her that she couldn’t see all of the night sky overhead. Civilization was slowly leeching away what freedom remained in Equestria, and now it had started to steal away the night sky. What would the world be like in a hundred years when cities all across the nation blotted out the stars with their incandescent glow?

If there’s any consolation to that, I’ll be long dead by then, Kestrel thought with a quiet, sad chuckle. She was already in her thirties; most pegasi didn’t live beyond sixty-some years. But even dying at sixty was optimistic, she knew. In all likelihood, she knew she’d be dead within the year. The Law was closing in from all sides, and though they hadn’t seen the Pinks in Rock Ridge, they certainly had to have been attracted down south with all the chaos the Gang had made in its short stay. How long before they followed the trail to Hoofston?

That wasn’t something she could answer, and she knew the Gang likely wouldn’t find out until it was too late. That just meant they had to make their time in Hoofston count. They needed a big haul, bigger even than the train robbery. Hoofston was a small city, yes, but it was a city nonetheless. Compared to Rock Ridge, there had to be a whole wealth of opportunities simply waiting for the Gang to sniff them out.

Does Kestrel see anything interesting around the lake? No

Yawning, Kestrel let her eyes wander about the far shores of the lake for another ten or fifteen minutes, but the night was calm, still, dead. Cicadas buzzed and bullfrogs croaked, and here or there, a bat would let out a shrill shriek as it hunted mosquitos and mayflies. The only things alive out here around the lake were the animals and critters of nature, and Kestrel felt like an intruder in their secret kingdom. Still, it was a rare moment of peace she’d seldom been afforded of late. She considered taking a quick walk around the shoreline, but instead simply lingered around the lake for another ten minutes before returning to camp. Maybe another night.

By now, most of the Gang had retired for the evening, though Trixie and Wanderer still sat by the fire, their card game forgotten as they talked in quiet voices so as not to disturb the rest of the camp. Kestrel considered joining them, but another yawn directed her to her lean-to instead. After taking a moment to strip down and place her revolvers by her side in case she needed to grab them in the middle of the night, Kestrel flopped down on her sleeping mat and closed her eyes, letting out a small sigh. The night was a wash; hopefully the next day would be better.

It wasn’t all that long before sleep found her, troubled as it was.

[NO POLL FOR THIS CHAPTER]

Author's Note:

No poll for this chapter, as Lady Luck quickly shot down any new developments (some with much more prejudice than others). Looks like it's time to turn our attention to setting up shop in Hoofston instead.

---

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

[N4rwh41]

O O F

[Chaotic_Revenge]

I personally really don't like the Silvie/Kess ship and I'm happy that it failed there. I see those two as sisters and don't really like the idea of them being a thing. Doesn't sit right with me.

[N4rwh41]

9970698
I wanted to ship her with trixie, but any ship works for me. I think this website has corrupted me.

[Chaotic_Revenge]

9970721
I'd be A ok with a Trixie ship.

[Gearsmash King]

I'm not an expert, but doing that may have negatively impacted Silver's relationship with Kestral. I hate to say it, but perhaps it'd be best to leave Silver alone for awhile and try talking to her properly when things are better. Make sure we've got solid ground under us, rather than side down a mud bank again.

[Merula]

Kestrel uses Sweet Talker (4) on Silver Wings: Critical Fail

.....fuck

[Dustyhooves]

Big rip, but it does not seem hopeless. Just a flustered messy start but no long lasting harm done. If you ask me the ship’s not sunk. Hell look at other ships in other fics. Far more messy starts than this. So i’m still down for Kas/Silver! So long as it does not get in the way of staying alive and making it on a boat. 

[djthomp]

This is a bad idea.

Kestrel uses Sweet Talker (4) on Silver Wings: Critical Fail

This was a bad idea!

Civilization was slowly leeching away what freedom remained in Equestria, and now it had started to steal away the night sky. What would the world be like in a hundred years when cities all across the nation blotted out the stars with their incandescent glow?

Luna returns, is purified somehow, immediately goes Nightmare again because of the light pollution.

I vote for: go to bed now before we screw something else up.

[RoboRed]

Suck it, ya danged overeager shippers.

[Alchemik]

I can't say I'm not pleased that that ship sunk, but oof, that had to hurt. Poor Kestrel.

[Blaster M]

Kestrel uses Sweet Talker (4) on Silver Wings: Critical Fail