• Published 14th May 2019
  • 2,370 Views, 1,551 Comments

Unshaken - The 24th Pegasus



The age of gunslingers is coming to an end. As the law closes in on outlaws across the Equestrian southwest, Kestrel must find a way to help her wanted gang of misfits escape or die trying. [A CYOA Story]

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Chapter 71

Talk with Miss Irons about working things out with Silver: 8 Votes

After a few minutes to try and work the words out in her head, Kestrel finally piped up, though her eyes never left the fire. “Say, Miss Irons? Can I ask you somethin’?”

“So long as it isn’t stupid,” the older mare scoffed.

“Well… I ain’t gonna make no guarantees ‘bout that.” Her wings fidgeted by her sides, seemingly impossible to get comfortable, and Kestrel shook her head. “It’s ‘bout Silvie.”

“Oh?” Miss Irons’ voice betrayed nothing, and when Kestrel looked at the other mare, her vision wavered and blurred from drink too much to read her expression.

“Yeah,” Kestrel said. Her hoof drew lines in the dirt. “I, uh… mighta overstepped my boundaries earlier with her. When we was alone.”

Miss Irons blinked in surprise. “You didn’t…?”

“Weren’t none of that,” Kestrel said, waving a wing. “Just a suggestion… a question… went pretty poorly.”

“Ah.” Miss Irons shook her head from side to side. “Ever the hopeless romantic, aren’t you, Kestrel?”

Kestrel pinched her shoulders together and tried to turn away to hide her blush. “A pony ain’t a pony without another to call special, right?”

“That doesn’t mean we should rush love,” Miss Irons said. “Me personally, I always saw the two of you like sisters. Ever since that young filly hopped onboard our little ragtag band of ne’er-do-wells, seemed like you were always giving her a wing to shelter under and a shoulder to lean on. If it weren’t for you, I don’t think she would have stayed with us outside of a week. She looks up to you, Kestrel. That’s not something to take for granted.”

“I… I know,” Kestrel said. “I just got some… stupid idea… maybe she thought differently of me, I…”

She shook her head. “I’m awful at words, I know you know that,” she said, looking at her elder. “I ain’t good at puzzlin’ these things out on my own. Do you know if… I mean, how she might feel…?”

Miss Irons knows if Silver has any attraction to Kestrel or not: Yes

Does Silver have a romantic attraction to Kestrel? No

“You ain’t gonna like what I have to say, then,” Miss Irons said, shaking her head. “I ain’t the only one who thinks the two of you are like sisters. Little Silver Wings does as well. Whenever she talks about you, her voice is filled with respect, Kessie, respect and admiration. There’s love there, too—the sisterly kind. Plenty of that. But you aren’t going to get farther than that with her.”

Kestrel’s wings sagged, and she felt a gut-wrenching clench in her chest… but it faded fast after that. Perhaps some part of her knew that all along. Maybe the alcohol just dulled the pain. Whatever it was, it left Kestrel feeling deflated, but at least thankful knowing that she had an answer.

“Well… shit,” was what she finally managed to say. “I… I hope I didn’t ruin nothin’ with her, then. I don’t think I’d ever forgive myself if I did…”

“When I was your age, I made the same mistakes you did,” Miss Irons said, offering her an encouraging smile. “Actually, I wouldn’t call them mistakes. I’d call them risks. And, sure, some of those risks didn’t pan out, and many stung pretty hard, but I never regretted taking them. The key to this sort of thing, Kestrel, is to know when to push ahead… and when to back off.”

The gunslinger dourly shook her head from side to side. “I feel like a mare of two extremes,” she said. “I’ve always been willin’ to push ahead in everythin’ I do. Anythin’ the Gang needs of me, I’ll give it to ‘em, and then I’ll give ‘em more. It’s been that way since the start. But when it comes to love… Tartarus, I ain’t do nothin’ ‘cept back off. Highball, Faith… now Silver, I just…”

Miss Irons leaned over and patted Kestrel on the back. “Don’t rush it,” she advised her. “I know it seems like we don’t have much time left on this planet. We’re spending our days running and running, knowing that we can’t run forever. But we just have to run far enough, Kestrel, and we’ll be fine. Once we get to that little heaven on this world where we don’t have to worry about the Law breathing down our necks, there will be plenty of time to figure things out. And then you can take all the time you need to find the pony that’ll make you happy for the rest of your life.”

“You make it sound so easy,” Kestrel said.

“Well… I have experience.” Miss Irons smiled warmly and looked over Kestrel’s shoulder to where the stallions played their cards. “I didn’t meet my soulmate until I joined the Gang. It took me sixty-some years, but I finally found him.” Her eyes alighted on Wanderer, laughing merrily with the other stallions as they shared jokes and talked trash with each other. “You’ll find the pony that’s right for you, Kessie. Just give it time.”

Then, standing up, Miss Irons smothered a yawn with her hoof and rolled her shoulders. “The night’s late enough as it is,” she said, shaking her head. “And I always was an early riser. Just because I’ve had some to drink tonight, it doesn’t mean that’s likely to change.” She raised an eyebrow at Kestrel. “Maybe you should get some rest, too.”

“I ain’t decided on what I’m gonna do,” Kestrel said, shrugging her wings. “Doubt I’ll be able to sleep for a little bit yet. Not after those words of wisdom.”

“I’m sorry,” Miss Irons said, giving the gunslinger a little shake of her head. “But I wanted to tell you straight. Trust me, it’ll save a lot of hurt later.” When Kestrel didn’t respond, Miss Irons nodded in understanding. “Goodnight, Kestrel.”

She walked away, leaving Kestrel to sit by herself in front of the fire. Her wing idly grasped at the whiskey bottle, and she considered drowning herself at the bottom of the bottle right there. Blacking out would at least get her to stop thinking about things for a while.

Her head lolled back and her eyes drifted up toward the starry night above. The moon was halfway across the sky; it probably had to be somewhere around midnight by now, but the stallions at their cards didn’t show any signs of slowing down. There were still plenty of things to do if she felt like doing them—but that was the question, wasn’t it?

1. Join the stallions at their game. A round of cards’ll get my mind off things, and a laugh shared with Tumbleweed and Wanderer is always good for the soul.

2. Go talk with Trixie. Looks like our magician’s back from doin’ her business, and she’s got a little stagger to her step. That whiskey did real good at sousing her up; maybe I can get somethin’ fun outta her.

3. Go find Silver. Silvie’s still at the lake, probably. Maybe I go there and try to bumble my way through an apology. Maybe I be a big idiot and try again despite what Miss Irons said. Who knows?

4. Finish off the bottle of whiskey and call it a night. That talk with Miss Irons left a sour taste in my mouth, and there’s only one way to flush that away. Drink, drink, drink, ‘til I can’t drink no more, and let tomorrow come what may.

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

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